Search results for " life science"

Associations between caloric compensation ability and eating behaviour in infants

2018

Multiplicative decomposition of the scaling effect in the Mixed Assessor Model into a descriptor-specific and an overall coefficients

2016

Abstract In 1994, Brockhoff and Skovgaard presented the so-called assessor model, including a “scaling coefficient” expressing the predisposition of a panelist to spread more or less his scores than the panel on a given sensory descriptor. This paper discusses potential scaling causes, and then proposes a decomposition of the scaling coefficient into two components: (i) an overall scaling coefficient, independent of the descriptors, expressing a psychological trend of the panelist towards the scoring task in general; (ii) a corrected scaling coefficient for each descriptor, expressing specific sensitivity of the panelist to the descriptor. Applied to 187 sensory datasets, this decomposition…

Temporal dominance of sensations

2017

International audience; Sensory evaluation is a scientific discipline used to evoke, measure, analyse and interpret responses to products perceived through the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. It is used to reveal insights into the way in which sensory properties drive consumer acceptance and behaviour, and to design products that best deliver what the consumer wants. It is also used at a more fundamental level to provide a wider understanding of the mechanisms involved in sensory perception and consumer behaviour. Sensory perception of products alters considerably during the course of consumption/use. Special techniques are used in product development to measure these chan…

Injury-activated glial cells promote wound healing of the adult skin in mice

2018

Cutaneous wound healing is a complex process that aims to re-establish the original structure of the skin and its functions. Among other disorders, peripheral neuropathies are known to severely impair wound healing capabilities of the skin, revealing the importance of skin innervation for proper repair. Here, we report that peripheral glia are crucially involved in this process. Using a mouse model of wound healing, combined with in vivo fate mapping, we show that injury activates peripheral glia by promoting de-differentiation, cell-cycle re-entry and dissemination of the cells into the wound bed. Moreover, injury-activated glia upregulate the expression of many secreted factors previously…

The protein and microRNA cargo of extracellular vesicles from parasitic helminths – current status and research priorities

2020

Helminth parasites have a remarkable ability to persist within their mammalian hosts, which is largely due to their secretion of molecules with immunomodulatory properties. Although the soluble components of helminth secretions have been extensively studied, the discovery that helminths release extracellular vesicles (EVs) has added further complexity to the host-parasite interaction. Whilst several studies have begun to characterise the molecules carried by helminth EVs, work aimed at investigating their biological functions has been hindered by a lack of helminth-specific EV markers. To begin to address this, we summarised helminth EV literature to date. With a focus on the protein and mi…

Development of a sensory tool to assess overall liking for the fatty, salty and sweet sensations

2016

Abstract Understanding the origin of the overconsumption of too high levels of sucrose, sodium chloride and lipids in foods raises the question of the influence of the hedonics for these sensations. To better understand this relationship, a sensory tool that enables measurement of liking towards sweet, salty or fatty sensations is required. This liking towards a sensation has to be understood as an overall attractiveness of the sensation. Instruments already existing were unsatisfactory as including a limited number of foods not representative of the overall sensation. A set of hedonic tests, named PrefSens, was developed to measure an overall liking for fatty, salty or sweet sensations. Ea…

2,3-Dihydrobenzofuran privileged structures as new bioinspired lead compounds for the design of mPGES-1 inhibitors

2016

International audience; 2,3-Dihydrobenzofurans are proposed as privileged structures and used as chemical platform to design small compound libraries. By combining molecular docking calculations and experimental verification of biochemical interference, we selected some potential inhibitors of microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase (mPGES)-1. Starting from low affinity natural product 1, by our combined approach we identified the compounds 19 and 20 with biological activity in the low micromolar range. Our data suggest that the 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran derivatives might be suitable bioinspired lead compounds for development of new generation mPGES-1 inhibitors with increased affinity.

Functions of histone modifications and histone modifiers in Schwann cells.

2019

Schwann cells (SCs) are the main glial cells present in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Their primary functions are to insulate peripheral axons to protect them from the environment and to enable fast conduction of electric signals along big caliber axons by enwrapping them in a thick myelin sheath rich in lipids. In addition, SCs have the peculiar ability to foster axonal regrowth after a lesion by demyelinating and converting into repair cells that secrete neurotrophic factors and guide axons back to their former target to finally remyelinate regenerated axons. The different steps of SC development and their role in the maintenance of PNS integrity and regeneration after lesion are c…

Assessment of tumor-infiltrating TCRV γ 9V δ 2 γδ lymphocyte abundance by deconvolution of human cancers microarrays

2017

Most human blood γδ cells are cytolytic TCRVγ9Vδ2+lymphocytes with antitumor activity. They are currently investigated in several clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy but so far, their tumor infiltration has not been systematically explored across human cancers. Novel algorithms allowing the deconvolution of bulk tumor transcriptomes to find the relative proportions of infiltrating leucocytes, such as CIBERSORT, should be appropriate for this aim but in practice they fail to accurately recognize γδ T lymphocytes. Here, by implementing machine learning from microarray data, we first improved the computational identification of blood-derived TCRVγ9Vδ2+γδ lymphocytes and then appl…

Human ectonucleotidase-expressing CD25 high Th17 cells accumulate in breast cancer tumors and exert immunosuppressive functions

2015

IF 7.644; International audience; Th17 cells contribute to the development of some autoimmune and allergic diseases by driving tissue inflammation. However, the function of Th17 cells during cancer progression remains controversial. Here, we show that human memory CD25(high) Th17 cells suppress T cell immunity in breast cancer. Ectonucleotidase-expressing Th17 cells accumulated in breast cancer tumors and suppressed CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell activation. These cells expressed both Ror gamma t and Foxp3 genes and secreted Th17 related cytokines. We further found that CD39 ectonucleotisase expression on tumor-infiltrating Th17 cells was driven by TGF-beta and IL-6. Finally, immunohistochemical …