Understanding policing as a mechanism of cheater control in cooperating bacteria

Policing occurs in insect, animal and human societies, where it evolved as a mechanism maintaining cooperation. Recently, it has been suggested that policing might even be relevant in enforcing cooperation in much simpler organisms such as bacteria. Here, we used individual‐based modelling to develop an evolutionary concept for policing in bacteria and identify the conditions under which it can be adaptive. We modelled interactions between cooperators, producing a beneficial public good, cheaters, exploiting the public good without contributing to it, and public good‐producing policers that secrete a toxin to selectively target cheaters. We found that toxin‐mediated policing is favoured when (a) toxins are potent and durable, (b) toxins are cheap to produce, (c) cell and public good diffusion is intermediate, and (d) toxins diffuse farther than the public good. Although our simulations identify the parameter space where toxin‐mediated policing can evolve, we further found that policing decays when the genetic linkage between public good and toxin production breaks. This is because policing is itself a public good, offering protection to toxin‐resistant mutants that still produce public goods, yet no longer invest in toxins. Our work thus highlights that not only specific environmental conditions are required for toxin‐mediated policing to evolve, but also strong genetic linkage between the expression of public goods, toxins and toxin resistance is essential for this mechanism to remain evolutionarily stable in the long run.     

入侵植物马缨丹研究进展

马缨丹原产于热带美洲,现已扩散至世界热带和亚热带地区,并严重威胁入侵地本地植物的生长。马缨丹因具有观赏价值而被我国大量引进,但由于疏于管理,发展成为入侵杂草,对我国农业、畜牧业及生态环境造成严重危害。目前对马缨丹的入侵机制还没有全面系统的认识。本文从马缨丹的生物学特性、入侵机制、生态学效应、防治与应用等方面进行综述,总结其研究进展,以期为马缨丹的防治工作提供依据。研究结果显示:马缨丹成功入侵的关键因素源于其独特的生物学性征;对农林业造成的危害的原因主要为它的化感作用;马缨丹的防治方法主要包括物理、化学和生物防治;马缨丹在防虫除虫、污染修复、药用价值等方面有所应用。此外,分析当前研究中的不足后发现,今后应加强马缨丹在自然环境中的适应机制、应用潜力、防治方法等的研究。     

肿瘤转移的分子机制及靶向干预研究新进展

肿瘤转移是一个多阶段的恶性进展过程,涉及肿瘤细胞从原发部位逃逸,侵入脉管系统并在其中存活,随循环系统到达远处靶器官并穿出脉管系统播散定植,最终克隆性生长形成转移瘤。转移过程的每一阶段与肿瘤细胞本身遗传和表观遗传改变以及微环境中诸多因素的综合调控密切相关。本综述概要介绍了恶性肿瘤转移多步骤过程中所涉的分子调控机制以及肿瘤转移靶向干预新措施等方面的研究进展;同时,就未来肿瘤转移研究相关的新技术和新方向作一简单的展望。     

Magnetoreception in microorganisms and fungi

The ability to respond to magnetic fields is ubiquitous among the five kingdoms of organisms. Apart from the mechanisms that are at work in bacterial magnetotaxis, none of the innumerable magnetobiological effects are as yet completely understood in terms of their underlying physical principles. Physical theories on magnetoreception, which draw on classical electrodynamics as well as on quantum electrodynamics, have greatly advanced during the past twenty years, and provide a basis for biological experimentation. This review places major emphasis on theories, and magnetobiological effects that occur in response to weak and moderate magnetic fields, and that are not related to magnetotaxis and magnetosomes. While knowledge relating to bacterial magnetotaxis has advanced considerably during the past 27 years, the biology of other magnetic effects has remained largely on a phenomenological level, a fact that is partly due to a lack of model organisms and model responses; and in great part also to the circumstance that the biological community at large takes little notice of the field, and in particular of the available physical theories. We review the known magnetobiological effects for bacteria, protists and fungi, and try to show how the variegated empirical material could be approached in the framework of the available physical models.     

The release of elongated, sheathed ascospores from bottle-shaped asci in Dipodascus geniculatus

Yeasts use different mechanisms to release ascospores of different lengths from bottle-shaped asci. Round to oval-shaped ascospores are enveloped in oxylipin-coated compressible sheaths, enabling ascospores to slide past each other when they reach the narrowing ascus neck. However, more elongated ascospores do not contain sheaths, but are linked by means of oxylipin-coated interlocked hooked ridges on the surfaces of neighboring ascospores, thereby keeping them aligned while they are pushed towards the ascus tip by turgor pressure. In this study, we found elongated, oxylipin-coated sheathed ascospores in Dipodascus geniculatus that are released effectively from bottle-shaped asci without alignment. This is possible because the ascus neck and opening have a diameter that is the same as the length of the ascospore, thus allowing the ascospores to turn sideways without blocking the ascus when they are released. We found that increased concentrations of acetylsalicylic acid inhibit both ascospore release and 3-hydroxy oxylipin production in this yeast, thereby implicating this oxylipin in sexual reproduction.     

