NP7 protects from cell death induced by oxidative stress in neuronal and glial midbrain cultures from parkin null mice

Parkin mutations produce Parkinson’s disease (PD) in humans and nigrostriatal dopamine lesions related to increased free radicals in mice. We examined the effects of NP7, a synthetic, marine derived, free radical scavenger which enters the brain, on H₂O₂ toxicity in cultured neurons and glia from wild-type (WT) and parkin null mice (PK-KO).NP7, 5-10 μM, prevented the H₂O₂ induced apoptosis and necrosis of midbrain neuronal and glial cultures from WT and PK-KO mice. NP7 suppressed microglial activation and the H₂O₂ induced drop-out of dopamine neurons_. Furthermore, NP7 prevented the increased phosphorylation of ERK and AKT induced by H₂O₂. NP7 may be a promising neuroprotector against oxidative stress in PD.     

Has the adipokine profile an influence on the catch-up growth type in small for gestational age infants?

Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry - Infants born small for gestational age (SGA) are at increased risk of perinatal morbidity, persistent short stature, and metabolic alterations in later...     

Impact of the Arundo scale Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on the weight of Arundo donax (Poaceae: Arundinoideae) rhizomes in Languedoc southern France and Mediterranean Spain

Arundo donax L. (Poaceae) is native to Mediterranean Europe and invasive in the Rio Grande Basin of North America. Rhizomes from nine sites in France and Spain infested with a candidate control agent, the armoured scale Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) weighed 50% less than those from nine sites without scale.     

Hydrophobia, lectin binding, and molecular order in the stratum corneum of adult and neonatal rats and in human breast cells in culture.

A search for differences due to ANS staining (hydrophobia), Con A and PNA binding capacity, and birefringence was carried out on stratified epithelia of rat skin and human breast cells (HBC) in culture. Microfluorimetric measurements confirm that the ANS fluorescence of the stratum corneum from adults is higher than that of newborns. HBC exhibited an unexpected deep ANS-fluorescence. Differences in the binding capacity of the epithelial layers to Con A and PNA were detected with advancing age. Retardation measurements revealed that the form birefringence of the stratum corneum is higher in adult animals specially as revealed by the fact that its form birefringence curve branch from n = 1.414 to n = 1.479 is steeper, i.e. depict higher values. The strong birefringence of the cytoplasmic tonofilaments presented by cultured human breast cells was considered an unexpected finding and attributed to changes that the cells underwent following the in vitro conditions.     

Trapping Elusive Cats: Using Intensive Camera Trapping to Estimate the Density of a Rare African Felid

Camera trapping studies have become increasingly popular to produce population estimates of individually recognisable mammals. Yet, monitoring techniques for rare species which occur at extremely low densities are lacking. Additionally, species which have unpredictable movements may make obtaining reliable population estimates challenging due to low detectability. Our study explores the effectiveness of intensive camera trapping for estimating cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) numbers. Using both a more traditional, systematic grid approach and pre-determined, targeted sites for camera placement, the cheetah population of the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana was sampled between December 2012 and October 2013. Placement of cameras in a regular grid pattern yielded very few (n = 9) cheetah images and these were insufficient to estimate cheetah density. However, pre-selected cheetah scent-marking posts provided 53 images of seven adult cheetahs (0.61 ± 0.18 cheetahs/100km²). While increasing the length of the camera trapping survey from 90 to 130 days increased the total number of cheetah images obtained (from 53 to 200), no new individuals were recorded and the estimated population density remained stable. Thus, our study demonstrates that targeted camera placement (irrespective of survey duration) is necessary for reliably assessing cheetah densities where populations are naturally very low or dominated by transient individuals. Significantly our approach can easily be applied to other rare predator species.     

The strength of SMAD1/5 activity determines the mode of stem cell division in the developing spinal cord

The different modes of stem cell division are tightly regulated to balance growth and differentiation during organ development and homeostasis. However, the mechanisms controlling such events are not fully understood. We have developed markers that provide the single cell resolution necessary to identify the three modes of division occurring in a developing nervous system: self-expanding, self-renewing, and self-consuming. Characterizing these three modes of division during interneuron generation in the developing chick spinal cord, we demonstrated that they correlate to different levels of activity of the canonical bone morphogenetic protein effectors SMAD1/5. Functional in vivo experiments showed that the premature neuronal differentiation and changes in cell cycle parameters caused by SMAD1/5 inhibition were preceded by a reduction of self-expanding divisions in favor of self-consuming divisions. Conversely, SMAD1/5 gain of function promoted self-expanding divisions. Together, these results lead us to propose that the strength of SMAD1/5 activity dictates the mode of stem cell division during spinal interneuron generation.