Wealth transmission and inequality among hunter-gatherers

We report quantitative estimates of intergenerational transmission and population-wide inequality for wealth measures in a set of hunter-gatherer populations. Wealth is defined broadly as factors that contribute to individual or household well-being, ranging from embodied forms such as weight and hunting success to material forms such household goods, as well as relational wealth in exchange partners. Intergenerational wealth transmission is low to moderate in these populations, but is still expected to have measurable influence on an individual's life chances. Wealth inequality (measured with Gini coefficients) is moderate for most wealth types, matching what qualitative ethnographic research has generally indicated (if not the stereotype of hunter-gatherers as extreme egalitarians). We discuss some plausible mechanisms for these patterns, and suggest ways in which future research could resolve questions about the role of wealth in hunter-gatherer social and economic life.     

High evolutionary constraints limited adaptive responses to past climate changes in toad skulls

Interactions among traits that build a complex structure may be represented as genetic covariation and correlation. Genetic correlations may act as constraints, deflecting the evolutionary response from the direction of natural selection. We investigated the relative importance of drift, selection, and constraints in driving skull divergence in a group of related toad species. The distributional range of these species encompasses very distinct habitats with important climatic differences and the species are primarily distinguished by differences in their skulls. Some parts of the toad skull, such as the snout, may have functional relevance in reproductive ecology, detecting water cues. Thus, we hypothesized that the species skull divergence was driven by natural selection associated with climatic variation. However, given that all species present high correlations among skull traits, our second prediction was of high constraints deflecting the response to selection. We first extracted the main morphological direction that is expected to be subjected to selection by using within- and between-species covariance matrices. We then used evolutionary regressions to investigate whether divergence along this direction is explained by climatic variation between species. We also used quantitative genetics models to test for a role of random drift versus natural selection in skull divergence and to reconstruct selection gradients along species phylogeny. Climatic variables explained high proportions of between-species variation in the most selected axis. However, most evolutionary responses were not in the direction of selection, but aligned with the direction of allometric size, the dimension of highest phenotypic variance in the ancestral population. We conclude that toad species have responded to selection related to climate in their skulls, yet high evolutionary constraints dominated species divergence and may limit species responses to future climate change.     

LC–SPE–NMR–MS analysis of Strychnos usambarensis fruits from Rwanda

The novelty of the present work lies in the characterization of akagerine and palicoside in Strychnos usambarensis fruits by a hyphenated analytical method combining high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with solid-phase extraction (SPE), mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) and NMR spectroscopy. Akagerine was already known in S. usambarensis roots but palicoside is described for the first time in the species.     

Identification of mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-responsive kinase kinase 2 as a novel partner of the scaffolding protein human homolog of disc-large

Human disc-large homolog (hDlg), also known as synapse-associated protein 97, is a scaffold protein, a member of the membrane-associated guanylate kinase family, implicated in neuronal synapses and epithelial-epithelial cell junctions whose expression and function remains poorly characterized in most tissues, particularly in the vasculature. In human vascular tissues, hDlg is highly expressed in smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Using the yeast two-hybrid system to screen a human aorta cDNA library, we identified mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-responsive kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK)2, a member of the ERK cascade, as an hDlg binding partner. Site-directed mutagenesis showed a major involvement of the PSD-95, disc-large, ZO-1 domain-2 of hDlg and the C-terminal sequence RTAV of MEK2 in this interaction. Coimmunoprecipitation assays in both human VSMCs and human embryonic kidney 293 cells, demonstrated that endogenous hDlg physically interacts with MEK2 but not with MEK1. Confocal microscopy suggested a colocalization of the two proteins at the inner layer of the plasma membrane of confluent human embryonic kidney 293 cells, and in a perinuclear area in human VSMCs. Additionally, hDlg also associates with the endoplasmic reticulum and microtubules in these latter cells. Taken together, these findings allow us to hypothesize that hDlg acts as a MEK2-specific scaffold protein for the ERK signaling pathway, and may improve our understanding of how scaffold proteins, such as hDlg, differentially tune MEK1/MEK2 signaling and cell responses.     

Interactor-mediated nuclear translocation and retention of protein phosphatase-1

Protein Ser/Thr phosphatase-1 (PP1) is a ubiquitous eukaryotic enzyme that controls numerous cellular processes by the dephosphorylation of key regulatory proteins. PP1 is expressed in various cellular compartments but is most abundant in the nucleus. We have examined the determinants for the nuclear localization of enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged PP1 in COS1 cells. Our studies show that PP1gamma(1) does not contain a functional nuclear localization signal and that its nuclear accumulation does not require Sds22, which has previously been implicated in the nuclear accumulation of PP1 in yeast (Peggie, M. W., MacKelvie, S. H., Bloecher, A., Knatko, E. V., Tatchell, K., and Stark, M. J. R. (2002) J. Cell Sci. 115, 195-206). However, the nuclear targeting of PP1 isoforms was alleviated by the mutation of their binding sites for proteins that interact via an RVXF motif. Moreover, one of the mutants with a cytoplasmic accumulation and decreased affinity for RVXF motifs (PP1gamma(1)-F257A) could be re-targeted to the nucleus by the overexpression of nuclear interactors (NIPP1 (nuclear inhibitor of PP1) and PNUTS (PP1 nuclear targeting subunit)) with a functional RVXF motif. Also, the addition of a synthetic RVXF-containing peptide to permeabilized cells resulted in the loss of nuclear enhanced green fluorescent protein-PP1gamma(1). Finally, NIPP1(-/-) mouse embryos showed a nuclear hyperphosphorylation on threonine, consistent with a role for NIPP1 in the nuclear targeting and/or retention of PP1. Our data suggest that both the nuclear translocation and the nuclear retention of PP1 depend on its binding to interactors with an RVXF motif.     

