M & L Jaargang 10/4

GeneriekKoen Himpe Historisch-landschappelijke relictwaarden uit het kasteeldomein van Poeke: aandachtspunten voor een creatief parkbeheer. [The castle domain of Poeke: hisstorical landscape-relics and elements for an imaginative park management.]een drydobbel dreve vormden in de 18de eeuw slechts enkele meer opvallende tekenen van welstand van de baronnen van Poeke.Een kortstondig romantisch intermezzo en de terugkeer naar een vertrouwd neoklassiek patroon markeerden dan weer de late 19de eeuw en meteen ook de nieuwe eigenaars.Deze veelvuldige relicten stroomlijnen tot een respectvol parkbeheer lijkt voor Koen Himpe nochtans geenszins onoverkomelijk.Roel De Ceulaer, Willem Aerts en Yvan Maes De wandtapijten van de Sint-Catharinakerk te Hoogstraten - een conserveringsbehandeling. [Conservation treatment of the wall tapestry of the St. Catherines church at Hoogstraten.]Reeds eerder kwamen Antoine de Lalaing en Elisabeth van Culemborg, het hertogenpaar uit Hoogstraten, hier ter sprake.Hun persoonlijk aandeel in s lands 17de-eeuwse culturele bloei blijft dan ook verbazingwekkend.Nu twee reeksen rugtapijten na een heilzame behandeling de ateliers mochten verlaten van de Koninklijke Manufactuur Gaspard De Wit, geven Roel De Ceulaer en Willem Aerts, naast Yvan Maes, nadere details prijs over de historische achtergronden en de restauratieve aanpak.Frans Dopere en William Ubregts De woontoren van Aynchon de Hognoul te Rutten op het einde van de 13de eeuw. [The donjon of Aynchon de Hognoul in Rutten at the end of the 13th century.]Vertrouwd raken met het 13de-eeuwse panopticum waar Frans Dopere en William Ubregts duidelijk vriend aan huis zijn, vergt net iets meer dan de gewone belangstelling.Wat uit deze onzekere tijden aan monumentaal patrimonium bewaard bleef is dan ook betrekkelijk miskend, zoniet bedroevend schaars.Neem nu bijvoorbeeld... de woontoren van Aynchon de Hognoul.Walter Schudel Wij zullen het wel vrijleggen. [Just let us expose it On the restoration of wall-paintings.]Oude witsellagen blijven in restauratie-middens, tegen beter weten in, de gemoederen verhitten.Terwijl nog steeds niet afdoend doorgedrongen is dat muren van oudsher ook van een afwerking werden voorzien, daagt het gevaar nu bij al te doortastende restaurateurs. Een zoveelste pleidooi van Walter Schudel voor meer deskundige schroom.SummaryJubileum-bijlage: "Het Belgische trekpaard. Levend cultureel erfgoed.

A20 deficiency in myeloid cells protects mice from diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance due to increased fatty acid metabolism

Obesity-induced inflammation is a major driving force in the development of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and related metabolic disorders. During obesity, macrophages accumulate in the visceral adipose tissue, creating a low-grade inflammatory environment. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) signaling is a central coordinator of inflammatory responses and is tightly regulated by the anti-inflammatory protein A20. Here, we find that myeloid-specific A20-deficient mice are protected from diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance despite an inflammatory environment in their metabolic tissues. Macrophages lacking A20 show impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and metabolize more palmitate both in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesize that A20-deficient macrophages rely more on palmitate oxidation and metabolize the fat present in the diet, resulting in a lean phenotype and protection from metabolic disease. These findings reveal a role for A20 in regulating macrophage immunometabolism

Epithelial HMGB1 delays skin wound healing and drives tumor initiation by priming neutrophils for NET formation

Regenerative responses predispose tissues to tumor formation by largely unknown mechanisms. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a danger-associated molecular pattern contributing to inflammatory pathologies. We show that HMGB1 derived from keratinocytes, but not myeloid cells, delays cutaneous wound healing and drives tumor formation. In wounds of mice lacking HMGB1 selectively in keratinocytes, a marked reduction in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation is observed. Pharmacological targeting of HMGB1 or NETs prevents skin tumorigenesis and accelerates wound regeneration. HMGB1-dependent NET formation and skin tumorigenesis is orchestrated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and requires RIPK1 kinase activity. NETs are present in the microenvironment of keratinocyte-derived tumors in mice and lesional and tumor skin of patients suffering from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a disease in which skin blistering predisposes to tumorigenesis. We conclude that tumorigenicity of the wound microenvironment depends on epithelial-derived HMGB1 regulating NET formation, thereby establishing a mechanism linking reparative inflammation to tumor initiation

A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action

The rate and extent of global biodiversity change is surpassing our ability to measure, monitor and forecast trends. We propose an interconnected worldwide system of observation networks — a global biodiversity observing system (GBiOS) — to coordinate monitoring worldwide and inform action to reach international biodiversity targets.acceptedVersio

Prebiotic Effects of Wheat Arabinoxylan Related to the Increase in Bifidobacteria, Roseburia and Bacteroides/Prevotella in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

