Recent Publications
Moshe Dessau: The structural basis for SARM1 inhibition and activation under energetic stress (Elife . )
SARM1 an executor of axonal degeneration, displays NADase activity that depletes the key cellular metabolite, NAD+, in response to nerve injury. The basis of SARM1 inhibition, and its activation under stress conditions are still unknown. Here, we present cryo-EM maps of SARM1 at 2.9 and 2.7 Å resolution.
Karl Skorecki: Childhood Cancer and the Risk of ESKD (J Am Soc Nephrol . )
Increasing cancer incidence among children alongside improved treatments has resulted in a growing number of pediatric cancer survivors. Despite childhood cancer survivors' exposure to various factors that compromise kidney function, few studies have investigated the association between childhood cancer and future kidney disease.
Esther Orlanski-Meyer, Dotan Yogev, Adi Auerbach, Orli Megged, Daniel Glikman, Philip J Hashkes, Maskit Bar-Meir: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with SARS-CoV-2 in an 8-week old infant (J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc . )
We describe an 8-week-old infant with severe gastrointestinal symptoms, significant hypoalbuminemia, and mild carditis following asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2. The infant's symptoms, including their temporal appearance, were consistent with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). A unique finding on colonic histology which may shed light on the pathogenesis of MIS-C was identified. The patient improved significantly following several anti-inflammatory treatments. The lag between the presentation of MIS-C and initial SARS-CoV-2 exposure, which may often be asymptomatic, together with the young age of our patient, make this a challenging diagnosis. Clinicians should be aware of this entity, even in the neonatal and infantile age groups, to facilitate timely identification and treatment.
D Tworowski, A Gorohovski, S Mukherjee, G Carmi, E Levy, R Detroja, S Biswas Mukherjee, M Frenkel-Morgenstern: COVID19 Drug Repository: text-mining the literature in search of putative COVID19 therapeutics (Nucleic Acids Res .)
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has generated an enormous amount of Big Data. To date, the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19), lists ∼130,000 articles from the WHO COVID-19 database, PubMed Central, medRxiv, and bioRxiv, as collected by Semantic Scholar....our COVID19 Drug Repository represents a modular platform for drug data navigation and analysis, with an emphasis on COVID-19-related information currently being reported.
Or Ben-Haim, Maya Azrad, Nora Saleh, Linda Tkhawkho, Avi Peretz: Evaluation of the NG-Test CARBA 5 Kit for Rapid Detection of Carbapenemase Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (Lab Med .)
We evaluated NG-Test CARBA 5, a new phenotypic carbapenemase detection assay, and compared it to the routine Xpert CARBA-R polymerase chain reaction assay. Furthermore, we tested the kit's performance after bacterial growth on 4 different solid media.
Mor Zigdon, Shai Bel: Lysozyme: A Double-Edged Sword in the Intestine (Trends Immunol . )
Lysozyme-secreting Paneth cells are abnormally present in the distal colons of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), along with high amounts of lysozyme in feces. In a recent article in Immunity, Yu et al. show that lysozyme-mediated processing of luminal bacteria in the colon triggers a proinflammatory response and predisposes mice to experimental IBD.
[graphic source: Wikipedia]
Avi Peretz: Full genome viral sequences inform patterns of SARS-CoV-2 spread into and within Israel (Nat Commun . )
Full genome sequences are increasingly used to track the geographic spread and transmission dynamics of viral pathogens. Here, with a focus on Israel, we sequence 212 SARS-CoV-2 sequences and use them to perform a comprehensive analysis to trace the origins and spread of the virus.
Amir Mari: Cutaneous involvement of hepatitis C virus. Which future after new antiviral drugs? (G Ital Dermatol Venereol .)
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease with approximately 71 million chronically infected individuals worldwide.1 The last decade marked the development of multiple direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), which are medications targeted at specific steps within the HCV life cycle resulting in disruption of viral replication and infection. Compared to interferon-based treatments, the emergence of these drugs revolutionized the management and care of HCV infected patients in several aspects....
Tali Elkanovich, Majd Hajouj, Ohad Ronen: The natural neck crease as an anatomic landmark for thyroid surgery incision (Surgeon .)
The anatomical relations between the neck skin crease and the thyroid gland isthmus and cricoid cartilage are important for surgical planning.
Between 2016 and 2018 anatomical measurements were performed on 118 participants during a presurgical ultrasound exam and were verified during surgery. The data were stratified according to age, sex, patient's body mass index (BMI), and height.
Chaim Putterman: Neurofilament light is a biomarker of brain involvement in lupus and primary Sjögren's syndrome (J Neurol . )
To test the hypothesis that neurofilament light (NfL) in CSF is a biomarker of CNS involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), we measured NfL in CSF from 52 patients with lupus and 54 with pSS and explored associations with clinical, structural, immunological and biochemical abnormalities.
[Lupus_erythematosus_Wellcome_L0070513_6 from Wikimedia Commons]
Yael Sciaky-Tamir, Inbar Ben Shachar: Vaginal delivery in SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women in Israel: a multicenter prospective analysis (Arch Gynecol Obstet . )
Among SARS-CoV-2-infected mothers, vaginal delivery rates were high and associated with favorable outcomes with no cases of neonatal COVID-19. This investigates the mode of delivery and its impact on immediate neonatal outcome in SARS-CoV-2-infected women.
Hanna Mandel, Tzipora C Falik-Zaccai: Mammalian Homologue NME3 of DYNAMO1 Regulates Peroxisome Division (Int J Mol Sci . )
Peroxisomes proliferate by sequential processes comprising elongation, constriction, and scission of peroxisomal membrane. It is known that the constriction step is mediated by a GTPase named dynamin-like protein 1 (DLP1) upon efficient loading of GTP. However, mechanism of fuelling GTP to DLP1 remains unknown in mammals. We earlier show that nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase-like protein, termed dynamin-based ring motive-force organizer 1 (DYNAMO1), generates GTP for DLP1 in a red alga, Cyanidioschyzon merolae. In the present study, we identified that nucleoside diphosphate kinase 3 (NME3), a mammalian homologue of DYNAMO1, localizes to peroxisomes.
Hadar Mor, Omry Koren: Microbial signature in IgE-mediated food allergies (Genome Med . )
Multiple studies suggest a key role for gut microbiota in IgE-mediated food allergy (FA) development, but to date, none has studied it in the persistent state.
Dalit Porat Ben Amy: Custom-Made Trays for Targeted Treatment of Oral Vesiculobullous Diseases - A Proposed Protocol (Dermatol Ther .)
Topical and intra-lesional corticosteroids (CS) are effective treatments for oral manifestations of autoimmune Vesiculobullous diseases (VBD), however, may cause unnecessary absorption in the adjacent healthy mucosal surfaces, local infections, atrophy and injection pain.