Microbial functionality as affected by experimental warming of a temperate mountain forest soil—A metaproteomics survey

Soil microbes play an important role in terrestrial carbon (C) cycling, but their functional response to global warming remains yet unclear. Soil metaproteomics has the potential to contribute to a better understanding of warming effects on soil microbes as proteins specifically represent active microbes and their physiological functioning. To quantify warming effects on microbial proteins and their distribution among different functional and phylogenetic groups, we sampled forest soil that had been artificially warmed (+4 °C) during seven consecutive growing seasons and analyzed its metaproteomic fingerprint and linked to soil respiration as a fundamental ecosystem service. Bacterial protein abundances largely exceeded fungal abundances at the study site but protein abundances showed only subtle differences among control and warmed soil at the phylum and class level, i.e. a temperature-induced decrease in Firmicutes, an increase in Agaricomycetes and Actinobacteria, and a decrease in the Asco/Basidiomycota ratio. Community function in warmed soil showed a clear trend towards increased proteins involved in microbial energy production and conversion, related to the increased CO2 efflux from warmed soil as a result of stress environmental conditions. The differences in community function could be related to specific phyla using metaproteomics, indicating that microbial adaptation to long-term soil warming mainly changed microbial functions, which is related to enhanced soil respiration. The response of soil respiration to warming (+35% soil CO2 efflux during sampling) has not changed over time. Accordingly, potential long-term microbial adaptations to soil warming were too subtle to affect soil respiration rates or, were overlaid by other co-varying factors (e.g. substrate availability)

Guided Bone Regeneration Using Collagen Scaffolds, Growth Factors, and Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells for Treatment of Peri-Implant Bone Defects In Vivo

Introduction. The aim of the study was an evaluation of different approaches for guided bone regeneration (GBR) of peri-implant defects in an in vivo animal model. Materials and Methods. In minipigs (n=15), peri-implant defects around calcium phosphate- (CaP-; n=46) coated implants were created and randomly filled with (1) blank, (2) collagen/hydroxylapatite/β-tricalcium phosphate scaffold (CHT), (3) CHT + growth factor cocktail (GFC), (4) jellyfish collagen matrix, (5) jellyfish collagen matrix + GFC, (6) collagen powder, and (7) collagen powder + periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC). Additional collagen membranes were used for coverage of the defects. After 120 days of healing, bone growth was evaluated histologically (bone to implant contact (BIC;%)), vertical bone apposition (VBA; mm), and new bone height (NBH; %). Results. In all groups, new bone formation was seen. Though, when compared to the blank group, no significant differences were detected for all parameters. BIC and NBH in the group with collagen matrix as well as the group with the collagen matrix + GFC were significantly less when compared to the collagen powder group (all: p<0.003). Conclusion. GBR procedures, in combination with CaP-coated implants, will lead to an enhancement of peri-implant bone growth. There was no additional significant enhancement of osseous regeneration when using GFC or PDLSC

Dynamic interactions between anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex link perceptual features and heart rate variability during movie viewing

AbstractThe dynamic integration of sensory and bodily signals is central to adaptive behaviour. Although the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior insular cortex (AIC) play key roles in this process, their context-dependent dynamic interactions remain unclear. Here, we studied the spectral features and interplay of these two brain regions using high-fidelity intracranial-EEG recordings from five patients (ACC: 13 contacts, AIC: 14 contacts) acquired during movie viewing with validation analyses performed on an independent resting intracranial-EEG dataset. ACC and AIC both showed a power peak and positive functional connectivity in the gamma (30–35 Hz) frequency while this power peak was absent in the resting data. We then used a neurobiologically informed computational model investigating dynamic effective connectivity asking how it linked to the movie’s perceptual (visual, audio) features and the viewer’s heart rate variability (HRV). Exteroceptive features related to effective connectivity of ACC highlighting its crucial role in processing ongoing sensory information. AIC connectivity was related to HRV and audio emphasising its core role in dynamically linking sensory and bodily signals. Our findings provide new evidence for complementary, yet dissociable, roles of neural dynamics between the ACC and the AIC in supporting brain-body interactions during an emotional experience

Oligodendroglia in cortical multiple sclerosis lesions decrease with disease progression, but regenerate after repeated experimental demyelination

Cerebral cortex shows a high endogenous propensity for remyelination. Yet, widespread subpial cortical demyelination (SCD) is a common feature in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and can already be found in early MS. In the present study, we compared oligodendroglial loss in SCD in early and chronic MS. Furthermore, we addressed in an experimental model whether repeated episodes of inflammatory SCD could alter oligodendroglial repopulation and subsequently lead to persistently demyelinated cortical lesions. NogoA+ mature oligodendrocytes and Olig2+ oligodendrocyte precursor cells were examined in SCD in patients with early and chronic MS, normal-appearing MS cortex, and control cortex as well as in the rat model of repeated targeted cortical experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). NogoA+ and Olig2+ cells were significantly reduced in SCD in patients with chronic, but not early MS. Repeated induction of SCD in rats resulted only in a transient loss of NogoA+, but not Olig2+ cells during the demyelination phase. This phase was followed by complete oligodendroglial repopulation and remyelination, even after four episodes of demyelination. Our data indicate efficient oligodendroglial repopulation in subpial cortical lesions in rats after repeated SCD that was similar to early, but not chronic MS cases. Accordingly, four cycles of experimental de- and remyelination were not sufficient to induce sustained remyelination failure as found in chronic cortical MS lesions. This suggests that alternative mechanisms contribute to oligodendrocyte depletion in chronic cortical demyelination in MS

BALL - biochemical algorithms library 1.3

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Biochemical Algorithms Library (BALL) is a comprehensive rapid application development framework for structural bioinformatics. It provides an extensive C++ class library of data structures and algorithms for molecular modeling and structural bioinformatics. Using BALL as a programming toolbox does not only allow to greatly reduce application development times but also helps in ensuring stability and correctness by avoiding the error-prone reimplementation of complex algorithms and replacing them with calls into the library that has been well-tested by a large number of developers. In the ten years since its original publication, BALL has seen a substantial increase in functionality and numerous other improvements.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we discuss BALL's current functionality and highlight the key additions and improvements: support for additional file formats, molecular edit-functionality, new molecular mechanics force fields, novel energy minimization techniques, docking algorithms, and support for cheminformatics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>BALL is available for all major operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and MacOS X. It is available free of charge under the Lesser GNU Public License (LPGL). Parts of the code are distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL). BALL is available as source code and binary packages from the project web site at <url>http://www.ball-project.org</url>. Recently, it has been accepted into the debian project; integration into further distributions is currently pursued.</p

The comorbidity profiles and medication issues of patients with multiple system atrophy:a systematic cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a complex and fatal neurodegenerative movement disorder. Understanding the comorbidities and drug therapy is crucial for MSA patients' safety and management.OBJECTIVES: To investigate the pattern of comorbidities and aspects of drug therapy in MSA patients.METHODS: Cross-sectional data of MSA patients according to Gilman et al. (2008) diagnostic criteria and control patients without neurodegenerative diseases (non-ND) were collected from German, multicenter cohorts. The prevalence of comorbidities according to WHO ICD-10 classification and drugs administered according to WHO ATC system were analyzed. Potential drug-drug interactions were identified using AiDKlinik®.RESULTS: The analysis included 254 MSA and 363 age- and sex-matched non-ND control patients. MSA patients exhibited a significantly higher burden of comorbidities, in particular diseases of the genitourinary system. Also, more medications were prescribed MSA patients, resulting in a higher prevalence of polypharmacy. Importantly, the risk of potential drug-drug interactions, including severe interactions and contraindicated combinations, was elevated in MSA patients. When comparing MSA-P and MSA-C subtypes, MSA-P patients suffered more frequently from diseases of the genitourinary system and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.CONCLUSIONS: MSA patients face a substantial burden of comorbidities, notably in the genitourinary system. This, coupled with increased polypharmacy and potential drug interactions, highlights the complexity of managing MSA patients. Clinicians should carefully consider these factors when devising treatment strategies for MSA patients.</p

mTORC1 is essential for early steps during Schwann cell differentiation of amniotic fluid stem cells and regulates lipogenic gene expression.

