Therapeutic activity and biodistribution of a nano-sized polymer-dexamethasone conjugate intended for the targeted treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease caused by alteration of the immune system. Current therapies have several limitations and the use of nanomedicines represents a promising strategy to overcome them. By employing a mouse model of adjuvant induced arthritis, we aimed to evaluate the biodistribution and therapeutic effects of glucocorticoid dexamethasone conjugated to a nanocarrier based on biocompatible N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide copolymers.

Dexamethasone nanomedicines with optimized drug release kinetics tailored for treatment of site-specific rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases.

The application of polymer-based drug delivery systems is advantageous for improved pharmacokinetics, controlled drug release, and decreased side effects of therapeutics for inflammatory disease. Herein, we describe the synthesis and characterization of linear N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide-based polymer conjugates designed for controlled release of the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone through pH-sensitive bonds. The tailored release rates were achieved by modifying DEX with four oxo-acids introducing reactive oxo groups to the DEX derivatives.

The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa's major land uses.

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.

Lack of host specialization despite selective host use in brood parasitic cuckoo catfish.

Host-parasite dynamics involve coevolutionary arms races, which may lead to host specialization and ensuing diversification. Our general understanding of the evolution of host specialization in brood parasites is compromised by a restricted focus on bird and insect lineages. The cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) is an obligate parasite of parental care of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika.

Subspecific rodent taxa as the relevant host taxonomic level for mammarenavirus host specificity.

Mastomys natalensis-borne mammarenaviruses appear specific to subspecific M. natalensis taxa rather than to the whole species. Yet mammarenaviruses carried by M.

Cryptic diversity of Crocidura shrews in the savannahs of Eastern and Southern Africa.

Crocidura (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) is the most species-rich genus among mammals, with high cryptic diversity and complicated taxonomy. The hirta-flavescens group of Crocidura represents the most abundant and widespread shrews in savannahs of eastern and southern Africa, making them a suitable phylogeographical model for assessing the role of paleoclimatic changes on current biodiversity in open African habitats. We present the first comprehensive study on the phylogeography, evolutionary history, geographical distribution, systematics, and taxonomy of the group, using the integration of mitochondrial, genome-wide (ddRAD sequencing), morphological and morphometrical data collected from specimens over most of the known geographic distribution.

Unexpectedly high diversity of trypanosomes in small sub-Saharan mammals.

The extremely species-rich genus Trypanosoma has recently been divided into 16 subgenera, most of which show fairly high host specificity, including the subgenus Herpetosoma parasitizing mainly rodents. Although most Herpetosoma spp. are highly host-specific, the best-known representative, Trypanosoma lewisi, has a cosmopolitan distribution and low host specificity.

Detection and genetic diversity of Mopeia virus in Mastomys natalensis from different habitats in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique.

Mammarenaviruses have been a growing concern for public health in Africa since the 1970s when Lassa virus cases in humans were first described in west Africa. In southern Africa, a single outbreak of Lujo virus was reported to date in South Africa in 2008 with a case fatality rate of 80%. The natural reservoir of Lassa virus is Mastomys natalensis while for the Lujo virus the natural host has yet to be identified.

Species limits and phylogeographic structure in two genera of solitary African mole-rats Georychus and Heliophobius.

African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) are an intensively studied family of subterranean rodents including three highly social and three solitary genera. Although their phylogenetic interrelations are clear, genetic diversity and the number of species within each genus is much less certain. Among the solitary genera, Heliophobius and Georychus were for a long time considered as monotypic, but molecular studies demonstrated strong phylogeographic structure within each genus and proposed that they represent complexes of cryptic species.

Phylogenomics of African radiation of Praomyini (Muridae: Murinae) rodents: First fully resolved phylogeny, evolutionary history and delimitation of extant genera.

The tribe Praomyini is a diversified group including 64 species and eight extant rodent genera. They live in a broad spectrum of habitats across whole sub-Saharan Africa. Members of this tribe are often very abundant, they have a key ecological role in ecosystems, they are hosts of many potentially pathogenic microorganisms and comprise numerous agricultural pests.

Prevalence of Orthohantavirus-Reactive Antibodies in Humans and Peri-Domestic Rodents in Northern Ethiopia.

In 2012, Tigray orthohantavirus was discovered in Ethiopia, but its seasonal infection in small mammals, and whether it poses a risk to humans was unknown. The occurrence of small mammals, rodents and shrews, in human inhabitations in northern Ethiopia is affected by season and presence of stone bunds. We sampled small mammals in two seasons from low- and high-density stone bund fields adjacent to houses and community-protected semi-natural habitats in Atsbi and Hagere Selam, where Tigray orthohantavirus was first discovered.

Historical biogeography, systematics, and integrative taxonomy of the non-Ethiopian speckled pelage brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus group).

Background: The speckled-pelage brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus group) have been difficult to define given conflicting genetic, morphological, and distributional records that combine to obscure meaningful accounts of its taxonomic diversity and evolution. In this study, we inferred the systematics, phylogeography, and evolutionary history of the L. flavopunctatus group using maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference, divergence times, historical biogeographic reconstruction, and morphometric discriminant tests.

