Glial granules contain germline proteins in the Drosophila brain, which regulate brain transcriptome

Membraneless RNA-protein granules play important roles in many different cell types and organisms. In particular, granules found in germ cells have been used as a paradigm to study large and dynamic granules. These germ granules contain RNA and proteins required for germline development. Here, we unexpectedly identify large granules in specific subtypes of glial cells (“glial granules”) of the adult Drosophila brain which contain polypeptides with previously characterized roles in germ cells including scaffold Tudor, Vasa, Polar granule component and Piwi family proteins. Interestingly, our super-resolution microscopy analysis shows that in the glial granules, these proteins form distinct partially overlapping clusters. Furthermore, we show that glial granule scaffold protein Tudor functions in silencing of transposable elements and in small regulatory piRNA biogenesis. Remarkably, our data indicate that the adult brain contains a small population of cells, which express both neuroblast and germ cell proteins. These distinct cells are evolutionarily conserved and expand during aging suggesting the existence of age-dependent signaling. Our work uncovers previously unknown glial granules and indicates the involvement of their components in the regulation of brain transcriptome

Indicators of isokinetic dynamometry of the hip muscles in athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome after complex correction procedure

Objective: to compare the strength of the hip muscles before and after a complex correction procedure for the neuromuscular apparatus of the lumbosacral spine and lower limb in athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Materials and methods: 40 athletes 18-35 years old (mean age -27±6.5 years (M±m)) participated in a randomized control trial. Chondromalacia patellae confirmed by traumatologist was the inclusion criteria. Methods: isokinetic dynamometry. Results: an increase in the strength of the quadriceps muscle and the hamstring muscles at low, medium and high speeds of isokinetic dynamometry was registered after the course of treatment. The study group with exercises for stabilizing the lumbosacral spine and lower limb showed higher strength indices than the control group with exercises for training the muscles of lower limb alone. Conclusions: inclusion of complex correction procedure in the rehabilitation program for athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome in comparison with the traditional method of therapeutic gymnastics allows to increase the maximum arbitrary force and the endurance of the quadriceps, to improve the neuromuscular capabilities of the quadriceps

Thermal "portrait" of sportsmen with different aerobic capacity

Nowadays thermography technique is widely used in clinical and diagnostic procedures. Thermal “portrait” fixed by infra-red thermotracer in rest conditions is characterized by mosaic temperature distribution on skin surface and large individual differences in this pattern. We obtained significant correlations between maximal and average temperature on sportsmen upper body part and important indexes of aerobic capacity – VO2max and anaerobic threshold. We suggest mechanisms responsible for its formation and also propose hypothesis assuming possible role of brown adipose tissue influence on thermal “portrait” forming

Postural sway in volleyball players

The aim of this work was to analyze the postural sway of volleyball players in bipedal quiet stance. The center of pressure (CoP) was measured in 46 athletes and 42 non-athlete controls. Each subject was tested in 10 different conditions, 5 with their eyes open and 5 with their eyes closed. Volleyball players showed greater CoP ellipses, suggesting a different model of sensory integration in their postural stability. A multivariate approach to data analysis demonstrated that the postural sway of the two groups was different when the subjects kept their eyes open, but it was not with visual deprivation. This could partially be explained by the better ‘dynamic' visual acuity of athletes, since possible (‘static') refractive errors were corrected for both groups. Furthermore, we expected that national players, engaged in more intensive training programs, were more different from controls than regional ones, and that defensive players, whose role requires the quickest reaction times, were more different from controls than hitters. Our results confirmed these hypothesis. The protocol presented might be useful to assess the efficacy of intensive sport training programs and/or to select elite players with an aptitude for a specific playing positio

TDRD5 is required for retrotransposon silencing, chromatoid body assembly, and spermiogenesis in mice

Tdrd5-deficient mice develop a functional haploid genome despite spermiogenesis arrest at the round spermatid stage

A tudor domain protein SPINDLIN1 interacts with the mRNA-binding protein SERBP1 and is involved in mouse oocyte meiotic resumption

Mammalian oocytes are arrested at prophase I of meiosis, and resume meiosis prior to ovulation. Coordination of meiotic arrest and resumption is partly dependent on the post-transcriptional regulation of maternal transcripts. Here, we report that, SPINDLIN1 (SPIN1), a maternal protein containing Tudor-like domains, interacts with a known mRNA-binding protein SERBP1, and is involved in regulating maternal transcripts to control meiotic resumption. Mouse oocytes deficient for Spin1 undergo normal folliculogenesis, but are defective in resuming meiosis. SPIN1, via its Tudor-like domain, forms a ribonucleoprotein complex with SERBP1, and regulating mRNA stability and/or translation. The mRNA for the cAMP-degrading enzyme, PDE3A, is reduced in Spin1 mutant oocytes, possibly contributing to meiotic arrest. Our study demonstrates that Spin1 regulates maternal transcripts post-transcriptionally and is involved in meiotic resumption.Ting Gang Chew, Anne Peaston, Ai Khim Lim, Chanchao Lorthongpanich, Barbara B. Knowles, Davor Solte

Комплексное лечение пателлофеморального болевого синдрома у спортсменов после реконструкции передней крестообразной связки коленного сустава

Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS, patellar chondromalacia) after knee surgery is an important problem in sports medicine, solutions to which have not been developed enough.Objective: to determine the effect of complex treatment using an injectable chondroprotector and special exercise therapy on the functional state, statokinetic stability and severity of PFPS in athletes after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee joint.Patients and methods. An observational randomized controlled trial included 40 athletes after ACL reconstruction. The patients were divided into two groups. In the control group (n=20), a special rehabilitation technique was used after ACL reconstruction. In the main group (n=20), along with a similar method of rehabilitation, patients received a course of intramuscular injections of Alflutop (1 ml, No. 20). The duration of rehabilitation treatment was 1 month.Pain was assessed using a numerical rating scale and knee joint function using the Kujala questionnaire, statokinetic stability was assessed before and after complex rehabilitation treatment.Results and discussion. One month after the start of rehabilitation measures, both groups showed a significant decrease in pain intensity and an improvement in the functional state of the knee joint according to the Kujala questionnaire. The study of statokinetic stability indicators showed that after the course of rehabilitation in both groups, when standing with open eyes, there was a decrease in the area of the common center of pressure — CCOP (p<0.05) and an improvement in statokinetic stability, and when standing with eyes closed, a decrease in the CCOP area (p<0.05). At the same time, the difference in the results before and after the course of rehabilitation in the main group was significantly greater than in the control (p<0.05). The speed of the CCOP movement with open eyes in both groups did not change significantly: when standing with eyes closed, its positive dynamics was revealed after the course of rehabilitation (p<0.05).Conclusion. Intramuscular SYSADOA injection therapy, which was used as part of a rehabilitation program, reduced pain and improved the function of the knee joint and had a positive effect on statokinetic stability in athletes after ACL reconstruction.Пателлофеморальный болевой синдром (ПФБС, хондромаляция надколенника) после операций на коленном суставе — важная проблема спортивной медицины, методы решения которой недостаточно разработаны.Цель исследования — определение влияния комплексного лечения с использованием инъекционного хондропротектора и специальной лечебной физкультуры на функциональное состояние, статокинетическую устойчивость и степень выраженности ПФБС у спортсменов после реконструкции передней крестообразной связки (ПКС) коленного сустава.Пациенты и методы. В наблюдательное рандомизированное контролируемое исследование включено 40 спортсменов, перенесших реконструкцию ПКС. Пациенты были разделены на две группы. В контрольной группе (n=20) использовалась специальная методика реабилитации после реконструкции ПКС. В основной группе (n=20) наряду с аналогичной методикой реабилитации пациенты получали курс внутримышечных инъекций (по 1 мл, № 20) препарата Алфлутоп. Длительность восстановительных мероприятий — 1 мес.Проводили оценку боли по числовой рейтинговой шкале и функции коленного сустава по опроснику Kujala, а также исследование статокинетической устойчивости до и после комплексного восстановительного лечения.Результаты и обсуждение. Через 1 мес после начала восстановительных мероприятий в обеих группах отмечены значимое уменьшение интенсивности боли и улучшение функционального состояния коленного сустава по опроснику Kujala.Исследование показателей статокинетической устойчивости, показало, что после курса реабилитации в обеих группах при стоянии с открытыми глазами отмечались уменьшение площади общего центра давления — ОЦД(р<0,05) и улучшение статокинетической устойчивости, а при стоянии с закрытыми глазами — уменьшение площади ОЦД (р<0,05). При этом разница результатов до и после курса реабилитации в основной группе была значимо большей по сравнению с таковой в контроле (р<0,05). Скорость смещения ОЦД с открытыми глазами в обеих группах существенно не менялась: при стоянии с закрытыми глазами выявлена ее положительная динамика после курса реабилитации (р<0,05).Заключение. Внутримышечная терапия препаратом SYSADOA, применявшаяся в рамках реабилитационной программы, позволила уменьшить боль и улучшить функциональные возможности коленного сустава, положительно повлияла на показатели статокинетической устойчивости у спортсменов, перенесших реконструкцию ПКС

The Phylogenetic Origin of oskar Coincided with the Origin of Maternally Provisioned Germ Plasm and Pole Cells at the Base of the Holometabola

The establishment of the germline is a critical, yet surprisingly evolutionarily labile, event in the development of sexually reproducing animals. In the fly Drosophila, germ cells acquire their fate early during development through the inheritance of the germ plasm, a specialized maternal cytoplasm localized at the posterior pole of the oocyte. The gene oskar (osk) is both necessary and sufficient for assembling this substance. Both maternal germ plasm and oskar are evolutionary novelties within the insects, as the germline is specified by zygotic induction in basally branching insects, and osk has until now only been detected in dipterans. In order to understand the origin of these evolutionary novelties, we used comparative genomics, parental RNAi, and gene expression analyses in multiple insect species. We have found that the origin of osk and its role in specifying the germline coincided with the innovation of maternal germ plasm and pole cells at the base of the holometabolous insects and that losses of osk are correlated with changes in germline determination strategies within the Holometabola. Our results indicate that the invention of the novel gene osk was a key innovation that allowed the transition from the ancestral late zygotic mode of germline induction to a maternally controlled establishment of the germline found in many holometabolous insect species. We propose that the ancestral role of osk was to connect an upstream network ancestrally involved in mRNA localization and translational control to a downstream regulatory network ancestrally involved in executing the germ cell program