Metabolic adaptations leading to an enhanced lignification in wheat roots under salinity stress.

Analysis of salinity tolerance processes in wheat has focused on salt exclusion from shoots while root phenotypes have received limited attention. Here, we consider the varying phenotypic response of four bread wheat varieties that differ in their type and degree of salt tolerance and assess their molecular responses to salinity and changes in root cell wall lignification. These varieties were Westonia introgressed with Nax1 and Nax2 root sodium transporters (HKT1;4-A and HKT1;5-A) that reduce Na accumulation in leaves, as well as the 'tissue tolerant' Portuguese landrace Mocho de Espiga Branca that has a mutation in the homologous gene HKT1;5-D and has high Na concentration in leaves.

Dysregulation of Steroid Hormone Receptors in Motor Neurons and Glia Associates with Disease Progression in ALS Mice.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease targeting motor neurons which shows sexual dimorphism in its incidence, age of onset, and progression rate. All steroid hormones, including androgens, estrogens, and progestogens, have been implicated in modulating ALS. Increasing evidence suggests that steroid hormones provide neuroprotective and neurotrophic support to motor neurons, either directly or via surrounding glial cell interactions, by activating their respective nuclear hormone receptors and initiating transcriptional regulatory responses.

Lipidomics reveal the protective effects of a vegetable-derived isothiocyanate against retinal degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the ageing population. Without effective treatment strategies that can prevent disease progression, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic interventions to reduce the burden of vision loss and improve patients' quality of life. Dysfunctional innate immune responses to oxidative stress observed in AMD can be caused by the formation of oxidised lipids, whilst polyunsaturated fatty acids have shown to increase the risk of AMD and disease progression in affected individuals.

Androgen receptor antagonism accelerates disease onset in the SOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease typically more common in males, implicating androgens in progression of both patients and mouse models. Androgen effects are mediated by androgen receptor which is highly expressed in spinal motor neurons and skeletal muscles. To clarify the role of androgen receptors in ALS, we therefore examined the effect of androgen receptor antagonism in the SOD1 mouse model.

Pharmacokinetics of a single 1g dose of azithromycin in rectal tissue in men.

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection among men who have sex with men. Repeat infection following treatment with 1g azithromycin is common and treatment failure of up to 22% has been reported. This study measured the pharmacokinetics of azithromycin in rectal tissue in men following a single 1g dose to assess whether azithromycin reaches the rectal site in adequate concentrations to kill chlamydia.

Lipidomic Profiling of Adipose Tissue Reveals an Inflammatory Signature in Cancer-Related and Primary Lymphedema.

Cancer-related and primary lymphedema (LE) are associated with the production of adipose tissue (AT). Nothing is known, however, about the lipid-based molecules that comprise LE AT. We therefore analyzed lipid molecules in lipoaspirates and serum obtained from LE patients, and compared them to lipoaspirates from cosmetic surgery patients and healthy control cohort serum.

Legionella pneumophila S1P-lyase targets host sphingolipid metabolism and restrains autophagy.

Autophagy is an essential component of innate immunity, enabling the detection and elimination of intracellular pathogens. Legionella pneumophila, an intracellular pathogen that can cause a severe pneumonia in humans, is able to modulate autophagy through the action of effector proteins that are translocated into the host cell by the pathogen's Dot/Icm type IV secretion system. Many of these effectors share structural and sequence similarity with eukaryotic proteins.

Intracellular Survival of Leishmania major Depends on Uptake and Degradation of Extracellular Matrix Glycosaminoglycans by Macrophages.

Leishmania parasites replicate within the phagolysosome compartment of mammalian macrophages. Although Leishmania depend on sugars as a major carbon source during infections, the nutrient composition of the phagolysosome remains poorly described. To determine the origin of the sugar carbon source in macrophage phagolysosomes, we have generated a N-acetylglucosamine acetyltransferase (GNAT) deficient Leishmania major mutant (∆gnat) that is auxotrophic for the amino sugar, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc).

Liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry detection of curcuminoids from bacterial culture medium.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been used to detect polyphenolic curcuminoids found in turmeric but studies of metabolism by bacterial and mammalian cells in vitro are compromised by poor recovery from the culture medium. We report a liquid-liquid extraction procedure with ethyl acetate and use LC-MS to quantify extracted curcuminoids. Ethyl acetate allows recoveries of ∼ 80-86% of curcuminoids from the bacterial growth medium, bacterial cell lysate and combined bacterial cell and growth medium matrices; a clear improvement over acetonitrile where recoveries were ∼ 25-66%.

Degradation of curcuminoids by in vitro pure culture fermentation.

Colonic bacteria may mediate the transformation of curcuminoids, but studies of this metabolism are limited. Here, the metabolism of curcuminoids by Escherichia fergusonii (ATCC 35469) and two Escherichia coli strains (ATCC 8739 and DH10B) was examined in modified medium for colon bacteria (mMCB) with or without pig cecal fluid. LC-MS analysis showed that 16-37% of curcumin, 6-16% of demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and 7-15% of bis-demethoxycurcumin (Bis-DMC), and 7-15% of bis-demethoxycurcumin (Bis-DMC) were converted following 36 h of fermentation, with the amount of curcuminoids degraded varying depending on the bacterial strain and medium used.

Human inflammatory and resolving lipid mediator responses to resistance exercise and ibuprofen treatment.

Classical proinflammatory eicosanoids, and more recently discovered lipid mediators with anti-inflammatory and proresolving bioactivity, exert a complex role in the initiation, control, and resolution of inflammation. Using a targeted lipidomics approach, we investigated circulating lipid mediator responses to resistance exercise and treatment with the NSAID ibuprofen. Human subjects undertook a single bout of unaccustomed resistance exercise (80% of one repetition maximum) following oral ingestion of ibuprofen (400 mg) or placebo control.

Lipidomics: extraction protocols for biological matrices.

Lipidomics is defined as a comprehensive analysis of all lipids in a biological system (lipidome). Lipid profiling is a fast-growing area of research due to the involvements of lipids incorporated with human diseases such as obesity, Alzheimer's diseases, and diabetes as well as in drug discovery. Recently improved liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric techniques has provided the rapid expansion of lipidomics research.

Mechanical cell disruption for lipid extraction from microalgal biomass.

Cell disruption is an integral part of the downstream operation required to produce biodiesel from microalgae. This study investigated the use of ultrasonication and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as cell disruption methods for two microalgal species, Tetraselmis suecica (TS) and Chlorococcum sp. (C sp.

Atypical lipid composition in the purified relict plastid (apicoplast) of malaria parasites.

The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum harbors a relict, nonphotosynthetic plastid of algal origin termed the apicoplast. Although considerable progress has been made in defining the metabolic functions of the apicoplast, information on the composition and biogenesis of the four delimiting membranes of this organelle is limited. Here, we report an efficient method for preparing highly purified apicoplasts from red blood cell parasite stages and the comprehensive lipidomic analysis of this organelle.

Determination of arsenic in industrial samples by pervaporation flow injection with amperometric detection.

This paper describes a simple and inexpensive pervaporation flow injection (PFI) system for the on-line determination of arsenic in industrial samples based on amperometric detection. The PFI system uses on-line hydride generation for the separation of As(III) from the sample matrix thus substantially reducing matrix interferences associated with "dirty" industrial samples. A method for the speciation of As(III) and As(V) is also described.