Heavy Hymenolepis nana Infection Possibly Through Organic Foods: Report of a Case

We encountered a patient with heavy Hymenolepis nana infection. The patient was a 44-year-old Korean man who had suffered from chronic hepatitis (type B) for 15 years. A large number of H. nana adult worms were found during colonoscopy that was performed as a part of routine health screening. The parasites were scattered throughout the colon, as well as in the terminal ileum, although the patient was immunocompetent. Based on this study, colonoscopy may be helpful for diagnosis of asymptomatic H. nana infections.     

Immunopathological Changes in the Brain of Immunosuppressed Mice Experimentally Infected with Toxocara canis

Toxocariasis is a soil-transmitted helminthozoonosis due to infection of humans by larvae of Toxocara canis. The disease could produce cognitive and behavioral disturbances especially in children. Meanwhile, in our modern era, the incidence of immunosuppression has been progressively increasing due to increased incidence of malignancy as well as increased use of immunosuppressive agents. The present study aimed at comparing some of the pathological and immunological alterations in the brain of normal and immunosuppressed mice experimentally infected with T. canis. Therefore, 180 Swiss albino mice were divided into 4 groups including normal (control) group, immunocompetent T. canis-infected group, immunosuppressed group (control), and immunosuppressed infected group. Infected mice were subjected to larval counts in the brain, and the brains from all mice were assessed for histopathological changes, astrogliosis, and IL-5 mRNA expression levels in brain tissues. The results showed that under immunosuppression, there were significant increase in brain larval counts, significant enhancement of reactive gliosis, and significant reduction in IL-5 mRNA expression. All these changes were maximal in the chronic stage of infection. In conclusion, the immunopathological alterations in the brains of infected animals were progressive over time, and were exaggerated under the effect of immunosuppression as did the intensity of cerebral infection.     

An evaluation of semi‐automated methods for collecting ecosystem‐level data in temperate marine systems

Historically, marine ecologists have lacked efficient tools that are capable of capturing detailed species distribution data over large areas. Emerging technologies such as high‐resolution imaging and associated machine‐learning image‐scoring software are providing new tools to map species over large areas in the ocean. Here, we combine a novel diver propulsion vehicle (DPV) imaging system with free‐to‐use machine‐learning software to semi‐automatically generate dense and widespread abundance records of a habitat‐forming algae over ~5,000 m² of temperate reef. We employ replicable spatial techniques to test the effectiveness of traditional diver‐based sampling, and better understand the distribution and spatial arrangement of one key algal species. We found that the effectiveness of a traditional survey depended on the level of spatial structuring, and generally 10–20 transects (50 × 1 m) were required to obtain reliable results. This represents 2–20 times greater replication than have been collected in previous studies. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usefulness of fine‐resolution distribution modeling for understanding patterns in canopy algae cover at multiple spatial scales, and discuss applications to other marine habitats. Our analyses demonstrate that semi‐automated methods of data gathering and processing provide more accurate results than traditional methods for describing habitat structure at seascape scales, and therefore represent vastly improved techniques for understanding and managing marine seascapes.     

Resistance to pathogens in terpene down-regulated orange fruits inversely correlates with the accumulation of D-limonene in peel oil glands

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary metabolites acting as a language for the communication of plants with the environment. In orange fruits, the monoterpene D-limonene accumulates at very high levels in oil glands from the peel. Drastic down-regulation of D-limonene synthase gene expression in the peel of transgenic oranges harboring a D-limonene synthase transgene in antisense (AS) configuration altered the monoterpene profile in oil glands, mainly resulting in reduced accumulation of D-limonene. This led to fruit resistance against Penicillium digitatum (Pd), Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) and other specialized pathogens. Here, we analyze resistance to pathogens in independent AS and empty vector (EV) lines, which have low, medium or high D-limonene concentrations and show that the level of resistance is inversely related to the accumulation of D-limonene in orange peels, thus explaining the need of high D-limonene accumulation in mature oranges in nature for the efficient attraction of specialized microorganism frugivores.     

