Irisin inhibits high glucose‐induced endothelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and exerts a dose‐dependent bidirectional effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy

Emerging evidence indicates that irisin provides beneficial effects in diabetes. However, whether irisin influences the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the potential role and mechanism of action of irisin in diabetes‐induced myocardial dysfunction in mice. Type 1 diabetes was induced in mice by injecting streptozotocin, and the diabetic mice were administered recombinant r‐irisin (low or high dose: 0.5 or 1.5 μg/g body weight/day, I.P.) or PBS for 16 weeks. Irisin treatment did not alter blood glucose levels in the diabetic mice. However, the results of echocardiographical and histopathological assays indicated that low‐dose irisin treatment alleviated cardiac fibrosis and left ventricular function in the diabetic mice, whereas high‐dose irisin failed to mitigate the ventricular function impairment and increased collagen deposition. The potential mechanism underlying the effect of low‐dose irisin involved irisin‐mediated inhibition of high glucose‐induced endothelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EndMT); conversely, high‐dose irisin treatment enhanced high glucose‐induced MMP expression by stimulating MAPK (p38 and ERK) signalling and cardiac fibroblast proliferation and migration. Low ‐ dose irisin alleviated DCM development by inhibiting high glucose‐induced EndMT. By contrast, high‐dose irisin disrupted normal MMP expression and induced cardiac fibroblast proliferation and migration, which results in excess collagen deposition. Thus, irisin can inhibit high glucose‐induced EndMT and exert a dose‐dependent bidirectional effect on DCM.     

Light and electron microscopic histochemical observations on cholinesterase-containing sympathetic nerve fibres in the pineal body of the rat

Synopsis Pineal glands of adult albino rats were examined histochemically using, first, formaldehyde-induced fluorescence to study monoamines and, second, copper thiocholine or copper ferrocyanide methods to study acetylcholinesterase and non-specific cholinesterase by light and electron microscopy. Cholinesterase was determined quantitatively by a constant pH titration assay.Fluorescent and acetylcholinesterase-positive nerve nets formed identical patterns. Nonspecific cholinesterase was observed only in nerve trunks outside the pineal. Bilateral removal of superior cervical ganglia resulted in complete disappearance of fluorescence and acetylcholinesterase from nerve fibres. Electron microscopically, acetylcholinesterase was found on sympathetic axons containing small granular vesicles. Quantitative cholinesterase determinations suggested that the pineal activity was mainly due to acetylcholinesterase. Comparison of the incubation times required for equal histochemical acetylcholinesterase reactions suggested that the activity of the sympathetic nerve fibres in the pineal is of the same order of magnitude as that in the nerve fibres of the iris.     

Unique and Overlapping Functions of Formins Frl and DAAM During Ommatidial Rotation and Neuronal Development in Drosophila

The noncanonical Frizzled/planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway regulates establishment of polarity within the plane of an epithelium to generate diversity of cell fates, asymmetric, but highly aligned structures, or to orchestrate the directional migration of cells during convergent extension during vertebrate gastrulation. In Drosophila, PCP signaling is essential to orient actin wing hairs and to align ommatidia in the eye, in part by coordinating the movement of groups of photoreceptor cells during ommatidial rotation. Importantly, the coordination of PCP signaling with changes in the cytoskeleton is essential for proper epithelial polarity. Formins polymerize linear actin filaments and are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. Here, we show that the diaphanous-related formin, Frl, the single fly member of the FMNL (formin related in leukocytes/formin-like) formin subfamily affects ommatidial rotation in the Drosophila eye and is controlled by the Rho family GTPase Cdc42. Interestingly, we also found that frl mutants exhibit an axon growth phenotype in the mushroom body, a center for olfactory learning in the Drosophila brain, which is also affected in a subset of PCP genes. Significantly, Frl cooperates with Cdc42 and another formin, DAAM, during mushroom body formation. This study thus suggests that different formins can cooperate or act independently in distinct tissues, likely integrating various signaling inputs with the regulation of the cytoskeleton. It furthermore highlights the importance and complexity of formin-dependent cytoskeletal regulation in multiple organs and developmental contexts.     

Evidence of Chikungunya virus seroprevalence in Myanmar among dengue-suspected patients and healthy volunteers in 2013, 2015, and 2018

IntroductionChikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus known to cause acute febrile illness associated with debilitating polyarthritis. In 2019, several institutions in Myanmar reported a CHIKV outbreak. There are no official reports of CHIKV cases between 2011 and 2018. Therefore, this study sought to determine the seroprevalence of CHIKV infection before the 2019 outbreak.MethodsA total of 1,544 serum samples were collected from healthy volunteers and patients with febrile illnesses in Yangon, Mandalay, and the Myeik district in 2013, 2015, and 2018. Participants ranged from one month to 65 years of age. Antibody screening was performed with in-house anti-CHIKV IgG and IgM ELISA. A neutralization assay was used as a confirmatory test.ResultsThe seroprevalence of anti-CHIKV IgM and anti-CHIKV IgG was 8.9% and 28.6%, respectively, with an overall seropositivity rate of 34.5%. A focus reduction neutralization assay confirmed 32.5% seroprevalence of CHIKV in the study population. Age, health status, and region were significantly associated with neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and CHIKV seropositivity (p < 0.05), while gender was not (p = 0.9). Seroprevalence in 2013, 2015, and 2018 was 32.1%, 28.8%, and 37.3%, respectively. Of the clinical symptoms observed in participants with fevers, arthralgia was mainly noted in CHIKV-seropositive patients.ConclusionThe findings in this study reveal the circulation of CHIKV in Myanmar’s Mandalay, Yangon, and Myeik regions before the 2019 CHIKV outbreak. As no treatment or vaccine for CHIKV exists, the virus must be monitored through systematic surveillance in Myanmar.     

Effect of landscape context on fish metacommunity structuring in stream networks

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Quantifying ecosystem service trade‐offs for plantation forest management to benefit provisioning and regulating services

There is increasing interest worldwide regarding managing plantation forests in a manner that maintains or improves timber production, enhances ecosystem services, and promotes long‐term sustainability of forest resources. We selected the Gan River Basin, the largest catchment of Poyang Lake and a region with a typical plantation distribution in South China, as the study region. We evaluated and mapped four important forest ecosystem services, including wood volume, carbon storage, water yield, and soil retention at a 30 × 30 m resolution, then quantified their trade‐offs and synergies at the county and subwatershed scales. We found that the wood volume and carbon storage services, as well as the soil retention and water yield, exhibited synergistic relationships. However, the carbon storage displayed a trade‐off relationship with the water yield. Additionally, we compared the beneficial spatial characteristics among dominant species in the study region. The results showed that the Chinese fir forest and the pine forest exhibited lower overall benefits than natural forests including the broad‐leaved forest and the bamboo forest. To propose a suitable management strategy for the study region, method of spatial cluster analysis was used based on the four eco‐services at the subwatershed scale. The basin was divided into four management groups instead of treating the region as a homogenous management region. Finally, we proposed more specific and diverse management strategies to optimize forest benefits throughout the entire region.