Role of neuromedin B and its receptor in the innate immune responses against influenza A virus infection in vitro and in vivo

International audienceAbstractThe peptide neuromedin B (NMB) and its receptor (NMBR) represent a system (NMB/NMBR) of neuromodulation. Here, it was demonstrated that the expression of NMBR in cells or murine lung tissues was clearly upregulated in response to H1N1/PR8 influenza A virus infection. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo activities of NMB/NMBR during PR8 infection were investigated. It was observed that A549 cells lacking endogenous NMBR were more susceptible to virus infection than control cells, as evidenced by the increased virus production in the cells. Interestingly, a significant decrease in IFN-α and increased IL-6 expression were observed in these cells. The role of this system in innate immunity against PR8 infection was probed by treating mice with NMB. The NMB-treated mice were less susceptible to virus challenge, as evidenced by increased survival, increased body weight, and decreased viral NP expression compared with the control animals. Additionally, the results showed that exogenous NMB not only enhanced IFN-α expression but also appeared to inhibit the expression of NP and IL-6 in PR8-infected cells and animals. As expected, opposing effects were observed in the NMBR antagonist-treated cells and mice, which further confirmed the effects of NMB. Together, these data suggest that NMB/NMBR may be an important component of the host defence against influenza A virus infection. Thus, these proteins may serve as promising candidates for the development of novel antiviral drugs

Prediction of the post-translational modifications of adipokinetic hormone receptors from solitary to eusocial bees

Adipokinetic hormone receptor (AKHR) was regarded as the crucial regulator of lipid consuming, but now has been renewed as a pluripotent neuropeptide G protein-coupled receptor. It has been identified in all sequenced bee genomes from the solitary to the eusocial. In the current study, we try to clarify the transitions of AKHR on lipid utilization and other potential functions from solitary to eusocial bees. The results showed that the AKHRs were divided into different groups based on their social complexity approximately. Nevertheless, the critical motifs and tertiary structures were highly conserved. As to the post-translational modifications, the eusocial possessed more phosphorylation residues and modification patterns, which might be due to the necessity of more diverse functions. These results suggest that AKHRs are highly conserved on both primary motifs and tertiary structures, but more flexible on posttranslational modifications so as to accommodate to more complicated eusocial life

Enhanced sulfide removal and bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cells with anodes modified by vertically oriented nanosheets

<p>Anode materials and structures are of critical importance for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) recovering energy from toxic substrates. Carbon-fiber-felt anodes modified by layers of vertically oriented TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ nanosheets were applied in the present study. Enhanced sulfide removal efficiencies (both over 90%) were obtained after a 48-h operation, with maximum power densities improved by 1.53 and 1.36 folds compared with MFCs with raw carbon-fiber-felt anode. The modified anodes provided more active sites for microbial adhesion with increasing biomass densities. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis also indicated the increase in microbial diversities. Bacteroidetes responsible for bioelectricity generation with <i>Thiobacillus</i> and <i>Spirochaeta</i> dominating sulfide removal were found in the MFCs with the modified anodes, with less anaerobic fermentative bacteria as Firmicutes appeared. This indicates that the proposed materials are competitive for applications of MFCs generating bioelectricity from toxic sulfide.</p

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex With Multiple Organ Tumors: Case Report and Literature Review

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNEN) are tumors that originate from neuroendocrine cells. Only about 1% patients are related to mutation of tuberous sclerosis complex gene. Here, we reported a rare case with involvement of multiple organs and space-occupying lesions. Initially, the patient was thought to have metastasis of a pancreatic tumor. However, the patient was diagnosed as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, liver perivascular epithelioid tumors, splenic hamartoma, and renal angiomyolipoma by pathological examination after surgery. We performed genetic mutation detection to identify that tuberous sclerosis complex 2 gene presented with a heterozygous variant. Tuberous sclerosis often presents with widespread tumors, but it is less common to present with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and liver perivascular tumors as highlighted in the case. So we analyzed the relationship between TSC gene mutations and related tumors. And we also reviewed the current molecular mechanisms and treatments for tuberous sclerosis complex

Genome Sequencing of the Sweetpotato Whitefly \u3cem\u3eBemisia tabaci\u3c/em\u3e MED/Q

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a highly destructive agricultural and ornamental crop pest. It damages host plants through both phloem feeding and vectoring plant pathogens. Introductions of B. tabaci are difficult to quarantine and eradicate because of its high reproductive rates, broad host plant range, and insecticide resistance. A total of 791 Gb of raw DNA sequence from whole genome shotgun sequencing, and 13 BAC pooling libraries were generated by Illumina sequencing using different combinations of mate-pair and pair-end libraries. Assembly gave a final genome with a scaffold N50 of 437 kb, and a total length of 658 Mb. Annotation of repetitive elements and coding regions resulted in 265.0 Mb TEs (40.3%) and 20 786 protein-coding genes with putative gene family expansions, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on orthologs across 14 arthropod taxa suggested that MED/Q is clustered into a hemipteran clade containing A. pisum and is a sister lineage to a clade containing both R. prolixus and N. lugens. Genome completeness, as estimated using the CEGMA and Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs pipelines, reached 96% and 79%. These MED/Q genomic resources lay a foundation for future \u27pan-genomic\u27 comparisons of invasive vs. noninvasive, invasive vs. invasive, and native vs. exotic Bemisia, which, in return, will open up new avenues of investigation into whitefly biology, evolution, and management

