Divergence of larval resource acquisition for water conservation and starvation resistance in Drosophila melanogaster

Laboratory selection experiments have evidenced storage of energy metabolites in adult flies of desiccation and starvation resistant strains of D. melanogaster but resource acquisition during larval stages has received lesser attention. For wild populations of D. melanogaster, it is not clear whether larvae acquire similar or different energy metabolites for desiccation and starvation resistance. We tested the hypothesis whether larval acquisition of energy metabolites is consistent with divergence of desiccation and starvation resistance in darker and lighter isofemale lines of D. melanogaster. Our results are interesting in several respects. First, we found contrasting patterns of larval resource acquisition, i.e., accumulation of higher carbohydrates during 3rd instar larval stage of darker flies versus higher levels of triglycerides in 1st and 2nd larval instars of lighter flies. Second, 3rd instar larvae of darker flies showed ~40?h longer duration of development at 21°C; and greater accumulation of carbohydrates (trehalose and glycogen) in fed larvae as compared with larvae non-fed after 150?h of egg laying. Third, darker isofemale lines have shown significant increase in total water content (18%); hemolymph (86%) and dehydration tolerance (11%) as compared to lighter isofemale lines. Loss of hemolymph water under desiccation stress until death was significantly higher in darker as compared to lighter isofemale lines but tissue water loss was similar. Fourth, for larvae of darker flies, about 65% energy content is contributed by carbohydrates for conferring greater desiccation resistance while the larvae of lighter flies acquire 2/3 energy from lipids for sustaining starvation resistance; and such energy differences persist in the newly eclosed flies. Thus, larval stages of wild-caught darker and lighter flies have evolved independent physiological processes for the accumulation of energy metabolites to cope with desiccation or starvation stress.     

Constrictive pericarditis in a post–renal transplant patient: a case report

Introduction

Glomangiomas are rare soft tissue tumors originating from the perivascular tissue. The most common localization is in the dermis of the extremities, with a few reports of respiratory tract involvement.

Case presentation

We present the case of a 48-year-old Caucasian female patient with a glomangioma in her left lung. It was diagnosed incidentally as a coin lesion in a chest X-ray performed during preoperative work-up for a gastric Roux-en-Y bypass for alimentary obesity. A computed tomography scan of her chest revealed a lesion in her upper left lung lobe 31mm in diameter. After resection, a histopathological examination presented typical signs of a glomangioma, originating from the pulmonary parenchyma.

Conclusion

Glomangiomas of the lung are extremely rare. However, whenever incidental lesions in the lung parenchyma are found, glomangioma should be taken into diagnostic consideration. To the best of our knowledge, signs of malignancy have not previously been reported in the literature. In fact, this tumor entity shows benign behavior, with a low potential for recurrence after complete resection.     

Experimental study of myocardial bridges

Myocardial bridges were reproduced in dogs by transfer of a fragment of the left ventricular wall above the upper portion of the anterior interventricular artery. The viability of this bridge was shown by coronarography, anatomic, histologic and electron microscopic studies, illustrating the vascular patency and the integrity of blood vessels and neighbouring myocardium in the cases postoperatively heparinized. The experimental model efficiency was also proved by ECG examinations revealing ischemic distresses induced by compression of the bridge against the underlying artery.     

Pathogen-specific CD8 T cell responses are directly inhibited by IL-10

Regulation of CD8 T cell expansion and contraction is essential for successful immune defense against intracellular pathogens. IL-10 is a regulatory cytokine that can restrict T cell responses by inhibiting APC functions. IL-10, however, can also have direct effects on T cells. Although blockade or genetic deletion of IL-10 enhances T cell-mediated resistance to infections, the extent to which IL-10 limits in vivo APC function or T cell activation/proliferation remains unknown. Herein, we demonstrate that primary and memory CD8 T cell responses following Listeria monocytogenes infection are enhanced by the absence of IL-10. Surface expression of the IL-10R is transiently up-regulated on CD8 T cells following activation, suggesting that activated T cells can respond to IL-10 directly. Consistent with this notion, CD8 T cells lacking IL-10R2 underwent greater expansion than wild-type T cells upon L. monocytogenes infection. The absence of IL-10R2 on APCs, in contrast, did not enhance T cell responses following infection. Our studies demonstrate that IL-10 produced during bacterial infection directly limits expansion of pathogen-specific CD8 T cells and reveal an extrinsic regulatory mechanism that modulates the magnitude of memory T cell responses.     

