Clearance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV) and immunological changes in experimentally injected Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Macrobrachium rosenbergii was experimentally challenged with Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV) to study the clearance of these viruses and consequent changes in various immunological parameters. The healthy animals were injected MrNV and XSV intramuscularly and various organ samples such as gill tissue, head soft tissue, pleopods and intestine were collected at different time intervals of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 d post-infection (p.i.) to study the viral clearance. Tissue tropism and clearing of MrNV and XSV were confirmed by RT-PCR, nested RT-PCR and bioassay. These 2 viruses failed to cause mortality or clinical signs of disease in injected adult prawns during the experimental period of 100 days. The result of RT-PCR analysis revealed that all the organs showed positive for both viruses by single step RT-PCR on 3, 5 and 10 d p.i., positive by nested RT-PCR on 15 and 20 d p.i. and all the organs became negative at 25 d p.i. onwards. The viral inoculum prepared from the tissue of MrNV and XSV-injected M. rosenbergii at 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 d p.i. caused 100% mortality in post-larvae of M. rosenbergii at 9, 8, 7, 10 and 10 d p.i., respectively whereas the inoculum prepared at 25, 50 and 100 d p.i. failed to cause significant mortality in post-larvae of prawn. Immunological parameters such as proPO, superoxide anion, SOD, THC, clotting time and oxyhemocyanin were determined in MrNV and XSV-injected prawns and significant differences in some of the immunological parameters were found in the early days p.i. and became insignificant in the later days p.i.     

Optimization of methods for peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolation and expansion of human gamma delta T cells

Human Vg9/Vδ2 T cells (γδ T cells) are immune surveillance cells both in innate and adaptive immunity and are a possible target for anticancer therapies, which can induce immune responses in a variety of cancers. Small non-peptide antigens such as zoledronate can do activation and expansion of T cells in vitro. It is evident that for adoptive cancer therapies, large numbers of functional cells are needed into cancer patients. Hence, optimization of methods needs to be carried out for the efficient expansion of these T cells. Standardization of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolation was devised. Cytokines (interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interleukin 15 (IL-15)) and zoledronate were also standardized for different concentrations. It was found that an increased number of PBMCs were recovered when washing was done at 1100 revolution per minute (rpm). Significantly high expansion fold was (2524 ± 787 expansion fold) achieved when stimulation of PBMCs was done with 1 µM of zoledronate and both cytokines IL-2 and IL-15 supported the expansion and survival of cells at the concentrations of 100 IU/ml and 10 ng/ml respectively. 14-day cultures showed highly pure (91.6 ± 5.1%) and live (96.5 ± 2.5%) expanded γδ T cells. This study aimed to standardize an easy to manipulate technique for the expansion of γδ T cells, giving a higher yield.     

Locomotion of an efficient biomechanical sperm through viscoelastic medium

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Every group of microorganism utilizes a diverse mechanical strategy to propel through complex environments. These swimming problems deal with the...     

Intraguild predation on the aphid parasitoid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aphelinus asychis</Emphasis> by the ladybird <Emphasis Type="Italic">Harmonia axyridis</Emphasis>

We investigated intraguild predation (IGP) on an aphid parasitoid, Aphelinus asychis Walker (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), by the multicolored Asian ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and used the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as the prey/host in the laboratory. The ladybirds reared on artificial diet and on aphids consumed more aphids than mummies, while those reared on parasitized aphids consumed similar numbers of aphids and mummies. The ladybirds chose more mummies in treatments when mummies were more abundant, and more aphids when numbers of aphids and mummies were equal, or when aphids were more abundant. However, at all density treatments, rejection rates of mummies (36%) were much greater than of aphids (2%). H. axyridis prey on more aphids than A. asychis mummies, which enhances biological control by the two species. However, prior feeding experience affected subsequent choice, increasing the competition between natural enemies which would reduce their combined effectiveness for biological control.     

Wound Healing Properties of Collagen from the Bone of Two Marine Fishes

Type I collagen was extracted from the bone of two marine fishes; Magalaspis cordyla and Otolithes ruber and its efficacy in wound healing was studied. The yields of acid soluble (30.5 and 27.6%) and pepsin soluble (45.1 and 48.6%) collagen were respectively as per their dry weight basis. Extracted protein was characterized as type I collagen basing on SDS PAGE, UV?CVis, FTIR spectrometer and amino acid composition. The characterized collagen was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde and found to possess three dimensional pores and acted efficiently in healing the excision wounds made on Wistar rats. Bone is generally considered as waste and discarded in many processing plant. But, the current study proved that it has excellent medicinal importance and reveals a possible way to convert this waste into a medicinally important source.     

