Current research on the effects of plastics pollution in marine and freshwater aquatic invertebrates

Plastics pollution in the aquatic environments represents one of the most critical worldwide issue. Every year, million tons of waste products are reversed both in marine and freshwaters, persisting for long timings and determining serious effects to living organisms. Here, these synthetic materials are fragmented in small particles, known as micro- and nanoplastics, under the effects of both biotic and abiotic factors. Due to their characteristics, smaller fragments are easier accumulated inside animal tissues and organs, risking to enter in the trophic chain. To date, despite the current situation, only a small amount of research has been conducted, especially on aquatic invertebrates, which can represent a suitable model for better analyzing the possible plastics dangerous effects. For this reason, in the present review we aim to collect the recent information about micro and nanoplastics effects on both marine and freshwaters invertebrates. In particular, we do not only focus the attention on the obtained results, but also, we report the main experimental methods and particle types used. Regardless of the heterogeneity present in literature, the actual data result fundamental for setting up the future research

Spatio-Temporal Changes of Extracellular Matrix (ECM) Stiffness in the Development of the Leech Hirudo verbana

The invertebrate leech Hirudo verbana represents a powerful experimental animal model for improving the knowledge about the functional interaction between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cells within the tissue microenvironment (TME), and the key role played by ECM stiffness during development and growth. Indeed, the medicinal leech is characterized by a simple anatomical organization reproducing many aspects of the basic biological processes of vertebrates and in which a rapid spatiotemporal development is well established and easily assessed. Our results show that ECM structural organization, as well as the amount of fibrillar and non-fibrillar collagen are deeply different from hatching leeches to adult ones. In addition, the changes in ECM remodelling occurring during the different leech developmental stages, leads to a gradient of stiffness regulating both the path of migratory cells and their fates. The ability of cells to perceive and respond to changes in ECM composition and mechanics strictly depend on nuclear or cytoplasmic expression of Yes-Associated Protein 1 (YAP1), a key mediator converting mechanical signals into transcriptional outputs, expression, and activation

Step-by-step regeneration of tentacles after injury in anemonia viridis—morphological and structural cell analyses

Benthic marine invertebrates, such as corals, are often subjected to injury caused by several sources. Here, the differences and characteristics in injured and health tissues in terms of cellular components are shown through a histological investigation of the soft coral Anemonia viridis at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h, and 7 days after injury caused by tentacle amputation. In addition, a new tool was used for the first time in invertebrates, positron emission tomography, in order to investigate the events that occur during regeneration within a longer time period (0 h, 24 h, and 14 days after the tentacles were cut). Higher integrated density values were measured through a densitometric analysis in sections stained with Fontana-Masson at 24 h after the tentacles were cut. This suggests an increase in melanin-like containing cells and a subsequent increase in fibroblast-like cells differentiated by amoebocytes that converge to the lesion site in the early stages of inflammation and regeneration. This work provides, for the first time, an elucidation of the events that occur during wound-healing and regeneration in basal metazoan, focusing on the characterisation of immune cells and their role. Our results indicate that Mediterranean anthozoan proves to be a valuable model for studying regeneration. Many events highlighted in this research occur in different phyla, suggesting that they are highly conserved

Pectin-based bioinks for 3D models of neural tissue produced by a pH-controlled kinetics

Introduction: In the view of 3D-bioprinting with cell models representative of neural cells, we produced inks to mimic the basic viscoelastic properties of brain tissue. Moving from the concept that rheology provides useful information to predict ink printability, this study improves and expands the potential of the previously published 3D-reactive printing approach by introducing pH as a key parameter to be controlled, together with printing time. Methods: The viscoelastic properties, printability, and microstructure of pectin gels crosslinked with CaCO3 were investigated and their composition was optimized (i.e., by including cell culture medium, HEPES buffer, and collagen). Different cell models representative of the major brain cell populations (i.e., neurons, astrocytes, microglial cells, and oligodendrocytes) were considered. Results and Discussion: The outcomes of this study propose a highly controllable method to optimize the printability of internally crosslinked polysaccharides, without the need for additives or post-printing treatments. By introducing pH as a further parameter to be controlled, it is possible to have multiple (pH-dependent) crosslinking kinetics, without varying hydrogel composition. In addition, the results indicate that not only cells survive and proliferate following 3D-bioprinting, but they can also interact and reorganize hydrogel microstructure. Taken together, the results suggest that pectin-based hydrogels could be successfully applied for neural cell culture

