The growing inequality between firms

Globalisation, technological progress and a range of policies and institutions are driving ‘Great Divergences’ in wages and productivity, write Giuseppe Berlingieri, Patrick Blanchenay and Chiara Criscuol

The role of potassium transporters in programmed cell death of yeasts

The role of potassium transporters in programmed cell death of yeasts Abstract The programmed cell death was originally connected only to ontogenesis of metazoan. It was later shown that it plays an important role in physiological processes too. An insufficiency or an increased rate of the programmed cell death lead to many pathologies. The term apoptosis was taken as synonym for the term programmed cell death but it designates one of its types. Other types of the programmed cell death are not explored so far as apoptosis. The original classification was based on morphological features, however, there is an approach to distinguish them based on biochemical features. The programmed cell death was found in plants too, where its roles are similar to roles in metazoan and, surprisingly, it occurs in unicellular organisms. The prokaryotic mechanism is different but many common features with metazoan apoptosis exist in unicellular eukaryotes. Nevertheless, certain differences led to use of the term "apoptosis-like programmed cell death". One of the most studied unicellular eukaryotes is a yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. There was found a range of metazoan homologues proteins and thus it can be used as a model organism to deepen our knowledge on metazoan apoptosis and to understand the occurrence of such a..

Effect of IL-32 on apoptosis induction among Huh7 cells.

<p>Huh7 cells were treated with various concentration of recombinant Human IL-32γ (0–0.4μg/ml, R&D Systems) for 48h followed by FITC–Annexin V/PI flow cytometry analyses. (A) A representative FITC–Annexin V/PI assay of Huh7 cells. (B) A statistical analyses of the percentage of annexin V-positive Huh7 cells. The results are presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments.</p

NKP30-B7-H6 interaction enhanced IL-32 expression.

<p>The expression of IL-32 in NK-92 cells was detected upon stimulation with an anti-NKP30 antibody or co-culture with Huh7 cells at an E: T ratio of 25:1 in either the presence or absence of NKP30-Fc protein. (A) A representative intracellular cytokine staining assay of the expression of IL-32 in NK-92 cells. (B) A statistical analyses of the expression of IL-32 in NK-92 cells. The results are presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. * <i>P</i> < 0.05 as comparisons with other groups.</p

Hepatic IL-32 expression was positively correlated with liver injury severity in HBV-ACLF patients.

<p>The relative mean density of hepatic IL-32 staining was positively correlated with serum TBIL level in HBV-ALCF patients, with a correlation index of 0.544 (<i>P</i> < 0.05) (Fig 4C). The relative mean density of hepatic B7-H6 staining did not correlate with ALT, AST, or HBV levels (<i>P</i> > 0.05) (Fig 4, A, B and D).</p

Up-regulated hepatic IL-32 expression in HBV-ACLF patients.

<p>IL-32 expression was detected in liver samples from patients with HBV-ACLF (Fig 3, A–G, original magniifcation 200x), mild CHB (Fig 3H, original magnification 200x), and healthy controls (Fig 3I, original magnification 200x) by immunohistochemical staining. Relative mean density analysis indicated that the hepatic B7-H6 expression in HBV-ACLF patients was significantly higher than that in mild CHB patients or healthy controls (<i>P</i> < 0.05) (Fig 3J).</p

Positive correlation between hepatic B7-H6 and IL-32 Expression.

<p>The relative mean density of hepatic B7-H6 staining was positively correlated with the relative mean density of hepatic B7-H6 staining serum, with a correlation index of 0.483 (<i>P</i> < 0.05) (Fig 5).</p

Enhanced expression of hepatic B7-H6 in HBV-ACLF patients.

<p>The detection of hepatic B7-H6 expression in patients with HBV-ACLF (Fig 1, A–G, original magnification 200x), mild CHB (Fig H, original magnification 200x), healthy controls (Fig 1I, original magnification 200x) was performed by immunohistochemical staining. B7-H6 staining with rabbit serum as first antibody was used as experimental negative controls (Fig 1J, original magnification 200x). According to the manufacturer's instructions, B7-H6 staining in human gallbladder tissue was used as the positive control (Fig 1K, original magnification 200x). Relative mean density analysis indicated that hepatic B7-H6 expression was significantly higher in HBV-ACLF patients than in mild CHB patients or in healthy controls (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p

A Gene-Oriented Haplotype Comparison Reveals Recently Selected Genomic Regions in Temperate and Tropical Maize Germplasm

<div><p>The extensive genetic variation present in maize (<i>Zea mays</i>) germplasm makes it possible to detect signatures of positive artificial selection that occurred during temperate and tropical maize improvement. Here we report an analysis of 532,815 polymorphisms from a maize association panel consisting of 368 diverse temperate and tropical inbred lines. We developed a gene-oriented approach adapting exonic polymorphisms to identify recently selected alleles by comparing haplotypes across the maize genome. This analysis revealed evidence of selection for more than 1100 genomic regions during recent improvement, and included regulatory genes and key genes with visible mutant phenotypes. We find that selected candidate target genes in temperate maize are enriched in biosynthetic processes, and further examination of these candidates highlights two cases, sucrose flux and oil storage, in which multiple genes in a common pathway can be cooperatively selected. Finally, based on available parallel gene expression data, we hypothesize that some genes were selected for regulatory variations, resulting in altered gene expression.</p></div

NKP30-B7-H6 interaction contributes to the NK cell-mediated hepatocyte toxicity.

<p>Cytotoxicity assays were performed to confirm the role of NKP30-B7H6 recognition in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against hepatoma cells and hepatocytes. NK-92 cells expressing high levels of NKp30 were used as effector cells. Hepatoma cell line Huh7 transfected with or no B7-H6 siRNA and LO2 cells transfected with or no pIRES2-EGFP-B7-H6 plasmid were used target cells. (A) representative FACS analysis of NK cells receptors on NK-92 cells. (B) A statistic analyses of the frequencies of NK-92 cells expressing NK cell receptors. Results are the mean ± SD. (C) B7-H6 mRNA expression in Huh7, HepG2, HepG2.215, LO2, K562, and HeLa cells. Results are the mean ± SD. *<i>P</i> < 0.05 as comparisons with HepG2, HepG2.215 and LO2 groups. (D) Soluble NKp30-Fc inhibited the killing of NK-92 cells against Huh7 cells. A 4-h cytoxicity assay was performed in the presence or absence of 2ug/ml NKp30-Fc. Transfection of Huh7 cells with B7-H6 siRNA resulted in silencing of B7-H6 gene as assessed by quantitative real time PCR (E) and western blotting (F). Results are the mean ± SD. <i>P</i> values are shown. (G) Effect of B7-H6 gene knockdown on the cytotoxicity of NK-92. Huh7 cells were transfected with non-targeting control siRNA or B7-H6 siRNA by lipofectamine and then incubated for 48 hr, thereafter co-cultured with NK-92 cells at different effector/target ratios for 4 h. The cytotoxicity of NK-92 cell was evaluated by the CCK8 assay. Results are the mean ± SD. *<i>P</i> < 0.05 as comparisons with non-transfection and control siRNA groups. The recombinant pIRES2-EGFP-B7-H6 plasmid was transfected into LO2 cells, B7-H6 expression was detected under fluorescence microscope (H) and confirmed by quantitative real time PCR (I) and western blotting (J). Results are the mean ± SD. <i>P</i> values are shown. (K) Effect of over-expression of the B7-H6 gene on the cytotoxicity of NK-92 cells. LO2 cells were transfected with control pIRES2-EGFP or pIRES2-EGFP-B7-H6 plasmid by lipofectamine and then incubated for 48 h, thereafter co-cultured with NK-92 cells at different effector/target ratios for 4 h. The cytotoxicity of NK-92 cell was evaluated by the CCK8 assay. Results are the mean ± SD. *<i>P</i> < 0.05 as comparisons with non-transfection and control pIRES2-EGFP plasmid groups.</p