Morphologische untersuchungen an zwei drüsentypen (Thoraxdrüse,Mandibeldrüse) von Lepidopterenraupen

Two types of possibly homologous glands different in structure and formation have been found. One of them is represented in C. vinula L. and N. anceps Goeze, it is an endocrine organ. The other in S. ligustri, S. ocellata, M. neustria and L. monacha has an excretory duct and therefore is an exocrine organ.

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Mit dankenswerter Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockade attenuates TGF-beta-induced failure of muscle regeneration in multiple myopathic states

Skeletal muscle has the ability to achieve rapid repair in response to injury or disease. Many individuals with Marfan syndrome (MFS), caused by a deficiency of extracellular fibrillin-1, exhibit myopathy and often are unable to increase muscle mass despite physical exercise. Evidence suggests that selected manifestations of MFS reflect excessive signaling by transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta (refs. 2,3). TGF-beta is a known inhibitor of terminal differentiation of cultured myoblasts; however, the functional contribution of TGF-beta signaling to disease pathogenesis in various inherited myopathic states in vivo remains unknown. Here we show that increased TGF-beta activity leads to failed muscle regeneration in fibrillin-1-deficient mice. Systemic antagonism of TGF-beta through administration of TGF-beta-neutralizing antibody or the angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker losartan normalizes muscle architecture, repair and function in vivo. Moreover, we show TGF-beta-induced failure of muscle regeneration and a similar therapeutic response in a dystrophin-deficient mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.     

Study of pyoverdine type and production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients: prevalence of type II pyoverdine isolates and accumulation of pyoverdine-negative mutations

The lungs of cystic fibrosis patients are frequently colonized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which produces high-affinity fluorescent peptidic siderophores, pyoverdines. Three pyoverdines which differ in their peptide chain and are easily differentiated by isoelectric focusing exist, only one being produced by a given strain. P. aeruginosa isolates from cystic fibrosis patients of a German hospital were analyzed by sequential, pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and for pyoverdine production and type. Only producers of type I and type II pyoverdine were found. There was a perfect correlation between the type of pyoverdine produced and the clonality determined by PFGE. PFGE clone C, the most prevalent among cystic fibrosis patients, and found in an aquatic environment, produced type II pyoverdine. Pyoverdine-negative mutants seemed to increase as a function of the lung colonization time, but retained the capacity to take up pyoverdines. Most isolates that took up type II pyoverdine were also able to utilize type I pyoverdine as judged by growth stimulation experiments. No correlation was observed between the loss of pyoverdine production and mucoidy.     

Endogenous IFN-alpha production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells exerts an antiviral effect on thymic HIV-1 infection

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are the principal producers of IFN-alpha in response to viral infection. Because pDC are present in the thymus, we investigated the consequences of HIV-1-induced IFN-alpha production by thymic pDC. We observed that thymic pDC as well as thymocytes express intracellular IFN-alpha upon infection with HIV-1. However, only the pDC could suppress HIV-1 replication, because depletion of pDC resulted in enhancement of HIV-1 replication in thymocytes. Thymic pDC could also produce IFN-alpha in response to CpG oligonucleotides, consistent with the observations of others that peripheral pDC produce IFN-alpha upon engagement of TLR-9. Importantly, CpG considerably increased IFN-alpha production induced by HIV-1, and addition of CpG during HIV-1 infection enhanced expression of the IFN response protein MxA in thymocytes and strongly reduced HIV-replication. Our data indicate that thymic pDC modulate HIV-1 replication through secretion of IFN-alpha. The degree of inhibition depends on the level of IFN-alpha produced by the thymic pDC.     

Elicitors of defence responses repress a gibberellin signalling pathway in barley embryos

Elicitors of defence response can modulate pathways other than those related to pathogen attacks. In this paper, we demonstrate that, as with sugars, chitosan and oligogalacturonides (OGs) can repress the gibberellin signalling pathway leading to the induction of -amylase in barley embryos. These results are suggestive of a complex cross-talk between the defence, hormonal and metabolic signalling pathways.     

Exchange of Cytosolic Content between T Cells and Tumor Cells Activates CD4 T Cells and Impedes Cancer Growth

Background

T cells are known to participate in the response to tumor cells and react with cytotoxicity and cytokine release. At the same time tumors established versatile mechanisms for silencing the immune responses. The interplay is far from being completely understood. In this study we show contacts between tumor cells and lymphocytes revealing novel characteristics in the interaction of T cells and cancer cells in a way not previously described.

Methods/ Findings

Experiments are based on the usage of a hydrophilic fluorescent dye that occurs free in the cytosol and thus transfer of fluorescent cytosol from one cell to the other can be observed using flow cytometry. Tumor cells from cell lines of different origin or primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells were incubated with lymphocytes from human and mice. This exposure provoked a contact dependent uptake of tumor derived cytosol by lymphocytes – even in CD4⁺ T cells and murine B cells – which could not be detected after incubation of lymphocytes with healthy cells. The interaction was a direct one, not requiring the presence of accessory cells, but independent of cytotoxicity and TCR engagement.Electron microscopy disclosed 100-200nm large gaps in the cell membranes of connected cells which separated viable and revealed astonishing outcome. While the lymphocytes were induced to proliferate in a long term fashion, the tumor cells underwent a temporary break in cell division. The in vitro results were confirmed in vivo using a murine acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) model. The arrest of tumor proliferation resulted in a significant prolonged survival of challenged mice.

