Laguna de Bay, the 3rd largest lake in Southeast Asia, is the most significant source of freshwater fish in the Philippines. With decades of unregulated discharge of industrial, domestic, and ...agricultural wastewaters into the lake, this study investigates the apportionment of heavy metals from the bottom sediments and its impact on the toxicity of Corbicula fluminea (Asiatic clam), a popular food item in the markets. The sediment samples from the western part of the lake contained higher Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn and lower As and Cr concentrations compared to the eastern part. There were positive correlations for As, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn and negative correlations for Cd and Ni concentrations noted between sediments and C. fluminea. Human health risk associated with the consumption of C. fluminea collected from Laguna de Bay was attributed to the following heavy metals: Cu > As > Zn > Cd > Pb > Cr > Ni. Interestingly, the observed trend in toxicities of the shellfish was consistent with the transport phenomenon of heavy metals facilitated by the counterclockwise direction of the bottom current. This study strongly suggests the re-evaluation of the waste management plan in the industrial zones and policies regulating the sale of the shellfish harvest.
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•Cr and Ni contributed most to the sediment pollution.•Counterclockwise bottom current transports heavy metals affecting clam toxicity.•There is no non-carcinogenic risk for moderate consumption (< 2.2 g day−1) of the clams.•Heavy metal contribution to the non-carcinogenic health risk: Cu > As > Zn > Cd > Pb > Cr > Ni
Reversible histone acetylation and deacetylation play crucial roles in modulating light-regulated gene expression during seedling development. However, it remains largely unknown how ...histone-modifying enzymes interpose within the molecular framework of light signaling network. In this study, we show that AtHDA15 positively regulates photomorphogenesis by directly binding to COP1, a master regulator in the repression of photomorphogenesis. hda15 T-DNA knock-out and RNAi lines exhibited light hyposensitivity with reduced HY5 and PIF3 protein levels leading to long hypocotyl phenotypes in the dark while its overexpression leads to increased HY5 concentrations and short hypocotyl phenotypes. In vivo and in vitro binding assays show that HDA15 directly interacts with COP1 inside the nucleus modulating COP1’s repressive activities. As COP1 is established to act within the nucleus to regulate specific transcription factors associated with growth and development in skotomorphogenesis, the direct binding by HDA15 is predicted to abrogate activities of COP1 in the presence of light and modulate its repressive activities in the dark. Our results append the mounting evidence for the role of HDACs in post-translational regulation in addition to their well-known histone modifying functions.
•HDA15 knock-out and RNAi lines exhibit light hyposensitivity with significantly reduced HY5 and PIF3 protein levels.•HDA15 directly associates with COP1 inside the nucleus.•HDA15 modulates the repressive activities of COP1 positively regulating photomorphogenesis.
Light is an essential environmental cue that determines the overall growth and development of plants. However, the molecular mechanisms underpinning the light signaling network are obscured by the ...epigenetic machinery where reversible acetylation and deacetylation play crucial roles in modulating light-regulated gene expression. In this paper, we demonstrate that HDA15 represses COP1, the master switch in the light signaling network, by deacetylation, protein interaction, and sub-compartmentalization.
hda15
T-DNA mutant lines exhibited light hyposensitivity with significantly reduced HY5 and PIF3 transcript levels leading to long-hypocotyl phenotypes in the dark while its overexpression exhibited elevated HY5 transcripts and short hypocotyl phenotypes. In vivo and in vitro binding assays further show that HDA15 directly interacts with COP1 inside the nucleus modulating COP1’s repressive activities. Crossing
hda15-t
27 with
cop1-4
mutants resulted in short-hypocotyl and dwarfed phenotypes, reminiscent of
cop1-4
mutants suggesting COP1 is epistatic to HDA15. Although light signals the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of HDA15, the presence of COP1 triggers its nuclear localization. A working model is presented elucidating the concerted interplay between HDA15 and COP1 under light and dark conditions.
Mortalin was first cloned as a mortality factor that existed in the cytoplasmic fractions of normal, but not in immortal, mouse fibroblasts. A decade of efforts have expanded its persona from a house ...keeper protein involved in mitochondrial import, energy generation and chaperoning of misfolded proteins, to a guardian of stress that has multiple binding partners and to a killer protein that contributes to carcinogenesis on one hand and to old age disorders on the other. Being proved to be an attractive target for cancer therapy, it also warrants attention from the perspectives of management of old age diseases and healthy aging.
Work values of Filipino college students Llenares, Ian I.; Deocaris, Chester C.; Deocaris, Custer C.
