Going viral: The role of mobile genetic elements in bacterial immunity.

Bacteriophages and other mobile genetic elements (MGEs) pose a significant threat to bacteria, subjecting them to constant attacks. In response, bacteria have evolved a sophisticated immune system that employs diverse defensive strategies and mechanisms. Remarkably, a growing body of evidence suggests that most of these defenses are encoded by MGEs themselves.

Type IV-A3 CRISPR-Cas systems drive inter-plasmid conflicts by acquiring spacers in trans.

Plasmid-encoded type IV-A CRISPR-Cas systems lack an acquisition module, feature a DinG helicase instead of a nuclease, and form ribonucleoprotein complexes of unknown biological functions. Type IV-A3 systems are carried by conjugative plasmids that often harbor antibiotic-resistance genes and their CRISPR array contents suggest a role in mediating inter-plasmid conflicts, but this function remains unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that a plasmid-encoded type IV-A3 system co-opts the type I-E adaptation machinery from its host, Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.

Host-specific plasmid evolution explains the variable spread of clinical antibiotic-resistance plasmids.

Antibiotic resistance encoded on plasmids is a pressing global health problem. Predicting which plasmids spread in the long term remains very challenging, even though some key parameters influencing plasmid stability have been identified, such as plasmid growth costs and horizontal transfer rates. Here, we show these parameters evolve in a strain-specific way among clinical plasmids and bacteria, and this occurs rapidly enough to alter the relative likelihoods of different bacterium-plasmid combinations spreading.

Estimating plasmid conjugation rates: A new computational tool and a critical comparison of methods.

Plasmids are important vectors for the spread of genes among diverse populations of bacteria. However, there is no standard method to determine the rate at which they spread horizontally via conjugation. Here, we compare commonly used methods on simulated and experimental data, and show that the resulting conjugation rate estimates often depend strongly on the time of measurement, the initial population densities, or the initial ratio of donor to recipient populations.

Structure and Function of the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB).

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the vertebrate central nervous system from harmful blood-borne, endogenous and exogenous substances to ensure proper neuronal function. The BBB describes a function that is established by endothelial cells of CNS vessels in conjunction with pericytes, astrocytes, neurons and microglia, together forming the neurovascular unit (NVU). Endothelial barrier function is crucially induced and maintained by the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and requires intact NVU for proper functionality.

Low wnt/β-catenin signaling determines leaky vessels in the subfornical organ and affects water homeostasis in mice.

The circumventricular organs (CVOs) in the central nervous system (CNS) lack a vascular blood-brain barrier (BBB), creating communication sites for sensory or secretory neurons, involved in body homeostasis. Wnt/β-catenin signaling is essential for BBB development and maintenance in endothelial cells (ECs) in most CNS vessels. Here we show that in mouse development, as well as in adult mouse and zebrafish, CVO ECs rendered Wnt-reporter negative, suggesting low level pathway activity.

sST2 translation is regulated by FGF2 via an hnRNP A1-mediated IRES-dependent mechanism.

Translation is an energy-intensive process and tightly regulated. Generally, translation is initiated in a cap-dependent manner. Under stress conditions, typically found within the tumor microenvironment in association with e.