Glucose transport and utilization are altered in the brain of rats deficient in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Long-chain polyunsaturated (n-3) fatty acids have been reported to influence the efficiency of membrane receptors, transporters and enzymes. Because the brain is particularly rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3), the present study addresses the question of whether the 22:6 n-3 fatty acid deficiency induces disorder in regulation of energy metabolism in the CNS. Three brain regions that share a high rate of energy metabolism were studied: fronto-parietal cortex, hippocampus and suprachiasmatic nucleus. The effect of the diet deficient in n-3 fatty acids resulted in a 30-50% decrease in DHA in membrane phospholipids. Moreover, a 30% decrease in glucose uptake and a 20-40% decrease in cytochrome oxidase activity were observed in the three brain regions. The n-3 deficient diet also altered the immunoreactivity of glucose transporters, namely GLUT1 in endothelial cells and GLUT3 in neurones. In n-3 fatty acid deficient rats, GLUT1-immunoreactivity readily detectable in microvessels became sparse, whereas the number of GLUT3 immunoreactive neurones was increased. However, western blot analysis showed no significant difference in GLUT1 and GLUT3 protein levels between rats deficient in n-3 fatty acids and control rats. The present results suggest that changes in energy metabolism induced by n-3 deficiency could result from functional alteration in glucose transporters.     

Testing multiple coordination constraints with a novel bimanual visuomotor task

The acquisition of a new bimanual skill depends on several motor coordination constraints. To date, coordination constraints have often been tested relatively independently of one another, particularly with respect to isofrequency and multifrequency rhythms. Here, we used a new paradigm to test the interaction of multiple coordination constraints. Coordination constraints that were tested included temporal complexity, directionality, muscle grouping, and hand dominance. Twenty-two healthy young adults performed a bimanual dial rotation task that required left and right hand coordination to track a moving target on a computer monitor. Two groups were compared, either with or without four days of practice with augmented visual feedback. Four directional patterns were tested such that both hands moved either rightward (clockwise), leftward (counterclockwise), inward or outward relative to each other. Seven frequency ratios (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2, 1∶1, 2∶3. 1∶2, 1∶3) between the left and right hand were introduced. As expected, isofrequency patterns (1∶1) were performed more successfully than multifrequency patterns (non 1∶1). In addition, performance was more accurate when participants were required to move faster with the dominant right hand (1∶3, 1∶2 and 2∶3) than with the non-dominant left hand (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2). Interestingly, performance deteriorated as the relative angular velocity between the two hands increased, regardless of whether the required frequency ratio was an integer or non-integer. This contrasted with previous finger tapping research where the integer ratios generally led to less error than the non-integer ratios. We suggest that this is due to the different movement topologies that are required of each paradigm. Overall, we found that this visuomotor task was useful for testing the interaction of multiple coordination constraints as well as the release from these constraints with practice in the presence of augmented visual feedback.     

Hyperoxia-induced apoptosis and Fas/FasL expression in lung epithelial cells

Alveolar epithelial apoptosis is an important feature of hyperoxia-induced lung injury in vivo and has been described in the early stages of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (chronic lung disease of preterm newborn). Molecular regulation of hyperoxia-induced alveolar epithelial cell death remains incompletely understood. In view of functional involvement of Fas/FasL system in physiological postcanalicular type II cell apoptosis, we speculated this system may also be a critical regulator of hyperoxia-induced apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hyperoxia on apoptosis and apoptotic gene expression in alveolar epithelial cells. Apoptosis was studied by TUNEL, electron microscopy, DNA size analysis, and caspase assays. Fas/FasL expression was determined by Western blot analysis and RPA. We determined that in MLE-12 cells exposed to hyperoxia, caspase-mediated apoptosis was the first morphologically and biochemically recognizable mode of cell death, followed by necrosis of residual adherent cells. The apoptotic stage was associated with a threefold upregulation of Fas mRNA and protein expression and increased susceptibility to direct Fas receptor activation, concomitant with a threefold increase of FasL protein levels. Fas gene silencing by siRNAs significantly reduced hyperoxia-induced apoptosis. In murine fetal type II cells, hyperoxia similarly induced markedly increased Fas/FasL protein expression, confirming validity of results obtained in transformed MLE-12 cells. Our findings implicate the Fas/FasL system as an important regulator of hyperoxia-induced type II cell apoptosis. Elucidation of regulation of hyperoxia-induced lung apoptosis may lead to alternative therapeutic strategies for perinatal or adult pulmonary diseases characterized by dysregulated type II cell apoptosis.