Cerberus is a feedback inhibitor of Nodal asymmetric signaling in the chick embryo

The TGF-beta-related molecule Nodal plays an essential and conserved role in left-right patterning of the vertebrate embryo. Previous reports have shown that the zebrafish and mouse Cerberus-related proteins Charon and Cerberus-like-2 (Cerl-2), respectively, act in the node region to prevent the Nodal signal from crossing to the right side, whereas chick Cerberus (cCer) has an unclear function in the left-side mesoderm. In this study, we investigate the transcriptional regulation and function of cCer in left-right development. By analyzing the enhancer activity of cCer 5' genomic sequences in electroporated chick embryos, we identified a cCer left-side enhancer that contains two FoxH1 and one SMAD binding site. We show that these Nodal-responsive elements are necessary and sufficient for the activation of transcription in the left-side mesoderm. In transgenic mouse embryos, cCer regulatory sequences behave as in chick embryos, suggesting that the cis-regulatory sequences of Cerberus-related genes have diverged during vertebrate evolution. Moreover, our findings from cCer overexpression and knockdown experiments indicate that cCer is a negative-feedback regulator of Nodal asymmetric signaling. We propose that cCer and mouse Cerl-2 have evolved distinct regulatory mechanisms but retained a conserved function in left-right development, which is to restrict Nodal activity to the left side of the embryo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intensified virus production in suspension HEK293SF cells using high inoculum fed-batch or low-perfusion rate cultures with continuous harvest

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Food Structure Design: Innovation in food structure-properties relationships

This Special Issue gathers selected contributions from the 1st Congress on Food Structure Design, covering most of the topics described above

Parceria entre a educação formal e não formal visando inovações curriculares : o ensino de física moderna a partir da física solar

Esta pesquisa enfoca a inovação curricular e inserção de física moderna no ensino médio público a partir da parceria entre a educação formal e não formal. Juntamente com professores em atuação investigamos o processo de transposição didática de conteúdos de física solar e física moderna no contexto de educação formal e não formal. O centro de ciências em questão é o Observatório Dietrich Schiel do Centro de Divulgação Científica e Cultural da Universidade de São Paulo. Os trabalhos foram guiados a partir da elaboração conjunta entre professores e pesquisadores de uma Sequência de Ensino e Aprendizagem contemplando ambos os ambientes. A sequência elaborada, aplicada e analisada foi considerada satisfatória e de convívio harmonioso com a proposta curricular vigente. Também que é viável à parceria no intuito da inserção de física moderna a partir da física solar em sala de aula

Intensification of influenza virus production in fed-batch and perfusion cultures of HEK293SF cells

More than half a million people die every year from complications of seasonal influenza, and vaccination stands as the most effective method to prevent and limit outbreaks of the disease. Constant vaccine development based on emerging strains and worldwide distribution of vaccines is a great challenge for public health and vaccine manufacturers, particularly in a potential pandemic scenario. The limited flexibility of the current egg-based production system combined with recent advances in large-scale cell culture techniques have encouraged the development of cell culture processes for influenza vaccine production. While cell culture offers a valuable alternative, productivities are still low when compared to traditional egg-based systems, requiring extensive efforts in process intensification and suspension cell line development. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

Thermosonication applied to blueberry juice – impact on quality properties

Aim: The conventional heat treatment (HT) is still used by the food processing industry as a solution to inactivate pathogenic agents and to extend the shelf-life of juice products. However, pasteurization involves quality modifications of the final product by losing part of its nutritional value and properties. This factor is critical in industrial juice manufacture, whose freshness is essential. This study aims to evaluate if thermosonication (TS) can be considered a potential alternative to the pasteurization of blueberry juice. Method: Juices were prepared by defrosting the frozen blueberries and then using a cold centrifugal juicer. Freshly prepared juices were thermosonicated with a sonicator probe (700 W, 20 kHz, 100% amplitude) at 45 and 55 °C for 25 and 1 min and using an ultrasonic bath (230 V, 35 kHz) at the same temperatures for 30 and 60 min. These processes were compared to the traditional pasteurization by the juice heat-treated at 75 °C for 1 min. The temperature/time binomials were chosen based on the 5-log10 L. innocua reduction. Physicochemical parameters, anthocyanins content, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, and enzyme activity were monitored before and after treatments.Results: The TS applied with the probe (TSP) had significant positive effects on blueberry juice, such as the increase of antioxidant activity (according to the ABTS scavenging method), the inactivation of enzymatic activity (a residual activity of about 25% and 1% was achieved for POD and PPO), and the decrease on the browning index. However, a significant reduction of phenolic compounds and anthocyanins was observed. HT had the most impact on juice colour parameters but was the most effective method in totally inactivating the POD enzyme. TS with ultrasonic bath (TSB) showed no significant differences in antioxidant activity and anthocyanins compared with the untreated juice. However, also juice colour was significantly changed. Conclusion: TSP and TSB effectively maintained or improved most blueberry juice quality characteristics compared with HT and untreated samples. Nevertheless, since TSB needs a higher treatment time for the 5log10 microbial inactivation, physicochemical parameters were more negatively affected. Therefore, thermosonication (especially TSP) seems a possible processing option to preserve blueberry juice quality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio