Puzzling subunits of mitochondrial cytochrome reductase

The ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase complex, like the other proton-pumping respiratory complexes of mitochondria, is an assembly of many different subunits. However, only a few of these subunits participate directly in the electron transfer and proton translocation. The roles of the other subunits are largely unknown. We discuss here some intriguing features of two of these subunits

Zebrafish VEGF Receptors: A Guideline to Nomenclature

Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

Fetal-Adult Cardiac Transcriptome Analysis in Rats with Contrasting Left Ventricular Mass Reveals New Candidates for Cardiac Hypertrophy

Reactivation of fetal gene expression patterns has been implicated in common cardiac diseases in adult life including left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) in arterial hypertension. Thus, increased wall stress and neurohumoral activation are discussed to induce the return to expression of fetal genes after birth in LVH. We therefore aimed to identify novel potential candidates for LVH by analyzing fetal-adult cardiac gene expression in a genetic rat model of hypertension, i.e. the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP). To this end we performed genome-wide transcriptome analysis in SHRSP to identify differences in expression patterns between day 20 of fetal development (E20) and adult animals in week 14 in comparison to a normotensive rat strain with contrasting low LV mass, i.e. Fischer (F344). 15232 probes were detected as expressed in LV tissue obtained from rats at E20 and week 14 (p < 0.05) and subsequently screened for differential expression. We identified 24 genes with SHRSP specific up-regulation and 21 genes with down- regulation as compared to F344. Further bioinformatic analysis presented Efcab6 as a new candidate for LVH that showed only in the hypertensive SHRSP rat differential expression during development (logFC = 2.41, p < 0.001) and was significantly higher expressed in adult SHRSP rats compared with adult F344 (+ 76%) and adult normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (+ 82%). Thus, it represents an interesting new target for further functional analyses and the elucidation of mechanisms leading to LVH. Here we report a new approach to identify candidate genes for cardiac hypertrophy by combining the analysis of gene expression differences between strains with a contrasting cardiac phenotype with a comparison of fetal-adult cardiac expression patterns

Numerical simulations of super-luminous supernovae of type IIn

We present numerical simulations that include 1-D Eulerian multi-group radiation-hydrodynamics, 1-D non-LTE radiative transfer, and 2-D polarised radiative transfer for super-luminous interacting supernovae (SNe). Our reference model is a ~10Msun inner shell with 10^51erg ramming into a ~3Msun cold outer shell (the circumstellar-medium, or CSM) that extends from 10^15cm to 2x10^16cm and moves at 100km/s. We discuss the light curve evolution, which cannot be captured adequately with a grey approach. In these interactions, the shock-crossing time through the optically-thick CSM is much longer than the photon diffusion time. Radiation is thus continuously leaking from the shock through the CSM, in disagreement with the shell-shocked model that is often invoked. Our spectra redden with time, with a peak distribution in the near-UV during the first month gradually shifting to the optical range over the following year. Initially Balmer lines exhibit a narrow line core and the broad line wings that are characteristic of electron scattering in the SNe IIn atmospheres (CSM). At later times they also exhibit a broad blue shifted component which arises from the cold dense shell. Our model results are broadly consistent with the bolometric light curve and spectral evolution observed for SN2010jl. Invoking a prolate pole-to-equator density ratio in the CSM, we can also reproduce the ~2% continuum polarisation, and line depolarisation, observed in SN2010jl. By varying the inner shell kinetic energy and the mass and extent of the outer shell, a large range of peak luminosities and durations, broadly compatible with super-luminous SNe IIn like 2010jl or 2006gy, can be produced.Comment: paper accepted to MNRA

