bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sexually divergent cortical control of affective-autonomic integration
Authors: Wallace Tyler , Schaeuble Derek , Pace Sebastian A. , Schackmuth Morgan K. , Hentges Shane T. , Chicco Adam J. , Myers Brent 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDepression and cardiovascular disease reduce quality of life and increase mortality risk. These conditions commonly co-occur with sex-based differences in incidence and severity. However, the biological mechanisms linking the disorders are poorly understood. In the current study, we hypothesized that the infralimbic (IL) prefrontal cortex integrates mood-related behaviors with the cardiovascular burden of chronic stress. In a rodent model, we utilized optogenetics during behavior andin vivophysiological monitoring to examine how the IL regulates affect, social motivation, neuroendocrine-autonomic stress reactivity, and the cardiac consequences of chronic stress. Our results indicate that IL glutamate neurons increase socio-motivational behaviors specifically in males. IL activation also reduced endocrine and cardiovascular stress responses in males, while increasing reactivity in females. Moreover, prior IL stimulation protected males from subsequent chronic stress-induced sympatho-vagal imbalance and cardiac hypertrophy. Our findings suggest that cortical regulation of behavior, physiological stress responses, and cardiovascular outcomes fundamentally differ between sexes.
Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Contribute to the Maintenance of Thymic Stroma including Thymic Epithelial Cells
Authors: Chakrabarti Shami , Hoque Mohammed , Jamil Nawshin Zara , Singh Varan J , Meer Neelab , Pezzano Mark T. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn paradox to critical functions for T-cell selection and self-tolerance, the thymus undergoes profound age-associated atrophy and loss of T-cell function, which are further enhanced by cancer therapies. Identification of thymic epithelial progenitor populations capable of forming functional thymic tissue will be critical in understanding thymic epithelial cell (TEC) ontogeny and designing strategies to reverse involution. We identified a new population of progenitor cells, present in both thymus and bone marrow (BM), that co-express the hematopoietic marker CD45 and the definitive thymic epithelial marker EpCAM and maintains the capacity to form functional thymic tissue. Confocal analysis and qRT-PCR of sorted cells from both BM and thymus confirmed co-expression of CD45 and EpCAM. Grafting of C57BL/6 fetal thymi under the kidney capsule of H2BGFP transgenic mice revealed that peripheral CD45+ EpCAM+ GFP-expressing cells migrate into the developing thymus and contribute to both TECs and FSP1-expressing stroma. Sorted BM-derived CD45+EpCAM+ cells contribute to reaggregate thymic organ cultures (RTOCs) and differentiate into keratin and FoxN1 expressing TECs, demonstrating that BM cells can contribute to the maintenance of TEC microenvironments previously thought to be derived solely from endoderm. BM-derived CD45+EpCAM+ cells represent a new source of progenitor cells that contribute to thymic homeostasis. Future studies will characterize the contribution of BM-derived CD45+EpCAM+ TEC progenitors to distinct functional TEC microenvironments in both the steady-state thymus and under conditions of demand. Cell therapies utilizing this population may prove useful for counteracting thymic involution in cancer patients.
Division stochasticity can be transmitted to protein expression through chromosome replication
Authors: Nieto Acuña César Augusto , Vargas García César Augusto , Singh Abhyudai , Pedraza Juan Manuel 
Published: October 2020

AbstractStochastic fluctuations (noise) are a fundamental characteristic of protein production. Some sources of this stochasticity are still under debate. In this work, we explore how these fluctuations can originate from the stochasticity on division events. To do that, we consider the classical gene expression model with chromosome replication following the known Helmstetter & Cooper model. This model predicts intervals of the cell cycle where bacteria can have more than one copy of a particular gene. Considering the transcription rate as proportional to the number of chromosomes and division based on a continuous rate model, we explore how stochasticity in division or equivalently in cell size, could be transmitted to gene expression. Our simulations suggest that division can be an important source of such fluctuations only if chromosomes are replicating, otherwise, this noise is not well transmitted. This effect happens even if replication is deterministic. This work can be helpful for understanding cell cycle dynamics and their interplay with phenotypic variability.
Bacterial glycocalyx integrity drives multicellular swarm biofilm dynamism
Authors: Saïdi Fares , Jolivet Nicolas Y. , Lemon David J. , Nakamura Arnaldo , Garza Anthony G. , Veyrier Frédéric J. , Islam Salim T. 
Published: October 2020

