Corrigendum to: Effects of exercise on adolescent and adult hypothalamic and hippocampal neuroinflammation (Hippocampus, (2016), 26, (1435–1446), 10.1002/hipo22620)

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published in Hippocampus 26:1435–1446 (2016) DOI: 10.1002/hipo22620 The authors of this article have notified us that one of the funding agencies was incorrectly acknowledged. The correct citation of the funding body is listed below: This work was supported by a Discovery Project Grant (DP130100508) and a Future Fellowship (FT110100084) from the Australian Research Council as well as an RMIT University Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused

Septins restrict inflammation and protect zebrafish larvae from Shigella infection

Shigella flexneri, a Gram-negative enteroinvasive pathogen, causes inflammatory destruction of the human intestinal epithelium. Infection by S. flexneri has been well-studied in vitro and is a paradigm for bacterial interactions with the host immune system. Recent work has revealed that components of the cytoskeleton have important functions in innate immunity and inflammation control. Septins, highly conserved cytoskeletal proteins, have emerged as key players in innate immunity to bacterial infection, yet septin function in vivo is poorly understood. Here, we use S. flexneri infection of zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae to study in vivo the role of septins in inflammation and infection control. We found that depletion of Sept15 or Sept7b, zebrafish orthologs of human SEPT7, significantly increased host susceptibility to bacterial infection. Live-cell imaging of Sept15-depleted larvae revealed increasing bacterial burdens and a failure of neutrophils to control infection. Strikingly, Sept15-depleted larvae present significantly increased activity of Caspase-1 and more cell death upon S. flexneri infection. Dampening of the inflammatory response with anakinra, an antagonist of interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R), counteracts Sept15 deficiency in vivo by protecting zebrafish from hyper-inflammation and S. flexneri infection. These findings highlight a new role for septins in host defence against bacterial infection, and suggest that septin dysfunction may be an underlying factor in cases of hyper-inflammation

A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL

Thousands of exoplanets have now been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits: from rocky Earth-like planets to large gas giants grazing the surface of their host star. However, the essential nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious: there is no known, discernible pattern linking the presence, size, or orbital parameters of a planet to the nature of its parent star. We have little idea whether the chemistry of a planet is linked to its formation environment, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s birth, and evolution. ARIEL was conceived to observe a large number (~1000) of transiting planets for statistical understanding, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types using transit spectroscopy in the 1.25–7.8 μm spectral range and multiple narrow-band photometry in the optical. ARIEL will focus on warm and hot planets to take advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres which should show minimal condensation and sequestration of high-Z materials compared to their colder Solar System siblings. Said warm and hot atmospheres are expected to be more representative of the planetary bulk composition. Observations of these warm/hot exoplanets, and in particular of their elemental composition (especially C, O, N, S, Si), will allow the understanding of the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation during the nebular phase and the following few million years. ARIEL will thus provide a representative picture of the chemical nature of the exoplanets and relate this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. ARIEL is designed as a dedicated survey mission for combined-light spectroscopy, capable of observing a large and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. Transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy methods, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allow us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of 10–100 part per million (ppm) relative to the star and, given the bright nature of targets, also allows more sophisticated techniques, such as eclipse mapping, to give a deeper insight into the nature of the atmosphere. These types of observations require a stable payload and satellite platform with broad, instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect many molecular species, probe the thermal structure, identify clouds and monitor the stellar activity. The wavelength range proposed covers all the expected major atmospheric gases from e.g. H2O, CO2, CH4 NH3, HCN, H2S through to the more exotic metallic compounds, such as TiO, VO, and condensed species. Simulations of ARIEL performance in conducting exoplanet surveys have been performed – using conservative estimates of mission performance and a full model of all significant noise sources in the measurement – using a list of potential ARIEL targets that incorporates the latest available exoplanet statistics. The conclusion at the end of the Phase A study, is that ARIEL – in line with the stated mission objectives – will be able to observe about 1000 exoplanets depending on the details of the adopted survey strategy, thus confirming the feasibility of the main science objectives.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

