Assessment of dietary intake: NuGO symposium report

Advances in genomics science and associated bioinformatics and technology mean that excellent tools are available for characterising human genotypes. At the same time, approaches for characterising individual phenotypes are developing rapidly. In contrast, there has been much less investment in novel methodology for measuring dietary exposures so that there is now a significant gap in the toolkit for those investigating how diet interacts with genotype to determine phenotype. This symposium reviewed the strengths and limitations of current tools used in assessment of dietary intake and the potential to improve these tools through, for example, the use of statistical techniques that combine information from different sources (such as modelling and calibration methods) to ameliorate measurement error and to provide validity checks. Speakers examined the use of approaches based on technologies such as mobile 'phones, digital cameras and Web-based systems which offer the potential for more acceptable (for study participants) and less laborious (for researchers and participants) routes to more robust data collection. In addition, the application of omics, especially metabolomics, tools to biofluids to identify new biomarkers of intake offers great potential to provide objective measures of food consumption with the advantage that data may be collected in forms that can be integrated readily with other high throughput (nutrigenomic) technologies.     

Biomarker discovery by imaging mass spectrometry: transthyretin is a biomarker for gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rat

Adverse drug effects are often associated with pathological changes in tissue. An accurate depiction of the undesired affected area, possibly supported by mechanistic data, is important to classify the effects with regard to relevance for human patients. MALDI imaging MS represents a new analytical tool to directly provide the spatial distribution and the relative abundance of proteins in tissue. Here we evaluate this technique to investigate potential toxicity biomarkers in kidneys of rats that were administered gentamicin, a well known nephrotoxicant. Differential analysis of the mass spectrum profiles revealed a spectral feature at 12,959 Da that strongly correlates with histopathology alterations of the kidney. We unambiguously identified this spectral feature as transthyretin (Ser(28)-Gln(146)) using an innovative combination of tissue microextraction and fractionation by reverse-phase liquid chromatography followed by a top-down tandem mass spectrometric approach. Our findings clearly demonstrate the emerging role of imaging MS in the discovery of toxicity biomarkers and in obtaining mechanistic insights concerning toxicity mechanisms.     

Frequency and fitness cost of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis in Chrysomela tremulae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The "high dose-refuge" (HDR) strategy is commonly recommended and currently used for delaying or preventing pest adaptation to transgenic plants producing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins. The efficiency of this strategy depends, among other factors, on the initial frequency of Bt resistance alleles and on the fitness costs associated with these alleles. Two years ago, an allele conferring resistance to Bt poplar was detected in a French population of the poplar pest Chrysomela tremulae F. Although this pest had never been subjected to Bt selection pressure due to human activities, the frequency of this allele was estimated at 0.0037, with a 95% credible (CI) interval of 0.00045-0.0080. We investigated the frequency of this allele in a second sample of C. tremulae collected more than 500 km from the site of the initial population. The estimated frequency in this sample was 0.0113 (95% CI 0.0031-0.0247), reinforcing the conclusion that resistance to Bt plants may be present at detectable frequencies in pest populations before selection resulting from pest management by humans. The frequency of the Bt resistance allele over the two samples was 0.0049 (95% CI 0.0020-0.0091). We also followed five laboratory lines in which the frequency of this allele was initially fixed at 0.500. After five generations maintained on non-Bt poplar leaves, the frequency of this allele decreased in all lines, whereas allelic frequencies at a neutral locus were unaffected. Thus, the Bt resistance allele detected in French populations of C. tremulae is probably associated with a fitness cost.     

Chemistry at the apical position of square-pyramidal copper(II) complexes: Synthesis, crystal structures, and magnetic properties of homopolynuclear complexes with azido bridges containing [Cu(AA)(BB)] moieties (AA = acetylacetonate; BB = 1,10-phenanthroline, bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine)

Three new homopolynuclear complexes with azido bridges have been obtained by using [Cu(AA)(BB)]⁺ building-blocks (AA = acetylacetonate; BB = 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′-bipyridine). The reaction between [Cu(acac)(phen)(H₂O)](ClO₄) and NaN₃ leads to a mixture of two compounds: a binuclear complex, [{Cu(acac)(phen)}₂(μ_1,3-N₃)](ClO₄) · 2H₂O (1), and a linear tetranuclear one, [{Cu(acac)(phen)(ClO₄)}₂{Cu(phen)(μ_1,1-N₃)₂}₂] (2). The reaction between [Cu(acac)(bipy)(H₂O)](ClO₄) and NaN₃ affords also a mixture of two compounds: [{Cu(acac)(bipy)}₂(μ_1,3-N₃)]₃(ClO₄)₃ · 3.75H₂O (3) and [Cu(acac)(bipy)(N₃)][Cu(acac)(bipy)(H₂O)](ClO₄) (4). The X-ray crystal structures of compounds 1-4 have been solved (for compound 4 the crystal structure was previously reported). In compounds 1 and 3, two {Cu(AA)(BB)} fragments are bridged by the azido anion in an end-to-end fashion. Two isomers, cis and trans with respect to azido bridge, were found in crystal 3. The structure of compound 2 consists of two Cu(II) central cations bridged by two μ_1,1-azido ligands, each of them being also connected to a {Cu(acac)(phen)} fragment through another μ_1,1-azido ligand. The cryomagnetic properties of the compounds 1 and 2 have been investigated and discussed. The magnetic behaviour of compound 1 shows the absence of any interactions between the metallic ions. In the tetranuclear complex 2, the magnetic interactions between the external and central copper(II) ions(J₁), and between the central metallic ions (J₂) were found ferromagnetic (J₁ = 0.36 cm⁻¹, J₂ = 7.20 cm⁻¹).     

Generation of a highly diverse panel of antagonistic chicken monoclonal antibodies against the GIP receptor

Raising functional antibodies against G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is challenging due to their low density expression, instability in the absence of the cell membrane's lipid bilayer and frequently short extracellular domains that can serve as antigens. In addition, a particular therapeutic concept may require an antibody to not just bind the receptor, but also act as a functional receptor agonist or antagonist. Antagonizing the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor may open up new therapeutic modalities in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. As such, a panel of monoclonal antagonistic antibodies would be a useful tool for in vitro and in vivo proof of concept studies. The receptor is highly conserved between rodents and humans, which has contributed to previous mouse and rat immunization campaigns generating very few usable antibodies. Switching the immunization host to chicken, which is phylogenetically distant from mammals, enabled the generation of a large and diverse panel of monoclonal antibodies containing 172 unique sequences. Three-quarters of all chicken-derived antibodies were functional antagonists, exhibited high-affinities to the receptor extracellular domain and sampled a broad epitope repertoire. For difficult targets, including GPCRs such as GIPR, chickens are emerging as valuable immunization hosts for therapeutic antibody discovery.     

Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation in sperm is transmitted to the embryo and associated with diet-induced phenotypes in the offspring

1. Download : Download high-res image (157KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image