Resonant population cycles in temporally fluctuating habitats

Experiments with the flour beetle Tribolium have revealed that animal numbers were larger in cultures grown in a periodically fluctuating volume of medium than in cultures grown in a constant volume of the same average size. In this paper we derive and analyze a discrete stage-structured mathematical model that explains this phenomenon as a kind of resonance effect. Habitat volume is incorporated into the model by the assumption that all rates of cannibalism (larvae on eggs, adults on eggs and pupae) are inversely proportional to the volume of the culture medium. We tested this modeling assumption by conducting and statistically analyzing laboratory experiments. For parameter estimates derived from experimental data, our model indeed predicts, under certain circumstances, a larger (cycle-average) total population abundance when the habitat volume periodically fluctuates than when the habitat volume is held constant at the average volume. The model also correctly predicts certain phase relationships and transient dynamics observed in data. The analyses involve a thorough integration of mathematics, statistical methods, biological details and experimental data.     

Maurice Ravel's illness: a tragedy of lost creativity

Maurice Ravel had been subject to psychiatric disorder for many years when signs of organic brain disease appeared at the age of 52. Aphasia, apraxia, agraphia, and alexia became established some five years later. Musical creativity was lost. Alajouanine diagnosed cerebral atrophy with bilateral ventricular enlargement. Though Ravel''s condition deteriorated progressively, generalised dementia was not apparent. He died in December 1937, after a craniotomy performed by Clovis Vincent, possibly from a subdural haematoma. Vincent''s operative findings are described here. The likely cause of Ravel''s illness was a restricted form of cerebral degeneration.     

A mathematical model for the motion of mechanoreceptor hairs in fluid environments.

A differential equation has been derived for the motion of the mechanosensory hairs of animals when they are stimulated by the motion of their fluid environment. Specific solutions of the equation are obtained for three states of fluid flow including steady-state sinusoidal oscillations. The model is specifically applied to crayfish sensilla in an aqueous medium, but the assumptions of the model are also shown to be valid in air for the sensory hairs of insects. The calculations are consistent with available experimental data.     

Intracellular control of human neutrophil secretion. I. C5a-induced stimulus-specific desensitization and the effects of cytochalasin B.

Human neutrophils released the granule constituents myeloperoxidase and lysozyme, but not the cytoplasmic enzyme lactic dehydrogenase, when pretreated with cytochalasin B and stimulated with purified human C5a. Prior exposure to C5a before the cytochalasin B, however, abrogated the subsequent secretory process. Interaction of neutrophils with C5a was shown to result in a concentration-dependent rapid desensitization that could not be overcome by later addition of cytochalasin B or of cytochalasin B and C5a. The effect was relatively stimulus specific in that neutrophils desensitized in this manner could be induced to release granule enzymes by casein or by complement-coated zymosan particles. Cytochalasin B effects on neutrophils appear to mimic those of surface binding of soluble stimuli such as C5a and immune complexes. It is suggested that desensitization in concert with surface stimulation may represent an important intracellular mechanism for limiting neutrophil secretion.     

Arp2/3 complex inhibition radically alters lamellipodial actin architecture,suspended cell shape,and the cell spreading process

Recent studies have investigated the dendritic actin cytoskeleton of the cell edge''s lamellipodial (LP) region by experimentally decreasing the activity of the actin filament nucleator and branch former, the Arp2/3 complex. Here we extend these studies via pharmacological inhibition of the Arp2/3 complex in sea urchin coelomocytes, cells that possess an unusually broad LP region and display correspondingly exaggerated centripetal flow. Using light and electron microscopy, we demonstrate that Arp2/3 complex inhibition via the drug CK666 dramatically altered LP actin architecture, slowed centripetal flow, drove a lamellipodial-to-filopodial shape change in suspended cells, and induced a novel actin structural organization during cell spreading. A general feature of the CK666 phenotype in coelomocytes was transverse actin arcs, and arc generation was arrested by a formin inhibitor. We also demonstrate that CK666 treatment produces actin arcs in other cells with broad LP regions, namely fish keratocytes and Drosophila S2 cells. We hypothesize that the actin arcs made visible by Arp2/3 complex inhibition in coelomocytes may represent an exaggerated manifestation of the elongate mother filaments that could possibly serve as the scaffold for the production of the dendritic actin network.     

Vascular endothelial growth factor enhances macrophage clearance of apoptotic cells

Efficient clearance of apoptotic cells from the lung by alveolar macrophages is important for the maintenance of tissue structure and function. Lung tissue from humans with emphysema contains increased numbers of apoptotic cells and decreased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Mice treated with VEGF receptor inhibitors have increased numbers of apoptotic cells and develop emphysema. We hypothesized that VEGF regulates apoptotic cell clearance by alveolar macrophages (AM) via its interaction with VEGF receptor 1 (VEGF R1). Our data show that the uptake of apoptotic cells by murine AMs and human monocyte-derived macrophages is inhibited by depletion of VEGF and that VEGF activates Rac1. Antibody blockade or pharmacological inhibition of VEGF R1 activity also decreased apoptotic cell uptake ex vivo. Conversely, overexpression of VEGF significantly enhanced apoptotic cell uptake by AMs in vivo. These results indicate that VEGF serves a positive regulatory role via its interaction with VEGF R1 to activate Rac1 and enhance AM apoptotic cell clearance.     

Normalizing the bone marrow microenvironment with p38 inhibitor reduces multiple myeloma cell proliferation and adhesion and suppresses osteoclast formation

The multiple myeloma (MM) bone marrow (BM) microenvironment plays a critical role in supporting tumor growth and survival as well as in promoting formation of osteolytic lesions. Recent results suggest that the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is an important factor in maintaining this activated environment. In this report, we demonstrate that the p38alpha MAPK inhibitor, SCIO-469, suppresses secretion of the tumor-supportive factors IL-6 and VEGF from BM stromal cells (BMSCs) as well as cocultures of BMSCs with MM cells, resulting in reduction in MM cell proliferation. Additionally, we show that SCIO-469 prevents TNFalpha-induced adhesion of MM cells to BMSCs through an ICAM-1- and VCAM-1-independent mechanism. Microarray analysis revealed a novel set of TNFalpha-induced chemokines in BMSCs that is strongly inhibited by SCIO-469. Furthermore, reintroduction of chemokines CXCL10 and CCL8 to BMSCs overcomes the inhibitory effect of SCIO-469 on TNFalpha-induced MM adhesion. Lastly, we show that SCIO-469 inhibits secretion and expression of the osteoclast-activating factors IL-11, RANKL, and MIP-1alpha as well as prevents human osteoclast formation in vitro. Collectively, these results suggest that SCIO-469 treatment can suppress factors in the bone marrow microenvironment to inhibit MM cell proliferation and adhesion and also to alleviate osteolytic activation in MM.