Axo-glial interactions between midbrain dopamine neurons and oligodendrocyte lineage cells in the anterior corpus callosum.

Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) receive synaptic innervation from glutamatergic and GABAergic axons and can be dynamically regulated by neural activity, resulting in activity-dependent changes in patterns of axon myelination. However, it remains unclear to what extent other types of neurons may innervate OPCs. Here, we provide evidence implicating midbrain dopamine neurons in the innervation of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in the anterior corpus callosum and nearby white matter tracts of male and female adult mice.

Real-Time, Multiplexed SHERLOCK for in Vitro Diagnostics.

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has highlighted the need for simple, low-cost, and scalable diagnostics that can be widely deployed for rapid testing. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based diagnostics have emerged as a promising technology, but its implementation in clinical laboratories has been limited by the requirement of a separate amplification step prior to CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzyme-based detection. This article reports the discovery of two novel Cas12 enzymes (SLK9 and SLK5-2) that exhibit enzymatic activity at 60°C, which, when combined with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), enable a real-time, single-step nucleic acid detection method [real-time SHERLOCK (real-time SLK)].

High-Throughput CRISPR-Cas13 SARS-CoV-2 Test.

Background: The ability to control the spread of COVID-19 continues to be hampered by a lack of rapid, scalable, and easily deployable diagnostic solutions.

Methods: We developed a diagnostic method based on CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) that can deliver sensitive, specific, and high-throughput detection of Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The assay utilizes SHERLOCK (Specific High-sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter unLOCKing) for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and may be performed directly on a swab or saliva sample without nucleic acid extraction.

Pathogenicity of Enterococci.

Enterococci are unusually well adapted for survival and persistence in a variety of adverse environments, including on inanimate surfaces in the hospital environment and at sites of infection. This intrinsic ruggedness undoubtedly played a role in providing opportunities for enterococci to interact with other overtly drug-resistant microbes and acquire additional resistances on mobile elements. The rapid rise of antimicrobial resistance among hospital-adapted enterococci has rendered hospital-acquired infections a leading therapeutic challenge.