Urban sports fields support higher levels of soil butyrate and butyrate-producing bacteria than urban nature parks.

Butyrate-producing bacteria colonise the gut of humans and non-human animals, where they produce butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid with known health benefits. Butyrate-producing bacteria also reside in soils and soil bacteria can drive the assembly of airborne bacterial communities (the aerobiome). Aerobiomes in urban greenspaces are important reservoirs of butyrate-producing bacteria as they supplement the human microbiome, but soil butyrate producer communities have rarely been examined in detail.

The macroecology of butyrate-producing bacteria via metagenomic assessment of butyrate production capacity.

Butyrate-producing bacteria are found in many outdoor ecosystems and host organisms, including humans, and are vital to ecosystem functionality and human health. These bacteria ferment organic matter, producing the short-chain fatty acid butyrate. However, the macroecological influences on their biogeographical distribution remain poorly resolved.

Childcare centre soil microbiomes are influenced by substrate type and surrounding vegetation condition.

Urban development has profoundly reduced human exposure to biodiverse environments, which is linked to a rise in human disease. The 'biodiversity hypothesis' proposes that contact with diverse microbial communities (microbiota) benefits human health, as exposure to microbial diversity promotes immune training and regulates immune function. Soils and sandpits in urban childcare centres may provide exposure to diverse microbiota that support immunoregulation at a critical developmental stage in a child's life.

eEF1A2 promotes PTEN-GSK3β-SCF complex-dependent degradation of Aurora kinase A and is inactivated in breast cancer.

The translation elongation factor eEF1A promotes protein synthesis. Its methylation by METTL13 increases its activity, supporting tumor growth. However, in some cancers, a high abundance of eEF1A isoforms is associated with a good prognosis.

Proteotransciptomics of the Most Popular Host Sea Anemone Reveals Not All Toxin Genes Expressed by Tentacles Are Recruited into Its Venom Arsenal.

While the unique symbiotic relationship between anemonefishes and sea anemones is iconic, it is still not fully understood how anemonefishes can withstand and thrive within the venomous environment of their host sea anemone. In this study, we used a proteotranscriptomics approach to elucidate the proteinaceous toxin repertoire from the most common host sea anemone, . Although 1251 different toxin or toxin-like RNA transcripts were expressed in tentacles (0.

Light-dark cycles may influence in situ soil bacterial networks and diurnally-sensitive taxa.

Soil bacterial taxa have important functional roles in ecosystems (e.g. nutrient cycling, soil formation, plant health).

Face-valid phenotypes in a mouse model of the most common mutation in EEF1A2-related neurodevelopmental disorder.

De novo heterozygous missense mutations in EEF1A2, encoding neuromuscular translation-elongation factor eEF1A2, are associated with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to recapitulate the most common mutation, E122K, in mice. Although E122K heterozygotes were not observed to have convulsive seizures, they exhibited frequent electrographic seizures and EEG abnormalities, transient early motor deficits and growth defects.

Endogenous epitope tagging of eEF1A2 in mice reveals early embryonic expression of eEF1A2 and subcellular compartmentalisation of neuronal eEF1A1 and eEF1A2.

All vertebrate species express two independently-encoded forms of translation elongation factor eEF1A. In humans and mice eEF1A1 and eEF1A2 are 92 % identical at the amino acid level, but the well conserved developmental switch between the two variants in specific tissues suggests the existence of important functional differences. Heterozygous mutations in eEF1A2 result in neurodevelopmental disorders in humans; the mechanism of pathogenicity is unclear, but one hypothesis is that there is a dominant negative effect on eEF1A1 during development.

Circulating Dipeptidyl Peptidase Activity Is a Potential Biomarker for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Introduction: Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 is part of a larger family of proteases referred to as DPPs. DPP4 has been suggested as a possible biomarker for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Circulating DPP4 (cDPP4) enzyme activity was investigated as a potential biomarker for IBD.

Loss of SORCS2 is Associated with Neuronal DNA Double-Strand Breaks.

SORCS2 is one of five proteins that constitute the Vps10p-domain receptor family. Members of this family play important roles in cellular processes linked to neuronal survival, differentiation and function. Genetic and functional studies implicate SORCS2 in cognitive function, as well as in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

The potential of outdoor environments to supply beneficial butyrate-producing bacteria to humans.

