Multilocus species trees show the recent adaptive radiation of the mimetic heliconius butterflies.

Müllerian mimicry among Neotropical Heliconiini butterflies is an excellent example of natural selection, associated with the diversification of a large continental-scale radiation. Some of the processes driving the evolution of mimicry rings are likely to generate incongruent phylogenetic signals across the assemblage, and thus pose a challenge for systematics. We use a data set of 22 mitochondrial and nuclear markers from 92% of species in the tribe, obtained by Sanger sequencing and de novo assembly of short read data, to re-examine the phylogeny of Heliconiini with both supermatrix and multispecies coalescent approaches, characterize the patterns of conflicting signal, and compare the performance of various methodological approaches to reflect the heterogeneity across the data.

Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) promotes an intestinal immune response in BALB/c mice and in primary intestinal epithelial cell culture involving toll-like receptors TLR-2 and TLR-4.

Purpose: Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC(®)) is a cultured mushroom extract that is commercially available and promoted for immune support. Available data suggest that AHCC supplementation affects immune cell populations and immune outcomes, including natural killer cell response to infection. The mechanism by which AHCC exerts its effects is not well understood.

A new method for the determination of the nitrogen content of nitrocellulose based on the molar ratio of nitrite-to-nitrate ions released after alkaline hydrolysis.

A new method was proposed to determine the nitrogen content of nitrocelluloses (NCs). It is based on the finding of a linear relationship between the nitrogen content and the molar ratio of nitrite-to-nitrate ions released after alkaline hydrolysis. Capillary electrophoresis was used to monitor the concentration of nitrite and nitrate ions.

Calcium dynamics in astrocyte processes during neurovascular coupling.

Enhanced neuronal activity in the brain triggers a local increase in blood flow, termed functional hyperemia, via several mechanisms, including calcium (Ca(2+)) signaling in astrocytes. However, recent in vivo studies have questioned the role of astrocytes in functional hyperemia because of the slow and sparse dynamics of their somatic Ca(2+) signals and the absence of glutamate metabotropic receptor 5 in adults. Here, we reexamined their role in neurovascular coupling by selectively expressing a genetically encoded Ca(2+) sensor in astrocytes of the olfactory bulb.

Speciation: frog mimics prefer their own.

Ranitomeya poison frogs in the Peruvian Amazon are a rare example of Müllerian mimicry in vertebrates. These frogs also prefer to court same-coloured mimics. This suggests that divergence in mimicry plays a role in reproductive isolation.

Glaser oxidative coupling on peptides: stabilization of β-turn structure via a 1,3-butadiyne constraint.

The Glaser-Eglinton reaction between either two C or N propargylglycine (Pra or NPra) amino acids, in the presence of copper(II), led to cyclic hexa- and octapeptides constrained by a butadiyne bridge. The on-resin cyclization conditions were analyzed and optimized. The consequences of this type of constraint on the three dimensional structure of these hexapeptides and octapeptides were analyzed in details by NMR and molecular dynamics.

Ultrastructural studies of some character of Diptera (Muscidae) of forensically importance.

Insects are important in the decomposition of cadavers. In the field of forensic entomology, the taxonomic identification is essential to proceed to any procedure. The use of these insects in medico criminal investigation is the object of forensic entomological studies; the flies are generally attracted to cadavers and one of the most important contributions is to estimate the postmortem interval.

Estimation of the spontaneous mutation rate in Heliconius melpomene.

We estimated the spontaneous mutation rate in Heliconius melpomene by genome sequencing of a pair of parents and 30 of their offspring, based on the ratio of number of de novo heterozygotes to the number of callable site-individuals. We detected nine new mutations, each one affecting a single site in a single offspring. This yields an estimated mutation rate of 2.

Genetic dissection of Gata2 selective functions during specification of V2 interneurons in the developing spinal cord.

Motor activities are controlled by neural networks in the ventral spinal cord and consist in motor neurons and a set of distinct cardinal classes of spinal interneurons. These interneurons arise from distinct progenitor domains (p0-p3) delineated according to a transcriptional code. Neural progenitors of each domain express a unique combination of transcription factors (TFs) that largely contribute to determine the fate of four classes of interneurons (V0-V3) and motor neurons.

Stable Heliconius butterfly hybrid zones are correlated with a local rainfall peak at the edge of the Amazon basin.

Multilocus clines between Müllerian mimetic races of Heliconius butterflies provide a classic example of the maintenance of hybrid zones and their importance in speciation. Concordant hybrid zones in the mimics Heliconius erato and H. melpomene in northern Peru were carefully documented in the 1980s, and this prior work now permits a historical analysis of the movement or stasis of the zones.

Local inactivation of Gpr88 in the nucleus accumbens attenuates behavioral deficits elicited by the neonatal administration of phencyclidine in rats.

Gpr88, an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor, is highly and almost exclusively expressed in the medium spiny projection neurons of the striatum, and may thus participate in the control of motor functions and cognitive processing that are impaired in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia (SZ). This study investigated the relevance of Gpr88 to SZ-associated behavior by knocking down Gpr88 gene expression in the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens) in a neurodevelopmental rat model of SZ, generated by neonatal treatment with phencyclidine (PCP). In this model, we compared the effects of the local inactivation in the adult animal of the expression of Gpr88 and of Drd2, a gene strongly implicated in the etiology of SZ and coding for the dopamine receptor type 2 (D2).

Lentiviral-mediated silencing of glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin promotes anatomical plasticity and functional recovery after spinal cord injury.

