In Vivo Dynamics of Retinal Microglial Activation During Neurodegeneration: Confocal Ophthalmoscopic Imaging and Cell Morphometry in Mouse Glaucoma

Microglia, which are CNS-resident neuroimmune cells, transform their morphology and size in response to CNS damage, switching to an activated state with distinct functions and gene expression profiles. The roles of microglial activation in health, injury and disease remain incompletely understood due to their dynamic and complex regulation in response to changes in their microenvironment. Thus, it is critical to non-invasively monitor and analyze changes in microglial activation over time in the intact organism. In vivo studies of microglial activation have been delayed by technical limitations to tracking microglial behavior without altering the CNS environment. This has been particularly challenging during chronic neurodegeneration, where long-term changes must be tracked. The retina, a CNS organ amenable to non-invasive live imaging, offers a powerful system to visualize and characterize the dynamics of microglia activation during chronic disorders.This protocol outlines methods for long-term, in vivo imaging of retinal microglia, using confocal ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) and CX3CR1^GFP/+ reporter mice, to visualize microglia with cellular resolution. Also, we describe methods to quantify monthly changes in cell activation and density in large cell subsets (200-300 cells per retina). We confirm the use of somal area as a useful metric for live tracking of microglial activation in the retina by applying automated threshold-based morphometric analysis of in vivo images. We use these live image acquisition and analyses strategies to monitor the dynamic changes in microglial activation and microgliosis during early stages of retinal neurodegeneration in a mouse model of chronic glaucoma. This approach should be useful to investigate the contributions of microglia to neuronal and axonal decline in chronic CNS disorders that affect the retina and optic nerve.     

The severity of wheat diseases increases when plants and pathogens are acclimatized to elevated carbon dioxide

Wheat diseases present a constant and evolving threat to food security. We have little understanding as to how increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will affect wheat diseases and thus the security of grain supply. Atmospheric CO₂ exceeded the 400 ppmv benchmark in 2013 and is predicted to double or even treble by the end of the century. This study investigated the impact of both pathogen and wheat acclimation to elevated CO₂ on the development of Fusarium head blight (FHB) and Septoria tritici blotch (STB) disease of wheat. Here, plants and pathogens were cultivated under either 390 or 780 ppmv CO₂ for a period (two wheat generations, multiple pathogen subcultures) prior to standard disease trials. Acclimation of pathogens and the wheat cultivar Remus to elevated CO₂ increased the severity of both STB and FHB diseases, relative to ambient conditions. The effect of CO₂ on disease development was greater for FHB than for STB. The highest FHB disease levels and associated yield losses were recorded for elevated CO₂‐acclimated pathogen on elevated CO₂‐acclimated wheat. When similar FHB experiments were conducted using the disease‐resistant cultivar CM82036, pathogen acclimation significantly enhanced disease levels and yield loss under elevated CO₂ conditions, thereby indicating a reduction in the effectiveness of the defence pathways innate to this wheat cultivar. We conclude that acclimation to elevated CO₂ over the coming decades will have a significant influence on the outcome of plant–pathogen interactions and the durability of disease resistance.     

Tissue‐specific and pathogen‐inducible expression of a fusion protein containing a Fusarium‐specific antibody and a fungal chitinase protects wheat against Fusarium pathogens and mycotoxins

Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat and other small grain cereals is a globally devastating disease caused by toxigenic Fusarium pathogens. Controlling FHB is a challenge because germplasm that is naturally resistant against these pathogens is inadequate. Current control measures rely on fungicides. Here, an antibody fusion comprised of the Fusarium spp.‐specific recombinant antibody gene CWP2 derived from chicken, and the endochitinase gene Ech42 from the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma atroviride was introduced into the elite wheat cultivar Zhengmai9023 by particle bombardment. Expression of this fusion gene was regulated by the lemma/palea‐specific promoter Lem2 derived from barley; its expression was confirmed as lemma/palea‐specific in transgenic wheat. Single‐floret inoculation of independent transgenic wheat lines of the T₃ to T₆ generations revealed significant resistance (type II) to fungal spreading, and natural infection assays in the field showed significant resistance (type I) to initial infection. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis revealed marked reduction of mycotoxins in the grains of the transgenic wheat lines. Progenies of crosses between the transgenic lines and the FHB‐susceptible cultivar Huamai13 also showed significantly enhanced FHB resistance. Quantitative real‐time PCR analysis revealed that the tissue‐specific expression of the antibody fusion was induced by salicylic acid drenching and induced to a greater extent by F. graminearum infection. Histochemical analysis showed substantial restriction of mycelial growth in the lemma tissues of the transgenic plants. Thus, the combined tissue‐specific and pathogen‐inducible expression of this Fusarium‐specific antibody fusion can effectively protect wheat against Fusarium pathogens and reduce mycotoxin content in grain.     

