Search results for "Down"
showing 10 items of 1658 documents
Knockdown of Drosophila hemoglobin suggests a role in O2 homeostasis.
2016
Almost all insects are equipped with a tracheal system, which appears to be sufficient for O2 supply even in phases of high metabolic activity. Therefore, with the exception of a few species dwelling in hypoxic habitats, specialized respiratory proteins had been considered unnecessary in insects. The recent discovery and apparently universal presence of intracellular hemoglobins in insects has remained functionally unexplained. The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster harbors three different globin genes (referred to as glob1-3). Glob1 is the most highly expressed globin and essentially occurs in the tracheal system and the fat body. To better understand the functions of insect globins, the lev…
Estimating Global Burden of Disease due to congenital anomaly: an analysis of European data
2017
ObjectiveTo validate the estimates of Global Burden of Disease (GBD) due to congenital anomaly for Europe by comparing infant mortality data collected by EUROCAT registries with the WHO Mortality Database, and by assessing the significance of stillbirths and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (TOPFA) in the interpretation of infant mortality statistics.Design, setting and outcome measuresEUROCAT is a network of congenital anomaly registries collecting data on live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks’ gestation and TOPFA. Data from 29 registries in 19 countries were analysed for 2005–2009, and infant mortality (deaths of live births at age <1 year) compared with the WHO Mortality …
Vitellogenin-like A–associated shifts in social cue responsiveness regulate behavioral task specialization in an ant
2018
Division of labor and task specialization explain the success of human and insect societies. Social insect colonies are characterized by division of labor, with workers specializing in brood care early and foraging later in life. Theory posits that this task switching requires shifts in responsiveness to task-related cues, yet experimental evidence is weak. Here, we show that a Vitellogenin (Vg) ortholog identified in an RNAseq study on the ant T. longispinosus is involved in this process: using phylogenetic analyses of Vg and Vg-like genes, we firstly show that this candidate gene does not cluster with the intensively studied honey bee Vg but falls into a separate Vg-like A cluster. Second…
Ticagrelor, but not clopidogrel, reduces arterial thrombosis via endothelial tissue factor suppression
2017
The P2Y12 antagonist ticagrelor reduces mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), compared with clopidogrel, and the mechanisms underlying this effect are not clearly understood. Arterial thrombosis is the key event in ACS; however, direct vascular effects of either ticagrelor or clopidogrel with focus on arterial thrombosis and its key trigger tissue factor have not been previously investigated.Methods and results: Human aortic endothelial cells were treated with ticagrelor or clopidogrel active metabolite (CAM) and stimulated with tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α); effects on procoagulant tissue factor (TF) expression and activity, its counter-player TF pathway inhibito…
Brief Report: Functional Interaction of Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidase 2 and HLA-B27 Activates the Unfolded Protein Response.
2017
Objective: The basic mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) remain unresolved. We previously reported an association of the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2549782 in the endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2 gene (ERAP2) with AS. It is known that patients homozygous for the G allele (GG) of another ERAP2 SNP, rs2248374, lack expression of ERAP2 (ERAP2 null). The present study utilized this information to study the impact of ERAP2 deficiency on HLAâB27 expression in patients with AS, specifically focusing on the functional interaction of ERAP2 and HLAâB27 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with AS and assessing the effects …
Neuronal Excitability And Spontaneous Synaptic Transmission In The Entorhinal Cortex Of Bdnf Heterozygous Mice
2018
Abstract Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) is a neutrophic factor that is required for the normal neuronal development and function. BDNF is involved in regulation of synapses as well as neuronal excitability. Entorhinal Cortex (EC) is a key brain area involved in many physiological and pathological processes. In this study we investigated the effects of chronically reduced BDNF levels on layer 3 pyramidal neurons of EC. We aimed to assess the effects of reduced levels of BDNF on firing properties, spontaneous synaptic currents and excitation/inhibition balance from acute brain slices. Patch clamp recordings were obtained from pyramidal neurons of Entorhinal Cortex Layer 3. Findings o…
Overactivation of the endocannabinoid system alters the antilipolytic action of insulin in mouse adipose tissue.
2017
Evidence has accumulated that obesity-related metabolic dysregulation is associated with overactivation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which involves cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R), in peripheral tissues, including adipose tissue (AT). The functional consequences of CB1R activation on AT metabolism remain unclear. Since excess fat mobilization is considered an important primary event contributing to the onset of insulin resistance, we combined in vivo and in vitro experiments to investigate whether activation of ECS could alter the lipolytic rate. For this purpose, the appearance of plasma glycerol was measured in wild-type and CB1R−/− mice after acute anandamide administration or inh…
Associations between cardiovascular disease, cancer, and very low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the REasons for Geographical and Racial Dif…
2018
AbstractAimsRelatively little is known about the health outcomes associated with very low plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) mainly because of the small numbers of individuals with such extreme values included in clinical trials. We, therefore, investigated the association between low and very low HDL-C concentration at baseline and incident all-cause-mortality, death from malignant disease (i.e. cancer), and with fatal or non-fatal incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in individuals from the Reasons for Geographical And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.Methods and resultsAnalysis was based on 21 751 participants from the REGARDS study who wer…
Bioconjugation of Small Molecules to RNA Impedes Its Recognition by Toll-Like Receptor 7
2017
A fundamental mechanism of the innate immune system is the recognition, via extra- and intracellular pattern recognition receptors, of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. A prominent example is represented by foreign nucleic acids, triggering the activation of several signaling pathways. Among these, the endosomal toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is known to be activated by single stranded RNA (ssRNA), which can be specifically influenced through elements of sequence structure and posttranscriptional modifications. Furthermore, small molecules TLR7 agonists (smTLRa) are applied as boosting adjuvants in vaccination processes. In this context, covalent conjugations between adjuvant and vaccine…
Characterization of the inner membrane protein BB0173 from Borrelia burgdorferi.
2017
Abstract Background The bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of the most commonly reported arthropod-borne illness in the United States, Lyme disease. A family of proteins containing von Willebrand Factor A (VWFA) domains adjacent to a MoxR AAA+ ATPase have been found to be highly conserved in the genus Borrelia. Previously, a VWFA domain containing protein of B. burgdorferi, BB0172, was determined to be an outer membrane protein capable of binding integrin α3β1. In this study, the characterization of a new VWFA domain containing membrane protein, BB0173, is evaluated in order to define the location and topology of this multi-spanning membrane protein. In additio…