Reduced Serum Levels of Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE) in Drug-Naïve Subjects with Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Several biological factors have been recently related with major depression and bipolar disorder. The aim of our paper was to investigate the peripheral levels of the protein neuronal specific enolase (NSE), a putative marker of neuronal damage, comparing patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder to control subjects. This is a case–control study nested in a cross-sectional population-based survey. Psychopathology screen was performed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0 and blood samples were collected from 108 young adults. Three groups were selected, 36 healthy controls, 36 subjects with major depression disorder and 36 subjects with bipolar disorder. Serum levels of NSE significantly decreased (p = 0.002) in major depression disorder (2.19 ± 1.78 ng/mL) and bipolar disorder subjects (2.53 ± 2.61 ng/mL) compared to the control group (3.55 ± 2.19 ng/mL). In conclusion, peripheral neuronal specific enolase may be a useful marker drug-naïve major depression disorder and bipolar disorder, but its pathophysiological significance and response to treatment should be further investigated.     

Tetrahydro-β-carboline derivatives targeting fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels

A series of twenty-five derivatives of tetrahydro-β-carbolines 1–3 was synthesized and assayed on FAAH and TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels. Four carbamates, that is, 5a,c,e, and 9b inhibited FAAH with significant potency and interacted also effectively with TRPV1 and TRPA1 nociceptive receptors, while ureas 7b,d,f, and 8a,b were endowed with specific submicromolar TRPV1 modulating activities.     

Morphologische,histochemische und experimentelle Untersuchungen an den parafollikulären Zellen der Schilddrüse

Zusammenfassung Die parafollikulären Zellen der Rattenschilddrüse zeigen eine vom jeweiligen Funktionszustand abhängige Feinstruktur: 1. Zellen mit zahlreichen Granula, einem ausgeprägten Golgi-Apparat, gering entwickeltem granuliertem endoplasmatischem Retikulum und manchmal einigen dichten Körpern mit myelinähnlichen Figuren. 2. Zellen mit wenigen Granula und einem stark entwickelten endoplasmatischen Retikulum mit erweiterten Zisternen; diese Zellen können das Lumen des Follikels erreichen. 3. Einige degranulierte Zellen. — In den Schilddrüsen-Follikeln des Hundes konnten wir nur die ersten beiden Zellformen, aber keine degranulierten parafollikulären Zellen beobachten.Nach Ca⁺⁺-Injektion findet man als Zeichen der Funktionsabhängigkeit der Feinstruktur eine Zunahme der Zellen mit stark entwickeltem endoplasmatischem Retikulum und nur geringer Granulation.Die dichten Körper mit myelinähnlichen Figuren zeigen saure Phosphataseaktivität. Es handelt sich deshalb wahrscheinlich um Restkörper, die aus Autolysosomen entstanden sind. Trotzdem zeigt sich nach Zufuhr von Ca⁺⁺ und anschließender EDTA-Gabe keine eindeutige Zunahme der Lysosomenzahl.Zwischen follikulären und parafollikulären Zellen sind Axonanschnitte zu finden.

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Morphological, histochemical and experimental studies on the parafollicular cells of the thyroid

Summary The parafollicular cells of the thyroid of the rat show different fine structures most likely in relation with different functional states: 1. Some cells contain numerous secretory granules, a well developed Golgi complex, a moderately developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and some dense bodies containing myelin figures. 2. Other parafollicular cells have few granules and a strongly developed rough endoplasmic reticulum with enlarged cisternes. They sometimes reach the lumen of the follicle. 3. Finally, a few parafollicular cells appear degranulated.—In dogs the degranulated parafollicular cells could not be observed.Following administration of Ca⁺⁺ ions there is an increase of cells with strongly developed endoplasmic reticulum and only few granules.The dense bodies with myelin figures show acid phosphatase activity. Most likely they are residual bodies derived from autolysosomes. However, EDTA after stimulation of the cells by Ca⁺⁺ does not significantly increase the number of parafollicular cells containing autolysosomes.Axons can be found between follicular and parafollicular cells.

