Optimized vectors for genetic engineering of .

is a polyextremotolerant black yeast that exhibits impressive morphological plasticity. Consequently, it shows promise as a model system for investigating mechanisms of cell adaptation to different environments and the regulation of cell shape. Here, we build upon the current toolkit for working with and design and test 25 vectors with seven different codon-optimized fluorophores and three selection cassettes.

Chemical transformation of the multibudding yeast, Aureobasidium pullulans.

Aureobasidium pullulans is a ubiquitous polymorphic black yeast with industrial and agricultural applications. It has recently gained attention amongst cell biologists for its unconventional mode of proliferation in which multinucleate yeast cells make multiple buds within a single cell cycle. Here, we combine a chemical transformation method with genome-targeted homologous recombination to yield ∼60 transformants/μg of DNA in just 3 days.

Tools for live-cell imaging of cytoskeletal and nuclear behavior in the unconventional yeast, .

is a ubiquitous fungus with a wide variety of morphologies and growth modes including "typical" single-budding yeast, and interestingly, larger multinucleate yeast than can make multiple buds in a single cell cycle. The study of promises to uncover novel cell biology, but currently tools are lacking to achieve this goal. Here, we describe initial components of a cell biology toolkit for , which is used to express and image fluorescent probes for nuclei as well as components of the cytoskeleton.

Particle-based simulations reveal two positive feedback loops allow relocation and stabilization of the polarity site during yeast mating.

Many cells adjust the direction of polarized growth or migration in response to external directional cues. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae orient their cell fronts (also called polarity sites) up pheromone gradients in the course of mating. However, the initial polarity site is often not oriented towards the eventual mating partner, and cells relocate the polarity site in an indecisive manner before developing a stable orientation.

EUS-guided coil injection therapy in the management of gastric varices: the first U.S. multicenter experience (with video).

Background And Aims: Despite the significant morbidity associated with gastric variceal bleeding, there is a paucity of high-quality data regarding optimal management. EUS-guided coil injection therapy (EUS-COIL) has recently emerged as a promising endoscopic modality for the treatment of gastric varices (GV), particularly compared with traditional direct endoscopic glue injection. Although there are data on the feasibility and safety of EUS-COIL in the management of GV, these have been limited to select centers with particular expertise.

Endoscopic Ultrasound Guided Shear Wave Elastography Is Safe With High Feasibility and Reproducibility When Used in the Pancreas: Findings From a Prospective Cohort.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the safety, feasibility, and reproducibility of endoscopic ultrasound shear wave elastography (EUS-SWE) in the pancreas.

Methods: This is a prospective registry of consecutive patients undergoing clinically indicated EUS. Ten readings of SWE velocities (Vs [distance/time, m/s]) were obtained in the head (HOP), body, and tail of pancreas to quantify tissue stiffness.

Increasing Pancreatic Cancer Incidence in Young Women in the United States: A Population-Based Time-Trend Analysis, 2001-2018.

Background & Aims: Previous studies have shown an increasing incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC), especially in younger women; however, this has not been externally validated. In addition, there are limited data about contributing factors to this trend. We report age and sex-specific time-trend analysis of PC age-adjusted incidence rates (aIRs) using the National Program of Cancer Registries database without Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results data.

Epidemiologic risk factors for patients admitted with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in the United States.

Background: Epidemiological studies of chronic pancreatitis (CP) and its association with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are limited. Understanding demographic and ethno-racial factors may help identify patients at the highest risk for CP and PDAC.

Aim: To evaluate the ethno-racial risk factors for CP and its association with PDAC.

Quality improvement project on the development of a management algorithm for iatrogenic perforations and the long-term impact on physician knowledge.

Acute iatrogenic endoscopic perforations (AIEPs) can have high morbidity and mortality, especially colonic perforations. Knowledge of diagnosis and AIEP management can improve patient care. The aims of this study were to: develop an evidence-based AIEP management algorithm; study its short-term and long-term impact on physician knowledge; and evaluate physician knowledge using hypothetical clinical scenarios.

Targeted secretion: Myosin V delivers vesicles through formin condensates.

Secretory vesicles are often delivered to very specific targets, like pre-synaptic terminals or cell tips, to focus exocytosis. New work suggests that a biomolecular condensate focuses actin filaments that deliver incoming vesicles through the condensate to the plasma membrane.

Mechanism of commitment to a mating partner in .

Many cells detect and follow gradients of chemical signals to perform their functions. Yeast cells use gradients of extracellular pheromones to locate mating partners, providing a tractable model for understanding how cells decode the spatial information in gradients. To mate, yeast cells must orient polarity toward the mating partner.

Comparison of no stent fixation, endoscopic suturing, and a novel over-the-scope clip for stent fixation in preventing migration of fully covered self-expanding metal stents: a retrospective comparative study (with video).