ITMSQ: A software tool for N‐ and C‐terminal fragment ion pairs based isobaric tandem mass spectrometry quantification

Tandem MS (MS2) quantification using the series of N‐ and C‐terminal fragment ion pairs generated from isobaric‐labelled peptides was recently considered an accurate strategy in quantitative proteomics. However, the presence of multiplexed terminal fragment ion in MS2 spectra may reduce the efficiency of peptide identification, resulting in lower identification scores or even incorrect assignments. To address this issue, we developed a quantitative software tool, denoted isobaric tandem MS quantification (ITMSQ), to improve N‐ and C‐terminal fragment ion pairs based isobaric MS2 quantification. A spectrum splitting module was designed to separate the MS2 spectra from different samples, increasing the accuracy of both identification and quantification. ITMSQ offers a convenient interface through which parameters can be changed along with the labelling method, and the result files and all of the intermediate files can be exported. We performed an analysis of in vivo terminal amino acid labelling labelled HeLa samples and found that the numbers of quantified proteins and peptides increased by 13.64 and 27.52% after spectrum splitting, respectively. In conclusion, ITMSQ provides an accurate and reliable quantitative solutionfor N‐ and C‐terminal fragment ion pairs based isobaric MS2 quantitative methods.     

小麦PAL基因的克隆及赤霉菌诱导下的表达分析

利用苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL,phenylalanine ammonia-lyase)基因保守区域从小麦抗赤霉病材料苏麦3号中克隆获得4个PAL基因,分别命名为Ta PAL1、Ta PAL2、Ta PAL3、Ta PAL4。4个基因的开放阅读框(ORF,open reading frame)长度分别为2142 bp、2016 bp、2118 bp和2139 bp,分别编码714个、672个、706个和713个氨基酸。基因序列比对发现其相似性达到88.35%,所编码的氨基酸相似性为91.92%,氨基酸序列分析表明4个基因都包含HAL-PAL结构域及PAL结构域。通过接种禾谷镰刀菌,利用荧光定量PCR对PAL基因进行表达分析发现,4个PAL基因全部为上调表达,其中Ta PAL2、Ta PAL3和Ta PAL4最为明显。PAL基因的上调表达,说明PAL基因在小麦抵抗赤霉病菌侵染的机制中可能起着重要作用。     

Multi-photon Imaging of Tumor Cell Invasion in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Loco-regional invasion of head and neck cancer is linked to metastatic risk and presents a difficult challenge in designing and implementing patient management strategies. Orthotopic mouse models of oral cancer have been developed to facilitate the study of factors that impact invasion and serve as model system for evaluating anti-tumor therapeutics. In these systems, visualization of disseminated tumor cells within oral cavity tissues has typically been conducted by either conventional histology or with in vivo bioluminescent methods. A primary drawback of these techniques is the inherent inability to accurately visualize and quantify early tumor cell invasion arising from the primary site in three dimensions. Here we describe a protocol that combines an established model for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (SCOT) with two-photon imaging to allow multi-vectorial visualization of lingual tumor spread. The OSC-19 head and neck tumor cell line was stably engineered to express the F-actin binding peptide LifeAct fused to the mCherry fluorescent protein (LifeAct-mCherry). Fox1^nu/nu mice injected with these cells reliably form tumors that allow the tongue to be visualized by ex-vivo application of two-photon microscopy. This technique allows for the orthotopic visualization of the tumor mass and locally invading cells in excised tongues without disruption of the regional tumor microenvironment. In addition, this system allows for the quantification of tumor cell invasion by calculating distances that invaded cells move from the primary tumor site. Overall this procedure provides an enhanced model system for analyzing factors that contribute to SCOT invasion and therapeutic treatments tailored to prevent local invasion and distant metastatic spread. This method also has the potential to be ultimately combined with other imaging modalities in an in vivo setting.