ABSTRACTBacterial surface exopolysaccharide (EPS) layers are key determinants of biofilm establishment and maintenance, leading to the formation of higher-order 3D structures conferring numerous survival benefits to a cell community. In addition to a specific EPS glycocalyx, we recently revealed that the social δ-proteobacteriumMyxococcus xanthussecretes a novel biosurfactant polysaccharide (BPS), with both EPS and BPS polymers required for type IV pilus (T4P)-dependent swarm expansion via spatio-specific biofilm expression profiles. Thus the synergy between EPS and BPS secretion somehow modulates the multicellular lifecycle ofM. xanthus. Herein, we demonstrate that BPS secretion functionally-activates the EPS glycocalyx via its destabilization, fundamentally altering the characteristics of the cell surface. This impacts motility behaviours at the single-cell level as well as the aggregative capacity of cells in groups via EPS fibril formation and T4P assembly. These changes modulate structuration of swarm biofilms via cell layering, likely contributing to the formation of internal swarm polysaccharide architecture. Together, these data reveal the manner by which the interplay between two secreted polymers induces single-cell changes that modulate swarm biofilm communities.
RIG-I has a role in immunity againstHaemonchus contortus, a gastrointestinal parasite inOvis aries- a novel report
Authors: Banerjee Samiddha , Pal Aruna , Pal Abantika , Mandal Subhas Chandra , Chatterjee Paresh Nath , Chatterjee Jayanta Kumar 
Published: October 2020

AbstractRIG-I is associated to the DExD/H box RNA Helicases. It is a Pattern Recognition Receptor (PRR), playing a crucial role in the system and is a germ line encoded host sensor to perceive Pathogen Associated Molecular Patterns or PAMPs. So far reports were available for the role of RIG-I in antiviral immunity. This is the first report we have documented the role of RIG-I in parasitic immunity.Haemonchus contortusis a deadly parasite affecting sheep industry which has a tremendous economic importance and the parasite reported to be prevalent in the hot and humid agroclimatic region. We had characterized RIG-I gene in sheep (Ovis aries) and identified the important domains or binding site withHaemonchus contortusthroughin silicostudies. Differential mRNA expression analysis revealed upregulation of RIG-I gene in abomassum of infected sheep compared to that of healthy sheep, further confirming the findings. Thus it is evident that in infected sheep, expression of RIG-I is triggered for binding to more pathogen (Haemonchus contortus). Genetic similar studies with human and other livestock species were conducted to reveal that sheep may be efficiently used a model organism for studying the role of RIG-I in antiparasitic immunity of human.
Characterization of sequence specific binding of LARP6 to the 5’ stem-loop of type I collagen mRNAs and implications for rational design of antifibrotic drugs
Authors: Stefanovic Lela , Gordon Blaine H. , Silvers Robert , Stefanovic Branko 
Published: October 2020

AbstractExcessive synthesis of type I collagen characterizes fibrotic diseases. Binding of LARP6 to the 5’ stem-loop (5’SL) of collagen mRNAs regulates their translation and the high rate of biosynthesis in fibrosis. LARP6 needs two domains to form stable complex with 5’SL RNA, the La-domain and the juxtaposed RRM domain (jointly called the La-module). We describe that the La-domain of LARP6 is necessary and sufficient for recognition of 5’SL in sequence specific manner. The three amino acid motif, RNK, located in the flexible loop which connects the second α-helix to the β-sheet of the La domain is critical for binding. Mutation of any of these three amino acids abolishes the binding of La-domain to 5’SL. The major site of crosslinking of LARP6 to 5’SL RNA was mapped to this motif. The RNK motif is not found in other LARPs, which can not bind 5’SL. Presence of RRM increases the stability of complex between La-domain and 5’SL RNA and RRM domain does not make extensive contacts with 5’SL RNA. We propose a model in which the initial recognition of 5’SL by LARP6 is mediated by the RNK epitope and further stabilized by the RRM domain. This discovery suggests that the interaction between LARP6 and collagen mRNAs can be blocked by small molecules that target the RNK epitope and will help rational design of the LARP6 binding inhibitors as specific antifibrotic drugs.
Th2 Cytokine Modulates Herpesvirus Reactivation in a Cell Type Specific Manner
Authors: Wang Guoxun , Zarek Christina , Chang Tyron , Tao Lili , Lowe Alexandria , Reese Tiffany A. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractGammaherpesviruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi’s sarcoma associated virus (KSHV), and murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV68), establish latent infection in B cells, macrophages, and non-lymphoid cells, and can induce both lymphoid and non-lymphoid cancers. Research on these viruses has relied heavily on immortalized B cell and endothelial cell lines. Therefore, we know very little about the cell type specific regulation of virus infection. We have previously shown that treatment of MHV68-infected macrophages with the cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) or challenge of MHV68-infected mice with an IL-4-inducing parasite leads to virus reactivation. However, we do not know if all latent reservoirs of the virus, including B cells, reactivate the virus in response to IL-4. Here we used anin vivoapproach to address the question of whether all latently infected cell types reactivate MHV68 in response to a particular stimulus. We found that IL-4 receptor expression on macrophages was required for IL-4 to induce virus reactivation, but that it was dispensable on B cells. We further demonstrated that the transcription factor, STAT6, which is downstream of the IL-4 receptor and binds a viral promoter in macrophages, did not bind to the viral promoter in B cells. These data suggest that stimuli that promote herpesvirus reactivation may only affect latent virus in particular cell types, but not in others.ImportanceHerpesviruses establish life-long quiescent infections in specific cells in the body, and only reactivate to produce infectious virus when precise signals induce them to do so. The signals that induce herpesvirus reactivation are often studied only in one particular cell type infected with the virus. However, herpesviruses establish latency in multiple cell types in their hosts. Using murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV68) and conditional knockout mice, we examined the cell type specificity of a particular reactivation signal, interleukin-4 (IL-4). We found that IL-4 only induced herpesvirus reactivation from macrophages, but not from B cells. This work indicates that regulation of virus latency and reactivation is cell type specific. This has important implications for therapies aimed at either promoting or inhibiting reactivation for the control or elimination of chronic viral infections.
Torsin ATPases influence chromatin interaction of the Torsin regulator LAP1
Authors: Luithle Naemi , de Bos Jelmi uit , Hovius Ruud , Maslennikova Daria , Lewis Renard , Ungricht Rosemarie , Fierz Beat , Kutay Ulrike 
Published: October 2020

