A new seabird (Aves, cf. Phaethontidae) from the Lower Eocene phosphates of Morocco

A proximal part of humerus from the basal Ypresian (lowermost Eocene) of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, is described as a new genus and species tentatively assigned to the Phaethontidae (tropicbirds). This fossil possibly represents the oldest record of the Phaethontidae and markedly differs from Lithoptila, a contemporaneous Prophaethontidae from the same locality. This new taxon lived in a tropical climate and was probably an efficient flier with pelagic habits, like extant tropicbirds of the genus Phaethon.     

Association of sugar content QTL and PQL with physiological traits relevant to frost damage resistance in pea under field and controlled conditions

To increase yield in pea (Pisum sativum L.), autumn sowing would be preferable. Hence, frost tolerance of pea became a major trait of interest for breeders. In order to better understand the cold acclimation in pea, Champagne a frost tolerant line and Terese, a frost sensitive line, and their recombinant inbred lines (RIL) were studied. RIL frost tolerance was evaluated by a frost damage scale under field as well as controlled conditions. A quantitative trait loci (QTL) approach was used to identify chromosomal regions linked to frost tolerance. The detected QTL explained from 6.5 to 46.5% of the phenotypic variance. Amongst them, those located on linkage groups 5 and 6 were consistent with over all experiments, in field as well as in controlled environments. In order to improve the understanding of the frost tolerance mechanisms, several cold acclimation key characters such as concentration of sugars, electrolyte leakage, osmotic pressure, and activity of RuBisCO were assessed. Some of these physiological QTL colocalised with QTL for frost damage, in particular two raffinose QTL on LG5 and LG6 and one RuBisCO activity QTL on LG6, explaining 8.8 to 27.0% of the phenotypic variance. In addition, protein quantitative loci were mapped; some of them colocalised with frost damage and physiological QTL on LG5 and LG6, explaining 16.0–43.6% of the phenotypic variance. Raffinose metabolism and RuBisCO activity and its effect on photosynthesis might play a major role in cold acclimation of pea. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

LRP1 controls intracellular cholesterol storage and fatty acid synthesis through modulation of Wnt signaling

The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein LRP1 is a cell surface receptor with functions in diverse physiological pathways, including lipid metabolism. Here we show that LRP1-deficient fibroblasts accumulate high levels of intracellular cholesterol and cholesteryl-ester when stimulated for adipocyte differentiation. We demonstrate that LRP1 stimulates a canonical Wnt5a signaling pathway that prevents cholesterol accumulation. Moreover, we show that LRP1 is required for lipolysis and stimulates fatty acid synthesis independently of the noradrenergic pathway, through inhibition of GSK3beta and its previously unknown target acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). As a result of ACC inhibition, mature LRP1-deficient adipocytes of adult mice are hypotrophic, and lower uptake of fatty acids into adipose tissue leads to their redistribution to the liver. These results establish LRP1 as a novel integrator of adipogenic differentiation and fat storage signals.     

The Matricellular Protein Periostin Is Required for Sost Inhibition and the Anabolic Response to Mechanical Loading and Physical Activity

Periostin (gene Postn) is a secreted extracellular matrix protein involved in cell recruitment and adhesion and plays an important role in odontogenesis. In bone, periostin is preferentially expressed in the periosteum, but its functional significance remains unclear. We investigated Postn^−/− mice and their wild type littermates to elucidate the role of periostin in the skeletal response to moderate physical activity and direct axial compression of the tibia. Furthermore, we administered a sclerostin-blocking antibody to these mice in order to demonstrate the influence of sustained Sost expression in their altered bone phenotypes. Cancellous and cortical bone microarchitecture as well as bending strength were altered in Postn^−/− compared with Postn^+/+ mice. Exercise and axial compression both significantly increased bone mineral density and trabecular and cortical microarchitecture as well as biomechanical properties of the long bones in Postn^+/+ mice by increasing the bone formation activity, particularly at the periosteum. These changes correlated with an increase of periostin expression and a consecutive decrease of Sost in the stimulated bones. In contrast, mechanical stimuli had no effect on the skeletal properties of Postn^−/− mice, where base-line expression of Sost levels were higher than Postn^+/+ and remained unchanged following axial compression. In turn, the concomitant injection of sclerostin-blocking antibody rescued the bone biomechanical response in Postn^−/− mice. Taken together, these results indicate that the matricellular periostin protein is required for Sost inhibition and thereby plays an important role in the determination of bone mass and microstructural in response to loading.     

Multilocus sequence typing supports the hypothesis that Ochrobactrum anthropi displays a human-associated subpopulation

Background  

Ochrobactrum anthropi is a versatile bacterial species with strains living in very diverse habitats. It is increasingly recognized as opportunistic pathogen in hospitalized patients. The population biology of the species particularly with regard to the characteristics of the human isolates is being investigated. To address this issue, we proposed a polyphasic approach consisting in Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST), multi-locus phylogeny, genomic-based fingerprinting by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and antibiotyping.     

