Comparison of damage to native and exotic tallgrass prairie plants by natural enemies

We surveyed the prevalence and amount of leaf damage related to herbivory and pathogens on 12 pairs of exotic (invasive and noninvasive) and ecologically similar native plant species in tallgrass prairie to examine whether patterns of damage match predictions from the enemy release hypothesis. We also assessed whether natural enemy impacts differed in response to key environmental factors in tallgrass prairie by surveying the prevalence of rust on the dominant C₄ grass, Andropogon gerardii, and its congeneric invasive exotic C₄ grass, A. bladhii, in response to fire and nitrogen fertilization treatments. Overall, we found that the native species sustain 56.4% more overall leaf damage and 83.6% more herbivore-related leaf damage when compared to the exotic species. Moreover, we found that the invasive exotic species sustained less damage from enemies relative to their corresponding native species than the noninvasive exotic species. Finally, we found that burning and nitrogen fertilization both significantly increased the prevalence of rust fungi in the native grass, while rust fungi rarely occurred on the exotic grass. These results indicate that reduced damage from enemies may in part explain the successful naturalization of exotic species and the spread of invasive exotic species in tallgrass prairie.     

Antibody-protein interactions: benchmark datasets and prediction tools evaluation

Background  

The ability to predict antibody binding sites (aka antigenic determinants or B-cell epitopes) for a given protein is a precursor to new vaccine design and diagnostics. Among the various methods of B-cell epitope identification X-ray crystallography is one of the most reliable methods. Using these experimental data computational methods exist for B-cell epitope prediction. As the number of structures of antibody-protein complexes grows, further interest in prediction methods using 3D structure is anticipated. This work aims to establish a benchmark for 3D structure-based epitope prediction methods.     

N-terminally fusion of Her2/neu to HSP70 decreases efficiency of Her2/neu DNA vaccine

DNA vaccines consisted of tumor-associated antigen (TAA) are well suited for immunotherapy against tumor. The construct can contain TAA fused to an appropriate molecule (biologic adjuvant) to improve the efficacy of anti-tumor immune response. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has been shown to be an excellent candidate, capable of cross-priming TAA by antigen presenting cells leading to a robust T-cell response. However, the relationship between strong T-cell responses and tumor rejection is not always mutually exclusive, for which TAA loss or activation of suppressive mechanisms may occur. HSP70 fused to downstream of Her2/neu as DNA vaccine has been shown to be efficient against Her2-expressing tumors. In this study, we examined if N-terminally fusion of Her2/neu to HSP70 could also improve efficiency of Her2/neu DNA vaccine. Therefore, mice with an established Her2/neu expressing tumor were immunized with DNA vaccine consisting of extracellular and trans-membrane domain (EC+TM) of rat Her2/neu alone or N-terminally fused to HSP70 and immune response was evaluated. Administration of rat Her2/neu led to partial control of tumor progression. Surprisingly, fusion of HSP70 to N-terminal of rat Her2/neu led to tumor progression. Our result proposes that fusion direction of biologic adjuvant is an important consideration when Her2/neu is used.     

Fish–duck interactions in boreal lakes in Finland as reflected by abundance correlations

We studied the hypothesis that fish play an important role in lake use by ducks (pairs and broods) in boreal lakes. The study was based on densities of different duck and fish species in 28 boreal lakes in southern Finland. We focused on the three most common duck species (mallard Anas platyrhynchos, green-winged teal A. crecca and common goldeneye Bucephala clangula) and on the three most common fish species (perch Perca fluviatilis, roach Rutilus rutilus and pike Esox lucius) in the region. We considered both competitive and predatory interactions between ducks and fish, the perch and roach being potential competitors with ducks and the pike a potential predator of ducks. We found a negative association between green-winged teal brood density and total fish density, the other duck species having only a weak association with total fish density. When the three fish species were considered separately, a negative association, suggesting food competition, was found between perch, green-winged teal and goldeneye, whereas the role of roach as a food competitor seemed to be of minor importance. We did not find any clear signs of predatory effects of pike on ducks. Our results suggest that food competition is a more important factor than pike predation in affecting lake use by ducks in oligotrophic boreal environments in southern Finland.     

Social relationship and hair cortisol level in captive male chimpanzees (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pan troglodytes</Emphasis>)

Understanding how social relationships affect long-term stress is important because stress has a profound impact on the welfare of animals and social relationships often exert a strong influence on their stress responses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social behaviors and long-term stress levels as assessed by hair cortisol (HC) concentration. The subjects were 11 chimpanzees living in an all-male group (divided into two sub-groups) in Kumamoto Sanctuary, Kyoto University, Japan. Behavioral data were collected between December 2014 and March 2015. The total observation time was 129 h. Hair samples were collected in late March and early April 2015, and cortisol was extracted from the hair and measured with enzyme immunoassay. The hair growth rate was estimated to be 1.33 ± 0.06 cm/month. The results revealed that there was a positive correlation between the rate of receiving aggression and HC levels. We also found a significant negative correlation between the balance between giving and receiving grooming (grooming balance index: GBI), which was calculated by subtracting the rate with which grooming is given from that with which it is received, and the rate of receiving aggression and between the GBI and HC levels. Thus, individuals receiving higher levels of aggression also tended to give grooming for relatively long periods compared to the time they were being groomed. In contrast, the rate of initiating aggression did not have a relationship with either HC levels or any measure of social grooming. We did not find social buffering effects, as there was no correlation between mutual social grooming and HC levels. These results show that not only aggressive interactions but also overall social situations in which animals do not have balanced relationships with others might result in the long-term elevation of cortisol levels in captive male chimpanzees.     

