Mitochondrial TERT enhances mitochondria functions in vivo by protecting mitochondrial DNA integrity from oxidative damage : meeting abstract

Mitochondria are essential for respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondrial dysfunction due to aging processes is involved in pathologies and pathogenesis of a series of cardiovascular disorders. New results accumulate showing that the enzyme telomerase with its catalytic subunit telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) has a beneficial effect on heart functions. The benefit of short-term running of mice for heart function is dependent on TERT expression. TERT can translocate into the mitochondria and mitochondrial TERT (mtTERT) is protective against stress induced stimuli and binds to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Because mtDNA is highly susceptible to damage produced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are generated in close proximity to the respiratory chain, the aim of this study was to determine the functions of mtTERT in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, mitochondria from hearts of adult, 2nd generation TERT-deficient mice (TERT -/-) and wt littermates were isolated and state 3 respiration was measured. Strikingly mitochondria from TERT -/- revealed a significantly lower state 3 respiration (TERTwt: 987 +/- 72 pmol/s*mg vs. TERT-/-: 774 +/- 38 pmol/s*mg, p < 0.05, n = 5). These results demonstrated that TERT -/- mice have a so far undiscovered heart phenotype. In contrast mitochondria isolated from liver tissues did not show any differences. To get further insights in the molecular mechanisms, we reduced endogenous TERT levels by shRNA and measured mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS). mtROS were increased after ablation of TERT (scrambled: 4.98 +/- 1.1% gated vs. shTERT: 2.03 +/- 0.7% gated, p < 0.05, n = 4). We next determined mtDNA deletions, which are caused by mtROS. Semiquantitative realtime PCR of mtDNA deletions revealed that mtTERT protects mtDNA from oxidative damage. To analyze whether mitochondrial integrity is required to protect from apoptosis, vectors with mitochondrially targeted TERT (mitoTERT) and wildtype TERT (wtTERT) were transfected and apoptosis was measured. mitoTERT showed the most prominent protective effect on H2O2 induced apoptosis. In conclusion, mtTERT has a protective role in mitochondria by importantly contributing to mtDNA integrity and thereby enhancing respiration capacity of the heart

Assessment of risks related to agricultural use of sewage sludge, pig and cattle slurry

In April 2017, the Organic Business Development Team released a report with 25 recommendations for the Minister of Environment and Food (Det økologiske erhvervsteam 2017). Among these was a recommendation that organic farmers should have opportunities for utilizing nutrients from treated domestic wastewater for nutrient recycling. A prerequisite for future use of nutrients from treated wastewater is, that quality requirements are met and that application can be explained to (and accepted by) consumers. In partial fulfilment of this, the business team identified a need for a scientific overview of the risks of using nutrients from treated municipal wastewater in relation to other authorized fertilizer sources – e.g. conventional animal manures. Thus, it was assumed that a comparative approach to assess potential risk of using sewage sludge and conventional manures, could usefully inform decision makers in the future regulation of organic farming systems. Dependent on the result of the scientific investigation, the Organic Business Development Team foresaw that Denmark could chose to work to expand Annex 1 of the EU Ecology Regulation, to allow the organic farmers to use nutrients from municipal wastewater or other acceptable derived sludge products. Mobilization of support for this should be done by the Ministry of Environment and Food in collaboration with the Organic Farming Industry. Thus, based on available literature, this report aims at creating an overview of the environmental and human risks associated with application of pig and cattle slurry as well as sewage sludge to agricultural soils. The risk evaluation was performed for the following compound groups: Metals, Chlorophenyls, Dioxins, Furans, Halogenated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (HAH), Linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS), Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), Poly- and perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS), Phenols, Phosphate-triesters VII, Phthalates, Polychlorinated naphtalenes (PCN), Polychlorinated alkanes (PCA), Triclosan, Triclocarban, Medicines, Estrogens, Antibiotic resistance genes. Additionally the fertilizer potential of the two nutrient sources was characterized and compared

