Low-frequency cortical activity is a neuromodulatory target that tracks recovery after stroke.

Recent work has highlighted the importance of transient low-frequency oscillatory (LFO; <4 Hz) activity in the healthy primary motor cortex during skilled upper-limb tasks. These brief bouts of oscillatory activity may establish the timing or sequencing of motor actions. Here, we show that LFOs track motor recovery post-stroke and can be a physiological target for neuromodulation. In rodents, we found that reach-related LFOs, as measured in both the local field potential and the related spiking activity, were diminished after stroke and that spontaneous recovery was closely correlated with their restoration in the perilesional cortex. Sensorimotor LFOs were also diminished in a human subject with chronic disability after stroke in contrast to two non-stroke subjects who demonstrated robust LFOs. Therapeutic delivery of electrical stimulation time-locked to the expected onset of LFOs was found to significantly improve skilled reaching in stroke animals. Together, our results suggest that restoration or modulation of cortical oscillatory dynamics is important for the recovery of upper-limb function and that they may serve as a novel target for clinical neuromodulation

Comparação de genes de virulência de dois isolados de Mycobacterium Bovis sequenciados por plataforma de nova geração.

Comissão organizadora: Grácia Maria Soares Rosinha, Alexandra Rocha de Oliveir, Rodrigo Carvalho Alva

Comparação de genes de virulência de duas cepas de Mycobacterium bovis com perfis patogênicos contrastantes.

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Lesson learned from early and long-term results of 327 cases of coexisting surgical abdominal diseases and aortic aneurysms treated in open and endovascular surgery

Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) frequently have other abdominal pathologies of surgical interest (other diseases, OD). Out of 1,375 elective open aortic replacements for AAA, 315 cases with OD were subdivided in Group 1 (82 patients with “clean wound” OD) and Group 2 (233 patients with “clean-contaminated wound” OD). The results of the sub-groups in which OD was treated at the same time as AAA were analysed (1a, 66 cases and 2a, 86 cases) and compared with OD not treated at the same time as AAA (1b, 16 cases and 2b, 147 cases). EVAR was done in 12 patients with a infrarenal AAA and concomitant abdominal disease. In this group post-operative complications occured in two patients (endoleaks) and no sign of endograft infection was developed. Mean follow-up was 36 months. Mortality was 0% in Group 1a, 1b, 2b and 5.8% in Group 2a. In Group 1a there were one haemoperitoneum, one ischaemic colitis and one graft infection. In Group 1b there were 4 nefrectomies for renal carcinoma and three emergency hernia repairs within 18 months from AAA operation. In Group 2a the follow-up was uneventful. In Group 2b there was no acute complication of OD and 57.2% of patients were subsequently operated for OD. In the EVAR group the 30-day and late mortality rates were 0 and 25%, respectively and all deaths were cancer-related. Contemporary correction of OD in open surgery for AAA should be performed in clean wound cases, while clean-contaminated operations can be done only in selected cases. EVAR is a valid alternative technique to open vascular surgery for the concomitant treatment of aortic aneurysms and abdominal pathologies

The Impact of Simulated Sulfate Deposition on Peatland Testate Amoebae

Peatlands subjected to sulfate deposition have been shown to produce less methane, believed to be due to competitive exclusion of methanogenic archaea by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Here, we address whether sulfate deposition produces impacts on a higher microbial group, the testate amoebae. Sodium sulfate was applied to experimental plots on a Scottish peatland and samples extracted after a period of more than 10 years. Impacts on testate amoebae were tested using redundancy analysis and Mann-Whitney tests. Results showed statistically significant impacts on amoebae communities particularly noted by decreased abundance of Trinema lineare, Corythion dubium, and Euglypha rotunda. As the species most reduced in abundance are all small bacterivores we suggest that our results support the hypothesis of a shift in dominant prokaryotes, although other explanations are possible. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of peatland microbial communities to sulfate deposition and suggest sulfate may be a potentially important secondary control on testate amoebae communities

Taxonomic diversity and identification problems of oncaeid microcopepods in the Mediterranean Sea

The species diversity of the pelagic microcopepod family Oncaeidae collected with nets of 0.1-mm mesh size was studied at 6 stations along a west-to-east transect in the Mediterranean Sea down to a maximum depth of 1,000 m. A total of 27 species and two form variants have been identified, including three new records for the Mediterranean. In addition, about 20, as yet undescribed, new morphospecies were found (mainly from the genera Epicalymma and Triconia) which need to be examined further. The total number of identified oncaeid species was similar in the Western and Eastern Basins, but for some cooccurring sibling species, the estimated numerical dominance changed. The deep-sea fauna of Oncaeidae, studied at selected depth layers between 400 m and the near-bottom layer at >4,200 m depth in the eastern Mediterranean (Levantine Sea), showed rather constant species numbers down to ∼3,000 m depth. In the near-bottom layers, the diversity of oncaeids declined and species of Epicalymma strongly increased in numerical importance. The taxonomic status of all oncaeid species recorded earlier in the Mediterranean Sea is evaluated: 19 out of the 46 known valid oncaeid species are insufficiently described, and most of the taxonomically unresolved species (13 species) have originally been described from this area (type locality). The deficiencies in the species identification of oncaeids cast into doubt the allegedly cosmopolitan distribution of some species, in particular those of Mediterranean origin. The existing identification problems even of well-described oncaeid species are exemplified for the Oncaea mediacomplex, including O. media Giesbrecht, O. scottodicarloi Heron & Bradford-Grieve, and O. waldemari Bersano & Boxshall, which are often erroneously identified as a single species (O. media). The inadequacy in the species identification of Oncaeidae, in particular those from the Atlantic and Mediterranean, is mainly due to the lack of reliable identification keys for Oncaeidae in warm-temperate and/or tropical seas. Future efforts should be directed to the construction of identification keys that can be updated according to the latest taxonomic findings, which can be used by the non-expert as well as by the specialist. The adequate consideration of the numerous, as yet undescribed, microcopepod species in the world oceans, in particular the Oncaeidae, is a challenge for the study of the structure and function of plankton communities as well as for global biodiversity estimates

