In this study, growth‐dependent changes in the mechanical properties of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cuticle during fruit development were investigated in two cultivars with different patterns ...of cuticle growth and accumulation. The mechanical properties were determined in uniaxial tensile tests using strips of isolated cuticles. Changes in the functional groups of the cuticle chemical components were analysed by attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR). The early stages of fruit growth are characterized by an elastic cuticle, and viscoelastic behaviour only appeared at the beginning of cell enlargement. Changes in the cutin:polysaccharide ratio during development affected the strength required to achieve viscoelastic deformation. The increase in stiffness and decrease in extensibility during ripening, related to flavonoid accumulation, were accompanied by an increase in cutin depolymerization as a result of a reduction in the overall number of ester bonds. Quantitative changes in cuticle components influence the elastic/viscoelastic behaviour of the cuticle. The cutin:polysaccharide ratio modulates the stress required to permanently deform the cuticle and allow cell enlargement. Flavonoids stiffen the elastic phase and reduce permanent viscoelastic deformation. Ripening is accompanied by a chemical cleavage of cutin ester bonds. An infrared (IR) band related to phenolic accumulation can be used to monitor changes in the cutin esterification index.
The gene encoding the ATPase of the chromatin remodeling SWI/SNF complexes SMARCA4 (BRG1) is often mutated or silenced in tumors, suggesting a role as tumor suppressor. Nonetheless, recent reports ...show requirement of SMARCA4 for tumor cells growth. Here, we performed a computational meta-analysis using gene expression, prognosis, and clinicopathological data to clarify the role of SMARCA4 and the alternative SWI/SNF ATPase SMARCA2 (BRM) in cancer. We show that while the SMARCA4 gene is mostly overexpressed in tumors, SMARCA2 is almost invariably downexpressed in tumors. High SMARCA4 expression was associated with poor prognosis in many types of tumors, including liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). In contrast, high SMARCA2 expression was associated with good prognosis. We compared tumors with high versus low expression of SMARCA4 or SMARCA2 in LIHC and KIRC cohorts from The Cancer Genome Atlas. While a high expression of SMARCA4 is associated with aggressive tumors, a high expression of SMARCA2 is associated with benign differentiated tumors, suggesting that SMARCA4 and SMARCA2 play opposite roles in cancer. Our results demonstrate that expression of SMARCA4 and SMARCA2 have a high prognostic value and challenge the broadly accepted general role of SMARCA4 as a tumor suppressor.
In this work is presented a new category of self-growing, fibrous, natural composite materials with controlled physical properties that can be produced in large quantities and over wide areas, based ...on mycelium, the main body of fungi. Mycelia from two types of edible, medicinal fungi, Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus, have been carefully cultivated, being fed by two bio-substrates: cellulose and cellulose/potato-dextrose, the second being easier to digest by mycelium due to presence of simple sugars in its composition. After specific growing times the mycelia have been processed in order to cease their growth. Depending on their feeding substrate, the final fibrous structures showed different relative concentrations in polysaccharides, lipids, proteins and chitin. Such differences are reflected as alterations in morphology and mechanical properties. The materials grown on cellulose contained more chitin and showed higher Young's modulus and lower elongation than those grown on dextrose-containing substrates, indicating that the mycelium materials get stiffer when their feeding substrate is harder to digest. All the developed fibrous materials were hydrophobic with water contact angles higher than 120°. The possibility of tailoring mycelium materials' properties by properly choosing their nutrient substrates paves the way for their use in various scale applications.
Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) is a neurohormone that suppresses reproduction by acting at both the brain and pituitary levels. In addition to the brain, GnIH may also be produced in gonads ...and can regulate steroidogenesis and gametogenesis. However, the function of GnIH in gonadal physiology has received little attention in fish. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of peripheral sbGnih-1 and sbGnih-2 implants on gonadal development and steroidogenesis during the reproductive cycle of male sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Both Gnihs decreased testosterone (T) and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) plasma levels in November and December (early- and mid-spermatogenesis) but did not affect plasma levels of the progestin 17,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DHP). In February (spermiation), fish treated with sbGnih-1 and sbGnih-2 exhibited testicles with abundant type A spermatogonia and partial spermatogenesis. In addition, we determined the effects of peripheral Gnih implants on plasma follicle-stimulating hormone (Fsh) and luteinizing hormone (Lh) levels, as well as on brain and pituitary expression of the main reproductive hormone genes and their receptors during the spermiation period (February). Treatment with sbGnih-2 increased brain gnrh2, gnih, kiss1r and gnihr transcript levels. Whereas, both Gnihs decreased lhbeta expression and plasma Lh levels, and sbGnih-1 reduced plasmatic Fsh. Finally, through behavioral recording we showed that Gnih implanted animals exhibited a significant increase in diurnal activity from late spermatogenic to early spermiogenic stages. Our results indicate that Gnih may regulate the reproductive axis of sea bass acting not only on brain and pituitary hormones but also on gonadal physiology and behavior.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The antifungal and insecticidal activities of 34 extracts from 27 plant species were evaluated against fungal phytopathogens of the genus Fusarium and Xyleborus Scolytine ambrosia beetles involved in ...Fusarium dieback (FD) and laurel wilt (LW) diseases. Sixteen extracts caused mycelial growth inhibition (MGI) above 23 % at 2 mg mL−1 against F. solani, those from S. nudum and M. argyrophylla exhibited the highest MGI (57 % and 49 %, respectively). Thirteen extracts displayed significant antifungal activity against F. kuroshium, those from C. nocturnum and M. argyrophylla exhibited the highest MGI (100 % and 54.9 %, respectively). Additionally, ten plants extracts caused mortality in at least one of the beetle species tested, mainly from Solanaceae species. In the most active species, 39 phenolics were identified that may have contributed to their biological effects. This study is one of the first to report the potential of plant‐derived natural products against the causative agents of FD and LW.
The relevance of the immune system in cancer has long been studied. Autologous adoptive T cell therapies, based on the use of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), have made great progress in recent ...years for the treatment of solid tumors, especially melanoma. However, further work is needed to isolate tumor-reactive T cells among patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies. The dynamics of the interaction between T cells and antigen presenting cells (APC) dictate the quality of the immune responses. While stable joints between target cells and T lymphocytes lead to the induction of T cell activation and immune response, brief contacts contribute to the induction of immune-tolerance. Taking advantage of the strong interaction between target cell and activated T-cells, we show the feasibility to identify and isolate tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients by flow cytometry. Using this technology, CTLs bound through T cell receptor (TCR) to tumor cells can be identified in peripheral blood and bone marrow and subsequently selected and isolated by FACS-based cell sorting. These CTLs display higher percentage of effector cells and marked cytotoxic activity against AML blasts. In conclusion, we have developed a new procedure to identify and select specific cytotoxic T cells in patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Sentiment Analysis (SA), also called Opinion Mining, is currently one of the most studied research fields. It aims to analyze people’s sentiments, opinions, attitudes, emotions, etc., towards ...elements such as topics, products, individuals, organizations, and services. Different techniques and software tools are being developed to carry out Sentiment Analysis. The goal of this work is to review and compare some free access web services, analyzing their capabilities to classify and score different pieces of text with respect to the sentiments contained therein. For that purpose, three well-known collections have been used to perform several experiments whose results are shown and commented upon, leading to some interesting conclusions about the capabilities of each analyzed tool.
The Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway controls transcription by regulating enhancer activity. How TGFβ-regulated enhancers are selected and what chromatin changes are associated ...with TGFβ-dependent enhancers regulation are still unclear. Here we report that TGFβ treatment triggers fast and widespread increase in chromatin accessibility in about 80% of the enhancers of normal mouse mammary epithelial-gland cells, irrespective of whether they are activated, repressed or not regulated by TGFβ. This enhancer opening depends on both the canonical and non-canonical TGFβ pathways. Most TGFβ-regulated genes are located around enhancers regulated in the same way, often creating domains of several co-regulated genes that we term TGFβ regulatory domains (TRD). CRISPR-mediated inactivation of enhancers within TRDs impairs TGFβ-dependent regulation of all co-regulated genes, demonstrating that enhancer targeting is more promiscuous than previously anticipated. The area of TRD influence is restricted by topologically associating domains (TADs) borders, causing a bias towards co-regulation within TADs.
This multicenter cohort study investigated the differences between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related symptoms and post-COVID symptoms between male and female COVID-19 survivors. Clinical ...and hospitalization data were collected from hospital medical records in a sample of individuals recovered from COVID-19 at five public hospitals in Spain. A predefined list of post-COVID symptoms was systematically assessed, but patients were free to report any symptom. Anxiety/depressive levels and sleep quality were also assessed. Adjusted multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify the association of sex with post-COVID related-symptoms. A total of 1969 individuals (age: 61, SD: 16 years, 46.4% women) were assessed 8.4 months after discharge. No overall significant sex differences in COVID-19 onset symptoms at hospital admission were found. Post-COVID symptoms were present in up to 60% of hospitalized COVID-19 survivors eight months after the infection. The number of post-COVID symptoms was 2.25 for females and 1.5 for males. After adjusting by all variables, female sex was associated with ≥3 post-COVID symptoms (adj OR 2.54, 95%CI 1.671-3.865,
< 0.001), the presence of post-COVID fatigue (adj OR 1.514, 95%CI 1.040-2.205), dyspnea (rest: adj OR 1.428, 95%CI 1.081-1.886, exertion: adj OR 1.409, 95%CI 1.109-1.791), pain (adj OR 1.349, 95%CI 1.059-1.720), hair loss (adj OR 4.529, 95%CI 2.784-7.368), ocular problems (adj OR 1.981, 95%CI 1.185-3.312), depressive levels (adj OR 1.606, 95%CI 1.002-2.572) and worse sleep quality (adj OR 1.634, 95%CI 1.097-2.434). Female sex was a risk factor for the development of some long-term post-COVID symptoms including mood disorders. Healthcare systems should consider sex differences in the management of long haulers.
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