522 research outputs found
Study of the Negative Magneto-Resistance of Single Proton-Implanted Lithium-Doped ZnO Microwires
The magneto-transport properties of single proton-implanted ZnO and of
Li(7\%)-doped ZnO microwires have been studied. The as-grown microwires were
highly insulating and not magnetic. After proton implantation the Li(7\%) doped
ZnO microwires showed a non monotonous behavior of the negative
magneto-resistance (MR) at temperature above 150 K. This is in contrast to the
monotonous NMR observed below 50 K for proton-implanted ZnO. The observed
difference in the transport properties of the wires is related to the amount of
stable Zn vacancies created at the near surface region by the proton
implantation and Li doping. The magnetic field dependence of the resistance
might be explained by the formation of a magnetic/non magnetic heterostructure
in the wire after proton implantation.Comment: 6 pages with 5 figure
The importance of initial-final state correlations for the formation of fragments in heavy ion collisions
Using quantum molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the formation of
fragments in symmetric reactions between beam energies of E=30AMeV and 600AMeV.
After a comparison with existing data we investigate some observables relevant
to tackle equilibration: dsigma/dErat, the double differential cross section
dsigma/pt.dpz.dpt,... Apart maybe from very energetic E>400AMeV and very
central reactions, none of our simulations gives evidence that the system
passes through a state of equilibrium. Later, we address the production
mechanisms and find that, whatever the energy, nucleons finally entrained in a
fragment exhibit strong initial-final state correlations, in coordinate as well
as in momentum space. At high energy those correlations resemble the ones
obtained in the participant-spectator model. At low energy the correlations are
equally strong, but more complicated; they are a consequence of the Pauli
blocking of the nucleon-nucleon collisions, the geometry, and the excitation
energy. Studying a second set of time-dependent variables (radii,
densities,...), we investigate in details how those correlations survive the
reaction especially in central reactions where the nucleons have to pass
through the whole system. It appears that some fragments are made of nucleons
which were initially correlated, whereas others are formed by nucleons
scattered during the reaction into the vicinity of a group of previously
correlated nucleons.Comment: 45 pages text + 20 postscript figures Accepted for publication in
Physical Review
microRNA-205-5p is a modulator of insulin sensitivity that inhibits FOXO function.
Hepatic insulin resistance is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Insulin receptor signaling through AKT and FOXO has important metabolic effects that have traditionally been ascribed to regulation of gene expression. However, whether all the metabolic effects of FOXO arise from its regulation of protein-encoding mRNAs is unknown.
To address this question, we obtained expression profiles of FOXO-regulated murine hepatic microRNAs (miRNAs) during fasting and refeeding using mice lacking Foxo1, 3a, and 4 in liver (L-Foxo1,3a, 4).
Out of 439 miRNA analyzed, 175 were differentially expressed in Foxo knockouts. Their functions were associated with insulin, Wnt, Mapk signaling, and aging. Among them, we report a striking increase of miR-205-5p expression in L-Foxo1,3a,4 knockouts, as well as in obese mice. We show that miR-205-5p gain-of-function increases AKT phosphorylation and decreases SHIP2 in primary hepatocytes, resulting in FOXO inhibition. This results in decreased hepatocyte glucose production. Consistent with these observations, miR-205-5p gain-of-function in mice lowered glucose levels and improved pyruvate tolerance.
These findings reveal a homeostatic miRNA loop regulating insulin signaling, with potential implications for in vivo glucose metabolism
miRanalyzer: a microRNA detection and analysis tool for next-generation sequencing experiments
Next-generation sequencing allows now the sequencing of small RNA molecules and the estimation of their expression levels. Consequently, there will be a high demand of bioinformatics tools to cope with the several gigabytes of sequence data generated in each single deep-sequencing experiment. Given this scene, we developed miRanalyzer, a web server tool for the analysis of deep-sequencing experiments for small RNAs. The web server tool requires a simple input file containing a list of unique reads and its copy numbers (expression levels). Using these data, miRanalyzer (i) detects all known microRNA sequences annotated in miRBase, (ii) finds all perfect matches against other libraries of transcribed sequences and (iii) predicts new microRNAs. The prediction of new microRNAs is an especially important point as there are many species with very few known microRNAs. Therefore, we implemented a highly accurate machine learning algorithm for the prediction of new microRNAs that reaches AUC values of 97.9% and recall values of up to 75% on unseen data. The web tool summarizes all the described steps in a single output page, which provides a comprehensive overview of the analysis, adding links to more detailed output pages for each analysis module. miRanalyzer is available at http://web.bioinformatics.cicbiogune.es/microRNA/
Contrasting patterns of evolutionary constraint and novelty revealed by comparative sperm proteomic analysis in Lepidoptera
Background: Rapid evolution is a hallmark of reproductive genetic systems and arises through the combined processes of sequence divergence, gene gain and loss, and changes in gene and protein expression. While studies aiming to disentangle the molecular ramifications of these processes are progressing, we still know little about the genetic basis of evolutionary transitions in reproductive systems. Here we conduct the first comparative analysis of sperm proteomes in Lepidoptera, a group that exhibits dichotomous spermatogenesis, in which males produce a functional fertilization-competent sperm (eupyrene) and an incompetent sperm morph lacking nuclear DNA (apyrene). Through the integrated application of evolutionary proteomics and genomics, we characterize the genomic patterns potentially associated with the origination and evolution of this unique spermatogenic process and assess the importance of genetic novelty in Lepidopteran sperm biology.
Results: Comparison of the newly characterized Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) sperm proteome to those of the Carolina sphinx moth (Manduca sexta) and the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) demonstrated conservation at the level of protein abundance and post-translational modification within Lepidoptera. In contrast, comparative genomic analyses across insects reveals significant divergence at two levels that differentiate the genetic architecture of sperm in Lepidoptera from other insects. First, a significant reduction in orthology among Monarch sperm genes relative to the remainder of the genome in non-Lepidopteran insect species was observed. Second, a substantial number of sperm proteins were found to be specific to Lepidoptera, in that they lack detectable homology to the genomes of more distantly related insects. Lastly, the functional importance of Lepidoptera specific sperm proteins is broadly supported by their increased abundance relative to proteins conserved across insects.
Conclusions: Our results identify a burst of genetic novelty amongst sperm proteins that may be associated with the origin of heteromorphic spermatogenesis in ancestral Lepidoptera and/or the subsequent evolution of this system. This pattern of genomic diversification is distinct from the remainder of the genome and thus suggests that this transition has had a marked impact on lepidopteran genome evolution. The identification of abundant sperm proteins unique to Lepidoptera, including proteins distinct between specific lineages, will accelerate future functional studies aiming to understand the developmental origin of dichotomous spermatogenesis and the functional diversification of the fertilization incompetent apyrene sperm morph
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