Plant-microbe mutualisms, such as the legume-rhizobium symbiosis, are influenced by the geographical distributions of both partners. However, limitations on the native range of legumes, resulting from the absence of a compatible mutualist, have rarely been explored. We used a combination of a large-scale field survey and controlled experiments to determine the realized niche of Calicotome villosa, an abundant and widespread legume shrub.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2024
Immunotherapy revolutionized treatment options in cancer, yet the mechanisms underlying resistance in many patients remain poorly understood. Cellular proteasomes have been implicated in modulating antitumor immunity by regulating antigen processing, antigen presentation, inflammatory signaling and immune cell activation. However, whether and how proteasome complex heterogeneity may affect tumor progression and the response to immunotherapy has not been systematically examined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPosttranslational spliced peptides (PTSPs) are a unique class of peptides that have been found to be presented by HLA class-I molecules in cancer. Thus far, no consensus has been reached on the proportion of PTSPs in the immunopeptidome, with estimates ranging from 2% to as high as 45% and stirring significant debate. Furthermore, the role of the HLA class-II pathway in PTSP presentation has been studied only in diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNRas is a key mediator of the mitogenic pathway in normal cells and in cancer cells. Its dynamics and nanoscale organization at the plasma membrane (PM) facilitate its signaling. Here, we used two-color photoactivated localization microscopy to resolve the organization of individual NRas and associated signaling proteins in live melanoma cells, with resolution down to ∼20 nm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeoantigens are now recognized drivers of the antitumor immune response. Recurrent neoantigens, shared among groups of patients, have thus become increasingly coveted therapeutic targets. Here, we report on the data-driven identification of a robustly presented, immunogenic neoantigen that is derived from the combination of HLA-A*01:01 and RAS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-bound viral antigens serve as an immunological signature that can be selectively recognized by T cells. As viruses evolve by acquiring mutations, it is essential to identify a range of presented viral antigens. Using HLA peptidomics, we are able to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-derived peptides presented by highly prevalent HLA class I (HLA-I) molecules by using infected cells as well as overexpression of SARS-CoV-2 genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This case report describes a subclavian vein cannulation that inadvertently led to an arterial puncture with the catheter tip radiologically seen at the level of the aorta. This case emphasizes the importance of postprocedural imaging and the disadvantages of not using ultrasound guidance in central venous catheterization.
Case Presentation: A 24-year-old Caucasian man with diabetes mellitus type 1 presented himself to the emergency department due to abdominal pain accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
A variety of species of bacteria are known to colonize human tumours, proliferate within them and modulate immune function, which ultimately affects the survival of patients with cancer and their responses to treatment. However, it is not known whether antigens derived from intracellular bacteria are presented by the human leukocyte antigen class I and II (HLA-I and HLA-II, respectively) molecules of tumour cells, or whether such antigens elicit a tumour-infiltrating T cell immune response. Here we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing and HLA peptidomics to identify a peptide repertoire derived from intracellular bacteria that was presented on HLA-I and HLA-II molecules in melanoma tumours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHotspot mutations of the oncogenes BRAF and NRas are the most common genetic alterations in cutaneous melanoma. Still, the nanoscale organization and signal coupling of these proteins remain incompletely understood, particularly upon expression of oncogenic NRas mutants. Here we employed single-molecule localization microscopy to study the nanoscale organization of NRas and BRAF at the plasma membrane (PM) of melanoma cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtensive tumour inflammation, which is reflected by high levels of infiltrating T cells and interferon-γ (IFNγ) signalling, improves the response of patients with melanoma to checkpoint immunotherapy. Many tumours, however, escape by activating cellular pathways that lead to immunosuppression. One such mechanism is the production of tryptophan metabolites along the kynurenine pathway by the enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), which is induced by IFNγ.