bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of treatment with depot somatostatin analogue octreotide on primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) patients
Authors: Faggiano Antongiulio , Tavares Lidice Brandao , Tauchmanova Libuse , Milone Francesco , Mansueto Gelsomina , Ramundo Valeria , Del Basso De Caro Maria Laura , Lombardi Gaetano , De Rosa Gaetano , Colao Annamaria 
Published: May 2008

SummaryBackground  In patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), expression of somatostatin receptor (SST) in parathyroid adenomas and effectiveness of therapy with somatostatin analogues on primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) have been scarcely investigated.Objective  To evaluate the effects of depot long acting octreotide (OCT‐LAR) in patients with MEN1‐related PHP.Patients  Eight patients with a genetically confirmed MEN1, presenting both PHP and duodeno‐pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NET), were enrolled.Design  The initial treatment was OCT‐LAR 30 mg every 4 weeks. This therapy was established to stabilize the duodeno‐pancreatic NET before to perform parathyroidectomy for PHP. Before OCT‐LAR therapy, a SST scintigraphy was performed in all patients. SST subtype 2A immunohistochemistry was performed on parathyroid tumour samples from three patients undergone parathyroidectomy after OCT‐LAR therapy.Measurements  Serum concentrations of PTH, calcium and phosphorus as well as the 24‐h urine calcium : creatinine ratio and the renal threshold phosphate concentration were evaluated before and after OCT‐LAR.Results  After OCT‐LAR therapy, hypercalcaemia and hypercalciuria normalized in 75% and 62·5% of patients, respectively, and serum phosphorus and renal threshold phosphate significantly increased. Serum PTH concentrations significantly decreased in all patients and normalized in two of them. SST subtype 2A immunostaining was found in all parathyroid adenomas investigated, while SST scintigraphy showed a positive parathyroid tumour uptake in three of eight patients (37·5%).Conclusion  Six months of OCT‐LAR therapy controlled hypercalcaemia and hypercalciuria in two‐thirds of patients with MEN1‐related PHP. Direct OCT‐LAR effects mediated by binding to SST expression on parathyroid tumour cells are likely the main mechanism to explain the activity of this compound on calcium and phosphorus abnormalities in MEN1 PHP.
Heterogeneity of lymphoid tissue inducer cell populations present in embryonic and adult mouse lymphoid tissues
Authors: Kim Mi‐Yeon , Rossi Simona , Withers David , McConnell Fiona , Toellner Kai‐Michael , Gaspal Fabrina , Jenkinson Eric , Anderson Graham , Lane Peter J. L. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryLymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells have a well established role in secondary lymphoid tissue development. Here, we report on the heterogeneity of LTi cells based on their CD4 and chemokine receptor expression. The CD4− LTi‐cell population has a similar phenotype to the CD4+ population, with similar chemokine‐receptor‐expressing subsets. In both embryonic and adult spleen the CD4− LTi‐cell population is comparable as a proportion of total splenocytes to its CD4+ counterpart. In contrast, different proportions of CD4+ and CD4− LTi cells are found in different lymph nodes. Both CD4+ and CD4− LTi cells share the anatomical location and are associated with vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1‐positive stromal cells in spleen and lymph nodes. The numbers of both CD4+ and CD4− LTi cells in adult spleen are augmented in the presence of B cells. With the exception of CD4, there is a strong correlation coefficient (0·89) for gene expression between the two populations. Polymerase chain reaction analysis of individual CD4+ and CD4− LTi cells shows that a similar proportion in embryonic and adult spleen co‐expressed both CXCR5 and CCR7 or CXCR5 alone: 84·6% for adult CD4+ and 87·6% for adult CD4−; 95·3% for embryonic CD4+ and 91·5% for embryonic CD4−. Consistently fewer CCR7 single‐positive cells were found in the CD4+ and CD4− fractions in the embryo.
