Telomere length determined by the fluorescence in situ hybridisation distinguishes malignant and benign cells in cytological specimens

Background

Telomeres are tandem repeats of TTAGGG at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes that play a key role in preventing chromosomal instability. The aim of the present study is to determine telomere length using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) on cytological specimens.

Methods

Aspiration samples (n = 41) were smeared on glass slides and used for FISH.

Results

Telomere signal intensity was significantly lower in positive cases (cases with malignancy, n = 25) as compared to negative cases (cases without malignancy, n = 16), and the same was observed for centromere intensity. The difference in DAPI intensity was not statistically significant. The ratio of telomere to centromere intensity did not show a significant difference between positive and negative cases. There was no statistical difference in the signal intensities of aspiration samples from ascites or pleural effusion (n = 23) and endoscopic ultrasound‐guided FNA samples from the pancreas (n = 18).

Conclusions

The present study revealed that telomere length can be used as an indicator to distinguish malignant and benign cells in cytological specimens. This novel approach may help improve diagnosis for cancer patients.     

Unveiling the environmental drivers of intraspecific body size variation in terrestrial vertebrates

Aim

Whether intraspecific spatial patterns in body size are generalizable across species remains contentious, as well as the mechanisms underlying these patterns. Here we test several hypotheses explaining within-species body size variation in terrestrial vertebrates including the heat balance, seasonality, resource availability and water conservation hypotheses for ectotherms, and the heat conservation, heat dissipation, starvation resistance and resource availability hypotheses for endotherms.

Location

Global.

Time period

1970–2016.

Major taxa studied

Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Methods

We collected 235,905 body size records for 2,229 species (amphibians = 36; reptiles = 81; birds = 1,545; mammals = 567) and performed a phylogenetic meta-analysis of intraspecific correlations between body size and environmental variables. We further tested whether correlations differ between migratory and non-migratory bird and mammal species, and between thermoregulating and thermoconforming ectotherms.

Results

For bird species, smaller intraspecific body size was associated with higher mean and maximum temperatures and lower resource seasonality. Size–environment relationships followed a similar pattern in resident and migratory birds, but the effect of resource availability on body size was slightly positive only for non-migratory birds. For mammals, we found that intraspecific body size was smaller with lower resource availability and seasonality, with this pattern being more evident in sedentary than migratory species. No clear size–environment relationships were found for reptiles and amphibians.

Main conclusions

Within-species body size variation across endotherms is explained by disparate underlying mechanisms for birds and mammals. Heat conservation (Bergmann's rule) and heat dissipation are the dominant processes explaining biogeographic intraspecific body size variation in birds, whereas in mammals, body size clines are mostly explained by the starvation resistance and resource availability hypotheses. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind species adaptations to the environment across their geographic distributions.     

Effect of menstrual cycle phase and hormonal treatments on evaluation of tubal patency in baboons

Background

We evaluated whether menstrual cycle phase influences the assessment of tubal patency by hysterosalpingography (HSG) in baboons.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of baseline tubal patency studies and serum estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P4) values obtained from female baboons used as models for development of non‐surgical permanent contraception in women. The main outcome measure was bilateral tubal patency (BTP) in relationship with estradiol level.

Results

Female baboons (n = 110) underwent a single (n = 81), two (n = 26), or three (n = 3) HSG examinations. In 33/142 (23%) HSG examinations, one or both tubes showed functional occlusion (FO). The median E₂ in studies with BTP (49 pg/mL) was significantly higher than in those studies with FO (32 pg/mL, P = .005). Among 18 animals with repeat examinations where serum E₂ changed from <60 to ≥ 60 pg/mL, 13 results changed from FO to BTP (P = .0001). No sets showed a change from BTP to FO with an increase in estradiol.

Conclusion

In baboons, functional occlusion of the fallopian tube is associated with low estradiol levels, supporting a role for estrogen‐mediated relaxation of the utero‐tubal junction.     

Past vegetation dynamics in the Yellowstone region highlight the vulnerability of mountain systems to climate change

Aim

Reconstruct the long‐term ecosystem dynamics of the region across an elevational gradient as they relate to climate and local controls. In particular, we (1) describe the dominant conifers' history; (2) assess changes in vegetation composition and distribution; and (3) note periods of abrupt change versus stability as means of better understanding vegetation responses to environmental variability.

Location

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE; USA).

Time period

16.5 ka bp ‐present.

Major taxa studied

Juniperus, Picea, Abies, Pinus, Pseudotsuga.

Methods

The vegetation reconstruction was developed from 15 pollen records. Results were interpreted based on modern pollen–vegetation relationships estimated from a suite of regression‐based approaches.

