Modulation of social behavior by the agouti pigmentation gene

Agouti is a secreted neuropeptide that acts as an endogenous antagonist of melanocortin receptors. Mice and rats lacking agouti (called non-agouti) have dark fur due to a disinhibition of melanocortin signaling and pigment deposition in the hair follicle. Non-agouti animals have also been reported to exhibit altered behavior, despite no evidence for the expression of agouti outside the skin. Here we confirm that non-agouti mice show altered social behavior and uncover expression of agouti in the preputial gland, a sebaceous organ in the urinary tract that secretes molecules involved in social behavior. Non-agouti mice had enlarged preputial glands and altered levels of putative preputial pheromones and surgical removal of the gland reversed the behavioral phenotype. These findings demonstrate the existence of an autologous, out-of-skin pathway for the modulation of social behavio

A FAIR guide for data providers to maximise sharing of human genomic data

It is generally acknowledged that, for reproducibility and progress of human genomic research, data sharing is critical. For every sharing transaction, a successful data exchange is produced between a data consumer and a data provider. Providers of human genomic data (e.g., publicly or privately funded repositories and data archives) fulfil their social contract with data donors when their shareable data conforms to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. Based on our experiences via Repositive (https://repositive.io), a leading discovery platform cataloguing all shared human genomic datasets, we propose guidelines for data providers wishing to maximise their shared data’s FAIRness. Citation: Corpas M, Kovalevskaya NV, McMurray A, Niel

Olfactory Sex Recognition Investigated in Antarctic Prions

Chemical signals can yield information about an animal such as its identity, social status or sex. Such signals have rarely been considered in birds, but recent results have shown that chemical signals are actually used by different bird species to find food and to recognize their home and nest. This is particularly true in petrels whose olfactory anatomy is among the most developed in birds. Recently, we have demonstrated that Antarctic prions, Pachyptila desolata, are also able to recognize and follow the odour of their partner in a Y-maze

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes

TUNEL – an efficient prognosis predictor of salivary malignancies

Biological markers are necessary for predicting prognosis of salivary malignancies and better understanding the pathogenesis of salivary cancer. We analysed terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated biotinylated deoxyuridine-triphosphate (dUTP)-biotin nick-end labelling (TUNEL), p53 and Ki67 expression in 66 patients with malignant salivary tumours by immonohistochemistry, and correlated the data with survival, disease-free survival, tumour grade, stage, and local and distant metastasis. TUNEL efficiently predicted poor prognosis in salivary malignancies. The 5-year (5Y) survival probability dropped significantly with the level of TUNEL staining (from 83% in negatively stained tumours to 57 and 24% in TUNEL positively stained levels 1 and 2, respectively), (P=0.042). Extensive Ki67 staining (in addition to TUNEL) reduced the 5Y-survival rate even further and addition of positively stained p53 dropped the 5Y-survival rate to 0. The correlation rates between TUNEL and Ki67 was 58% (P=0.0001), and between TUNEL and p53 it was 50% (P=0.035). Concurrently, TUNEL correlated with metastasis, extracapsular spread, grade and stage. The correlation between TUNEL, p53 and Ki67 staining and survival probabilities, and the pathological grade, stage and metastasis spread of salivary malignancies makes this a highly effective tool in patient follow-up and prognosis

Characterizing the scent and chemical composition of Panthera leo marking fluid using solid-phase microextraction and multidimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry-olfactometry

Lions (Panthera leo) use chemical signaling to indicate health, reproductive status, and territorial ownership. To date, no study has reported on both scent and composition of marking fluid (MF) from P. leo. The objectives of this study were to: 1) develop a novel method for simultaneous chemical and scent identification of lion MF in its totality (urine + MF), 2) identify characteristic odorants responsible for the overall scent of MF as perceived by human panelists, and 3) compare the existing library of known odorous compounds characterized as eliciting behaviors in animals in order to understand potential functionality in lion behavior. Solid-phase microextraction and simultaneous chemical-sensory analyses with multidimensional gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry improved separating, isolating, and identifying mixed (MF, urine) compounds versus solvent-based extraction and chemical analyses. 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine, 4-methylphenol, and 3-methylcyclopentanone were isolated and identified as the compounds responsible for the characteristic odor of lion MF. Twenty-eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from MF were identified, adding a new list of compounds previously unidentified in lion urine. New chemicals were identified in nine compound groups: ketones, aldehydes, amines, alcohols, aromatics, sulfur-containing compounds, phenyls, phenols, and volatile fatty acids. Twenty-three VOCs are known semiochemicals that are implicated in attraction, reproduction, and alarm-signaling behaviors in other species