Effect of partially purified fumonisins on cellular immune response in experimental murine paracoccidioidomycosis

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced mainly by Fusarium verticillioides, which can modulate the immune response. Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), caused by the fungus Paracoccodioides brasiliensis (Pb), is one of the most important systemic mycoses in Latin America. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the partially purified fumonisins on cellular immune response in mice infected with Pb. Four groups of male BALB/c mice were used. Groups PB and PB/FB were inoculated i.v. with 1 × 105 Pb yeast cells and, after 28 days, groups FB and PB/FB were inoculated (s.c.) with partially purified fumonisin B1 from F. verticillioides (5 × 2.25 mg FB1/kg body weight). After 7 days, cellular immune response was evaluated by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and lymphoproliferative assays (LA) using spleen cells. Nitric oxide (NO) production by spleen cells was also evaluated. The specific LA response to Pb antigen was higher in group PB than in FB and CTR groups (p< 0.05) but not significant with PB/FB. The DTH response was higher in infected than non infected groups (p<0.05) but also no significantly with PB and PB/FB groups. The lyphoproliferative response to ConA was decreased in FB or PB/FB in relation to CTR (p<0.05) but not with PB/FB and also a reduction of NO levels was observed in fumonisin treated in relation to control group FB1/kg (p<0.05). In conclusion, fumonisin B1 or other components of F. verticillioides extracts significantly suppress the unspecific cellular immune response and the NO production by splenocytes from P. brasiliensis infected or not infected BALB/c mice.Keywords: Fumonisin, Paracoccodioides brasiliensis, lymphoproliferative assay, nitric oxideAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(42), pp. 6126-613

Valley-spin blockade and spin resonance in carbon nanotubes

Manipulation and readout of spin qubits in quantum dots made in III-V materials successfully rely on Pauli blockade that forbids transitions between spin-triplet and spin-singlet states. Quantum dots in group IV materials have the advantage of avoiding decoherence from the hyperfine interaction by purifying them with only zero-spin nuclei. Complications of group IV materials arise from the valley degeneracies in the electronic bandstructure. These lead to complicated multiplet states even for two-electron quantum dots thereby significantly weakening the selection rules for Pauli blockade. Only recently have spin qubits been realized in silicon devices where the valley degeneracy is lifted by strain and spatial confinement. In carbon nanotubes Pauli blockade can be observed by lifting valley degeneracy through disorder. In clean nanotubes, quantum dots have to be made ultra-small to obtain a large energy difference between the relevant multiplet states. Here we report on low-disorder nanotubes and demonstrate Pauli blockade based on both valley and spin selection rules. We exploit the bandgap of the nanotube to obtain a large level spacing and thereby a robust blockade. Single-electron spin resonance is detected using the blockade.Comment: 31 pages including supplementary informatio

Mislocalization of Visual Stimuli: Independent Effects of Static and Dynamic Attention

Shifts of visual attention cause systematic distortions of the perceived locations of visual objects around the focus of attention. In the attention repulsion effect, the perceived location of a visual target is shifted away from an attention-attracting cue when the cue is presented before the target. Recently it has been found that, if the visual cue is presented after the target, the perceived location of the target shifts toward the location of the following cue. One unanswered question is whether a single mechanism underlies both attentional repulsion and attraction effects. We presented participants with two disks at diagonal locations as visual cues and two vertical lines as targets. Participants were asked to perform a forced-choice task to judge targets' positions. The present study examined whether the magnitude of the repulsion effect and the attraction effect would differ (Experiment 1), whether the two effects would interact (Experiment 2), and whether the location or the dynamic shift of attentional focus would determine the distortions effects (Experiment 3). The results showed that the effect size of the attraction effect was slightly larger than the repulsion effect and the preceding and following cues have independent influences on the perceived positions. The repulsion effect was caused by the location of attnetion and the attraction effect was due to the dynamic shift of attentional focus, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms for the retrospective attraction effect might be different from those for the repulsion effect