TERT Extra-Telomeric Roles: Antioxidant Activity and Mitochondrial Protection

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase holoenzyme, which adds telomeric DNA repeats on chromosome ends to counteract telomere shortening. In addition, there is evidence of TERT non-canonical functions, among which is an antioxidant role. In order to better investigate this role, we tested the response to X-rays and H2O2 treatment in hTERT-overexpressing human fibroblasts (HF-TERT). We observed in HF-TERT a reduced induction of reactive oxygen species and an increased expression of the proteins involved in the antioxidant defense. Therefore, we also tested a possible role of TERT inside mitochondria. We confirmed TERT mitochondrial localization, which increases after oxidative stress (OS) induced by H2O2 treatment. We next evaluated some mitochondrial markers. The basal mitochondria quantity appeared reduced in HF-TERT compared to normal fibroblasts and an additional reduction was observed after OS; nevertheless, the mitochondrial membrane potential and morphology were better conserved in HF-TERT. Our results suggest a protective function of TERT against OS, also preserving mitochondrial functionality

Antibiotic treatment-induced dysbiosis differently affects BDNF and TrkB expression in the brain and in the gut of juvenile mice

Antibiotic use during adolescence may result in dysbiosis-induced neuronal vulnerability both in the enteric nervous system (ENS) and central nervous system (CNS) contributing to the onset of chronic gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), showing significant psychiatric comorbidity. Intestinal microbiota alterations during adolescence influence the expression of molecular factors involved in neuronal development in both the ENS and CNS. In this study, we have evaluated the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its high-affinity receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) in juvenile mice ENS and CNS, after a 2-week antibiotic (ABX) treatment. In both mucosa and mucosa-deprived whole-wall small intestine segments of ABX-treated animals, BDNF and TrKB mRNA and protein levels significantly increased. In longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus preparations of ABX-treated mice the percentage of myenteric neurons staining for BDNF and TrkB was significantly higher than in controls. After ABX treatment, a consistent population of BDNF-and TrkB-immunoreactive neurons costained with SP and CGRP, suggesting up-regulation of BDNF signaling in both motor and sensory myenteric neurons. BDNF and TrkB protein levels were downregulated in the hippocampus and remained unchanged in the prefrontal cortex of ABX-treated animals. Immunostaining for BDNF and TrkB decreased in the hippocampus CA3 and dentate gyrus subregions, respectively, and remained unchanged in the prefrontal cortex. These data suggest that dysbiosis differentially influences the expression of BDNF-TrkB in the juvenile mice ENS and CNS. Such changes may potentially contribute later to the development of functional gut disorders, such as IBS, showing psychiatric comorbidity

Distinctive waves of innate immune response in the retina in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Neurodegeneration mediates neurological disability in inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the CNS. The role of innate immune cells in mediating this damage has remained controversial with evidence for destructive and protective effects. This has complicated efforts to develop treatment. The time sequence and dynamic evolution of the opposing functions are especially unclear. Given limits of in vivo monitoring in human diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), animal models are warranted to investigate the association and timing of innate immune activation with neurodegeneration. Using noninvasive in vivo retinal imaging of experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) in CX3CR1GFP/+–knock-in mice followed by transcriptional profiling, we are able to show 2 distinct waves separated by a marked reduction in the number of innate immune cells and change in cell morphology. The first wave is characterized by an inflammatory phagocytic phenotype preceding the onset of EAE, whereas the second wave is characterized by a regulatory, antiinflammatory phenotype during the chronic stage. Additionally, the magnitude of the first wave is associated with neuronal loss. Two transcripts identified — growth arrest–specific protein 6 (GAS6) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) — might be promising targets for enhancing protective effects of microglia in the chronic phase after initial injury

Infectious Disease Ontology

Technological developments have resulted in tremendous increases in the volume and diversity of the data and information that must be processed in the course of biomedical and clinical research and practice. Researchers are at the same time under ever greater pressure to share data and to take steps to ensure that data resources are interoperable. The use of ontologies to annotate data has proven successful in supporting these goals and in providing new possibilities for the automated processing of data and information. In this chapter, we describe different types of vocabulary resources and emphasize those features of formal ontologies that make them most useful for computational applications. We describe current uses of ontologies and discuss future goals for ontology-based computing, focusing on its use in the field of infectious diseases. We review the largest and most widely used vocabulary resources relevant to the study of infectious diseases and conclude with a description of the Infectious Disease Ontology (IDO) suite of interoperable ontology modules that together cover the entire infectious disease domain