As nucleus-forming phages become better characterized, understanding their unifying similarities and unique differences will help us understand how they occupy varied niches and infect diverse hosts. All identified nucleus-forming phages fall within the Chimalliviridae family and share a core genome of 68 unique genes including chimallin, the major nuclear shell protein. A well-studied but non-essential protein encoded by many nucleus-forming phages is PhuZ, a tubulin homolog which aids in capsid migration, nucleus rotation, and nucleus positioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman neutrophils are abundant, short-lived leukocytes that turn over at a rate of approximately 1011 cells/day via a constitutive apoptosis program. Certain growth factors, inflammatory mediators and infectious agents can delay apoptosis or induce neutrophils to die by other mechanisms. Nonetheless, a large body of data demonstrates that apoptosis of untreated neutrophils typically ensues within 24 hours of cell isolation and in vitro culture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistone tail phosphorylation has diverse effects on a myriad of cellular processes, including cell division, and is highly conserved throughout eukaryotes. Histone H3 phosphorylation at threonine 3 (H3T3) during mitosis occurs at the inner centromeres and is required for proper biorientation of chromosomes on the mitotic spindle. While H3T3 is also phosphorylated during meiosis, a possible role for this modification has not been tested.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF40 Hz sensory stimulation ("flicker") has emerged as a new technique to potentially mitigate pathology and improve cognition in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, it remains unknown how 40 Hz flicker affects neural codes essential for memory. Accordingly, we investigate the effects of 40 Hz flicker on neural representations of experience in the hippocampus of the 5XFAD mouse model of AD by recording 1000s of neurons during a goal-directed spatial navigation task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntrons containing homing endonucleases are widespread in nature and have long been assumed to be selfish elements that provide no benefit to the host organism. These genetic elements are common in viruses, but whether they confer a selective advantage is unclear. In this work, we studied intron-encoded homing endonuclease gp210 in bacteriophage ΦPA3 and found that it contributes to viral competition by interfering with the replication of a coinfecting phage, ΦKZ.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs nucleus-forming phages become better characterized, understanding their unifying similarities and unique differences will help us understand how they occupy varied niches and infect diverse hosts. All identified nucleus-forming phages fall within the proposed Chimalliviridae family and share a core genome of 68 unique genes including chimallin, the major nuclear shell protein. A well-studied but non-essential protein encoded by many nucleus-forming phages is PhuZ, a tubulin homolog which aids in capsid migration, nucleus rotation, and nucleus positioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTargeting proteins to specific subcellular destinations is essential in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and the viruses that infect them. Chimalliviridae phages encapsulate their genomes in a nucleus-like replication compartment composed of the protein chimallin (ChmA) that excludes ribosomes and decouples transcription from translation. These phages selectively partition proteins between the phage nucleus and the bacterial cytoplasm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleus-forming phages (chimalliviruses) encode numerous genes responsible for creating intricate structures for viral replication. Research on this newly appreciated family of phages has begun to reveal the mechanisms underlying the subcellular organization of the nucleus-based phage replication cycle. These discoveries include the structure of the phage nuclear shell, the identification of a membrane-bound early phage infection intermediate, the dynamic localization of phage RNA polymerases, the phylogeny and core genome of chimalliviruses, and the variation in replication mechanisms across diverse nucleus-forming phages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Targeting proteins to specific subcellular destinations is essential in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and the viruses that infect them. Chimalliviridae phages encapsulate their genomes in a nucleus-like replication compartment composed of the protein chimallin (ChmA) that excludes ribosomes and decouples transcription from translation. These phages selectively partition proteins between the phage nucleus and the bacterial cytoplasm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMobile introns containing homing endonucleases are widespread in nature and have long been assumed to be selfish elements that provide no benefit to the host organism. These genetic elements are common in viruses, but whether they confer a selective advantage is unclear. Here we studied a mobile intron in bacteriophage ΦPA3 and found its homing endonuclease gp210 contributes to viral competition by interfering with the virogenesis of co-infecting phage ΦKZ.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroglia transform in response to changes in sensory or neural activity, such as sensory deprivation. However, little is known about how specific frequencies of neural activity, or brain rhythms, affect microglia and cytokine signaling. Using visual noninvasive flickering sensory stimulation (flicker) to induce electrical neural activity at 40 hertz, within the gamma band, and 20 hertz, within the beta band, we found that these brain rhythms differentially affect microglial morphology and cytokine expression in healthy animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is limited data on the bleeding safety profile of direct oral anticoagulants, such as rivaroxaban, in low- and middle-income country settings like Kenya. In this prospective observational study, patients newly started on rivaroxaban or switching to rivaroxaban from warfarin for the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) within the national referral hospital in western Kenya were assessed to determine the frequency of bleeding during treatment. Bleeding events were assessed at the 1- and 3-month visits, as well as at the end of follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The objective of this research was to determine changes in introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) program administrators' demographics, roles, and responsibilities over time, and reflect on internal and external forces resulting in these shifts. This information provides an opportunity for schools to improve functioning of their IPPE administrative offices.
