Regional vulnerability and spreading of hyperphosphorylated tau in seeded mouse brain

We have exploited whole brain microscopy to map the progressive deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau in intact, cleared mouse brain. We found that the three-dimensional spreading pattern of hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain of an aging Tau.P301L mouse model did not resemble that observed in AD patients. Injection of synthetic or patient-derived tau fibrils in the CA1 region resulted in a more faithful spreading pattern. Atlas-guided volumetric analysis showed a connectome-dependent spreading from the injection site and also revealed hyperphosphorylated tau deposits beyond the direct anatomical connections. In fibril-injected brains, we also detected a persistent subpopulation of rod-like and swollen microglia. Furthermore, we showed that the hyperphosphorylated tau load could be reduced by intracranial co-administration of, and to a lesser extent, by repeated systemic dosing with an antibody targeting the microtubule-binding domain of tau. Thus, the combination of targeted seeding and in toto staging of tau pathology allowed assessing regional vulnerability in a comprehensive manner, and holds potential as a preclinical drug validation tool

Multiple major disease-associated clones of Legionella pneumophila have emerged recently and independently.

Legionella pneumophila is an environmental bacterium and the leading cause of Legionnaires' disease. Just five sequence types (ST), from more than 2000 currently described, cause nearly half of disease cases in northwest Europe. Here, we report the sequence and analyses of 364 L. pneumophila genomes, including 337 from the five disease-associated STs and 27 representative of the species diversity. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the five STs have independent origins within a highly diverse species. The number of de novo mutations is extremely low with maximum pairwise single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ranging from 19 (ST47) to 127 (ST1), which suggests emergences within the last century. Isolates sampled geographically far apart differ by only a few SNPs, demonstrating rapid dissemination. These five STs have been recombining recently, leading to a shared pool of allelic variants potentially contributing to their increased disease propensity. The oldest clone, ST1, has spread globally; between 1940 and 2000, four new clones have emerged in Europe, which show long-distance, rapid dispersal. That a large proportion of clinical cases is caused by recently emerged and internationally dispersed clones, linked by convergent evolution, is surprising for an environmental bacterium traditionally considered to be an opportunistic pathogen. To simultaneously explain recent emergence, rapid spread and increased disease association, we hypothesize that these STs have adapted to new man-made environmental niches, which may be linked by human infection and transmission

Streptococcus agalactiae clones infecting humans were selected and fixed through the extensive use of tetracycline

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a commensal of the digestive and genitourinary tracts of humans that emerged as the leading cause of bacterial neonatal infections in Europe and North America during the 1960s. Due to the lack of epidemiological and genomic data, the reasons for this emergence are unknown. Here we show by comparative genome analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction of 229 isolates that the rise of human GBS infections corresponds to the selection and worldwide dissemination of only a few clones. The parallel expansion of the clones is preceded by the insertion of integrative and conjugative elements conferring tetracycline resistance (TcR). Thus, we propose that the use of tetracycline from 1948 onwards led in humans to the complete replacement of a diverse GBS population by only few TcR clones particularly well adapted to their host, causing the observed emergence of GBS diseases in neonates. \ua9 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Low Clinical Burden of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Infection during Pregnancy on the Island of La Réunion

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women have been identified as a group at risk, both for respiratory complications than for the admissions to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic (pdm). The purpose of this prospective register-based cohort-study was to characterize the clinical virulence of the pdm (H1N1/09)v during pregnancy in La Réunion. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Over a twelve-week pdm wave (13 July to 3 October 2009), 294 pregnant women presented with an influenza-like illness (ILI) to one of the three maternity departments of the South Reunion area, Indian Ocean. Out of these, 278 were checked by RT-PCR for influenza viruses (157 positive and 121 negative, of whom, 141 with pdm flu and 132 with ILIs of non pdm origin, 5 untyped). The median body temperature was higher in women experiencing pdm flu than in those with non pdm ILI (38.9 degrees C versus 38.3 degrees C, P<0.0001), without evidence linked to circulating viremia. Oseltamivir was given for 86% of pdm flu cases in a median time inferior than 48 hrs (range 0-7 days). The hospitalization rate for pdm flu was of 60% and not associated with underlying conditions. Six viral pneumonia and fourteen asthma attacks were observed among 84 hospitalized pdm flu cases, of whom, only one led to the ICU for an acute lung injury. No maternal death occurred during the pdm wave. None adverse pregnancy outcome was associated with pdm flu. No congenital birth defect, nor early-onset neonatal influenza infection was attributable to pdm flu exposure. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This report mitigates substantially the presumed severity of pandemic H1N1/09 influenza infection during pregnancy. The reasons for which the clinical burden of H1N1/09 influenza virus may differ worldwide raise questions about a differential local viral-strain effect and public health preparedness, notably in timely access to special care and antiviral treatments

Leishmania Genome Dynamics during Environmental Adaptation Reveal Strain-Specific Differences in Gene Copy Number Variation, Karyotype Instability, and Telomeric Amplification.

Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania adapt to environmental change through chromosome and gene copy number variations. Only little is known about external or intrinsic factors that govern Leishmania genomic adaptation. Here, by conducting longitudinal genome analyses of 10 new Leishmania clinical isolates, we uncovered important differences in gene copy number among genetically highly related strains and revealed gain and loss of gene copies as potential drivers of long-term environmental adaptation in the field. In contrast, chromosome rather than gene amplification was associated with short-term environmental adaptation to in vitro culture. Karyotypic solutions were highly reproducible but unique for a given strain, suggesting that chromosome amplification is under positive selection and dependent on species- and strain-specific intrinsic factors. We revealed a progressive increase in read depth towards the chromosome ends for various Leishmania isolates, which may represent a nonclassical mechanism of telomere maintenance that can preserve integrity of chromosome ends during selection for fast in vitro growth. Together our data draw a complex picture of Leishmania genomic adaptation in the field and in culture, which is driven by a combination of intrinsic genetic factors that generate strain-specific phenotypic variations, which are under environmental selection and allow for fitness gain.IMPORTANCE Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania cause severe human and veterinary diseases worldwide, termed leishmaniases. A hallmark of Leishmania biology is its capacity to adapt to a variety of unpredictable fluctuations inside its human host, notably pharmacological interventions, thus, causing drug resistance. Here we investigated mechanisms of environmental adaptation using a comparative genomics approach by sequencing 10 new clinical isolates of the L. donovani, L. major, and L. tropica complexes that were sampled across eight distinct geographical regions. Our data provide new evidence that parasites adapt to environmental change in the field and in culture through a combination of chromosome and gene amplification that likely causes phenotypic variation and drives parasite fitness gains in response to environmental constraints. This novel form of gene expression regulation through genomic change compensates for the absence of classical transcriptional control in these early-branching eukaryotes and opens new venues for biomarker discovery

La prise en charge clinique des érosions dentaires par le chirurgien dentiste

NICE-Antenne de St Jean d'Angely (060882105) / SudocNICE-BU Médecine Odontologie (060882102) / SudocSudocFranceF

SynTView --- an interactive multi-view genome browser for next-generation comparative microorganism genomics.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Dynamic visualisation interfaces are required to explore the multiple microbial genome data now available, especially those obtained by high-throughput sequencing --- a.k.a. "Next-Generation Sequencing" (NGS) --- technologies; they would also be useful for "standard" annotated genomes whose chromosome organizations may be compared. Although various software systems are available, few offer an optimal combination of feature-rich capabilities, non-static user interfaces and multi-genome data handling. RESULTS: We developed SynTView, a comparative and interactive viewer for microbial genomes, designed to run as either a web-based tool (Flash technology) or a desktop application (AIR environment). The basis of the program is a generic genome browser with sub-maps holding information about genomic objects (annotations). The software is characterised by the presentation of syntenic organisations of microbial genomes and the visualisation of polymorphism data (typically Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms --- SNPs) along these genomes; these features are accessible to the user in an integrated way. A variety of specialised views are available and are all dynamically inter-connected (including linear and circular multi-genome representations, dot plots, phylogenetic profiles, SNP density maps, and more). SynTView is not linked to any particular database, allowing the user to plug his own data into the system seamlessly, and use external web services for added functionalities. SynTView has now been used in several genome sequencing projects to help biologists make sense out of huge data sets. CONCLUSIONS: The most important assets of SynTView are: (i) the interactivity due to the Flash technology; (ii) the capabilities for dynamic interaction between many specialised views; and (iii) the flexibility allowing various user data sets to be integrated. It can thus be used to investigate massive amounts of information efficiently at the chromosome level. This innovative approach to data exploration could not be achieved with most existing genome browsers, which are more static and/or do not offer multiple views of multiple genomes. Documentation, tutorials and demonstration sites are available at the URL: http://genopole.pasteur.fr/SynTView

Identification de sources acoustiques par réfracto-vibrométrie et problème inverse.

International audienceLa réfracto-vibrométrie est une technique d’imagerie acoustique exploitant l’effet opto-acoustique. En mesurantà l’aide d’un laser la variation de l’indice de réfraction de l’air au passage d’une onde acoustique, il est possible deremonter à la pression acoustique. La mesure étant le résultat d’une intégration le long du trajet du laser, une hypothèsesur le champ acoustique est nécessaire pour retrouver la pression. Le cas échéant, le champ de pression peutêtre caractérisé en ayant recours a la tomographie. Cependant, cette méthode est longue à mettre en place etn’offre qu’une cartographie en deux dimensions. Les travaux présentés décrivent une méthode de caractérisation desources acoustiques par utilisation conjointe de refracto-vibrométrie et problème inverse. Le champ acoustique estscanné à l’aide d’un vibromètre laser à balayage visant une surface rigide rétro-réfléchissante. La mesure est répétéepour plusieurs angles d’incidences. La source acoustique à caractériser est modélisée comme une somme discrètede monopoles. La résolution du problème inverse exploite l’effet opto-acoustique pour les monopoles et permet deremonter aux débits de ces derniers. Un modèle de source équivalente est ainsi construit. Des résultats expérimentauxsont présentés pour une source à impulsion à arc électrique