Alterations in cellular metabolic pathway and epithelial cell maturation induced by MYO5B defects are partially reversible by LPAR5 activation.

Functional loss of the motor protein myosin Vb (MYO5B) induces various defects in intestinal epithelial function and causes a congenital diarrheal disorder, namely, microvillus inclusion disease (MVID). Utilizing the MVID model mice (MYO5BΔIEC) and [MYO5B(G519R)], we previously reported that functional MYO5B loss disrupts progenitor cell differentiation and enterocyte maturation that result in villus blunting and deadly malabsorption symptoms. In this study, we determined that both absence and a point mutation of MYO5B impair lipid metabolism and alter mitochondrial structure, which may underlie the progenitor cell malfunction observed in the MVID intestine.

Acute tuft cell ablation induces malabsorption and alterations in secretory and immune cell lineages in small intestine.

Background & Aims: Intestinal tuft cells have recently been the interest of studies in several human gastrointestinal diseases. However, the impact of tuft cell deletion on intestinal physiological functions are not fully understood. This study investigated the effects of acute tuft cell loss on nutrient absorption and cell lineage differentiation.

Analysis of lncRNAs in (Tarwi) and Their Potential Role in Drought Response.

is a legume with high agronomic potential and available transcriptomic data for which lncRNAs have not been studied. Therefore, our objective was to identify, characterize, and validate the drought-responsive lncRNAs in . To achieve this, we used a multilevel approach based on lncRNA prediction, annotation, subcellular location, thermodynamic characterization, structural conservation, and validation.

Evaluation of in vitro susceptibility to sparteine in four strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Sparteine is an alkaloid with bacteriostatic activity on the genus Mycobacterium. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of sparteine on the growth of 4 ATCC strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (susceptible, resistant to isoniazid, resistant to rifampicin and multidrug-resistant) in vitro. Validation of bactericidal activity of sparteine sulfate was carried out through an adaptation of the Microscopic-Observation Drug-Susceptibility (MODS) method according to the guidelines of the Peruvian National Health Institute.

Single-Cell Transcriptomic and Epigenetic Analyses of Mouse Mammary Development Starting with the Embryo.

Cancers are caricatures of normal development. Yet, for most organs we are only beginning to learn about the molecular events underlying the embryonic antecedents of organogenesis and when differentiation into the cell types found in the adult actually begins. Here, we will focus on the powerful single-cell RNA sequencing and Assay for Transposase Accessible DNA by DNA sequencing (ATAC-seq) that we and others have been using to decipher the key regulators and signal transduction pathways involved in normal mammary development.

Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals a Conserved Metaplasia Program in Pancreatic Injury.

Background & Aims: Acinar to ductal metaplasia (ADM) occurs in the pancreas in response to tissue injury and is a potential precursor for adenocarcinoma. The goal of these studies was to define the populations arising from ADM, the associated transcriptional changes, and markers of disease progression.

Methods: Acinar cells were lineage-traced with enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) to follow their fate post-injury.

Tuft Cell Formation Reflects Epithelial Plasticity in Pancreatic Injury: Implications for Modeling Human Pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis, a known risk factor for the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), is a serious, widespread medical condition characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and acinar to ductal metaplasia (ADM). ADM is a cell type transdifferentiation event where pancreatic acinar cells become ductal-like under conditions of injury or oncogenic mutation. Here, we show that chronic pancreatitis and ADM in genetically wild type mice results in the formation of a significant population of chemosensory tuft cells.

Family context and the physical activity of adolescents: comparing differences.

Introduction: Family context plays an important role with regard to the physical activity (PA) of adolescents. Intense changes in family composition, including an increase of single-parent structures can affect behavior.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of PA, between boys and girls of 11-17 years old, and investigate its association with family context variables.

Leisure-time physical activity in the vicinity of Academias da Cidade Program in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil: the impact of a health promotion program on the community.

This study analyzed leisure-time physical activity among 1,621 adults who were non-users of the Academias da Cidade Program in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, but who lived in the vicinity of a fitness center in operation (exposed Group I) or in the vicinity of two sites reserved for future installation of centers (control Groups II and III). The dependent variable was leisure-time physical activity, and linear distance from the households to the fitness centers was the exposure variable, categorized in radial buffers: < 500m; 500-1,000m; and 1,000-1,500m. Binary logistic regression was performed with the Generalized Estimation Equations method.

Proliferative defects and formation of a double cortex in mice lacking Mltt4 and Cdh2 in the dorsal telencephalon.

Radial glial cells (RGCs) in the ventricular neuroepithelium of the dorsal telencephalon are the progenitor cells for neocortical projection neurons and astrocytes. Here we show that the adherens junction proteins afadin and CDH2 are critical for the control of cell proliferation in the dorsal telencephalon and for the formation of its normal laminar structure. Inactivation of afadin or CDH2 in the dorsal telencephalon leads to a phenotype resembling subcortical band heterotopia, also known as "double cortex," a brain malformation in which heterotopic gray matter is interposed between zones of white matter.

Fate-restricted neural progenitors in the mammalian cerebral cortex.

During development of the mammalian cerebral cortex, radial glial cells (RGCs) generate layer-specific subtypes of excitatory neurons in a defined temporal sequence, in which lower-layer neurons are formed before upper-layer neurons. It has been proposed that neuronal subtype fate is determined by birthdate through progressive restriction of the neurogenic potential of a common RGC progenitor. Here, we demonstrate that the murine cerebral cortex contains RGC sublineages with distinct fate potentials.

Validity of data collected by telephone survey: a comparison of VIGITEL 2008 and 'Saúde em Beagá' survey.

Objective: To assess the validity of the estimates obtained through telephone survey and to measure the impact of the post-stratification weighting factor to adjust estimates.

Methods: The same questionnaire was completed by two independent samples of the population living in the municipality of Belo Horizonte city (Barreiro and West regions). One sample (n=440) completed the questionnaire of VIGITEL 2008 (telephone survey), and the other (n=4,048) of Saúde em Beagá (face to face household interview).

CENTRIN2 modulates homologous recombination and nucleotide excision repair in Arabidopsis.

A genetic screen of a population of Arabidopsis thaliana lines exhibiting enhanced somatic homologous recombination yielded a mutant affected in expression of a gene encoding a caltractin-like protein (centrin). The hyperrecombinogenic phenotype could be reproduced using RNA interference (RNAi) technology. Both the original mutant and the RNAi plants exhibited a moderate UV-C sensitivity as well as a reduced efficiency of in vitro repair of UV-damaged DNA.

Identification of Arabidopsis rat mutants.

Limited knowledge currently exists regarding the roles of plant genes and proteins in the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation process. To understand the host contribution to transformation, we carried out root-based transformation assays to identify Arabidopsis mutants that are resistant to Agrobacterium transformation (rat mutants). To date, we have identified 126 rat mutants by screening libraries of T-DNA insertion mutants and by using various "reverse genetic" approaches.