Search results for "OTR"

Highly effective, regiospecific reduction of chalcone by cyanobacteria leads to the formation of dihydrochalcone: two steps towards natural sweetness

2017

Abstract Background Chalcones are the biogenetic precursors of all known flavonoids, which play an essential role in various metabolic processes in photosynthesizing organisms. The use of whole cyanobacteria cells in a two-step, light-catalysed regioselective bio-reduction of chalcone, leading to the formation of the corresponding dihydrochalcone, is reported. The prokaryotic microalgae cyanobacteria are known to produce phenolic compounds, including flavonoids, as natural components of cells. It seems logical that organisms producing such compounds possess a suitable “enzymatic apparatus” to carry out their biotransformation. Therefore, determination of the ability of whole cells of select…

2017

Abstract. Endolithic microbial communities are prominent features of intertidal marine habitats, where they colonize a variety of substrates, contributing to their erosion. Almost 2 centuries worth of naturalistic studies focused on a few true-boring (euendolithic) phototrophs, but substrate preference has received little attention. The Isla de Mona (Puerto Rico) intertidal zone offers a unique setting to investigate substrate specificity of endolithic communities since various phosphate rock, limestone and dolostone outcrops occur there. High-throughput 16S rDNA genetic sampling, enhanced by targeted cultivation, revealed that, while euendolithic cyanobacteria were dominant operational tax…

Role of secondary metabolites in the biocontrol activity of Pseudomonas corrugata and Pseudomonas mediterranea

2017

In this study, the Pseudomonas corrugata strain CFBP 5454 and the P. mediterranea strain CFBP 5447 were shown to produce diffusible compounds that inhibit the in vitro growth of plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria and antifungal volatile compounds. In addition, both bacterial strains were found to produce cyanide. Mutant derivatives in LuxR transcriptional regulators, i.e. P. corrugata GL2 (pcoR mutant) and GLRFIA (rfiA mutant), and P. mediterranea PSMER (pmeR mutant) and PSRFIA (rfiA mutant) impaired in cyclic lipopeptide (CLP) production, showed a diffusible compound-mediated reduced activity, depending on the biocontrol strain, challenge microorganism and culture medium. The volatile com…

Transcriptome of early embryonic invasion at implantation sites in a murine model

2015

Successful implantation relies on the interaction between a competent embryo and a receptive endometrium. The aim of the present study was to investigate genes differentially expressed in early invasive embryonic tissue versus decidual tissue in mice. Samples were obtained from the ectoplacental cone, the immediately surrounding deciduas and from deciduas from interimplantation sites. Microarray analysis showed that 817 genes were differentially expressed between extra-embryonic tissue and the surrounding decidua and that 360 genes were differentially expressed between the different deciduas, with a high representation of developmental processes. Genes differentially expressed in the matern…

Bumetanide prevents brain trauma-induced depressive-like behavior

2019

AbstractBrain trauma triggers a cascade of deleterious events leading to enhanced incidence of drug resistant epilepsies, depression and cognitive dysfunctions. The underlying mechanisms leading to these alterations are poorly understood and treatment that attenuates those sequels not available. Using controlled-cortical impact (CCI) as experimental model of brain trauma in adult mouse we found a strong suppressive effect of the sodium-potassium-chloride importer (NKCC1) specific antagonist bumetanide on appearance of depression-like behavior. We demonstrate that this alteration in behavior is associated with a block of CCI-induced decrease in parvalbumin-positive interneurons and impairmen…

2015

The University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database and Pathway Prediction System (UM-BBD/PPS) has been a unique resource covering microbial biotransformation pathways of primarily xenobiotic chemicals for over 15 years. This paper introduces the successor system, enviPath (The Environmental Contaminant Biotransformation Pathway Resource), which is a complete redesign and reimplementation of UM-BBD/PPS. enviPath uses the database from the UM-BBD/PPS as a basis, extends the use of this database, and allows users to include their own data to support multiple use cases. Relative reasoning is supported for the refinement of predictions and to allow its extensions in terms of previo…

Regulation of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Hippocampal Neurons by Copine-6.

2015

Dendritic spines compartmentalize information in the brain, and their morphological characteristics are thought to underly synaptic plasticity. Here we identify copine-6 as a novel modulator of dendritic spine morphology. We found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) - a molecule essential for long-term potentiation of synaptic strength - upregulated and recruited copine-6 to dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons. Overexpression of copine-6 increased mushroom spine number and decreased filopodia number, while copine-6 knockdown had the opposite effect and dramatically increased the number of filopodia, which lacked PSD95. Functionally, manipulation of post-synaptic copine-6 level…

Comparison between iMSD and 2D-pCF analysis for molecular motion studies on in vivo cells: The case of the epidermal growth factor receptor.

2018

Image correlation analysis has evolved to become a valuable method of analysis of the diffusional motion of molecules in every points of a live cell. Here we compare the iMSD and the 2D-pCF approaches that provide complementary information. The iMSD method provides the law of diffusion and it requires spatial averaging over a small region of the cell. The 2D-pCF does not require spatial averaging and it gives information about obstacles for diffusion at pixel resolution. We show the analysis of the same set of data by the two methods to emphasize that both methods could be needed to have a comprehensive understanding of the molecular diffusional flow in a live cell.

SGLT-2 (Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2) Inhibition Reduces Ang II (Angiotensin II)-Induced Dissecting Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in ApoE (Apolipoprote…

2019

Objective: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a pathological condition of permanent vessel dilatation that predisposes to the potentially fatal consequence of aortic rupture. SGLT-2 (sodium-glucose cotransporter 2) inhibitors have emerged as powerful pharmacological tools for type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. Beyond their glucose-lowering effects, recent studies have shown that SGLT-2 inhibitors reduce cardiovascular events and have beneficial effects on several vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis; however, the potential effects of SGLT-2 inhibition on AAA remain unknown. This study evaluates the effect of oral chronic treatment with empagliflozin—an SGLT-2 inhibitor—on dissecting …

Sema3a plays a role in the pathogenesis of CHARGE syndrome

2018

CHARGE syndrome is an autosomal dominant malformation disorder caused by heterozygous loss of function mutations in the chromatin remodeler CHD7. Chd7 regulates the expression of Sema3a, which also contributes to the pathogenesis of Kallmann syndrome, a heterogeneous condition with the typical features hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and an impaired sense of smell. Both features are common in CHARGE syndrome suggesting that SEMA3A may provide a genetic link between these syndromes. Indeed, we find evidence that SEMA3A plays a role in the pathogenesis of CHARGE syndrome. First, Chd7 is enriched at the Sema3a promotor in neural crest cells and loss of function of Chd7 inhibits Sema3a expression…