Transcriptional Regulation of Cannabinoid Receptor-1 Expression in the Liver by Retinoic Acid Acting via Retinoic Acid Receptor-γ

Alcoholism can result in fatty liver that can progress to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Mice fed alcohol develop fatty liver through endocannabinoid activation of hepatic CB₁ cannabinoid receptors (CB₁R), which increases lipogenesis and decreases fatty acid oxidation. Chronic alcohol feeding also up-regulates CB₁R in hepatocytes in vivo, which could be replicated in vitro by co-culturing control hepatocytes with hepatic stellate cells (HSC) isolated from ethanol-fed mice, implicating HSC-derived mediator(s) in the regulation of hepatic CB₁R (Jeong, W. I., Osei-Hyiaman, D., Park, O., Liu, J., Bátkai, S., Mukhopadhyay, P., Horiguchi, N., Harvey-White, J., Marsicano, G., Lutz, B., Gao, B., and Kunos, G. (2008) Cell Metab. 7, 227–235). HSC being a rich source of retinoic acid (RA), we tested whether RA and its receptors may regulate CB₁R expression in cultured mouse hepatocytes. Incubation of hepatocytes with RA or RA receptor (RAR) agonists increased CB₁R mRNA and protein, the most efficacious being the RARγ agonist CD437 and the pan-RAR agonist TTNPB. The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) also increased hepatic CB₁R expression, which was mediated indirectly via RA, because it was absent in hepatocytes from mice lacking retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 1, the enzyme catalyzing the generation of RA from retinaldehyde. The binding of RARγ to the CB₁R gene 5′ upstream domain in hepatocytes treated with RAR agonists or 2-AG was confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift and antibody supershift assays. Finally, TTNPB-induced CB₁R expression was attenuated by small interfering RNA knockdown of RARγ in hepatocytes. We conclude that RARγ regulates CB₁R expression and is thus involved in the control of hepatic fat metabolism by endocannabinoids.     

Deciphering the Probiotic Potential of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens COFCAU_P1 Isolated from the Intestine of Labeo rohita Through In Vitro and Genetic Assessment

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - In this study, a bacterial strain COFCAU_P1, isolated from the digestive tract of a freshwater teleost rohu (Labeo rohita), was identified as Bacillus...     

Antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of bioactive phenolic metabolites isolated from the yeast-extract treated cell culture of apple

Buds of in vitro-grown shoots of two purple-fleshed potato genotypes were successfully cryopreserved by encapsulation-vitrification (Encap-vitri) and droplet-vitrification (Drop-vitri). Optimal time durations of exposure to PVS2 for shoot regrowth of cryopreserved buds were 5–7 h and 6 h for ‘E03-2677’ and for ‘Blue Congo’, respectively, in Encap-vitri, and 30–50 min and 40 min for the former and the latter, respectively, in Drop-vitri. Higher rates of shoot regrowth were obtained in 1.5–2.0 mm-buds than in 1.0–1.4 mm-ones in Encap-vitri for ‘E03-2677’ and ‘Blue Congo’, while opposite results were found in Drop-vitri. In ‘Blue Congo’, only apical shoot tips survived and developed into shoots, with one shoot produced in one cryopreserved bud in Encap-vitri and Drop-vitri. In ‘E03-2677’, survival and shoot regrowth patterns were similar to those of ‘Blue Congo’ in Encap-vitri. However, both apical and axillary shoot tips survived and developed into two shoots in one bud in Drop-vitri. In ‘E03-2677’, histological observations revealed only apical shoot tips survived following Encap-vitri, while both apical and axillary shoot tips survived following Drop-vitri. Vegetative growth in shoots regenerated from Encap-vitri and Drop-vitri after 3 weeks of post-thaw culture was significantly lower than that from control, but markedly increased after 6 months of post-thaw culture. In both ‘E03-2677’ and ‘Blue Congo’, number of microtubers per shoot, per vessel and ≥3 mm in diameter were significantly greater in shoots regenerated from Encap-vitri than in those from the control. Assessments by ISSR and RAPD of genetic stability did not find any polymorphic bands in regenerants recovered from Encap-vitri and Drop-vitri. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on cryopreservation of purple-fleshed potato by vitrification-based procedures. Results reported here would provide valuable basic and technical information on cryopreservation of purple-fleshed potato.