The Co-Morbidity Burden of Children and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Objectives: Use electronic health records Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to assess the comorbidity burden of ASD in children and young adults. Study Design: A retrospective prevalence study was performed using a distributed query system across three general hospitals and one pediatric hospital. Over 14,000 individuals under age 35 with ASD were characterized by their co-morbidities and conversely, the prevalence of ASD within these comorbidities was measured. The comorbidity prevalence of the younger (Age<18 years) and older (Age 18–34 years) individuals with ASD was compared. Results: 19.44% of ASD patients had epilepsy as compared to 2.19% in the overall hospital population (95% confidence interval for difference in percentages 13.58–14.69%), 2.43% of ASD with schizophrenia vs. 0.24% in the hospital population (95% CI 1.89–2.39%), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) 0.83% vs. 0.54% (95% CI 0.13–0.43%), bowel disorders (without IBD) 11.74% vs. 4.5% (95% CI 5.72–6.68%), CNS/cranial anomalies 12.45% vs. 1.19% (95% CI 9.41–10.38%), diabetes mellitus type I (DM1) 0.79% vs. 0.34% (95% CI 0.3–0.6%), muscular dystrophy 0.47% vs 0.05% (95% CI 0.26–0.49%), sleep disorders 1.12% vs. 0.14% (95% CI 0.79–1.14%). Autoimmune disorders (excluding DM1 and IBD) were not significantly different at 0.67% vs. 0.68% (95% CI −0.14-0.13%). Three of the studied comorbidities increased significantly when comparing ages 0–17 vs 18–34 with p<0.001: Schizophrenia (1.43% vs. 8.76%), diabetes mellitus type I (0.67% vs. 2.08%), IBD (0.68% vs. 1.99%) whereas sleeping disorders, bowel disorders (without IBD) and epilepsy did not change significantly. Conclusions: The comorbidities of ASD encompass disease states that are significantly overrepresented in ASD with respect to even the patient populations of tertiary health centers. This burden of comorbidities goes well beyond those routinely managed in developmental medicine centers and requires broad multidisciplinary management that payors and providers will have to plan for

Effects of chronic ascariasis and trichuriasis on cytokine production and gene expression in human blood: a cross-sectional study.

Background Chronic soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are associated with effects on systemic immune responses that could be caused by alterations in immune homeostasis. To investigate this, we measured the impact in children of STH infections on cytokine responses and gene expression in unstimulated blood. Methodology/Principal Findings Sixty children were classified as having chronic, light, or no STH infections. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured in medium for 5 days to measure cytokine accumulation. RNA was isolated from peripheral blood and gene expression analysed using microarrays. Different infection groups were compared for the purpose of analysis: STH infection (combined chronic and light vs. uninfected groups) and chronic STH infection (chronic vs. combined light and uninfected groups). The chronic STH infection effect was associated with elevated production of GM-CSF (P = 0.007), IL-2 (P = 0.03), IL-5 (P = 0.01), and IL-10 (P = 0.01). Data reduction suggested that chronic infections were primarily associated with an immune phenotype characterized by elevated IL-5 and IL-10, typical of a modified Th2-like response. Chronic STH infections were associated with the up-regulation of genes associated with immune homeostasis (IDO, P = 0.03; CCL23, P = 0.008, HRK, P = 0.005), down-regulation of microRNA hsa-let-7d (P = 0.01) and differential regulation of several genes associated with granulocyte-mediated inflammation (IL-8, down-regulated, P = 0.0002; RNASE2, up-regulated, P = 0.009; RNASE3, up-regulated, p = 0.03). Conclusions/Significance Chronic STH infections were associated with a cytokine response indicative of a modified Th2 response. There was evidence that STH infections were associated with a pattern of gene expression suggestive of the induction of homeostatic mechanisms, the differential expression of several inflammatory genes and the down-regulation of microRNA has-let-7d. Effects on immune homeostasis and the development of a modified Th2 immune response during chronic STH infections could explain the systemic immunologic effects that have been associated with these infections such as impaired immune responses to vaccines and the suppression of inflammatory diseases

