Association of Cerebral Networks in Resting State with Sexual Preference of Homosexual Men: A Study of Regional Homogeneity and Functional Connectivity

Recent imaging studies have shown that brain morphology and neural activity during sexual arousal differ between homosexual and heterosexual men. However, functional differences in neural networks at the resting state is unknown. The study is to characterize the association of homosexual preference with measures of regional homogeneity and functional connectivity in the resting state. Participants were 26 healthy homosexual men and 26 age-matched healthy heterosexual men in whom we collected echo planar magnetic resonance imaging data in the resting state. The sexual orientation was evaluated using the Kinsey Scale. We first assessed group differences in regional homogeneity and then, taking the identified differences as seed regions, we compared groups in measures of functional connectivity from those seeds. The behavioral significances of the differences in regional homogeneity and functional connectivity were assessed by examining their associations with Kinsey Scores. Homosexual participants showed significantly reduced regional homogeneity in the left inferior occipital gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, right superior occipital gyrus, left cuneus, right precuneus, and increased regional homogeneity in rectal gyrus, bilateral midbrain, and left temporal lobe. Regional homogeneity correlated positively with Kinsey scores in the left inferior occipital gyrus. The homosexual group also showed reduced functional connectivity between left middle temporal gyrus, left supra-marginal gyrus, right cuneus and the seed region, i.e. left inferior occipital gyrus. Additionly, the connection between the left inferior occipital gyrus and right thalamus correlated positively with Kinsey scores. These differences in regional homogeneity and functional connectivity may contribute to a better understanding of the neural basis of male sexual orientation.     

TNNI3K,a Cardiac-Specific Kinase,Promotes Physiological Cardiac Hypertrophy in Transgenic Mice

Purpose

Protein kinase plays an essential role in controlling cardiac growth and hypertrophic remodeling. The cardiac troponin I-interacting kinase (TNNI3K), a novel cardiac specific kinase, is associated with cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. However, the precise function of TNNI3K in regulating cardiac remodeling has remained controversial.

Methods and Results

In a rat model of cardiac hypertrophy generated by transverse aortic constriction, myocardial TNNI3K expression was significantly increased by 1.62 folds (P<0.05) after constriction for 15 days. To investigate the role of TNNI3K in cardiac hypertrophy, we generated transgenic mouse lines with overexpression of human TNNI3K specifically in the heart. At the age of 3 months, the high-copy-number TNNI3K transgenic mice demonstrated a phenotype of concentric hypertrophy with increased heart weight normalized to body weight (1.31 fold, P<0.01). Echocardiography and non-invasive hemodynamic assessments showed enhanced cardiac function. No necrosis or myocyte disarray was observed in the heart of TNNI3K transgenic mice. This concentric hypertrophy maintained up to 12 months of age without cardiac dysfunction. The phospho amino acid analysis revealed that TNNI3K is a protein-tyrosine kinase. The yeast two-hybrid screen and co-immunoprecipitation assay identified cTnI as a target for TNNI3K. Moreover, TNNI3K overexpression induced cTnI phosphorylation at Ser22/Ser23 in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that TNNI3K is a novel upstream regulator for cTnI phosphorylation.

Conclusion

TNNI3K promotes a concentric hypertrophy with enhancement of cardiac function via regulating the phosphorylation of cTnI. TNNI3K could be a potential therapeutic target for preventing from heart failure.     

顺反式肉桂醛对肉源隆德假单胞菌生物被膜和致腐性的抑制作用

【目的】为比较反式和顺式肉桂醛对肉源假单胞菌生物被膜和致腐性的影响。【方法】通过平板计数测定两种肉桂醛对隆德假单胞菌的最小抑菌浓度(MIC),结晶紫法、珠涡流法、激光共聚焦显微镜观察、福林法等检测亚抑菌浓度肉桂醛处理下隆德假单胞菌生物被膜形成、运动性和胞外酶活性变化。荧光定量RT-PCR检测肉桂醛对隆德假单胞菌粘附lapA、鞭毛fliC、蛋白酶aprX和脂肪酶lip基因表达量的影响。【结果】反式和顺式肉桂醛对隆德假单胞菌的MIC分别为200μg/mL和225μg/mL,1/8 MIC、1/4MIC、1/2MIC亚抑菌浓度肉桂醛显著降低隆德假单胞菌生物被膜结晶紫和粘附性,其中1/2MIC反式和顺式肉桂醛处理下被膜分别减少60.27%和52.05%,菌体粘附降低56.35%和61.10%。亚抑菌浓度肉桂醛显著减少被膜厚度,反式肉桂醛还能显著杀灭被膜菌。且肉桂醛能显著抑制菌体的泳动性,反式肉桂醛对生物被膜和泳动性的抑制效果更强。肉桂醛还能抑制隆德假单胞菌蛋白酶和脂肪酶活性,其中1/2MIC反式和顺式肉桂醛处理下菌体蛋白酶分别减少61.90%和76.19%,脂肪酶降低40.17%和47.01%。且发现肉桂醛显著降低lapA、fliC、aprX和lip表达量,其中1/2MIC反式和顺式肉桂醛分别降低4个基因表达量至对照组的0.05–0.16和0.02–0.12倍。【结论】两种亚抑菌浓度肉桂醛异构体显著抑制隆德假单胞菌生物被膜和致腐性,其中反式肉桂醛对生物被膜抑制较强,而顺式肉桂醛更有效地降低致腐酶活性,其与肉桂醛下调相应基因表达密切相关。     