British journal of guidance & counselling,
07/2021, Letnik:
49, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Work values refer to the business ethics and personal work preferences of individuals. Using the Filipino Work Values Scale, we characterised 10 work values of 141 full-time Filipino college ...students. Interpersonal, intellectual-achievement and occupational work values emerged as the most salient work values among the students. The rest appeared as either "weak" (environmental, material, managerial, religious, organisational and family-centred) or "very weak" (variety). Reflective of family influence over career orientation, some of the work values correlated with parents' educational and professional backgrounds. As student work values are considered to influence long-term career choices and employability, comprehensively characterising work values may be useful in tailoring career counselling interventions that can help improve career pathing and job placements of students.
Despite the indication that the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated during treadmill running, there have not been any studies focusing on the relationship between exercise intensity ...and region-specific neural activities in hypothalamus. To address this, rats were subjected to 30
min of running, either at middle (supra-LT, 25
m
min
−1) or low speeds (sub-LT, 15
m
min
−1), and c-Fos-(+) cells were counted and compared with control rats. Significant increases in blood glucose and lactate levels, and plasma ACTH and osmolality levels were observed during supra-LT running. Only supra-LT running significantly increased c-Fos induction in various hypothalamic regions, namely, the medial preoptic area (MPO), periventricular nucleus (Pe), suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), supraoptic nucleus (SON), parvocellular division of the paraventricular nucleus (pPVN), anterior hypothalamic area (AH), arcuate nucleus (ARC) and posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PH). However, sub-LT caused no effect on c-Fos accumulation. This indicates that the hypothalamus responds uniquely to running in a threshold-like pattern distinct from the speed-dependent pattern previously reported for the medulla oblongata
Ohiwa et al., 2006a,b. In addition, these results showed a physiologic basis for mild exercise useful for establishing our minimum running stress (MRS) rat model, or the running conditions that minimize the activation of the HPA axis.
Mortalin is a member of Hsp70 family of stress chaperones. It was first identified as a protein involved in the senescence of mouse cells. Genetic studies revealed that there are two mouse mortalin ...alleles coding for two proteins (mot-1 and mot-2) that differ in only two amino acids in the carboxy-terminus, but have contrasting activities. Whereas mot-1 accelerated senescence, mot-2 extended the lifespan of mouse cells in culture. In human cells, only one kind of mortalin protein has been identified so far and is shown to be functionally equivalent to mouse mot-2. Whereas mortalin is enriched in cancer cells and contributes to carcinogenesis, the old age brain disorders show its deficiency. As we demystify its deux de machina, accumulating evidence reveal that mortalin may be "druggable" bidirectionally to either treat cancer or neuro-degenerative disorders.
A recent survey that determined heavy metal concentrations in an abandoned Hg mine in Palawan, Philippines, found the occurrence of Hg with As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl, V, and Zn. ...While the Hg originated from the mine waste calcines, the critical knowledge about the origin of the other heavy metals remains unknown. This study assessed the ecological and health risks from heavy metal pollution surrounding the abandoned Hg mine. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the abandoned mine and natural sources (i.e., local geology) are the two main contributors of heavy metal pollution. Historically, the mine waste calcines (retorted ore) were used as construction material for the wharf and as land filler for the adjacent communities. There is highly strong ecological risk associated with the heavy metals: Ni, Hg, Cr, and Mn contribute 44.3%, 29.5%, 10.7%, and 8.9% to the potential ecological risk index (RI), respectively. Hazard index (HI) exceeded 1 for both adults and children in all the sampling locations, implying non-carcinogenic adverse effects. The total cancer risk over a lifetime (LCR) also exceeded the threshold limit of 10−4 for both adults and children, contributed mainly by Cr (91.8%) and As (8.1%). By combining the results of the PCA and risk assessments, a clear link between heavy metal source apportionment to ecological and health risks was established. It was estimated that the abandoned mine contributed to most of the ecological and health risks for people living near the wharf that was built using the calcine, as well as the nearby Honda Bay. The findings of this study are expected to help policy makers develop regulations that will safeguard the ecosystem and the general public from the damaging impacts of heavy metals from the abandoned mine.
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Although chronic voluntary physical activity has been shown to enhance hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in animals, the effects of forced exercise on a treadmill have ...not been fully investigated. We assessed induction of c-
fos and BDNF expression with acute exercise at different running intensities. The mRNA for c-
fos, a marker for neuronal activation, was up-regulated even under low-intensity running (15
m/min), although its induction appeared to be intensity dependent. On the other hand, increases in BDNF mRNA and protein were seen only at low-intensity running. At moderate-intensity running (25
m/min) which elevated blood lactate and corticosterone levels, induction of BDNF mRNA, but not its protein, was even depressed. Our study shows the first evidence that with an acute low-intensity exercise that is minimally stressful, hippocampal activation and BDNF expression can be achieved lending support to the idea that mild exercise could yield to greater benefits in hippocampal functions compared to the more strenuous forms.
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