Regulations, risk, and rent seeking behaviour

This paper seeks to address how political risk influences behaviour, in particular rent seeking behaviour. Such risk is important in many industries, which posts challenges both for policy makers and economic agents. This paper studies how political uncertainty affects rent seeking, and what level of political uncertainty is “optimal” for society. We find that under some conditions, a higher level of political uncertainty might be beneficial to discourage rent seeking. On the other hand, high risk aversion among the agents decreases the optimal level of uncertainty, as risk averse agents suffer a higher loss in utility from a high uncertainty. It is possible to find several areas where this analysis is relevant. For instance, in fisheries, increasing uncertainty about whether or not to implement (or extend) a pay-back scheme will reduce the incentives for the fishermen to overinvest in vessels

Regulations, risk, and rent seeking behaviour

This paper seeks to address how political risk influences behaviour, in particular rent seeking behaviour. Such risk is important in many industries, which posts challenges both for policy makers and economic agents. This paper studies how political uncertainty affects rent seeking, and what level of political uncertainty is “optimal” for society. We find that under some conditions, a higher level of political uncertainty might be beneficial to discourage rent seeking. On the other hand, high risk aversion among the agents decreases the optimal level of uncertainty, as risk averse agents suffer a higher loss in utility from a high uncertainty. It is possible to find several areas where this analysis is relevant. For instance, in fisheries, increasing uncertainty about whether or not to implement (or extend) a pay-back scheme will reduce the incentives for the fishermen to overinvest in vessels

Regulations, risk, and rent seeking behaviour

This paper seeks to address how political risk influences behaviour, in particular rent seeking behaviour. Such risk is important in many industries, which posts challenges both for policy makers and economic agents. This paper studies how political uncertainty affects rent seeking, and what level of political uncertainty is “optimal” for society. We find that under some conditions, a higher level of political uncertainty might be beneficial to discourage rent seeking. On the other hand, high risk aversion among the agents decreases the optimal level of uncertainty, as risk averse agents suffer a higher loss in utility from a high uncertainty. It is possible to find several areas where this analysis is relevant. For instance, in fisheries, increasing uncertainty about whether or not to implement (or extend) a pay-back scheme will reduce the incentives for the fishermen to overinvest in vessels

Regulations, risk, and rent seeking behaviour

This paper seeks to address how political risk influences behaviour, in particular rent seeking behaviour. Such risk is important in many industries, which posts challenges both for policy makers and economic agents. This paper studies how political uncertainty affects rent seeking, and what level of political uncertainty is “optimal” for society. We find that under some conditions, a higher level of political uncertainty might be beneficial to discourage rent seeking. On the other hand, high risk aversion among the agents decreases the optimal level of uncertainty, as risk averse agents suffer a higher loss in utility from a high uncertainty. It is possible to find several areas where this analysis is relevant. For instance, in fisheries, increasing uncertainty about whether or not to implement (or extend) a pay-back scheme will reduce the incentives for the fishermen to overinvest in vessels

Investigation of Detection Limits and the Influence of DNA Extraction and Primer Choice on the Observed Microbial Communities in Drinking Water Samples Using 16S rRNA Gene Amplicon Sequencing

In recent years, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing has been widely adopted for analyzing the microbial communities in drinking water (DW). However, no comprehensive attempts have been made to illuminate the inherent method biases specifically relating to DW communities. In this study, we investigated the impact of DNA extraction and primer choice on the observed microbial community, and furthermore estimated the detection limit of the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in these experimental settings. Of the two DNA extraction kits investigated, the PowerWater DNA Isolation Kit resulted in higher yield, better reproducibility and more OTUs identified compared to the FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil, which is also commonly used within DW microbiome research. The use of three separate primer-sets targeting the V1-3, V3-4, and V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene revealed large differences in OTU abundances, with some of the primers unable to detect entire phyla. Estimations of the detection limit were based on bacteria-free water samples (1 L) spiked with Escherichia coli cells in different concentrations [101–106 cells/ml]. E.coli could be detected in all samples, however, samples with ∼101 cells/ml had several contaminating OTUs constituting approximately 8% of the read abundances. Based on our findings, we recommend using the PowerWater DNA Isolation Kit for DNA extraction in combination with PCR amplification of the V3-4 or V4 region for DW samples if a broad overview of the microbial community is to be obtained