Gene and protein nomenclature in public databases

BACKGROUND: Frequently, several alternative names are in use for biological objects such as genes and proteins. Applications like manual literature search, automated text-mining, named entity identification, gene/protein annotation, and linking of knowledge from different information sources require the knowledge of all used names referring to a given gene or protein. Various organism-specific or general public databases aim at organizing knowledge about genes and proteins. These databases can be used for deriving gene and protein name dictionaries. So far, little is known about the differences between databases in terms of size, ambiguities and overlap. RESULTS: We compiled five gene and protein name dictionaries for each of the five model organisms (yeast, fly, mouse, rat, and human) from different organism-specific and general public databases. We analyzed the degree of ambiguity of gene and protein names within and between dictionaries, to a lexicon of common English words and domain-related non-gene terms, and we compared different data sources in terms of size of extracted dictionaries and overlap of synonyms between those. The study shows that the number of genes/proteins and synonyms covered in individual databases varies significantly for a given organism, and that the degree of ambiguity of synonyms varies significantly between different organisms. Furthermore, it shows that, despite considerable efforts of co-curation, the overlap of synonyms in different data sources is rather moderate and that the degree of ambiguity of gene names with common English words and domain-related non-gene terms varies depending on the considered organism. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, these results indicate that the combination of data contained in different databases allows the generation of gene and protein name dictionaries that contain significantly more used names than dictionaries obtained from individual data sources. Furthermore, curation of combined dictionaries considerably increases size and decreases ambiguity. The entries of the curated synonym dictionary are available for manual querying, editing, and PubMed- or Google-search via the ProThesaurus-wiki. For automated querying via custom software, we offer a web service and an exemplary client application

Identification of 14-3-3γ as a Mieap-interacting protein and its role in mitochondrial quality control

Mieap, a p53-inducible protein, controls mitochondrial integrity by inducing the accumulation of lysosomal proteins within mitochondria. This phenomenon is designated MALM, for Mieap-induced accumulation of lysosome-like organelles within mitochondria. To identify this novel Mieap-interacting protein(s), we performed a two-dimensional image-converted analysis of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (2DICAL) on the proteins immunoprecipitated by an anti-Mieap antibody. We indentified 14-3-3γ as one of the proteins that was included in the Mieap-binding protein complex when MALM was induced. The interaction between Mieap and 14-3-3γ was confirmed on the exogenous and endogenous proteins. Interestingly, 14-3-3γ was localized within mitochondria when MALM occurred. A 14-3-3γ deficiency did not affect the accumulation of Mieap and lysosomal proteins within mitochondria, but dramatically inhibited the elimination of oxidized mitochondrial proteins. These results suggest that 14-3-3γ plays a critical role in eliminating oxidized mitochondrial proteins during the MALM process by interacting with Mieap within mitochondria

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force recommendations for a veterinary epilepsy-specific MRI protocol

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases in veterinary practice. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is regarded as an important diagnostic test to reach the diagnosis of idiopathic epilepsy. However, given that the diagnosis requires the exclusion of other differentials for seizures, the parameters for MRI examination should allow the detection of subtle lesions which may not be obvious with existing techniques. In addition, there are several differentials for idiopathic epilepsy in humans, for example some focal cortical dysplasias, which may only apparent with special sequences, imaging planes and/or particular techniques used in performing the MRI scan. As a result, there is a need to standardize MRI examination in veterinary patients with techniques that reliably diagnose subtle lesions, identify post-seizure changes, and which will allow for future identification of underlying causes of seizures not yet apparent in the veterinary literature. There is a need for a standardized veterinary epilepsy-specific MRI protocol which will facilitate more detailed examination of areas susceptible to generating and perpetuating seizures, is cost efficient, simple to perform and can be adapted for both low and high field scanners. Standardisation of imaging will improve clinical communication and uniformity of case definition between research studies. A 6–7 sequence epilepsy-specific MRI protocol for veterinary patients is proposed and further advanced MR and functional imaging is reviewed

