Upregulation of microRNAs correlates with downregulation of HERV-K expression in Parkinson's disease.

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) involvement in neurological diseases has been extensively documented, although the etiology of HERV reactivation remains unclear. MicroRNAs represent one of the potential regulatory mechanisms of HERV reactivation. We identified fourteen microRNAs predicted to bind the HERV-K transcript, and subsequently analyzed for their gene expression levels alongside those of HERV-K.

Using cluster analysis to explore COVID-19 vaccine booster hesitancy by levels of medical mistrust in fully vaccinated US adults.

Background: Underlying causes of vaccine hesitancy could significantly affect successful uptake of the SARS-CoV2 vaccine booster doses during new waves of COVID-19. Booster rates among US adults are far below what is needed for immunity, but little is known about booster hesitancy among fully vaccinated adults and whether medical mistrust exacerbates barriers to uptake.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed among 119 adults in Philadelphia, PA who reported having received the primary SARS-CoV2 vaccine series but not a booster dose.

Using health belief model constructs to understand the role of perceived disease threat and resilience in responding to COVID-19 among people who use drugs: a cluster analysis.

Introduction: The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been successfully applied to understanding adherence to COVID-19 prevention practices. It has not, however, been used to understand behavior in people who use drugs (PWUD). The aim of this study was to use the HBM to better understand COVID-19 perceptions among PWUD and understand how resiliency affects those perceptions.

The relationship of PrEP beliefs to perceived personal, interpersonal and structural benefits and barriers to PrEP use in women who inject drugs.

Background: Women who inject drugs (WWID) have significant biological, behavioral, and gender-based barriers to accessing HIV prevention services, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication. Little is known about how beliefs about PrEP impact both perceived barriers and benefits of PrEP use and how they may be related to the decision-making process.

Methods: Surveys were conducted with 100 female clients of a large syringe services program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Antibodies against HSV-1 and Curli Show the Highest Correlation in Parkinson's Disease Patients in Comparison to Healthy Controls.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder involving the accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn)/Lewy bodies in the brain and -enteric nervous system. The etiology of the disease is not well understood, but bacterial and viral infections may contribute to the pathogenesis of PD. It has been suggested that the gastrointestinal (GI) complications observed in PD patients may arise from bacterial dysbiosis, leading to curli/α-syn deposits in the enteric nervous system.

Competitive Interactions between Two Non-Native Species ( [M. Bieb.] Cavara & Grande and L.) and a Native Species ( [L.] R.M. King & H. Rob.).

and are wide-ranging non-native species in North America. is native to North America but has become a concern as an invasive species in Asia. A replacement series experiment was established to quantify the competitive interactions between these three species and to rank their relative competitiveness with each other.

Differential expression of miRNA 155 and miRNA 146a in Parkinson's disease patients.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder and its etiology is unknown, numerous studies show how different environmental factors can influence the development of disease. miRNAs are involved in several pathologies and their dysregulation contribute to different pathologies, also in neurodegenerative such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In this study, we profiled the expression of different candidate miRNAs: miR-155, miR-26a, miR-146a, and miR132, in PBMCs of L-dopa treated Parkinson patients and unaffected controls (HCs).

Homologous HSV1 and alpha-synuclein peptides stimulate a T cell response in Parkinson's disease.

Environmental factors are implicated in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study is to investigate the role of cell-mediated immunity upon a specific immune-stimulation with HSV-1 and human alpha-synuclein homologues peptides by using the intracellular cytokine method on Parkinson's patients and healthy controls. The study showed, for the first time, a specific response to TNF-α CD8, CD4 and NK cells after stimulation in PD patients.

Dance therapy improves motor and cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To explore the effects of Dance Therapy (DT) and Traditional Rehabilitation (TR) on both motor and cognitive domains in Parkinson's Disease patients (PD) with postural instability.

Methods: Sixteen PD patients with recent history of falls were divided in two groups (Dance Therapy, DT and Traditional Rehabilitation, TR); nine patients received 1-hour DT classes twice per week, completing 20 lessons within 10 weeks; seven patients received a similar cycle of 20 group sessions of 60 minutes TR. Motor (Berg Balance Scale - BBS, Gait Dynamic Index - GDI, Timed Up and Go Test - TUG, 4 Square-Step Test - 4SST, 6-Minute Walking Test - 6MWT) and cognitive measures (Frontal Assessment Battery - FAB, Trail Making Test A & B - TMT A&B, Stroop Test) were tested at baseline, after the treatment completion and after 8-week follow-up.

Is there a role for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Parkinson's disease?

In Parkinson's disease (PD) ZnT proteins play an important role. Zinc is a co-factor of numerous enzymes and stabilizes the tertiary structure of several proteins. Nothing is known about previous infections mediated by Mycobacterium avium subsp.

Humoral cross reactivity between α-synuclein and herpes simplex-1 epitope in Parkinson's disease, a triggering role in the disease?

Environmental factors are implicated in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). We have investigated on the role of molecular mimicry between HSV1 and α-synuclein that could foster the progression of PD. The antibody response against homologous peptides in PD patients and healthy controls was evaluated, showing that these antibodies are highly prevalent among PD patients to healthy controls.

Mechanism of foreign DNA recognition by a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The Type I-F CRISPR-mediated (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) adaptive immune system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa consists of two CRISPR loci and six CRISPR-associated (cas) genes. Foreign DNA surveillance is performed by a complex of Cas proteins (Csy1–4) that assemble with a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) into a 350-kDa ribonucleoprotein called the Csy complex. Here, we show that foreign nucleic acid recognition by the Csy complex proceeds through sequential steps, initiated by detection of two consecutive guanine–cytosine base pairs (G–C/G–C) located adjacent to the complementary DNA target.

