NLRP3 inflammasome suppression improves longevity and prevents cardiac aging in male mice

While NLRP3‐inflammasome has been implicated in cardiovascular diseases, its role in physiological cardiac aging is largely unknown. During aging, many alterations occur in the organism, which are associated with progressive impairment of metabolic pathways related to insulin resistance, autophagy dysfunction, and inflammation. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms through which NLRP3 inhibition may attenuate cardiac aging. Ablation of NLRP3‐inflammasome protected mice from age‐related increased insulin sensitivity, reduced IGF‐1 and leptin/adiponectin ratio levels, and reduced cardiac damage with protection of the prolongation of the age‐dependent PR interval, which is associated with atrial fibrillation by cardiovascular aging and reduced telomere shortening. Furthermore, old NLRP3 KO mice showed an inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and autophagy improvement, compared with old wild mice and preserved Nampt‐mediated NAD⁺ levels with increased SIRT1 protein expression. These findings suggest that suppression of NLRP3 prevented many age‐associated changes in the heart, preserved cardiac function of aged mice and increased lifespan.     

Body site‐specific genetic effects influence naevus count distribution in women

Body site is highly relevant for melanoma: it affects prognosis and varies according to the patient's sex. The distribution of naevi, a major risk factor for melanoma, at different body sites also varies according to sex in childhood. Using naevus counts at different body sites in 492 unrelated adults from both sexes, we observed that women have an increased number of naevi on the lower limbs compared to men (p = 8.5 × 10^?5), showing that a high naevus count on this site persists from childhood throughout life. Then, using data from 3,232 twins, we observed, in women, the lowest naevus count heritability on the trunk (26%), and the highest on the lower limbs (69%). Finally, we showed that, in 2,864 women, six genomic loci previously associated with both naevus count and melanoma risk (IRF4, DOCK8, MTAP, 9q31.2, KITLG and PLA2G6) have an effect on naevus count that is body site‐specific, but whose effect sizes are predominantly stronger on the lower limbs. Sex‐specific genetic influence on naevus count at different sites may explain differences in site‐specific melanoma incidence as well as prognosis between sexes.     

Nucleic Acid Tools for Invasive Fungal Disease Diagnosis

Current Fungal Infection Reports - This review has incorporated the knowledge and experience of the leads of each of the laboratory working parties of the fungal PCR initiative in order to provide...     

Pathways of Phosphorus Absorption and Early Signaling between the Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plants

This review highlights the key role that mycorrhizal fungi play in making phosphorus (Pi) more available to plants, including pathways of phosphorus absorption, phosphate transporters and plant-mycorrhizal fungus symbiosis, especially in conditions where the level of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) in the soil is low. Mycorrhizal fungi colonization involves a series of signaling where the plant root exudates strigolactones, while the mycorrhizal fungi release a mixture of chito-oligosaccharides and liposaccharides, that activate the symbiosis process through gene signaling pathways, and contact between the hyphae and the root. Once the symbiosis is established, the extraradical mycelium acts as an extension of the roots and increases the absorption of nutrients, particularly phosphorus by the phosphate transporters. Pi then moves along the hyphae to the plant root/fungus interface. The transfer of Pi occurs in the apoplectic space; in the case of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Pi is discharged from the arbuscular to the plant’s root symplasm, in the membrane that surrounds the arbuscule. Pi is then absorbed through the plant periarbuscular membrane by plant phosphate transporters. Furthermore, plants can acquire Pi from soil as a direct absorption pathway. As a result of this review, several genes that codify for high-affinity Pi transporters were identified. In plants, the main family is Pht1 although it is possible to find others such as Pht2, Pht3, Pho1 and Pho2. As in plants, mycorrhizal fungi have genes belonging to the Pht1 subfamily. In arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi we found L1PT1, GiPT, MtPT1, MtPT2, MtPT4, HvPT8, ZmPht1, TaPTH1.2, GmosPT and LYCes. HcPT1, HcPT2 and BePT have been characterized in ectomycorrhizal fungi. Each gene has a different way of expressing itself. In this review, we present diagrams of the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and the plant. This knowledge allows us to design solutions to regional problems such as food production in soils with low levels of Pi.

     

VCAM-1 as a predictor biomarker in cardiovascular disease

The vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is a protein that canonically participates in the adhesion and transmigration of leukocytes to the interstitium during inflammation. VCAM-1 expression, together with soluble VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) induced by the shedding of VCAM-1 by metalloproteinases, have been proposed as biomarkers in immunological diseases, cancer, autoimmune myocarditis, and as predictors of mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic heart failure (HF), endothelial injury in patients with coronary artery disease, and arrhythmias. This revision aims to discuss the role of sVCAM-1 as a biomarker to predict the occurrence, development, and preservation of cardiovascular disease.     

Chromatin investigation in the nucleus using a phasor approach to structured illumination microscopy

Chromatin in the nucleus is organized in functional sites at variable level of compaction. Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) can be used to generate three-dimensional super-resolution (SR) imaging of chromatin by changing in phase and in orientation a periodic line illumination pattern. The spatial frequency domain is the natural choice to process SIM raw data and to reconstruct an SR image. Using an alternative approach, we demonstrate that the additional spatial information encoded in the knowledge of the position of the illumination pattern can be efficiently decoded using a generalized version of separation of photon by lifetime tuning (SPLIT) that does not require lifetime measurements. In the resulting SPLIT-SIM, the SR image is obtained by isolating a fraction of the intensity corresponding to the center of the diffraction-limited point spread function. This extends the use of the SPLIT approach from stimulated emission depletion microscopy to SIM. The SPLIT-SIM algorithm is based only on phasor analysis and does not require deconvolution. We show that SPLIT-SIM can be used to generate SR images of chromatin organizational motifs with tunable resolution and can be a valuable tool for the imaging of functional sites in the nucleus.