EMCCD calibration for astronomical imaging: Wide FastCam at the Telescopio Carlos Sánchez

The evident benefits of Electron Multiplying CCDs (EMCCDs) -speed, high sensitivity, low noise and their capability of detecting single photon events whilst maintaining high quantum efficiency- are bringing these kinds of detectors to many state-of-the-art astronomical instruments (Velasco et al. 2016; Oscoz et al. 2008). The EMCCDs are the perfect answer to the need for great sensitivity levels as they are not limited by the readout noise of the output amplifier, while conventional CCDs are, even when operated at high readout frame rates. Here we present a quantitative on-sky method to calibrate EMCCD detectors dedicated to astronomical imaging, developed during the commissioning process (Velasco et al. 2016) and first observations (Ricci et al. 2016, in prep.) with Wide FastCam (Marga et al. 2014) at Telescopio Carlos Sánchez (TCS) in the Observatorio del Teide

Practical three color live cell imaging by widefield microscopy

Live cell fluorescence microscopy using fluorescent protein tags derived from jellyfish and coral species has been a successful tool to image proteins and dynamics in many species. Multi-colored aequorea fluorescent protein (AFP) derivatives allow investigators to observe multiple proteins simultaneously, but overlapping spectral properties sometimes require the use of sophisticated and expensive microscopes. Here, we show that the aequorea coerulescens fluorescent protein derivative, PS-CFP2 has excellent practical properties as a blue fluorophore that are distinct from green or red fluorescent proteins and can be imaged with standard filter sets on a widefield microscope. We also find that by widefield illumination in live cells, that PS-CFP2 is very photostable. When fused to proteins that form concentrated puncta in either the cytoplasm or nucleus, PSCFP2 fusions do not artifactually interact with other AFP fusion proteins, even at very high levels of over-expression. PSCFP2 is therefore a good blue fluorophore for distinct three color imaging along with eGFP and mRFP using a relatively simple and inexpensive microscope

Low Sensitivity of the Formol-Ethyl Acetate Sedimentation Concentration Technique in Low-Intensity Schistosoma japonicum Infections

Schistosoma japonicum is parasitic fluke (worm) found in China, Indonesia and the Philippines. A lot of effort has been put into combating the parasite, and the result has been a large drop in the number of infected people over the last decades. The average infected person also now has few worms, and hence excretes few eggs in stool. This has made it increasingly difficult to get a correct diagnosis by the diagnostic tests traditionally used. Tests based on detecting eggs in stool can be false-negative and tests detecting antibodies can be false-positive due to persisting antibodies or antibodies from other worm infections. Hence there is a need for new diagnostic strategies. Formol-ethyl acetate sedimentation concentration is a technique for detecting eggs in stool by microscopy, but has not to our knowledge been evaluated for S. japonicum. We compared the technique, using a single stool sample and a commercial preparation kit, with three tests traditionally used in the endemic countries (Kato-Katz thick smear, hatching test and indirect hemagglutination antibody detection). The sedimentation technique detected disappointing few positives and seems not to be an advantage in the diagnosis of low-intensity S. japonicum infection, compared to the traditionally used tests

Decreased Striatal RGS2 Expression Is Neuroprotective in Huntington's Disease (HD) and Exemplifies a Compensatory Aspect of HD-Induced Gene Regulation

The molecular phenotype of Huntington's disease (HD) is known to comprise highly reproducible changes in gene expression involving striatal signaling genes. Here we test whether individual changes in striatal gene expression are capable of mitigating HD-related neurotoxicity.We used protein-encoding and shRNA-expressing lentiviral vectors to evaluate the effects of RGS2, RASD2, STEP and NNAT downregulation in HD. Of these four genes, only RGS2 and RASD2 modified mutant htt fragment toxicity in cultured rat primary striatal neurons. In both cases, disease modulation was in the opposite of the predicted direction: whereas decreased expression of RGS2 and RASD2 was associated with the HD condition, restoring expression enhanced degeneration of striatal cells. Conversely, silencing of RGS2 or RASD2 enhanced disease-related changes in gene expression and resulted in significant neuroprotection. These results indicate that RGS2 and RASD2 downregulation comprises a compensatory response that allows neurons to better tolerate huntingtin toxicity. Assessment of the possible mechanism of RGS2-mediated neuroprotection showed that RGS2 downregulation enhanced ERK activation. These results establish a novel link between the inhibition of RGS2 and neuroprotective modulation of ERK activity.Our findings both identify RGS2 downregulation as a novel compensatory response in HD neurons and suggest that RGS2 inhibition might be considered as an innovative target for neuroprotective drug development

Multiple Interferon Stimulated Genes Synergize with the Zinc Finger Antiviral Protein to Mediate Anti-Alphavirus Activity

The zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a host factor that mediates inhibition of viruses in the Filoviridae, Retroviridae and Togaviridae families. We previously demonstrated that ZAP blocks replication of Sindbis virus (SINV), the prototype Alphavirus in the Togaviridae family at an early step prior to translation of the incoming genome and that synergy between ZAP and one or more interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) resulted in maximal inhibitory activity. The present study aimed to identify those ISGs that synergize with ZAP to mediate Alphavirus inhibition. Using a library of lentiviruses individually expressing more than 350 ISGs, we screened for inhibitory activity in interferon defective cells with or without ZAP overexpression. Confirmatory tests of the 23 ISGs demonstrating the largest infection reduction in combination with ZAP revealed that 16 were synergistic. Confirmatory tests of all potentially synergistic ISGs revealed 15 additional ISGs with a statistically significant synergistic effect in combination with ZAP. These 31 ISGs are candidates for further mechanistic studies. The number and diversity of the identified ZAP-synergistic ISGs lead us to speculate that ZAP may play an important role in priming the cell for optimal ISG function

Conservation of Complex Nuclear Localization Signals Utilizing Classical and Non-Classical Nuclear Import Pathways in LANA Homologs of KSHV and RFHV

ORF73 latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is targeted to the nucleus of infected cells where it binds to chromatin and mediates viral episome persistence, interacts with cellular proteins and plays a role in latency and tumorigenesis. A structurally related LANA homolog has been identified in the retroperitoneal fibromatosis herpesvirus (RFHV), the macaque homolog of KSHV. Here, we report the evolutionary and functional conservation of a novel bi-functional nuclear localization signal (NLS) in KSHV and RFHV LANA. N-terminal peptides from both proteins were fused to EGFP or double EGFP fusions to examine their ability to induce nuclear transport of a heterologous protein. In addition, GST-pull down experiments were used to analyze the ability of LANA peptides to interact with members of the karyopherin family of nuclear transport receptors. Our studies revealed that both LANA proteins contain an N-terminal arginine/glycine (RG)-rich domain spanning a conserved chromatin-binding motif, which binds directly to importin β1 in a RanGTP-sensitive manner and serves as an NLS in the importin β1-mediated non-classical nuclear import pathway. Embedded within this domain is a conserved lysine/arginine-(KR)-rich bipartite motif that binds directly to multiple members of the importin α family of nuclear import adaptors in a RanGTP-insensitive manner and serves as an NLS in the classical importin α/β-mediated nuclear import pathway. The positioning of a classical bipartite kr-NLS embedded within a non-classical rg-NLS is a unique arrangement in these viral proteins, whose nuclear localization is critical to their functionality and to the virus life cycle. The ability to interact with multiple import receptors provides alternate pathways for nuclear localization of LANA. Since different import receptors can import cargo to distinct subnuclear compartments, a multifunctional NLS may provide LANA with an increased ability to interact with different nuclear components in its multifunctional role to maintain viral latency

Deregulation of MUC4 in gastric adenocarcinoma: potential pathobiological implication in poorly differentiated non-signet ring cell type gastric cancer

MUC4 is a large, heavily glycosylated transmembrane mucin, that is implicated in the pathogenesis of various types of cancers. To date, no extensive study has been done to check the expression and functional significance of MUC4 in different types of gastric adenocarcinomas. Here, we report the expression profile of MUC4 in gastric adenocarcinomas and its function in poorly differentiated gastric non-signet ring cell carcinoma (non-SRCC) type cells. Immunohistochemical analysis using tissue microarray (TMA) showed a significant difference in MUC4 expression between normal adjacent (n=45) and gastric adenocarcinoma (n=83; P<0.001). MUC4 expression was not associated with tumour type, stage or with the degree of differentiation. To gain further insight into the significance of MUC4 expression in gastric non-SRCC cells, MUC4 was ectopically expressed in AGS, a poorly differentiated gastric non-signet ring cell line. The MUC4 overexpressing cells (AGS-MUC4) showed a significant increase (P<0.005) in cell motility and a decrease in cellular aggregation as compared with the vector-transfected cells. Furthermore, in vivo tumorigenicity analysis revealed that animals transplanted with the MUC4 overexpressing cells (AGS-MUC4) had a greater incidence of tumours (83%) in comparison to empty vector control (17%). In addition, the expression of MUC4 resulted in enhanced expression of total cellular ErbB2 and phosphorylated ErbB2. In conclusion, our results showed that MUC4 is overexpressed in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues, and that it has a role in promoting aggressive properties in poorly differentiated gastric non-SRCC cells through the activation of the ErbB2 oncoprotein