Adjuvant modulation of the cytokine balance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis subunit vaccines; immunity, pathology and protection
Authors: Agger Else Marie , Cassidy Joseph P. , Brady Joseph , Korsholm Karen S. , Vingsbo‐Lundberg Carina , Andersen Peter 
Published: May 2008

SummaryIt is known that protection against tuberculosis is mediated primarily by T helper type 1 (Th1) cells but the influence of the Th1/Th2 balance of a vaccination response on the subsequent protection and pathology during infection has not been studied in detail. We designed a panel of Ag85B‐ESAT‐6 subunit vaccines based on adjuvants with different Th1/Th2‐promoting activities and studied cellular responses, bacterial replication and pathology in the lungs of mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All vaccines induced cell‐mediated and humoral responses but with markedly different interferon‐γ : interleukin‐5 (IFN‐γ : IL‐5) and immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) : IgG2 ratios. The vaccines promoted different levels of control of bacterial replication with the most efficient protection being exerted by cationic liposomes containing monophosphoryl lipid A and low to completely absent immunity with conventional aluminium. The level of protection correlated with the amount of IFN‐γ produced in response to the vaccine whereas there was no inverse correlation with the level of IL‐5. Characterizing a protective response was an accelerated recruitment of IL‐17 and IFN‐γ‐producing lymphocytes resulting in the early formation of granulomas containing clustered inducible nitric oxide synthase‐activated macrophages. In comparison, non‐protected mice exhibited a different inflammatory infiltrate rich in neutrophil granulocytes. This study indicates that the adjuvant component of a tuberculosis vaccine may be crucial in determining the kinetics by which effective granulomas, pivotal in controlling bacterial growth, are formed.
Endogenous and exogenous controls of root life span, mortality and nitrogen flux in a longleaf pine forest: root branch order predominates
Authors: Guo Dali , Mitchell Robert J. , Withington Jennifer M. , Fan Ping‐Ping , Hendricks Joseph J. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryRoot life span regulates the quantity and quality of root‐derived organic matter transferred to the soil organic matter pool. However, poor understanding of the rates and controls of root life span has hindered the prediction of carbon (C) flow and nutrient cycling dynamics at the ecosystem scale.We examined the effects of root branch order, root diameter, mycorrhizal colonization, season of birth, depth in the soil, nitrogen (N) fertilization and foliage removal on root life span in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustrisMill.) forest from 2001 to 2004 using minirhizotron and soil monolith sampling.Among all factors, root branch order had the strongest and most consistent effect on life span, with higher order roots having a 46% longer life span than roots one order lower.Within first order roots, mycorrhizal colonization significantly increased root life span by > 45% in 2 of 3 years.Roots born in winter and spring generally lived longer than roots born in summer and autumn. Root life span was positively correlated with depth in the soil and root diameter, but the correlations were weaker than with order, year and season. Neither N fertilization nor foliage removal had a significant impact on root life span.When biomass mortality and associated N flux were estimated based on order‐specific mean life span, N concentration and ecosystem‐scale biomass estimates, first order roots constituted approximately 50% of the total biomass mortality and > 60% of the N flux for the first three root orders combined.Synthesis.Our results show that (i) root branch order was the strongest predictor of life span among all covariates and can effectively partition the distal longleaf pine root systems into three or more populations with different turnover rates; (ii) only a fraction of fine roots turns over annually, whereas models of C cycles assume an annual turnover for the entire fine root system. We conclude that an order‐based approach holds greater promise than the traditional diameter class approach for evaluating the role of different fine root populations in C flow and nutrient cycling.
Looking inside the box: bacterial transistor arrays
Authors: Shimizu Thomas S. , Le Novère Nicolas 
Published: May 2008

SummaryOne often compares cells to computers, and signalling proteins to transistors. Location and wiring of those molecular transistors is paramount in defining the function of the subcellular chips. The bacterial chemotactic sensing apparatus is a large, stable assembly consisting of thousands of receptors, signal transducing kinases and linking proteins, and is responsible for the motile response of the bacterium to environmental signals, whether chemical, mechanical, or thermal. Because of its rich functional repertoire despite its relative simplicity, this chemosome has attracted much attention from both experimentalists and theoreticians, and the bacterial chemotaxis response becoming a benchmark in Systems Biology. Structural and functional models of the chemotactic device have been developed, often based on particular assumptions regarding the topology of the receptor lattice. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Briegel et al. provide a detailed view of the receptor arrangement, unravelling the wiring of the molecular signal processors.