Background And Aims: Endoscopic suturing and over-the-scope clips (OTSCs) are used to prevent migration of fully covered self-expandable metal stents (FCSEMSs). Recently, a dedicated OTSC was developed for securing FCSEMSs. Our primary aim was to compare the frequency of stent migration without stent fixation versus fixation with suturing or OTSCs, and out secondary aims were to compare clinical success, procedure duration, and adverse events.

Novel Endoscopic Polypectomy Surveillance Technique for Fundic Gland Polyps in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Can Improve Early Detection of Dysplasia and Gastric Cancer.

Introduction: Fundic gland polyps (FGPs) are commonly found in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and are considered benign. Biopsies are not routinely performed, and conventional forceps may be time-consuming and/or yield nonrepresentative histology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of a novel endoscopic polypectomy surveillance (EPS), a large volume cold-snare polypectomy technique of random FGPs, in the incidence of dysplasia and gastric cancer (GC) in FAP.

Pheromone Guidance of Polarity Site Movement in Yeast.

Cells' ability to track chemical gradients is integral to many biological phenomena, including fertilization, development, accessing nutrients, and combating infection. Mating of the yeast provides a tractable model to understand how cells interpret the spatial information in chemical gradients. Mating yeast of the two different mating types secrete distinct peptide pheromones, called -factor and α-factor, to communicate with potential partners.

Polypectomy for Large Polyps with Endoscopic Mucosal Resection.

Beginning in 1955, when the saline injection was first described to prevent transmural injury during polyp fulguration, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has grown exponentially, both in scope and in practice. Because EMR is an organ-preserving technique even for large polyps, this allows for comparable outcomes to surgery, but substantially improved cost savings and significantly reduced morbidity and mortality. To achieve this, however, one must master the 4 fundamental components that are critical to the success of EMR- time, team, tools, and technique.

Cultivating PhD Aspirations during College.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career barriers persist for individuals from marginalized communities due to financial and educational inequality, unconscious bias, and other disadvantaging factors. To evaluate differences in plans and interests between historically underrepresented (UR) and well-represented (WR) groups, we surveyed more than 3000 undergraduates enrolled in chemistry courses. Survey responses showed all groups arrived on campus with similar interests in learning more about science research.

Chemotropism and Cell-Cell Fusion in Fungi.

Fungi exhibit an enormous variety of morphologies, including yeast colonies, hyphal mycelia, and elaborate fruiting bodies. This diversity arises through a combination of polar growth, cell division, and cell fusion. Because fungal cells are nonmotile and surrounded by a protective cell wall that is essential for cell integrity, potential fusion partners must grow toward each other until they touch and then degrade the intervening cell walls without impacting cell integrity.

Orientation of Cell Polarity by Chemical Gradients.

Accurate decoding of spatial chemical landscapes is critical for many cell functions. Eukaryotic cells decode local chemical gradients to orient growth or movement in productive directions. Recent work on yeast model systems, whose gradient sensing pathways display much less complexity than those in animal cells, has suggested new paradigms for how these very small cells successfully exploit information in noisy and dynamic pheromone gradients to identify their mates.

A novel stochastic simulation approach enables exploration of mechanisms for regulating polarity site movement.

Cells polarize their movement or growth toward external directional cues in many different contexts. For example, budding yeast cells grow toward potential mating partners in response to pheromone gradients. Directed growth is controlled by polarity factors that assemble into clusters at the cell membrane.

Chemotactic movement of a polarity site enables yeast cells to find their mates.

How small eukaryotic cells can interpret dynamic, noisy, and spatially complex chemical gradients to orient growth or movement is poorly understood. We address this question using , where cells orient polarity up pheromone gradients during mating. Initial orientation is often incorrect, but polarity sites then move around the cortex in a search for partners.

How cells determine the number of polarity sites.

The diversity of cell morphologies arises, in part, through regulation of cell polarity by Rho-family GTPases. A poorly understood but fundamental question concerns the regulatory mechanisms by which different cells generate different numbers of polarity sites. Mass-conserved activator-substrate (MCAS) models that describe polarity circuits develop multiple initial polarity sites, but then those sites engage in competition, leaving a single winner.

Exploratory polarization facilitates mating partner selection in .

Yeast decode pheromone gradients to locate mating partners, providing a model for chemotropism. How yeast polarize toward a single partner in crowded environments is unclear. Initially, cells often polarize in unproductive directions, but then they relocate the polarity site until two partners' polarity sites align, whereupon the cells "commit" to each other by stabilizing polarity to promote fusion.

Mechanisms that ensure monogamous mating in .

Haploid cells of the budding yeast communicate using secreted pheromones and mate to form diploid zygotes. Mating is monogamous, resulting in the fusion of precisely one cell of each mating type. Monogamous mating in crowded conditions, where cells have access to more than one potential partner, raises the question of how multiple-mating outcomes are prevented.

The prevalence of migraine in Argentina: A reappraisal.

Background: Argentina has one of the largest territories in the world, which spreads over a lengthy latitudinal span. Its population is mainly composed of a mixture of South American natives and the descendants of numerous waves of European immigrants. Results from a previous study suggested that the prevalence of migraine in Argentina is the lowest in the region.