Neonatal umbilical cord blood transplantation halts skeletal disease progression in the murine model of MPS-I

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a promising source of stem cells to use in early haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) approaches for several genetic diseases that can be diagnosed at birth. Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS-I) is a progressive multi-system disorder caused by deficiency of lysosomal enzyme α-L-iduronidase, and patients treated with allogeneic HSCT at the onset have improved outcome, suggesting to administer such therapy as early as possible. Given that the best characterized MPS-I murine model is an immunocompetent mouse, we here developed a transplantation system based on murine UCB. With the final aim of testing the therapeutic efficacy of UCB in MPS-I mice transplanted at birth, we first defined the features of murine UCB cells and demonstrated that they are capable of multi-lineage haematopoietic repopulation of myeloablated adult mice similarly to bone marrow cells. We then assessed the effectiveness of murine UCB cells transplantation in busulfan-conditioned newborn MPS-I mice. Twenty weeks after treatment, iduronidase activity was increased in visceral organs of MPS-I animals, glycosaminoglycans storage was reduced, and skeletal phenotype was ameliorated. This study explores a potential therapy for MPS-I at a very early stage in life and represents a novel model to test UCB-based transplantation approaches for various diseases

The Use of a Disclosing Agent During Resective Periodontal Surgery for Improved Removal of Biofilm

A total removal of the bacterial deposits is one of the main challenges of periodontal therapy. A surgical approach is sometimes required in order to allow a correct access to the areas not thoroughly reached during the initial therapy. The present study focuses on the surgical scaling effectiveness in root deposits removal; the potential support of a disclosing agent during this procedure is also evaluated. Forty surgical periodontal patients were randomly divided between surgeries where the operator was informed about a final examination of the residual root deposits and surgeries where the operator was not informed. Straight after scaling procedures a supervisor recorded the O’Leary Plaque Index of the exposed roots by mean of a disclosing agent and the percentage of teeth with residual biofilm. After the stained deposits removal, a second chromatic examination was performed and new data were collected. Mann-Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon test for paired samples were used for comparisons respectively between the two surgery groups and the first and the second chromatic examination; one-sided p-value was set at 0.05. At first examination no significant differences between the two groups were observed regarding Plaque Index (p=0.24) and percentages of teeth with residual biofilm (p=0.07). The 100% removal of roots deposits was never achieved during the study but a significant reduction of 80% of root deposits was observed between first and second examination (p=0.0001). Since root deposits removal during periodontal surgery resulted always suboptimal, the use of a disclosing agent during this procedure could be a useful and practical aid

Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi

We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson. Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B- --> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

Impaired Embryonic Development in Mice Overexpressing the RNA-Binding Protein TIAR

TIA-1-related (TIAR) protein is a shuttling RNA-binding protein involved in several steps of RNA metabolism. While in the nucleus TIAR participates to alternative splicing events, in the cytoplasm TIAR acts as a translational repressor on specific transcripts such as those containing AU-Rich Elements (AREs). Due to its ability to assemble abortive pre-initiation complexes coalescing into cytoplasmic granules called stress granules, TIAR is also involved in the general translational arrest observed in cells exposed to environmental stress. However, the in vivo role of this protein has not been studied so far mainly due to severe embryonic lethality upon tiar invalidation.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Single Cell Genome Amplification Accelerates Identification of the Apratoxin Biosynthetic Pathway from a Complex Microbial Assemblage