In spinal cord injury (SCI), absence of functional recovery and lack of spontaneous axonal regeneration are attributed, among other factors, to the formation of a glial scar that forms both physical and chemical barriers. The glial scar is composed mainly of reactive astrocytes that overexpress two intermediate filament proteins, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin (VIM). To promote regeneration and sprouting of spared axons after spinal cord trauma and with the objective of translation to clinics, we designed an original in vivo gene transfer strategy to reduce glial scar formation after SCI, based on the RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated inhibition of GFAP and VIM.

Perinatal protein malnutrition affects mitochondrial function in adult and results in a resistance to high fat diet-induced obesity.

Epidemiological findings indicate that transient environmental influences during perinatal life, especially nutrition, may have deleterious heritable health effects lasting for the entire life. Indeed, the fetal organism develops specific adaptations that permanently change its physiology/metabolism and that persist even in the absence of the stimulus that initiated them. This process is termed "nutritional programming".

Hybrid lentivirus-phiC31-int-NLS vector allows site-specific recombination in murine and human cells but induces DNA damage.

Gene transfer allows transient or permanent genetic modifications of cells for experimental or therapeutic purposes. Gene delivery by HIV-derived lentiviral vector (LV) is highly effective but the risk of insertional mutagenesis is important and the random/uncontrollable integration of the DNA vector can deregulate the cell transcriptional activity. Non Integrative Lentiviral Vectors (NILVs) solve this issue in non-dividing cells, but they do not allow long term expression in dividing cells.

The immunopotentiating effects of shark-derived protein hydrolysate.

Objective: Peptides derived from natural sources can act as immunomodulating agents and prevent infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunopotentiating and protective effects of a shark-derived protein hydrolysate (SPH) against an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli H10407 infection in a murine model.

Methods: Mice were fed an aqueous solution of SPH for 7 days before being inoculated with an experimental enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli H10407 infection.

Endospanin 1 silencing in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus contributes to sustained weight loss of high fat diet obese mice.

Leptin targets specific receptors (OB-R) expressed in the hypothalamus to regulate energy balance. Leptin decreases food intake in normal weight individuals, but this effect is blunted in obese subjects who are characterized by a state of leptin resistance. The prevention of leptin resistance is one of the major goals of obesity research.

Bovine colostrum enhances natural killer cell activity and immune response in a mouse model of influenza infection and mediates intestinal immunity through toll-like receptors 2 and 4.

Oral administration of bovine colostrum affects intestinal immunity, including an increased percentage of natural killer (NK) cells. However, effects on NK cell cytotoxic activity and resistance to infection as well as a potential mechanism remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of bovine colostrum (La Belle, Inc, Bellingham, WA) on the NK cytotoxic response to influenza infection and on toll-like receptor (TLR) activity in a primary intestinal epithelial cell culture.

Cell-penetrating nanobiosensors for pointillistic intracellular Ca2+-transient detection.

Small-molecule chemical calcium (Ca(2+)) indicators are invaluable tools for studying intracellular signaling pathways but have severe shortcomings for detecting local Ca(2+) entry. Nanobiosensors incorporating functionalized quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as promising alternatives but their intracellular use remains a major challenge. We designed cell-penetrating FRET-based Ca(2+) nanobiosensors for the detection of local Ca(2+) concentration transients, using commercially available CANdot565QD as a donor and CaRuby, a custom red-emitting Ca(2+) indicator, as an acceptor.

Cytotoxicity of piperamides towards Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae).

The effectiveness of the amides piplartine and piperlonguminine isolated from Piper species for controlling L3 and L4 of Aedes aegypti (L.) was assessed through bioassays at concentrations ranging from 1 to 300 g/l ml. Piplartine reduced the mosquito development period and caused larval mortality only at concentrations > 100 microg/ml, whereas piperlonguminine resulted in an extended period of mosquito development (10 microg/ml) and caused 100% larval mortality (30 microg/ml) within 24 h.

New red-fluorescent calcium indicators for optogenetics, photoactivation and multi-color imaging.

Most chemical and, with only a few exceptions, all genetically encoded fluorimetric calcium (Ca(2+)) indicators (GECIs) emit green fluorescence. Many of these probes are compatible with red-emitting cell- or organelle markers. But the bulk of available fluorescent-protein constructs and transgenic animals incorporate green or yellow fluorescent protein (GFP and YFP respectively).

Selective disruption of acetylcholine synthesis in subsets of motor neurons: a new model of late-onset motor neuron disease.

Motor neuron diseases are characterized by the selective chronic dysfunction of a subset of motor neurons and the subsequent impairment of neuromuscular function. To reproduce in the mouse these hallmarks of diseases affecting motor neurons, we generated a mouse line in which ~40% of motor neurons in the spinal cord and the brainstem become unable to sustain neuromuscular transmission. These mice were obtained by conditional knockout of the gene encoding choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the biosynthetic enzyme for acetylcholine.

Characterization of the recombinant Candida albicans β-1,2-mannosyltransferase that initiates the β-mannosylation of cell wall phosphopeptidomannan.

The presence of β-mannosides in their cell walls confers specific features on the pathogenic yeasts Candida albicans and Candida glabrata compared with non-pathogenic yeasts. In the present study, we investigated the enzymatic properties of Bmt1 (β-mannosyltransferase 1), a member of the recently identified β-mannosyltransferase family, from C. albicans.

Complications in pediatric spine surgery using the vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib: the French experience.

Study Design: Multicenter retrospective study of 54 children.

Objective: To describe the complication rate of the French vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR) series involving patients treated between August 2005 and January 2012.

Summary Of Background Data: Congenital chest wall and spine deformities in children are complex entities.