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Hr1a consists of two 30-bp imperfect palindrome sequences separated by 58 bp and each palindrome contains a naturally occurring EcoRI site at its core. Plasmid subclones of the hr1a-containing AcMNPV HindIII-N fragment were examined for their ability to replicate in virus-infected (Spodoptera frugiperda) Sf9 cells, and to stimulate transcription when linked in cis with a 39K gene promoter-beta-glucuronidase fusion and cotransfected into cells along with a plasmid (ple-1) containing the gene encoding the trans-acting factor IE-1. Only those plasmids containing hr1a underwent infection-dependent replication and were able to stimulate transcription. Sequences mapping to the left of hr1a were required for maximal levels of replication. A single palindrome from hr1a was sufficient for supporting plasmid replication and for stimulating transcription, although both activities were more efficient when both palindromes were present. Plasmids containing only one-half of a palindrome or disruptions of the central EcoRI core either did not replicate, or replicated very poorly, and did not exhibit enhanced transcriptional activity from the 39K gene promoter. Gel retardation experiments showed that labeled hr1a-containing DNA fragments had retarded migration after incubation with extracts from cells transfected with ple-1. Supershift experiments using polyclonal antibodies to IE-1 indicated that IE-1 is a component of the protein complex bound to hr1a. Fragments containing disruptions of the EcoRI-core still bound IE-1, as shown by gel retardation assays, indicating that IE-1 binding alone is not sufficient to allow replication and transcriptional enhancement.

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BackgroundCognitive impairment is associated with a negative prognosis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as with clinical specificity. We investigate neuropsychological function in ALS patients without known genetic mutations in a Korean tertiary clinic.MethodsThree hundred and eighteen patients were enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort from September 2008 to February 2012. At the time of diagnosis of sporadic ALS, we carried out genetic and comprehensive neuropsychological tests on all patients, and collected demographic and clinical characteristics. Six cognitive domains, namely executive function, attention, language, calculation, visuospatial function and memory were evaluated. ANOVA and t-tests were used to assess differences in clinical characteristics and neuropsychological parameters between sporadic ALS patients. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model were used for survival analysis.ResultsOne hundred and sixty-six patients were categorized into five subtypes: normal cognition (ALS pure), cognitive impairment (ALSci), behavioral impairment (ALSbi), frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD), and other types of dementia. Seventy patients (70/166, 42.2%) were cognitively or behaviorally impaired. Among the impaired patients, eight (8/166, 4.8%) had FTD-type dementia and one (1/166, 0.6%) was Alzheimer's disease-type. The ALS patients with cognitive impairment (ALSci) and with FTD (ALS-FTD) were more severely impaired in executive function, attention, language and memory than the cognitively intact ALS patients (ALS pure). In a survival analysis, ALSci (β = 1.925, p = 0.025) and ALS-FTD groups (β = 4.150, p = 0.019) tended to have shorter survival than the ALS pure group.ConclusionsAbout half of ALS patients without known genetic variation have cognitive or behavioral impairment. ALS patients with cognitive abnormalities, especially FTD, have a poorer prognosis than those without cognitive impairment. In neuropsychological profiling, executive tasks were effective in identifying cognitive impairment in the ALS patients. It would be useful for clinicians to classify ALS according to neuropsychological profiles, and screen for subtle cognitive impairment.

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