Paired neurophysiological and clinical study of the brainstem at different stages of Parkinson's Disease.

Objective: To study brainstem function in Parkinson's Disease (PD) at different stages, through a battery of vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) and compare the results with scores on clinical scales assessing the presence of symptoms linked to brainstem involvement.

Methods: Cervical, masseter and ocular VEMPs were recorded in patients with early PD (n=14, disease duration 1.42±0.

Abnormalities of vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials in idiopathic Parkinson's disease are associated with clinical evidence of brainstem involvement.

Brainstem degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) may explain the occurrence of many non-motor symptoms in this condition. Purposes of the present work were to investigate brainstem function in PD through a battery of vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) allowing a comprehensive brainstem exploration and to correlate VEMP findings with symptoms related to brainstem involvement. Cervical (cVEMP), masseter (mVEMP) and ocular (oVEMP) VEMPs were investigated in 24 PD patients and compared with those recorded in 24 age-matched controls.

Hypoallergenic profilin--a new way to identify allergenic determinants.

Plant profilins are important panallergens, contributing to numerous food and pollen allergies. They fulfil essential functions in all eukaryotic cells, including yeast and mammals, making breeding of profilin-deficient crop plants an impossible task. To obtain hypoallergenic profilin-variants, a novel yeast based screening system to select for fully active but hypoallergenic profilins was developed.

Mitochondrial DNA regionalism and historical demography in the extant populations of Chirocephalus kerkyrensis (Branchiopoda: Anostraca).

Background: Mediterranean temporary water bodies are important reservoirs of biodiversity and host a unique assemblage of diapausing aquatic invertebrates. These environments are currently vanishing because of increasing human pressure. Chirocephalus kerkyrensis is a fairy shrimp typical of temporary water bodies in Mediterranean plain forests and has undergone a substantial decline in number of populations in recent years due to habitat loss.

Intranasal leptin reduces appetite and induces weight loss in rats with diet-induced obesity (DIO).

Resistance to brain-mediated effects of leptin is a characteristic feature of obesity, resulting from alterations in leptin receptor signaling in hypothalamic neurons and/or transport across the blood-brain-barrier. We have shown previously, that the latter can be circumvented by intranasal (i.n.

Alien eggs in duck nests: brood parasitism or a help from Grandma?

Intraspecific brood parasitism (IBP) is a remarkable phenomenon by which parasitic females can increase their reproductive output by laying eggs in conspecific females' nests in addition to incubating eggs in their own nest. Kin selection could explain the tolerance, or even the selective advantage, of IBP, but different models of IBP based on game theory yield contradicting predictions. Our analyses of seven polymorphic autosomal microsatellites in two eider duck colonies indicate that relatedness between host and parasitizing females is significantly higher than the background relatedness within the colony.

Silencing β1,2-xylosyltransferase in Transgenic Tomato Fruits Reveals xylose as Constitutive Component of Ige-Binding Epitopes.

Complex plant N-glycans containing β1,2-xylose and core α1,3-fucose are regarded as the major class of the so-called "carbohydrate cross-reactive determinants" reactive with IgE antibodies in sera of many allergic patients, but their clinical relevance is still under debate. Plant glycosyltransferases, β1,2-xylosyltransferase (XylT), and core α1,3-fucosyltransferase (FucT) are responsible for the transfer of β1,2-linked xylose and core α1,3-linked fucose residues to N-glycans of glycoproteins, respectively. To test the clinical relevance of β1,2-xylose-containing epitopes, expression of the tomato β1,2-xylosyltransferase was down-regulated by RNA interference (RNAi) in transgenic plants.

The second face of a known player: Arabidopsis silencing suppressor AtXRN4 acts organ-specifically.

Plant viruses exploit the symplastic transport pathway provided by plasmodesmata by encoding for specialized movement proteins, which interact with host factors to enable viral intracellular and intercellular spread. Stable expression of the Potato leaf roll virus movement protein MP17 in Arabidopsis results in a carbohydrate export block and stunted growth. To identify host factors essential for viral infection, we screened a progeny population of EMS (ethyl methanesulfonate)-mutagenized Arabidopsis expressing a MP17:GFP fusion for suppressor mutants with restored wild type-like phenotype.

Adipocyte-brain: crosstalk.

The initial discovery of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone originating from fat tissue, substantially supported the idea that fat-borne factors act on the brain to regulate food intake and energy expenditure. Since then, a growing number of cytokines have been found to be released from adipose tissue, thus acting in an endocrine manner. These adipocytokines include not only, e.

Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.02-silenced transgenic carrot plants show reduced allergenicity to patients with carrot allergy.

Pathogenesis-related protein-10 (PR10) is a ubiquitous small plant protein induced by microbial pathogens and abiotic stress that adversely contributes to the allergenic potency of many fruits and vegetables, including carrot. In this plant, two highly similar genes encoding PR10 isoforms have been isolated and designated as allergen Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.

Yeast profilin complements profilin deficiency in transgenic tomato fruits and allows development of hypoallergenic tomato fruits.

Gene silencing of Lyc e 1 leads to reduced allergenicity of tomato fruits but impaired growth of transgenic tomato plants. The aim of the study was to restore growth of Lyc e 1-deficient tomato plants while retaining reduced allergenicity by simultaneous complementation of profilin deficiency by expression of nonallergenic yeast profilin. Transgenic plants were generated and tested by RT-PCR and immunoblotting; allergenicity of yeast profilin and transgenic fruits was investigated by IgE binding, basophil activation, and skin-prick tests.