Elucidating Batch-to-Batch Variation Caused by Homocoupled Side Products in Solution Processable Organic Solar Cells

peer reviewe

Transcriptomic signature of fasting in human adipose tissue

Little is known about gene regulation by fasting in human adipose tissue. Accordingly, the objec-tive of this study was to investigate the effects of fasting on adipose tissue gene expression in humans. To that end, subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were collected from 11 volunteers 2 and 26 h after consumption of a standardized meal. For comparison, epididymal adipose tissue was collected from C57Bl/6J mice in the ab libi-tum-fed state and after a 16 h fast. The timing of sampling adipose tissue roughly corresponds with the near depletion of liver glycogen. Transcriptome analysis was carried out using Affy-metrix microarrays. We found that, 1) fasting downregulated numerous metabolic pathways in human adipose tissue, including triglyceride and fatty acid synthesis, glycolysis and glycogen syn-thesis, TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial trans-lation, and insulin signaling; 2) fasting downregulated genes involved in proteasomal degradation in human adipose tissue; 3) fasting had much less pronounced effects on the adipose tissue transcrip-tome in humans than mice; 4) although major overlap in fasting-induced gene regulation was observed between human and mouse adipose tissue, many genes were differentially regulated in the two species, including genes involved in insulin signaling (PRKAG2, PFKFB3), PPAR signaling (PPARG, ACSL1, HMGCS2, SLC22A5, ACOT1), glycogen metabolism (PCK1, PYGB), and lipid droplets (PLIN1, PNPLA2, CIDEA, CIDEC). In conclusion, although numerous genes and pathways are regulated similarly by fasting in human and mouse adipose tissue, many genes show very distinct responses to fasting in humans and mice. Our data provide a useful resource to study adipose tissue function during fasting

PCB, PCDD/F and PBDE levels and profiles in crustaceans from the coastal waters of Brittany and Normandy (France)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were analysed in the muscle of various edible marine crustaceans (spider crab, edible crab, velvet swimming crab and Norway lobster) from the Brittany and Normandy coasts (France). The highest concentrations were measured in species collected from Antifer (Seine Bay). PCB and PBDE patterns in crustacean muscles were similar and independent of the geographical area with the predominance of the high chlorinated PCBs (CB 15 3, 138, 118 and 180), and of a few PBDE congeners (BDE47, BDE99, WE 100 and BDE28). Oppositely, dioxin contamination differed with site. The major component in crustaceans from the Seine Bay was 2378-TCDF, whereas specimens from cleaner areas had higher relative concentrations of OCDD. Finally, the comparison of the spider crab contaminant profiles to those measured in mussel and sea bass highlighted two different trends: decapod crustaceans possess relatively strong capacity to metabolise PCBs and PBDEs; however these species might be used as bioindicators for dioxin pollution monitoring in the marine coastal environment