Orthologs of key vertebrate neural genes are expressed during neurogenesis in the annelid Platynereis dumerilii

SUMMARY The molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and patterning of the nervous system are relatively poorly understood for lophotrochozoans (like annelids) as compared with ecdysozoans (especially Drosophila ) and deuterostomes (especially vertebrates). Therefore, we have undertaken a candidate gene approach to study aspects of neurogenesis in a polychaete annelid Platynereis dumerilii . We determined the spatiotemporal expression for Platynereis orthologs of four genes ( SoxB, Churchill, prospero / Prox , and SoxC) known to play key roles in vertebrate neurogenesis. During Platynereis development, SoxB is expressed in the neuroectoderm and its expression switches off when committed neural precursors are formed. Subsequently, Prox is expressed in all differentiating neural precursors in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Finally, SoxC and Churchill are transcribed in patterns consistent with their involvement in neural differentiation. The expression patterns of Platynereis SoxB and Prox closely resemble those in Drosophila and vertebrates—this suggests that orthologs of these genes play similar neurogenic roles in all bilaterians. Whereas Platynereis SoxC , like its vertebrate orthologs, plays a role in neural cell differentiation, related genes in Drosophila do not appear to be involved in neurogenesis. Finally, conversely to Churchill in Platynereis , vertebrate orthologs of this gene are expressed during neuroectoderm formation, but not later during nerve cell differentiation; in the insect lineage, homologs of these genes have been secondarily lost. In spite of such instances of functional divergence or loss, the present study shows conspicuous similarities in the genetic control of neurogenesis among bilaterians. These commonalities suggest that key features of the genetic program for neurogenesis are ancestral to bilaterians.     

Covalent binding of human thrombin to a human endothelial cell-associated protein

Binding of 125I-thrombin to endothelial cells derived from human umbilical vein was studied in tissue culture. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography revealed covalent binding of thrombin in a 72-kDa complex. This binding is specific and requires the catalytically active site of the enzyme. Formation of the complex could be detected as early as 3 min after addition of thrombin or with a thrombin concentration as low as 0.5 nM. This irreversible binding exhibits thrombin dose-dependence and reaches maximum levels at a concentration of 50 nM (10 fmol/10(5) cells). Some characteristics of the 72-kDa complex were compared to those of the complexes formed between thrombin and protease nexin originating from fibroblasts or platelets: (i) its electrophoretic mobility on SDS-PAGE is identical to that of the thrombin-platelet protease nexin complex, (ii) heparin prevents the appearance of the complex on the cell surface, (iii) plasmin in a 100-fold molar excess prevents the covalent linkage of thrombin, suggesting that the protease specificity of the endothelial component involved in the complex might not be restricted to thrombin. Yet no release, nor any secretion of the endothelial protein, could be detected. These results indicate that active thrombin binds covalently to a specific endothelial protein that is in several respects similar to fibroblast or platelet protease nexin and provides a thrombin binding site distinct from thrombomodulin and glycosaminoglycans.     

Attention to elders' voice in non-human primates

The observed respect and attention to elders'' speech in traditional cultures appears to have a ‘universal’ component which questions its possible biological bases. Animals present differential attention to the vocalizations of other individuals according to their characteristics but little is known about the potential propensity to pay more attention to vocalizations of elders. On the basis of several hundreds of vocal exchanges recorded, here we show that aged female Campbell''s monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli), despite being significantly less ‘loquacious’ than their younger adult counterparts, elicit many more responses when calling. These findings show that attention to elders'' vocal production appears in non-human primates, leading to new lines of questioning on human culture and language evolution.     

Molecular mechanisms of induced mutagenesis: Replication in vivo of bacteriophage φX174 single-stranded,ultraviolet light-irradiated DNA in intact and irradiated host cells

Genetic analysis has revealed that radiation and many chemical mutagens induce in bacteria an error-prone DNA repair process which is responsible for their mutagenic effect. The biochemical mechanism of this inducible error-prone repair has been studied by analysis of the first round of DNA synthesis on ultraviolet light-irradiated φX174 DNA in both intact and ultraviolet light-irradiated host cells. Intracellular φX174 DNA was extracted, subjected to isopycnic CsCl density-gradient analysis, hydroxylapatite chromatography and digestion by single-strand-specific endonuclease S₁. Ultraviolet light-induced photolesions in viral DNA cause a permanent blockage of DNA synthesis in intact Escherichia coli cells. However, when host cells are irradiated and incubated to fully induce the error-prone repair system, a significant fraction of irradiated φX174 DNA molecules can be fully replicated. Thus, inducible error-prone repair in E. coli is manifested by an increased capacity for DNA synthesis on damaged φX174 DNA. Chloramphenicol (100 μg/ml), which is an inhibitor of the inducible error-prone DNA repair, is also an inhibitor of this particular inducible DNA synthesis.     

Fine‐scale Population Genetic Structure of Two Dioecious Indian Keystone Species,Ficus hispida and Ficus exasperata (Moraceae)

Although Ficus (Moraceae) is a keystone plant genus in the tropics, providing resources to many frugivorous vertebrates, its population genetic structure, which is an important determinant of its long‐term survival, has rarely been investigated. We examined the population genetic structure of two dioecious fig species (Ficus hispida and Ficus exasperata) in the Indian Western Ghats using co‐dominant nuclear microsatellite markers. We found high levels of microsatellite genetic diversity in both species. The regression slopes between genetic relationship coefficients (f_ij) and spatial distances were significantly negative in both species indicating that, on average, individuals in close spatial proximity were more likely to be related than individuals further apart. Mean parent–offspring distance (σ) calculated using these slopes was about 200 m in both species. This should be contrasted with the very long pollen dispersal distances documented for monoecious Ficus species. Nevertheless, overall population genetic diversity remained large suggesting immigrant gene flow. Further studies will be required to analyze broader scale patterns.     

