Coagulation (clot formation) forms a physical barrier to prevent the loss of body fluid and dissemination of microbes into the haemocoel after injury or infection. Its quickness and efficiency are essential for the survival of invertebrates that rely solely on innate immunity. Transglutaminase (TG) catalyses intermolecular or intramolecular epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl) lysine bond formation, resulting in a protein polymerisation, and plays a role in blood coagulation and post-translational protein remodelling. In the present study, we cloned a TG from shrimp (Penaeus monodon) haemocyte cDNA. It was assigned as shrimp transglutaminase II (STG II). The STG II cDNA consists of a coding region of 2,274bp. The deduced protein has 757 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 85,000 Da and an isoelectric point of 5.48. RT-PCR results showed a significant level of STG II expression in haemocytes but not in hepatopancreas, in contrast to shrimp STG I (AY074924.1). The genetic distance between STG II and STG I is much larger than the distance between STG II and the TG of the kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus). Evidence based on tissue distribution and genetic distance suggests that no less than two types of shrimp TG exist that are encoded at different chromosomal locations. The recombinant STG II (rSTG II) incorporated a TG-specific substrate, dansylcadaverine (DCA), into clottable proteins (CP) in a calcium dependent manner. Other haemocyte- or plasma-derived TG substrate is not required for CP polymerisation but may be necessary for stable clot formation. The rSTG II catalysed clottable proteins into a long chain under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. In conclusion, STG II is characterized as a haemocyte TG and is involved in coagulation.
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J Oral Facial Pain Headache
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Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Dongzhimen Hospital Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 100700 Beijing, China.
The purpose was to explore the spatial centrality of the whole brain functional network related to migraine and to investigate the potential functional hubs associated with migraine. 32 migraine patients and 55 healthy controls were recruited and they received resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging voluntarily. Voxel-wise Degree Centrality (DC) was measured across the whole brain, and group differences in DC were compared.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurosci Res
January 2025
Center for Brain Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Germany. Electronic address:
Pronouns create cohesive links in discourse by referring to previously mentioned elements. Here, we focus on pronominalization during speech production in three experiments employing ERP and fMRI methodologies. Participants were asked to produce two short sentences describing a man or woman using an object.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is the most common type of endocrine malignancy, with rising incidence over recent decades. Despite a favorable prognosis, DTC management remains complex, often involving thyroidectomy followed by radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. While RAI is crucial for patient outcomes, its efficacy varies, necessitating the identification of predictors for treatment response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn N Y Acad Sci
January 2025
Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
The majority of research on loneliness considers gender by comparing the loneliness reported by men and women. Drawing on current conceptualizations of gender and its effects, we propose alternative ways in which gender should be examined in relation to loneliness. To do so, we consider multiple gender-related factors and the role of the social environment, particularly societal ideologies about what gender is and how it should be expressed.
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