Methods: From January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2018, 176 patients who were scheduled to undergo lateral mass screw fixation were enrolled. They were randomized into two groups; we inserted lateral mass screws using our new technique for one group and by using the classical Magerl technique for the other group. Intraoperative measurements were used to assess the bone-screw interface length. Postoperative radiography and postoperative computed tomography were performed to assess the trajectory of the screws. Results: Total 88 patients were included in the study group, including 68 men. The control group included 65 men. The most common indication for surgery was cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The average bi-cortical length that was measured intraoperatively was 19.9 mm in the study group and 16.3 mm in the control group. This was significantly different from the average lengths of screws in the control group. Conclusions The trajectory that involves an entry point as close as possible to the posterior inferior medial angle of the lateral mass cuboid and traverses a distance of about 20 mm to obtain a bi-cortical purchase in the diagonally opposite angle may provide a much better and firmer bony purchase in the lateral mass than conventional points of entry and trajectories.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most prevalent organisms associated with foodborne illness across the globe causing campylobacteriosis and gastritis. Many proteins of C. jejuni are still unidentified. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure and function of a non-annotated hypothetical protein (HP) from C. jejuni. A number of properties like physiochemical characteristics, 3D structure, and functional annotation of the HP (accession No. CAG2129885.1) were predicted using various bioinformatics tools followed by further validation and quality assessment. Moreover, the protein-protein interactions and active site were obtained from the STRING and CASTp server, respectively. The hypothesized protein possesses various characteristics including an acidic pH, thermal stability, water solubility, and cytoplasmic distribution. While alpha-helix and random coil structures are the most prominent structural components of this protein, most of it is formed of helices and coils. Along with expected quality, the 3D model has been found to be novel. This study has identified the potential role of the HP in 2-methylcitric acid cycle and propionate catabolism. Furthermore, protein-protein interactions revealed several significant functional partners. The in-silico characterization of this protein will assist to understand its molecular mechanism of action better. The methodology of this study would also serve as the basis for additional research into proteomic and genomic data for functional potential identification.

Immunizing animals in the wild against Brucella (B.) abortus is essential to control bovine brucellosis because cattle can get the disease through close contact with infected wildlife. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effectiveness of the B. abortus strain RB51 vaccine in protecting infection as well as vertical transmission in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats against B. abortus biotype 1. Virgin female SD rats (n = 48) two months of age were divided into two groups: one group (n = 24) received RB51 vaccine intraperitoneally with 3 x 10(10) colony forming units (CFU) and the other group (n = 24) was used as non-vaccinated control. Non-vaccinated and RB51-vaccinated rats were challenged with 1.5 x 10(9) CFU of virulent B. abortus biotype 1 six weeks after vaccination. Three weeks after challenge, all rats were bred. Verification of RB51-vaccine induced protection in SD rats was determined by bacteriological, serological and molecular screening of maternal and fetal tissues at necropsy. The RB51 vaccine elicited 81.25% protection in SD rats against infection with B. abortus biotype 1. Offspring from rats vaccinated with RB51 had a decreased (p < 0.05) prevalence of vertical transmission of B. abortus biotype 1 compared to the offspring from non-vaccinated rats (20.23% and 87.50%, respectively). This is the first report of RB51 vaccination efficacy against the vertical transmission of B. abortus in the SD rat model.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial/blood ; Bacterial Vaccines/immunology/*standards ; Birth Weight ; Brucella abortus/immunology/isolation & purification/*physiology ; Brucellosis/immunology/microbiology/*prevention & control/*transmission ; Female ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/*prevention & control ; Litter Size ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Survival Analysis

N-acetylglucosamine kinase (GlcNAc kinase or NAGK) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme in mammalian cells. Recent studies have shown that NAGK has an essential structural, non-enzymatic role in the upregulation of dendritogenesis. In this study, we conducted yeast two-hybrid screening to search for NAGK-binding proteins and found a specific interaction between NAGK and dynein light-chain roadblock type 1 (DYNLRB1). Immunocytochemistry (ICC) on hippocampal neurons using antibodies against NAGK and DYNLRB1 or dynein heavy chain showed some colocalization, which was increased by treating the live cells with a crosslinker. A proximity ligation assay (PLA) of NAGK-dynein followed by tubulin ICC showed the localization of PLA signals on microtubule fibers at dendritic branch points. NAGK-dynein PLA combined with Golgi ICC showed the colocalization of PLA signals with somal Golgi facing the apical dendrite and with Golgi outposts in dendritic branch points and distensions. NAGK-Golgi PLA followed by tubulin or DYNLRB1 ICC showed that PLA signals colocalize with DYNLRB1 at dendritic branch points and at somal Golgi, indicating a tripartite interaction between NAGK, dynein and Golgi. Finally, the ectopic introduction of a small peptide derived from the C-terminal amino acids 74-96 of DYNLRB1 resulted in the stunting of hippocampal neuron dendrites in culture. Our data indicate that the NAGK-dynein-Golgi tripartite interaction at dendritic branch points functions to regulate dendritic growth and/or branching.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytoplasmic Dyneins/chemistry/*metabolism ; Dendrites/metabolism ; Golgi Apparatus/metabolism ; HEK293 Cells ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Neurons/*metabolism ; Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor)/*metabolism ; Protein Interaction Maps ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tubulin