Traumatic and ischemic brain damage are major causes of disability and death. While much effort has been spent on developing pharmacological treatments for these conditions, no neuroprotective drugs are in clinical use. Neuronal death following trauma and ischemia occurs in selected cell populations of the brain at various time points after the injury, and causes cognitive and behavioral dysfuncti

Cerebral ischemia is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the western world. Even though much effort has been put into research and development of effective drugs against ischemic damage there is to date no effective pharmacological brain protective treatment. In order to study particular molecular mechanisms, isolated cellular events and the contribution of individual factors in ischemic d

In view of unsolved issues regarding cellular events underlying the adaptation of insulin secretion to insulin resistance, together with the observation that insulin secretion induced by the gastrointestinal hormone and neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) is not solely explained by phospholipase C-protein kinase C (PLC-PKC) pathway activation, this study aimed at delineate mechanisms responsible fo

Studies were performed to investigate the influence of the vasoconstrictors angiotensin II (AII) and norepinephrine (NE) on calcium metabolism in smooth muscle cells of afferent arterioles. Fura-2 and image analysis techniques were used to evaluate calcium responses in the proximal and distal parts of afferent arterioles with attached glomeruli. AII and NE increase intracellular calcium concentrat

Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) and the group B streptococcus (GBS) are two important human pathogens that cause different types of diseases and express different surface structures implicated in virulence. This thesis focuses on several surface proteins expressed by these pathogens, analyzing the biological function of these proteins and their ability to elicit protective immunity.

The G protein-coupled receptors form one of the largest families of proteins involved in signalling between cells. It contains receptors for molecules as diverse as biogenic amines, glycoproteins and enzymes. The manuscripts included in this thesis together describe the initial characterisation of a previously unknown receptor of this class. A DNA fragment was cloned from a mouse genomic library.

The data presented in this thesis deal with the neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in adult sensory neurons. We have used different injury and pain models to determine the involvement of PACAP during such conditions. The role of neurotrophins for PACAP expression was also investigated. PACAP is one of the excitatory neuropeptides expressed in small sized DRG ne

The aim of this thesis has been to increase understanding on the process of smoking cessation during pregnancy from the perspective of learning. The smoking pattern before and after pregnancy related to health, Sense of Coherence (SOC) and social issues was studied among all pregnant women in south-east Skåne during the period March 1994 to August 1995. They were asked to fill in a questionnaire d

In the present thesis, the quantitative role of active transport (transcytosis) in bulk transvascular protein movement in vivo was evaluated. Using chemical transcytosis inhibition (N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and filipin), we were able to show that NEM actually increases endothelial permeability to macromolecules, probably as a result of unspecific toxic action on endothelial cells. Filipin, on the ot

This 18-month follow-up study investigated needs for care and support, quality of life and social network in individuals with schizophrenia or a schizoaffective disorder living in the community and in contact with psychiatric services. The validity of Antonovsky's sense of coherence (SOC) measure was also examined. At baseline 120 patients were interviewed and 94 of these participated in the follo

We studied the biomarker patterns related to axonal injury, astrogliosis and amyloid metabolism in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children and adolescents with mitochondrial encephalopathy and identified correlations with phenotype and survival outcome. Forty-six pediatric patients with genetically verified mitochondrial encephalopathy and twenty-two controls investigated at the Queen Silvia Childre

This article is contributing to the future of copyright law debate by exploring the recently harmonised originality standard in the EU copyright law and its suitability to a creative sharing community of Wikipedia. It shows that the “free creative choices” and “author’s personal” touch criteria established by the CJEU might be unsuitable not only because of practical concerns, but also because the

Detailed phenotyping is required to deepen our understanding of the biological mechanisms behind genetic associations. In addition, the impact of potentially modifiable risk factors on disease requires analytical frameworks that allow causal inference. Here, we discuss the characteristics of Recall-by-Genotype (RbG) as a study design aimed at addressing both these needs. We describe two broad scen

Scope: Body weight responds variably to the intake of dairy foods. Genetic variation may contribute to inter-individual variability in associations between body weight and dairy consumption. Methods and results: A genome-wide interaction study to discover genetic variants that account for variation in BMI in the context of low-fat, high-fat and total dairy intake in cross-sectional analysis was co