Population genetics and phylogenetics of DNA sequence variation at multiple loci within the Drosophila melanogaster species complex

Two regions of the genome, a 1-kbp portion of the zeste locus and a 1.1- kbp portion of the yolk protein 2 locus, were sequenced in six individuals from each of four species: Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, D. mauritiana, and D. sechellia. The species and strains were the same as those of a previous study of a 1.9-kbp region of the period locus. No evidence was found for recent balancing or directional selection or for the accumulation of selected differences between species. Yolk protein 2 has a high level of amino acid replacement variation and a low level of synonymous variation, while zeste has the opposite pattern. This contrast is consistent with information on gene function and patterns of codon bias. Polymorphism levels are consistent with a ranking of effective population sizes, from low to high, in the following order: D. sechellia, D. melanogaster, D.mauritiana, and D. simulans. The apparent species relationships are very similar to those suggested by the period locus study. In particular, D. simulans appears to be a large population that is still segregating variation that arose before the separation of D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. It is estimated that the separation of ancestral D. melanogaster from the other species occurred 2.5-3.4 Mya. The separations of D. sechellia and D. mauritiana from ancestral D. simulans appear to have occurred 0.58- 0.86 Mya, with D. mauritiana having diverged from ancestral D. simulans 0.1 Myr more recently than D. sechellia.      

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> inhibits <Emphasis Type="Italic">in-vitro Candida</Emphasis> biofilm development

Background  

Elucidation of the communal behavior of microbes in mixed species biofilms may have a major impact on understanding infectious diseases and for the therapeutics. Although, the structure and the properties of monospecies biofilms and their role in disease have been extensively studied during the last decade, the interactions within mixed biofilms consisting of bacteria and fungi such as Candida spp. have not been illustrated in depth. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interspecies interactions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and six different species of Candida comprising C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. dubliniensis in dual species biofilm development.     

The accuracy of several multiple sequence alignment programs for proteins

Background  

There have been many algorithms and software programs implemented for the inference of multiple sequence alignments of protein and DNA sequences. The "true" alignment is usually unknown due to the incomplete knowledge of the evolutionary history of the sequences, making it difficult to gauge the relative accuracy of the programs.     

Changes in odor quality discrimination following recovery from olfactory nerve transection

Following recovery from olfactory nerve transection, animals regain their ability to discriminate between odors. Odor discrimination is restored after new neurons establish connections with the olfactory bulb. However, it is not known if the new connections alter odor quality perception. To address this question, 20 adult hamsters were first trained to discriminate between cinnamon and strawberry odors. After reaching criterion (> or = 90% correct response), half of the animals received a bilateral nerve transection (BTX) and half a surgical sham procedure. Animals were not tested again until day 40, a point in recovery when connections are re-established with the bulb. When BTX animals were tested without food reinforcement, they could not perform the odor discrimination task. Sham animals, however, could discriminate, demonstrating that the behavioral response had not been extinguished during the 40 day period. When reinforcement was resumed, BTX animals were able to discriminate between cinnamon and strawberry after four test sessions. In addition, their ability to discriminate between these two familiar odors was no different than that of BTX and sham animals tested with two novel odors, baby powder and coffee. These findings suggest that, after recovery from nerve transection, there are alterations in sensory perception and that restoration of odor quality discrimination requires that the animal must again learn to associate individual odor sensations with a behavioral response.      

Plasma proteome analysis in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis

Background

A new subgroup of HIV-1, designated Group P, was recently detected in two unrelated patients of Cameroonian origin. HIV-1 Group P phylogenetically clusters with SIVgor suggesting that it is the result of a cross-species transmission from gorillas. Until today, HIV-1 Group P has only been detected in two patients, and its degree of adaptation to the human host is largely unknown. Previous data have shown that pandemic HIV-1 Group M, but not non-pandemic Group O or rare Group N viruses, efficiently antagonize the human orthologue of the restriction factor tetherin (BST-2, HM1.24, CD317) suggesting that primate lentiviruses may have to gain anti-tetherin activity for efficient spread in the human population. Thus far, three SIV/HIV gene products (vpu, nef and env) are known to have the potential to counteract primate tetherin proteins, often in a species-specific manner. Here, we examined how long Group P may have been circulating in humans and determined its capability to antagonize human tetherin as an indicator of adaptation to humans.

Results

Our data suggest that HIV-1 Group P entered the human population between 1845 and 1989. Vpu, Env and Nef proteins from both Group P viruses failed to counteract human or gorilla tetherin to promote efficient release of HIV-1 virions, although both Group P Nef proteins moderately downmodulated gorilla tetherin from the cell surface. Notably, Vpu, Env and Nef alleles from the two HIV-1 P strains were all able to reduce CD4 cell surface expression.

Conclusions

Our analyses of the two reported HIV-1 Group P viruses suggest that zoonosis occurred in the last 170 years and further support that pandemic HIV-1 Group M strains are better adapted to humans than non-pandemic or rare Group O, N and P viruses. The inability to antagonize human tetherin may potentially explain the limited spread of HIV-1 Group P in the human population.     