BACKGROUND: Alterations in the composition of gut microbiota--known as dysbiosis--has been proposed to contribute to the development of obesity, thereby supporting the potential interest of nutrients targeting the gut with beneficial effect for host adiposity. We test the ability of a specific concentrate of water-extractable high molecular weight arabinoxylans (AX) from wheat to modulate both the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obese mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mice were fed either a control diet (CT) or a HF diet, or a HF diet supplemented with AX (10% w/w) during 4 weeks. AX supplementation restored the number of bacteria that were decreased upon HF feeding, i.e. Bacteroides-Prevotella spp. and Roseburia spp. Importantly, AX treatment markedly increased caecal bifidobacteria content, in particular Bifidobacterium animalis lactis. This effect was accompanied by improvement of gut barrier function and by a lower circulating inflammatory marker. Interestingly, rumenic acid (C18:2 c9,t11) was increased in white adipose tissue due to AX treatment, suggesting the influence of gut bacterial metabolism on host tissue. In parallel, AX treatment decreased adipocyte size and HF diet-induced expression of genes mediating differentiation, fatty acid uptake, fatty acid oxidation and inflammation, and decreased a key lipogenic enzyme activity in the subcutaneous adipose tissue. Furthermore, AX treatment significantly decreased HF-induced adiposity, body weight gain, serum and hepatic cholesterol accumulation and insulin resistance. Correlation analysis reveals that Roseburia spp. and Bacteroides/Prevotella levels inversely correlate with these host metabolic parameters. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Supplementation of a concentrate of water-extractable high molecular weight AX in the diet counteracted HF-induced gut dysbiosis together with an improvement of obesity and lipid-lowering effects. We postulate that hypocholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity effects are related to changes in gut microbiota. These data support a role for wheat AX as interesting nutrients with prebiotic properties related to obesity prevention

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata extract combination for hand osteoarthritis: an open-label pre-post trial.

peer reviewed[en] CONTEXT: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand is a common painful musculoskeletal disorder with no cure. There is a need for an efficient and safe treatment to relieve OA pain. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata food supplement in addition to standard care on hand pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This open-label, non-controlled, post-observational study was based on 232 patients suffering from hand pain with or without joint deformity. Patients received a medical prescription for a three-month treatment with a food supplement containing 89 mg of C. longa dry extract, 120 mg of B. serrata resin, and 1.8 µg vitamin D. Pain was evaluated on a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). The number of painful hand joints, patient satisfaction, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs intake, and side effects were also recorded. RESULTS: Baseline pain intensity (regression coefficient ± SE: -0.19 ± 0.01, p < 0.0001) and the number of painful joints (regression coefficient ± SE: -0.022 ± 0.0029, p < 0.0001) decreased significantly throughout the 3 months treatment period. NSAIDs intake and topical drug application were significantly decreased by 64% (p < 0.0001) and 79% (p < 0.0001) after 12 weeks, respectively. Only 3/239 (1.3%) patients reported side effects probably related to the product. 80.3% were satisfied with the treatment and 75.5% wished to continue treatment. CONCLUSION: This is the first clinical trial showing that C. longa and B. serrata resin can relieve symptoms in patients with hand osteoarthritis. The study provides useful information for the design of a clinical trial including a broader population

Structure of chymopapain at 1.7 Å resolution

The X-ray structure of chymopapain, a cysteine proteinase isolated from the latex of the fruits of Carica papaya L. has been determined by molecular replacement methods and refined to a conventional R factor of 0.19 for all observed reflections in the range from 9.5 to 1.7 Å resolution. The crystals used in this study contained a unique molecular species of chymopapain with two moles of thiomethyl attached to the two free cysteines per mole of enzyme. A comparison is made with the other known papaya proteinase X-ray structures: papain, caricain, and glycyl endopeptidase. Their backbone conformations are extremely similar except for two loop regions. Both regions are located at the surface of the protein and far away of the active site cleft. In each X-ray structure the same water network was found at the interface between the two domains of the enzyme. A close examination of the active site groove showed that the specificity restrictions dictated by the S2 subsite did not differ significantly among the four proteinases.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Comparative physicochemical studies of human α-lactalbumin and human lysozyme

As a result of the recent disclosure of the striking similarities between the covalent structures of bovine α-lactalbumin and of hen egg-white lysozyme, comparative physicochemical properties of α-lactalbumins and lysozymes of various sources seemed worth investigating. Therefore human milk α-lactalbumin and human milk or urinary lysozyme were purified. Their physical properties were examined in order to study the extent of similarity of the three-dimensional structure when considering the two proteins from the same species. Diffusion and sedimentation experiments showed that the hydrodynamic shape and the molecular weight of human α-lactalbumin and lysozyme were strikingly comparable. Concerning the secondary structure, it was observed by optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism that human lysozyme displays slightly more helix than human α-lactalbumin. Furthermore, when considering thermal denaturation, the transition temperatures and changes in enthalpy or entropy are all markedly lower for human α-lactalbumin than for lysozyme. These findings have been discussed in relation to the physicochemical properties of bovine α-lactalbumin and egg-white lysozyme. © 1972.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe