Alpha Lipoic Acid Application Promotes Water-Deficit Tolerance by Modulating Osmoprotectant Metabolism-Related Genes in Maize

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is a potent antioxidant molecule that has positive effects on plant growth and the adaptation of plants to environmental stresses....     

Whole mitochondrial DNA variations in hippocampal surgical specimens and blood samples with high-throughput sequencing: A case of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis

Introduction

Hippocampal sclerosis is the most common lesion in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Recently, there has been growing evidence on the involvement of mitochondria also in sporadic forms of epilepsy. In addition, it has been increasingly argued that mitochondrial dysfunction has an important role in epileptogenesis and seizure generation in temporal lobe epilepsy. Although mtDNA polymorphisms have been identified as potential risk factors for neurological diseases, the link between homoplasmy and heteroplasmy within tissues is not clear. We investigated whether mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms are involved in a case report of a patient with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy-hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS).

Design

We report the whole genome mtDNA deep sequencing results and clinical features of a 36-year-old woman with MTLE-HS. We used pyrosequencing technology to sequence a whole mitochondrial genome isolated from six different regions of her brain and blood. To assess the possible role of mitochondrial DNA variations in affected tissues, we compared all specimens from different regions of the hippocampus and blood.

Results

In total, 35 homoplasmic and 18 heteroplasmic variations have been detected in 6 different regions of the hippocampus and in blood samples. While the samples did not display any difference in homoplasmic variations, it has been shown that hippocampus regions contain more heteroplasmic variations than blood. The number of heteroplasmic variations was highest in the CA2 region of the brain and accumulated in ND2, ND4 and ND5 genes. Also, dentate and subiculum regions of the hippocampus had similar heteroplasmic variation profiles.

Discussion

We present a new rare example of parallel mutation at 16223 position. Our case suggests that defects in mitochondrial function might be underlying the pathogenesis of seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy.     

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is critical for sexual solicitation, but not for opposite-sex odor preference, in female Syrian hamsters

Successful reproduction in vertebrates depends critically upon a suite of precopulatory behaviors that occur prior to mating. In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), these behaviors include vaginal scent marking and preferential investigation of male odors. The neural regulation of vaginal marking and opposite-sex odor preference likely involves an interconnected set of steroid-sensitive nuclei that includes the medial amygdala (MA), the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the medial preoptic area (MPOA). For example, lesions of MA eliminate opposite-sex odor preference and reduce overall levels of vaginal marking, whereas lesions of MPOA decrease vaginal marking in response to male odors. Although BNST is densely interconnected with both MA and MPOA, little is known about the role of BNST in female precopulatory behaviors. To address this question, females received either bilateral, excitotoxic lesions of BNST (BNST-X) or sham lesions (SHAM), and were tested for scent marking and for investigatory responses to male and female odors. Whereas SHAM females vaginal marked more to male odors than female odors on two days of the estrous cycle, BNST-X females marked at equivalent levels to both odors. This deficit is not due to alterations in social odor investigation, as both BNST-X and SHAM females investigated male odors more than female odors. Finally, BNST lesions did not generally disrupt the cyclic changes in reproductive behaviors that occur across the estrous cycle. Taken together, these results demonstrate that BNST is critical for the normal expression of solicitational behaviors by females in response to male odor stimuli.     

Decreased therapeutic effects of noscapine combined with imatinib mesylate on human glioblastoma in vitro and the effect of midkine

Background

Glioblastoma (GBM) develops resistance to the advances in chemotherapy leading to poor prognosis and life quality. Consequently, new treatment modalities are needed. Our aims were to investigate the effects of combined noscapine (NOS) and imatinib mesylate (IM) on human GBM in vitro and the role of midkine (MK) in this new combination treatment.

Methods

Monolayer and spheroid cultures of T98G human GBM cell line were used to evaluate the effects of IM (10 μM), Nos (10 μM) and their combination on cell proliferation and apoptotic indexes, cell cycle, the levels of antiapoptotic MK, MRP-1, p170, PFGFR-α, EGFR, bcl-2 proteins, apoptotic caspase-3 levels, morphology (SEM) and ultrastructure (TEM) for 72 hrs. Results were statistically analyzed using the Student's t-test.

Results

The combination group induced highest decrease in cell proliferation and apoptotic indexes, caspase-3 levels, MRP-1 and PDGFR-α levels. The decrease in p170 levels were lower than IM but higher that NOS. The highest increases were in EGFR, MK, bcl-2 and cAMP levels in the combination group. The G0+G1 cell cycle arrest at the end of 72^nd hr was the lowest in the combination group. Apoptotic appearence was observed rarely both in the morphologic and ultrastructural evaluation of the combination group. In addition, autophagic vacuoles which were frequently observed in the IM group were observed rarely.