Anti-Peptide Monoclonal Antibodies Generated for Immuno-Multiple Reaction Monitoring-Mass Spectrometry Assays Have a High Probability of Supporting Western blot and ELISA

Immunoaffinity enrichment of peptides coupled to targeted, multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry (immuno-MRM) has recently been developed for quantitative analysis of peptide and protein expression. As part of this technology, antibodies are generated to short, linear, tryptic peptides that are well-suited for detection by mass spectrometry. Despite its favorable analytical performance, a major obstacle to widespread adoption of immuno-MRM is a lack of validated affinity reagents because commercial antibody suppliers are reluctant to commit resources to producing anti-peptide antibodies for immuno-MRM while the market is much larger for conventional technologies, especially Western blotting and ELISA. Part of this reluctance has been the concern that affinity reagents generated to short, linear, tryptic peptide sequences may not perform well in traditional assays that detect full-length proteins. In this study, we test the feasibility and success rates of generating immuno-MRM monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (targeting tryptic peptide antigens) that are also compatible with conventional, protein-based immuno-affinity technologies. We generated 40 novel, peptide immuno-MRM assays and determined that the cross-over success rates for using immuno-MRM monoclonals for Western blotting is 58% and for ELISA is 43%, which compare favorably to cross-over success rates amongst conventional immunoassay technologies. These success rates could most likely be increased if conventional and immuno-MRM antigen design strategies were combined, and we suggest a workflow for such a comprehensive approach. Additionally, the 40 novel immuno-MRM assays underwent fit-for-purpose analytical validation, and all mAbs and assays have been made available as a resource to the community via the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium''s (CPTAC) Antibody (http://antibodies.cancer.gov) and Assay Portals (http://assays.cancer.gov), respectively. This study also represents the first determination of the success rate (92%) for generating mAbs for immuno-MRM using a recombinant B cell cloning approach, which is considerably faster than the traditional hybridoma approach.The ability to measure specific proteins of interest is critical to the basic sciences and clinical research. To this end, immunoaffinity-based assays such as Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and ELISAs have been in use for decades, but have several shortcomings including difficulty in multiplexing, a lack of standardization, and a semi-quantitative nature (e.g. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry) (1). Recently, there has been tremendous growth in using the sensitive, specific, multiplexable, and quantitative technology, multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry, to measure tryptic peptides as stoichiometric surrogates for the detection of proteins from complex samples (2–7). The sensitivity of targeted multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)¹ is enhanced 10³–10⁴-fold by coupling it upstream with immunoaffinity enrichment of tryptic peptides in a peptide immuno-MRM assay (8–14). Advantages of immuno-MRM include high specificity, multiplexability (15, 16), and standardization, enabling high inter-laboratory reproducibility (17).The extent to which antibodies generated for immuno-MRM could support widely-used conventional immunoassay formats has not been investigated. This question is important because a lack of validated affinity reagents is a major obstacle to widespread implementation of immuno-MRM, which has considerable analytical advantages over traditional methods. Because the market for immuno-MRM is at present small relative to that for widely adopted conventional immunoassay formats (e.g. Western blotting and ELISA), commercial antibody suppliers are not incentivized to develop content specifically for immuno-MRM assays. Thus, we reasoned that if antibodies could be generated that are capable of supporting both conventional technologies as well as the emerging MRM platform, this might spark commercial interest by increasing the value of the antibodies, ultimately providing reagents to foster widespread implementation of immuno-MRM.Antigens used for antibody generation in conventional assays typically consist of either purified proteins, protein segments of 100–150 amino acids, or synthetic peptide sequences (18, 19). Antigenic prediction algorithms are often used to identify regions of target proteins that are most likely to be exposed on the surface of the protein and, thus, accessible for antibody binding. In contrast, proteotypic peptide antigens are selected for development of antibodies for immuno-MRM based on their uniqueness in the genome and their robust detectability by mass spectrometry, without regard to protein structure (because the protein will be proteolyzed during the assay). Because some widely used conventional immunoassay formats (e.g. Western blotting and indirect ELISA) detect proteins in their denatured form, it was reasonable to ask whether antibodies raised against short, linear, tryptic peptides would also work in these alternative formats.Here, we develop, characterize, and make publicly available 40 novel immuno-MRM assays and the associated monoclonals, and report the success rate of generating recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that work in immuno-MRM assays. Furthermore, we determine the cross-over success rates of applying the mAbs in Western blotting and indirect ELISA assays.     

Bimodal effect of humic acids on the LPS-induced TNF-α release from differentiated U937 cells

Humic substances (HS) have been reported to possess anti-inflammatory as well as pro-inflammatory properties. The anti-inflammatory activity was demonstrated in the rat paw edema model and we found a preliminary explanation in the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitory effect of humic acids (HA). The pro-inflammatory activity is reflected by the production and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in HA-treated neutrophilic granulocytes. With regard to the potential use of HA as antiviral and UV-protective agents it appears advisable to investigate the role of HS in the inflammation process in more detail. Hence we tested four different HS preparations – two naturally occurring HA from the Altteich peatland in Germany, one fulvic acid (FA) preparation from a Finnish spruce forest and a synthetic HA-like polymer (caffeic acid oxidation product, KOP) for their influence on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-α release in human U937 cells. In addition, the cytotoxicity of HS was determined.The results demonstrate a concentration-dependent bimodal effect of HA on the TNF-α release of differentiated LPS-stimulated U937 cells for both the natural black peat HA from the Altteich peatland and the HA-like polymer KOP. Low HA concentrations (10–80 μg/ml) enhanced the TNF-α release by up to threefold (pro-inflammatory activity), while HA concentrations >100 μg/ml reduced it about 10-fold (anti-inflammatory activity). FA failed to enhance TNF-α release, but reduced it at higher concentrations (>200 μg/ml) by the half. Brown water HA did not exert any significant effect on TNF-α release. No HS-stimulated TNF-α release was also observed in the absence of exogenously supplied LPS. This means that HS, unlike endotoxin, are no inflammation-causing agents for LPS-untreated cells. Differences in the effect of individual HS on TNF-α release are discussed in connection with the polyanionic character of HS, their molecular mass distribution and the hitherto imperfectly known chemical structure.