@article{BeckmannKadowSchumacheretal.2018,
  author    = {Beckmann, Nadine and Kadow, Stephanie and Schumacher, Fabian and Goethert, Joachim R. and Kesper, Stefanie and Draeger, Annette and Schulz-Schaeffer, Walter J. and Wang, Jiang and Becker, Jan U. and Kramer, Melanie and Kuehn, Claudine and Kleuser, Burkhard and Becker, Katrin Anne and Gulbins, Erich and Carpinteiro, Alexander},
  title     = {Pathological manifestations of Farber disease in a new mouse model},
  series = {Biological chemistry},
  volume    = {399},
  journal   = {Biological chemistry},
  number    = {10},
  publisher = {De Gruyter},
  address   = {Berlin},
  issn      = {1431-6730},
  doi       = {10.1515/hsz-2018-0170},
  pages     = {1183 -- 1202},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Farber disease (FD) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder resulting from acid ceramidase deficiency and subsequent ceramide accumulation. No treatments are clinically available and affected patients have a severely shortened lifespan. Due to the low incidence, the pathogenesis of FD is still poorly understood. Here, we report a novel acid ceramidase mutant mouse model that enables the study of pathogenic mechanisms of FD and ceramide accumulation. Asah1(tmEx1) mice were generated by deletion of the acid ceramidase signal peptide sequence. The effects on lysosomal targeting and activity of the enzyme were assessed. Ceramide and sphingomyelin levels were quantified by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and disease manifestations in several organ systems were analyzed by histology and biochemistry. We show that deletion of the signal peptide sequence disrupts lysosomal targeting and enzyme activity, resulting in ceramide and sphingomyelin accumulation. The affected mice fail to thrive and die early. Histiocytic infiltrations were observed in many tissues, as well as lung inflammation, liver fibrosis, muscular disease manifestations and mild kidney injury. Our new mouse model mirrors human FD and thus offers further insights into the pathogenesis of this disease. In the future, it may also facilitate the development of urgently needed therapies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ChengvandenBerghZengetal.2013,
  author    = {Cheng, Shifeng and van den Bergh, Erik and Zeng, Peng and Zhong, Xiao and Xu, Jiajia and Liu, Xin and Hofberger, Johannes and de Bruijn, Suzanne and Bhide, Amey S. and Kuelahoglu, Canan and Bian, Chao and Chen, Jing and Fan, Guangyi and Kaufmann, Kerstin and Hall, Jocelyn C. and Becker, Annette and Br{\"a}utigam, Andrea and Weber, Andreas P. M. and Shi, Chengcheng and Zheng, Zhijun and Li, Wujiao and Lv, Mingju and Tao, Yimin and Wang, Junyi and Zou, Hongfeng and Quan, Zhiwu and Hibberd, Julian M. and Zhang, Gengyun and Zhu, Xin-Guang and Xu, Xun and Schranz, M. Eric},
  title     = {The Tarenaya hassleriana Genome Provides insight Into Reproductive Trait and Genome Evolution of Crucifers},
  series = {The plant cell},
  volume    = {25},
  journal   = {The plant cell},
  number    = {8},
  publisher = {American Society of Plant Physiologists},
  address   = {Rockville},
  issn      = {1040-4651},
  doi       = {10.1105/tpc.113.113480},
  pages     = {2813 -- 2830},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {The Brassicaceae, including Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica crops, is unmatched among plants in its wealth of genomic and functional molecular data and has long served as a model for understanding gene, genome, and trait evolution. However, genome information from a phylogenetic outgroup that is essential for inferring directionality of evolutionary change has been lacking. We therefore sequenced the genome of the spider flower (Tarenaya hassleriana) from the Brassicaceae sister family, the Cleomaceae. By comparative analysis of the two lineages, we show that genome evolution following ancient polyploidy and gene duplication events affect reproductively important traits. We found an ancient genome triplication in Tarenaya (Th-alpha) that is independent of the Brassicaceae-specific duplication (At-alpha) and nested Brassica (Br-a) triplication. To showcase the potential of sister lineage genome analysis, we investigated the state of floral developmental genes and show Brassica retains twice as many floral MADS (for MINICHROMOSOME MAINTENANCE1, AGAMOUS, DEFICIENS and SERUM RESPONSE FACTOR) genes as Tarenaya that likely contribute to morphological diversity in Brassica. We also performed synteny analysis of gene families that confer self-incompatibility in Brassicaceae and found that the critical SERINE RECEPTOR KINASE receptor gene is derived from a lineage-specific tandem duplication. The T. hassleriana genome will facilitate future research toward elucidating the evolutionary history of Brassicaceae genomes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HenryNeillBeckeretal.2015,
  author    = {Henry, Brian D. and Neill, Daniel R. and Becker, Katrin Anne and Gore, Suzanna and Bricio-Moreno, Laura and Ziobro, Regan and Edwards, Michael J. and Muehlemann, Kathrin and Steinmann, Joerg and Kleuser, Burkhard and Japtok, Lukasz and Luginbuehl, Miriam and Wolfmeier, Heidi and Scherag, Andre and Gulbins, Erich and Kadioglu, Aras and Draeger, Annette and Babiychuk, Eduard B.},
  title     = {Engineered liposomes sequester bacterial exotoxins and protect from severe invasive infections in mice},
  series = {Nature biotechnology : the science and business of biotechnology},
  volume    = {33},
  journal   = {Nature biotechnology : the science and business of biotechnology},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Nature Publ. Group},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1087-0156},
  doi       = {10.1038/nbt.3037},
  pages     = {81 -- U295},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Gram-positive bacterial pathogens that secrete cytotoxic pore-forming toxins, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, cause a substantial burden of disease. Inspired by the principles that govern natural toxin-host interactions, we have engineered artificial liposomes that are tailored to effectively compete with host cells for toxin binding. Liposome-bound toxins are unable to lyse mammalian cells in vitro. We use these artificial liposomes as decoy targets to sequester bacterial toxins that are produced during active infection in vivo. Administration of artificial liposomes within 10 h after infection rescues mice from septicemia caused by S. aureus and S. pneumoniae, whereas untreated mice die within 24-33 h. Furthermore, liposomes protect mice against invasive pneumococcal pneumonia. Composed exclusively of naturally occurring lipids, tailored liposomes are not bactericidal and could be used therapeutically either alone or in conjunction with antibiotics to combat bacterial infections and to minimize toxin-induced tissue damage that occurs during bacterial clearance.},
  language  = {en}
}