Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FLAVONOIDS EFFECT ON THE LIPID ORDER PARAMETER OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS

The aim of our study was to evaluate the in vitro effect of vegetal antioxidants (quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate) on the membrane fluidity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). 17 healthy subjects, 40 to 55 years old, were selected for this purpose. The protocol was approved by the local ethics committee and the informed consent of the patients was obtained. From a jeun blood samples drawn from the patients we isolated the PBMCs and incubated them, at room temperature, for 20 minutes with the above mentioned antioxidants. We evaluated the fluorescence anisotropy (r) and lipid order parameter (S) using the fluorescent TMA- DPH probe in a steady state fluorescence polarization experiment. The in vitro effect of flavonoids seems to result in an increase of the membrane fluidity (more than 50% of the subjects presented the effect).
Physiological Determinants of Crop Growth and Yield in Maize, Sunflower and Soybean

SUMMARY This review focuses on the mechanisms determining yield in maize, sunflower and soybean, the three major summer crops of the Argentinean Pampas. Emphasis is given to the capture of light by the crop canopy and the processes determining grain set and grain filling. A strong correlation between grain yield and the physiological status of crops or plants at crop-specific critical periods is confirmed. This basic physiological information is used (i) to evaluate and understand the effect of agricultural management practices on crop yield and (ii) as the source of concepts and quantitative relationships for crop simulation models. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the described physiological processes for crop breeding.
“Quorum Sensing” in Honeybees: Pheromone Regulation of Division of Labor

This chapter focuses on the understanding of the regulation of division of labor in honeybee colonies from the perspective of quorum sensing. A flexible system of division of labor presumably is very important to colony fitness because a bee colony must develop and produce reproductive individuals despite constant changes in external and colony conditions. Three pheromones have been identified that regulate honeybee division of labor: a worker inhibitory pheromone, queen mandibular pheromone, and brood pheromone. These pheromones act directly or indirectly on physiological factors including juvenile hormone and molecular pathways associated with the foraging, malvolio, and vitellogenin genes. Ethyl oleate (EO), a substance produced by adult forager honeybees, was recently identified as a chemical inhibitory factor, delaying the age of onset of foraging in field experiments. Bees detect molecules (pheromones) that reflect the abundance of a particularly relevant category of conspecifics and respond accordingly. With the identification of these pheromones and the ability to detect their effects on brain gene expression, it should be possible to trace the flow of information from the environment ultimately to neurons in the brain to determine whether quorum sensing in bacteria and pheromone regulation of division of labor in the honey bee share any features at the molecular level.
Feeding Dairy Cows for Longevity

Take Home Messages • To increase the longevity of dairy cows the focus needs to be on preventing calving/transition-, mastitis-, reproductive-and lameness-related problems. • There are a myriad of metabolic and digestive disorders that must be minimized during the transition period through management and feeding in order to prevent early-lactation culls or deaths. • Transition-cow programs are an ongoing challenge for dairy producers and their consultants as many interactions between management and nutrition occur on dairy farms that can influence results. Common sense and cow sense continue to be as important to making these programs work on farms as the research base. • Dietary Vitamin E and selenium are of major importance for reducing mastitis. • The primary nutritional factors associated with reproductive performance relate to energy and protein status. • Laminitis is a multi-factorial disorder that requires detailed emphasis on diet formulation, preparation and delivery, feed bunk management, cow management, and cow comfort to control. • Supplemental dietary biotin improves hoof health.
Vers des supports pédagogiques pour éclairer le lien entre SI et fonctionnement des organisations

Ce texte presente un resume des travaux d'un atelier pluridisciplinaire centre sur l'influence que les systemes d'information et d'aide a la decision peuvent exercer sur la democratie dans les organisations, et, plus largement, dans la societe. Le fonctionnement de l'atelier dit "permanent" est decrit, au travers de sa demarche de travail, tres marquee par le caractere fortement pluridisciplinaire du groupe (economie, droit, mathematiques, sociologie, informatique et systemes d'information), de ses choix conceptuels, et des productions prevues. Le contenu d'une de ces production, des supports de sensibilisations a la thematique de l'atelier, est rapidement decrit, en soulignant le parti pris pedagogique de presentations qui s'appuient largement sur des exemples. Quelques extraits d'un premier support (actuellement en cours de construction) et des exemples associes, sont enfin montres.
Sex Predetermination in Fowl Using some Egg Parameters in North Central Nigeria

