Neuromeningeal cryptoccocosis revealing IgA-λ multiple myeloma.

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic fungal infection that is commonly associated with an immune-compromised state. Cases of cryptococcosis have rarely been reported in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, cryptococcosis as a presenting symptom of MM has never been reported. We presented here a case of neuromeningeal cryptococcosis in a patient without underlying diseases, who has revealed IgA-λ MM. Early detection and treatment of cryptococcosis are essential to reduce morbidity.

Neuro-meningeal cryptococcal infection revealing a multiple myeloma.

Rare cases of Cryptococcus have been documented in patients living with multiple myeloma. To date there has been no documented evidence of cryptococcosis revealing multiple myeloma. We reported a 63-year-old man who had a 2-months history continuous holocranial headaches, morning vomiting, complaining of blurred vision and fever. The biologic and the imaging showed a Cryptococcus meningoencephalitis. The search for a cause of immunodeficiency revealed a multiple myeloma. The diagnosis for Cryptococcus was confirmed according to an India ink stain, blood and cerebrospinal fluid culture. The patient's treatment for multiple myeloma was initiated with a chemotherapy regimen. The evolution was good without complication. Cryptococcosis, especially in the neuro-meningeal form, is a serious, deadly opportunistic infection. The search of an underlining immunodeficiency must be systematic. In this case, it was associated with early stage multiple myeloma.

Brucellosis, an uncommon cause of acute acalculous cholecystitis: two new cases and concise review.

Acalculous cholecystitis etiologies while numerous, some of them are less-known such as brucellosis. In this report, we elaborate the clinical findings, investigations and management of two female patients presenting acalculous cholecystitis in whom diagnosis of acute brucellosis was retained. Both patients had fever, asthenia and abdominal tenderness. Laboratory results showed evidence of inflammation as well as hepatic cytolysis while cholestasis was noted in one patient. In both cases, ultrasound study and CT confirmed the presence of acalculous cholecystitis. Serology (tube agglutination test) led to the diagnosis of brucellosis. Diagnosis of brucellosis-related acute cholecystitis was established in both cases based on imaging findings as well as serology without resorting to cholecystectomy. Favourable clinical response to specific antibiotic therapy further supported our diagnosis as well as our decision to avoid surgery. Although few cases have been reported, brucellosis must be considered as a cause of acalculous cholecystitis, especially in endemic countries.

Expansion and Functional Diversification of SKP1-Like Genes in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

The ubiquitin proteasome 26S system (UPS), involving monomeric and multimeric E3 ligases is one of the most important signaling pathways in many organisms, including plants. The SCF (SKP1/Cullin/F-box) multimeric complex is particularly involved in response to development and stress signaling. The SKP1 protein (S-phase kinase-associated protein 1) is the core subunit of this complex. In this work, we firstly identified 92 and 87 non-redundant Triticum aestivum SKP1-like (TaSKP) genes that were retrieved from the latest release of the wheat genome database (International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) RefSeq v1.0) and the genome annotation of the TGAC v1 respectively. We then investigated the structure, phylogeny, duplication events and expression patterns of the SKP1-like gene family in various tissues and environmental conditions using a wheat expression platform containing public data. TaSKP1-like genes were expressed differentially in response to stress conditions, displaying large genomic variations or short insertions/deletions which suggests functional specialization within TaSKP1-like genes. Finally, interactions between selected wheat FBX (F-box) proteins and putative ancestral TaSKP1-like proteins were tested using the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) system to examine the molecular interactions. These observations suggested that six Ta-SKP1 genes are likely to be ancestral genes, having similar functions as ASK1 and ASK2 in Arabidopsis, OSK1 and OSK20 in rice and PpSKP1 and PpSKP2 in Physcomitrella patens.

Structural, expression and interaction analysis of rice SKP1-like genes.

The degradation of proteins by the 26S proteasome is initiated by protein polyubiquitination mediated by a three-step cascade. The specific ubiquitination of different target proteins is mediated by different classes of E3 ubiquitin ligases, among which the best known are Skp1-Cullin-F-box complexes. Whereas protists, fungi and some vertebrates have a single SKP1 gene, many animal and plant species possess multiple SKP1 homologues. In this paper, we report on the structure, phylogeny and expression of the complete set of rice SKP1 genes (OSKs, Oryza sativa SKP1-like genes). Our analyses indicated that OSK1 and OSK20 belong to a class of SKP1 genes that contain one intron at a conserved position and are highly expressed. In addition, our yeast two-hybrid results revealed that OSK proteins display a differing ability to interact with F-box proteins. However, OSK1 and OSK20 seemed to interact with most of the nine F-box proteins tested. We suggest that rice OSK1 and OSK20 are likely to have functions similar to the Arabidopsis ASK1 and ASK2 genes.