EhMLBP is an essential constituent of the Entamoeba histolytica epigenetic machinery and a potential drug target
Authors: Lavi Tal , Siman‐Tov Rama , Ankri Serge 
Published: May 2008

SummaryEhMLBP has been identified as a protein that specifically binds to methylated long interspersed element (LINE) retrotransposons and rDNA in Entamoeba histolytica. EhMLBP is unique to Entamoeba parasites, which makes this protein a possible drug target for treating amebiasis. In the work described here, we evaluated this potential. Downregulation of EhMLBP using antisense technology resulted in trophozoites with impaired growth and cytopathic activity. This indicated that EhMLBP is an essential protein. With a view to identifying new antiamebic agents, we tested the effect of distamycin A, a drug with known antimalarial activity, on the growth of the parasite and on the ability of EhMLBP to bind to DNA. Distamycin A (IC50 = 13 μM) efficiently inhibited the growth of E. histolytica. Indeed, distamycin A at a concentration of 5–20 μM inhibited the binding of EhMLBP to methylated LINE DNA in vitro. As an additional approach to identify molecules that inhibit EhMLBP activity, a selective biopanning assay was performed using the DNA‐binding domain of EhMLBP and the Ph.D.‐12 phage display peptide library. Remarkably, four out of the 11 phages selected after three rounds of biopanning expressed the peptide ‘SYFDQNERWGAP’ (Pept3) at their surface. The binding of EhMLBP to Pept3 was confirmed by ELISA. Phage expressing Pept3 inhibited the binding of EhMLBP to RT LINE DNA. The growth of E. histolytica transfectants expressing Pept3 was significantly impaired compared with that of trophozoites expressing a scrambled version of Pept3. These results highlight EhMLBP as an essential constituent of the parasite E. histolytica and a novel target for antiamebic chemotherapy.
If the antibody fails – a mass Western approach
Authors: Lehmann Ute , Wienkoop Stefanie , Tschoep Hendrik , Weckwerth Wolfram 
Published: May 2008

SummarySucrose‐phosphate synthase (SPS) has attracted the interest of plant scientists for decades. It is the key enzyme in sucrose metabolism and is under investigation in various plant species, e.g. spinach, tobacco, poplar, resurrection plants, maize, rice, kiwi and Arabidopsis thaliana. In A. thaliana, there are four distinct SPS isoforms. Their expression is thought to depend on environmental conditions and plant tissue. However, these data were derived from mRNA expression levels only. No data on SPS protein identification from crude extracts have been available until now. An antibody approach failed to distinguish the four isoforms. Therefore, we developed a method for SPS quantification and isoform‐specific identification in A. thaliana complex protein samples. Samples were separated on SDS‐PAGE, digested and directly applied to liquid chromatography/triple‐stage quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/TSQ‐MS). In this approach, known as mass Western, samples were analysed in multi‐reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, so that all four SPS isoforms could be measured in one experiment. In addition to the relative quantification, stable isotope‐labelled internal peptide standards allowed absolute quantification of SPS proteins. Protein extracts from various plant tissues, samples harvested during the day or the night, and cold‐stressed plants were analysed. The stress‐specific SPS5a isoform showed increased concentrations in cold‐stressed leaf material.