Conclusions

The reported cell-cell contacts reveal new characteristics i.e. the enabling of cytosol flow between the cells including biological active proteins that influence the cell cycle and biological behaviour of the recipient cells. This adds a completely new aspect in tumor induced immunology.     

The SARS-coronavirus-host interactome: identification of cyclophilins as target for pan-coronavirus inhibitors

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important human and animal pathogens that induce fatal respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological disease. The outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002/2003 has demonstrated human vulnerability to (Coronavirus) CoV epidemics. Neither vaccines nor therapeutics are available against human and animal CoVs. Knowledge of host cell proteins that take part in pivotal virus-host interactions could define broad-spectrum antiviral targets. In this study, we used a systems biology approach employing a genome-wide yeast-two hybrid interaction screen to identify immunopilins (PPIA, PPIB, PPIH, PPIG, FKBP1A, FKBP1B) as interaction partners of the CoV non-structural protein 1 (Nsp1). These molecules modulate the Calcineurin/NFAT pathway that plays an important role in immune cell activation. Overexpression of NSP1 and infection with live SARS-CoV strongly increased signalling through the Calcineurin/NFAT pathway and enhanced the induction of interleukin 2, compatible with late-stage immunopathogenicity and long-term cytokine dysregulation as observed in severe SARS cases. Conversely, inhibition of cyclophilins by cyclosporine A (CspA) blocked the replication of CoVs of all genera, including SARS-CoV, human CoV-229E and -NL-63, feline CoV, as well as avian infectious bronchitis virus. Non-immunosuppressive derivatives of CspA might serve as broad-range CoV inhibitors applicable against emerging CoVs as well as ubiquitous pathogens of humans and livestock.     

Translation initiator EIF4G1 mutations in familial Parkinson disease

Genome-wide analysis of a multi-incident family with autosomal-dominant parkinsonism has implicated a locus on chromosomal region 3q26-q28. Linkage and disease segregation is explained by a missense mutation c.3614G>A (p.Arg1205His) in eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4-gamma (EIF4G1). Subsequent sequence and genotype analysis identified EIF4G1 c.1505C>T (p.Ala502Val), c.2056G>T (p.Gly686Cys), c.3490A>C (p.Ser1164Arg), c.3589C>T (p.Arg1197Trp) and c.3614G>A (p.Arg1205His) substitutions in affected subjects with familial parkinsonism and idiopathic Lewy body disease but not in control subjects. Despite different countries of origin, persons with EIF4G1 c.1505C>T (p.Ala502Val) or c.3614G>A (p.Arg1205His) mutations appear to share haplotypes consistent with ancestral founders. eIF4G1 p.Ala502Val and p.Arg1205His disrupt eIF4E or eIF3e binding, although the wild-type protein does not, and render mutant cells more vulnerable to reactive oxidative species. EIF4G1 mutations implicate mRNA translation initiation in familial parkinsonism and highlight a convergent pathway for monogenic, toxin and perhaps virally-induced Parkinson disease.     

Dexamethasone downregulates the expression of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) in mesenchymal stem cells

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) has been shown to have anabolic effects in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. PTHrP promotes the recruitment of osteogenic cells and prevents apoptotic death of osteoblasts and osteocytes. The receptor responsible for the effects of PTHrP is the common PTH/PTHrP receptor (PTH1R). Glucocorticoids (GC) are commonly used as drugs to treat inflammatory diseases. Long-term GC treatments are often associated with bone loss which can lead to GC-induced osteoporosis. The aim of this work was to study the effects of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex) on the expression of PTHrP and PTH1R in adult human mesenchymal stem cells, the progenitor cells of osteoblasts.Adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) were cultured and differentiated by standard methods. The expression of PTHrP and PTH1R mRNA was assayed by real-time qPCR. The PTHrP release into the culture media was measured by an immunoradiometric assay.Treatment with Dex (10 nM) resulted in an 80% drop in the PTHrP release within 6 h. A 24 h Dex treatment also reduced the expression of PTHrP mRNA by up to 90%. The expression of PTH1R receptor mRNA was simultaneously increased up to 20-fold by 10 nM Dex. The effects of Dex on PTHrP and PTH1R were dose-dependent and experiments with the GC-receptor antagonist mifepristone showed an involvement of GC-receptors in these effects. In addition to the Dex-induced effects on PTHrP and PTH1R, Dex also increased mineralization and the expression of the osteoblast markers Runx2 and alkaline phosphatase. In our studies, we show that dexamethasone decreases the expression of PTHrP and increases the expression of the PTH1R receptor. This could have an impact on PTHrP-mediated anabolic actions on bone and could also affect the responsiveness of circulating PTH. The results indicate that glucocorticoids affect the signalling pathway of PTHrP by regulating both PTHrP and PTH1R expression and these mechanisms could be involved in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.