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Case summary An 11-year old neutered female domestic shorthair cat presented for investigation of a large, partially ulcerated skin mass in the area of the left scapula. The cat had been vaccinated 6 weeks previously in the same area. Haematology showed a marked neutrophilia and monocytosis. Tru-cut biopsies were taken and histopathology was consistent with a high-grade soft tissue sarcoma. Thoracic radiographs and abdominal ultrasound revealed no abnormalities. Moderate mixed (palisading, brush border and smooth) periosteal reaction was seen on the diaphysis of long bones at the time of the radiographic examination. Magnetic resonance imaging of the mass showed infiltration within deeper tissues and the owners elected euthanasia. Post-mortem examination confirmed the presence of hypertrophic osteopathy with a concurrent injection-site sarcoma. No evidence of intra-thoracic or intra-abdominal disease was found. Relevance and novel information To our knowledge, this is the first report where hypertrophic osteopathy has been described in a cat with a soft tissue sarcoma, most likely an injection-site sarcoma.

Despite large vaccination campaigns, measles virus (MeV) and canine distemper virus (CDV) cause major morbidity and mortality in humans and animals, respectively. The MeV and CDV cell entry system relies on two interacting envelope glycoproteins: the attachment protein (H), consisting of stalk and head domains, co-operates with the fusion protein (F) to mediate membrane fusion. However, how receptor-binding by the H-protein leads to F-triggering is not fully understood. Here, we report that an anti-CDV-H monoclonal antibody (mAb-1347), which targets the linear H-stalk segment 126-133, potently inhibits membrane fusion without interfering with H receptor-binding or F-interaction. Rather, mAb-1347 blocked the F-triggering function of H-proteins regardless of the presence or absence of the head domains. Remarkably, mAb-1347 binding to headless CDV H, as well as standard and engineered bioactive stalk-elongated CDV H-constructs treated with cells expressing the SLAM receptor, was enhanced. Despite proper cell surface expression, fusion promotion by most H-stalk mutants harboring alanine substitutions in the 126-138 "spacer" section was substantially impaired, consistent with deficient receptor-induced mAb-1347 binding enhancement. However, a previously reported F-triggering defective H-I98A variant still exhibited the receptor-induced "head-stalk" rearrangement. Collectively, our data spotlight a distinct mechanism for morbillivirus membrane fusion activation: prior to receptor contact, at least one of the morbillivirus H-head domains interacts with the membrane-distal "spacer" domain in the H-stalk, leaving the F-binding site located further membrane-proximal in the stalk fully accessible. This "head-to-spacer" interaction conformationally stabilizes H in an auto-repressed state, which enables intracellular H-stalk/F engagement while preventing the inherent H-stalk's bioactivity that may prematurely activate F. Receptor-contact disrupts the "head-to-spacer" interaction, which subsequently "unlocks" the stalk, allowing it to rearrange and trigger F. Overall, our study reveals essential mechanistic requirements governing the activation of the morbillivirus membrane fusion cascade and spotlights the H-stalk "spacer" microdomain as a possible drug target for antiviral therapy.

Photocatalysis, belonging to the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), is a potential new transformation technology for lignin derivatives to value added products (e.g., phenol, benzene, toluene, and xylene). Moreover, lignin represents the only viable source to produce aromatic compounds as fossil fuel alternative. This review covers recent advancement made in the photochemical transformation of industrial lignins. It starts with the photochemical reaction principle followed by results obtained by varying process parameters. In this context, influences of photocatalysts, metal ions, additives, lignin concentration, and illumination intensity and the influence of pH are presented and discussed. Furthermore, an overview is given on several used process analytical methods describing the results obtained from the degradation of lignin derivatives. Finally, a promising concept by coupling photocatalysis with a consecutive biocatalytic process was briefly reviewed.

