Isolation of CD4and CD8T-Cell Clones from Mice Immunized with Synthetic Peptides on Splenic Dendritic Cells

Splenic dendritic cells (DC) express high levels of MHC, co-stimulator, and adhesion molecules and have been shown to be extremely potent antigen-presenting cells for both CD4⁺and CD8⁺T-cell responses. Previous studies have shown that murine DC can be loaded with exogenous antigens and used to prime CD4⁺, Class II-restricted T-cell responsesin vivo.This article describes protocols for immunization using DC loaded with peptides bound to Class I or Class II molecules and for the derivation and characterization of CD4⁺and CD8⁺antigen-specific T-cell lines and clones. The rationale for using DC as antigen-presenting cells is discussed, together with the advantages and disadvantages of these cells compared with more conventional methods of immunization.     

Gene methylation parallelisms between peripheral blood cells and oral mucosa samples in relation to overweight

Epigenetics has an important role in the regulation of metabolic adaptation to environmental modifications. In this sense, the determination of epigenetic changes in non-invasive samples during the development of metabolic diseases could play an important role in the procedures in primary healthcare practice. To help translate the knowledge of epigenetics to public health practice, the present study aims to explore the parallelism of methylation levels between white blood cells and buccal samples in relation to obesity and associated disorders. Blood and buccal swap samples were collected from a subsample of the Spanish cohort of the Food4Me study. Infinium HumanMethylation450 DNA Analysis was carried out for the determination of methylation levels. Standard deviation for β values method and concordance correlation analysis were used to select those CpG which showed best parallelism between samples. A total of 277 CpGs met the criteria and were selected for an enrichment analysis and a correlation analysis with anthropometrical and clinical parameters. From those selected CpGs, four presented high associations with BMI (cg01055691 in GAP43; r = ?0.92 and rho = ?0.84 for blood; r = ?0.89 and rho = ?0.83 for buccal sample), HOMA-IR (cg00095677 in ATP2A3; r = 0.82 and rho = ?0.84 for blood; r = ?0.8 and rho = ?0.83 for buccal sample) and leptin (cg14464133 in ADARB2; r = ?0.9182 and rho = ?0.94 for blood; r = ?0.893 and rho = ?0.79 for buccal sample). These findings demonstrate the potential application of non-invasive buccal samples in the identification of surrogate epigenetic biomarkers and identify methylation sites in GAP43, ATP2A3 and ADARB2 genes as potential targets in relation to overweight management and insulin sensibility.     

Diel Surface Temperature Range Scales with Lake Size

Ecological and biogeochemical processes in lakes are strongly dependent upon water temperature. Long-term surface warming of many lakes is unequivocal, but little is known about the comparative magnitude of temperature variation at diel timescales, due to a lack of appropriately resolved data. Here we quantify the pattern and magnitude of diel temperature variability of surface waters using high-frequency data from 100 lakes. We show that the near-surface diel temperature range can be substantial in summer relative to long-term change and, for lakes smaller than 3 km², increases sharply and predictably with decreasing lake area. Most small lakes included in this study experience average summer diel ranges in their near-surface temperatures of between 4 and 7°C. Large diel temperature fluctuations in the majority of lakes undoubtedly influence their structure, function and role in biogeochemical cycles, but the full implications remain largely unexplored.     

A new subgenus ofEpoligosita [Hym.: Trichogrammatidae] and egg parasite ofTingiae [Het.] from Southern India

SubgenusEpoligositina nov. of the genusEpoligosita with a type speciesEpoligosita (Epoligositina) duliniae sp. nov., a new record as egg parasite of the morinda Tingid,Dulinius conchatus Dist. has been described and illustrated.     

An exclusion map for pre-eclampsia: assuming autosomal recessive inheritance.

Pre-eclampsia is a common complication of the second half of pregnancy that is associated with substantial fetal and maternal morbidity. Although the genetic basis of the disorder is unclear, epidemiological studies suggest that it occurs predominantly in the first pregnancies of women who are homozygous for a relatively common susceptibility gene. Using this epidemiological model, we have begun to construct an exclusion map by using both candidate genes and random DNA markers on a panel of two-generation families in which pre-eclampsia was rigorously defined. No evidence was found for linkage to the HLA region or to several genes implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension.