Not So Cold-blooded: Narcissistic and Borderline Personality Traits Predict Attachment to Traditional and Non-traditional Pets

A growing number of studies have assessed the personality of pet owners. However, although there is a large number of people who own exotic pets, their personalities have seldom been examined. Furthermore, studies of personality of pet owners have focused almost exclusively on typical personality traits, ignoring associations with “dark” traits. Here, we assessed both traditional and some dark personality features in association with pet ownership and attachment in 325 pet owners via an online survey. We predicted that individuals scoring higher on narcissism and borderline personality features would be a) more likely to own exotic pets, and b) less attached to their pets compared with people scoring lower on narcissism and traditional pet owners. Additionally, we theorized that neurotic pet owners would be more attached to their pets compared with less neurotic pet owners. We did not find an association between personality and exotic pet ownership but we found that those high in grandiose narcissism were actually more attached to their traditional pets. Those high in vulnerable narcissism were more attached only if their pets were exotic. Those high in borderline features were less attached to both kinds of pets. Personality assessments including “dark” features of personality may therefore be useful in predicting attachment to pets during the matching process of potential adopters to pets.     

Exploring the relationship between tychoparthenogenesis and inbreeding depression in the Desert Locust,Schistocerca gregaria

Tychoparthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which a small proportion of unfertilized eggs can hatch spontaneously, could be an intermediate evolutionary link in the transition from sexual to parthenogenetic reproduction. The lower fitness of tychoparthenogenetic offspring could be due to either developmental constraints or to inbreeding depression in more homozygous individuals. We tested the hypothesis that in populations where inbreeding depression has been purged, tychoparthenogenesis may be less costly. To assess this hypothesis, we compared the impact of inbreeding and parthenogenetic treatments on eight life‐history traits (five measuring inbreeding depression and three measuring inbreeding avoidance) in four laboratory populations of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, with contrasted demographic histories. Overall, we found no clear relationship between the population history (illustrated by the levels of genetic diversity or inbreeding) and inbreeding depression, or between inbreeding depression and parthenogenetic capacity. First, there was a general lack of inbreeding depression in every population, except in two populations for two traits. This pattern could not be explained by the purging of inbreeding load in the studied populations. Second, we observed large differences between populations in their capacity to reproduce through tychoparthenogenesis. Only the oldest laboratory population successfully produced parthenogenetic offspring. However, the level of inbreeding depression did not explain the differences in parthenogenetic success between all studied populations. Differences in development constraints may arise driven by random and selective processes between populations.     

Evolutionary conservation of DNA methylation in CpG sites within ultraconserved noncoding elements

Ultraconserved noncoding elements (UCNEs) constitute less than 1 Mb of vertebrate genomes and are impervious to accumulating mutations. About 4000 UCNEs exist in vertebrate genomes, each at least 200 nucleotides in length, sharing greater than 95% sequence identity between human and chicken. Despite extreme sequence conservation over 400 million years of vertebrate evolution, we show both ordered interspecies and within-species interindividual variation in DNA methylation in these regions. Here, we surveyed UCNEs with high CpG density in 56 species finding half to be intermediately methylated and the remaining near 0% or 100%. Intermediately methylated UCNEs displayed a greater range of methylation between mouse tissues. In a human population, most UCNEs showed greater variation than the LINE1 transposon, a frequently used epigenetic biomarker. Global methylation was found to be inversely correlated to hydroxymethylation across 60 vertebrates. Within UCNEs, DNA methylation is flexible, conserved between related species, and relaxed from the underlying sequence selection pressure, while remaining heritable through speciation.     

Genome sequence of lineage III Listeria monocytogenes strain HCC23

More than 98% of reported human listeriosis cases are caused by Listeria monocytogenes serotypes within lineages I and II. Serotypes within lineage III (4a and 4c) are commonly isolated from environmental and food specimens. We report the first complete genome sequence of a lineage III isolate, HCC23, which will be used for comparative analysis.     

Cellular expansion of MSCs: Shifting the regenerative potential

Mesenchymal-derived stromal or progenitor cells, commonly called “MSCs,” have attracted significant clinical interest for their remarkable abilities to promote tissue regeneration and reduce inflammation. Recent studies have shown that MSCs' therapeutic effects, originally attributed to the cells' direct differentiation capacity into the tissue of interest, are largely driven by the biomolecules the cells secrete, including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles containing miRNA. This secretome coordinates upregulation of endogenous repair and immunomodulation in the local microenvironment through crosstalk of MSCs with host tissue cells. Therapeutic applications for MSCs and their secretome-derived products often involve in vitro monolayer expansion. However, consecutive passaging of MSCs significantly alters their therapeutic potential, inducing a broad shift from a pro-regenerative to a pro-inflammatory phenotype. A consistent by-product of in vitro expansion of MSCs is the onset of replicative senescence, a state of cell arrest characterized by an increased release of proinflammatory cytokines and growth factors. However, little is known about changes in the secretome profile at different stages of in vitro expansion. Some culture conditions and bioprocessing techniques have shown promise in more effectively retaining the pro-regenerative and anti-inflammatory MSC phenotype throughout expansion. Understanding how in vitro expansion conditions influence the nature and function of MSCs, and their associated secretome, may provide key insights into the underlying mechanisms driving these alterations. Elucidating the dynamic and diverse changes in the MSC secretome at each stage of in vitro expansion is a critical next step in the development of standardized, safe, and effective MSC-based therapies.     