Schwann cell development is hallmarked by the induction of a lipogenic profile. Here we used amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells and focused on the mechanisms occurring during early steps of differentiation along the Schwann cell lineage. Therefore, we initiated Schwann cell differentiation in AFS cells and monitored as well as modulated the activity of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, the major regulator of anabolic processes. Our results show that mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) activity is essential for glial marker expression and expression of Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Protein (SREBP) target genes. Moreover, SREBP target gene activation by statin treatment promoted lipogenic gene expression, induced mTORC1 activation and stimulated Schwann cell differentiation. To investigate mTORC1 downstream signaling we expressed a mutant S6K1, which subsequently induced the expression of the Schwann cell marker S100b, but did not affect lipogenic gene expression. This suggests that S6K1 dependent and independent pathways downstream of mTORC1 drive AFS cells to early Schwann cell differentiation and lipogenic gene expression. In conclusion our results propose that future strategies for peripheral nervous system regeneration will depend on ways to efficiently induce the mTORC1 pathway

Orbital redistribution in molecular nanostructures mediated by metal-organic bonds

Dicyanovinyl-quinquethiophene (DCV5T-Me) is a prototype conjugated oligomer for highly efficient organic solar cells. This class of oligothiophenes are built up by an electron-rich donor (D) backbone and terminal electron-deficient acceptor (A) moieties. Here, we investigated its structural and electronic properties when it is adsorbed on a Au(111) surface using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We find that DCV5T-Me self-assembles in extended chains, stabilized by intercalated Au atoms. The effect of metal-ligand hybridization with Au adatoms causes an energetic downshift of the DCV5T-Me lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) with respect to the uncoordinated molecules on the surface. The asymmetric coordination of a gold atom to only one molecular end group leads to an asymmetric localization of the LUMO and LUMO+1 states at opposite sides. Using model density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we explain such orbital reshaping as a consequence of linear combinations of the original LUMO and LUMO+1 orbitals, mixed by the attachment of a bridging Au adatom. Our study shows that the alignment of molecular orbitals and their distribution within individual molecules can be modified by contacting them to metal atoms in specific sites

The comorbidity and co-medication profile of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy

BackgroundProgressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is usually diagnosed in elderly. Currently, little is known about comorbidities and the co-medication in these patients.ObjectivesTo explore the pattern of comorbidities and co-medication in PSP patients according to the known different phenotypes and in comparison with patients without neurodegenerative disease.MethodsCross-sectional data of PSP and patients without neurodegenerative diseases (non-ND) were collected from three German multicenter observational studies (DescribePSP, ProPSP and DANCER). The prevalence of comorbidities according to WHO ICD-10 classification and the prevalence of drugs administered according to WHO ATC system were analyzed. Potential drug-drug interactions were evaluated using AiDKlinik (R).ResultsIn total, 335 PSP and 275 non-ND patients were included in this analysis. The prevalence of diseases of the circulatory and the nervous system was higher in PSP at first level of ICD-10. Dorsopathies, diabetes mellitus, other nutritional deficiencies and polyneuropathies were more frequent in PSP at second level of ICD-10. In particular, the summed prevalence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases was higher in PSP patients. More drugs were administered in the PSP group leading to a greater percentage of patients with polypharmacy. Accordingly, the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions was higher in PSP patients, especially severe and moderate interactions.ConclusionsPSP patients possess a characteristic profile of comorbidities, particularly diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The eminent burden of comorbidities and resulting polypharmacy should be carefully considered when treating PSP patients