SummaryThe inner nuclear membrane is functionalized by diverse transmembrane proteins that associate with nuclear lamins and/or chromatin. When cells enter mitosis, membrane-chromatin contacts must be broken to allow for proper chromosome segregation; yet how this occurs remains ill-understood. Unexpectedly, we observed that an imbalance in the levels of the lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1), an activator of ER-resident Torsin AAA+-ATPases, causes a failure in membrane removal from mitotic chromatin, accompanied by chromosome segregation errors and changes in post-mitotic nuclear morphology. These defects are dependent on a hitherto unknown chromatin-binding region of LAP1 that we have delineated. LAP1-induced NE abnormalities are efficiently suppressed by expression of wild-type but not ATPase-deficient Torsins. Furthermore, a dominant-negative Torsin induces chromosome segregation defects in a LAP1-dependent manner. These results indicate that association of LAP1 with chromatin in the nucleus can be modulated by Torsins in the perinuclear space, shedding new light on the LAP1-Torsin interplay.
VARIOUS METHODS OF CHILLING AND HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION APPLIED IN SUSTAINABLE BEEF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Authors: Banach Joanna K. , Żywica Ryszard , Matusevičius Paulius 
Published: October 2020

ABSTRACTEntrepreneurs implementing the concept of sustainable development of meat production are highly interested in combining various red meat chilling systems with quality-improving techniques. Therefore, we analyzed the impact of high-voltage electrical stimulation (HVES) and selected chilling methods on changes in quality characteristics and weight loss of beef. We also studied energy consumption based on the heat balance of chilling chambers during the fast chilling of varying amounts of raw material.The HVES and the fast chilling method yielded positive economic (meat weight loss), technological (high quality, hot-boning), energetic (lower electricity consumption), and organizational effects (increased chilling speed, reducing of storage surfaces and expenditures for staff wages) compared to the slow and accelerated methods. Reaching the desired final temperature with an increased amount of chilled meat enabled a few-fold reduction in the total heat collected from the chambers and in meat weight loss. This allows recommending the above actions to be undertaken by entrepreneurs in the pursuit of sustainable meat production.
The Potential Applications of Site-Directed Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement: A review
Authors: Bezie Yilkal , Tilahun Tadesse , Atnaf Mulugeta , Taye Mengistie 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe search for technologies for crop improvement has been a continuous practice to address the food insecurity to the growing human population with an ever decreasing arable land and dynamic climate change around the world. Considering the potential technologies for crop improvement could close the rooms of poverty in developing countries in particular and around the globe at large. This review aimed to assess the site-directed mutation creation methods and to show the potential tools for future crop improvement programs. Site-directed mutagenesis was found to be an efficient process to create targeted mutation on cereal crops, horticultural crops, oilseed crops, and others. Agronomic traits such as yield, quality, and stress tolerance have been improved using site-directed mutagenesis. Besides, selectable marker elimination was also reported from transgenic crops by targeted mutation. Most of the reports on site-directed mutagenesis is focusing on cereal crops (58.339%) followed by horticultural crops (22.92%). Among the four mutagenic tools that have been reported, the CRISPR/Ca9 technology was found to be frequently used (66.67%) followed by TALENs. This tool is potential since it is efficient in creating targeted mutagenesis and less likely off-target effect, so it is repeatedly used in different research works. TALENs were used usually to knockout genes with bad traits. Moreover, the mutation created by mutagenic tools found to be efficient, and the mutated traits proved as it was heritable to generations. Hence, site-directed mutagenesis by the CRISPR/Cas9 system is advisable for agricultural development thereby ensuring food sustainability around the world.
Could network structures generated with simple rules imposed on a cubic lattice reproduce the structural descriptors of globular proteins?
Authors: Okan Osman Burak , Turgut Deniz , Atilgan Canan , Atilgan Ali Rana , Ozisik Rahmi 
Published: October 2020

