Noemi Controls Production of Flavonoid Pigments and Fruit Acidity and Illustrates the Domestication Routes of Modern Citrus Varieties

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Mast Cell-Derived Histamine Regulates Liver Ketogenesis via Oleoylethanolamide Signaling

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Suffering makes you egoist: acute pain increases acceptance rates and reduces fairness during a bilateral ultimatum game

Social preferences like interpersonal altruism, fairness, reciprocity and inequity aversion are inherently linked to departures from pure self-interest. During economic interactions, for example, defectors may be punished even if this implies a cost for the punishers. This violation of canonical assumptions in economics indicates that socially oriented decisions may predominate over self-centred stances. Here we explore whether the personal experience of pain changes the balance between self-gain and socially based choices. We used laser stimulation to induce pain or a warm sensation in subjects playing a modified version of the Ultimatum Game (UG) both in the role of responder and proposer. After each shot, responders evaluated the fairness of the offer. Moreover, responders and proposers rated the intensity and unpleasantness of the sensation evoked by the laser stimulation. Results show that suffering proposers decrease fair offers and suffering responders increase their acceptance rate irrespective of economic offer. Crucially, the intensity of painful stimulation has a predictive role on Moderately Unfair offers' acceptance rates. Thus the personal experience of pain may favour the emergence of a self-centered perspective aimed at maximizing self-gain. The results suggest that bodily states play a fundamental role in higher-order interpersonal negotiations and interactions.     

Responsiveness to hormone, growth factor and drug treatment of a human breast cancer cell line: Comparison between early and late cultures

Summary Growth rate, morphology, and responsiveness to mitogenic stimuli and pharmacological treatments were evaluated in early and late cell passages derived from the same clone of the widely used MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cell line. Our results indicate dissimilarities between early (E) and late (L) passages for some of the parameters analyzed. The cells that underwent many subcultivations grew faster than the others; both appeared homogeneous in size and shape. The E cells, subcultured for almost 1 yr, displayed higher sensitivity to the mitogenic action of both estradiol, according to the level of estrogen receptor, and insulin-like growth factor-I than did the L cells, kept in culture for more than 10 yr. Cell responsiveness to two drugs, a novel steroid antiestrogen and a polysulfonated distamycin A derivative, was more pronounced in the early cultures only at the longer time of exposure to the higher concentration of the estrogen antagonist. In addition, a drug-induced inhibition of insulin-like growth factor-I binding to its receptor was shown in both E and L cells, the latter being less sensitive than the former when exposed to the antiestrogen. Finally, MCF-7 E and L cells showed similar behavior when drug-induced apoptosis was tested.     

Identifying Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Drivers of Variation in Cell Behavior in Human iPSC Lines from Healthy Donors

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The evolution of realized niches within freshwater Synechococcus

Understanding how ecological traits have changed over evolutionary time is a fundamental question in biology. Specifically, the extent to which more closely related organisms share similar ecological preferences due to phylogenetic conservation – or if they are forced apart by competition – is still debated. Here, we explored the co-occurrence patterns of freshwater cyanobacteria at the sub-genus level to investigate whether more closely related taxa share more similar niches and to what extent these niches were defined by abiotic or biotic variables. We used deep 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and measured several abiotic environmental parameters (nutrients, temperature, etc.) in water samples collected over time and space in Furnas Reservoir, Brazil. We found that relatively more closely related Synechococcus (in the continuous range of 93%–100% nucleotide identity in 16S) had an increased tendency to co-occur with one another (i.e. had similar realized niches). This tendency could not be easily explained by shared preferences for measured abiotic niche dimensions. Thus, commonly measured abiotic parameters might not be sufficient to characterize, nor to predict community assembly or dynamics. Rather, co-occurrence between Synechococcus and the surrounding community (whether or not they represent true biological interactions) may be a more sensitive measure of realized niches. Overall, our results suggest that realized niches are phylogenetically conserved, at least at the sub-genus level and at the resolution of the 16S marker. Determining how these results generalize to other genera and at finer genetic resolution merits further investigation.     

StAR protein and steroidogenic enzyme expressions in the rat Harderian gland

The Harderian gland (HG) of the rat (Rattus norvegicus) secretes copious amounts of lipids, such as cholesterol. Here we report a study of the expressions of the StAR protein and key steroidogenic enzymes in the HG of male and female rats. The objective of the present investigation was to ascertain (a) whether the rat HG is involved in steroid production starting with cholesterol, and (b) whether the pattern of gene and protein expressions together with the enzymatic activities display sexual dimorphism. The results demonstrate, for the first time, the expression of StAR gene and protein, and Cyp11a1, Hsd3b1, Hsd17b3, Srd5a1, Srd5a2 and Cyp19a1 genes in the rat HG. StAR mRNA and protein expressions were much greater in males than in females. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated a non-homogeneous StAR distribution among glandular cells. Hsd17b3 and Cyp19a1 mRNA levels were higher in males than in females, whereas Srd5a1 mRNA levels were higher in females than in males. No significant differences were observed in mRNA levels of Cyp11a1, Hsd3b1 and Srd5a2 between sexes. Furthermore, the in vitro experiments demonstrated a higher 5α-reductase activity in the female as compared to the male HG vice versa a higher P450 aro activity in males as compared to females. These results suggest that the Harderian gland can be classified as a steroidogenic tissue because it synthesizes cholesterol, expresses StAR and steroidogenic enzymes involved in both androgen and estrogen synthesis. The dimorphic expression and activity of the steroidogenic enzymes may suggest sex-specific hormonal effects into the HG physiology.     

Multiple Sclerosis in the Mount Etna Region: Possible Role of Volcanogenic Trace Elements

Background

Trace elements have been hypothesised to be involved in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and volcanic degassing is the major natural sources of trace elements. Both incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in Catania and volcanic activity of Mount Etna have been significantly increased during the last 30 years. Due to prevailing trade winds direction, volcanic gases from Etna summit craters are mostly blown towards the eastern and southern sectors of the volcano.

Objective

To evaluate the possible association between Multiple Sclerosis and exposure to volcanogenic trace elements.

Methods

We evaluated prevalence and incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in four communities (47,234 inhabitants) located in the eastern flank and in two communities (52,210 inhabitants) located in the western flank of Mount Etna, respectively the most and least exposed area to crater gas emissions.

Results

A higher prevalence was found in the population of the eastern flank compared to the population of the western one (137.6/100,000 versus 94.3/100,000; p-value 0.04). We found a borderline significantly higher incidence risk during the incidence study period (1980–2009) in the population of the eastern flank 4.6/100,000 (95% CI 3.1–5.9), compared with the western population 3.2/100,000 (95% CI 2.4–4.2) with a RR of 1.41 (95% CI 0.97–2.05; p-value 0.06). Incidence risks have increased over the time in both populations reaching a peak of 6.4/100,000 in the eastern flank and of 4.4/100.000 in the western flank during 2000–2009.

Conclusion

We found a higher prevalence and incidence of Multiple Sclerosis among populations living in the eastern flank of Mount Etna. According to our data a possible role of TE cannot be ruled out as possible co-factor in the MS pathogenesis. However larger epidemiological study are needed to confirm this hypothesis.