Molecular Adjustment to a Social Niche: Brain Transcriptomes Reveal Divergent Influence of Social Environment on the Two Queen Morphs of the Ant Temnothorax rugatulus.

Social insects form complex societies with division of labour between different female castes. In most species, a single queen heads the colony; in others, several queens share the task of reproduction. These different social organisations are often associated with distinct queen morphologies and life-history strategies and occur in different environments.

Real-time Technical Support Using a Remote Technology During Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Follow-up: A Preliminary Multicenter Experience in Clinical Practice.

Industry-employed allied professionals (IEAPs) provide technical assistance to physicians during cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation, programming, troubleshooting, and follow-up. The Heart Connect™ application (Boston Scientific Inc., Marlborough, MA, USA) is a data-sharing system that enables remote access and display sharing of the CIED Programmer.

Observation of Transient Prenucleation Species of Calcium Carbonate by DNP-Enhanced NMR.

Knowledge of the mechanism by which polymorphic inorganic species, such as carbonates, are formed is crucial to understand and guide the selective crystallization of end products. Recently it has been shown that a key step in the crystallization of calcium carbonate is the formation of intermediate species known as prenucleation clusters. However, the observation of these prenucleation clusters in solution is exceedingly challenging because of their short lifetime and low concentrations.

Macrophage depletion overcomes human hematopoietic cell engraftment failure in zebrafish embryo.

Zebrafish is widely adopted as a grafting model for studying human development and diseases. Current zebrafish xenotransplantations are performed using embryo recipients, as the adaptive immune system, responsible for host versus graft rejection, only reaches maturity at juvenile stage. However, transplanted primary human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSC) rapidly disappear even in zebrafish embryos, suggesting that another barrier to transplantation exists before the onset of adaptive immunity.

Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation.

Social insects often display extreme variation in body size and morphology within the same colony. In many species, adult morphology is socially regulated by workers during larval development. While larval nutrition may play a role in this regulation, it is often difficult to identify precisely what larvae receive from rearing workers, especially when larvae are fed through social regurgitation.

Biphasic NMR of Hyperpolarized Suspensions-Real-Time Monitoring of Solute-to-Solid Conversion to Watch Materials Grow.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a key method for the determination of molecular structures. Due to its intrinsically high (, atomistic) resolution and versatility, it has found numerous applications for investigating gases, liquids, and solids. However, liquid-state NMR has found little application for suspensions of solid particles as the resonances of such systems are excessively broadened, typically beyond the detection threshold.

Metabolic division of labor in social insects.

Social insects are known for reproductive and behavioral division of labor, but little attention has been paid to metabolic forms of division of labor. Metabolic division of labor is the partitioning of complementary metabolic tasks between individuals, and it is widespread in social insects. We define two forms of metabolic division of labor, homosynergetic and heterosynergetic, we pinpoint trophallaxis, trophic eggs, and cannibalism as the primary transfers underlying the homosynergetic form and discuss their evolution.

A snapshot on HIV-1 evolution through the identification of phylogenetic-specific properties of HIV-1 integrases M/O.

Transmissions of simian viruses to humans has originated the different groups of HIV-1. We recently identified a functional motif (CLA), in the C-terminal domain of the integrase, essential for integration in HIV-1 group M. Here, we found that the motif is instead dispensable in group O isolates, because of the presence, in the N-terminal domain of HIV-1 O of a specific sequence, Q7G27P41H44, that we define as the NOG motif.

Missing Pieces in Structure Puzzles: How Hyperpolarized NMR Spectroscopy Can Complement Structural Biology and Biochemistry.

Structure determination lies at the heart of many biochemical research programs. However, the "giants": X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and nuclear magnetic resonance, among others, leave quite a few dark spots on the structural pictures drawn of proteins, nucleic acids, membranes, and other biomacromolecules. For example, structural models under physiological conditions or of short-lived intermediates often remain out of reach of the established experimental methods.

Socially transferred materials: why and how to study them.

When biological material is transferred from one individual's body to another, as in ejaculate, eggs, and milk, secondary donor-produced molecules are often transferred along with the main cargo, and influence the physiology and fitness of the receiver. Both social and solitary animals exhibit such social transfers at certain life stages. The secondary, bioactive, and transfer-supporting components in socially transferred materials have evolved convergently to the point where they are used in applications across taxa and type of transfer.

The HIV-1 Integrase C-Terminal Domain Induces TAR RNA Structural Changes Promoting Tat Binding.

Recent evidence indicates that the HIV-1 Integrase (IN) binds the viral genomic RNA (gRNA), playing a critical role in the morphogenesis of the viral particle and in the stability of the gRNA once in the host cell. By combining biophysical, molecular biology, and biochemical approaches, we found that the 18-residues flexible C-terminal tail of IN acts as a sensor of the peculiar apical structure of the trans-activation response element RNA (TAR), interacting with its hexaloop. We show that the binding of the whole IN C-terminal domain modifies TAR structure, exposing critical nucleotides.