Effect of neutrophil elastase and its inhibitor EPI-hNE4 on transepithelial sodium transport across normal and cystic fibrosis human nasal epithelial cells

Background

Hyperactivity of the epithelial sodium (Na⁺) channel (ENaC) and increased Na⁺ absorption by airway epithelial cells leading to airway surface liquid dehydration and impaired mucociliary clearance are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) pulmonary disease. In airway epithelial cells, ENaC is constitutively activated by endogenous trypsin-like serine proteases such as Channel-Activating Proteases (CAPs). It was recently reported that ENaC activity could also be stimulated by apical treatment with human neutrophil elastase (hNE) in a human airway epithelial cell line, suggesting that hNE inhibition could represent a novel therapeutic approach for CF lung disease. However, whether hNE can also activate Na⁺ reabsorption in primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNEC) from control or CF patients is currently unknown.

Methods

We evaluated by short-circuit current (I_sc) measurements the effects of hNE and EPI-hNE4, a specific hNE inhibitor, on ENaC activity in primary cultures of HNEC obtained from control (9) and CF (4) patients.

Results

Neither hNE nor EPI-hNE4 treatments did modify I_sc in control and CF HNEC. Incubation with aprotinin, a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor that blocks the activity of endogenous CAPs, decreased I_sc by 27.6% and 54% in control and CF HNEC, respectively. In control and CF HNEC pretreated with aprotinin, hNE did significantly stimulate I_sc, an effect which was blocked by EPI-hNE4.

Conclusions

These results indicate that hNE does activate ENaC and transepithelial Na⁺ transport in both normal and CF HNEC, on condition that the activity of endogenous CAPs is first inhibited. The potent inhibitory effect of EPI-hNE4 on hNE-mediated ENaC activation observed in our experiments highlights that the use of EPI-hNE4 could be of interest to reduce ENaC hyperactivity in CF airways.     

The chloroplast lumen and stromal proteomes of Arabidopsis thaliana show differential sensitivity to short- and long-term exposure to low temperature

Cold acclimation and over-wintering by herbaceous plants are energetically expensive and are dependent on functional plastid metabolism. To understand how the stroma and the lumen proteomes adapt to low temperatures, we have taken a proteomic approach (difference gel electrophoresis) to identify proteins that changed in abundance in Arabidopsis chloroplasts during cold shock (1 day), and short- (10 days) and long-term (40 days) acclimation to 5 degrees C. We show that cold shock (1 day) results in minimal change in the plastid proteomes, while short-term (10 days) acclimation results in major changes in the stromal but few changes in the lumen proteome. Long-term acclimation (40 days) results in modulation of the proteomes of both compartments, with new proteins appearing in the lumen and further modulations in protein abundance occurring in the stroma. We identify 43 differentially displayed proteins that participate in photosynthesis, other plastid metabolic functions, hormone biosynthesis and stress sensing and signal transduction. These findings not only provide new insights into the cold response and acclimation of Arabidopsis, but also demonstrate the importance of studying changes in protein abundance within the relevant cellular compartment.     

Field assessment in Cameroon of a reader of POC-CCA lateral flow strips for the quantification of Schistosoma mansoni circulating cathodic antigen in urine

BackgroundDetermining Schistosoma mansoni infection rate and intensity is challenging due to the low sensitivity of the Kato-Katz (KK) test that underestimates the true disease prevalence. Circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) excreted in urine is constantly produced by adult worms and has been used as the basis of a simple, non-invasive point of care test (POC-CCA) for Schistosoma mansoni infections. Although the abundance of CCA in urine is proportional to worm burden, the POC-CCA test is marketed as a qualitative test, making it difficult to investigate the wide range of infection intensities. This study was designed to compare the prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni by KK and POC-CCA and quantify, on fresh and frozen (<-20°C) urine samples, CCA using the visual scores and the ESEquant LR3 reader.MethodologyStool and urine samples were collected from 759 school-aged children. The prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni were determined using KK and POC-CCA. The degree of the positivity of POC-CCA was estimated by quantifying CCA on fresh and frozen urine samples using visual scores and strip reader. The prevalence, the infection intensity as well the relative amounts of CCA were compared.ResultsThe S. mansoni infection rates inferred from POC-CCA and KK were 40.7% and 9.4% respectively. Good correlations were observed between infection intensities recorded by; i) the reader and visual scoring system on fresh (Rho = 0.89) and frozen samples (Rho = 0.97), ii) the reader on fresh urine samples and KK (epg) (Rho = 0.44). Nevertheless, 238 POC-CCA positive children were negative for KK, and sixteen of them had high levels of CCA. The correlation between results from the reader on fresh and frozen samples was good (Rho = 0.85). On frozen samples, CCA was not detected in 55 samples that were positive in fresh urine samples.ConclusionThis study confirmed the low sensitivity of KK and the high capacity of POC-CCA to provide reliable data on the prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infections. The lateral flow reader enabled accurate quantification of CCA under field conditions on fresh and frozen urine samples with less time and effort than KK.