Distinct basolateral amygdala excitatory inputs mediate the somatosensory and aversive-affective components of pain

Pain is a multidimensional perception that includes unpleasant somatosensory and affective experiences; however, the underlying neural circuits that mediate different components of pain remain elusive. Although hyperactivity of basolateral amygdala glutamatergic (BLA^Glu) neurons is required for the somatosensory and emotional processing of pain, the precise excitatory inputs to BLA^Glu neurons and their roles in mediating different aspects of pain are unclear. Here, we identified two discrete glutamatergic neuronal circuits in male mice: a projection from the insular cortex glutamatergic (IC^Glu) to BLA^Glu neurons, which modulates both the somatosensory and affective components of pain, and a projection from the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD^Glu) to BLA^Glu neurons, which modulates only the aversive-affective component of pain. Using whole-cell recording and fiber photometry, we found that neurons within the IC→BLA and MD→BLA pathways were activated in mice upon inflammatory pain induced by injection of complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into their paws. Optical inhibition of the IC^Glu→BLA pathway increased the nociceptive threshold and induced behavioral place preference in CFA mice. In contrast, optical inhibition of the MD^Glu→BLA pathway did not affect the nociceptive threshold but still induced place preference in CFA mice. In normal mice, optical activation of the IC^Glu→BLA pathway decreased the nociceptive threshold and induced place aversion, while optical activation of the MD^Glu→BLA pathway only evoked aversion. Taken together, our results demonstrate that discrete IC^Glu→BLA and MD^Glu→BLA pathways are involved in modulating different components of pain, provide insights into its circuit basis, and better our understanding of pain perception.     

A new bacteria-free strategy induced by MaGal2 facilitates pinewood nematode escape immune response from its vector beetle

Symbiotic microbes play a crucial role in regulating parasite–host interactions; however, the role of bacterial associates in parasite–host interactions requires elucidation. In this study, we showed that, instead of introducing numerous symbiotic bacteria, dispersal of 4th-stage juvenile (J_IV) pinewood nematodes (PWNs), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, only introduced few bacteria to its vector beetle, Monochamus alternatus (Ma). J_IV showed weak binding ability to five dominant bacteria species isolated from the beetles’ pupal chamber. This was especially the case for binding to the opportunistic pathogenic species Serratia marcescens; the nematodes’ bacteria binding ability at this critical stage when it infiltrates Ma for dispersal was much weaker compared with Caenorhabditis elegans, Diplogasteroides asiaticus, and propagative-stage PWN. The associated bacterium S. marcescens, which was isolated from the beetles’ pupal chambers, was unfavorable to Ma, because it caused a higher mortality rate upon injection into tracheae. In addition, S. marcescens in the tracheae caused more immune effector disorders compared with PWN alone. Ma_Galectin2 (MaGal2), a pattern-recognition receptor, was up-regulated following PWN loading. Recombinant MaGal2 protein formed aggregates with five dominant associated bacteria in vitro. Moreover, MaGal2 knockdown beetles had up-regulated prophenoloxidase gene expression, increased phenoloxidase activity, and decreased PWN loading. Our study revealed a previously unknown strategy for immune evasion of this plant pathogen inside its vector, and provides novel insights into the role of bacteria in parasite–host interactions.     

用蜗牛酶提取和提纯隐球菌DNA

本文介绍一种提取和提纯隐球菌DNA的方法。将蜗牛酶消化后所得的原生质体,用SE液反复洗涤以除去夹膜多糖,并用55℃热处理裂解原生质体,使DNA的提取和提纯得到了满意的结果。每克湿菌可获得600μg以上的DNA,而且所得的DNA样品特别适合于用T_(?)法测定DNA G+以C mol%含量。     

Segmental Kinematic Coupling of the Human Spinal Column during Locomotion

As one of the most important daily motor activities, human locomotion has been investigated intensively in recent decades. The locomotor functions and mechanics of human lower limbs have become relatively well understood. However, so far our understanding of the motions and functional contributions of the human spine during locomotion is still very poor and simultaneous in-vivo limb and spinal column motion data are scarce. The objective of this study is to investigate the delicate in-vivo kinematic coupling between different functional regions of the human spinal column during locomotion as a stepping stone to explore the locomotor function of the human spine complex. A novel infrared reflective marker cluster system was constrncted using stereophotogrammetry techniques to record the 3D in-vivo geometric shape of the spinal column and the segmental position and orientation of each functional spinal region simultaneously. Gait measurements of normal walking were conducted. The preliminary results show that the spinal column shape changes periodically in the frontal plane during locomotion. The segmental motions of different spinal functional regions appear to be strongly coupled, indicating some synergistic strategy may be employed by the human spinal column to facilitate locomotion. In contrast to traditional medical imaging-based methods, the proposed technique can be used to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the spinal column, hence providing more insight into the functional biomechanics of the human spine.     