Filamentous marine cyanobacteria are extraordinarily rich sources of structurally novel, biomedically relevant natural products. To understand their biosynthetic origins as well as produce increased supplies and analog molecules, access to the clustered biosynthetic genes that encode for the assembly enzymes is necessary. Complicating these efforts is the universal presence of heterotrophic bacteria in the cell wall and sheath material of cyanobacteria obtained from the environment and those grown in uni-cyanobacterial culture. Moreover, the high similarity in genetic elements across disparate secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways renders imprecise current gene cluster targeting strategies and contributes sequence complexity resulting in partial genome coverage. Thus, it was necessary to use a dual-method approach of single-cell genomic sequencing based on multiple displacement amplification (MDA) and metagenomic library screening. Here, we report the identification of the putative apratoxin. A biosynthetic gene cluster, a potent cancer cell cytotoxin with promise for medicinal applications. The roughly 58 kb biosynthetic gene cluster is composed of 12 open reading frames and has a type I modular mixed polyketide synthase/nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS/NRPS) organization and features loading and off-loading domain architecture never previously described. Moreover, this work represents the first successful isolation of a complete biosynthetic gene cluster from Lyngbya bouillonii, a tropical marine cyanobacterium renowned for its production of diverse bioactive secondary metabolites

Perspectives on utilization of edible coatings and nano-laminate coatings for extension of postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables

It is known that in developing countries, a large quantity of fruit and vegetable losses results at postharvest and processing stages due to poor or scarce storage technology and mishandling during harvest. The use of new and innovative technologies for reducing postharvest losses is a requirement that has not been fully covered. The use of edible coatings (mainly based on biopolymers) as a postharvest technique for agricultural commodities has offered biodegradable alternatives in order to solve problems (e.g., microbiological growth) during produce storage. However, biopolymer-based coatings can present some disadvantages such as: poor mechanical properties (e.g., lipids) or poor water vapor barrier properties (e.g., polysaccharides), thus requiring the development of new alternatives to solve these drawbacks. Recently, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising tool in the food processing industry, providing new insights about postharvest technologies on produce storage. Nanotechnological approaches can contribute through the design of functional packing materials with lower amounts of bioactive ingredients, better gas and mechanical properties and with reduced impact on the sensorial qualities of the fruits and vegetables. This work reviews some of the main factors involved in postharvest losses and new technologies for extension of postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables, focused on perspective uses of edible coatings and nano-laminate coatings.María L. Flores-López thanks Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT, Mexico) for PhD fellowship support (CONACYT Grant Number: 215499/310847). Miguel A. Cerqueira (SFRH/BPD/72753/2010) is recipient of a fellowship from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE Portugal). The authors also thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project ‘‘BioInd Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and AgroFood processes,’’ REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028 Co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – FUNCAP, CE Brazil (CI10080-00055.01.00/13)

A Precision Measurement of the Lambda_c Baryon Mass

The $\Lambda_c^+$ baryon mass is measured using $\Lambda_c^+\to\Lambda K^0_S K^+$ and $\Lambda_c^+\to\Sigma^0 K^0_S K^+$ decays reconstructed in 232 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ storage ring. The $\Lambda_c^+$ mass is measured to be $2286.46\pm0.14\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$. The dominant systematic uncertainties arise from the amount of material in the tracking volume and from the magnetic field strength.Comment: 14 pages, 8 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914

A gravitational-wave (GW) transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on 2015 September 14. The event, initially designated G184098 and later given the name GW150914, is described in detail elsewhere. By prior arrangement, preliminary estimates of the time, significance, and sky location of the event were shared with 63 teams of observers covering radio, optical, near-infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths with ground- and space-based facilities. In this Letter we describe the low-latency analysis of the GW data and present the sky localization of the first observed compact binary merger. We summarize the follow-up observations reported by 25 teams via private Gamma-ray Coordinates Network circulars, giving an overview of the participating facilities, the GW sky localization coverage, the timeline, and depth of the observations. As this event turned out to be a binary black hole merger, there is little expectation of a detectable electromagnetic (EM) signature. Nevertheless, this first broadband campaign to search for a counterpart of an Advanced LIGO source represents a milestone and highlights the broad capabilities of the transient astronomy community and the observing strategies that have been developed to pursue neutron star binary merger events. Detailed investigations of the EM data and results of the EM follow-up campaign are being disseminated in papers by the individual teams