     

PRMT5 silencing selectively affects MTAP-deleted mesothelioma: In vitro evidence of a novel promising approach

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive asbestos-related cancer of the serous membranes. Despite intensive treatment regimens, MM is still a fatal disease, mainly due to the intrinsic resistance to current therapies and the lack of predictive markers and new valuable molecular targets. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) inhibition has recently emerged as a potential therapy against methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP)-deficient cancers, in which the accumulation of the substrate 5'-methylthioadenosine (MTA) inhibits PRMT5 activity, thus sensitizing the cells to further PRMT5 inhibition. Considering that the MTAP gene is frequently codeleted with the adjacent cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) locus in MM, we assessed whether PRMT5 could represent a therapeutic target also for this cancer type. We evaluated PRMT5 expression, the MTAP status and MTA content in normal mesothelial and MM cell lines. We found that both administration of exogenous MTA and stable PRMT5 knock-down, by short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs), selectively reduced the growth of MTAP-deleted MM cells. We also observed that PRMT5 knock-down in MTAP-deficient MM cells reduced the expression of E2F1 target genes involved in cell cycle progression and of factors implicated in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Therefore, PRMT5 targeting could represent a promising new therapeutic strategy against MTAP-deleted MMs.     

A rapid fish radiation associated with the last sea-level changes in southern Brazil: the silverside Odontesthes perugiae complex.

Coastal freshwater fishes provide valuable models for studying the role of the last glaciations in promoting speciation. To date, the great majority of studies are of Northern Hemisphere taxa, and reflect the influence of vicariant events during, or prior to, the Pleistocene. Microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA sequences were used to investigate patterns of population divergence and evolutionary relationships in a freshwater group of silverside fishes (Odontesthes perugiae complex), endemic to the recently formed coastal plain of southern Brazil. Lacustrine morphotypes showed concordant patterns of genetic and morphological divergence consistent with the geographical history of the coastal plain. The results support the proposal of a silverside radiation chronologically shaped by the sea-level changes of the Pleistocene and Holocene. The radiating lineage comprises a minimum of three allopatric and two sympatric lacustrine species. Four species displayed extremely high levels of genetic variation and some of the most rapid speciation rates reported in fishes. These features were related to a marine-estuarine origin of the radiation. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first molecular phylogeographic survey of a coastal radiation in South America.     

The changing chromatome as a driver of disease: A panoramic view from different methodologies

Chromatin-bound proteins underlie several fundamental cellular functions, such as control of gene expression and the faithful transmission of genetic and epigenetic information. Components of the chromatin proteome (the “chromatome”) are essential in human life, and mutations in chromatin-bound proteins are frequently drivers of human diseases, such as cancer. Proteomic characterization of chromatin and de novo identification of chromatin interactors could, thus, reveal important and perhaps unexpected players implicated in human physiology and disease. Recently, intensive research efforts have focused on developing strategies to characterize the chromatome composition. In this review, we provide an overview of the dynamic composition of the chromatome, highlight the importance of its alterations as a driving force in human disease (and particularly in cancer), and discuss the different approaches to systematically characterize the chromatin-bound proteome in a global manner.     

When Bergmann's rule fails: evidences of environmental selection pressures shaping phenotypic diversification in a widespread seabird

Organisms tend to exhibit phenotypes that can be shaped by climate, commonly demonstrating clinal variations along latitudinal gradients. In vertebrates, air temperature plays a major role in shaping body size in both ectothermic and endothermic animals. However, additional small‐scale environmental factors can also act as selection pressures in the marine ecosystem (e.g. primary productivity), evidencing multi‐scale processes acting on marine organisms. In this study, we tested Bergmann's rule in a widely distributed seabird, the brown booby Sula leucogaster, in addition to evaluating the relationship of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll α with phenotypes. We used traits from a morphometric dataset (culmen, wing chord, and tarsus length) and body mass of 276 brown boobies distributed on six breeding sites along a latitudinal gradient in the South Atlantic Ocean (0–27°S). We found significant differentiation among colonies, but phenotypic similarities were observed between colonies located at the extremes of the latitudinal gradient. As the colony nearest to the Equator, Saint Peter and Saint Paul archipelago, had the largest and heaviest individuals, the model containing only air temperature explained < 5% of the allometric variation, providing no substantial support for Bergmann's rule. However, when we added the interaction of chlorophyll α and sea surface temperature the deviance explained rose to over 80%. Primary productivity and sea surface temperature do not follow a latitudinal gradient in the ocean and, therefore, the role of small‐scale oceanographic processes in shaping body size and the importance of considering additional environmental variables when testing Bergmann's rule in marine organisms are evident.