Caveolin-1 identified as a key mediator of acute lung injury using bioinformatics and functional research

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a potentially life-threatening, devastating disease with an extremely high rate of mortality. The underlying mechanism of ALI is currently unclear. In this study, we aimed to confirm the hub genes associated with ALI and explore their functions and molecular mechanisms using bioinformatics methods. Five microarray datasets available in GEO were used to perform Robust Rank Aggregation (RRA) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the key genes were identified via the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Lipopolysaccharide intraperitoneal injection was administered to establish an ALI model. Overall, 40 robust DEGs, which are mainly involved in the inflammatory response, protein catabolic process, and NF-κB signaling pathway were identified. Among these DEGs, we identified two genes associated with ALI, of which the CAV-1/NF-κB axis was significantly upregulated in ALI, and was identified as one of the most effective targets for ALI prevention. Subsequently, the expression of CAV-1 was knocked down using AAV-shCAV-1 or CAV-1-siRNA to study its effect on the pathogenesis of ALI in vivo and in vitro. The results of this study indicated that CAV-1/NF-κB axis levels were elevated in vivo and in vitro, accompanied by an increase in lung inflammation and autophagy. The knockdown of CAV-1 may improve ALI. Mechanistically, inflammation was reduced mainly by decreasing the expression levels of CD3 and F4/80, and activating autophagy by inhibiting AKT/mTOR and promoting the AMPK signaling pathway. Taken together, this study provides crucial evidence that CAV-1 knockdown inhibits the occurrence of ALI, suggesting that the CAV-1/NF-κB axis may be a promising therapeutic target for ALI treatment.Subject terms: Cell signalling, Respiratory tract diseases     

华南地区淡水水鳖科植物的生态特征和群落学观察

本文讨论了华南地区淡水水鳖科植物的生活条件、水生生态的适应特点,研究了该科植物水白菜、水菜花、水筛、黑藻、苦草、大苦草、软骨草等植物所组成群落的群落学特征。     

Hemin with Peroxidase Activity Can Inhibit the Oxidative Damage Induced by Ultraviolet A

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), a highly reactive substance that contains oxygen, induced by ultraviolet A (UVA) cause oxidative damage to skin. We confirmed that hemin can catalyze the reaction of tyrosine (Tyr) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Catalysis was found to effectively reduce or eliminate oxidative damage to cells induced by H₂O₂ or UVA. The scavenging effects of hemin for other free-radical ROS were also evaluated through pyrogallol autoxidation, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH·)-scavenging assays, and phenanthroline–Fe²⁺ assays. The results show that a mixture of hemin and tyrosine exhibits strong scavenging activities for H₂O₂, superoxide anion (O₂⁻·), DPPH·, and the hydroxyl radical (·OH). Furthermore, the inhibition of oxidative damage to human skin keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells induced by H₂O₂ or UVA was evaluated. The results show that catalysis can significantly reduce the ratio of cell apoptosis and death and inhibit the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), as well as accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, the resistance to apoptosis was found to be enhanced. These results show that the mixture of hemin and tyrosine has a significantly protective effect against oxidative damage to HaCaT cells caused by UVA, suggesting it as a protective agent for combating UVA damage.     

Alterations and Mechanism of Gut Microbiota in Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

To explore the role of gut microbiota in Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Seventy fecal samples were collected, including 27 patients with GD, 27 with HT, and 16 samples from healthy volunteers. Chemiluminescence was used to detect thyroid function and autoantibodies (FT3, FT4, TSH, TRAb, TGAb, and TPOAb); thyroid ultrasound and 16S sequencing were used to analyze the bacteria in fecal samples; KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) and COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups) were used to analyze the functional prediction and pathogenesis. The overall structure of gut microbiota in the GD and HT groups was significantly different from the healthy control group. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria contents were the highest in the HT group. Compared to the control group, the GD and HT groups had a higher abundance of Erysipelotrichia, Cyanobacteria, and Ruminococcus_2 and lower levels of Bacillaceae and Megamonas. Further analysis of KEGG found that the “ABC transporter” metabolic pathway was highly correlated with the occurrence of GD and HT. COG analysis showed that the GD and HT groups were enriched in carbohydrate transport and metabolism compared to the healthy control group but not in amino acid transport and metabolism. Our data suggested that Bacillus, Blautia, and Ornithinimicrobium could be used as potential markers to distinguish GD and HT from the healthy population and that “ABC transporter” metabolic pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of GD and HT.