Corals of the genus Porites are a locally abundant component of the epibiont community on mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize

Mangroves are generally regarded as inhospitable for corals, but recent reports suggest they provide ecological refuge for some species. We surveyed diverse mangrove habitats on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, documenting 127 colonies of Porites divaricata (Thin Finger Coral) along 1858 m of mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye and a much more diverse coral assemblage at Crooked Creek. At Calabash, corals were highly clumped, and varied widely in size and morphology, including large well-arborized colonies, encrusting forms with few branches, and new recruits with no branches, suggesting an age-structuredpopulation exhibiting extensive morphological plasticity. The data described here contributeto an emerging picture of mangroves as potentially critical habitat for many Caribbeancoral species.Accepted manuscrip

Transfected HEK293 Cells Expressing Functional Recombinant Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1) – A Receptor Associated with Severe Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is a membrane-bound glycoprotein expressed on endothelial cells and cells of the immune system. Human ICAM-1 mediates adhesion and migration of leucocytes, and is implicated in inflammatory pathologies, autoimmune diseases and in many cancer processes. Additionally, ICAM-1 acts as receptor for pathogens like human rhinovirus and Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. A group of related P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) domains, the DBLβ, mediates ICAM-1 binding of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes. This ICAM‑1-binding phenotype has been suggested to be involved in the development of cerebral malaria. However, more studies identifying cross-reactive antibody and ICAM-1-binding epitopes and the establishment of a clinical link between DBLβ expression and e.g. cerebral malaria are needed before the DBLβ domains can be put forward as vaccine candidates and go into clinical trials. Such studies require availability of functional recombinant ICAM-1 in large quantities. In this study, we compared recombinant ICAM-1 expressed in HEK293 and COS-7 cells with mouse myeloma NS0 ICAM-1 purchased from a commercial vendor in terms of protein purity, yield, fold, ability to bind DBLβ, and relative cost. We present a HEK293 cell-based, high-yield expression and purification scheme for producing inexpensive, functional ICAM‑1. ICAM-1 expressed in HEK293 is applicable to malaria research and can also be useful in other research fields

Binding of the malaria PfEMP1 antigen DBLβ3_D4 to ICAM-1-Fc.

<p>Concentration-dependent binding of recombinant <i>P. falciparum</i> 3D7 PFD1235w DBLβ3_D4 to ICAM-1-Fc_HEK239, ICAM-1-Fc_COS-7 and ICAM-1-Fc_NS0 (R&D Systems) by ELISA. The binding of DBLβ3_D4 to ICAM-1-Fc_HEK239 was repeated in three independent experiments (mean and standard deviation shown) while the assay using ICAM-1-Fc_COS-7 and ICAM-1-Fc_NS0 (R&D Systems) was done one time each.</p

Purification of ICAM1-Fc expressed by HEK293 cells.

<p>Data from exp. #1 is shown here as an example of purification of ICAM-1-Fc_HEK293. (<b>A</b>) Dot blot showing 2 µl of cell supernatant at day of harvest, 2 µl diafiltrated supernatant (column input) and 2 µl column run-through. 1.8 µg and two ten-fold dilutions hereof of the eluted ICAM-1-Fc was dotted onto the membrane. ICAM-1-Fc was detected using HRP-conjugated anti-human IgG antibody. (<b>B</b>) Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gel electrophoresis of 5 µl protein marker (lane 1), 10 µl column input (lane 2), 10 µl column run-through (lane 3) and 9 µg eluted ICAM-1-Fc (lane 4+5). Samples were reduced using DTT (+) or non-reduced (−). Arrows indicate ICAM-1-Fc bands.</p

Comparison of ICAM-1-Fc by Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).

<p>SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis of 5 µg of ICAM-1-Fc expressed in HEK293 cells, COS-7 cells or in mouse myeloma NS0 (R&D Systems) cells. 5 µl protein marker (M) was loaded onto the gel. Samples were reduced using DTT (+) or non-reduced (−). Arrows indicate ICAM-1-Fc bands.</p

Reactivity of monoclonal ICAM antibodies.

<p>The reactivity of seven anti-human ICAM-1 specific monoclonal antibodies (clones 15.2, RR1/1, 84H10, LB2, BBIG-I1, 8.4A6 and My13) against ICAM-1-Fc expressed in HEK293, COS-7 or mouse myeloma NS0 (R&D Systems) cells were tested using ELISA. One CD36 specific monoclonal antibody (clone FA6.152) was included as negative control. Data shown are the mean reactivity (three independent experiments) of the antibodies to ICAM-1. Errors indicate S.D.</p

Flowminder standards in producing mobility and population estimates from call details records in low- and middle-income countries

Extracting the population mobility information contained in Call Detail Records (CDRs) is of critical importance in data poor contexts such as in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where it can support humanitarian and human development efforts. Such contexts however present additional challenges compared to high-income countries (HICs) for mobility analysis from mobile operator data: often only CDRs are available and they are sparser over time and space, mobile networks are more unstable, particular in crises, which are often more frequent, and the geographic coordinates of cells are sometimes missing and erroneous. Further, the proportion of the general population using mobile phones is significantly lower in LMICs (e.g. 47% of households on average in 7 provinces of the DRC, down to 35% in the more rural provinces) and therefore differences in the mobility of phone users and non users have a larger impact on the representativity and applicability of CDR-derived statistics. At Flowminder, we have specialised in addressing such challenges and we present here an overview of our live systems, from ingestion and automated quality assurance (QA) checks of pseudonymised CDR data and cell data, to the extraction of mobility information from CDRs and bias correction using survey data, resulting in the semi-automated production of a set of standard indicators, ready to be disseminated to decision makers in LMICs through dashboards, standard reports or as data sheets. We present the standards we've produced, and recommend using, when producing population mobility and distribution estimates from CDR data, to reduce biases inherent to the data, and ensure robustness of estimates