Alpha-Synuclein Toxicity on Protein Quality Control,Mitochondria and Endoplasmic Reticulum

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the presence of insoluble protein clusters containing α-synuclein. Impairment of mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, autophagy and intracellular trafficking proper function has been suggested to be caused by α-synuclein toxicity, which is also associated with the higher levels of ROS found in the aged brain and in PD. Oxidative stress leads to protein oligomerization and aggregation that impair autophagy and mitochondrial dynamics leading to a vicious cycle of organelles damage and neurodegeneration. In this review we focused on the role of α-synuclein dysfunction as a cellular stressor that impairs mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, autophagy and cellular dynamics culminating with dopaminergic depletion and the pathogenesis of PD.     

Effects of endogenous and exogenous processes on aboveground biomass stocks and dynamics in Andean forests

Tropical forests are paramount in regulating the global carbon cycle due to the storage of large amounts of carbon in their biomass. Using repeat censuses of permanent plots located at 15 sites in the Andes Mountains of northwest Colombia, we evaluate: (1) the relationship between aboveground biomass (AGB) stocks, AGB dynamics (mortality, productivity, and net change), and changes in temperature across a ca. 3000-m elevational gradient (≈?16.1 °C); (2) how AGB mortality and AGB productivity interact to determine net AGB change; and (3) the extent to which either fine-grain (0.04-ha) or coarse-grain (1-ha) processes determine the AGB dynamics of these forests. We did not find a significant relationship between elevation/temperature and biomass stocks. The net AGB sequestered each year by these forests (2.21?±?0.51 Mg ha^?1 year^?1), equivalent to approximately 1.09% of initial AGB, was primarily determined by tree growth. Both forest structural properties and global warming influenced AGB mortality and net change. AGB productivity increases with greater inequality of tree sizes, a pattern characteristic of forest patches recovering from disturbances. Overall, we find that global warming is triggering directional changes in species composition by thermophilization via increased tree mortality of species in the lower portions of their thermal ranges and that the inclusion of small-scale forest structural changes can effectively account for endogenous processes such as changes in forest structure. The inclusion of fine-grain processes in assessments of AGB dynamics could provide additional insights about the effects that ongoing climate change has on the functioning of tropical montane forests.     

Fabrication of Tip-Dissolving Microneedles for Transdermal Drug Delivery of Meloxicam

Dissolving microneedles (MNs) offered a simple, minimally invasive method for meloxicam (MX) delivery to the skin. However, the fabrication of dissolving MNs still faced some challenges, such as significant time consumption, loss of drug activity, and difficulty in regulating MN drug loading. To address these issues, we developed the tip-dissolving (TD) MNs. Several kinds of drugs were encapsulated successfully, and the quantity of MX ranged from 37.23?±?8.40 to 332.53?±?13.37 μg was precisely controlled. The effects of fabrication process on biomacromolecules stability were studied, and it was found that tyrosinase kept 90.4% activity during the fabrication process. The whole process for the fabrication of MNs only takes approximately 1 h. In order to further evaluate the potential of the TD MNs, MX TD MNs were prepared for in vitro release experiments, in vivo release experiments, safety evaluation, pharmacokinetic studies, and pharmacodynamic studies. The results demonstrated that MX TD MNs offered several advantages, including rapid release of the encapsulated drug (91.72% within 30 min), efficient drug delivery to skin (79.18%), no obvious skin irritation, decent relative bioavailability (122.3%), and strong anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Based on these results, we envisage that the TD MNs have promising potential for transdermal drug delivery of MX.     

Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-induced Apoptosis by Silkworm Storage Protein 1

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays essential roles indispensable for cellular activity and survival, including functions such as protein synthesis, secretory and membrane protein folding, and Ca²⁺ release in cells. The ER is sensitive to stresses that can lead to the aggregation and accumulation of misfolded proteins, which eventually triggers cellular dysfunction; severe or prolonged ER stress eventually induces apoptosis. ER stress-induced apoptosis causes several devastating diseases such as atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. In addition, the production of biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies requires the maintenance of normal ER functions to achieve and maintain the production of high-quality products in good quantities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods to efficiently relieve ER stress and protect cells from ER stress-induced apoptosis. The silkworm storage protein 1 (SP1) has anti-apoptotic activities that inhibit the intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. However, the role of SP1 in controlling ER stress and ER stress-induced apoptosis has not been investigated. In this paper, we demonstrate that SP1 can inhibit apoptosis induced by a well-known ER stress inducer, thapsigargin, by alleviating the decrease in cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential. Interestingly, SP1 significantly blocked increases in CHOP and GRP78 expression as well as ER Ca2+ leakage into the cytosol following ER stress induction. This indicates that SP1 protects cells from ER stressinduced apoptosis by functioning as an upstream inhibitor of apoptosis. Therefore, studying SP1 function can offer new insights into protecting cells against ER stress-induced apoptosis for future applications in the biopharmaceutical and medicine industries.     

Reconstruction of methanol and formate metabolic pathway in non-native host for biosynthesis of chemicals and biofuels

One-carbon feedstock such as methanol and formate has attracted much attention as carbon substrate of industrial biotechnology for production of value-added chemicals and biofuels. Productivity improvement of natural one-carbon metabolic pathways in native hosts such as methanotrophs is somewhat difficult due to inefficient genetic tools and low specific growth rate. As an alternative, metabolic engineering can create new and efficient metabolic pathways of one-carbon substrate that can be readily transferred to non-native hosts. In this paper, recent progresses in protein and metabolic engineering for creation of methanol and formate-utilizing synthetic pathways based on RuMP cycle and formolase are reviewed. Perspectives on one-carbon metabolic pathway engineering in non-native host are also discussed.