Identification of Arabidopsis thaliana phloem RNAs provides a search criterion for phloem‐based transcripts hidden in complex datasets of microarray experiments
Authors: Deeken Rosalia , Ache Peter , Kajahn Inga , Klinkenberg Joern , Bringmann Gerhard , Hedrich Rainer 
Published: May 2008

SummaryPhloem‐mobile signals play a major role in plant nutrition, development and communication. In the latter context, phloem‐mobile RNAs have been associated with signalling between plant tissues. In this study, we focused on the identification of transcripts in the shoot phloem of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. To isolate transcripts expressed in phloem parenchyma cells and in companion cell–sieve element complexes, we used laser microdissection coupled to laser pressure catapulting (LMPC). Mobile transcripts in sieve elements were isolated from leaf phloem exudates. After optimization of sampling and fixation, RNA of high quality was isolated from both sources. The modifications to the RNA amplification procedure described here were well suited to production of RNA of sufficient yield and quality for microarray experiments. Microarrays hybridized with LMPC‐derived phloem tissue or phloem sap RNA allowed differentiation between phloem‐expressed and mobile transcript species. Using this set of phloem transcripts and comparing them with microarrays derived from databases of light, hormone and nutrient treatment experiments, we identified phloem‐derived RNAs as mobile, potential long‐distance signals. Our dataset thus provides a search criterion for phloem‐based signals hidden in the complex datasets of microarray experiments. The availability of these comprehensive phloem transcript profiles will facilitate reverse‐genetic studies and forward‐genetic screens for phloem and long‐distance RNA signalling mutants.
Puberty as a highly vulnerable developmental period for the consequences of cannabis exposure
Authors: Schneider Miriam 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTDuring puberty, neuronal maturation of the brain, which began during perinatal development, is completed such that the behavioral potential of the adult organism can be fully achieved. These maturational events and processes of reorganization are needed for the occurrence of adult behavioral performance but simultaneously render the organism highly susceptible to perturbations, such as exposure to psychoactive drugs, during this critical developmental time span. Considering the variety of maturational processes occurring in the endocannabinoid system during this critical period, it is not surprising that the still‐developing brain might by highly susceptible to cannabis exposure. Emerging evidence from human studies and animal research demonstrates that an early onset of cannabis consumption might have lasting consequences on cognition, might increase the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders, promote further illegal drug intake and increase the likelihood of cannabis dependence. These findings suggest that young people represent a highly vulnerable cannabis consumer group and that they run a higher risk than adult consumers of suffering from adverse consequences from cannabinoid exposure. The aim of the present review is to provide an overview over the possible deleterious residual cannabinoid effects during critical periods of postnatal maturation and to offer a more precise delineation of the vulnerable time window for cannabinoid exposure.
Innate and Learned Predator Recognition Mediated by Chemical Signals in Eurycea nana
Authors: Epp Kristen J. , Gabor Caitlin R. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractEffective and efficient predator recognition and avoidance are essential for the persistence of prey populations, especially in habitats where non‐native predators have been introduced. Predator recognition studies are commonly couched within a learned or innate dichotomous framework; however, characteristics of some systems or species could favor innate recognition combined with the ability to alter avoidance responses based on experience with predators. Eurycea nana is a fully aquatic salamander inhabiting a system with a diverse, yet temporally stable, community of native and non‐native opportunistically foraging fish predators. To examine predator recognition, we examined avoidance responses (decreased activity) of predator‐naïve (first‐generation, captive‐reared) and predator‐experienced (recently collected) E. nana to the chemical cues of a native predator, a non‐native predator, a non‐predator, and a blank control. Both predator‐naïve and predator‐experienced E. nana significantly lowered activity in response to the native fish predator when compared with a blank control. Interestingly, predator‐naïve E. nana decreased activity in response to the non‐native fish predator while predator‐experienced E. nana did not. These results indicate that while there is an innate component to predator recognition in E. nana, experience and risk assessment may also be important.