Transcriptional remodeling patterns in murine dendritic cells infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis : more is not necessarily better

Most people infected with the fungus Paracoccidioides spp. do not get sick, but approximately 5% develop paracoccidioidomycosis. Understanding how host immunity determinants influence disease development could lead to novel preventative or therapeutic strategies; hence, we used two mouse strains that are resistant (A/J) or susceptible (B10.A) to P. brasiliensis to study how dendritic cells (DCs) respond to the infection. RNA sequencing analysis showed that the susceptible strain DCs remodeled their transcriptomes much more intensely than those from the resistant strain, agreeing with a previous model of more intense innate immunity response in the susceptible strain. Contrastingly, these cells also repress genes/processes involved in antigen processing and presentation, such as lysosomal activity and autophagy. After the interaction with P. brasiliensis, both DCs and macrophages from the susceptible mouse reduced the autophagy marker LC3-II recruitment to the fungal phagosome compared to the resistant strain cells, confirming this pathway’s repression. These results suggest that impairment in antigen processing and presentation processes might be partially responsible for the inefficient activation of the adaptive immune response in this model

Phospholipase D Family Member 4, a Transmembrane Glycoprotein with No Phospholipase D Activity, Expression in Spleen and Early Postnatal Microglia

BACKGROUND: Phospholipase D (PLD) catalyzes conversion of phosphatidylcholine into choline and phosphatidic acid, leading to a variety of intracellular signal transduction events. Two classical PLDs, PLD1 and PLD2, contain phosphatidylinositide-binding PX and PH domains and two conserved His-x-Lys-(x)(4)-Asp (HKD) motifs, which are critical for PLD activity. PLD4 officially belongs to the PLD family, because it possesses two HKD motifs. However, it lacks PX and PH domains and has a putative transmembrane domain instead. Nevertheless, little is known regarding expression, structure, and function of PLD4. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: PLD4 was analyzed in terms of expression, structure, and function. Expression was analyzed in developing mouse brains and non-neuronal tissues using microarray, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and immunocytochemistry. Structure was evaluated using bioinformatics analysis of protein domains, biochemical analyses of transmembrane property, and enzymatic deglycosylation. PLD activity was examined by choline release and transphosphatidylation assays. Results demonstrated low to modest, but characteristic, PLD4 mRNA expression in a subset of cells preferentially localized around white matter regions, including the corpus callosum and cerebellar white matter, during the first postnatal week. These PLD4 mRNA-expressing cells were identified as Iba1-positive microglia. In non-neuronal tissues, PLD4 mRNA expression was widespread, but predominantly distributed in the spleen. Intense PLD4 expression was detected around the marginal zone of the splenic red pulp, and splenic PLD4 protein recovered from subcellular membrane fractions was highly N-glycosylated. PLD4 was heterologously expressed in cell lines and localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Moreover, heterologously expressed PLD4 proteins did not exhibit PLD enzymatic activity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Results showed that PLD4 is a non-PLD, HKD motif-carrying, transmembrane glycoprotein localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. The spatiotemporally restricted expression patterns suggested that PLD4 might play a role in common function(s) among microglia during early postnatal brain development and splenic marginal zone cells

Identification of DHX9 as a cell cycle regulated nucleolar recruitment factor for CIZ1

CIP1-interacting zinc finger protein 1 (CIZ1) is a nuclear matrix associated protein that facilitates a number of nuclear functions including initiation of DNA replication, epigenetic maintenance and associates with the inactive X-chromosome. Here, to gain more insight into the protein networks that underpin this diverse functionality, molecular panning and mass spectrometry are used to identify protein interaction partners of CIZ1, and CIZ1 replication domain (CIZ1-RD). STRING analysis of CIZ1 interaction partners identified 2 functional clusters: ribosomal subunits and nucleolar proteins including the DEAD box helicases, DHX9, DDX5 and DDX17. DHX9 shares common functions with CIZ1, including interaction with XIST long-non-coding RNA, epigenetic maintenance and regulation of DNA replication. Functional characterisation of the CIZ1-DHX9 complex showed that CIZ1-DHX9 interact in vitro and dynamically colocalise within the nucleolus from early to mid S-phase. CIZ1-DHX9 nucleolar colocalisation is dependent upon RNA polymerase I activity and is abolished by depletion of DHX9. In addition, depletion of DHX9 reduced cell cycle progression from G1 to S-phase in mouse fibroblasts. The data suggest that DHX9-CIZ1 are required for efficient cell cycle progression at the G1/S transition and that nucleolar recruitment is integral to their mechanism of action