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPredicting the outcome of immunotherapy treatment in melanoma patients is challenging. Alterations in genes involved in antigen presentation and the interferon gamma (IFNγ) pathway play an important role in the immune response to tumors. We describe here that the overexpression of PSMB8 and PSMB9, two major components of the immunoproteasome, is predictive of better survival and improved response to immune-checkpoint inhibitors of melanoma patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNRAS mutations are the most common alterations among RAS isoforms in cutaneous melanoma, with patients harboring these aggressive tumors having a poor prognosis and low survival rate. The main line of treatment for these patients is MAPK pathway-targeted therapies, such as MEK inhibitors, but, unfortunately, the response to these inhibitors is variable due to tumor resistance. Identifying genetic modifiers involved in resistance toward MEK-targeted therapy may assist in the development of new therapeutic strategies, enhancing treatment response and patient survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurofibromin 1 (NF1), a tumor suppressor that negatively regulates RAS through its GTPase activity, is highly mutated in various types of sporadic human cancers, including melanoma. However, the binding partners of NF1 and the pathways in which it is involved in melanoma have not been characterized in an in depth manner. Utilizing a mass spectrometry analysis of NF1 binding partners, we revealed Calpain1 (CAPN1), a calcium-dependent neutral cysteine protease, as a novel NF1 binding partner that regulates NF1 degradation in melanoma cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe NRAS oncoprotein is highly mutated in melanoma. However, to date, no comprehensive proteomic study has been reported for NRAS. Here, we utilized the endogenous epitope tagging (EET) approach for the identification of novel NRAS binding partners.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnalysis of 501 melanoma exomes revealed RGS7, which encodes a GTPase-accelerating protein (GAP), to be a tumor-suppressor gene. RGS7 was mutated in 11% of melanomas and was found to harbor three recurrent mutations (p.R44C, p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynthetic Cannabinoids are a street drug that is widely attainable and cheap compared to natural cannabis, and has variable potency and unpredictable effects with no commercially available diagnostic test to confirm its presence. Similar to natural cannabis, Synthetic Cannabinoid intoxication can present in several ways with the most common emergency room presentations to be of neurologic and psychiatric manifestation. The respiratory depressive effect of Synthetic Cannabinoids has not been well documented in medical literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeneralist insect can utilize two different modes for regulating their detoxification genes, the constitutive mode and the induced mode. Here, we used the Bemisia tabaci sibling species MEAM1 and MED, as a model system for studying constitutive and induced detoxification resistance and their associated tradeoffs. B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Neurochir (Wien)
August 2014
Objectives: Ballistic injuries to peripheral nerves pose special challenges in terms of indications, timing and type of surgical intervention. The aim of the present work was to analyze our experience in the surgical treatment of peripheral nerve ballistic injuries with respect to the mechanism of injury (gunshot versus shrapnel), and identify common and dissimilar prognostic factors in both types of injury.
Methods: This study was conducted on 42 patients totaling 58 nerves.
Background: Phloem-feeding insects can manipulate plant-induced resistance and are able to suppress effective jasmonic acid/ethylene (JA/ET) defenses by the induction of inefficient salicylic acid (SA) based responses. As a result, activation of the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway in transgenic plants is anticipated to cause complex interactions between phloem-feeding insects and their host plants due to predicted contradiction between two defense forces: the toxicity of various phenylpropanoids and the accumulation of SA via a branch of the activated pathway.
Methodology/principal Findings: Here, we investigated the effect of activating the phenylpropanoids pathway in Nicotiana tabacum, by over-expression of the PAP1 transcription factor, on the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, a phloem-feeding insect model.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
August 2013
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between retinal vascular caliber and cardiovascular disease in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients without diabetes and hypertension.
Methods: Intention to treat study of individuals who underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) during a two year period. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined as stenosis of >50% in at least one major coronary artery.
The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a major generalist agricultural pest of field and horticultural crops world-wide. Despite its importance, the molecular bases of defense mechanisms in B. tabaci against major plant secondary defense compounds, such as the phenylpropanoids, remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA prospective study conducted on 13 patients suffering from complete facial nerve injury (for 4 months up to 2 years) aimed to show that using the split hypoglossal nerve allows for reconstruction of the facial nerve with preservation of tongue function. The hypoglossal nerve was split longitudinally. For each half, a split of the hypoglossal nerve's response was measured intraoperatively by recording the compound muscle action potential of the tongue muscle.
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