Methods: A 2020 web-based questionnaire was sent to IPPE program administrators at 141 fully accredited and candidate status colleges and schools of pharmacy (hereafter referred to as schools).
We recently discovered that some bacteriophages establish a nucleus-like replication compartment (phage nucleus), but the core genes that define nucleus-based phage replication and their phylogenetic distribution were still to be determined. Here, we show that phages encoding the major phage nucleus protein chimallin share 72 conserved genes encoded within seven gene blocks. Of these, 21 core genes are unique to nucleus-forming phage, and all but one of these genes encode proteins of unknown function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe recently discovered that some bacteriophages establish a nucleus-like replication compartment (phage nucleus), but the core genes that define nucleus-based phage replication and their phylogenetic distribution were unknown. By studying phages that encode the major phage nucleus protein chimallin, including previously sequenced yet uncharacterized phages, we discovered that chimallin-encoding phages share a set of 72 highly conserved genes encoded within seven distinct gene blocks. Of these, 21 core genes are unique to this group, and all but one of these unique genes encode proteins of unknown function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a major human pathogen that colonizes the gastric mucosa and plays a causative role in development of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Neutrophils are heavily infected with this organism and play a prominent role in tissue destruction and disease. Recently, we demonstrated that exploits neutrophil plasticity as part of its virulence strategy eliciting N1-like subtype differentiation that is notable for profound nuclear hypersegmentation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubcellular organization is essential for life. Cells organize their functions into organelles to concentrate their machinery and supplies for optimal efficiency. Likewise, viruses organize their replication machinery into compartments or factories within their host cells for optimal replicative efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacteria encode myriad defences that target the genomes of infecting bacteriophage, including restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas systems. In response, one family of large bacteriophages uses a nucleus-like compartment to protect its replicating genomes by excluding host defence factors. However, the principal composition and structure of this compartment remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe used data collected during a variety of research cruises in the northeastern Chukchi Sea and contributed to the Distributed Biological Observatory to explore the influence of the seasonal change in water masses on the development of the seabird community during the summer. Surveys that included seabird observations and hydrographic sampling were conducted from Alaska's northwestern coast to ~220 km offshore during 2008-2018. Species composition varied geographically, shifting from a nearshore community that included short-tailed shearwaters, loons, and seaducks to an offshore community dominated by crested auklets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeizures are a rare, but documented, consequence of accidental dural puncture and epidural blood patch. They are also the cardinal feature of eclampsia. We present a postpartum patient who suffered a tonic-clonic seizure within 1 hour of an epidural blood patch procedure for a suspected post-dural puncture headache.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe threat to public health posed by drug-resistant bacteria is rapidly increasing, as some of healthcare's most potent antibiotics are becoming obsolete. Approximately two-thirds of the world's antibiotics are derived from natural products produced by Streptomyces encoded biosynthetic gene clusters. Thus, to identify novel gene clusters, we sequenced the genomes of four bioactive Streptomyces strains isolated from the soil in San Diego County and used Bacterial Cytological Profiling adapted for agar plate culturing in order to examine the mechanisms of bacterial inhibition exhibited by these strains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany animals migrate to take advantage of temporal and spatial variability in resources. These benefits are offset with costs like increased energetic expenditure and travel through unfamiliar areas. Differences in the cost-benefit ratio for individuals may lead to partial migration with one portion of a population migrating while another does not.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Caribou and reindeer across the Arctic spend more than two thirds of their lives moving in snow. Yet snow-specific mechanisms driving their winter ecology and potentially influencing herd health and movement patterns are not well known. Integrative research coupling snow and wildlife sciences using observations, models, and wildlife tracking technologies can help fill this knowledge void.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiven humans' habitual use of screens, they rarely consider potential differences when viewing two-dimensional (2D) stimuli and real-world versions of dimensional stimuli. Dogs also have access to many forms of screens and touchpads, with owners even subscribing to dog-directed content. Humans understand that 2D stimuli are representations of real-world objects, but do dogs? In canine cognition studies, 2D stimuli are almost always used to study what is normally 3D, like faces, and may assume that both 2D and 3D stimuli are represented in the brain the same way.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe perception and representation of objects in the world are foundational to all animals. The relative importance of objects' physical properties versus how the objects are interacted with continues to be debated. Neural evidence in humans and nonhuman primates suggests animate-inanimate and face-body dimensions of objects are represented in the temporal cortex.
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