Results

Calibrated pollen data suggest that late‐glacial vegetation, dominated by shrubs and Juniperus, lacks a modern counterpart in the area. Picea, Abies and Pinus expanded at 16 ka bp in association with postglacial warming and co‐occurred in mixed‐conifer parkland/forest after 12 ka bp . This association along with Pinus contorta forest, which was present after 9 ka bp , has persisted with little change at middle and high elevations to the present day. This stability contrasts with the dynamic history of plant communities at low elevations, where shifts between parkland, steppe and forest over the last 8,000 years were likely driven by variations in effective moisture and fire.

Main conclusions

The postglacial vegetation history of the GYE highlights the dynamic nature of mountain ecosystems and informs on their vulnerability to future climate change: (1) most of the conifers have been present in the area for >12,000 years and survived climate change by adjusting their elevational ranges; (2) some plant associations have exhibited stability over millennia as a result of nonclimatic controls; and (3) present‐day forest cover is elevationally more compressed than at any time in history, probably due to the legacy of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age.     

Environmental stresses inhibit splicing in the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii

Background  

Exposure of cells to environmental stress conditions can lead to the interruption of several intracellular processes, in particular those performed by macromolecular complexes such as the spliceosome.     

Red blood cell glutathione peroxidase activity in female nulligravid and pregnant rats

Background  

The alterations of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme complex system occur in physiological conditions such as aging and oxidative stress consequent to strenuous exercise.     

Neuroregeneration in neurodegenerative disorders

Background  

Neuroregeneration is a relatively recent concept that includes neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and neurorestoration - implantation of viable cells as a therapeutical approach.     

Characterization of protein-interaction networks in tumors

Background  

Analyzing differential-gene-expression data in the context of protein-interaction networks (PINs) yields information on the functional cellular status. PINs can be formally represented as graphs, and approximating PINs as undirected graphs allows the network properties to be characterized using well-established graph measures.     

Assessment of poly‐l‐lysine dendrigrafts for virus concentration in water: use of MS2 bacteriophage as proof of concept

Aims

Virus detection has often been difficult due to a low concentration in water. In this study, we developed a new procedure based on concentration of virus particles on an innovative support: poly‐l ‐lysine dendrigrafts (DGL), coupled with directed nucleic acid extraction and real‐time PCR quantification.

Methods and Results

This method was evaluated using the bacteriophage MS2 as a model virus. This virus exhibited the size and structural properties of human pathogenic enteric viruses and has often been used to assess new supports of concentration. Moreover, this bacteriophage is also a faecal contamination indicator. In this study, many water filtration conditions were tested (volume of water, concentration, etc.), and more than 80% of bacteriophage were recovered after filtration on polymer, in most conditions. We demonstrated that the method was linear (slope = 0·99 ± 0·04 and Y intercept when x = ?0·02 ± 0·28), valid (as manipulators, tested concentrations, volumes of sample and batch of polymer did not have any influence on concentration) and sensitive (allowing to concentrate up to 16 600‐fold 1 l of sample and to detect and quantify down to 750 GC l^?1 and 7500 GC l^?1, respectively).

Conclusions

To conclude, this support exhibits high interest to retain viruses and to allow to detect low concentration of virus in water.

Significance and Impact of the Study

This study gives valuable advance in the methods of concentration and diagnosis of virus in water.     

Both selective and neutral processes drive GC content evolution in the human genome

Background  

Mammalian genomes consist of regions differing in GC content, referred to as isochores or GC-content domains. The scientific debate is still open as to whether such compositional heterogeneity is a selected or neutral trait.     

Presence of gastric Helicobacter species in children suffering from gastric disorders in Southern Turkey

Background

Infections with gastric Helicobacter spp. are associated with gastritis, peptic ulceration, and malignancies. Helicobacter pylori is the most prevalent Helicobacter species colonizing the human stomach. Other gastric non‐H. pylori helicobacters (NHPHs) have been described in 0.2%‐6% of human patients with gastric disorders. Nevertheless, due to difficulties in the diagnosis of NHPH infections and lack of routine screening, this is most likely an underestimation of their true prevalence. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been performed in the presence of Helicobacter spp. in children suffering from gastric disorders in Southern Turkey.

Materials and methods

In total, 110 children with gastric complaints were examined at the Cukurova University Balcali hospital, Turkey. Gastroscopy was performed to evaluate the presence of gastric mucosal lesions. Biopsies of the pyloric gland zone were taken for histopathological analysis, rapid urease testing, and presence of Helicobacter spp. DNA by PCR.

