Reprogramming rumen hydrogen economy for methane mitigation to fulfill the climate goal.
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An abrupt decrease in the pacing rate in patients with dual-chamber pacemakers tracking atrial tachyarrhythmias carries a high risk of malignant ventricular arrhythmia. The pacing rate should be reduced by multistep programming over several days.
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Cytokine-dependent regulation of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) expression provides an important mechanism for controlling the activity of matrix metalloproteinases. We present data indicating that during inflammatory processes TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 may be involved in the proteolytic remodeling of subendothelial basement membrane of the brain microvascular system, a key step during leukocyte migration into the brain perivascular tissue. In brain endothelial cells the expression of TIMP-1 is dramatically up-regulated by major proinflammatory cytokines, with the combination of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) exhibiting the strongest synergistic stimulation. Simultaneously, IL-1beta/TNF alpha almost completely blocks TIMP-3 expression. Both synergistic effects are dose-dependent within the concentration range 0.05-5 ng/ml of both cytokines and correlate with the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, an endothelial cell activation marker. Down-regulation of TIMP-3 expression is also detected in astrocytes treated with TNF alpha or IFN-gamma whereas oncostatin M as well as TNF alpha up-regulate TIMP-1 mRNA level. We propose that the cytokine-modified balance between TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 expression provides a potential mechanism involved in the regulation of microvascular basement membrane proteolysis.
BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of macrophage tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-(IL-1) release results from repetitive lipopolysacharride (LPS) stimulation. In this study we investigated the mechanisms of LPS pretreatment (LPSp) signal transduction producing altered LPS-activated (LPSa) cytokine release. METHODS: Murine macrophages were treated with medium alone, actinomycin D, cycloheximide, a protein kinase C inhibitor (H7), or the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NMA. Macrophages were then pretreated with 100 ng/ml LPSp and cultured in medium alone, a nitric oxide donor (sodium nitroprusside), or a cyclic adenosine monophosphate donor (8 bromoadenosine) for 20 hours. Cultures were then washed, and fresh medium containing 1 microgram/ml LPSa was added. TNF and IL-1 release in 24-hour supernatant was measured by bioassays. RESULTS: LPSp inhibited TNF and enhanced IL-1 release. The results with actinomycin D and cycloheximide suggested that LPSp effects did not require transcription, but IL-1 enhancement required protein synthesis. Addition of 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate, H7, or nitroprusside prevented LPSp-induced augmentation of IL-1 but had no effect on inhibition of TNF release. Inhibition of LPSp-induced nitric oxide production with L-NMA had no effect on TNF or IL-1. CONCLUSIONS: Complex, independent, but incompletely understood signal transduction pathways for LPSp-induced alterations in LPSa-stimulated macrophage TNF and IL-1 release were shown. Understanding altered signal transduction from prior LPS stimulation may suggest new therapies to control dysregulated macrophage cytokine release in sepsis.
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Different olfactory cues elicit distinct behaviors such as attraction, avoidance, feeding, or mating. In the nematode C. elegans, these cues are sensed by a small number of olfactory neurons, each of which expresses several different odorant receptors. The type of behavioral response elicited by an odorant could be specified by the olfactory receptor or by the olfactory neuron in which the receptor is activated. The attractive odorant diacetyl is detected by the receptor protein ODR-10, which is normally expressed in the AWA olfactory neurons. The repulsive odorant 2-nonanone is detected by the AWB olfactory neurons. Transgenic animals that express ODR-10 in AWB rather than AWA avoid diacetyl, while maintaining qualitatively normal responses to other attractive and repulsive odorants. Animals that express ODR-10 simultaneously in AWA and AWB have a defective response to diacetyl, possibly because of conflicting olfactory inputs. Thus, an animal's preference for an odor is defined by the sensory neurons that express a given odorant receptor molecule.
To elucidate whether the differentiation capacity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is influenced by specific microenvironments, adult mouse bone marrow-derived HSCs were injected into mouse blastocysts. Embryos developing from injected blastocysts contained donor-derived cells at various developmental stages, and progeny of the stem cells were detected in hematopoietic tissues. Thus, HSCs derived from an adult animal survive after injection into blastocysts and are able to participate in hematopoietic development. We further find that the erythroid progeny of transplanted adult HSCs express embryonic/fetal-type globin genes and, conversely, that embryonic and fetal progenitor cells transplanted into adult recipients transcribe the adult-type globin gene. Thus, the developmental potential of adult HSCs is evidently more plastic than previously thought, and the developmental stage of the hematopoietic microenvironment controls the developmental fate of transplanted progenitor cells.
Much excitement has surrounded recent breakthroughs in embryonic stem-cell research. Of lower profile, but no less exciting, are the advances in the field of adult stem-cell research, and their implications for cell therapy. Clinical experience from use of adult haemopoietic stem cells in haematology will facilitate and hasten transition from laboratory to clinic--indeed, clinical trials using adult human stem cells are already in progress in some disease states, including myocardial ischaemia. Here, with particular reference to neurology, we review processes that might underlie apparent changes in adult cell phenotype. We discuss implications these processes might have for the development of new therapeutic strategies using adult stem cells.