Who Cares? Males Provide Most Parental Care in a Monogamous Nesting Cuckoo
Authors: Maurer Golo 
Published: May 2008

AbstractCuckoos hold a prominent position in the study of parental care, because they show the greatest variation of any bird family in the way they care for their offspring. Despite this, few data are available on cuckoos with biparental care even though it is the most common form of parental care in cuckoos and birds in general. Here I describe the breeding behaviour of the pheasant coucal,Centropus phasianinus, an old‐world nesting cuckoo. I show that males almost exclusively build the nest and incubate and brood the young alone both at night and during the day. The incubation pattern of short,c. 40 min bouts on the nest interspersed with 20 min frequent recesses is well suited to incubation by a single parent and is widespread amongst birds. Males also defend the nestlings and deliver 80% of the feeds to the young consisting of insects (65%), frogs and reptiles. Females did not compensate for their fewer feeding visits by delivering more vertebrates than males. Although coucal males get little help feeding, the hourly feeding rate of 3.8 feeds per brood (1.4 feeds/nestling) exceed that of the few nesting cuckoos studied to date and matches that of other tropical non‐passerines. Predominantly male care is found in less than 5% of birds, mainly species with reversed sexual size dimorphism or reversed sex‐roles. Its evolution, especially in monogamous species, remains puzzling. The breeding behaviour of pheasant coucals illustrates a possible transitional stage in the evolution of polyandry and interspecific brood parasitism in cuckoos.
Male Nest Choice in Sand Gobies, Pomatoschistus minutus
Authors: Wong Bob B. M. , Lehtonen Topi K. , Lindström Kai 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAlthough material resources can have a direct bearing on the fitness of both sexes, few studies have actually examined resource‐based preferences from a male choice perspective. In sand gobies, Pomatoschistus minutus, the size of a male’s nest influences his attractiveness to females and also dictates the number of eggs he can receive. Thus, one might expect males to prefer larger nests. However, an earlier study of marine sand gobies from a population with a surplus of nest sites and high nest predation found that males exhibited size‐assortative nest preferences. Here, we investigated male nest preferences from a brackish population characterised by a chronic nest shortage but lower predation risk. A survey of naturally settled nests in the field (shells and rocks) showed a pattern of size‐assortative nest occupancy consistent with the previously studied population, with larger males occupying larger (i.e. rock) nests. However, when offered a choice of potential nests in the absence of male competition, we found that all male gobies in our population, irrespective of their own body size, actually preferred larger nests. Moreover, a predilection towards large nests superseded any preferences based on nest colour. Our results not only indicate the existence of male preferences for material resources but, considered in the light of previous work, also suggest that such preferences may vary among populations and, importantly, may not necessarily be realised in a competitive setting.
Incidental Sanctions and the Evolution of Direct Benefits
Authors: Wagner William E. , Basolo Alexandra L. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractRecent research has shown that a variety of traits that increase male success in mating and sperm competition can impose costs on females, resulting in antagonistic coevolution between the sexes. Yet, in many animals, females are known to receive direct benefit from their mates, including many in which female multiple mating results in intense sperm competition among males. The most common explanation for the evolution of male‐provided direct benefits is pre‐mating female choice based on benefit quality. This explanation is insufficient, however, for those direct benefits that females cannot directly assess prior to mating. Given that intrasexual selection will often favor male traits that increase female mating costs, many types of direct benefits can thus be difficult to explain. In this paper, we review four additional hypotheses for the evolution of male‐provided direct benefits, and present a fifth hypothesis that has received little attention. This latter hypothesis proposes that selection often favors female reproductive tactics that are conditional upon the past costs and benefits of mating. These conditional female reproductive tactics should evolve because the quality of the benefit provided by a previous mate can change the costs and benefits of alternative reproductive decisions. Furthermore, many of the conditional reproductive tactics we might expect females to express should incidentally penalize males which provide lower quality direct benefits. These conditional reproductive tactics may thus play an important role in determining whether females incur costs or receive benefits from their mates. In addition to favoring the evolution of direct benefits, we argue that conditional female reproductive tactics may also favor reliable signaling of benefit quality. The most common explanation for reliable signaling is the handicap mechanism, which proposes that differential costs of signaling prevent low quality males from deceptively producing attractive signals. For direct benefits, however, there is a second type of deception: males which produce attractive signals and can afford to provide high quality direct benefits may choose to cheat on the advertised benefit. The handicap mechanism does nothing to prevent cheating on direct benefits by males which can afford to produce attractive signals, and is thus insufficient for ensuring reliable signaling of benefit quality. In contrast, conditional female reproductive tactics that incidentally penalize low benefit males should also penalize males which cheat on the benefits advertised by their signals.