RNA granules in neuronal plasticity and disease.

RNA granules are dynamic entities controlling the spatiotemporal distribution and translation of RNA molecules. In neurons, a variety of RNA granules exist both in the soma and in cellular processes. They contain transcripts encoding signaling and synaptic proteins as well as RNA-binding proteins causally linked to several neurological disorders.

A Kazal-type inhibitor is modulated by Trypanosoma cruzi to control microbiota inside the anterior midgut of Rhodnius prolixus.

The triatomine insect, Rhodnius prolixus, is a vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease. The parasite must overcome immune response and microbiota to develop inside the midgut of triatomines. In this study, we expressed, purified and characterized a Kazal-type inhibitor from the midgut of R.

Gastrointestinal morphological alterations in obese rats kept under hypercaloric diets.

Hypercaloric diets have been successfully used as experimental models of obesity. This work compared morphological characteristics of inferior gastrointestinal organs. The experiment lasted 10 weeks, during which the rats' food consumption, body weight, distance between the mouth and neck, distance between mouth and neck, distance between neck and tail, and abdominal circumference were evaluated weekly.

Vicilin-derived peptides are transferred from males to females as seminal nuptial gift in the seed-feeding beetle Callosobruchus maculatus.

The fate of vicilins ingested by Callosobruchus maculatus and the physiological importance of these proteins in larvae and adults have been recently investigated. Vicilins have been demonstrated to be absorbed through the midgut epithelium, circulate in their trimeric form in the haemolymph and are deposited in the fat body. In fat body cells of both sexes, vicilins are partially hydrolyzed and the fragments are eventually deposited in the eggs.