Chicken egg is a miracle of creation which comes in different sizes, shapes and colours with the ability to hatch young chicks. In any poultry venture, the hatched chick sex ratio is paramount in attaining maximum profitability. Unfortunately, the most popular technique of chick sexing is the Japanese vent examination technique that requires specialist and high-tech facilities that may increase cost of production. Therefore, in a quest to develop a less ambiguous technique, egg parameters were studied to predetermine sex in fowl prior to hatching. A total of 450 freshly laid fertilized eggs were distributed into egg colour, weight and shape treatment groups accordingly. Data on egg hatchability, hatched chicks weight and male to female sex ratio were collected. Results indicated that 50g egg weight hatched 7 cockerels: 13 pullets ratio, 55g eggs (21 cockerels: 22 pullets), 60g eggs (5 cockerels: 3 pullets), Conical eggs (37 cockerels: 14 pullets) and Oval eggs hatched 19 cockerels: 45 pullets. Other parameters measured were White egg colour (5 cockerels: 3 pullets), Silvery Brown eggs (13 cockerels: 17 pullets), while the only Spotted Black egg hatched a pullet. Since the treatment groups hatched both sexes, egg parameters may be a more ambiguous method in fowl chick sex predetermination.
Disruption of dopamine homeostasis underlies selective neurodegeneration mediated by α‐synuclein

A key challenge in Parkinson's disease research is to understand mechanisms underlying selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons mediated by genetic factors such as α‐synuclein (α‐Syn). The present study examined whether dopamine (DA)‐dependent oxidative stress underlies α‐Syn‐mediated neurodegeneration using Drosophila primary neuronal cultures. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to identify live dopaminergic neurons in primary cultures prepared on a marked photoetched coverslip, which allowed us to repeatedly access preidentified dopaminergic neurons at different time points in a non‐invasive manner. This live tracking of GFP‐marked dopaminergic neurons revealed age‐dependent neurodegeneration mediated by a mutant human α‐Syn (A30P). Degeneration was rescued when α‐Syn neuronal cultures were incubated with 1 mm glutathione from Day 3 after culturing. Furthermore, depletion of cytoplasmic DA by 100 µmα‐methyl‐p‐tyrosine completely rescued the early stage of α‐Syn‐mediated dopaminergic cell loss, demonstrating that DA plays a major role in oxidative stress‐dependent neurodegeneration mediated by α‐Syn. In contrast, overexpression of a Drosophila tyrosine hydroxylase gene (dTH1) alone caused DA neurodegeneration by enhanced DA synthesis in the cytoplasm. Age‐dependent dopaminergic cell loss was comparable in α‐Syn vs dTH1‐overexpressed neuronal cultures, indicating that increased DA levels in the cytoplasm is a critical change downstream of mutant α‐Syn function. Finally, overexpression of a Drosophila vesicular monoamine transporter rescued α‐Syn‐mediated neurodegeneration through enhanced sequestration of cytoplasmic DA into synaptic vesicles, further indicating that a main cause of selective neurodegeneration is α‐Syn‐induced disruption of DA homeostasis. All of these results demonstrate that elevated cytoplasmic DA is a main factor underlying the early stage of α‐Syn‐mediated neurodegeneration.
Phosphorylation of the cell surface receptor golden goal and layer-specific targeting in drosophila

Golden goal (Gogo) is a cell-surface protein critical for proper synaptic layer targeting of photoreceptors in the Drosophila melanogaster visual system. In collaboration with the seven-transmembrane cadherin Flamingo (Fmi), Gogo mediates both temporal and final layer targeting of R cell axons and its cytoplasmic domain is required. However, it is not known how Gogo activity is regulated. I show in my Dissertation that a conserved tripeptide Tyr-Tyr-Asp (YYD motif) in Gogo cytoplasmic domain is required for photoreceptor axon targeting. Deleting the YYD motif is sufficient to completely abolish Gogo function. I demonstrate that the YYD motif is a phosphorylation site and that mutations in the YYD tripeptide impair synaptic layer targeting. Gogo phosphorylation results in premature axon stopping and dephosphorylation is crucial for the collaboration with Fmi during the final target layer targeting. Therefore, both temporal and final layer targeting strongly depend on Gogo phosphorylation status. Drosophila Insulin Receptor (DInR) has been reported to regulate wiring of photoreceptors in the fly. I show that insulin signaling is a positive regulator of YYD motif phosphorylation in a direct or indirect way. My findings suggest a novel mechanism of the regulation of Gogo activity by phosphorylation which can be induced by insulin signaling. I propose the model that a constant phosphorylation signal is antagonized by a presumably temporal dephosphorylation signal, which creates a permissive signal that could govern developmental timing in axon targeting.
Phenolic acids from malt are efficient acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors

