Rab7 controls lipid droplet-phagosome association during mycobacterial infection.

Lipid droplets (LDs) are organelles that have multiple roles in inflammatory and infectious diseases. LD act as essential platforms for immunometabolic regulation, including as sites for lipid storage and metabolism, inflammatory lipid mediator production, and signaling pathway compartmentalization. Accumulating evidence indicates that intracellular pathogens may exploit host LDs as source of nutrients and as part of their strategy to promote immune evasion.

Correlation of two-photon in vivo imaging and FIB/SEM microscopy.

Advances in the understanding of brain functions are closely linked to the technical developments in microscopy. In this study, we describe a correlative microscopy technique that offers a possibility of combining two-photon in vivo imaging with focus ion beam/scanning electron microscope (FIB/SEM) techniques. Long-term two-photon in vivo imaging allows the visualization of functional interactions within the brain of a living organism over the time, and therefore, is emerging as a new tool for studying the dynamics of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

A role for myelin-associated peroxisomes in maintaining paranodal loops and axonal integrity.

Demyelinating diseases of the nervous system cause axon loss but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we show by confocal and electron microscopy that in myelin-forming glia peroxisomes are associated with myelin membranes. When peroxisome biogenesis is experimentally perturbed in Pex5 conditional mouse mutants, myelination by Schwann cells appears initially normal.

Characterization of the novel human serotonin receptor subunits 5-HT3C,5-HT3D, and 5-HT3E.

Within the family of serotonin receptors, the 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT(3)) receptor is the only ligand-gated ion channel. It is composed of five subunits, of which the 5-HT(3A) and 5-HT(3B) subunits are best characterized. Several studies, however, have reported on the functional diversity of native 5-HT(3) receptors, which cannot solely be explained on the basis of the 5-HT(3A) and 5-HT(3B) subunits.

Transport of Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide in MHC Class II tubules.

Bacterial capsular polysaccharides are virulence factors and are considered T cell-independent antigens. However, the capsular polysaccharide Sp1 from Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 1 has been shown to activate CD4(+) T cells in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-dependent manner. The mechanism of carbohydrate presentation to CD4(+) T cells is unknown.