Frémy's Salt as a Low-Persistence Hyperpolarization Agent: Efficient Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Plus Rapid Radical Scavenging.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a key technique for molecular structure determination in solution. However, due to its low sensitivity, many efforts have been made to improve signal strengths and reduce the required substrate amounts. In this regard, dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DDNP) is a versatile approach as signal enhancements of over 10 000-fold are achievable.

Inversion of Hyperpolarized C NMR Signals through Cross-Correlated Cross-Relaxation in Dissolution DNP Experiments.

Dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DDNP) is a versatile tool to boost signal amplitudes in solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. For DDNP, nuclei are spin-hyperpolarized "" in a dedicated DNP device and then transferred to an NMR spectrometer for detection. Dramatic signal enhancements can be achieved, enabling shorter acquisition times, real-time monitoring of fast reactions, and reduced sample concentrations.

Residue-resolved monitoring of protein hyperpolarization at sub-second time resolution.

Signal-enhancement techniques for NMR spectroscopy are important to amplify the weak resonances provided by nuclear spins. Recently, 'hyperpolarization' techniques have been intensively investigated. These provide nuclear spin states far from equilibrium yielding strong signal boosts up to four orders of magnitude.

Cascade Dynamics of Multiple Molecular Rotors in a MOF: Benchmark Mobility at a Few Kelvins and Dynamics Control by CO.

Achieving sophisticated juxtaposition of geared molecular rotors with negligible energy-requirements in solids enables fast yet controllable and correlated rotary motion to construct switches and motors. Our endeavor was to realize multiple rotors operating in a MOF architecture capable of supporting fast motional regimes, even at extremely cold temperatures. Two distinct ligands, 4,4'-bipyridine (bipy) and bicyclo[1.

A novel sample handling system for dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization experiments.

We present a system for facilitated sample vitrification, melting, and transfer in dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DDNP) experiments. In DDNP, a sample is typically hyperpolarized at cryogenic temperatures before dissolution with hot solvent and transfer to a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for detection in the liquid state. The resulting signal enhancements can exceed 4 orders of magnitude.

Extreme lifespan extension in tapeworm-infected ant workers.

Social insects are hosts of diverse parasites, but the influence of these parasites on phenotypic host traits is not yet well understood. Here, we tracked the survival of tapeworm-infected ant workers, their uninfected nest-mates and of ants from unparasitized colonies. Our multi-year study on the ant the intermediate host of the tapeworm revealed a prolonged lifespan of infected workers compared with their uninfected peers.

HIV-1 Capsid Core: A Bullet to the Heart of the Target Cell.

The first step of the intracellular phase of retroviral infection is the release of the viral capsid core in the cytoplasm. This structure contains the viral genetic material that will be reverse transcribed and integrated into the genome of infected cells. Up to recent times, the role of the capsid core was considered essentially to protect this genetic material during the earlier phases of this process.

CDX2 regulates ACE expression in blood development and leukemia cells.

Expression of caudal-related homeobox gene 2 (CDX2) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) correlates during hematopoietic emergence. This emergence occurs in human and mouse embryos and in human acute myeloid leukemia; CDX2 homeoprotein also binds to the ACE promoter.

Pleiotropic consequences of metabolic stress for the major histocompatibility complex class II molecule antigen processing and presentation machinery.

Hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are often observed in individuals with type II diabetes (T2D) and related mouse models. One dysmetabolic biochemical consequence is the non-enzymatic reaction between sugars, lipids, and proteins, favoring protein glycation, glycoxidation, and lipoxidation. Here, we identified oxidative alterations in key components of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecule antigen processing and presentation machinery in vivo under conditions of hyperglycemia-induced metabolic stress.

Molecular regulation of lifespan extension in fertile ant workers.

The evolution of sociality in insects caused a divergence in lifespan between reproductive and non-reproductive castes. Ant queens can live for decades, while most workers survive only weeks to a few years. In most organisms, longevity is traded-off with reproduction, but in social insects, these two life-history traits are positively linked.

Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the mechanisms underpinning ageing and fecundity in social insects.

The exceptional longevity of social insect queens despite their lifelong high fecundity remains poorly understood in ageing biology. To gain insights into the mechanisms that might underlie ageing in social insects, we compared gene expression patterns between young and old castes (both queens and workers) across different lineages of social insects (two termite, two bee and two ant species). After global analyses, we paid particular attention to genes of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 signalling (IIS)/target of rapamycin (TOR)/juvenile hormone (JH) network, which is well known to regulate lifespan and the trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance in solitary insects.

Experimental increase in fecundity causes upregulation of fecundity and body maintenance genes in the fat body of ant queens.

In most organisms, fecundity and longevity are negatively associated and the molecular regulation of these two life-history traits is highly interconnected. In addition, nutrient intake often has opposing effects on lifespan and reproduction. In contrast to solitary insects, the main reproductive individual of social hymenopterans, the queen, is also the most long-lived.

Immune challenge reduces gut microbial diversity and triggers fertility-dependent gene expression changes in a social insect.

Background: The gut microbiome can influence life history traits associated with host fitness such as fecundity and longevity. In most organisms, these two life history traits are traded-off, while they are positively linked in social insects. In ants, highly fecund queens can live for decades, while their non-reproducing workers exhibit much shorter lifespans.