Tachykinin-related peptides modulate immune-gene expression in the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor L.

Tachykinins (TKs) are a group of conserved neuropeptides. In insects, tachykinin-related peptides (TRPs) are important modulators of several functions such as nociception and lipid metabolism. Recently, it has become clear that TRPs also play a role in regulating the insect immune system. Here, we report a transcriptomic analysis of changes in the expression levels of immune-related genes in the storage pest Tenebrio molitor after treatment with Tenmo-TRP-7. We tested two concentrations (10–8 and 10–6 M) at two time points, 6 and 24 h post-injection. We found significant changes in the transcript levels of a wide spectrum of immune-related genes. Some changes were observed 6 h after the injection of Tenmo-TRP-7, especially in relation to its putative anti-apoptotic action. Interestingly, 24 h after the injection of 10–8 M Tenmo-TRP-7, most changes were related to the regulation of the cellular response. Applying 10–6 M Tenmo-TRP-7 resulted in the downregulation of genes associated with humoral responses. Injecting Tenmo-TRP-7 did not affect beetle survival but led to a reduction in haemolymph lysozyme-like antibacterial activity, consistent with the transcriptomic data. The results confirmed the immunomodulatory role of TRP and shed new light on the functional homology between TRPs and TKs

Tachykinin-related peptides modulate immune-gene expression in the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor L

The research was partially supported by Grant No. 2021/41/B/NZ9/01054 from the National Science Centre (Poland). AU was supported by a scholarship from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) within the Bekker Programme, 2019 (personal stipend, PPN/BEK/2019/1/00167), a scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) within the program for Research Stays for University Academics and Scientists, 2018 (personal stipend, 91696887), and a scholarship from the Initiative of Excellence, Research University (ID-UB Project), within the International Junior and Senior Exchange, 2021 (personal stipend, 018/07/POB2/0001). The publication fee was supported by the ID-UB Project (040/08/POB2/0010). JR was funded by DFG FOR 5026.Tachykinins (TKs) are a group of conserved neuropeptides. In insects, tachykinin-related peptides (TRPs) are important modulators of several functions such as nociception and lipid metabolism. Recently, it has become clear that TRPs also play a role in regulating the insect immune system. Here, we report a transcriptomic analysis of changes in the expression levels of immune-related genes in the storage pest Tenebrio molitor after treatment with Tenmo-TRP-7. We tested two concentrations (10-8 and 10-6 M) at two time points, 6 and 24 h post-injection. We found significant changes in the transcript levels of a wide spectrum of immune-related genes. Some changes were observed 6 h after the injection of Tenmo-TRP-7, especially in relation to its putative anti-apoptotic action. Interestingly, 24 h after the injection of 10-8 M Tenmo-TRP-7, most changes were related to the regulation of the cellular response. Applying 10-6 M Tenmo-TRP-7 resulted in the downregulation of genes associated with humoral responses. Injecting Tenmo-TRP-7 did not affect beetle survival but led to a reduction in haemolymph lysozyme-like antibacterial activity, consistent with the transcriptomic data. The results confirmed the immunomodulatory role of TRP and shed new light on the functional homology between TRPs and TKs.Peer reviewe

design and control of system for elbow rehabilitation preliminary findings

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Ensembles of Heterogeneous Concept Drift Detectors - Experimental Study

Part 7: DecisionsInternational audienceFor the contemporary enterprises, possibility of appropriate business decision making on the basis of the knowledge hidden in stored data is the critical success factor. Therefore, the decision support software should take into consideration that data usually comes continuously in the form of so-called data stream, but most of the traditional data analysis methods are not ready to efficiently analyze fast growing amount of the stored records. Additionally, one should also consider phenomenon appearing in data stream called concept drift, which means that the parameters of an using model are changing, what could dramatically decrease the analytical model quality. This work is focusing on the classification task, which is very popular in many practical cases as fraud detection, network security, or medical diagnosis. We propose how to detect the changes in the data stream using combined concept drift detection model. The experimental evaluations confirm its pretty good quality, what encourage us to use it in practical applications