Anticholinesterase activities of mashes produced using wheat (‘Wheat Pale’) or barley malts (‘Pilsner’, ‘Pale Ale’, ‘Munich Light’, ‘Carahell’ or ‘Carared’) were studied by spectrophotometric method. The highest inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase was observed at 52 °C and/or 64 °C, followed by a decrease or stabilization of the activity at 72 °C. Changes in the total phenolics content in the test mashes were correlated with changes in the acetylcholinesterase and/or butyrylcholinesterase activities. Phenolic acids were singled out from phenolic compounds for more detailed studies owing to their simplicity and structural similarity to well-known cholinesterase inhibitors. The main phenolic acids in the test malts were ferulic, gallic, p-coumaric and vanillic acids followed by chlorogenic, caffeic, syringic, p-OH-benzoic, sinapic and protocatechuic acids. The anticholinesterase activities of the phenolic acids were studied using model standard solutions at concentrations similar to the maximal content of these compounds in the test mashes. Among the phenolic acids, p-coumaric acid had the largest share in the anticholinesterase activity, even though it was present in the test mashes at a significantly lower concentration (~0.38 mm L−1) than ferulic acid (~1.00 mm L−1). Sinapic acid and p-OH-benzoic acid (0.03 and 0.01 mm L−1, respectively) were equally efficient inhibitors as ferulic acid at ~1.00 mm L−1. This preliminary study should be extended to other phenolic compounds from malt (wort) in the near future. Copyright © 2012 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling
A novel inhibitory pathway linking profilin-1 and breast cancer cell motility

Profilin-1 (Pfn1 - a ubiquitously expressed actin-binding protein) levels are significantlydownregulated in various invasive adenocarcinomas including breast cancer. Although Pfn1 hasbeen shown to be required for motility for most normal cells, breast cancer cells and normalhuman mammary epithelial cells exhibit a hypermotile phenotype upon Pfn1 depletion, and reexpression of Pfn1 in breast cancer cells decreases their migration. The traditionally conceived pro-migratory function of Pfn1 through its relatively well-studied interactions with actin and polyproline ligands does not provide guidance to explain this context-specific effect of Pfn1 on cell migration. The overall goal of this study is to reveal molecular mechanisms underlying the hypermotile phenotype of breast cancer cells as a result of Pfn1 downregulation. We first show that loss of Pfn1 expression increases motility of breast cancer cells by enhancing targeting of Ena(enabled)/VASP (vasodilator stimulated phosphoprotein) family of actin-binding proteins to the leading edge, a feature that is also reproducible in other cells. We further demonstrate that Ena/VASP targeting to the leading edge is mediated through the action of lamellipodin (Lpd - a membrane anchoring protein) and Pfn1 negatively regulates membrane targeting of Lpd. Limiting Lpd expression impairs motility of Pfn1-deficient breast cancer cells, thereby demonstrating loss of Pfn1 augments breast cancer cell motility through enhanced membrane recruitment of VASP/Lpd complex. Subsequent rescue experiments with various ligand-binding deficient mutants of Pfn1, we further demonstrate that Pfn1 inhibits breast cancer cell motility mainly by its phosphoinositide interaction through negative regulation of Lpd/VASP targeting to the leading edge. Membrane targeting of Lpd in Pfn1-deficient breast cancer cells critically depends on the availability of D3-phosphorylated phosphoinositides, and consistent with this observation, we demonstrate that loss of Pfn1 expression significantly increases PI(3,4)P2 presentation at the leading edge. Collectively, these findings identify a novel inhibitory mechanism of Pfn1 on breast cancer cell motility by regulating membrane availability of PI(3,4)P2 and docking of Lpd, and this involves Pfn1i¯s phosphoinositide interaction. This is in contrast to conventionally thought Pfn1i¯s regulation of cell motility primarily through its interactions with actin and polyproline ligands.
Vitamin K and cognitive function in healthy older adults. The NuAge Study