Identification of cardiac stem cells within mature cardiac myocytes

Cardiac stem cells are described in a number of mammalian species including humans. Cardiac stem cell clusters consisting of both lineage-negative and partially committed cells are generally identified between contracting cardiac myocytes. In the present study, c-kit⁺, Sca⁺, and Isl1⁺ stem cells were revealed to be located inside the sarcoplasm of cardiac myocytes in myocardial cell cultures derived from newborn, 20-, and 40-day-old rats. Intracellularly localized cardiac stem cells had a coating or capsule with a few pores that opened into the host cell sarcoplasm. The similar structures were also identified in the suspension of freshly isolated myocardial cells (ex vivo) of 20- and 40-day-old rats. The results from this study provide direct evidence for the replicative division of encapsulated stem cells, followed by their partial cardiomyogenic differentiation. The latter is substantiated by the release of multiple transient amplifying cells following the capsule rupture. In conclusion, functional cardiac stem cells can reside not only exterior to but also within cardiomyocytes.     

Analysis of conformational motions and related key residue interactions responsible for a specific function of proteins with elastic network model

Protein collective motions play a critical role in many biochemical processes. How to predict the functional motions and the related key residue interactions in proteins is important for our understanding in the mechanism of the biochemical processes. Normal mode analysis (NMA) of the elastic network model (ENM) is one of the effective approaches to investigate the structure-encoded motions in proteins. However, the motion modes revealed by the conventional NMA approach do not necessarily correspond to a specific function of protein. In the present work, a new analysis method was proposed to identify the motion modes responsible for a specific function of proteins and then predict the key residue interactions involved in the functional motions by using a perturbation approach. In our method, an internal coordinate that accounts for the specific function was introduced, and the Cartesian coordinate space was transformed into the internal/Cartesian space by using linear approximation, where the introduced internal coordinate serves as one of the axes of the coordinate space. NMA of ENM in this internal/Cartesian space was performed and the function-relevant motion modes were identified according to their contributions to the specific function of proteins. Then the key residue interactions important for the functional motions of the protein were predicted as the interactions whose perturbation largely influences the fluctuation along the internal coordinate. Using our proposed methods, the maltose transporter (MalFGK₂) from E. Coli was studied. The functional motions and the key residue interactions that are related to the channel-gating function of this protein were successfully identified.     

1-Aryl-2-((6-aryl)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)ethanols as competitive inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase

A series of 1-aryl-2-(((6-aryl)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)ethanols have been found to be competitive inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). One member of this class, JNJ-40413269, was found to have excellent pharmacokinetic properties, demonstrated robust central target engagement, and was efficacious in a rat model of neuropathic pain.     

In Situ Analysis of Na,K-ATPase α1- and α3-Isoform mRNAs in Aging Rat Hippocampus

Abstract: Age-related changes in the expression of Na,K-ATPase α1- and α3-isoform mRNAs were analyzed by in situ hybridization in the Fischer-344 rat hippocampus. Quantification of signal density with cRNA probes in rat hippocampus at 3 months of age showed (a) α1 content is 1.5 times higher in granule than in pyramidal cell layers, whereas α3 content shows the opposite ratio and (b) α3 label is found in large clusters related to mossy cells and basket cells and in medium clusters corresponding to interneurons within the dendritic fields of CA1–3. In the 24-month-old rats as compared with the young animals, the α1 signal is increased more than sevenfold in the dendritic fields and is not significantly changed in perikaryal layers. The α3 signal is reduced about threefold ( p < 0.0001, ANOVA, n = 6) in perikaryal layers, is almost completely absent over the interneurons, basket cells, and mossy cells, and is not significantly changed in dendritic fields. These data indicate age-related, cell- and isoform-specific alterations in pretranslational regulation of Na,K-ATPase α isoforms. The striking changes in the dendritic fields, mossy cells, and GABAergic basket cells and interneurons may constitute early and sensitive markers for age-related alterations in hippocampal function, before cell loss.     

Genetic variation at pig plasma protein locus PLP1 and its assignment to chromosome 5

A new genetic polymorphism of an unidentified plasma protein (PLP1) in pigs was described by using a method of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and protein staining. Two codominant alleles, with frequencies of 0.83 and 0.17, were found in the Swedish Yorkshire breed. The PLP1 marker was typed in a three-generation pedigree and tested for linkage against a set of 128 markers. The PLP1 locus showed significant LOD score values with three different microsatellite markers (S0092, DAGK and S005), previously assigned to chromosome 5.