The effect of carotenoids on the concentration of singlet oxygen in lipid membranes

An effect of β-carotene and its polar derivative, zeaxanthin, on a concentration of singlet oxygen in lipid membranes was studied in a model system. The carotenoids were incorporated into the membranes of small unilamellar liposomes at a concentration of 0.15 mol% with respect to lipid. Singlet oxygen was generated in a liposome suspension via photosensitization of toluidine blue, and its concentration in a membrane was detected with application of a specific fluorescence probe (singlet oxygen sensor green reagent) located in the lipid bilayer. The results show the carotenoid-dependent decrease in the concentration of singlet oxygen in the membranes formed with unsaturated lipids (egg yolk phosphatidylcholine and digalactosyldiacylglycerol) but not in the case of the membranes formed with a saturated lipid (dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine). The effect of carotenoids was about twice as high as in the case of cholesterol present in liposomes at the same concentration. The results suggest that carotenoids protect membranes formed with unsaturated lipids against singlet oxygen through combined activity of different mechanisms: modification of structural properties of the lipid bilayers, physical quenching of singlet oxygen and chemical reactions leading to the pigment oxidation. The latter conclusion is based on the analysis of the absorption spectra of liposomes before and after light exposure. An importance of the different modes of protection by carotenoids against single oxygen toxicity towards biomembranes is discussed.     

The Clinical and Biochemical Predictors of Bone Mass in Preterm Infants

BackgroundMetabolic bone disease of prematurity still occurs in preterm infants, although a significant improvement in neonatal care has been observed in recent decades. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the precise technique for assessing bone mineral content (BMC) in preterm infants, but is not widely available.AimTo investigate the clinical and biochemical parameters, including bone metabolism markers as potential predictors of BMC, in preterm infants up to 3 months corrected age (CA).ResultsThe appropriate quality DXA scans were available for 160 infants (87%) examined at term and for 130 (71%) tested at 3 mo CA. Higher iPTH level was the only independent predictor of lower BMC at term, whereas lower BMC at 3 mo CA was associated both with lower urinary phosphate excretion and higher serum osteocalcin level. ROC analysis showed that iPTH >43.6 pg/mL provided 40% sensitivity and 88% specificity in identification of preterm infants with lower BMC at term. In turn, urinary phosphate excretion (TRP>97% or UP/Cr ≤0.74 mg/mg) and serum osteocalcin >172 ng/mL provided 40% sensitivity and 93% specificity in identification of infants with decreased BMC at 3 mo CA.ConclusionSerum iPTH might to be a simple predictor of reduced BMC in preterm infants at term age, but urinary phosphate excretion and serum osteocalcin might predict reduced BMC at 3 mo CA. These results represent a promising diagnostic tool based on simple, widely available biochemical measurements for bone mass assessment in preterm infants.     

Temperature and host diet jointly influence the outcome of infection in a Daphnia-fungal parasite system

1. Climate change has the potential to shape the future of infectious diseases, both directly and indirectly. In aquatic systems, for example, elevated temperatures can modulate the infectivity of waterborne parasites and affect the immune response of zooplanktonic hosts. Moreover, lake warming causes shifts in the communities of primary producers towards cyanobacterial dominance, thus lowering the quality of zooplankton diet. This may further affect host fitness, resulting in suboptimal resources available for parasite growth.
2. Previous experimental studies have demonstrated the respective effects of temperature and host diet on infection outcomes, using the zooplankter Daphnia and its microparasites as model systems. Although cyanobacteria blooms and heat waves are concurrent events in nature, few attempts have been made to combine both stressors in experimental settings.
3. Here, we raised the zooplankter Daphnia (two genotypes) under a full factorial design with varying levels of temperature (the standard 19°C and elevated 23°C), food quality (Scenedesmus obliquus as high-quality green algae, Microcystis aeruginosa and Planktothrix agardhii as low-quality cyanobacteria) and exposed them to the parasitic yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata. We recorded life history parameters of the host as well as parasite traits related to transmission.
4. The combination of low-quality cyanobacterial diets and elevated temperature resulted in additive detrimental effects on host fecundity. Low-quality diets reduced parasite output, while temperature effects were context dependent. Overall, we argue that the combined effects of elevated water temperature and poor-quality diets may decrease epidemics of a common fungal parasite under a climate change scenario.

     

Epigenetic Basis of Regeneration: Analysis of Genomic DNA Methylation Profiles in the MRL/MpJ Mouse

Epigenetic regulation plays essential role in cell differentiation and dedifferentiation, which are the intrinsic processes involved in regeneration. To investigate the epigenetic basis of regeneration capacity, we choose DNA methylation as one of the most important epigenetic mechanisms and the MRL/MpJ mouse as a model of mammalian regeneration known to exhibit enhanced regeneration response in different organs. We report the comparative analysis of genomic DNA methylation profiles of the MRL/MpJ and the control C57BL/6J mouse. Methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by microarray analysis using the Nimblegen ‘3 × 720 K CpG Island Plus RefSeq Promoter’ platform was applied in order to carry out genome-wide DNA methylation profiling covering 20 404 promoter regions. We identified hundreds of hypo- and hypermethylated genes and CpG islands in the heart, liver, and spleen, and 37 of them in the three tissues. Decreased inter-tissue diversification and the shift of DNA methylation balance upstream the genes distinguish the genomic methylation patterns of the MRL/MpJ mouse from the C57BL/6J. Homeobox genes and a number of other genes involved in embryonic morphogenesis are significantly overrepresented among the genes hypomethylated in the MRL/MpJ mouse. These findings indicate that epigenetic patterning might be a likely molecular basis of regeneration capability in the MRL/MpJ mouse.     

THE COST OF BEING COMMON: EVIDENCE FROM NATURAL DAPHNIA POPULATIONS

The Red Queen coevolutionary hypothesis predicts that parasites drive oscillations in host genotype frequencies due to frequency-dependent selection where common hosts are at disadvantage. However, examples of this phenomenon in natural populations are scarce. To examine if the Red Queen theory operates in the wild, we studied the genetic structure of populations of the crustacean waterflea ( Daphnia ), in relation to their infection levels, for which we collected multiple samples from a variety of lakes. The most common clone in a given population was often underinfected. This advantage, however, did not remain stable over time. Instead, the most common clone decreased in frequency over subsequent generations, indicating that parasites can track common clones. Such decreases were not observed in uninfected populations. Moreover, host clonal evenness was higher across the set of infected lakes compared to uninfected lakes; suggesting that any common clone is selected against when parasites are present. These results strongly suggest that Red Queen dynamics do operate in the wild.