Results

Based on the PCR results, the prevalence of Helicobacter spp. was 32.7% (36/110). H. pylori was found in 30.9% (34/110), H. suis in 1.8% (2/110), and H. heilmannii/H. ailurogastricus in 0.9% (1/110) of the human patients. A mixed infection with H. pylori and H. suis was present in one patient. The presence of mucosal abnormalities, such as nodular inflammation, ulceration, and hyperemia, as well as gastritis, was significantly higher in Helicobacter spp. positive patients.

Conclusion

Helicobacter pylori, H. suis, and H. heilmannii/H. ailurogastricus were present in children with gastric complaints. Infection with these pathogens may be involved in the development of gastritis and ulceration.     

Natural Language Processing in aid of FlyBase curators

Background  

Despite increasing interest in applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) to biomedical text, whether this technology can facilitate tasks such as database curation remains unclear.     

Patterns of neural differentiation in melanomas

Background  

Melanomas, highly malignant tumors arise from the melanocytes which originate as multipotent neural crest cells during neural tube genesis. The purpose of this study is to assess the pattern of neural differentiation in relation to angiogenesis in VGP melanomas using the tumor as a three dimensional system.     

Targeted disruption of cubilin reveals essential developmental roles in the structure and function of endoderm and in somite formation

Background  

Cubilin is a peripheral membrane protein that interacts with the integral membrane proteins megalin and amnionless to mediate ligand endocytosis by absorptive epithelia such as the extraembryonic visceral endoderm (VE).     

Receptor protein tyrosine kinase EphB4 is up-regulated in colon cancer

Background  

We have used commercially available cDNA arrays to identify EphB4 as a gene that is up-regulated in colon cancer tissue when compared with matched normal tissue from the same patient.     

Growth in glucose-based medium and exposure to subinhibitory concentrations of imipenem induce biofilm formation in a multidrug-resistant clinical isolate of Acinetobacter baumannii

Background  

Acinetobacter baumannii is emerging as an important nosocomial pathogen. Multidrug resistance, as well as ability to withstand environmental stresses, makes eradication of A. baumannii difficult, particularly from hospital settings.     

Conservation prioritisation through genomic reconstruction of demographic histories applied to two endangered suids in the Malay Archipelago

Aim

The biodiversity of the Malay Archipelago is the product of the region's rich biogeographical history with periods of island connectivity and isolation during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. Here, the case of two endemic suid species, the Javan (Sus verrucosus) and Bawean (S. blouchi) warty pigs, was used to illustrate how biogeographic processes and recent anthropogenic pressures can shape demographic histories with significant implications for species conservation.

Location

Malay Archipelago, with focus on Bawean and Java.

Methods

We employed genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms from the Porcine SNP60 v2 BeadChip to assess interspecific genetic differentiation, to estimate divergence times and to perform demographic model selection.

Results

In contrast to the hypothesis of recent divergence during the last glacial maximum, S. blouchi was found to have diverged from S. verrucosus at least 166 k years ago following a founder event. The contemporary S. blouchi population was characterised by a recent bottleneck that reduced the effective population size to less than 20. The genomic assessment supports the single species status of S. blouchi, as was previously proposed based on morphometrics. The demographic history of S. verrucosus showed evidence of secondary contact with the sympatric banded pig (S. scrofa vittatus) that colonised Java 70 k years ago.

Main Conclusions

While the Javan and Bawean warty pigs have persisted throughout the Pleistocene climatic oscillations, contemporary pressures from human activities threaten their survival and immediate action should be taken to grant legal protection to both S. verrucosus and S. blouchi. This study highlighted the use of demographic history modelling using genomic data to identify evolutionary significant units and inform conservation.     

Involvement of mTOR signaling in sphingosylphosphorylcholine-induced hypopigmentation effects

Background  

Sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) acts as a potent lipid mediator and signaling molecule in various cell types. In the present study, we investigated the effects of SPC on melanogenesis and SPC-modulated signaling pathways related to melanin synthesis.     

Mastitis and related management factors in certified organic dairy herds in Sweden

Background  

Mastitis is one of the major threats to animal health, in organic farming as well as conventional. Preliminary studies of organic dairy herds have indicated better udder health in such herds, as compared to conventional herds. The aim of this paper was to further study mastitis and management related factors in certified organic dairy herds.     

Evaluation of the soft tissue biocompatibility of MgCa0.8 and surgical steel 316L in vivo: a comparative study in rabbits

Background  

Recent studies have shown the potential suitability of magnesium alloys as biodegradable implants. The aim of the present study was to compare the soft tissue biocompatibility of MgCa0.8 and commonly used surgical steel in vivo.