Starvation-Induced Changes to the Midgut Proteome and Neuropeptides in .

Starvation is a complex physiological state that induces changes in protein expression to ensure survival. The insect midgut is sensitive to changes in dietary content as it is at the forefront of communicating information about incoming nutrients to the body via hormones. Therefore, a DIA proteomics approach was used to examine starvation physiology and, specifically, the role of midgut neuropeptide hormones in a representative lepidopteran, .

Class I HDAC inhibitors attenuate dexamethasone-induced muscle atrophy via increased protein kinase C (PKC) delta phosphorylation.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is defined by wasting or decrease in muscle mass owing to injury, aging, malnutrition, chronic disuse, or physical consequences of chronic illness. Under normal physiological conditions, a network of signal transduction pathways serves to balance muscle protein synthesis and proteolysis; however, metabolic shifts occur from protein synthesis to protein degradation that leads to a reduction in cross-sectional myofibers and can result in loss of skeletal muscle mass (atrophy) over time. Recent evidence highlights posttranslational modifications (PTMs) such as acetylation and phosphorylation in contractile dysfunction and muscle wasting.

Artificial gravity partially protects space-induced neurological deficits in Drosophila melanogaster.

Spaceflight poses risks to the central nervous system (CNS), and understanding neurological responses is important for future missions. We report CNS changes in Drosophila aboard the International Space Station in response to spaceflight microgravity (SFμg) and artificially simulated Earth gravity (SF1g) via inflight centrifugation as a countermeasure. While inflight behavioral analyses of SFμg exhibit increased activity, postflight analysis displays significant climbing defects, highlighting the sensitivity of behavior to altered gravity.

mA-dependent biogenesis of circular RNAs in male germ cells.

The majority of circular RNAs (circRNAs) spliced from coding genes contain open reading frames (ORFs) and thus, have protein coding potential. However, it remains unknown what regulates the biogenesis of these ORF-containing circRNAs, whether they are actually translated into proteins and what functions they play in specific physiological contexts. Here, we report that a large number of circRNAs are synthesized with increasing abundance when late pachytene spermatocytes develop into round and then elongating spermatids during murine spermatogenesis.

Automating Complex, Multistep Processes on a Single Robotic Platform to Generate Reproducible Phosphoproteomic Data.

Mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics holds promise for advancing drug treatment and disease diagnosis; however, its clinical translation has thus far been limited. This is in part due to an unstandardized and segmented sample preparation process that involves cell lysis, protein digestion, peptide desalting, and phosphopeptide enrichment. Automating this entire sample preparation process will be key in facilitating standardization and clinical translation of phosphoproteomics.

Cardiac mitochondrial metabolism may contribute to differences in thermal tolerance of red- and white-blooded Antarctic notothenioid fishes.

Studies in temperate fishes provide evidence that cardiac mitochondrial function and the capacity to fuel cardiac work contribute to thermal tolerance. Here, we tested the hypothesis that decreased cardiac aerobic metabolic capacity contributes to the lower thermal tolerance of the haemoglobinless Antarctic icefish, , compared with that of the red-blooded Antarctic species, Maximal activities of citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), respiration rates of isolated mitochondria, adenylate levels and changes in mitochondrial protein expression were quantified from hearts of animals held at ambient temperature or exposed to their critical thermal maximum (CT). Compared with , activity of CS, ATP concentration and energy charge were higher in hearts of at ambient temperature and CT While state 3 mitochondrial respiration rates were not impaired by exposure to CT in either species, state 4 rates, indicative of proton leakage, increased following exposure to CT in but not The interactive effect of temperature and species resulted in an increase in antioxidants and aerobic metabolic enzymes in but not in Together, our results support the hypothesis that the lower aerobic metabolic capacity of hearts contributes to its low thermal tolerance.

Dnmt2 mediates intergenerational transmission of paternally acquired metabolic disorders through sperm small non-coding RNAs.

The discovery of RNAs (for example, messenger RNAs, non-coding RNAs) in sperm has opened the possibility that sperm may function by delivering additional paternal information aside from solely providing the DNA . Increasing evidence now suggests that sperm small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) can mediate intergenerational transmission of paternally acquired phenotypes, including mental stress and metabolic disorders. How sperm sncRNAs encode paternal information remains unclear, but the mechanism may involve RNA modifications.

A Thermophilic Phage Endolysin Fusion to a Clostridium perfringens-Specific Cell Wall Binding Domain Creates an Anti-Clostridium Antimicrobial with Improved Thermostability.

Clostridium perfringens is the third leading cause of human foodborne bacterial disease and is the presumptive etiologic agent of necrotic enteritis among chickens. Treatment of poultry with antibiotics is becoming less acceptable. Endolysin enzymes are potential replacements for antibiotics.

Molecular characterization of podoviral bacteriophages virulent for Clostridium perfringens and their comparison with members of the Picovirinae.

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium responsible for human food-borne disease as well as non-food-borne human, animal and poultry diseases. Because bacteriophages or their gene products could be applied to control bacterial diseases in a species-specific manner, they are potential important alternatives to antibiotics. Consequently, poultry intestinal material, soil, sewage and poultry processing drainage water were screened for virulent bacteriophages that lysed C.

