A petavoxel fragment of human cerebral cortex reconstructed at nanoscale resolution.

To fully understand how the human brain works, knowledge of its structure at high resolution is needed. Presented here is a computationally intensive reconstruction of the ultrastructure of a cubic millimeter of human temporal cortex that was surgically removed to gain access to an underlying epileptic focus. It contains about 57,000 cells, about 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and about 150 million synapses and comprises 1.

Connectomics of the vertical lobe provides insight into conserved and novel principles of a memory acquisition network.

Here, we present the first analysis of the connectome of a small volume of the vertical lobe (VL) a brain structure mediating the acquisition of long-term memory in this behaviorally advanced mollusk. Serial section electron microscopy revealed new types of interneurons, cellular components of extensive modulatory systems, and multiple synaptic motifs. The sensory input to the VL is conveyed via~1.

Functional and ultrastructural analysis of reafferent mechanosensation in larval zebrafish.

All animals need to differentiate between exafferent stimuli, which are caused by the environment, and reafferent stimuli, which are caused by their own movement. In the case of mechanosensation in aquatic animals, the exafferent inputs are water vibrations in the animal's proximity, which need to be distinguishable from the reafferent inputs arising from fluid drag due to locomotion. Both of these inputs are detected by the lateral line, a collection of mechanosensory organs distributed along the surface of the body.

Two Stream Active Query Suggestion for Active Learning in Connectomics.

For large-scale vision tasks in biomedical images, the labeled data is often limited to train effective deep models. Active learning is a common solution, where a query suggestion method selects representative unlabeled samples for annotation, and the new labels are used to improve the base model. However, most query suggestion models optimize their learnable parameters only on the limited labeled data and consequently become less effective for the more challenging unlabeled data.

Interfering with the Dimerization of the ErbB Receptors by Transmembrane Domain-Derived Peptides Inhibits Tumorigenic Growth in Vitro and in Vivo.

The ErbB family of tyrosine kinase receptors is a key element in preserving cell growth homeostasis. This family is comprised of four single-transmembrane domain proteins designated ErbB-1-4. Ligand binding initiates dimerization followed by tyrosine phosphorylation and signaling, which when uncontrolled lead to cancer.

Cycling of Etk and Etp phosphorylation states is involved in formation of group 4 capsule by Escherichia coli.

Capsules frequently play a key role in bacterial interactions with their environment. Escherichia coli capsules were categorized as groups 1 through 4, each produced by a distinct mechanism. Etk and Etp are members of protein families required for the production of group 1 and group 4 capsules.

Effect of PhoP-PhoQ activation by broad repertoire of antimicrobial peptides on bacterial resistance.

Pathogenic bacteria can resist their microenvironment by changing the expression of virulence genes. In Salmonella typhimurium, some of these genes are controlled by the two-component system PhoP-PhoQ. Studies have shown that activation of the system by cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) results, among other changes, in outer membrane remodeling.

Lipopolysaccharide, a key molecule involved in the synergism between temporins in inhibiting bacterial growth and in endotoxin neutralization.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major structural component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and shields them from a variety of host defense factors, including antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). LPS is also recognized by immune cells as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern and stimulates them to secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines that, in extreme cases, lead to a harmful host response known as septic shock. Previous studies have revealed that a few isoforms of the AMP temporin, produced within the same frog specimen, can synergize to overcome bacterial resistance imposed by the physical barrier of LPS.

Transient shielding of intimin and the type III secretion system of enterohemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli by a group 4 capsule.

Enterohemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EHEC and EPEC, respectively) strains represent a major global health problem. Their virulence is mediated by the concerted activity of an array of virulence factors including toxins, a type III protein secretion system (TTSS), pili, and others. We previously showed that EPEC O127 forms a group 4 capsule (G4C), and in this report we show that EHEC O157 also produces a G4C, whose assembly is dependent on the etp, etk, and wzy genes.

Identification of an Escherichia coli operon required for formation of the O-antigen capsule.

Escherichia coli produces polysaccharide capsules that, based on their mechanisms of synthesis and assembly, have been classified into four groups. The group 4 capsule (G4C) polysaccharide is frequently identical to that of the cognate lipopolysaccharide O side chain and has, therefore, also been termed the O-antigen capsule. The genes involved in the assembly of the group 1, 2, and 3 capsules have been described, but those required for G4C assembly remained obscure.