Insects as a New Complex Model in Hormonal Basis of Obesity

Nowadays, one of the biggest problems in healthcare is an obesity epidemic. Consumption of cheap and low-quality energy-rich diets, low physical activity, and sedentary work favor an increase in the number of obesity cases within many populations/nations. This is a burden on society, public health, and the economy with many deleterious consequences. Thus, studies concerning this disorder are extremely needed, including searching for new, effective, and fitting models. Obesity may be related, among other factors, to disrupting adipocytes activity, disturbance of metabolic homeostasis, dysregulation of hormonal balance, cardiovascular problems, or disorders in nutrition which may lead to death. Because of the high complexity of obesity, it is not easy to find an ideal model for its studies which will be suitable for genetic and physiological analysis including specification of different compounds’ (hormones, neuropeptides) functions, as well as for signaling pathways analysis. In recent times, in search of new models for human diseases there has been more and more attention paid to insects, especially in neuro-endocrine regulation. It seems that this group of animals might also be a new model for human obesity. There are many arguments that insects are a good, multidirectional, and complex model for this disease. For example, insect models can have similar conservative signaling pathways (e.g., JAK-STAT signaling pathway), the presence of similar hormonal axis (e.g., brain–gut axis), or occurrence of structural and functional homologues between neuropeptides (e.g., neuropeptide F and human neuropeptide Y, insulin-like peptides, and human insulin) compared to humans. Here we give a hint to use insects as a model for obesity that can be used in multiple ways: as a source of genetic and peptidomic data about etiology and development correlated with obesity occurrence as well as a model for novel hormonal-based drug activity and their impact on mechanism of disease occurrence

The Mechanical, Thermal, and Biological Properties of Materials Intended for Dental Implants: A Comparison of Three Types of Poly(aryl-ether-ketones) (PEEK and PEKK)

Regarding the dynamic development of 3D printing technology, as well as its application in a growing part of industries, i.e., in the automotive industry, construction industry, medical industry, etc., there is a notable opportunity for its application in producing dental implants, which presents a promising alternative to traditional implant manufacturing methods. The medical industry is very restrictive regarding the applied materials, and it is necessary to use materials that exhibit very good mechanical and thermal parameters, show clinical indifference and biocompatibility, are non-allergenic and non-cancerous, and are likely to sterilize. Such materials are poly(aryl-ether-ketone)s (PAEK)s, mainly poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) and poly(ether-ketone-ketone) (PEKK), that are found to be high-performance polymers and can be defined as materials that retain their functionality even in extreme conditions. In the present paper, two types of PEEKs and PEKK were compared regarding their structural, mechanical, and thermal properties along with the biological activity toward selected strains. The tested samples were obtained with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. The PEKK, after heat treatment, exhibits the most promising mechanical properties as well as less bacterial adhesion on its surface when compared to both PEEKs. Consequently, among the evaluated materials, PEKK after heat treatment stands out as the optimal selection for a dental prosthesis

Twelve-week-conjugated linoleic acid supplementation has no effects on the selected markers of atherosclerosis in obese and overweight women

Background: The antiatherogenic effect of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been demonstrated in animal models. Although there are plenty of in vitro studies that suggest the profitable properties of CLA, the results in humans remain inconsistent. Objective: In this study, we assessed the impact of CLA supplementation on the levels of atherosclerosis markers – high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA). Design: Seventy-four adult female subjects with body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 were enrolled in the double-blind, placebo-controlled nutritional intervention. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive 3 g/day CLA or placebo (sunflower oil) for 12 weeks. In all subjects, we measured hs-CRP and ADMA concentrations by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: No significant differences were found in hs-CRP and ADMA levels before and after nutritional intervention between both groups. The changes in hs-CRP and ADMA concentration values (Δhs-CRP; ΔADMA median [interquartile range]) did not differ between subjects from the placebo (−0.1 [−0.8 to 0.3]; −0.02 [−0.12 to 0.14]) and CLA (0.2 [−0.7 to 0.9]; 0.04 [−0.14 to 0.13]) groups. The incidence of reduction of hs-CRP or ADMA concentration was not different in subjects of the CLA group compared to those of the placebo group (41.9% vs. 50%, relative risk [RR]=0.8387, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.4887–1.4493, p=0.5232 and 61.3% vs. 56.2%, RR=1.0896, 95% CI=0.7200–1.6589, p=0.6847, respectively). Conclusion: Twelve weeks of CLA supplementation had no effect on selected markers of atherosclerosis in obese and overweight women