Wild-type rabies virus induces autophagy in human and mouse neuroblastoma cell lines

Different rabies virus (RABV) strains have their own biological characteristics, but little is known about their respective impact on autophagy. Therefore, we evaluated whether attenuated RABV HEP-Flury and wild-type RABV GD-SH-01 strains triggered autophagy. We found that GD-SH-01 infection significantly increased the number of autophagy-like vesicles, the accumulation of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-LC3 fluorescence puncta and the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II, while HEP-Flury was not able to induce this phenomenon. When evaluating autophagic flux, we found that GD-SH-01 infection triggers a complete autophagic response in the human neuroblastoma cell line (SK), while autophagosome fusion with lysosomes was inhibited in a mouse neuroblastoma cell line (NA). In these cells, GD-SH-01 led to apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction while triggering autophagy, and apoptosis could be decreased by enhancing autophagy. To further identify the virus constituent causing autophagy, 5 chimeric recombinant viruses carrying single genes of HEP-Flury instead of those of GD-SH-01 were rescued. While the HEP-Flury virus carrying the wild-type matrix protein (M) gene of RABV triggered LC3-I to LC3-II conversion in SK and NA cells, replacement of genes of nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P) and glycoprotein (G) produced only minor autophagy. But no one single structural protein of GD-SH-01 induced autophagy. Moreover, the AMPK signaling pathway was activated by GD-SH-01 in SK. Therefore, our data provide strong evidence that autophagy is induced by GD-SH-01 and can decrease apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, the M gene of GD-SH-01 may cooperatively induce autophagy.     

DFT investigation on the decarboxylation mechanism of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ortho</Emphasis> hydroxy benzoic acids with acid catalysis

A density functional theory (DFT) study was performed to explore the mechanisms of the acid-catalyzed decarboxylation reaction of salicylic acids using the B3LYP method with 6-31++G(d,p) basis set in both gas phase and aqueous environment. The α-protonated cation of carboxylate acid was formed during the decarboxylation process in acidic conditions, and the presence of hydrogen ions promotes decarboxylation greatly by significantly decreasing the overall reaction energy barriers to 20.98 kcal mol^?1 in gas phase and 20.93 kcal mol^?1 in water, respectively. The hydrogen in the α-carbon came directly from the acid rather than from the carboxyl group in neutral state. Compared with the reaction in gas phase, water in aqueous state causes the reaction to occur more easily. Substituents of methyl group, chlorine and fluorine at the ortho-position to the carboxyl of salicylic acid could further lower the decarboxylation energy barriers and facilitate the reaction.     

Jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase regulates development and herbivory‐induced defense response in rice

Jasmonic acid(JA) and related metabolites play a key role in plant defense and growth. JA carboxyl methyltransferase(JMT) may be involved in plant defense and development by methylating JA to methyl jasmonate(Me JA) and thus influencing the concentrations of JA and related metabolites. However, no JMT gene has been well characterized in monocotyledon defense and development at the molecular level. After we cloned a rice JMT gene,Os JMT1, whose encoding protein was localized in the cytosol, we found that the recombinant Os JMT1 protein catalyzed JA to Me JA. Os JMT1 is up-regulated in response to infestation with the brown planthopper(BPH; Nilaparvata lugens). Plants in which Os JMT1 had been overexpressed(oeJMT plants) showed reduced height and yield. These oe-JMT plants also exhibited increased Me JA levels but reduced levels of herbivore-induced JA and jasmonoyl-isoleucine(JAIle). The oe-JMT plants were more attractive to BPH female adults but showed increased resistance to BPH nymphs,probably owing to the different responses of BPH female adults and nymphs to the changes in levels of H_2O_2 and Me JA in oe-JMT plants. These results indicate that Os JMT1,by altering levels of JA and related metabolites, plays a role in regulating plant development and herbivore-induced defense responses in rice.