AbstractA direct way to spot structural features that are universally shared among proteins is to find proper analogues from simpler condensed matter systems. In most cases, sphere-packing arguments provide a straightforward route for structural comparison, as they successfully characterize a wide array of materials such as close packed crystals, dense liquids, and structural glasses. In the current study, the feasibility of creating ensembles of artificial structures that can automatically reproduce a large number of geometrical and topological descriptors of globular proteins is investigated. Towards this aim, a simple cubic (SC) arrangement is shown to provide the best background lattice after a careful analysis of the residue packing trends from 210 proteins. It is shown that a minimalistic set of ground rules imposed on this lattice is sufficient to generate structures that can mimic real proteins. In the proposed method, 210 such structures are generated by randomly removing residues (beads) from clusters that have a SC lattice arrangement until a predetermined residue concentration is achieved. All generated structures are checked for residue connectivity such that a path exists between any two residues. Two additional sets are prepared from the initial structures via random relaxation and a reverse Monte Carlo simulated annealing (RMC-SA) algorithm, which targets the average radial distribution function (RDF) of 210 globular proteins. The initial and relaxed structures are compared to real proteins via RDF, bond orientational order parameters, and several descriptors of network topology. Based on these features, results indicate that the structures generated with 40% occupancy via the proposed method closely resemble real residue networks. The broad correspondence established this way indicates a non-superficial link between the residue networks and the defect laden cubic crystalline order. The presented approach of identifying a minimalistic set of operations performed on a target lattice such that each resulting cluster possess structural characteristics largely indistinguishable from that of a coarse-grained globular protein opens up new venues in structural characterization, native state recognition, and rational design of proteins.
The Effects of Social Stress on Memory: If, How and When
Authors: McManus Elizabeth , Talmi Deborah , Haroon Hamied , Muhlert Nils 
Published: October 2020

AbstractPhysical stress, such as from the cold-pressor test, has been robustly associated with altered memory retrieval, but it is not yet clear whether the same happens following psychosocial stress. Studies using psychosocial stressors report mixed effects on memory, leading to uncertainty about the common cognitive impact of both forms of stress. The current study uses a stepped replication design, with four near-identical experiments, each differing by a single critical factor. In three experiments we induced psychosocial stress after participants encoded word stimuli, then assessed retrieval after a prolonged delay. These experiments found no group level influence of postencoding stress on recognition of neutral words or cued recall of word-pairs, but a small effect on recollection of semantically-related words. There was, however, some indication of positive relationships within the stress group between measures of stress (cortisol in experiment 1 and self-reported-anxiety in experiment 3) and recollection of single word stimuli. In the fourth experiment, we found that psychosocial stress immediately before retrieval did not influence word recognition. Overall, our findings demonstrate that psychosocial stress has a typically modest impact on memory, lower than previously claimed, but that individual differences in stress responsivity, particularly for tasks that tap recollection, may help to explain variability in previous findings.
Impact of corporate governance compliance and board attributes on operating liquidity in pre- and post-corporate governance reforms
Authors: Khan Javed , Rehman Shafiq Ur 
Published: October 2020

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance compliance, governance reforms and board attributes on operating liquidity of Pakistani listed non-financial firms. The study further tests how these relationships vary in the pre- and post-corporate governance reforms.Design/methodology/approachFixed-effect regression model is used on 10 years panel data from 2007 to 2016 for a sample of 170 firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Two-stage least squares model is used for addressing the endogeneity problem.FindingsThe findings reveal that governance compliance and governance reforms negatively affect operating liquidity. Among the board attributes, board meetings, directors’ remuneration, board foreign diversity and board gender diversity are significantly related to operating liquidity. Further exploration indicates that internal governance mechanisms are less effective to safeguard shareholders from expropriation during weak external governance. This suggests that strong external governance is inevitable to the effectiveness of internal governance mechanisms. Overall, the study findings support the agency theory.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valid recommendations to policymakers interested in safeguarding the investors to focus on macro-level governance for making the micro-level governance effective. Further, the results provide the executives with an insight to improve the compliance level with the code of corporate governance.Originality/valueUnlike prior studies, this study examines the impact of corporate governance compliance and novel board attributes – directors’ attendance at board meetings, number of board committees, directors’ remuneration and board foreign diversity on operating liquidity. Further, the study subdivides its sample period into pre- and post-corporate governance reforms to examine how external governance influences internal governance effectiveness.