Molecular systematics and biogeographic history of the African climbing-mouse complex (Dendromus).

Climbing mice in the genus Dendromus (sensu lato) are widely distributed in Africa, south of the Saharan Desert. The 17 currently recognized species in the genus range from widespread taxa to single-mountain endemics, and there is considerable variation across species with respect to habitats occupied. These habitats range from arid grasslands and savannahs to sub-alpine and alpine vegetation.

Complex reticulate evolution of speckled brush-furred rats (Lophuromys) in the Ethiopian centre of endemism.

The Ethiopian highlands represent a remarkable biodiversity 'hot spot' with a very high number of endemic species, even among vertebrates. Ethiopian representatives of a species complex of speckled brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus sensu lato) inhabit highland habitats ranging from low-elevation forests to Afroalpine grasslands. These may serve as a suitable model for understanding evolutionary processes leading to high genetic and ecological diversity in montane biodiversity hot spots.

Nuclear phylogenomics, but not mitogenomics, resolves the most successful Late Miocene radiation of African mammals (Rodentia: Muridae: Arvicanthini).

The tribe Arvicanthini (Muridae: Murinae) is a highly diversified group of rodents (ca. 100 species) and with 18 African genera (plus one Asiatic) represents probably the most successful adaptive radiation of extant mammals in Africa. They colonized a broad spectrum of habitats (from rainforests to semi-deserts) in whole sub-Saharan Africa and their members often belong to most abundant parts of mammal communities.

Mitogenomics of the endemic Ethiopian rats: looking for footprints of adaptive evolution in sky islands.

Organisms living in high altitude must adapt to environmental conditions with hypoxia and low temperature, e.g. by changes in the structure and function of proteins associated with oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria.

Multilocus phylogeny of African striped grass mice (Lemniscomys): Stripe pattern only partly reflects evolutionary relationships.

Murine rodents are one of the most evolutionary successful groups of extant mammals. They are also important for human as vectors and reservoirs of zoonoses and agricultural pests. Unfortunately, their fast and relatively recent diversification impedes our understanding of phylogenetic relationships and species limits of many murine taxa, including those with very conspicuous phenotype that has been frequently used for taxonomic purposes.

Three arenaviruses in three subspecific natal multimammate mouse taxa in Tanzania: same host specificity, but different spatial genetic structure?

is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and hosts several arenavirus species, including the pathogenic zoonotic Lassa virus in West Africa. Mitochondrial lineages sub-divide the range of and have been associated with cryptic structure within the species To test specificity of arenaviruses to hosts carrying these lineages, we screened 1772 in a large area of Tanzania where three mitochondrial lineages meet. We detected fifty-two individuals that were positive for one of three arenaviruses: Gairo, Morogoro, and Luna virus.

The phylogeny of the African wood mice (Muridae, Hylomyscus) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and five nuclear genes reveals their evolutionary history and undescribed diversity.

Wood mice of the genus Hylomyscus, are small-sized rodents widely distributed in lowland and montane rainforests in tropical Africa, where they can be locally abundant. Recent morphological and molecular studies have increased the number of recognized species from 8 to 18 during the last 15 years. We used complete mitochondrial genomes and five nuclear genes to infer the number of candidate species within this genus and depict its evolutionary history.

Tigray Orthohantavirus Infects Two Related Rodent Species Adapted to Different Elevations in Ethiopia.

Orthohantaviruses are RNA viruses that some members are known to cause severe zoonotic diseases in humans. Orthohantaviruses are hosted by rodents, soricomorphs (shrews and moles), and bats. Only two orthohantaviruses associated with murid rodents are known in Africa, Sangassou orthohantavirus (SANGV) in two species of African wood mice (), and Tigray orthohantavirus (TIGV) in the Ethiopian white-footed rat ().

Evolutionary history of Pneumocystis fungi in their African rodent hosts.

Pneumocystis is a genus of parasitic fungi infecting lung tissues in a wide range of mammal species, displaying a strong host specificity and patterns of co-speciation with their hosts. However, a recent study on Asiatic murids challenged these patterns reporting several Pneumocystis lineages/species shared by different host species or even genera in the Rattini and Murini tribes. Here we screened lung samples of 27 species of African rodents from five families for the presence of Pneumocystis DNA.

Multiple radiations of spiny mice (Rodentia: Acomys) in dry open habitats of Afro-Arabia: evidence from a multi-locus phylogeny.

Background: Spiny mice of the genus Acomys are distributed mainly in dry open habitats in Africa and the Middle East, and they are widely used as model taxa for various biological disciplines (e.g. ecology, physiology and evolutionary biology).

High cryptic diversity of bitterling fish in the southern West Palearctic.

South-east Europe, along with the adjacent region of south-west Asia, is an important biodiversity hotspot with high local endemism largely contributed by contemporary continental lineages that retreated to southern refugia during colder Quaternary periods. We investigated the genetic diversity of the European bitterling fish (Rhodeus amarus) species complex (Cyprinidae) across its range in the western Palearctic, but with a particular emphasis in the region of Balkan, Pontic and Caspian refugia. We genotyped 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci and a partial sequence of mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (CYTB) for a set of 1,038 individuals from 60 populations.