The function of TLR4 in interferon gamma or interleukin-13 exposed and lipopolysaccharide stimulated gingival epithelial cell cultures

Gingival epithelial cells are part of the first line of host defense against infection. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) serve important immune and nonimmune functions. We investigated how interferon gamma (INF-γ) and interleukin 13 (IL-13) are involved in the TLR4 ligand-induced regulation of interleukin-8 (IL-8) effects on gingival epithelial cells. We used immunohistochemistry to localize TLR4 in ten healthy and ten periodontitis tissue specimens. Gingival epithelial cells then were primed with Th1 cytokine (INF-γ) or Th2 cytokine (IL-13) before stimulation with Escherichia coli-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect the level of IL-8 secretion in cell culture supernatants. Although both healthy and periodontitis gingival tissue samples expressed TLR4, the periodontitis samples showed more intense expression on gingival epithelial cells. Gingival epithelial cell cultures were primed with either INF-γ or IL-13 before stimulation with TLR4 ligand. Supernatants from co-stimulated epithelial cells exhibited IL-8 production in opposite directions, i.e., as one stimulates the release, the other reduces the release. INF-γ significantly increased TLR4 function, whereas IL-13 significantly decreased TLR4 function, i.e., production of IL-8. Pathogen associated molecular pattern-LPS, shared by many different periodonto-pathogenic bacteria, activates the gingival epithelial cells in a TLR-dependent manner. Diminished or increased TLR function in gingival epithelial cells under the influence of different Th cell types may protect or be harmful due to the altered TLR signaling.     

Geographic variations of seasonality and coexistence in communities: The role of diversity and climate

One of the most conspicuous and widely analyzed patterns in ecology is the latitudinal gradient in species richness. Over the 200 years since its recognition, several hypotheses have accumulated in order to account for spatial variations in diversity. Geographic variations in seasonality have been repeatedly proposed as a determinant of community richness. However, the geographic structure of community seasonality has not yet been analyzed. In the present work we evaluated three hypotheses that account for variations in the temporal structuring of communities: first, environmental seasonality determines community seasonality; second, community richness determines its degree of structuring; and third, the presence of an increase in species segregation with latitude, reflected in a pattern of species negative co‐occurrence. The hypotheses were evaluated using path analysis on 29 amphibian communities from South America, connecting latitude, environmental conditions, diversity, seasonality, and coexistence structure – nestedness and negative co‐occurrence – within communities. Latitude positively affects community seasonality through an increase in temperature seasonality, but a weak negative direct effect suggests that other variables not considered in the model – such as the strength of biotic interactions – could also be involved. Both latitude and diversity (directly and indirectly) determine an increase in negative co‐occurrence and nestedness. This suggests that groups of species that are mutually nested in time are internally segregated. Further, the strength of this structure is determined by community diversity and latitude. Temporal structuring of a community is associated with latitude and diversity, pointing to the existence of a systematic change in community organization far beyond, but probably interrelated, with the recognized latitudinal trend in richness. The available information and analysis supported the three hypotheses evaluated.     

Local adaptation in populations of a Brachionus group plicatilis cryptic species inhabiting three deep crater lakes in Central Mexico

1. Salinity is a strong selective force for many aquatic organisms, affecting both ecological and evolutionary processes. Most of our knowledge on the effects of salinity on rotifers in the Brachionus plicatilis species complex is based mainly on populations from waterbodies that experience broad environmental changes both seasonally and annually. We tested the hypothesis that, despite the supposedly high potential for gene flow among rotifers inhabiting neighbouring environments, constant salinity has promoted local adaptation, genetic population divergence and even cryptic speciation in B. plicatilis complex populations from three deep maar lakes of distinct salinities [1.1, 6.5 and 9.0 g L^?1 total dissolved solids (TDS)] in Central Mexico. 2. To look for local adaptation, we performed common garden experiments to test the effect of different salinities on population density and intrinsic growth rate (r). Then, we evaluated the genetic divergence by sequencing the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and performed reproductive trials to assess the potential gene flow among the three populations and with other closely related B. plicatilis complex species. 3. We confirmed that the rotifer populations have phenotypic plasticity in tolerance of salinity, but only rotifers from the least saline lake are adapted to low salinity. Among the populations, sequence divergence at COI was very low (just a single haplotype was found), suggesting a persistent founder effect from a relatively recent single colonisation event and a subsequent dispersal from one lake to the others, and a very restricted immigration rate. In the phylogenetic analysis, rotifers from this area of Mexico clustered in the same clade with the middle‐sized species Brachionus ibericus and B. sp. ‘Almenara’. Mexican rotifers showed successful recognition, copulation and formation of hybrids among them, but interpopulation breeding with the Spanish B. ibericus and B. sp. ‘Almenara’ was unsuccessful. 4. We conclude that the B. plicatilis complex populations from these three lakes belong to a new biological species not yet described (presently named B. sp. ‘Mexico’). To our knowledge, this is the first report of local adaptation of a natural B. plicatilis complex population living in freshwater conditions (1.1 g L^?1 TDS).     

The chloroplast triggers developmental reprogramming when mutS HOMOLOG1 is suppressed in plants

Multicellular eukaryotes demonstrate nongenetic, heritable phenotypic versatility in their adaptation to environmental changes. This inclusive inheritance is composed of interacting epigenetic, maternal, and environmental factors. Yet-unidentified maternal effects can have a pronounced influence on plant phenotypic adaptation to changing environmental conditions. To explore the control of phenotypy in higher plants, we examined the effect of a single plant nuclear gene on the expression and transmission of phenotypic variability in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). MutS HOMOLOG1 (MSH1) is a plant-specific nuclear gene product that functions in both mitochondria and plastids to maintain genome stability. RNA interference suppression of the gene elicits strikingly similar programmed changes in plant growth pattern in six different plant species, changes subsequently heritable independent of the RNA interference transgene. The altered phenotypes reflect multiple pathways that are known to participate in adaptation, including altered phytohormone effects for dwarfed growth and reduced internode elongation, enhanced branching, reduced stomatal density, altered leaf morphology, delayed flowering, and extended juvenility, with conversion to perennial growth pattern in short days. Some of these effects are partially reversed with the application of gibberellic acid. Genetic hemicomplementation experiments show that this phenotypic plasticity derives from changes in chloroplast state. Our results suggest that suppression of MSH1, which occurs under several forms of abiotic stress, triggers a plastidial response process that involves nongenetic inheritance.     

Diabetes abolish cardioprotective effects of remote ischemic conditioning: evidences and possible mechanisms

Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry - Diabetes mellitus significantly hampers the development of cardioprotective response to remote pre/post/perconditioning stimuli by impairing the activation...