Siponimod (BAF312) prevents synaptic neurodegeneration in experimental multiple sclerosis

Data from multiple sclerosis (MS) and the MS rodent model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), highlighted an inflammation-dependent synaptopathy at the basis of the neurodegenerative damage causing irreversible disability in these disorders. This synaptopathy is characterized by an imbalance between glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission and has been proposed to be a potential therapeutic target. Siponimod (BAF312), a selective sphingosine 1-phosphate1,5 receptor modulator, is currently under investigation in a clinical trial in secondary progressive MS patients. We investigated whether siponimod, in addition to its peripheral immune modulation, may exert direct neuroprotective effects in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice with chronic progressive EAE

The Centrosomal Kinase Plk1 Localizes to the Transition Zone of Primary Cilia and Induces Phosphorylation of Nephrocystin-1

Polo-like kinase (Plk1) plays a central role in regulating the cell cycle. Plk1-mediated phosphorylation is essential for centrosome maturation, and for numerous mitotic events. Although Plk1 localizes to multiple subcellular sites, a major site of action is the centrosomes, which supports mitotic functions in control of bipolar spindle formation. In G0 or G1 untransformed cells, the centriolar core of the centrosome differentiates into the basal body of the primary cilium. Primary cilia are antenna-like sensory organelles dynamically regulated during the cell cycle. Whether Plk1 has a role in ciliary biology has never been studied. Nephrocystin-1 (NPHP1) is a ciliary protein; loss of NPHP1 in humans causes nephronophthisis (NPH), an autosomal-recessive cystic kidney disease. We here demonstrate that Plk1 colocalizes with nephrocystin-1 to the transition zone of primary cilia in epithelial cells. Plk1 co-immunoprecipitates with NPHP1, suggesting it is part of the nephrocystin protein complex. We identified a candidate Plk1 phosphorylation motif (D/E-X-S/T-φ-X-D/E) in nephrocystin-1, and demonstrated in vitro that Plk1 phosphorylates the nephrocystin N-terminus, which includes the specific PLK1 phosphorylation motif. Further, induced disassembly of primary cilia rapidly evoked Plk1 kinase activity, while small molecule inhibition of Plk1 activity or RNAi-mediated downregulation of Plk1 limited the first and second phase of ciliary disassembly. These data identify Plk1 as a novel transition zone signaling protein, suggest a function of Plk1 in cilia dynamics, and link Plk1 to the pathogenesis of NPH and potentially other cystic kidney diseases

Fine-Scale Mapping of Natural Variation in Fly Fecundity Identifies Neuronal Domain of Expression and Function of an Aquaporin

To gain insight into the molecular genetic basis of standing variation in fitness related traits, we identify a novel factor that regulates the molecular and physiological basis of natural variation in female Drosophila melanogaster fecundity. Genetic variation in female fecundity in flies derived from a wild orchard population is heritable and largely independent of other measured life history traits. We map a portion of this variation to a single QTL and then use deficiency mapping to further refine this QTL to 5 candidate genes. Ubiquitous expression of RNAi against only one of these genes, an aquaporin encoded by Drip, reduces fecundity. Within our mapping population Drip mRNA level in the head, but not other tissues, is positively correlated with fecundity. We localize Drip expression to a small population of corazonin producing neurons located in the dorsolateral posterior compartments of the protocerebrum. Expression of Drip–RNAi using both the pan-neuronal ELAV-Gal4 and the Crz-Gal4 drivers reduces fecundity. Low-fecundity RILs have decreased Crz expression and increased expression of pale, the enzyme encoding the rate-limiting step in the production of dopamine, a modulator of insect life histories. Taken together these data suggest that natural variation in Drip expression in the corazonin producing neurons contributes to standing variation in fitness by altering the concentration of two neurohormones