Conclusions

The combination of Nos with IM showed antagonist effect in T98G human GBM cells in vitro. This antagonist effect was correlated highly with MK levels. The effects of NOS on MRP-1, MK and receptor tyrosine kinase levels were firstly demonstrated in our report. In addition, we proposed that MK is one of the modulator in the switch of autophagy to cell death or survival/resistance.     

The role of Streptococcus pneumoniae virulence factors in host respiratory colonization and disease

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen that colonizes the mucosal surfaces of the host nasopharynx and upper airway. Through a combination of virulence-factor activity and an ability to evade the early components of the host immune response, this organism can spread from the upper respiratory tract to the sterile regions of the lower respiratory tract, which leads to pneumonia. In this Review, we describe how S. pneumoniae uses its armamentarium of virulence factors to colonize the upper and lower respiratory tracts of the host and cause disease.     

Parasympathetic non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic transmission in rat parotid glands: effects of cholecystokinin-A and -B receptor antagonists on the secretory response

Recent studies show i.v. administered pentagastrin and cholecystokinin to evoke protein/amylase secretion from the rat parotid gland and to stimulate gland protein synthesis, the two phenomena being abolished by cholecystokinin receptor antagonists. In the rat parotid gland, non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic transmission mechanisms contribute to secretion of fluid and protein/amylase. Since cholecystokinin may act as a neurotransmitter, activation of cholecystokinin receptors of the gland might contribute to the parasympathetic nerve-evoked secretion. In this study, the parasympathetic innervation was stimulated in non-atropinized (in periods of 2 min) or atropinized (in periods of 3 min) pentobarbitone-anaesthetized rats before and after administration of the cholecystokinin-A receptor antagonist lorglumide (48 mg/kg, i.v.) and the cholecystokinin-B receptor antagonist itriglumide (5.5 mg/kg, i.v.). The non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic transmission fatigues rapidly resulting in declining responses. Therefore, atropinized rats, not receiving the cholecystokinin receptor antagonists, had to serve as controls. Neither at a stimulation frequency of 10 Hz nor of 40 Hz were the secretory responses of the atropinized rats affected by the receptor antagonists. After lorglumide, the saliva volume and the amylase output were (expressed as percentage of the response to the stimulation period before the administration of the antagonist) 98.0+/-3.8% (vs. control 91.1+/-4.0%) and 91.9+/-4.9% (vs. 87.7+/-3.7%) at 10 Hz, respectively, and 79.8+/-4.5% (vs. 77.3+/-2.1%) and 73.6+/-5.3% (vs. 71.7+/-2.3%) at 40 Hz, respectively. After itriglumide, the corresponding percentage figures for saliva volume and amylase output were, at 10 Hz, 99.5+/-8.9% (vs. 92.0+/-2.8%) and 95.8+/-11.8% (vs. 89.2+/-6.4%), respectively, and, at 40 Hz, 74.0+/-3.1% (vs. 79.6+/-2.2%) and 66.6+/-3.3% (vs. 63.9+/-6.0%), respectively. Similarly, the antagonists were without effect on the parotid secretory responses of non-atropinized rats subjected to stimulation at 10 Hz. Thus, under physiological conditions, the cholecystokinin receptors of the parotid gland are likely to be stimulated by circulating hormones rather than by nervous activity.     

Evolutionary history of hrgA,which replaces the restriction gene hpyIIIR in the hpyIII locus of Helicobacter pylori

A recently identified Helicobacter pylori gene, hrgA, was previously reported to be present in 70 (33%) of 208 strains examined (T. Ando, T. M. Wassenaar, R. M. Peek, R. A. Aras, A. I. Tschumi, L.-J. Van Doorn, K. Kusugami, and M. J. Blaser, Cancer Res. 62:2385-2389, 2002). Sequence analysis of nine such strains indicated that in each strain hrgA replaced hpyIIIR, which encodes a restriction endonuclease and which, together with the gene for its cognate methyltransferase, constitutes the hpyIII locus. As a consequence of either the hrgA insertion or independent mutations, hpyIIIM function was lost in 11 (5%) of the 208 strains examined, rendering chromosomal DNA sensitive to MboI digestion. The evolutionary history of the locus containing either hpyIII or hrgA was reconstructed. By homologous recombination involving flanking sequences, hrgA and hpyIIIR can replace one another in the hpyIII locus, and there is simultaneous replacement of several flanking genes. These findings, combined with the hpyIM/iceA2 locus discovered previously, suggest that the two most strongly conserved methylase genes of H. pylori, hpyIIIM and hpyIM, are both preceded by alternative genes that compete for presence at their loci.