Butyrate is an important mediator of human health and disease. The mechanisms of action of butyrate are becoming increasingly well-known. Many commensal bacteria that inhabit the human gut can synthesise butyrate, which is then absorbed into the human host.

Modelling epilepsy in the mouse: challenges and solutions.

In most mouse models of disease, the outward manifestation of a disorder can be measured easily, can be assessed with a trivial test such as hind limb clasping, or can even be observed simply by comparing the gross morphological characteristics of mutant and wild-type littermates. But what if we are trying to model a disorder with a phenotype that appears only sporadically and briefly, like epileptic seizures? The purpose of this Review is to highlight the challenges of modelling epilepsy, in which the most obvious manifestation of the disorder, seizures, occurs only intermittently, possibly very rarely and often at times when the mice are not under direct observation. Over time, researchers have developed a number of ways in which to overcome these challenges, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Recapitulation of the EEF1A2 D252H neurodevelopmental disorder-causing missense mutation in mice reveals a toxic gain of function.

Heterozygous de novo mutations in EEF1A2, encoding the tissue-specific translation elongation factor eEF1A2, have been shown to cause neurodevelopmental disorders including often severe epilepsy and intellectual disability. The mutational profile is unusual; ~50 different missense mutations have been identified but no obvious loss of function mutations, though large heterozygous deletions are known to be compatible with life. A key question is whether the heterozygous missense mutations operate through haploinsufficiency or a gain of function mechanism, an important prerequisite for design of therapeutic strategies.

Draft genome sequence and nomenclature adjustment of CS98, a cesium-accumulating strain isolated in Japan.

Strains within the genus have the ability to endure a range of recalcitrant compounds and metabolise a variety of pollutants. As a result there is increasing interest in these robust prokaryotes for their applications in bioremediation of contaminated environments and bioconversion of industrial wastes. In this announcement we present the draft genome sequence of CS98, a soil isolate from Japan with the demonstrated ability to accumulate both stable and radioactive caesium.

Human Dendritic Cells Express the Complement Receptor Immunoglobulin Which Regulates T Cell Responses.

The B7 family-related protein V-set and Ig containing 4 (VSIG4), also known as Z39Ig and Complement Immunoglobulin Receptor (CRIg), is the most recent of the complement receptors to be identified, with substantially distinct properties from the classical complement receptors. The receptor displays both phagocytosis-promoting and anti-inflammatory properties. The receptor has been reported to be exclusively expressed in macrophages.

Mapping insoluble indole metabolites in the gastrointestinal environment of a murine colorectal cancer model using desorption/ionisation on porous silicon imaging.

Indole derivatives are a structurally diverse group of compounds found in food, toxins, medicines, and produced by commensal microbiota. On contact with acidic stomach conditions, indoles undergo condensation to generate metabolites that vary in solubility, activity and toxicity as they move through the gut. Here, using halogenated ions, we map promising chemo-preventative indoles, i) 6-bromoisatin (6Br), ii) the mixed indole natural extract (NE) 6Br is found in, and iii) the highly insoluble metabolites formed in vivo using desorption/ionisation on porous silicon-mass spectrometry imaging (DIOS-MSI).

The Ecological Importance of Toxicity: Sea Anemones Maintain Toxic Defence When Bleached.

Cnidarians are amongst the most venomous animals on the planet. They are also under significant threat due to the impacts of climate change. Corals and anemones undergo climate-induced bleaching during extreme environmental conditions, where a loss of symbiotic photosynthetic algae (zooxanthellae) causes whitening in colour, loss of internal food supply, and reduction in health, which can ultimately lead to death.

Development of a C Stable Isotope Assay for Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Enzyme Activity A New Breath Test for Dipeptidyl Peptidase Activity.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) are a class of orally available, small molecule inhibitors for the management of Type-II diabetes. A rapid, real-time, functional breath test for DPP4 enzyme activity could help to define DPP4i efficacy in patients that are refractory to treatment. We aimed to develop a selective, non-invasive, stable-isotope C-breath test for DPP4.

eEF1A demonstrates paralog specific effects on HIV-1 reverse transcription efficiency.

The eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) has two cell-type specific paralogs, eEF1A1 and eEF1A2. Both paralogs undertake a canonical function in delivering aminoacyl-tRNA to the ribosome for translation, but differences in other functions are emerging. eEF1A1 has been reported to be important for the replication of many viruses, but no study has specifically linked the eEF1A2 paralog.