The mechanism of the excited-state multiple proton transfer reaction for 3-Me-2,6-diazaindole in aqueous solution

The optical properties of 3-Me-2,6-diazaindole in aqueous solution were simulated and then found to compare well with experimental data. Furthermore, the ground state and exited state potential energy surfaces for 3-Me-2,6-diazaindole + L3H(2)O were constructed, and a new three water molecules-assisted exited state quadruple proton transfer mechanism is proposed

A DFT Study on the Electronic Structures and Conducting Properties of Rubrene and its Derivatives in Organic Field-Effect Transistors

We systematically studied the electronic structures and conducting properties of rubrene and its derivatives reported recently, and disscussed the influences of electron-withdrawing groups and chemical oxidation on the reorganization energies, crystal packing, electronic couplings, and charge injection barrier of rubrene. Hirshfeld surface analysis and quantum-chemical calculations revealed that the introduction of CF3 groups into rubrene decreases the H... H repulsive interaction and increases intermolecular F... H/H... F attractive interactions, which resulted in the tight packing arrangement and the increase of the electronic couplings, and finally cause the higer intrinsic holemobility in bis(trifluoromethyl)-dimethyl-rubrene crystal (mu(h) = 19.2 cm(2) V-1 s(-1)) than in rubrene crystal (mu(h) = 15.8 cm(2) V-1 s(-1)). In comparison, chemical oxidation reduces charge-carrier mobility of rubrene crystal by 2 similar to 4 orders of magnitude and increased the hole and electron injection barrier, which partly explains the rubrene-based field-effect transistor performance degrades upon exposure to air. Furthermore, we also discussed the influence of structural parameters of carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode on charge injection process, which suggests that the regulation of CNT diameters and increasing in thickness is an effective strategy to optimize CNT work functions and improve n-type OFET performances based on these organic materials

Charge-transport properties of 4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)aniline salicylaldehyde hydrazone: tight-packing induced molecular `hardening'

Based on first-principles calculations, the relationship between molecular packing and charge-transport parameters has been investigated and analysed in detail. It is found that the crystal packing forces in the flexible organic molecule 4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)aniline salicylaldehyde hydrazone (A) can apparently overcome the dynamic intramolecular rotations and the intramolecular steric repulsion, effectively enhancing the molecular rigidity and decreasing the internal reorganization energy. The conducting properties of A have also been simulated within the framework of hopping models, and the calculation results show that the intrinsic electron mobility in A is much higher than the corresponding intrinsic hole mobility. These theoretical investigations provide guidance for the efficient and targeted control of the molecular packing and charge-transport properties of organic small-molecule semiconductors and conjugated polymeric materials

Broad-complex Z3 contributes to the ecdysone-mediated transcriptional regulation of the vitellogenin gene in Bombus lantschouensis.

During reproduction, vitellogenin (Vg), as an egg yolk precursor, is critical in sexually mature females of oviparous species including some insects. The transcription of Vg is usually mediated by hormones such as juvenile hormone (JH), ecdysteroids and some neuropeptides. In this study, the structure of the Vg gene from the bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis, (BlVg) was determined by sequencing and assembly. BlVg was found to be expressed at higher levels in reproductive queens than in virgins by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that BlVg was expressed at the highest levels in the fat bodies of both virgin and reproductive queens. Prediction of the BlVg promoter revealed the presence of ecdysteroid-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) containing one Broad-Complex zinc-finger isoform 3 (BR-C Z3), and one ecdysone-induced protein 74A (E74A). In addition, luciferase reporter expression, driven by the 5' -regulatory region of the BlVg gene, from -1517 bp to +895 bp downstream of the start codon, was induced by treatment with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E). Moreover, the luciferase activity of the BlVg promoter was elevated by only BlBrC-Z3 when Sf9 cells were cotransfected with four BlBrC isoforms respectively. BlVg promoter-mediated luciferase activation was significantly reduced when the putative BrC-Z3 CRE in the promoter was mutated. In summary, this report describes the first study of vitellogenin gene regulation at the transcriptional level in bumblebees and demonstrates that the ecdysone-induced transcription of the BlVg gene is mediated by the binding of BlBrC-Z3 to the BrC-Z3 CRE in the BlVg promoter in bumblebees

Theoretical study of charge-transport and optical properties of indeno[1,2-b] fluorene-6,12-dione-based semiconducting materials

The conducting and optical properties of a series of indeno[1,2-b] fluorene-6,12-dione (IFD)-based molecules have been systematically studied and the influences of butyl, butylthio and dibutylamino substituents on the reorganization energies, intermolecular electronic couplings and charge-injection barriers of IFD have been discussed. The quantum-chemical calculations combined with electron-transfer theory reveal that the incorporation of sulfur-linked side chains decreases reorganization energy associated with hole transfer and optimizes intermolecular pi-pi stacking, which results in excellent ambipolar charge-transport properties (mu(h) = 1.15 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) and mu(e) = 0.08 cm(2) V-1 s(-1)); in comparison, addition of dibutylamino side chains increases intermolecular steric interactions and hinders perfect intermolecular pi-pi stacking, which results in the weak electronic couplings and finally causes the low intrinsic hole mobility (mu(h) = 0.01 cm(2) V-1 s(-1)). Furthermore, electronic spectra of butyl-IFD, butylthio-IFD and dibutylamino-IFD were simulated and compared with the reported experimental data. Calculations demonstrate that IFD-based molecules possess potential for developing novel infrared and near-infrared probe materials via suitable chemical modifications