Gene expression analysis has become an invaluable tool for understanding gene function and regulation. However, global expression analysis requires large RNA quantities or RNA preamplification. We describe an isothermal messenger RNA (mRNA) amplification method, Ribo-SPIA™, which generates micrograms of labeled cDNA from 5 ng of total RNA in 1 day for analysis on arrays or by PCR quantification. Highly reproducible GeneChip® array performance (R2 > 0.95) was achieved with independent reactions starting with 5–100 ng Universal Human Reference total RNA. Targets prepared by the Ribo-SPIA procedure (20 ng total RNA input) or the Affymetrix Standard Protocol (10 µg total RNA) perform similarly, as indicated by gene call concordance (86%) and good correlation of differential gene expression determination (R2 = 0.82). Accuracy of transcript representation in cDNA generated by the Ribo-SPIA procedure was also demonstrated by PCR quantification of 33 transcripts, comparing differential expression in amplified and nonamplified cDNA (R2 = 0.97 over a range of nearly 106 in fold change). Thus Ribo-SPIA amplification of mRNA is rapid, robust, highly accurate and reproducible, and sensitive enough to allow quantification of very low abundance transcripts.

The synthesis of immobilized catalyst on porous glass support material via the sol-gel route is reported. TiO2-P25-SiO2 + Pt, TiO2-P25-SiO2, TiOSO4_30.6 wt%, and ZnO + TiO2-P25-SiO2 catalysts were synthesized and a comparative study is done regarding morphology of coatings, degradation rates, reaction rates, dissolved carbon (DC), formation of peaks, and fluorescence of products formed from the photocatalytic degradation of lignin sulfonate obtained from a local paper plant. Through simultaneous reaction-extraction pathways applying dialysis filtration and highly porous polystyrene divinylbenzene adsorbent resin (HR-P) for solid phase extraction (SPE), an attempt has been made to isolate smaller molecules produced from photocatalytic degradation. Moreover relatively high lignin sulfonate (0.5 g/L) concentrations are used in the reactions. UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed a faster reduction in the concentration values for the aliphatic moiety compared to the aromatic moiety. Peaks were observed by both fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC suggesting the production of new substances and fluorophores.

A comparative study between ten different photocatalytic active coatings was done. The effectiveness and photocatalytic activity of the coatings were studied by degradation experiments of methylene blue (MB) dye under UV light illumination. The reactor design consisting of sintered glass packed in a borosilicate tube placed between two planar dielectric barrier discharge lamps (Osram Planon) is reported for the first time. The coatings consisted of either titania, silica, or zinc on sintered borosilicate glass. The advantage of sol-gel in catalyst preparation was exploited to combine catalyst to act as cocatalyst. TiO2-P25 widely applied in suspension systems was effectively immobilized on sintered glass support with the aid of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) solution which acted as support material. Results indicated that TiO2-P25+SiO2, TiO2-P25+SiO2+Pt, and TiOSO4_30,6wt% films showed highest degradation rates close to 100% after 90 min illumination with degradation rates exceeding 50% after 30 minutes. TTIP+Pt showed lowest degradation rate.

Measles virus (MeV), a highly contagious member of the Paramyxoviridae family, causes measles in humans. The Paramyxoviridae family of negative single-stranded enveloped viruses includes several important human and animal pathogens, with MeV causing approximately 120,000 deaths annually. MeV and canine distemper virus (CDV)-mediated diseases can be prevented by vaccination. However, sub-optimal vaccine delivery continues to foster MeV outbreaks. Post-exposure prophylaxis with antivirals has been proposed as a novel strategy to complement vaccination programs by filling herd immunity gaps. Recent research has shown that membrane fusion induced by the morbillivirus glycoproteins is the first critical step for viral entry and infection, and determines cell pathology and disease outcome. Our molecular understanding of morbillivirus-associated membrane fusion has greatly progressed towards the feasibility to control this process by treating the fusion glycoprotein with inhibitory molecules. Current approaches to develop anti-membrane fusion drugs and our knowledge on drug resistance mechanisms strongly suggest that combined therapies will be a prerequisite. Thus, discovery of additional anti-fusion and/or anti-attachment protein small-molecule compounds may eventually translate into realistic therapeutic options.