RegNetB: Predicting Relevant Regulator-Gene Relationships in Localized Prostate Tumor Samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A central question in cancer biology is what changes cause a healthy cell to form a tumor. Gene expression data could provide insight into this question, but it is difficult to distinguish between a gene that causes a change in gene expression from a gene that is affected by this change. Furthermore, the proteins that regulate gene expression are often themselves not regulated at the transcriptional level. Here we propose a Bayesian modeling framework we term RegNetB that uses mechanistic information about the gene regulatory network to distinguish between factors that cause a change in expression and genes that are affected by the change. We test this framework using human gene expression data describing localized prostate cancer progression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The top regulatory relationships identified by RegNetB include the regulation of RLN1, RLN2, by PAX4, the regulation of ACPP (PAP) by JUN, BACH1 and BACH2, and the co-regulation of PGC and GDF15 by MAZ and TAF8. These target genes are known to participate in tumor progression, but the suggested regulatory roles of PAX4, BACH1, BACH2, MAZ and TAF8 in the process is new.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Integrating gene expression data and regulatory topologies can aid in identifying potentially causal mechanisms for observed changes in gene expression.</p

Effects of intrauterine food restriction and long-term dietary supplementation with L-arginine on age-related changes in renal function and structure of rats

We have previously demonstrated that restricting intrauterine food by 50% in 3-mo-old rats produced lower nephron numbers and early-onset hypertension, the latter being normalized by L-arginine administration. in 18-mo-old rats, such restriction increased glomerulosclerosis. in this study, we expanded our investigation, evaluating functional, morphologic, and immunohistochemical parameters in intrauterine-food-restricted 18-mo-old rats, either receiving L-arginine (RA18) or not (R18). Age-matched, non-food-restricted controls were assigned to similar groups with L-arginine (CA18) and without (C18). After weaning, L-arginine was given daily for 17 mo. No functional or morphologic changes were observed in C IS rats. the R18 rats developed early-onset hypertension, which persisted throughout the observation period, as well its significant proteinuria from 12 mo on. in RA18 rats, L-arginine decreased both blood pressure levels and proteinuria, and glomerular diameter was si,significantly smaller than in R18 rats (115.63 +/- 2.2 versus 134.8 +/- 1.0 mu m, p < 0.05). However, in RA18 rats, glomerular filtration rate remained depressed. Although L-arginine prevented glomerulosclerosis (R18 = 14%, RA18 = 4%; p < 0.05), glomerular expression of fibronectin and desmin was still greater in RA18 rats than in controls. Our data show that, although L-arginine prevented hypertension and proteinuria, glomerular injury still occurred, suggesting that intrauterine food restriction may be one of the leading causes of impaired renal function in adult life.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, EPM, Dept Physiol, BR-04023900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, EPM, Dept Morphol,Embrol Div, BR-04023900 São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto Sch Med, Dept Physiol & Biophys, Brookline, MA 02146 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, EPM, Dept Physiol, BR-04023900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, EPM, Dept Morphol,Embrol Div, BR-04023900 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Production of phi mesons at mid-rapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We present the first results of meson production in the K^+K^- decay channel from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX detector at RHIC. Precision resonance centroid and width values are extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from the PDG accepted values is observed. The transverse mass spectra are fitted with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. These data are also fitted by a hydrodynamic model with the result that the freeze-out temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values previously derived from fitting single hadron inclusive data. As a function of transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral.to.central yield ratio RCP for the is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result lends support to theoretical models which distinguish between baryons and mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous proton yield.Comment: 326 authors, 24 pages text, 23 figures, 6 tables, RevTeX 4. To be submitted to Physical Review C as a regular article. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Improving the practicality of using non-aversive handling methods to reduce background stress and anxiety in laboratory mice

Handling can stimulate stress and anxiety in laboratory animals that negatively impacts welfare and introduces a confounding factor in many areas of research. Picking up mice by the tail is a major source of handling stress that results in strong aversion to the handler, while mice familiarised with being picked up in a tunnel or cupped on the open hand show low stress and anxiety, and actively seek interaction with their handlers. Here we investigate the duration and frequency of handling required for effective familiarisation with these non-aversive handling methods, and test whether this is sufficient to prevent aversion and anxiety when animals then experience immobilisation and a mild procedure (subcutaneous injection). Very brief handling (2 s) was sufficient to familiarise mice with tunnel handling, even when experienced only during cage cleaning. Brief but more frequent handling was needed for familiarisation with cup handling, while pick up by tail induced strong aversion even when handling was brief and infrequent. Experience of repeated immobilisation and subcutaneous injection did not reverse the positive effects of tunnel handling. Our findings demonstrate that replacing tail with tunnel handling during routine cage cleaning and procedures provides a major refinement with little if any cost for familiarisation