Multifunction of the ER P-Type Calcium Pump Spf1 During Hyphal Development in Candida albicans

Mycopathologia - Candida albicans is one of the most important fungal pathogens. Hyphal development is required for the virulence of this pathogen. Our previous study has revealed that Spf1, an ER...     

Enhanced Expression of PD-L1 on Microglia After Surgical Brain Injury Exerts Self-Protection from Inflammation and Promotes Neurological Repair

Neurochemical Research - Neuroinflammation and brain edema are major complications in the pathophysiology of surgical brain injury (SBI). Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), an immune inhibitory...     

Universal stress protein in Malus sieversii confers enhanced drought tolerance

Journal of Plant Research - Drought is an important environmental factor that can severely affect plant growth and reproduction. Although many genes related to drought tolerance have been studied...     

When did the ancestor of true bugs become stinky? Disentangling the phylogenomics of Hemiptera–Heteroptera

The phylogeny of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), one of the most diverse insect groups in terms of morphology and ecology, has been the focus of attention for decades with respect to several deep nodes between the suborders of Hemiptera and the infraorders of Heteroptera. Here, we assembled a phylogenomic data set of 53 taxa and 3102 orthologous genes to investigate the phylogeny of Hemiptera–Heteroptera, and both concatenation and coalescent methods were used. A binode-control approach for data filtering was introduced to reduce the incongruence between different genes, which can improve the performance of phylogenetic reconstruction. Both hypotheses (Coleorrhyncha + Heteroptera) and (Coleorrhyncha + Auchenorrhyncha) received support from various analyses, in which the former is more consistent with the morphological evidence. Based on a divergence time estimation performed on genes with a strong phylogenetic signal, the origin of true bugs was dated to 290–268 Ma in the Permian, the time in Earth's history with the highest concentration of atmospheric oxygen. During this time interval, at least 1007 apomorphic amino acids were retained in the common ancestor of the extant true bugs. These molecular apomorphies are located in 553 orthologous genes, which suggests the common ancestor of the extant true bugs may have experienced large-scale evolution at the genome level.     

Identification and characterization of male specific serum proteins in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata

Two major and three minor male specific serum proteins (MSSPs) have been identified in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. All five MSSPs accumulate in the haemolymph during the first 3 days of the adult development and represent more than 50% of the total haemolymph proteins in the adult males. All MSSPs are dimeric proteins consisting of two subunits with molecular weights between 13.5 and 14.5 kDa. MSSP-1, 3, 4 and 5 are homodimers while MSSP-2 is a heterodimer. The two major MSSPs (MSSP-1 and 5) have been isolated. Antisera against these two MSSPs cross-react partially with each other's antigens but did not give any reaction with haemolymph from adult females and third instar larvae.     

Microwaves for electron microscopy

Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz, corresponding to wavelengths between 1 m and 1 mm, respectively. Microwaves interact with a wide variety of materials. In fact, they can be used to heat dielectric materials. Diffusion and chemical-reaction rates are influenced by temperature increase. Many authors believe that, if microwave irradiation is optimally applied, the resulting microscopical images are of superior quality, because of good process control.In order to develop good microwave recipes for EM it is important to face the following questions:

• 1.1. What is the influence of microwaves on the reagents?
• 2.2. What are the basic mechanisms behind the procedure?
• 3.3. What is the influence of temperature increase on the reaction rates?
• 4.4. What is the optimal temperature?
• 5.5. Does microwave irradiation cause destruction of, for instance, proteins or membranes?
• 6.6. How to program the microwave oven? How does the load (container with reagent, if any, and specimen) influence the microwave irradiation? How to place the container in the oven?

     

Loss of estrus in human evolution: Too many answers,too few questions

Models addressing the importance of “loss of estrus” in human evolution assume that, as part of a general trend among higher primates, endogenous hormonal fluctuations have less influence on human female sexuality than cognitive and socioenvironmental factors. The diversity of reproductive patterns among primate species is not satisfactorily explained as the outcome of evolutionary trends along dimensions such as brain enlargement, behavioral flexibility, or relative independence of behavior from physiology. Rather, the role of hormones and other factors must be viewed in the context of species' life history and ecological constraints. Human studies on the relationship between the menstrual cycle and sexual behavior have been limited to Western women in industrialized societies, which may not reveal evolved behavioral-physiological patterns. Furthermore, available studies have yielded inconsistent results. No single pattern emerges that can be said to characterize the human female, and no conclusion can be reached regarding the relationship between cyclic hormonal fluctuations and sexual behavior and, thus, whether human ovulation is concealed. Future studies are needed that are methodologically improved and systematically document the interaction among ecological, subsistence, social, and physiological variables.     

膝关节内干细胞/祖细胞在软骨再生中作用研究进展

关节软骨(AC)由于缺乏血管、神经和淋巴,一旦损伤无法自我修复.虽然以外源性细胞为基础的治疗策略在一定程度上能够再生关节软骨,但仍然存在手术间隔长、供体有限、细胞体外培养易去分化和病原体传播等风险.成人膝关节存在许多类型干细胞/祖细胞(SCPCs),当软骨损伤时,就会被动员,迁移到损伤部位,参与再生修复.因此,基于趋化...     

新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)蛋白靶位的生信分析

目前新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)疫情仍在全球肆虐,但尚无针对该病毒的治疗特效药.在此背景,以美国化学文摘社(Chemical Abstracts Service,CAS)提供的SARS-CoV-2病毒及宿主蛋白靶标为研究对象,运用基因功能富集、蛋白网络等方法进行生物信息分析.结果发现,人网格蛋白介导型内吞和依赖...