Activation of NF-κB in CD8+ dendritic cells Ex Vivo by the γ134.5 null mutant correlates with immunity against herpes simplex virus 1

The γ₁34.5 protein of herpes simplex viruses (HSV) is essential for virulence. Accordingly, an HSV mutant lacking γ₁34.5 is attenuated in vivo. Despite its vaccine potential, the mechanism by which the γ₁34.5 null mutant triggers protective immunity is unknown. In this report we show that vaccination with the γ₁34.5 null mutant protects against lethal challenge from wild-type virus via IκB kinase in dendritic cells (DCs), which sense virus-associated molecular patterns. Unlike mock-treated DCs, DCs primed with the γ₁34.5 null mutant ex vivo mediate resistance to wild-type HSV after adoptive transfer into naïve mice. Furthermore, the γ₁34.5 null mutant activates IκB kinase, which facilitates p65/RelA phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, resulting in DC maturation. While unable to produce infectious virus in DCs, this mutant virus expresses early and late genes. In its abortive infection, the γ₁34.5 null mutant induces protective immunity more effectively in CD8⁺ DCs than in CD8⁻ DCs. This is mirrored by a higher level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-12 secretion by CD8⁺ DCs than CD8⁻ DCs. Remarkably, inhibition of p65/RelA phosphorylation or nuclear translocation in CD8⁺ DCs disrupts protective immunity. These results suggest that engagement of the γ₁34.5 null mutant with CD8⁺ DCs elicits innate immunity to activate NF-κB, which translates into protective immunity.     

Different positions of males approaching towards females and male choices between webs with and without stabilimentum in a sexually cannibalistic orb‐web spider,Argiope bruennichi

Males of the orb‐weaving spider species Argiope bruennichi (Araneidae) are frequently victims of sexual cannibalism. Therefore, a male spider approaching a female should have strategies to avoid being killed before copulation. Our present field study detected six types of A. bruennichi male positions vis‐à‐vis the female web. In 78% of situations (39/50), only one male attached to a female. Two males attached to the same female in 11 cases. We observed no cases of three or more males on the same female web. We most commonly observed the situation of a male staying in its own web and connecting to a female's web with its silk thread (46% of cases). Of the female webs chosen by males, 68% were decorated with both an upper and lower portion of stabilimentum – a conspicuous white silk structure that reflects much more ultraviolet light than other spider silks in the web. Only 14% (7/50) of the selected webs lacked stabilimentum. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to investigate the males' choice between females' webs with and without stabilimentum. Of the 24 males used in the experiment, 10 chose webs with stabilimentum. This result did not show a strong preference of the male for stabilimentum between equally sized webs, and thus did not support an earlier suggestion that stabilimentum in A. bruennichi might function to guide males to females for mating.     

Non-peptidic substrate-mimetic inhibitors of Akt as potential anti-cancer agents

Akt has emerged as a critical target for the development of anti-cancer therapies. It has been found to be amplified, overexpressed, or constitutively activated in numerous human malignancies with oncogenesis derived from the simultaneous promotion of cell survival and suppression of apoptosis. A valuable alternative to the more common ATP-mimetic based chemotherapies is a substrate-mimetic approach, which has the potential advantage of inherent specificity of the substrate-binding pocket. In this paper we present the development of high affinity non-peptidic, substrate-mimetic inhibitors based on the minimum GSK3β substrate sequence. Optimization of initial peptidic leads resulted in the development of several classes of small molecule inhibitors, which have comparable potency to the initial peptidomimetics, while eliminating the remaining amino acid residues. We have identified the first non-peptidic substrate-mimetic lead inhibitors of Akt 29a–b, which have affinities of 17 and 12 μM, respectively. This strategy has potential to provide a useful set of molecular probes to assist in the validation of Akt as a potential target for anti-cancer drug design.     

