Modulation of disease risk according to a cathepsin D / apolipoprotein E genotype in Parkinson's disease.

in Journal of Neural Transmission (2003), 110(7), 749-55

Aspartyl protease Cathepsin D (CTSD) has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to interference with protein degradation mechanisms. A C224T (A38V ... [more ▼]

Aspartyl protease Cathepsin D (CTSD) has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to interference with protein degradation mechanisms. A C224T (A38V) polymorphism in exon 2 of the CTSD gene is reported to be associated with an increased risk for AD. The partially overlapping pathology between AD and Parkinson's disease (PD) led us to investigate the role of this polymorphism in PD. Using association studies in 457 German PD patients and 340 controls we found no evidence for direct association between the CTSD genotype and PD. However, stratification for the apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 allele suggests a protective effect of the CTSD T-allele in PD (OR = 0.24, p = 0.002). Our findings suggest interference of CTSD and APOE polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of PD, in the sense of modulating disease risk. [less ▲]

Surface-induced organization of linear molecules on nanostructured polytetrafluoroethylene: Crystalline state of poly[vinylidenefluoride-trifluoroethylene].

in Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (1997), 55(6), 3497-3506

Highly crystalline and uniaxial-oriented polytetrafluoroethylene films, nanostructured in one dimension, were used to produce a fully crystalline, thermoreversible morphology in the ferroelectric ... [more ▼]

Highly crystalline and uniaxial-oriented polytetrafluoroethylene films, nanostructured in one dimension, were used to produce a fully crystalline, thermoreversible morphology in the ferroelectric copolymer poly[vinylidenefluoride-trifluoroethylene]. The resulting state is built up of regularly stacked lamellar crystals of about 100 nm thickness and lateral dimensions of about 6 μm. [less ▲]

Second-order elasticity of liquid crystals within their nematic state at high frequencies

in Physical Review. E : Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics (1995), 51(3), 2115-2128

Within this work we present Brillouin and ultrasonic investigations performed on the liquid crystals p-methoxybenzylidene p-(n-butylaniline) (MBBA), p-azoxyanisol (PAA), 4-cyano-4-n-alkylbiphenyles (nCB ... [more ▼]

Within this work we present Brillouin and ultrasonic investigations performed on the liquid crystals p-methoxybenzylidene p-(n-butylaniline) (MBBA), p-azoxyanisol (PAA), 4-cyano-4-n-alkylbiphenyles (nCB), and 4-n-pentoxybenzylidene-4'-n-octoaniline (5O.8). Special attention has been paid to the evolution of a significant splitting of the two longitudinal polarized acoustic modes within the nematic phase. Angle-resolving Brillouin spectroscopy allowed the determination of the complete stiffness tensors and hence a discussion of the propagation of quasitransverse polarized acoustic modes in the nematic state of liquid crystals. We analyze the behavior of the eigenvectors of the relevant acoustic modes and discuss their significance for the propagation of quasishear modes. For 5O.8 we report an acoustic instability within its nematic state. We confirm the existence of a universal thermal relaxation mechanism of weak activation energy for the nematic state of classical liquid crystals. The observed hypersonic anisotropy is discussed in terms of that relaxation mechanism and is compared with that of glass-forming liquid crystals. [less ▲]