Functional genomic approaches to analyse the parasitic interaction between the model legume Medicago truncatula and the oomycete Aphanomyces euteiches

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Molekulare Aspekte pathogener und symbiontischer Infektion bei der Modell-Leguminose Medicago truncatula Gaertn

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The alternative Medicago truncatula defense proteome of ROS - defective transgenic roots during early microbial infection

ROP-type GTPases of plants function as molecular switches within elementary signal transduction pathways such as the regulation of ROS synthesis via activation of NADPH oxidases (RBOH-respiratory burst oxidase homolog in plants). Previously, we reported that silencing of the Medicago truncatula GTPase MtROP9 led to reduced ROS production and suppressed induction of ROS-related enzymes in transgenic roots (MtROP9i) infected with pathogenic (Aphanomyces euteiches) and symbiotic microorganisms (Glomus intraradices, Sinorhizobium meliloti). While fungal infections were enhanced, S. meliloti infection was drastically impaired. In this study, we investigate the temporal proteome response of M. truncatula MtROP9i transgenic roots during the same microbial interactions under conditions of deprived potential to synthesize ROS. In comparison with control roots (Mtvector), we present a comprehensive proteomic analysis using sensitive MS protein identification. For four early infection time-points (1, 3, 5, 24 hpi), 733 spots were found to be different in abundance: 213 spots comprising 984 proteins (607 unique) were identified after S. meliloti infection, 230 spots comprising 796 proteins (580 unique) after G. intraradices infection, and 290 spots comprising 1240 proteins (828 unique) after A. euteiches infection. Data evaluation by GelMap in combination with a heatmap tool allowed recognition of key proteome changes during microbial interactions under conditions of hampered ROS synthesis. Overall, the number of induced proteins in MtROP9i was low as compared with controls, indicating a dual function of ROS in defense signaling as well as alternative response patterns activated during microbial infection. Qualitative analysis of induced proteins showed that enzymes linked to ROS production and scavenging were highly induced in control roots, while in MtROP9i the majority of proteins were involved in alternative defense pathways such as cell wall and protein degradation

The mitochondrial complexome of Medicago truncatula

Legumes (Fabaceae, Leguminosae) are unique in their ability to carry out an elaborate endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation process with rhizobia proteobacteria. The symbiotic nitrogen fixation enables the host plants to grow almost independently of any other nitrogen source. Establishment of symbiosis requires adaptations of the host cellular metabolism, here foremost of the energy metabolism mainly taking place in mitochondria. Since the early 1990s, the galegoid legume Medicago truncatula Gaertn. is a well-established model for studying legume biology, but little is known about the protein complement of mitochondria from this species. An initial characterization of the mitochondrial proteome of M. truncatula (Jemalong A17) was published recently. In the frame of this study, mitochondrial protein complexes were characterized using Two-dimensional (2D) Blue native (BN)/SDS-PAGE. From 139 detected spots, the “first hit” (=most abundant) proteins of 59 spots were identified by mass spectrometry. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the mitochondrial “complexome” (the “protein complex proteome”) of M. truncatula via 2D BN/SDS-PAGE in combination with highly sensitive MS protein identification. In total, 1,485 proteins were identified within 158 gel spots, representing 467 unique proteins. Data evaluation by the novel GelMap annotation tool allowed recognition of protein complexes of low abundance. Overall, at least 36 mitochondrial protein complexes were found. To our knowledge several of these complexes were described for the first time in Medicago. The data set is accessible under http://www.gelmap.de/medicago/. The mitochondrial protein complex proteomes of Arabidopsis available at http://www.gelmap.de/arabidopsis/ and Medicago are compared.DF