Evidence is accumulating from in vitro and rodent studies that vitamin K plays a role in brain and could have a positive effect on cognitive function, especially during aging. The present study examined cross‐sectional associations between vitamin K status and cognitive performance in 320 cognitively‐healthy men and women aged 70–85 y from the Québec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Successful Aging. Vitamin K status was measured as serum phylloquinone concentrations. Verbal and non‐verbal episodic memory, executive functions, and speed of processing were assessed using 13 cognitive scores from 6 tests. The median serum phylloquinone concentration was 1.06 nmol/L (range, 0.08–23.57 nmol/L). After adjustment for covariates including diet quality and serum lipid profile, higher serum phylloquinone concentration (log‐transformed) was associated with better cognitive scores (Z‐transformed) on the second (β = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.82), the third (β = 0.41; 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.75), and the 20‐min delayed (β = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.82) trials of the RL/RI‐16 Free and Cued Recall Task, a test of verbal episodic memory. No associations were found with non‐verbal episodic memory, executive functions, and speed of processing. Overall, our study provides evidence for a role of vitamin K in episodic verbal memory among healthy older adults. This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Etude de la régulation du système de sécrétion de type 3 et du système de sécrétion de type 6 chez Pseudomonas aeruginosa : Approches de chémogénomique, mutagénèse aléatoire et étude d'isolat clinique

Pseudomonas aeruginosa est un bacille gram negatif, ubiquiste de l'environnement. Ce pathogene opportuniste humain provoque sous sa forme planctonique des infections aigues dont le facteur de virulence cle est le SST3. P. aeruginosa peut aussi se developper sous forme de biofilm ou elle exprime entre autre le SST6-1 et induire des infections chroniques. L'expression ciblee des differents facteurs de virulence est liee a l'integration de nombreux stimuli environnementaux transduits au moyen de systemes a deux composants ou encore de messagers secondaires, comme le di-GMPc et l'AMPc, et conduisant a une regulation tres fine, conferant une grande capacite d'adaptation a la bacterie. La nature, de meme que les mecanismes impliques dans la transduction du signal, n'ont pas encore ete tous identifies a ce jour. Le but de cette these etait de decrypter ces mecanismes moleculaires de detection et de transduction du signal gouvernant la reponse adaptative de ce pathogene a son environnement au moyen de differentes approches : chemogenomique, mutagenese aleatoire et d'etude d'isolat clinique. Lors de cette these, nous avons crible deux chimiotheques commerciales a la recherche de molecules activatrices du SST3 et du SST6-1 et nous avons pu etablir un test de criblage a haut debit robuste pour les criblages de plus larges banques de composes. En utilisant une souche avec deux rapporteurs, nous avons realise une banque de mutants par transposons et nous avons trouve des mutants affectes dans leur expression du SST3, candidats interessants pour identifier de nouveaux regulateurs du systeme. Enfin, grâce a l'analyse de l'isolat clinique CHA (issu d'un patient atteint de mucoviscidose), nous avons decouvert qu'une deletion dans le gene codant pour le regulateur majeur GacS definissait le phenotype agressif de cette souche.
Intraspecific Variation in Leaf Life Span for the Semi-evergreen Liana Akebia trifoliata is Caused by Both Seasonal and Aseasonal Factors in a Temperate Forest

We investigated the leaf demography of a temperate woody liana, Akebia trifoliata, in a temperate forest in Japan, Akebia is semi-evergreen: some leaves are shed before winter, while others remain through the winter. Previous studies of semi-evergreen species found that variation in leaf life span was caused by variation in the timing of leaf emergence, Leaves that appeared just before winter over-wintered, while leaves appearing earlier were shed, However, it is unclear whether leaves of the same cohort (i.e., leaves that appear at the same time within a single site) show variation in life span under the effect of strong seasonality. To separate variation in life span among the leaves in each cohort from variation among cohorts, we propose a new method - the single leaf diagram, which shows the emergence and death of each leaf. Using single leaf diagrams, our study revealed that Akebia leaves within a cohort showed substantial variation in life span, with some over-wintering and some not. In addition, leaves on small ramets in the understory showed great variation in life span, while leaves on large ramets, which typically reach higher positions in the forest canopy, have shorter lives, As a result, small ramets were semi-evergreen, whereas large ramets were deciduous, The longer lives of leaves on small ramets can be interpreted as a shade-adaptive strategy in understory plants.
Myosin Phosphatase Rho-interacting Protein Regulates DDR1-mediated Collagen Tractional Remodeling