A cure‐rate model for Q‐learning: Estimating an adaptive immunosuppressant treatment strategy for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant patients

Cancers treated by transplantation are often curative, but immunosuppressive drugs are required to prevent and (if needed) to treat graft‐versus‐host disease. Estimation of an optimal adaptive treatment strategy when treatment at either one of two stages of treatment may lead to a cure has not yet been considered. Using a sample of 9563 patients treated for blood and bone cancers by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation drawn from the Center for Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database, we provide a case study of a novel approach to Q‐learning for survival data in the presence of a potentially curative treatment, and demonstrate the results differ substantially from an implementation of Q‐learning that fails to account for the cure‐rate.     

Interrogation of the Pathogen Box reveals small molecule ligands against the mycobacterial trehalose transporter LpqY-SugABC

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, claims ∼1.5 million lives annually. Effective chemotherapy is essential to control TB, however the emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB have seriously threatened global attempts to control and eradicate this deadly pathogen. Trehalose recycling via the LpqY-SugABC importer is essential for the virulence and survival of Mtb and inhibiting or hijacking this transport system is an attractive approach for the development of novel anti-tubercular and diagnostic agents. Therefore, we interrogated the drug-like compounds in the open-source Medicines for Malaria Pathogen Box and successfully identified seven compounds from the TB, kinetoplastids and reference compound disease sets that recognise LpqY. The molecules have diverse chemical scaffolds, are not specific trehalose analogues, and may be used as novel templates to facilitate the development of therapeutics that kill Mtb with a novel mechanism of action via the mycobacterial trehalose LpqY-SugABC transport system.

Interrogation of the Pathogen Box identified diverse chemical scaffolds against the mycobacterial trehalose transporter.     

An IP3R3- and NPY-Expressing Microvillous Cell Mediates Tissue Homeostasis and Regeneration in the Mouse Olfactory Epithelium

Calcium-dependent release of neurotrophic factors plays an important role in the maintenance of neurons, yet the release mechanisms are understudied. The inositol triphosphate (IP3) receptor is a calcium release channel that has a physiological role in cell growth, development, sensory perception, neuronal signaling and secretion. In the olfactory system, the IP3 receptor subtype 3 (IP3R3) is expressed exclusively in a microvillous cell subtype that is the predominant cell expressing neurotrophic factor neuropeptide Y (NPY). We hypothesized that IP3R3-expressing microvillous cells secrete sufficient NPY needed for both the continual maintenance of the neuronal population and for neuroregeneration following injury. We addressed this question by assessing the release of NPY and the regenerative capabilities of wild type, IP3R3^+/−, and IP3R3^−/− mice. Injury, simulated using extracellular ATP, induced IP3 receptor-mediated NPY release in wild-type mice. ATP-evoked NPY release was impaired in IP3R3^−/− mice, suggesting that IP3R3 contributes to NPY release following injury. Under normal physiological conditions, both IP3R3^−/− mice and explants from these mice had fewer progenitor cells that proliferate and differentiate into immature neurons. Although the number of mature neurons and the in vivo rate of proliferation were not altered, the proliferative response to the olfactotoxicant satratoxin G and olfactory bulb ablation injury was compromised in the olfactory epithelium of IP3R3^−/− mice. The reductions in both NPY release and number of progenitor cells in IP3R3^−/− mice point to a role of the IP3R3 in tissue homeostasis and neuroregeneration. Collectively, these data suggest that IP3R3 expressing microvillous cells are actively responsive to injury and promote recovery.     

Effect of cardiac pacing on forearm vascular responses and nitric oxide function

We examined the hypothesis that changes in heart rate at rest influence bioactivity of nitric oxide (NO) in humans by examining forearm blood flow responses during cardiac pacing in six subjects. Peak forearm and mean forearm blood flows across the cardiac cycle were continuously recorded at baseline and during pacing, with the use of high-resolution brachial artery ultrasound and Doppler flow velocity measurement. The brachial artery was cannulated to allow continuous infusion of saline or N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA). As heart rate increased, no changes in pulse pressure and mean or peak blood flow were evident. L-NMMA had no effect on brachial artery diameter, velocity, or flows compared with saline infusion. These results contrast with our recent findings that exercise involving the lower body, associated with increases in heart rate and pulse pressure, also increased forearm blood flow, the latter response being diminished by L-NMMA. These data suggest that changes in blood pressure, rather than pulse frequency, may be the stimulus for shear stress-mediated NO release in vivo.