Polymorphic repeat in AIB1 does not alter breast cancer risk

INTRODUCTION: A causal association between endogenous and exogenous estrogens and breast cancer has been established. Steroid hormones regulate the expression of proteins that are involved in breast cell proliferation and development after binding to their respective steroid hormone receptors. Coactivator and corepressor proteins have recently been identified that interact with steroid hormone receptors and modulate transcriptional activation [1]. AIB1 (amplified in breast 1) is a member of the steroid receptor coactivator (SRC) family that interacts with estrogen receptor (ER)α in a ligand-dependent manner, and increases estrogen-dependent transcription [2]. Amplification and overexpression of AIB1 has been observed in breast and ovarian cancer cell lines and in breast tumors [2,3]. A polymorphic stretch of glutamine amino acids, with unknown biologic function, has recently been described in the carboxyl-terminal region of AIB1 [4]. Among women with germline BRCA1 mutations, significant positive associations were observed between AIB1 alleles with 26 or fewer glutamine repeats and breast cancer risk [5] AIM: To establish whether AIB1 repeat alleles are associated with breast cancer risk and specific tumor characteristics among Caucasian women. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated associations prospectively between AIB1 alleles and breast cancer risk in the Nurses' Health Study using a nested case-control design. The Nurses' Health Study was initiated in 1976, when 121 700 US-registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55 years returned an initial questionnaire reporting medical histories and baseline health-related exposures. Between 1989 and 1990 blood samples were collected from 32 826 women. Eligible cases in this study consisted of women with pathologically confirmed incident breast cancer from the subcohort who gave a blood specimen. Cases with a diagnosis anytime after blood collection up to June 1, 1994, with no previously diagnosed cancer except for nonmelanoma skin cancer were included. Controls were randomly selected participants who gave a blood sample and were free of diagnosed cancer (except nonmelanoma skin cancer) up to and including the interval in which the cases were diagnosed, and were matched to cases on year of birth, menopausal status, postmenopausal hormone use, and time of day, month and fasting status at blood sampling. The nested case-control study consisted of 464 incident breast cancer cases and 624 matched controls. The protocol was approved by the Committee on Human Subjects, Brigham and Womens' Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts USA. Information regarding breast cancer risk factors was obtained from the 1976 baseline questionnaire, subsequent biennial questionnaires, and a questionnaire that was completed at the time of blood sampling. Histopathologic characteristics, such as stage, tumor size and ER and progesterone receptor (PR) status, were ascertained from medical records when available and used in case subgroup analyses. AIB1 repeat alleles were determined by automated fluorescence-based fragment detection from polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified DNA extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes. Fluorescent 5' -labeled primers were utilized for PCR amplification, and glutamine repeat number discrimination was performed using the ABI Prism 377 DNA Sequencer (Perkin-Elmer, Foster City, CA, USA). Genotyping was performed by laboratory personnel who were blinded to case-control status, and blinded quality control samples were inserted to validate genotyping identification procedures (n = 110); concordance for the blinded samples was 100%. Methods regarding plasma hormone assays have previously been reported [6]. Conditional and unconditional logistic regression models, including terms for the matching variables and other potential confounders, were used to assess the association of AIB1 alleles and breast cancer characterized by histologic subtype, stage of disease, and ER and PR status. We also evaluated whether breast cancer risk associated with AIB1 genotype differed within strata of established breast cancer risk factors, and whether repeat length in AIB1 indirectly influenced plasma hormone levels. RESULTS: The case-control comparisons of established breast cancer risk factors among these women have previously been reported [7], and are generally consistent with expectation. The mean age of the women was 58.3 (standard deviation [SD] 7.1) years, ranging from 43 to 69 years at blood sampling. There were 188 premenopausal and 810 postmenopausal women, with mean ages of 48.1 (SD 2.8) years and 61.4 (SD 5.0) years, respectively, at blood sampling. Women in this study were primarily white; Asians, African-Americans and Hispanics comprised less than 1% of cases or controls. The distribution of AIB1 glutamine repeat alleles and AIB1 genotypes for cases and controls are presented in Table 1. Women with AIB1 alleles of 26 glutamine repeats or fewer were not at increased risk for breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.75-1.36; Table 2). Results were also similar by menopausal status and in analyses additionally adjusting for established breast cancer risk factors. Among premenopausal women, the OR for women with at least one allele with 26 glutamine repeats or fewer was 0.82 (95% Cl 0.37-1.81), and among postmenopausal women the OR was 1.09 (95% Cl 0.78-1.52; Table 2). We did not observe evidence of a positive association between shorter repeat length and advanced breast cancer, defined as women with breast cancer having one or more involved nodes (OR 1.07, 95% Cl 0.64-1.78), or with cancers with a hormone-dependent phenotype (ER-positive: OR 1.16, 95% Cl 0.81-1.65; Table 3). No associations were observed among women who had one or more alleles with 26 glutamine repeats or fewer, with or without a family history of breast cancer (family history: OR 1.09; 95% Cl 0.46-2.58; no family history: OR 0.94; 95% Cl 0.68-1.31; test for interaction P = 0.65). We also did not observe associations with breast cancer risk to be modified by other established breast cancer risk factors. Among postmenopausal controls not using postmenopausal hormones, geometric least-squared mean plasma levels of estrone sulfate and estrone were similar among carriers and noncarriers of AIB1 alleles with 26 glutamine repeats or fewer (both differences: ≤ +3.5%; P >0.50). Mean levels of estradiol were slightly, but nonsignificantly elevated among carriers of alleles with 26 glutamine repeats or fewer (+11.6%; P = 0.08). DISCUSSION: In this population-based nested case-control study, women with at most 26 repeating glutamine codons (CAG/CAA) within the carboxyl terminus of AIB1 were not at increased risk for breast cancer. We did not observe shorter repeat alleles to be positively associated with breast cancer grouped by histologic subtype, stage of disease, or by ER and PR status. These data suggest that AIB1 repeat length is not a strong independent risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer, and does not modify the clinical presentation of the tumor among Caucasian women in the general population

