New Insight into Metformin Mechanism of Action and Clinical Application

Metformin is the first-line medication for Type 2 diabetes (T2D) treatment, and it is the only US FDA approved oral antidiabetic medication for pediatric patients with T2D 10 years and older. Metformin is also used to treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), another condition with underlying insulin resistance. The clinical applications of metformin are continuing to expand into other fields including cancer, aging, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Metformin modulates multiple biological pathways. Its novel properties and effects continue to evolve; however, its molecular mechanism of action remains incompletely understood. In this chapter, we focus on the recent translational research and clinical data on the molecular action of metformin and the evidence linking the effects of metformin on insulin resistance, prediabetes, diabetes, aging, cancer, PCOS, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases

2-Chloro-6,6-dimethyl-5,6-dihydro­indazolo[2,3-c]quinazoline

Two independent but virtually identical mol­ecules comprise the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C16H14ClN3. The mol­ecules have a slightly curved shape owing to puckering in the six-membered C4N2 ring; the respective dihedral angles formed between the benzene rings are 12.64 (7) and 11.72 (7)°. In the crystal, layers sustained by a combination of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonding as well as C—H⋯N and C—H⋯π contacts are formed; these stack along [011] and are connected by further C—H⋯π contacts

N-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)-1,1,1-trifluoro-N-(trifluoro­methyl­sulfon­yl)methane­sulfonamide

The title mol­ecule, also called 4-chloro-N,N-bis­(trifluoro­methane­sulfon­yl)aniline, C8H4ClF6NO4S2, has non-crystallographic twofold symmetry with the pseudo-axis aligned along the Cl—C⋯C—N backbone of the mol­ecule: the SO2CF3 residues lie to either side of the benzene ring. In the crystal, the presence of C—H⋯O contacts lead to the formation of a sequence of 12-membered {⋯HC2NSO}2 synthons within a supra­molecular chain aligned along [101]

Animal Defenses against Infectious Agents: Is Damage Control More Important Than Pathogen Control?

The ability of hosts to withstand a given number of pathogens is a critical component of health. Now playing catch-up with plant biologists, animal biologists are starting to formally separate this form of defense from classical resistance

Tracing Personalized Health Curves during Infections

By concentrating on the relationship between health and microbe number over the course of infections, most pathogenic and mutualistic infections can be summarized by a small alphabet of curves, which has implications not only for basic research but for how we might treat patients

Dissecting the Genetic Architecture of Host–Pathogen Specificity

International audienc

Color afterimages in autistic adults

It has been suggested that attenuated adaptation to visual stimuli in autism is the result of atypical perceptual priors (e.g., Pellicano and Burr in Trends Cogn Sci 16(10):504–510, 2012. doi:10.​1016/​j.​tics.​2012.​08.​009). This study investigated adaptation to color in autistic adults, measuring both strength of afterimage and the influence of top-down knowledge. We found no difference in color afterimage strength between autistic and typical adults. Effects of top-down knowledge on afterimage intensity shown by Lupyan (Acta Psychol 161:117–130, 2015. doi:10.​1016/​j.​actpsy.​2015.​08.​006) were not replicated for either group. This study finds intact color adaptation in autistic adults. This is in contrast to findings of attenuated adaptation to faces and numerosity in autistic children. Future research should investigate the possibility of developmental differences in adaptation and further examine top-down effects on adaptation

Natural Variation in Partial Resistance to Pseudomonas syringae Is Controlled by Two Major QTLs in Arabidopsis thaliana

BACKGROUND: Low-level, partial resistance is pre-eminent in natural populations, however, the mechanisms underlying this form of resistance are still poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, we used the model pathosystem Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst) - Arabidopsis thaliana to study the genetic basis of this form of resistance. Phenotypic analysis of a set of Arabidopsis accessions, based on evaluation of in planta pathogen growth revealed extensive quantitative variation for partial resistance to Pst. It allowed choosing a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between the accessions Bayreuth and Shahdara for quantitative genetic analysis. Experiments performed under two different environmental conditions led to the detection of two major and two minor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing partial resistance to Pst and called PRP-Ps1 to PRP-Ps4. The two major QTLs, PRP-Ps1 and PRP-Ps2, were confirmed in near isogenic lines (NILs), following the heterogeneous inbred families (HIFs) strategy. Analysis of marker gene expression using these HIFs indicated a negative correlation between the induced amount of transcripts of SA-dependent genes PR1, ICS and PR5, and the in planta bacterial growth in the HIF segregating at PRP-Ps2 locus, suggesting an implication of PRP-Ps2 in the activation of SA dependent responses. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that variation in partial resistance to Pst in Arabidopsis is governed by relatively few loci, and the validation of two major loci opens the way for their fine mapping and their cloning, which will improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying partial resistance

An experimental study of executive function and social impairment in Cornelia de Lange syndrome

Background Extreme shyness and social anxiety is reported to be characteristic of adolescents and adults with Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS); however, the nature of these characteristics is not well documented. In this study, we develop and apply an experimental assessment of social anxiety in a group of adolescents and adults with CdLS to determine the nature of the social difficulties and whether they are related to impairments in executive functioning. Methods A familiar and unfamiliar examiner separately engaged in socially demanding tasks comprising three experimental conditions with a group of individuals with CdLS (n = 25; % male = 44; mean age = 22.16; SD = 8.81) and a comparable group of individuals with Down syndrome (DS; n = 20; % male = 35; mean age = 24.35; SD = 5.97). Behaviours indicative of social anxiety were coded. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version, an informant measure of executive function, was completed by participants’ caregivers. Results Significantly less verbalisation was observed in the CdLS group than the DS group in conditions requiring the initiation of speech. In the CdLS group, impairments in verbalisation were not associated with a greater degree of intellectual disability but were significantly correlated with impairments in both planning and working memory. This association was not evident in the DS group. Conclusions Adolescents and adults with CdLS have a specific difficulty with the initiation of speech when social demands are placed upon them. This impairment in verbalisation may be underpinned by specific cognitive deficits, although further research is needed to investigate this fully

Contributions of phonological and verbal working memory to language development in adolescents with fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. Although language delays are frequently observed in FXS, neither the longitudinal course of language development nor its cognitive predictors are well understood. The present study investigated whether phonological and working memory skills are predictive of growth in vocabulary and syntax in individuals with FXS during adolescence. Forty-four individuals with FXS (mean age = 12.61 years) completed assessments of phonological memory (nonword repetition and forward digit recall), verbal working memory (backward digit recall), vocabulary, syntax, and nonverbal cognition. Vocabulary and syntax skills were reassessed at a 2-year follow-up. In a series of analyses that controlled for nonverbal cognitive ability and severity of autism symptoms, the relative contributions of phonological and working memory to language change over time were investigated. These relationships were examined separately for boys and girls. In boys with FXS, phonological memory significantly predicted gains in vocabulary and syntax skills. Further, verbal working memory was uniquely associated with vocabulary gains among boys. In girls with FXS, phonological and working memory skills showed no relationship with language change across the 2-year time period. Our findings indicate that, for adolescent boys with FXS, acquisition of vocabulary and syntax may be constrained by the ability to maintain and manipulate phonological representations online. Implications for the identification and treatment of language disorders in this population are discussed. The present study is the first to identify specific cognitive mechanisms contributing to language growth over time in individuals with FXS