Fungiform papillae density in patients with burning mouth syndrome and xerostomia

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze fungiform papillae density in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and xerostomia. Study design: In this cross-sectional clinical study, sixty patients were included (20 with BMS, 20 with xerostomia and 20 healthy controls). The fungiform papillae density was analyzed over a small region on the anterior tip of the tongue with the aid of a digital camera. The number of papillae was measured in an area of 19 mm2. Results: The patients with BMS showed significantly higher fungiform papillae density than the patients with xerostomia; though no statistically significant differences were recorded versus the control group. In the BMS group, 65% of all cases presented a density of 71-90 papillae (within an area of 19 mm2), while 10% had more than 90 papillae. On the contrary, 70% of the patients with xerostomia had fewer than 70 papillae in the studied area. Conclusions: The digital camera offers a rapid, noninvasive and relatively simple way to study fungiform papillae density. The patients with BMS have higher fungiform papillae density than the patients with xerostomia

Recreating blood-brain barrier physiology and structure on chip: A novel neurovascular microfluidic bioreactor

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical structure that serves as the gatekeeper between the central nervous system and the rest of the body. It is the responsibility of the BBB to facilitate the entry of required nutrients into the brain and to exclude potentially harmful compounds; however, this complex structure has remained difficult to model faithfully in vitro. Accurate in vitro models are necessary for understanding how the BBB forms and functions, as well as for evaluating drug and toxin penetration across the barrier. Many previous models have failed to support all the cell types involved in the BBB formation and/or lacked the flow-created shear forces needed for mature tight junction formation. To address these issues and to help establish a more faithful in vitro model of the BBB, we have designed and fabricated a microfluidic device that is comprised of both a vascular chamber and a brain chamber separated by a porous membrane. This design allows for cell-to-cell communication between endothelial cells, astrocytes, and pericytes and independent perfusion of both compartments separated by the membrane. This NeuroVascular Unit (NVU) represents approximately one-millionth of the human brain, and hence, has sufficient cell mass to support a breadth of analytical measurements. The NVU has been validated with both fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran diffusion and transendothelial electrical resistance. The NVU has enabled in vitro modeling of the BBB using all human cell types and sampling effluent from both sides of the barrier

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Estudio clínico randomizado doble-ciego para valorar la eficacia del "aloe vera barbadensis" versus placebo en pacientes con Síndrome de Boca Ardiente / Diana María Molino Pagán; directores, María Pía López Jornet, Fabio Camacho Alonso.

Tesis-Universidad de Murcia.MEDICINA ESPINARDO. DEPOSITO. MU-Tesis 861.Consulte la tesis en: BCA. GENERAL. ARCHIVO UNIVERSITARIO. TM 4303

Biogenesis and transport of membrane domains-potential implications in brain pathologies.

International audience: Lipids in biological membranes show astonishing chemical diversity, but they also show some key conserved structures in different organisms. In addition, some of their biophysical properties have been related to specific functions. In this review, we aim to discuss the role of sphingolipids- and cholesterol-rich micro- and nano-membrane domains (MD) and highlight their pivotal role in lipid-protein clustering processes, vesicle biogenesis and membrane fusion. We further review potential connections between human pathologies and defects in MD biosynthesis, recycling and homeostasis. Brain, which is second only to the adipose tissues in term of lipid abundance, is particularly affected by MD defects which are linked to neurodegenerative disorders. Finally we propose a potential connection between MD and several nutrient-related processes and envision how diet and autophagy could bring insights towards understanding the impact of global lipid homeostasis on human health and disease

Mitochondrial Dynamics in Basal and Stressful Conditions

The historical role of mitochondria resides in converting the energy released during the oxidation of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids and proteins) into adenosine tri-phosphate, a major form of chemically stored energy which sustains cell growth and homeostasis. Beyond this role in bioenergetics regulation, mitochondria play a role in several other cellular processes including lipid metabolism, cellular calcium homeostasis, autophagy and immune responses. Furthermore, mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles: as all other cellular endomembranes, they are continuously moving along cytoskeleton, and, most importantly, they constantly interact one with each other by membrane tethering, fusion and fission. This review aims to highlight the tight correlation between the morphodynamics of mitochondria and their biological function(s), in physiological as well as stress conditions, in particular nutrient deprivation, pathogen attack and some human diseases. Finally, we emphasize some crosstalk between the fusion/fission machinery and the autophagy pathway to ending on some speculative hypothesis to inspire future research in the field

ER-driven membrane contact sites: Evolutionary conserved machineries for stress response and autophagy regulation?

Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER), spreading in the whole cell cytoplasm, is a central player in eukaryotic cell homeostasis, from plants to mammals. Beside crucial functions, such as membrane lipids and proteins synthesis and outward transport, the ER is able to connect to virtually every endomembrane compartment by specific tethering molecular machineries, which enables the establishment of membrane-membrane contact sites. ER-mitochondria contact sites have been shown to be involved in autophagosome biogenesis, the main organelle of the autophagy degradation pathway. More recently we demonstrated that also ER-plasma membrane contact sites are sites for autophagosomes assembly, suggesting that more generally ER-organelles contacts are involved in autophagy and organelle biogenesis. Here we aim to discuss the functioning of ER-driven contact sites in mammals and plants and more in particular emphasize on their recently highlighted function in autophagy to finally conclude on some key questions that may be useful for further research in the field

Sphingolipids Containing Very-Long-Chain Fatty Acids Define a Secretory Pathway for Specific Polar Plasma Membrane Protein Targeting in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/i\u3e

Sphingolipids are a class of structural membrane lipids involved in membrane trafficking and cell polarity. Functional analysis of the ceramide synthase family in Arabidopsis thaliana demonstrates the existence of two activities selective for the length of the acyl chains. Very-long-acyl-chain (C \u3e 18 carbons) but not long-chain sphingolipids are essential for plant development. Reduction of very-long-chain fatty acid sphingolipid levels leads in particular to auxin-dependent inhibition of lateral root emergence that is associated with selective aggregation of the plasma membrane auxin carriers AUX1 and PIN1 in the cytosol. Defective targeting of polar auxin carriers is characterized by specific aggregation of Rab-A2a– and Rab-A1e–labeled early endosomes along the secretory pathway. These aggregates correlate with the accumulation of membrane structures and vesicle fragmentation in the cytosol. In conclusion, sphingolipids with very long acyl chains define a trafficking pathway with specific endomembrane compartments and polar auxin transport protein cargoes

Chromatin techniques for plant cells

A large number of recent studies have demonstrated that many important aspects of plant development are regulated by heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in DNA sequence. Rather, these regulatory mechanisms involve modifications of chromatin structure that affect the accessibility of target genes to regulatory factors that can control their expression. The central component of chromatin is the nucleosome, containing the highly conserved histone proteins that are known to be subject to a wide range of post-translational modifications, which act as recognition codes for the binding of chromatin-associated factors. In addition to these histone modifications, DNA methylation can also have a dramatic influence on gene expression. To accommodate the burgeoning interest of the plant science community in the epigenetic control of plant development, a series of methods used routinely in our laboratories have been compiled that can facilitate the characterization of putative chromatin-binding factors at the biochemical, molecular and cellular levels