Distribution ranges of malarial mosquitoes other than Anopheles maculipennis species (Diptera, Culicidae) in Russia

Maps and distribution data for six species of the genus Anopheles in Russia are given.     

The mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of the environs of the Sayan-Shushenskoe hydroelectric power station

Among females and larvae of mosquitoes collected in 1969, 1981-1984 in the area of the Sayan-Shushenskoe hydroelectric power station (140 km up the Yenisei River from the Abakan city) 5 genera and 30 species were recorded. Based on recent collections and reference data (Gornostaeva e. a., 1969; Gornostaeva, Danilov, 1986) the fauna of the region in question includes 31 species of mosquitoes (Anopheles--1, Culiseta--2, Coquillettidia--1, Aedes--22, Culex--5).     

Susceptibility of Healthy Volunteers’ Adaptive Immune Cells to MSC-Mediated Immunomodulation in Long-Term “Dry” Immersion Experiment

Human Physiology - The susceptibility of T cells of healthy subjects during 21 days of “dry” immersion (DI) to MSC-mediated immunosuppression was investigated in vitro. During DI, the...     

SpliceGrapher: detecting patterns of alternative splicing from RNA-Seq data in the context of gene models and EST data

We propose a method for predicting splice graphs that enhances curated gene models using evidence from RNA-Seq and EST alignments. Results obtained using RNA-Seq experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana show that predictions made by our SpliceGrapher method are more consistent with current gene models than predictions made by TAU and Cufflinks. Furthermore, analysis of plant and human data indicates that the machine learning approach used by SpliceGrapher is useful for discriminating between real and spurious splice sites, and can improve the reliability of detection of alternative splicing. SpliceGrapher is available for download at .     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Aconitum</Emphasis> biotechnology: recent trends and emerging perspectives

The genus Aconitum (consists more than 250 species) is one of the most important clades of highly valued medicinal plants. Aconitum species are very essential in the traditional device of medication and feature excessive business demand in the herbal marketplace. Some of biologically energetic compounds, e.g., aconitine, indaconitine, pseudoacontine, and so on, had been recognized, and new formulations primarily based on those compounds are being produced as rapid rate. This has led to extensive and rather unregulated exploitation of the species in the wild making the genus a threatened group. Conventional breeding and propagation methods have contributed significantly, but these could not meet up with the ever increasing demands of herbal drug industry globally. Biotechnological interventions, therefore, emerge as an alternative approach in terms of higher production and conservation as well. In recent years, several reports have been published on in vitro propagation of various important Aconitum species. However, advanced biotechnological approaches, such as synthetic seed production and hairy root cultures, are still lacking with only a few reports available. The current review presents an updated overview and critical assessment of secondary data concerning the past and recent biotechnological approaches and interventions in genus Aconitum. This review also attempts to provide a detailed account of work explored so far in micropropagation and emphasizes over the areas not attempted yet, which will act as a baseline data as well as valuable information for different stakeholders and researchers working on various aspects of Aconitum biotechnology.     

Effect of Short-Term Hypoxic Stress on Immunosuppressive Activity of Perivascular Multipotent Stromal Cells

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are stromal precursors with the capacity to differentiate in osteo-, adipo-, and chondrodirections and participate in repair, regeneration, and immune response. Those abilities, especially immunosuppression, make MSCs a perspective tool for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Short-term hypoxic stress can occur in damaged tissues and negatively affect MSC capacities to modulate functions of activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In the present paper, we evaluated the impact of short-term hypoxic stress (<1% oxygen) on immunosuppressive potential of tissue oxygen (5%) adapted MSCs. At a tissue oxygen level, we detected an increase of the ratio of innate immune cells (natural killers, NK) and a decrease in the ratio of adaptive immune cells (HLA-DR⁺ Т-cells) within floating PBMCs in the presence of MSCs. Additionally, inhibition of T-cell proliferation was observed. Within adhered PBMCs, the ratio of monocytes was higher and the ratio of NK T cells was lower. Short-term hypoxic stress did not affect MSC immunosuppression toward lymphocytes in suspension. Nevertheless, a decrease in percent of monocytes and NK T cells within adhered PBMCs was detected. Thus, hypoxic stress did not influence immunosuppressive activity of MSCs toward floating PBMCs. Attenuation of monocyte adhesion to MSCs upon cell-to-cell interaction may negatively impact the formation of MSCeducated macrophage phenotype with anti-inflammatory activity. In vivo, it may provoke the slowdown of “response to injury” during inflammation.     

Human MMSC immunosuppressive activity at low oxygen tension: Direct cell-to-cell contacts and paracrine regulation

In recent years, multipotent mesenchymal stromal (stem) cells (MMSCs) were identified and isolated from many tissues and their immunoprivilege and immunosuppressive potential, along with high proliferative activity and multilineage differentiation, have been demonstrated. At the same time, there is an increasing body of evidence of the MMSC plasticity due to a wide range of microenvironmental factors: extracellular matrix, cell-to-cell interactions, oxygen tension, etc. In this study, direct cell-to-cell and paracrine effects of MMSCs on human phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) at the standard (20%) and reduced (5%) O₂ concentrations in the culture medium have been compared. It has been shown that coculture with MMSCs decreases the proliferative activity of PHA-MNCs, the proportion of HLA-DR⁺ T cells, and the interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) concentrations, and increases the IL-10 and interferon γ (IFN-γ) in the medium. A potentiating effect of low oxygen tension on the immunomodulating properties of MMSCs has been observed, which is of great importance to enchance immunosuppression.