Multiple molecular forms of rat superior cervical ganglion acetylcholinesterase: Developmental aspects in primary cell culture and during postnatal maturation in vivo

Four main molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) can be solubilized from newborn rat superior cervical ganglia (SCG), homogenized in the presence of a high-ionic-strength, detergent-containing medium. These forms, respectively referred to as 16, 10, 6.5, and 4 S, are characterized by their sedimentation coefficients. Their relative proportions in SCG are notably different in vivo during postnatal maturation, and in culture. The 16-S AChE appears to be mainly neuronal in origin, is maintained in culture independently of original presynaptic in vivo elements, and its cellular pool is not depleted in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX).     

DLA Class II Alleles Are Associated with Risk for Canine Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystropy (SLO)

Symmetrical lupoid onychodystrophy (SLO) is an immune-mediated disease in dogs affecting the claws with a suggested autoimmune aethiology. Sequence-based genotyping of the polymorphic exon 2 from DLA-DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 class II loci were performed in a total of 98 SLO Gordon setter cases and 98 healthy controls. A risk haplotype (DRB1*01801/DQA1*00101/DQB1*00802) was present in 53% of cases and 34% of controls and conferred an elevated risk of developing SLO with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.1. When dogs homozygous for the risk haplotype were compared to all dogs not carrying the haplotype the OR was 5.4. However, a stronger protective haplotype (DRB1*02001/DQA1*00401/DQB1*01303, OR = 0.03, 1/OR = 33) was present in 16.8% of controls, but only in a single case (0.5%). The effect of the protective haplotype was clearly stronger than the risk haplotype, since 11.2% of the controls were heterozygous for the risk and protective haplotypes, whereas this combination was absent from cases. When the dogs with the protective haplotype were excluded, an OR of 2.5 was obtained when dogs homozygous for the risk haplotype were compared to those heterozygous for the risk haplotype, suggesting a co-dominant effect of the risk haplotype. In smaller sample sizes of the bearded collie and giant schnauzer breeds we found the same or similar haplotypes, sharing the same DQA1 allele, over-represented among the cases suggesting that the risk is associated primarily with DLA-DQ. We obtained conclusive results that DLA class II is significantly associated with risk of developing SLO in Gordon setters, thus supporting that SLO is an immune-mediated disease. Further studies of SLO in dogs may provide important insight into immune privilege of the nail apparatus and also knowledge about a number of inflammatory disorders of the nail apparatus like lichen planus, psoriasis, alopecia areata and onycholysis.     

Constitutive autophagy contributes to resistance to TP53-mediated apoptosis in Epstein-Barr virus-positive latency III B-cell lymphoproliferations

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with various lymphoproliferative disorders and lymphomas. We have previously demonstrated that treating wild-type TP53-expressing B cell lines with the TP53 pathway activator nutlin-3 induced apoptosis in EBV-negative and EBV-positive latency I cells whereas EBV-positive latency III cells remained much more apoptosis-resistant. Here, we report a constitutively high level of autophagy in these resistant cells which express high levels of the proautophagic protein BECN1/Beclin 1 based, at least in part, on the activation of the NFKB signaling pathway by the viral protein LMP1. Following treatment with nutlin-3, several autophagy-stimulating genes were upregulated both in EBV-negative and EBV-positive latency III cells. However the process of autophagy was only triggered in the latter and was associated with an upregulation of SESN1/sestrin 1 and inhibition of MTOR more rapid than in EBV-negative cells. A treatment with chloroquine, an inhibitor of autophagy, potentiated the apoptotic effect of nutlin-3, particularly in those EBV-positive cells which were resistant to apoptosis induced by nutlin-3 alone, thereby showing that autophagy participates in this resistant phenotype. Finally, using immunohistochemical staining, clinical samples from various B cell lymphoproliferations with the EBV-positive latency II or III phenotype were found to harbor a constitutively active autophagy.     

Structural features involved in the mitogenic activity of bordetella pertussis lipopolysaccharides for spleen cells of C3H/HeJ mice

Abstract Spleen cells from the C3H/HeJ mouse strain cannot be stimulated by many smooth-type lipopolysaccharides (LPSs), and by the main biologically-active region (lipid A) of these molecules. The genetic origin of this defect (expression of the mutant allele Lps^d at the chromosome 4 locus) was established over 20 years ago, but its biochemical nature has remained undefined. Several investigators have noted, however, that some particular LPSs can bypass this defect, and stimulate the proliferation of C3H/HeJ B lymphocytes. In this study we compare the mitogenic activities of the LPSs isolated from a wild strain (1414) and from a mutant ‘rough’ strain (A100) of Bordetella pertussis . Both LPS-1414 and LPS-A100 were mitogenic for C3H/HeJ spleen cells, but their lipid A fragments were not. This indicates that a carbohydrate structure proximal to lipid A is involved in the mitogenic activity. However, the isolated polysaccharides were not mitogenic. Four sugars are common to both LPS-1414 and LPS-A100: an heptose, and three sugars bearing free amino groups. After removal of these four sugars from the LPSs by nitrous acid treatment, the recovered lipooligosaccharides were not mitogenic in Lps^d spleen cells. The results suggest that substructures present in lipid A and in this group of four sugars are both required for induction of a mitogenic effect in Lps^d splenocytes, whereas lipid A alone can stimulate Lpsⁿ spleen cells.