Hematopoiesis and spermatogenesis both initiate from a stem cell capable of renewal and differentiation. Each pathway reflects the expression of unique combinations of facultative, i.e. tissue-specific and constitutive, i.e. housekeeping, genes in each cell type. In spermatogenesis, as in hematopoiesis, commitment is mediated by the mechanism of potentiation whereby specific chromatin domains are selectively opened along each chromosome. Within each open chromatin domain, a unique battery of gene(s) is availed to tissue-specific and ubiquitous transacting factors that are necessary to initiate transcription. In the absence of an open domain, trans-factor access is denied, and the initiation of transcription cannot proceed. Cell-fate is thus ultimately defined by the unique series of open-potentiated cell-specific chromatin domains. Defining the mechanism that opens chromatin domains is fundamental in understanding how differentiation from stem cells is controlled and whether cell-fate can be modified. A recent examination of the mammalian spermatogenic pathway [Kramer, J.A., McCarrey, J.M, Djakiew, D., Krawetz, S.A., 1998. Differentiation: the selective potentiation of chromatin domains. Development 125, 4749-4755] supports the view that cell fate is mediated by global changes in chromatin conformation. This stride underscores the possibility of moderating differentiation through chromatin conformation. It is likely that gene therapeutics capable of selectively potentiating individual genic domains in populations of differentiating and/or replicating cells that modify cellular phenotype will be developed in the next millennium.
The developing vertebrate hindbrain consists of segments known as rhombomeres, which express combinations of Hox genes implicated in specifying segmental identity. Using chick-chick and chick-transgenic mouse graftings, we show that anterior to posterior rhombomere transpositions result in a progressive posterior transformation and coordinate induction of new Hox expression. This shows that hindbrain plasticity is evolutionarily conserved and implies rhombomeres may be undergoing continual assessment of their identities. The nature of the changes is dependent on both the anteroposterior position of the graft and its origin. Transposed somites from specific axial levels and developmental stages have a graded ability to induce changes in Hox expression, indicating that paraxial mesoderm is a source of the environmental signal responsible for the plasticity.
The stable immunological synapse between a T cell and antigen-presenting cell coordinates migration and activation. Three-dimensional collagen gels transform this interaction into a series of transient hit-and-run encounters. Here we integrate these alternative modes of interaction in a model for primary T cell activation and effector function in vivo.
DNA methylation patterns are dynamic in cleavage-stage embryos of a number of mammalian species. A failure to properly recapitulate preimplantation DNA methylation patterns in embryos derived by nuclear transfer may contribute to the low efficiency of nuclear transfer in producing live offspring.
Vancomycin binds to bacterial cell-wall intermediates to achieve its antibiotic effect. Infections of vancomycin-resistant enterococci are, however, becoming an increasing problem; the bacteria are resistant because they synthesize different cell-wall intermediates. The enzymes involved in cell-wall biosynthesis, therefore, are potential targets for combating this resistance. Recent biochemical and crystallographic results are providing mechanistic and structural details about some of these targets.
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Plant viruses have made many significant contributions to plant biology over the years: they have provided plant researchers with functional promoters, transient expression systems and, most recently, with critical insights into the phenomenon of posttranscriptional gene silencing. Plant virus expression vectors have the ability to either overexpress genes or suppress gene expression in plants. Whereas the 'rules' for gene expression are generally understood conceptually, the mechanisms for the induction of gene silencing are less well understood. Recent advances in the understanding of both the biological role and the mode of action of posttranscriptional gene silencing will affect both the design and the use of plant viral vectors and transgenic plants for either gene-overexpression or gene-silencing applications.
A considerable proportion of offspring, in particular in ruminants and mice, born from nuclear transfer (NT)-derived and in-vitro-produced (IVP) embryos is affected by multiple abnormalities of which a high birthweight and an extended gestation length are the predominant features; a phenomenon that has been called 'large offspring syndrome' (LOS). The underlying mechanisms are largely unknown at present, but alterations of epigenetic modifications of embryonic and fetal gene expression patterns, primarily caused by alterations in DNA methylation are thought to be involved in this syndrome. In mammals, DNA methylation is essential for the regulation of transcription during development and differentiation. This review summarizes results from studies in which mRNA expression patterns from IVP and NT-derived embryos were compared with those of their in-vivo counterparts. Numerous aberrations have been found ranging from suppression of expression to de-novo overexpression or more frequently to a significant up- or down-regulation of a specific gene. These observations emphasize the need for further epigenetic studies during preimplantation embryo development to gain insight into the molecular regulation correlated with an undisturbed embryonic and fetal development. Understanding molecular mechanisms will aid improvements in biotechnologies applied to early embryos in all species, including humans.