Intakes of fruits, vegetables and carbohydrate and the risk of CVD

BACKGROUND: Low-carbohydrate diets could lead to reduced fruit and vegetable intake, which may be protective against CVD. The role of carbohydrate intake in modifying the association between fruits and vegetables and CVD has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether carbohydrate intake affects the association between fruits and vegetables and CVD. DESIGN: We included participants from two large prospective studies, the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals' Follow-Up Study (HPFS). We followed 70870 eligible NHS females for 16 years and 38918 eligible HPFS males for 14 years. Diet was assessed from an FFQ updated every 4 years. Our primary outcome was ischaemic CVD (fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke). We used Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate the relationship between fruits and vegetables and ischaemic CVD within groups with low, moderate or high carbohydrate intake. RESULTS: Fruit intake was strongly related with carbohydrate intake, but vegetables showed a very small correlation. Vegetable intake showed stronger associations with ischaemic CVD among the low carbohydrate group (multivariate risk ratio (RR) = 0.82 for an increment of 3 servings/d; 95% CI 0.68, 0.99); green leafy vegetables and carotene-rich fruits and vegetables followed a similar pattern. Total fruit intake was associated with a lower risk of ischaemic CVD only among participants with moderate carbohydrate intake (RR = 0.81 comparing extreme quintiles; 95% CI 0.70, 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: Total vegetables, green leafy vegetables and carotene-rich fruits and vegetables showed stronger associations with ischaemic CVD among the low carbohydrate group. No consistent trends were observed for fruit intake

Polymorphic repeat in AIB1 does not alter breast cancer risk

We assessed the association between a glutamine repeat polymorphism in AIB1 and breast cancer risk in a case-control study (464 cases, 624 controls) nested within the Nurses' Health Study cohort. We observed no association between AIB1 genotype and breast cancer incidence, or specific tumor characteristics. These findings suggest that AIB1 repeat genotype does not influence postmenopausal breast cancer risk among Caucasian women in the general population

Oral contraceptive use and mortality after 36 years of follow-up in the Nurses\u27 Health Study: Prospective cohort study

Objective To determine whether use of oral contraceptives is associated with all cause and cause specific mortality. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Nurses’ Health Study, data collected between 1976 and 2012. Population 121 701 participants were prospectively followed for 36 years; lifetime oral contraceptive use was recorded biennially from 1976 to 1982. Main outcome measures Overall and cause specific mortality, assessed throughout follow-up until 2012. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate the relative risks of all cause and cause specific mortality associated with use of oral contraceptives. Results In our population of 121 577 women with information on oral contraceptive use, 63 626 were never users (52%) and 57 951 were ever users (48%). After 3.6 million person years, we recorded 31 286 deaths. No association was observed between ever use of oral contraceptives and all cause mortality. However, violent or accidental deaths were more common among ever users (hazard ratio 1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.37). Longer duration of use was more strongly associated with certain causes of death, including premature mortality due to breast cancer (test for trend P<0.0001) and decreased mortality rates of ovarian cancer (P=0.002). Longer time since last use was also associated with certain outcomes, including a positive association with violent or accidental deaths (P=0.005). Conclusions All cause mortality did not differ significantly between women who had ever used oral contraceptives and never users. Oral contraceptive use was associated with certain causes of death, including increased rates of violent or accidental death and deaths due to breast cancer, whereas deaths due to ovarian cancer were less common among women who used oral contraceptives. These results pertain to earlier oral contraceptive formulations with higher hormone doses rather than the now more commonly used third and fourth generation formulations with lower estrogen doses

Upgrading the field-imaging far-infrared line spectrometer for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) with KIDs: enabling large sample (extragalactic) surveys

We present the initial design, performance improvements and science opportunities for an upgrade to the Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer (FIFI-LS). FIFI-LS efficiently measures fine structure cooling lines, delivering critical constraints of the interstellar medium and starforming environments. SOFIA provides the only FIR observational capability in the world, making FIFI-LS a workhorse for FIR lines, combining optimal spectral resolution and a wide velocity range. Its continuous coverage from 51-203 microns makes FIFI-LS a versatile tool to investigate a multitude of diagnostic lines within our galaxy and in extragalactic environments. The sensitivity and field-of-view (FOV) of FIFI-LS are limited by its 90s-era photoconductor arrays. These limits can be overcome by upgrading the instrument using the latest developments in Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs). KIDs provide sensitivity gains in excess of 1.4 and allow larger arrays, enabling an increase in pixel count by an order of magnitude. This increase allows a wider FOV and instantaneous velocity coverage. The upgrade provides gains in point source observation speed by a factor <2 and in mapping speed by a factor <3.5, enabled by the improved sensitivity and pixel count. This upgrade has been proposed to NASA in response to the 2018 SOFIA Next Generation Instrumentation call