Effects of seawater and freshwater challenges on the Gh/Igf system in the saline-tolerant blackchin tilapia .

Prolactin (Prl) and growth hormone (Gh) as well as insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf1) are involved in the physiological adaptation of fish to varying salinities. The Igfs have been also ascribed other physiological roles during development, growth, reproduction and immune regulation. However, the main emphasis in the investigation of osmoregulatory responses has been the endocrine, liver-derived Igf1 route and local regulation within the liver and osmoregulatory organs.

Ongoing tissue changes in an experimentally mummified human leg.

Artificial mummification has been used since antiquity and is best known from ancient Egypt. Despite ancient Egyptian mummies being studied for several decades, the mummification techniques of that time are not well understood. Modern mummification experiments involving animal and human tissues have contributed additional insights relevant to a broad field of research.

Ancient DNA Investigation of a Medieval German Cemetery Confirms Long-Term Stability of CCR5-Δ32 Allele Frequencies in Central Europe.

The CCR5-Δ32 mutation present in European populations is among the most prominently debated cases of recent positive selection in humans. This allele, a 32-bp deletion that renders the T-cell CCR5 receptor nonfunctional, has important epidemiological and public health significance, as homozygous carriers are resistant to several HIV strains. However, although the function of this allele in preventing HIV infection is now well described, its human evolutionary origin is poorly understood.

The Sommersdorf mummies-An interdisciplinary investigation on human remains from a 17th-19th century aristocratic crypt in southern Germany.

Sommersdorf Castle (Bavaria, Germany) is a medieval castle complex which has been inhabited by the aristocratic family von Crailsheim. The deceased were entombed in a crypt located in the parapets underneath the castle's church, resulting in mummification of the bodies. Based on the family chronicle and oral history, identities have been ascribed to the mummies.

Transcriptome-based network analysis reveals renal cell type-specific dysregulation of hypoxia-associated transcripts.

Accumulating evidence suggests that dysregulation of hypoxia-regulated transcriptional mechanisms is involved in development of chronic kidney diseases (CKD). However, it remains unclear how hypoxia-induced transcription factors (HIFs) and subsequent biological processes contribute to CKD development and progression. In our study, genome-wide expression profiles of more than 200 renal biopsies from patients with different CKD stages revealed significant correlation of HIF-target genes with eGFR in glomeruli and tubulointerstitium.

Endocrine and Local IGF-I in the Bony Fish Immune System.

A role for GH and IGF-I in the modulation of the immune system has been under discussion for decades. Generally, GH is considered a stimulator of innate immune parameters in mammals and teleost fish. The stimulatory effects in humans as well as in bony fish often appear to be correlated with elevated endocrine IGF-I (liver-derived), which has also been shown to be suppressed during infection in some studies.

Modeling ancient Egyptian mummification on fresh human tissue: macroscopic and histological aspects.

Many studies have been concerned with the ancient Egyptian mummification method; nevertheless, little effort has been made to explore it experimentally. The goal of this study is to apply evidence-based diagnostic criteria and state-of-the art methodology in order to improve knowledge on soft tissues preservation and postmortem alterations. Two human lower limbs (LL) from a female donor were (1) "naturally" mummified by dry heat and (2) artificially in natron.

Post mortem DNA degradation of human tissue experimentally mummified in salt.

Mummified human tissues are of great interest in forensics and biomolecular archaeology. The aim of this study was to analyse post mortem DNA alterations in soft tissues in order to improve our knowledge of the patterns of DNA degradation that occur during salt mummification. In this study, the lower limb of a female human donor was amputated within 24 h post mortem and mummified using a process designed to simulate the salt dehydration phase of natural or artificial mummification.

Developmental oestrogen exposure differentially modulates IGF-I and TNF-α expression levels in immune organs of Yersinia ruckeri-challenged young adult rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Intensified aquaculture has strong impact on fish health by stress and infectious diseases and has stimulated the interest in the orchestration of cytokines and growth factors, particularly their influence by environmental factors, however, only scarce data are available on the GH/IGF-system, central physiological system for development and tissue shaping. Most recently, the capability of the host to cope with tissue damage has been postulated as critical for survival. Thus, the present study assessed the combined impacts of estrogens and bacterial infection on the insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and tumor-necrosis factor (TNF)-α.

Pathogens and host immunity in the ancient human oral cavity.

Calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) preserves for millennia and entraps biomolecules from all domains of life and viruses. We report the first, to our knowledge, high-resolution taxonomic and protein functional characterization of the ancient oral microbiome and demonstrate that the oral cavity has long served as a reservoir for bacteria implicated in both local and systemic disease. We characterize (i) the ancient oral microbiome in a diseased state, (ii) 40 opportunistic pathogens, (iii) ancient human-associated putative antibiotic resistance genes, (iv) a genome reconstruction of the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia, (v) 239 bacterial and 43 human proteins, allowing confirmation of a long-term association between host immune factors, 'red complex' pathogens and periodontal disease, and (vi) DNA sequences matching dietary sources.

Y-chromosomal analysis identifies the skeletal remains of Swiss national hero Jörg Jenatsch (1596-1639).

Jörg Jenatsch was a Swiss defender of independence and a fighter for liberty in the 17th century. With the help of three living male members of the Jenatsch family, we successfully identified a skeleton exhumed from Chur cathedral as the remains of Jörg Jenatsch. Our conclusion was based upon complete Y-STR and Y-SNP profiles that could be generated by replicate analyses of a bone sample available to us.

"Modeling ancient Egyptian embalming": radiological assessment of experimentally mummified human tissue by CT and MRI.