Altenberg : inner landscapes

Zu der Publikation gehören mehrere Videodateien, die unter http://dx.doi.org/10.25819/fodasi/7 verfügbar sind. Zum Abspielen der Dateien wird ein Media-Player benötigt.Wenn man die Straße zwischen den beiden Siegerländer Dörfern Littfeld und Müsen fährt, überquert man in der Mitte eine Passhöhe: den Altenberg. Eine Sage berichtet, dass hier einst ein Dorf gestanden habe, das abgebrannt sei, als Strafe für die Habgier und den ausschweifenden Lebenswandel ihrer Bewohner. Nach einem Zufallsfund im Jahr 1963 erkundete man das Gelände archäologisch genauer und entdeckte Reste einer mittelalterlichen Siedlung und: Spuren ausgiebigen Silberbergbaus. Das Dorf war irgendwann aufgegeben worden, und die Natur hatte sich das Terrain über die Jahrhunderte zurückgeholt. Heute erinnern einzelne Überreste an Gebäude, Pingen und Schächte – ein magischer Platz, wo sich Natur und Kultur, uralte, vergessene und verborgene Geschichte und Gegenwart begegnen. Studierende der Fächer Architektur und Musik der Universität Siegen haben unter der Leitung von Prof. Ulrich Exner (Architektur) und Prof. Martin Herchenröder (Musik) das Gelände erforscht und dann auf das Gefundene mit künstlerischen Mitteln reagiert: In gemischten Arbeitsgruppen haben sie Filme komponiert, die einen neuen Blick auf das Gelände richten, den Altenberg neu interpretieren, ihn wieder lebendig werden lassen oder surreal verfremden, einzelne Aspekte hervorheben oder das Areal als Schauplatz und Hintergrund eigenwilliger Visionen verwenden – filmisch, architektonisch, musikalisch, performativ. Dabei spielt die reale Geschichte des Platzes ebenso in die Gestaltung hinein wie die Phantasie, die dieser Ort so mächtig anregt. Siegerländer Heimat-Videos, die es in sich haben… Buch (u.a. Projektdokumentation) und Videodatei.Aus dem Inhalt: Innere Landschaften = Inner Landscapes / Ulrich Exner und Martin Herchenröder SchURFACE : ein musikalischer Querschnitt = SchURFACE / Isabel Pazmann, Julia-Elisabeth Schander, Moritz Schönauer Klirrende Tiefen = Klirrende Tiefen (Clanging Depths) / Birk Arnold, Thomas Göbel Erdbrocken geträumt = Erdbrocken geträumt (Dreams of Clumped Earth) / Vivien Blecker, Till-Jonas Umbach Unentrinnbar und leise = Unentrinnbar und leise (Inescapable and silent) / Sarah Bäumer, Johanna Scheid, Daphne Schulte, Constantin Schwencke, Cora Theobald Hochmut = Hochmut (Pride) / Pia Bettig, Thomas Irnich, Nathanael Metenkanitch Bruch. Stück.Artig. = Bruch. Stück.Artig. (Frag. Ment. Like.) / Lena Hugger, Leonard Blümer, Julius Steuerwald-Ludwig, Cora Theobald NOVA = NOVA / Marco Hoffmann, Felix Ludewi

Polygenic Resilience Modulates the Penetrance of Parkinson Disease Genetic Risk Factors

peer reviewedObjective: The aim of the current study is to understand why some individuals avoid developing Parkinson disease (PD) despite being at relatively high genetic risk, using the largest datasets of individual-level genetic data available. Methods: We calculated polygenic risk score to identify controls and matched PD cases with the highest burden of genetic risk for PD in the discovery cohort (International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium, 7,204 PD cases and 9,412 controls) and validation cohorts (Comprehensive Unbiased Risk Factor Assessment for Genetics and Environment in Parkinson's Disease, 8,968 cases and 7,598 controls; UK Biobank, 2,639 PD cases and 14,301 controls; Accelerating Medicines Partnership–Parkinson's Disease Initiative, 2,248 cases and 2,817 controls). A genome-wide association study meta-analysis was performed on these individuals to understand genetic variation associated with resistance to disease. We further constructed a polygenic resilience score, and performed multimarker analysis of genomic annotation (MAGMA) gene-based analyses and functional enrichment analyses. Results: A higher polygenic resilience score was associated with a lower risk for PD (β = −0.054, standard error [SE] = 0.022, p = 0.013). Although no single locus reached genome-wide significance, MAGMA gene-based analyses nominated TBCA as a putative gene. Furthermore, we estimated the narrow-sense heritability associated with resilience to PD (h2 = 0.081, SE = 0.035, p = 0.0003). Subsequent functional enrichment analysis highlighted histone methylation as a potential pathway harboring resilience alleles that could mitigate the effects of PD risk loci. Interpretation: The present study represents a novel and comprehensive assessment of heritable genetic variation contributing to PD resistance. We show that a genetic resilience score can modify the penetrance of PD genetic risk factors and therefore protect individuals carrying a high-risk genetic burden from developing PD. ANN NEUROL 202

Yersinia effectors target mammalian signalling pathways

Animals have an immune system to fight off challenges from both viruses and bacteria. The first line of defence is innate immunity, which is composed of cells that engulf pathogens as well as cells that release potent signalling molecules to activate an inflammatory response and the adaptive immune system. Pathogenic bacteria have evolved a set of weapons, or effectors, to ensure survival in the host. Yersinia spp. use a type III secretion system to translocate these effector proteins, called Yops, into the host. This report outlines how Yops thwart the signalling machinery of the host immune system.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73466/1/j.1462-5822.2002.00182.x.pd