Collagen remodeling is essential for preserving the structure and function of highly ordered collagen arrays, which are important for the normal function of many tissues and organs. Remodeling of fibrillar collagen is mediated in part by α2β1 and α11β1 integrins, and by the discoidin domain receptors (DDR) 1 and 2, which are receptor tyrosine kinases activated by binding to fibrillar collagen. The mechanisms by which contractile forces generated by non-muscle myosin IIA (NMIIA) are regulated to mediate DDR1dependent collagen remodeling are not defined. We considered that cell-induced tractional remodeling of type I fibrillar collagen is strongly dependent on DDR1 activity and its interaction with NMIIA. By mass spectrometry and immunoprecipitation we found a time and collagen-dependent association between DDR1 and Myosin Phosphatase Rho-interacting Protein (MRIP). This association was strongly reduced by inhibiting DDR1 tyrosine autophosphorylation. MRIP exhibited strong, time and collagen-dependent co-localization with actin stress fibers, DDR1 and NMIIA. Deletion of MRIP by CRISPR-Cas9 enhanced co-localization of DDR1 with NMIIA and increased myosin light chain and DDR1 phosphorylation in a collagen-dependent manner. Increased expression of DDR1, deletion of MRIP, reducing DDR1 activation, or inhibition of Rho-associated coiled coil kinase, all strongly affected cell adhesion to collagen and the contraction, alignment and compaction of collagen fibrils. Collectively, these data indicate that DDR1, NMIIA and MRIP comprise a critical, interacting molecular complex that mediates collagen remodeling by DDR1 adhesions.
Complex regulation of TAZ by the abundance of YAP in mammalian cells

i Table of contents.iii Acknowledgement.vii Declaration.viii List of Abbreviations.ix List of Figures.xii List of Tables.xv CHAPTER 1: General Introduction . 1 1.1 Literature review . 2 1.1.1 The Hippo pathway . 2 1.1.2 Regulation of YAP and TAZ activity . 3 1.1.2a Localisation . 3 1.1.2b Degradation . 5 1.1.2c Additional phosphorylation events . 5 1.1.2d De-phosphorylation to activate YAP/TAZ . 7 1.1.2e Upstream and independent regulators of the mammalian Hippo pathway . 7 1.1. 3 YAP and TAZ: protein structure and function . 11 1.1. 4 YAP and TAZ signalling outcomes . 15 1.1. 5 Roles of Hippo signalling in mammals . 17 1.1. 5a Organ size and regeneration . 17 1.1. 5b Regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation . 18 1.1. 5c Tumorigenesis . 19 1.1. 6 YAP and TAZ in cancer . 19 1.1. 6a Oncogenic role . 19 1.1. 6b Regulation of cancer stem cells . 20 1.1. 6c Targeting YAP/TAZ as a cancer therapeutic . 21 1.1. 6d Tumour suppressor role . 22 1.1. 7 YAP in liver progenitor cell-driven cancer development . 22 1.2 Project outline . 25 CHAPTER 2: Materials and Methods . 26 2.1 Materials . 27 2.1.1 Antibodies and chemicals . 27 2.1.2 Plasmids and cDNA . 27
Investigation on Cyclodipeptide Formation and Metabolism in Actinomycetes and Application of Fungal Prenyltransferases in the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis

Cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) comprise normally 200–300 amino acid residues and are mainly found in bacteria. They hijack aminoacyl-tRNAs from the ribosomal machinery for cyclodipeptide formation. In this study, nine new CDPS genes from eight Streptomyces strains were cloned into pET28a vector and expressed in Escherichia coli. Structural elucidation of the isolated products led to the identification of one cyclo-L-Trp-L-Leu, two cyclo-L-Trp-L-Pro, and three cyclo-L-Trp-L-Trp synthases. Other three CDPSs produce cyclo-L-Trp-L-Ala or cyclo-L-Trp-L-Tyr as the major cyclodipeptide. Total product yields of 46 to 211 mg/L E. coli culture were obtained. Our findings represent rare examples of CDPS family derived from actinobacteria that form various tryptophan-containing cyclodipeptides. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential of the microbial machinery for tryptophan-containing cyclodipeptide biosynthesis and provides valid experimental basis for further combination of these CDPS genes with other modification genes in synthetic biology.