Mild magnetic hyperthermia is synergistic with an antibiotic treatment against dual species biofilms consisting of and by enhancing metabolic activity.

Objective: The wound biofilm infections that develop tolerance to standard-of-care antimicrobial treatment has been increasing. The objective of this study was to demonstrate a proof-of-concept of mild magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)/alternating magnetic field (AMF) hyperthermia as an anti-biofilm therapy against multispecies biofilm infections.

Methods: Using both an cell culture and murine model of wound infection, we investigated whether MNP/AMF hyperthermia applied at a mild thermal dosage would be synergistically effective against dual species biofilm infection consisting of and when combined with a broad-spectrum antibiotic, ciprofloxacin (CIP).

ER and Golgi trafficking in axons, dendrites, and glial processes.

Both neurons and glia in mammalian brains are highly ramified. Neurons form complex neural networks using axons and dendrites. Axons are long with few branches and form pre-synaptic boutons that connect to target neurons and effector tissues.

Giant ankyrin-B mediates transduction of axon guidance and collateral branch pruning factor sema 3A.

Variants in the high confident autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gene target both ubiquitously expressed 220 kDa ankyrin-B and neurospecific 440 kDa ankyrin-B (AnkB440) isoforms. Previous work showed that knock-in mice expressing an ASD-linked variant yielding a truncated AnkB440 product exhibit ectopic brain connectivity and behavioral abnormalities. Expression of this variant or loss of AnkB440 caused axonal hyperbranching in vitro, which implicated AnkB440 microtubule bundling activity in suppressing collateral branch formation.

Ultrastructural analysis of the morphological phenotypes of microglia associated with neuroinflammatory cues.

Microglia are the primary resident immune cells of the central nervous system that are responsible for the maintenance of brain homeostasis. There is a plethora of evidence to suggest that microglia display distinct phenotypes that are associated with the alteration of cell morphology under varying environmental cues. However, it has not been fully explored how the varying states of microglial activation are linked to the alteration of microglia morphology, especially in the microdomain.

Mild magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia promotes the disaggregation and microglia-mediated clearance of beta-amyloid plaques.

The formation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques is a classical hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that is associated with the promotion of neuroinflammation and subsequent neurotoxicity. Given the limited therapeutic options for targeting and clearing Aβ plaques in AD, there is an urgent need to develop effective approaches to reduce plaque accumulation. The objective of this study was to validate mild magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) hyperthermia technology as a strategy to clear Aβ deposits and determine the impact on microglia functionality.

Author Correction: Physical Activity, Energy Expenditure, and Defense of Body Weight in Melanocortin 4 Receptor-Deficient Male Rats.

A correction has been published and is appended to both the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Physical Activity, Energy Expenditure, and Defense of Body Weight in Melanocortin 4 Receptor-Deficient Male Rats.

Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) variants contribute to human obesity, and rats lacking functional MC4R (Mc4r) are obese. We investigated the hypothesis that low energy expenditure (EE) and physical activity contribute to this obese phenotype in male rats, and determined whether lack of functional MC4R conferred protection from weight loss during 50% calorie restriction. Though Mc4r rats showed low brown adipose Ucp1 expression and were less physically active than rats heterozygous for the mutation (Mc4r) or wild-type (Mc4r) rats, we found no evidence of lowered EE in Mc4r rats once body weight was taken into account using covariance.