Rhabditid Nematode-Associated Ophthalmitis and Meningoencephalomyelitis in Captive Asian Horned Frogs (\u3ci\u3eMegophrys montana\u3c/i\u3e) [Case reports]

Between 2006 and 2008, 4 captive Asian horned frogs (Megophrys montana) were diagnosed with ocular and neurologic disease associated with rhabditid nematodiasis. Mortality, either spontaneous or by humane euthanasia, was high (3/4, 75%). Gross and histologic findings included varying degrees of ulcerative keratitis, histiocytic uveitis and retinitis, meningoencephalomyelitis, and epidermal chromatophore (iridophore) hyperplasia with intralesional nematodes. Entry into the host was presumed to be by direct invasion of the skin and the cornea with migration through the optic nerve to the brain and spinal cord. One frog was diagnosed with rhabditid nematodiasis antemortem, and clinical signs and lesions in the frog did not progress after unilateral enucleation and anthelminthic treatment were completed. Gross and tissue morphology of the nematodes were consistent with the order Rhabditida. DNA was extracted separately from 2 individual nematodes that were isolated from frozen and ethanol-preserved eye and brain tissue. These DNA templates were used for polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of nuclear 28S large subunit (LSD) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA regions. Comparison of the LSD and ITS sequences to those deposited in GenBank revealed an exact match for Caenorhabditis elegans

The Early Dissemination Defect Attributed to Disruption of Decorin-Binding Proteins is Abolished in Chronic Murine Lyme Borreliosis

The laboratory mouse model of Lyme disease has revealed that Borrelia burgdorferi differentially expresses numerous outer surface proteins that influence different stages of infection (tick-borne transmission, tissue colonization, dissemination, persistence, and tick acquisition). Deletion of two such outer surface proteins, decorin-binding proteins A and B (DbpA/B), has been documented to decrease infectivity, impede early dissemination, and, possibly, prevent persistence. In this study, DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes were confirmed to exhibit an early dissemination defect in immunocompetent, but not immunodeficient, mice, and the defect was found to resolve with chronicity. Development of disease (arthritis and carditis) was attenuated only in the early stage of infection with DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes in both types of mice. Persistence of the DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes occurred in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice in a manner indistinguishable from that of wild-type spirochetes. Dissemination through the lymphatic system was evaluated as an underlying mechanism for the early dissemination defect. At 12 h, 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days postinoculation, DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes were significantly less prevalent and in lower numbers in lymph nodes than wild-type spirochetes. However, in immunodeficient mice, deficiency of DbpA/B did not significantly decrease the prevalence or spirochete numbers in lymph nodes. Complementation of DbpA/B restored a wild-type phenotype. Thus, the results indicated that deficiency of DbpA/B allows the acquired immune response to restrict early dissemination of spirochetes, which appears to be at least partially mediated through the lymphatic system

Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) promotes the resolution of Chlamydia muridarum genital tract infection in congenic C57BL/6N mice

Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital serovars primarily replicate in epithelial cells lining the reproductive tract. Epithelial cells recognize Chlamydia through cell surface and cytosolic receptors, and/or endosomal innate receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Activation of these receptors triggers both innate and adaptive immune mechanisms that are required for chlamydial clearance, but are also responsible for the immunopathology in the reproductive tract. We previously demonstrated that Chlamydia muridarum (Cm) induces IFN-β in oviduct epithelial cells (OE) in a TLR3-dependent manner, and that the synthesis of several cytokines and chemokines are diminished in Cm-challenged OE derived from TLR3-/- 129S1 mice. Furthermore, our in vitro studies showed that Cm replication in TLR3-/- OE is more efficient than in wild-type OE. Because TLR3 modulates the release inflammatory mediators involved in host defense during Cm infection, we hypothesized that TLR3 plays a protective role against Cm-induced genital tract pathology in congenic C57BL/6N mice. Using the Cm mouse model for human Chlamydia genital tract infections, we demonstrated that TLR3-/- mice had increased Cm shedding during early and mid-stage genital infection. In early stage infection, TLR3-/- mice showed a diminished synthesis of IFN-β, IL-1β, and IL-6, but enhanced production of IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ. In mid-stage infection, TLR3-/- mice exhibited significantly enhanced lymphocytic endometritis and salpingitis than wild-type mice. These lymphocytes were predominantly scattered along the endometrial stroma and the associated smooth muscle, and the lamina propria supporting the oviducts. Surprisingly, our data show that CD4+ T-cells are significantly enhanced in the genital tract TLR3-/- mice during mid-stage Chlamydial infection. In late-stage infections, both mouse strains developed hydrosalpinx; however, the extent of hydrosalpinx was more severe in TLR3-/- mice. Together, these data suggest that TLR3 promotes the clearance of Cm during early and mid-stages of genital tract infection, and that loss of TLR3 is detrimental in the development hydrosalpinx

Evaluation of non-penetrative captive bolt stunning as a method of slaughter for white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

