Novel Quinazolinone MJ-29 Triggers Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Intrinsic Apoptosis in Murine Leukemia WEHI-3 Cells and Inhibits Leukemic Mice

The present study was to explore the biological responses of the newly compound, MJ-29 in murine myelomonocytic leukemia WEHI-3 cells in vitro and in vivo fates. We focused on the in vitro effects of MJ-29 on ER stress and mitochondria-dependent apoptotic death in WEHI-3 cells, and to hypothesize that MJ-29 might fully impair the orthotopic leukemic mice. Our results indicated that a concentration-dependent decrease of cell viability was shown in MJ-29-treated cells. DNA content was examined utilizing flow cytometry, whereas apoptotic populations were determined using annexin V/PI, DAPI staining and TUNEL assay. Increasing vital factors of mitochondrial dysfunction by MJ-29 were further investigated. Thus, MJ-29-provaked apoptosis of WEHI-3 cells is mediated through the intrinsic pathway. Importantly, intracellular Ca2+ release and ER stress-associated signaling also contributed to MJ-29-triggered cell apoptosis. We found that MJ-29 stimulated the protein levels of calpain 1, CHOP and p-eIF2α pathways in WEHI-3 cells. In in vivo experiments, intraperitoneal administration of MJ-29 significantly improved the total survival rate, enhanced body weight and attenuated enlarged spleen and liver tissues in leukemic mice. The infiltration of immature myeloblastic cells into splenic red pulp was reduced in MJ-29-treated leukemic mice. Moreover, MJ-29 increased the differentiations of T and B cells but decreased that of macrophages and monocytes. Additionally, MJ-29-stimulated immune responses might be involved in anti-leukemic activity in vivo. Based on these observations, MJ-29 suppresses WEHI-3 cells in vitro and in vivo, and it is proposed that this potent and selective agent could be a new chemotherapeutic candidate for anti-leukemia in the future

Anthropologists are talking about queer anthropology

The following roundtable discussion took place at the European Association of Social Anthropologists’ biennial conference held in Tallinn, Estonia, on 31 July to 3 August 2014. It sprang out of the session ‘Whatever is happening to the critical study of sexual and gender diversity in anthropology?’ convened by Paul Boyce and Silvia Posocco, and a meeting of the European Network of Queer Anthropology (ENQA), which was founded in 2013 by Paul Boyce and Elisabeth Engebretsen. The aim of the discussion was to explore what we mean by a queer anthropology and what it can still contribute to the discipline some two decades after the emergence of queer theory in the academia. The discussion was recorded, transcribed and edited by Ethnos Co-Editor in Chief, Mark Graha

Gelatinous zooplankton biomass in the global oceans: geographic variation and environmental drivers

Aim: Scientific debate regarding the future trends, and subsequent ecological, biogeochemical and societal impacts, of gelatinous zooplankton (GZ) in a changing ocean is hampered by lack of a global baseline and an understanding of the causes of biogeographic patterns. We address this by using a new global database of GZ records to test hypotheses relating to environmental drivers of biogeographic variation in the multidecadal baseline of epipelagic GZ biomass in the world's oceans. Location: Global oceans. Methods: Over 476,000 global GZ data and metadata items were assembled from a variety of published and unpublished sources. From this, a total of 91,765 quantitative abundance data items from 1934 to 2011 were converted to carbon biomass using published biometric equations and species-specific average sizes. Total GZ, Cnidaria, Ctenophora and Chordata (Thaliacea) biomass was mapped into 5° grid cells and environmental drivers of geographic variation were tested using spatial linear models. Results: We present JeDI (the Jellyfish Database Initiative), a publically accessible database available at http://jedi.nceas.ucsb.edu. We show that: (1) GZ are present throughout the world's oceans; (2) the global geometric mean and standard deviation of total gelatinous biomass is 0.53 ± 16.16 mg C m−3, corresponding to a global biomass of 38.3 Tg C in the mixed layer of the ocean; (3) biomass of all gelatinous phyla is greatest in the subtropical and boreal Northern Hemisphere; and (4) within the North Atlantic, dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization and sea surface temperature are the principal drivers of biomass distribution. Main conclusions: JeDI is a unique global dataset of GZ taxa which will provide a benchmark against which future observations can be compared and shifting baselines assessed. The presence of GZ throughout the world's oceans and across the complete global spectrum of environmental variables indicates that evolution has delivered a range of species able to adapt to all available ecological niches

Setting population targets for mammals using body mass as a predictor of population persistence

Conservation planning and biodiversity assessments need quantitative targets to optimize planning options and assess the adequacy of current species protection. However, targets aiming at persistence require population-specific data, which limits their use in favor of fixed and non-specific targets, likely leading to unequal distribution of conservation efforts among species. Here we propose a method to derive equitable population targets, which are quantitative targets of population size that ensure equal probabilities of persistence across a set of species, and can be easily inferred from species-specific traits. We applied population dynamics models across a range of life-history traits representative for mammals, and estimated minimum viable population targets intrinsically related to species body mass. Our approach provides a compromise between pragmatic non-specific targets, and detailed context-specific estimates of population viability for which only limited data is available. It enables a first estimation of species-specific population targets based on a readily available trait, and thus allows setting equitable targets for population persistence in large-scale and multispecies conservation assessments and planning

Flooding ecology of voles, mice and shrews: the importance of geomorphological and vegetational heterogeneity in river floodplains

Contains fulltext : 32511.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Since voles, mice and shrews are important animals in food chains of river floodplains, there is a need for data on their spatial and temporal distribution in periodically flooded areas. During a live trapping study between two successive floods in an embanked river floodplain, the ’Afferdensche en Deestsche Waarden (ADW)’, six species were frequently observed, viz,Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778),Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780),Sorex araneus (Linnaeus, 1758),Crocidura russula (Hermann, 1780),Micromys minutus (Pallas, 1771) andApodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758). Ungrazed rough herbaceous vegetation appeared to be rich in numbers and species, whereas no spoors of small mammals were observed in large parts of the ADW floodplain (eg bare substrates and maize fields). Vegetation structure seemed to be very important in guiding the recolonisation process after flood events. Throughout the year the highest numbers of small mammals were captured on and near the non-flooded elevated parts functioning as refugia during inundation. Poor habitat connectivity, sparseness of non-flooded recolonisation sources and small numbers of survivors led to slow recolonisation. The time between two successive floods (eight months) was not long enough for entire recolonisation of ADW. Small mammal densities at more than 30 m from the non-flooded areas were always lower than in non-flooded areas