The circumstances of the death of Knut, the famous polar bear born in the Zoo Berlin, have finally been unraveled four years later. The answer presents a little scientific sensation which was published in “Scientific Reports” on August 27th. Knut fell sick with a so-called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a brain inflammation caused by autoantibodies against […]
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterised by chronic inflammation of the joints. Its development is stimulated by genetic and environmental risk factors. It is not very long ago that the relevant autoantigens in RA were identified. So-called citrullinated proteins (they contain the amino acid citrulline) are one of possibly several target antigens of
Uromodulin is a kidney-specific glycoprotein, which is exclusively expressed by the epithelial cells of the ascending limb of loop of Henle (TAL cells) and secreted into the urine. There, it is the quantitatively most significant protein. Additionally, secretion of small quantities of uromodulin into the interstitium was described. In this way the proteins gets into
A large cross-sectional serostudy of blood donors in Saudi Arabia has revealed a significant number of subclinical infections with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS), which pose a likely source of infection in previously unexplained outbreaks of MERS. Notably, the prevalence of antibodies against MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was significantly higher in persons with regular exposure
Vitamin D is a fascinating molecule. In the body it is involved in a multitude of biological processes, and current research is constantly uncovering new associations between vitamin D deficiency and severe disease. The connection between vitamin D and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia has been the subject of