Intraocular large B-cell lymphoma. A case report

BACKGROUND: Large cell lymphoma involving the vitreous humor is uncommon, and its diagnosis in the absence of central nervous system disease can be difficult. The major diagnostic difficulties with vitreous washings in the absence of ancillary studies are in the distinction of inflammatory lymphoid infiltrate from intraocular lymphoma or diagnosing lymphoma when only very few neoplastic cells are present. CASE: A 75-year-old, white male sought medical attention for bilateral blurred vision and decreased visual acuity of recent onset. A clinical diagnosis of bilateral uveitis to rule out primary intraocular lymphoma or an infectious process was made, and a right vitrectomy was performed. An unequivocal diagnosis of lymphoma could not be made due to the paucity of neoplastic cells on that specimen. Two months later smears from the Cytospin (Thermo Shandon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) prepared on the specimen from a left vitrectomy showed a greater number of large, pleomorphic cells. In addition, immunocytochemical staining confirmed the B-cell lineage of the neoplastic cells. Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement analysis performed by the polymerase chain reaction method on the frozen cell pellet from the left vitrectomy demonstrated the presence of a monoclonal B-cell population, confirming the diagnosis of large B-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSION: Vitreous cytology in conjunction with ancillary studies is a sensitive procedure in the diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma.     

Ultrastructural changes in cauda epididymidal epithelial cell types of Azadirachta indica leaf treated rats

To assess if cauda epididymis is a target for the effect of A. indica leaves, Wistar strain male albino rats were administered (po) A. indica leaves (100 mg/rat/day for 24 days). Transmission electron microscopic analysis revealed that in the cauda epididymal epithelium the nuclei of principal cells were enlarged and the number of coated micropinocytotic vesicles of the apical cytoplasm decreased. Microvilli were missing and mitochondrial cristae and Golgi complex were highly disrupted. The cytoplasm was abounding with lysosomal bodies. The clear cells increased in perimeter and their nuclei increased in size and contained lesser chromatin. The nuclear membrane bulged out. The cytoplasm was vacuolized. Further, there was decrease in size of the lipid droplets, mitochondria, Golgi complex, endoplasmic reticulum and there was accumulation of lysosomal bodies. The changes in the principal and clear cells appear to be due to the effect of the hypoandrogen status caused by treatment with A. indica leaves and a direct action on the epididymal epithelium.     

GIGANTEA influences leaf senescence in trees in two different ways

GIGANTEA (GI) genes have a central role in plant development and influence several processes. Hybrid aspen T89 (Populus tremula x tremuloides) trees with low GI expression engineered through RNAi show severely compromised growth. To study the effect of reduced GI expression on leaf traits with special emphasis on leaf senescence, we grafted GI-RNAi scions onto wild-type rootstocks and successfully restored growth of the scions. The RNAi line had a distorted leaf shape and reduced photosynthesis, probably caused by modulation of phloem or stomatal function, increased starch accumulation, a higher carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and reduced capacity to withstand moderate light stress. GI-RNAi also induced senescence under long day (LD) and moderate light conditions. Furthermore, the GI-RNAi lines were affected in their capacity to respond to “autumn environmental cues” inducing senescence, a type of leaf senescence that has physiological and biochemical characteristics that differ from those of senescence induced directly by stress under LD conditions. Overexpression of GI delayed senescence under simulated autumn conditions. The two different effects on leaf senescence under LD or simulated autumn conditions were not affected by the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T. GI expression regulated leaf senescence locally—the phenotype followed the genotype of the branch, independent of its position on the tree—and trees with modified gene expression were affected in a similar way when grown in the field as under controlled conditions. Taken together, GI plays a central role in sensing environmental changes during autumn and determining the appropriate timing for leaf senescence in Populus.

In the autumn deciduous trees respond to environmental signals and induce leaf senescence, and two different senescence pathways can be distinguished     

Effect of losartan and enalapril on cognitive deficit caused by Goldblatt induced hypertension

The present study was designed to evaluate the learning and memory, in an altered physiological state associated with increased blood pressure and activated renin angiotensin system in Wistar rats. The role of angiotensin in cognitive function was assessed by treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor enalapril (2 mg/kg), angiotensin 1 receptor (AT(1)) antagonist losartan (5 mg/kg) and their combination. The experimental renal hypertension was induced by the method of Goldblatt. Learning and memory was assessed using the radial arm maze test. Acetylcholine esterase (AChE) levels in the pons medulla, hippocampus, striatum and frontal cortex were measured as a cholinergic marker of learning and memory. Results indicate that in comparison to normotensive rats, renal hypertensive rats committed significantly higher number of errors and took more trials and days to learn the radial arm maze learning and exhibited memory deficit in the radial arm maze retrieval after two weeks of retention interval, indicating impaired acquisition and memory. Treatment with enalapril, losartan and their combination attenuated the observed memory deficits indicating a possible role of renin angiotensin system in cognitive function. AChE level was reduced in hippocampus and frontal cortex of renal hypertensive rats which could be attributed to the observed memory deficit in hypertensive rats. It can be concluded that, renal hypertensive rats had a poor acquisition, retrieval of the learned behavior, perhaps a possible disturbance in memory consolidation process and that this state was reversed with ACE inhibitor enalapril and AT 1 receptor antagonist losartan.