Altered levels of the Taraxacum kok-saghyz (Russian dandelion) small rubber particle protein, TkSRPP3, result in qualitative and quantitative changes in rubber metabolism.

Several proteins have been identified and implicated in natural rubber biosynthesis, one of which, the small rubber particle protein (SRPP), was originally identified in Hevea brasiliensis as an abundant protein associated with cytosolic vesicles known as rubber particles. While previous in vitro studies suggest that SRPP plays a role in rubber biosynthesis, in vivo evidence is lacking to support this hypothesis. To address this issue, a transgene approach was taken in Taraxacum kok-saghyz (Russian dandelion or Tk) to determine if altered SRPP levels would influence rubber biosynthesis.

Uterine smooth muscle S-nitrosylproteome in pregnancy.

The molecular mechanisms involved in uterine quiescence during gestation and those responsible for induction of labor are not completely known. Nitric oxide relaxes uterine smooth muscle in a manner disparate from that for other smooth muscles because global elevation of cGMP after activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase does not relax the muscle. S-Nitrosylation, the covalent addition of an nitric oxide (NO) group to a cysteine thiol is a likely mechanism to explain the ability of NO to relax myometrium.

Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages ΦCP39O and ΦCP26F: genomic organization and proteomic analysis of the virions.

Poultry intestinal material, sewage and poultry processing drainage water were screened for virulent Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages. Viruses isolated from broiler chicken offal washes (O) and poultry feces (F), designated ΦCP39O and ΦCP26F, respectively, produced clear plaques on host strains. Both bacteriophages had isometric heads of 57 nm in diameter with 100-nm non-contractile tails characteristic of members of the family Siphoviridae in the order Caudovirales.

Proteomic profiling of tandem affinity purified 14-3-3 protein complexes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In eukaryotes, 14-3-3 dimers regulate hundreds of functionally diverse proteins (clients), typically in phosphorylation-dependent interactions. To uncover new clients, 14-3-3 omega (At1g78300) from Arabidopsis was engineered with a "tandem affinity purification" tag and expressed in transgenic plants. Purified complexes were analyzed by tandem MS.

Proteomic analyses of a robust versus a poor chicken gastrointestinal colonizing isolate of Campylobacter jejuni.

Campylobacter spp. are a significant contributor to the bacterial etiology of acute gastroenteritis in humans. Epidemiological evidence implicates poultry as a major source of the organism for human illness.

Proteomic analysis reveals differences between Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay and cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and their responses to water deficit and salinity.

The impact of water deficit and salt stress on two important wine grape cultivars, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, was investigated. Plants were exposed to increasing salinity and water deficit stress over a 16 d time period. Measurements of stem water potentials, and shoot and leaf lengths indicated that Chardonnay was more tolerant to these stresses than Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enlargement of the fornix in early-onset schizophrenia: a quantitative MRI study.

Abnormalities of temporal lobe structure and frontal lobe function occur in schizophrenia. There have been few studies of young people with schizophrenia and little is known about temporo-frontal connectivity in the disease. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the body of the fornix was measured on MR images from 17 young people with schizophrenia, nine with other serious psychiatric illnesses and eight without illness.

Cisapride for constipation in spinal cord injured patients: a preliminary report.

Chronic constipation in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) has significant impact on quality of life. To measure baseline clinical functioning, colonic transit time and anorectal manometry and the effect of cisapride on these clinical and physiological parameters, we studied 12 SCI patients. Patients initially received baseline clinical scoring, measurement of colonic transit time and anorectal manometry.

Acute myelopathy following intravenous heroin: a case report.

A 43-year-old woman developed acute paraplegia and a Korsakoff syndrome following intravenous administration of heroin. Thirteen previously reported cases are similar to the one presented here. Based on those similarities, we conclude that these myelopathies are probably due to spinal cord infarction resulting from systemic hypoxemia and hypotension.

The cause, prevention, and treatment of pressure sores.

Pressure sores are a common, expensive, and preventable complication of paralysis. They are the result of ischemia produced when tissue is compressed and distorted by pressure exerted between a bone and an external hard surface for an extended period of time. Prevention involves control of the two variables of pressure and time.

The clinical diagnosis of disorders of the spinal cord.

Disease of the spinal cord or cauda equina may cause pain, motor abnormalities, sensory disturbance, alteration of reflexes and muscle tone, and bladder dysfunction. These five neurologic abnormalities occur in various combinations, evolve rapidly or slowly, and result in one of eight possible spinal cord syndromes. When a particular syndrome is defined by neurologic history and examination, differential diagnosis is limited to only a few possible disorders.

Mycobacterial meningomyelitis associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

A homosexual man, seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus, developed back and leg pain that evolved, over three weeks, into a T-10 anesthetic, areflexic paraplegia. Spinal fluid examination showed lymphocytosis, markedly elevated spinal fluid protein, and hypoglycorrhachia. A spinal cord biopsy specimen disclosed an intramedullary granuloma containing acid-fast bacilli.

Modern concepts of therapy and management of spinal cord injuries.

Trauma is the most common cause of spinal cord-related disability. There are approximately 52 new spinal cord injuries per million population per year in the U.S.