Leptin Signaling in the Arcuate Nucleus Reduces Insulin’s Capacity to Suppress Hepatic Glucose Production in Obese Mice

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Environmental filtering determines community patterns in temporary wetlands: a multi-taxon approach

Climate characteristics appear to play a key role in filtering organisms based on their biological traits. If this trait filtering by climate indeed occurs, it should have effects on the composition, dynamics, taxonomic relatedness and co-occurrence patterns of local assemblages, regardless of the taxonomic group considered. This preliminary study aimed to assess the extent to which environmental variables might determine these patterns in local communities and to evaluate whether the ultimate cross-taxon congruence relationships are consistent across, or dependent on, the selected region. To this end, we studied the bryophyte, macrophyte, macroinvertebrate, and amphibian communities in two clusters of temporary wetlands on the NE Iberian Peninsula under mesothermal and semiarid climates. We observed effects of environmental filtering, with the communities differing between the climatic regions not only in their compositions but also in their dynamics and taxonomic relatedness patterns. Although the cross-taxon congruence in terms of species richness was high in the mesothermal climate, most of the congruent relationships were disrupted in the semiarid environment. Overall, because climate-dependent patterns appear to prevail over climate-consistent ones, we suggest that the use of surrogate taxa may be of limited value when aiming to assess wetland biodiversity across large areas.     

Anti-hyperglycemic activity of a TGR5 agonist isolated from Olea europaea

Olive tree (Olea europeaea) leaves are well known for their effect on metabolism in particular as a traditional anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive herbal drug. These properties are until now only attributed to oleuropein, the major secoiridoid of olive leaves. Here we describe the isolation and the identification of another constituent implicated in the anti-diabetic effect of this plant, i.e. oleanolic acid. We show that this triterpene is an agonist for TGR5, a member of G-protein coupled receptor activated by bile acids and which mediates some of their various cellular and physiological effect. Oleanolic acid lowers serum glucose and insulin levels in mice fed with a high fat diet and it enhances glucose tolerance. Our data suggest that both oleuropein and oleanolic acid are involved in the anti-diabetic effect of olive leaves and further emphasize the potential role of TGR5 agonists to improve metabolic disorders.     

Identification by high-throughput screening of inhibitors of Schistosoma mansoni NAD(+) catabolizing enzyme

Schistosomiasis is a major tropical parasitic disease. For its treatment, praziquantel remains the only effective drug available and the dependence on this sole chemotherapy emphasizes the urgent need for new drugs to control this neglected disease. In this context, the newly characterized Schistosoma mansoni NAD(+) catabolizing enzyme (SmNACE) represents a potentially attractive drug target. This potent NAD(+)glycohydrolase, which is localized to the outer surface (tegument) of the adult parasite, is presumably involved in the parasite survival by manipulating the host's immune regulatory pathways. In an effort to identify SmNACE inhibitors, we have developed a sensitive and robust fluorometric high-throughput screening assay. The implementation of this assay to the screening of a highly diverse academic chemical library of 14,300 molecules yielded, after secondary assays and generation of dose-response curves, the identification of two natural product inhibitors, cyanidin and delphinidin. These confirmed hits inhibit SmNACE with IC(50) values in the low micromolar range. To rationalize the structure-activity relationship, several related flavonoids were tested, thereby leading to the identification of 15 additional natural product inhibitors. A selection of representative flavonoid inhibitors indicated that although they also inhibit the homologous human CD38, a selectivity in favor of SmNACE could be reached. Docking studies indicated that these inhibitors mimic the binding mode of the enzyme substrate NAD(+) and suggested the pharmacophoric features required for SmNACE active site recognition.     

The ascl1a and dlx genes have a regulatory role in the development of GABAergic interneurons in the zebrafish diencephalon

During development of the mouse forebrain interneurons, the Dlx genes play a key role in a gene regulatory network (GRN) that leads to the GABAergic phenotype. Here, we have examined the regulatory relationships between the ascl1a, dlx, and gad1b genes in the zebrafish forebrain. Expression of ascl1a overlaps with dlx1a in the telencephalon and diencephalon during early forebrain development. The loss of Ascl1a function results in a loss of dlx expression, and subsequent losses of dlx5a and gad1b expression in the diencephalic prethalamus and hypothalamus. Loss of Dlx1a and Dlx2a function, and, to a lesser extent, of Dlx5a and Dlx6a, impairs gad1b expression in the prethalamus and hypothalamus. We conclude that dlx1a/2a act downstream of ascl1a but upstream of dlx5a/dlx6a and gad1b to activate GABAergic specification. This pathway is conserved in the diencephalon, but has diverged between mammals and teleosts in the telencephalon.     

Visual Matching in the Orientation of Desert Ants (Melophorus bagoti): The Effect of Changing Skyline Height

Ants are known to use the terrestrial visual panorama in navigation. Recent evidence has accumulated for the use of the currently perceived visual panorama to determine a direction to head in. The pattern of the height of the terrestrial surround, the skyline, is one key cue for the Central Australian red honey ant Melophorus bagoti in determining a direction of travel. But ants might also possess some mechanism to match the skyline heights encountered during training, which functions to steer away from regions whose skyline is too high and towards regions whose skyline is too low. We made an initial test of this hypothesis by training ants to visit a feeder centred between two experimentally constructed walls of black cloth. Trained ants were then tested for their initial homing direction with the walls retaining their heights as encountered in training (controls), with one of the walls lowered or raised in height, or with one wall lowered and the opposite wall raised. Wall‐height manipulations deflected the initial headings of ants towards the lower wall, with combined wall lowering and wall raising changing the initial headings by ~30° when compared with controls. The results suggest that the ants combined the dictates of the panorama in determining the best direction of travel (a heading towards the nest) with some attractor mechanism that functions to establish the skyline heights of training conditions (a heading towards the lower wall).