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Byline: Priyanka. Prakash, Manju. Dhandapani, Sandhya. Ghai, Neena. Singh, Sivashanmugam. Dhandapani Background: Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting is the most common neurosurgical treatment for hydrocephalus. In spite of significant developments in the [...]

The cellular prion protein (PrP) is a highly conserved, widely expressed, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored (GPI-anchored) cell surface glycoprotein. Since its discovery, most studies on PrP have focused on its role in neurodegenerative prion diseases, whereas its function outside the nervous system remains unclear. Here, we report that human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines expressed PrP. However, the PrP was neither glycosylated nor GPI-anchored, existing as pro-PrP and retaining its GPI anchor peptide signal sequence (GPI-PSS). We also showed that the PrP GPI-PSS has a filamin A-binding (FLNa-binding) motif and interacted with FLNa, an actin-associated protein that integrates cell mechanics and signaling. Binding of pro-PrP to FLNa disrupted cytoskeletal organization. Inhibition of PrP expression by shRNA in the PDAC cell lines altered the cytoskeleton and expression of multiple signaling proteins; it also reduced cellular proliferation and invasiveness in vitro as well as tumor growth in vivo. A subgroup of human patients with pancreatic cancer was found to have tumors that expressed pro-PrP. Most importantly, PrP expression in tumors correlated with a marked decrease in patient survival. We propose that binding of pro-PrP to FLNa perturbs FLNa function, thus contributing to the aggressiveness of PDAC. Prevention of this interaction could provide an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in human PDAC., Introduction Although the normal prion protein (PrP) is a glycosylphos-phatidylinositol-anchored (GPI-anchored) and ubiquitously expressed glycoprotein, and, when altered, is the causative agent of spongiform encephalopathy, its normal function remains mysterious [...]

Byline: Rashmita. Devi, Sandhya. Ghai, Neena. Singh, G. Puri Aim: This study aims to develop a standard operational protocol (SOP) for central line catheter care for nurses. Materials and Methods: [...]

For more than two decades, attempts to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats in India have been pursued by setting up national parks and sanctuaries. In tehese protected areas, however, human activities such as animal grazing and forest produce collection are banned or severely restricted, even though people may have lived in and conserved the areas for generations. Ensuing conflicts, particularly when combined with industrial pressures on the areas, have spurred many conservationists, social activists and forest officials to reconsider on national and local levels the artificial divide between conservation and human rights., In the early 1990s, the West Indian state of Gujarat 'delisted' the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary as a wildlife reserve, paving the way for limestone mining and the construction of a [...]

Glycosylinositol phospholipid (GPI) anchors of surface proteins function as sorting signal for sphingolipids and also as modulator of transport of some proteins along the secretory pathway. Interruptions due to mutations in the biosynthesis of GPI results in nonexpression of the corresponding proteins at the cell surface that could result in nondetection of malignant cells by the immune system.