Microglia react to partner loss in a sex- and brain site-specific manner in prairie voles.

Positive social relationships are paramount for the survival of mammals and beneficial for mental and physical health, buffer against stressors, and even promote appropriate immune system functioning. By contrast, impaired social relationships, social isolation, or the loss of a bonded partner lead to aggravated physical and mental health. For example, in humans partner loss is detrimental for the functioning of the immune system and heightens the susceptibility for the development of post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety disorders, and major depressive disorders.

Library Selection with a Randomized Repertoire of (βα)-Barrel Enzymes Results in Unexpected Induction of Gene Expression.

The potential of the frequently encountered (βα)-barrel fold to acquire new functions was tested by an approach combining random mutagenesis and selection . For this purpose, the genes encoding 52 different phosphate-binding (βα)-barrel proteins were subjected to error-prone PCR and cloned into an expression plasmid. The resulting mixed repertoire was used to transform different auxotrophic strains, each lacking an enzyme with a phosphate-containing substrate.