Classification of hybrid and altered Vibrio cholerae strains by CTX prophage and RS1 element structure

Analysis of the CTX prophage and RS1 element in hybrid and altered Vibrio cholera O1 strains showed two classifiable groups. Group I strains contain a tandem repeat of classical CTX prophage on the small chromosome. Strains in this group either contain no element(s) or an additional CTX prophage or RS1 element(s) on the large chromosome. Group II strains harbor RS1 and CTX prophage, which has an E1 Tor type rstR and classical ctxB on the large chromosome.     

Revisiting the stratigraphic position of the Matuyama–Brunhes geomagnetic polarity boundary in Chinese loess

It is commonly accepted that the climate records in Chinese loess can be correlated well with that in marine sediments. However, discrepancies for the stratigraphic position of paleomagnetic polarity reversal boundary seriously restrict an accurate teleconnection between these two archives. For example, the exact stratigraphic position of the whole Matuyama–Brunhes (MB) transitional polarity zone remains uncertain in Chinese loess. In this study, an accurate transitional zone of the MB reversal from the Mangshan profile, southeast margin of the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), was statistically determined using multiple subsets of parallel samples. By integrating results from the central CLP, the whole MB transitional zone is consistently located across the pedostratigraphic and climatostratigraphic transitional zones between S8 and L8 over a wide region of the CLP. This conclusion further supports that the paleosol unit S8 should be teleconnected to the marine oxygen isotope stage 19 rather than 21, and thus unambiguously supplies an accurate age control in constructing a new loess time scale.     

Proteomic Analysis of Interactions Between the Generalist Herbivore <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spodoptera exigua</Emphasis> (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>

In this study, comparative proteomics was used to investigate the interaction of Spodoptera exigua and Arabidopsis thaliana. By using 2-D electrophoresis of differentially expressed proteins, combined with high-throughput matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, the changes in the abundance of proteins induced by insect feeding were studied in A. thaliana. More than 1,100 protein spots were reproducibly detected on each gel. The intensities of 30 protein spots in particular changed significantly, showing differences in volume of at least twofold. Among these, 17 protein spots were upregulated, and 13 were downregulated following an 8-h insect feeding period. Nineteen insect-feeding-responsive proteins were identified, all of which were involved in metabolic regulation, binding functions or cofactor requirement of protein, cell rescue, and defense and virulence, as assessed by Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences function category. About 50% of these were involved in metabolism, including transketolase, S-adenosylmethionine synthase 3, 2,3-biphosphoglycerate-independent phosphoglycerate mutase, beta-ureidopropionase, GDP-d-mannose 3′,5′-epimerase, and fatty acid synthase. The identification of insect-feeding-responsive proteins on Arabidopsis provides not only new insights into insect stress but also a good start for further investigation of their functions. Understanding how the plant responses to insects in the proteomic level will provide tools for a better management of insect pest in the field.     

Complete nucleotide sequence and organization of the mitogenome of the red-spotted apollo butterfly, Parnassius bremeri (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) and comparison with other lepidopteran insects

The 15,389-bp long complete mitogenome of the endangered red-spotted apollo butterfly, Parnassius bremeri (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) was determined in this study. The start codon for the COI gene in insects has been extensively discussed, and has long remained a matter of some controversy. Herein, we propose that the CGA (arginine) sequence functions as the start codon for the COI gene in lepidopteran insects, on the basis of complete mitogenome sequences of lepidopteran insects, including P. bremeri, as well as additional sequences of the COI start region from a diverse taxonomic range of lepidopteran species (a total of 53 species from 15 families). In our extensive search for a tRNA-like structure in the A+T-rich region, one tRNA^Trp-like sequence and one tRNA^Leu (UUR)-like sequence were detected in the P. bremeri A+T-rich region, and one or more tRNA-like structures were detected in the A+T-rich region of the majority of other sequenced lepidopteran insects, thereby indicating that such features occur frequently in the lepidopteran mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analysis using the concatenated 13 amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences of PCGs of the four macrolepidopteran superfamilies together with the Tortricoidea and Pyraloidea resulted in the successful recovery of a monophyly of Papilionoidea and a monophyly of Bombycoidea. However, the Geometroidea were unexpectedly identified as a sister group of the Bombycoidea, rather than the Papilionoidea.