Cellulose-derived oligomers act as damage-associated molecular patterns and trigger defense-like responses

The plant cell wall, often the site of initial encounters between plants and their microbial pathogens, is composed of a complex mixture of cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin polysaccharides as well as proteins. The concept of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) was proposed to describe plant elicitors like oligogalacturonides (OGs), which can be derived by the breakdown of the pectin homogalacturon by pectinases. OGs act via many of the same signaling steps as pathogen- or microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to elicit defenses and provide protection against pathogens. Given both the complexity of the plant cell wall and the fact that many pathogens secrete a wide range of cell wall-degrading enzymes, we reasoned that the breakdown products of other cell wall polymers may be similarly biologically active as elicitors and may help to reinforce the perception of danger by plant cells. Our results indicate that oligomers derived from cellulose are perceived as signal molecules in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), triggering a signaling cascade that shares some similarities to responses to well-known elicitors such as chitooligomers and OGs. However, in contrast to other known PAMPs/DAMPs, cellobiose stimulates neither detectable reactive oxygen species production nor callose deposition. Confirming our idea that both PAMPs and DAMPs are likely to cooccur at infection sites, cotreatments of cellobiose with flg22 or chitooligomers led to synergistic increases in gene expression. Thus, the perception of cellulose-derived oligomers may participate in cell wall integrity surveillance and represents an additional layer of signaling following plant cell wall breakdown during cell wall remodeling or pathogen attack

ATL9, a RING Zinc Finger Protein with E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Activity Implicated in Chitin- and NADPH Oxidase-Mediated Defense Responses

Pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are signals detected by plants that activate basal defenses. One of these PAMPs is chitin, a carbohydrate present in the cell walls of fungi and in insect exoskeletons. Previous work has shown that chitin treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana induced defense-related genes in the absence of a pathogen and that the response was independent of the salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) signaling pathways. One of these genes is ATL9 ( = ATL2G), which encodes a RING zinc-finger like protein. In the current work we demonstrate that ATL9 has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. The expression pattern of ATL9 is positively correlated with basal defense responses against Golovinomyces cichoracearum, a biotrophic fungal pathogen. The basal levels of expression and the induction of ATL9 by chitin, in wild type plants, depends on the activity of NADPH oxidases suggesting that chitin-mediated defense response is NADPH oxidase dependent. Although ATL9 expression is not induced by treatment with known defense hormones (SA, JA or ET), full expression in response to chitin is compromised slightly in mutants where ET- or SA-dependent signaling is suppressed. Microarray analysis of the atl9 mutant revealed candidate genes that appear to act downstream of ATL9 in chitin-mediated defenses. These results hint at the complexity of chitin-mediated signaling and the potential interplay between elicitor-mediated signaling, signaling via known defense pathways and the oxidative burst

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570