IntroductionPercussive stunning is a widely used and ethically supported method of stunning fish per welfare standards as part of a one- or two-step slaughter process. In this study, the use of a non-penetrative captive bolt (NPCB) gun was evaluated as an effective one-step method of improving welfare for juvenile and adult farmed white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) at slaughter.MethodsA Jarvis HPS-1 NPCB was operated at pressures of 120, 135, and 145 PSI (827.37, 930.79, and 999.74 kPa, respectively) for juvenile sturgeon (n = 3 sturgeon per operating pressure) and 175, 200, and 225 PSI (1206.58, 1378.95, and 1551.32 kPa, respectively) for adult sturgeon (n = 3 sturgeon per operating pressure). Following a single strike, fish were assessed for jaw relaxation and a somatic response before being exsanguinated and transferred to an ice slurry. An hour after slaughter, fish heads were collected, and a section of cartilage containing the brain was removed and fixed in formalin for histological analysis of brain death. To evaluate fish recovery, juveniles (n = 100) and adult female sturgeon (n = 65) were monitored for two hoursafter a single exposure to 145 and 225 PSI, respectively.ResultsHistology results showed there was an effect between operating pressure and intracranial hemorrhage in juvenile sturgeon (p = 0.024). There was a greater meningeal-to-cerebral hemorrhage at 135 PSI compared to the 120 PSI group (p = 0.020) and a trend towards increased tissue damage from 120 PSI to 145 PSI (p = 0.056). Adults showed no significant difference in meningeal hemorrhage at any operating pressure. When investigating recovery rates, NPCB successfully stunned 100% of juvenile sturgeon at 145 PSI, and 225 PSI stunned 90% of adult sturgeon without recovery.DiscussionThese results demonstrate that the use of an NPCB gun is an improvement in animal welfare compared to repeated strikes, but a single application did not produce histological brain death; further research should be conducted to determine optimal pressures that result in immediate brain death

Plasmodium vivax but not Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage infection in humans is associated with the expansion of a CD8+ T cell population with cytotoxic potential

P. vivax and P. falciparum parasites display different tropism for host cells and induce very different clinical symptoms and pathology, suggesting that the immune responses required for protection may differ between these two species. However, no study has qualitatively compared the immune responses to P. falciparum or P. vivax in humans following primary exposure and infection. Here, we show that the two species differ in terms of the cellular immune responses elicited following primary infection. Specifically, P. vivax induced the expansion of a subset of CD8+ T cells expressing the activation marker CD38, whereas P. falciparum induced the expansion of CD38+ CD4+ T cells. The CD38+ CD8+ T cell population that expanded following P. vivax infection displayed greater cytotoxic potential compared to CD38- CD8+ T cells, and compared to CD38+ CD8+ T cells circulating during P. falciparum infection. We hypothesize that P. vivax infection leads to a stronger CD38+ CD8+ T cell activation because of its preferred tropism for MHC-I-expressing reticulocytes that, unlike mature red blood cells, can present antigen directly to CD8+ T cells. This study provides the first line of evidence to suggest an effector role for CD8+ T cells in P. vivax blood-stage immunity. It is also the first report of species-specific differences in the subset of T cells that are expanded following primary Plasmodium infection, suggesting that malaria vaccine development may require optimization according to the target parasite

Erratum: Author Correction: Identification of genes required for eye development by high-throughput screening of mouse knockouts.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0226-0.]

A Novel and Critical Role for Oct4 as a Regulator of the Maternal-Embryonic Transition

Compared to the emerging embryonic stem cell (ESC) gene network, little is known about the dynamic gene network that directs reprogramming in the early embryo. We hypothesized that Oct4, an ESC pluripotency regulator that is also highly expressed at the 1- to 2-cell stages in embryos, may be a critical regulator of the earliest gene network in the embryo.Using antisense morpholino oligonucleotide (MO)-mediated gene knockdown, we show that Oct4 is required for development prior to the blastocyst stage. Specifically, Oct4 has a novel and critical role in regulating genes that encode transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators as early as the 2-cell stage. Our data suggest that the key function of Oct4 may be to switch the developmental program from one that is predominantly regulated by post-transcriptional control to one that depends on the transcriptional network. Further, we propose to rank candidate genes quantitatively based on the inter-embryo variation in their differential expression in response to Oct4 knockdown. Of over 30 genes analyzed according to this proposed paradigm, Rest and Mta2, both of which have established pluripotency functions in ESCs, were found to be the most tightly regulated by Oct4 at the 2-cell stage.We show that the Oct4-regulated gene set at the 1- to 2-cell stages of early embryo development is large and distinct from its established network in ESCs. Further, our experimental approach can be applied to dissect the gene regulatory network of Oct4 and other pluripotency regulators to deconstruct the dynamic developmental program in the early embryo

Noncoding deletions reveal a gene that is critical for intestinal function.

Large-scale genome sequencing is poised to provide a substantial increase in the rate of discovery of disease-associated mutations, but the functional interpretation of such mutations remains challenging. Here we show that deletions of a sequence on human chromosome 16 that we term the intestine-critical region (ICR) cause intractable congenital diarrhoea in infants1,2. Reporter assays in transgenic mice show that the ICR contains a regulatory sequence that activates transcription during the development of the gastrointestinal system. Targeted deletion of the ICR in mice caused symptoms that recapitulated the human condition. Transcriptome analysis revealed that an unannotated open reading frame (Percc1) flanks the regulatory sequence, and the expression of this gene was lost in the developing gut of mice that lacked the ICR. Percc1-knockout mice displayed phenotypes similar to those observed upon ICR deletion in mice and patients, whereas an ICR-driven Percc1 transgene was sufficient to rescue the phenotypes found in mice that lacked the ICR. Together, our results identify a gene that is critical for intestinal function and underscore the need for targeted in vivo studies to interpret the growing number of clinical genetic findings that do not affect known protein-coding genes

Identification of genes required for eye development by high-throughput screening of mouse knockouts.

Despite advances in next generation sequencing technologies, determining the genetic basis of ocular disease remains a major challenge due to the limited access and prohibitive cost of human forward genetics. Thus, less than 4,000 genes currently have available phenotype information for any organ system. Here we report the ophthalmic findings from the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, a large-scale functional genetic screen with the goal of generating and phenotyping a null mutant for every mouse gene. Of 4364 genes evaluated, 347 were identified to influence ocular phenotypes, 75% of which are entirely novel in ocular pathology. This discovery greatly increases the current number of genes known to contribute to ophthalmic disease, and it is likely that many of the genes will subsequently prove to be important in human ocular development and disease