Objective: To assess changes in different tissues during the process of artificial mummification by natron using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to translate the results to image interpretation in paleoradiological studies of ancient mummies.

Materials And Methods: A human lower limb (LL) was amputated from a female donor 24 h post-mortem and mummified by artificial natron (54 % NaCl, 16 % Na2SO4, 18 % Na2CO3 12 % NaHCO3) in ancient Egyptian style. The LL was kept in a fume hood at 16-25 °C and 30-75 % relative humidity.

Seawater and freshwater challenges affect the insulin-like growth factors IGF-I and IGF-II in liver and osmoregulatory organs of the tilapia.

Contradictory studies suggest IGF-I in fish liver and gills is involved in osmoregulation, but nothing is known about the kidney and intestine's role nor about IGF-II's role in any organ. Tilapia were transferred from freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) for 1week (wk) and retransferred to FW for another week. At 4h, 1d, 2d, 3d and 1wk after SW-transfer and FW-retransfer IGF-I, IGF-II and growth hormone receptor (GHR1) mRNA were measured by real-time PCR.

Further insights into the insulin-like growth factor-I system of bony fish pituitary with special emphasis on reproductive phases and social status.

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, which is crucially involved in fish growth, differentiation, and reproduction, occurs in tilapia pituitary. IGF-I peptide, which is probably produced in hypothalamic perikarya, is present in axons of the neurohypophysis, and IGF-I mRNA and peptide are present in the adenohypophysis in adrenocorticotrophic hormone cells, melanocyte-stimulating hormone cells, with interindividual differences in growth hormone cells, and, starting with puberty, in gonadotrophic hormone (GTH) cells. Subordinate males showed a high IGF-I but a lower beta-luteinizing hormone expression, while in dominant males the opposite was found.

Challenge with 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) during early development persistently impairs growth, differentiation, and local expression of IGF-I and IGF-II in immune organs of tilapia.

The enormous expansion of world-wide aquaculture has led to increasing interest in the regulation of fish immune system. Estrogen has recently been shown to inhibit the endocrine (liver-derived) and autocrine/paracrine local insulin-like growth factor-I system in fish. In order to address the potential actions of estrogen on the IGF system in immune organs, tilapia were fed with 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2)-enriched food from 10 to 40 days post fertilization (DPF) to induce functional feminization, an approach commonly used in aquaculture.

Environmentally relevant concentrations of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) interfere with the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I system in developing bony fish.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether effects of environmental estrogens on fish growth and reproduction may be mediated via modulating the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) system. To this end, developing male and female monosex populations of tilapia were exposed to 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) at 5 and 25 ng EE2/l water from 10-day postfertilization (DPF) until 100 DPF. Under exposure to both EE2 concentrations, sex ratio shifted toward more females and body length, and weight were significantly reduced in males.

Ethinylestradiol differentially interferes with IGF-I in liver and extrahepatic sites during development of male and female bony fish.

Growth and sexual development are closely interlinked in fish; however, no reports exist on potential effects of estrogen on the GH/IGF-I-axis in developing fish. We investigate whether estrogen exposure during early development affects growth and the IGF-I system, both at the systemic and tissue level. Tilapia were fed from 10 to 40 days post fertilization (DPF) with 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE(2)).

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in a growth-enhanced transgenic (GH-overexpressing) bony fish, the tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus): indication for a higher impact of autocrine/paracrine than of endocrine IGF-I.

Several lines of growth hormone (GH)-overexpressing fish have been produced and analysed for growth and fertility parameters. However, only few data are available on the growth-promoting hormone insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) that mediates most effects of GH, and these are contradictory. Using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, radioimmunoassay, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and radiochromatography we investigated IGF-I and IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) in an adult (17 months old) transgenic (GH-overexpressing) tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

IGF-I is distinctly located in the bony fish pituitary as revealed for Oreochromis niloticus, the Nile tilapia, using real-time RT-PCR, in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry.

In bony fish, IGF-I released from the liver under the control of pituitary GH is the main endocrine regulator of growth, maintenance and development, and the amount of circulating IGF-I regulates synthesis and release of GH. In mammals and amphibia, evidence indicates that anterior pituitary endocrine cells also contain IGF-I. However, only preliminary and conflicting data exist on IGF-I gene expression in bony fish pituitary.

Organ-specific expression of IGF-I during early development of bony fish as revealed in the tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry: indication for the particular importance of local IGF-I.

The cellular sites of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) synthesis in the early developing tilapia (0-140 days post fertilization, DPF) were investigated. IGF-I mRNA and peptide appeared in liver as early as 4 DPF and in gastro-intestinal epithelial cells between 5-9 DPF. In exocrine pancreas, the expression of IGF-I started at 4 DPF and continued until 90 DPF.

A systematic immunohistochemical survey of the distribution patterns of GH, prolactin, somatolactin, beta-TSH, beta-FSH, beta-LH, ACTH, and alpha-MSH in the adenohypophysis of Oreochromis niloticus, the Nile tilapia.

Fish pituitary plays a central role in the control of growth, development, reproduction and adaptation to the environment. Several types of hormone-secreting adenohypophyseal cells have been characterised and localised in diverse teleost species. The results suggest a similar distribution pattern among the species investigated.

A survey on the expression of IGF-I in the early developing bony fish with special emphasis on the tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus.

The present study investigates the expression of IGF-I in the early developing tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). IGF-I was detected very early in ontogeny (4-5 days postfertilization, DPF), first in liver and in organs involved in growth and metabolism, thus suggesting a high physiological impact of IGF-I in growth, metabolism, and organogenesis.