Ingestion of heat-killed pathogens confers transgenerational immunity to the pathogens via the vitellogenin-hypopharyngeal gland axis in honeybees.

Honeybee diseases are a serious threat to beekeeping and pollination. Transgenerational immune priming (TGIP) has been attracting increasing attention as a promising strategy to protect honeybee colonies from infections. This study investigated whether feeding honeybees (Apis mellifera) with a heat-killed pathogen cocktail can provide them with transgenerational immunity to these pathogens.

Antimicrobial Activity of Apidermin 2 from the Honeybee .

Apidermins (APDs) are known as structural cuticular proteins in insects, but their additional roles are poorly understood. In this study, we characterized the honeybee, , APD 2 (AmAPD 2), which displays activity suggesting antimicrobial properties. In worker bees, the gene is transcribed in the epidermis, hypopharyngeal glands, and fat body, and induced upon microbial ingestion.

Bee Venom Induces Acute Inflammation through a HO-Mediated System That Utilizes Superoxide Dismutase.

Venoms from venomous arthropods, including bees, typically induce an immediate local inflammatory response; however, how venoms acutely elicit inflammatory response and which components induce an inflammatory response remain unknown. Moreover, the presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD3) in venom and its functional link to the acute inflammatory response has not been determined to date. Here, we confirmed that SOD3 in bee venom (bvSOD3) acts as an inducer of HO production to promote acute inflammatory responses.

Dual function of a bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) serine protease inhibitor that acts as a microbicidal peptide and anti-fibrinolytic venom toxin.

In bee venoms, low-molecular-weight peptides, including serine protease inhibitors (SPIs), exhibit multifunctional activities. Although SPIs in bee venoms are relatively well known, those that function in both the body and secreted venom of bees are not well-characterized. In this study, we identified a bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) SPI (BiSPI) that displays microbicidal and anti-fibrinolytic activities.

Differential Expression of Major Royal Jelly Proteins in the Hypopharyngeal Glands of the Honeybee upon Bacterial Ingestion.

Honeybee vitellogenin (Vg) transports pathogen fragments from the gut to the hypopharyngeal glands and is also used by nurse bees to synthesize royal jelly (RJ), which serves as a vehicle for transferring pathogen fragments to the queen and young larvae. The proteomic profile of RJ from bacterial-challenged and control colonies was compared using mass spectrometry; however, the expression changes of major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) in hypopharyngeal glands of the honeybee in response to bacterial ingestion is not well-characterized. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns of in the fat body and in the hypopharyngeal glands of nurse bees after feeding them live or heat-killed .

Real-time in vivo monitoring of viable stem cells implanted on biocompatible scaffolds.

Purpose: Three-dimensional fibrous scaffolds provide an environment that enhances transplanted stem cell survival in vivo and facilitates imaging their localization, viability, and growth in vivo. To assess transplanted stem cell viability on biocompatible polymer scaffolds in vivo, we developed in vivo imaging systems for evaluation of implanted viable neural stem cells (NSC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on scaffolds using luciferase or sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) genes.

Methods: Firefly luciferase stably expressing-C6 cell was established (C6-Fluc).

Development of a sodium/iodide symporter (NIS)-transgenic mouse for imaging of cardiomyocyte-specific reporter gene expression.

Unlabelled: Development of a small animal imaging system for differentiated cell-specific reporter gene expression will enable us to image cellular differentiation in vivo. In this study, we developed a sodium/iodide symporter (NIS)-transgenic mouse in which NIS is constitutively expressed as an imaging reporter gene only in cardiomyocytes.

Methods: To express NIS gene in cardiomyocytes, alpha-myosin heavy chain (alpha-MHC)-NIS was constructed and used for the production of NIS-transgenic mice.

Reversing the silencing of reporter sodium/iodide symporter transgene for stem cell tracking.

Unlabelled: To track neural stem cells transfected with reporter gene, perpetual stem cell transgene expression is required. Referring to the knowledge about epigenetic modulation, we succeeded in reversing the silencing of sodium/sodide symporter (hNIS) transgenes transfected into human neural stem (HB1.F3) cells.