生物衍生止血材料研究进展

生物来源的胶原蛋白、明胶、纤维蛋白原、纤维素、淀粉以及壳聚糖等材料,因为其无毒性、良好的生物相容性、生物可降解性以及促凝血活性越来越受到研究者的青睐,成为更加优异的止血选择。本文综述目前止血材料的几种类型及相应的止血机理,重点讨论上述生物来源止血材料的基本结构、止血机理、市售产品及最新科研进展,并对其发展前景进行展望。     

肠道病毒71型致神经元病变的机制研究进展

中枢神经系统感染是由病原体侵犯中枢神经系统引起的一类具有较高的发病率和死亡率的疾病。病毒是引起中枢神经系统感染的重要病原体之一,其中肠道病毒71型在继发神经系统症状的重症手足口病患儿中较为常见。EV71致神经元病变是其感染中枢神经系统的基础,阐明肠道病毒71型致神经元病变的机制,不仅可以促进基础病毒学研究,也能为抗病毒药物的开发提供思路,对临床肠道病毒71型致中枢神经系统感染的治疗提供支持。本文主要从肠道病毒71型侵入神经元的受体途径、损伤神经元的线粒体途径、诱导凋亡与自噬、感染胶质细胞后对神经元的旁观者效应、免疫病理机制以及病毒自身因素等多个方面,对肠道病毒71型致神经元病变机制展开综述。     

Segmental foot and ankle kinematic differences between rectus,planus, and cavus foot types

The presence of multiple foot types has been used to explain the variability of foot structure observed among healthy adults. These foot types were determined by specific static morphologic features and included rectus (well aligned hindfoot/forefoot), planus (low arched), and cavus (high arched) foot types. Unique biomechanical characteristics of these foot types have been identified but reported differences in segmental foot kinematics among them has been inconsistent due to differences in neutral referencing and evaluation of only select discrete variables. This study used the radiographically-indexed Milwaukee Foot Model to evaluate differences in segmental foot kinematics among healthy adults with rectus, planus, and cavus feet based on the true bony alignment between segments. Based on the definitions of the individual foot types and due to conflicting results in previous literature, the primary study outcome was peak coronal hindfoot position during stance phase. Additionally, locally weighted regression smoothing with alpha-adjusted serial t-test analysis (LAAST) was used to compare these foot types across the entire gait cycle. Average peak hindfoot inversion was −1.6° ± 5.1°, 6.7° ± 3.5°, and 13.6° ± 4.6°, for the Planus, Rectus, and Cavus Groups, respectively. There were significant differences among all comparisons. Differences were observed between the Rectus and Planus Groups and Cavus and Planus Groups throughout the gait cycle. Additionally, the Planus Group had a premature peak velocity toward coronal varus and early transition toward valgus, likely due to a deficient windlass mechanism. This assessment of kinematic data across the gait cycle can help understand differences in dynamic foot function among foot types.     

Allosteric Inhibition as a New Mode of Action for BAY 1213790, a Neutralizing Antibody Targeting the Activated Form of Coagulation Factor XI

Factor XI (FXI), the zymogen of activated FXI (FXIa), is an attractive target for novel anticoagulants because FXI inhibition offers the potential to reduce thrombosis risk while minimizing the risk of bleeding. BAY 1213790, a novel anti-FXIa antibody, was generated using phage display technology. Crystal structure analysis of the FXIa–BAY 1213790 complex demonstrated that the tyrosine-rich complementarity-determining region 3 loop of the heavy chain of BAY 1213790 penetrated deepest into the FXIa binding epitope, forming a network of favorable interactions including a direct hydrogen bond from Tyr102 to the Gln451 sidechain (2.9 Å). The newly discovered binding epitope caused a structural rearrangement of the FXIa active site, revealing a novel allosteric mechanism of FXIa inhibition by BAY 1213790. BAY 1213790 specifically inhibited FXIa with a binding affinity of 2.4 nM, and in human plasma, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time and inhibited thrombin generation in a concentration-dependent manner.     

Exploring the antimalarial potential of the methoxy-thiazinoquinone scaffold: Identification of a new lead candidate

A small library of antiplasmodial methoxy-thiazinoquinones, rationally designed on the model of the previously identified hit 1, has been prepared by a simple and inexpensive procedure. The synthetic derivatives have been subjected to in vitro pharmacological screening, including antiplasmodial and toxicity assays. These studies afforded a new lead candidate, compound 9, endowed with higher antiplasmodial potency compared to 1, a good selectivity index when tested against a panel of mammalian cells, no toxicity against RBCs, a synergistic antiplasmodial action in combination with dihydroartemisinin, and a promising inhibitory activity on stage V gametocyte growth. Computational studies provided useful insights into the structural requirements needed for the antiplasmodial activity of thiazinoquinone compounds and on their putative mechanism of action.