Control of Dendritic Morphogenesis by Trio in Drosophila melanogaster

Abl tyrosine kinase and its effectors among the Rho family of GTPases each act to control dendritic morphogenesis in Drosophila. It has not been established, however, which of the many GTPase regulators in the cell link these signaling molecules in the dendrite. In axons, the bifunctional guanine exchange factor, Trio, is an essential link between the Abl tyrosine kinase signaling pathway and Rho GTPases, particularly Rac, allowing these systems to act coordinately to control actin organization. In dendritic morphogenesis, however, Abl and Rac have contrary rather than reinforcing effects, raising the question of whether Trio is involved, and if so, whether it acts through Rac, Rho or both. We now find that Trio is expressed in sensory neurons of the Drosophila embryo and regulates their dendritic arborization. trio mutants display a reduction in dendritic branching and increase in average branch length, whereas over-expression of trio has the opposite effect. We further show that it is the Rac GEF domain of Trio, and not its Rho GEF domain that is primarily responsible for the dendritic function of Trio. Thus, Trio shapes the complexity of dendritic arbors and does so in a way that mimics the effects of its target, Rac

HIV-related stigma among Spanish-speaking Latinos in an emerging immigrant city following the <i>Solo Se Vive Una Vez</i> social marketing campaign

HIV-related stigma exacerbates Latino immigrants’ risk of HIV infection and delayed care. Following the implementation of the social marketing campaign Sólo Se Vive Una Vez (You Only Live Once) to increase HIV testing that addressed stigmatizing beliefs, we conducted a survey among Latinos in Baltimore, Maryland (N = 357). The aims of this paper are to 1) characterize the sociodemographic characteristics, HIV-related stigma beliefs, and testing behaviors of the survey respondents by campaign exposure, and 2) model the effects of Vive exposure on stigma beliefs and testing behaviors. Comparing post-campaign survey respondents exposed and unexposed to the campaign to survey findings previously obtained and reported before the campaign implementation, respondents to the post-Vive survey continued to hold high levels of stigma beliefs, and compared to the pre-Vive survey sample, were more likely to hold four or more stigmatizing beliefs (from the six survey items). Among the post-Vive survey respondents, those for whom religion was important or very important had an increased odds of 1.6 of holding four or more stigmatizing beliefs. Survey respondents who were exposed to the campaign, however, had an increased odds of 2.25 of reporting ever having been tested for HIV. Our findings demonstrate the importance of the changing social context in addressing stigma within emerging immigrant communities and highlight the critical role of religious leaders in efforts to address HIV-related stigma

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Socio-demographic characteristics of the pre-<i>Vive</i>^a (n = 312), post-<i>Vive</i>-unexposed (n = 218), and post-<i>Vive</i>-exposed (n = 139) respondents survey respondents.

Socio-demographic characteristics of the pre-Vivea (n = 312), post-Vive-unexposed (n = 218), and post-Vive-exposed (n = 139) respondents survey respondents.</p

Effects of cohort and <i>Vive</i>-campaign exposure on HIV testing behaviors.

Effects of cohort and Vive-campaign exposure on HIV testing behaviors.</p

Effects of cohort and <i>Vive</i>-campaign exposure on agreement with stigma beliefs.

Effects of cohort and Vive-campaign exposure on agreement with stigma beliefs.</p

Agreement^a with HIV-related stigma beliefs and self-reported testing behaviors among pre-<i>Vive</i> (n = 312), post-<i>Vive</i>-unexposed (n = 218), and post-<i>Vive</i>-exposed (n = 139) survey respondents.

Agreementa with HIV-related stigma beliefs and self-reported testing behaviors among pre-Vive (n = 312), post-Vive-unexposed (n = 218), and post-Vive-exposed (n = 139) survey respondents.</p

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(DTA)</p