Journal of Biosciences最新文献

Chloroquine (CQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline that has historically been used as an anti-malarial drug. It has also been used to treat several autoimmune diseases, cancers, and viral infections. Most of the effects of CQ are mediated through its ability to accumulate in acidic vacuoles and increase their pH. However, at high doses, CQ is known to have various toxic effects, including ocular, retinal, neuromuscular, renal, and cardiac toxicities. The host responses involved in counteracting CQ toxicity remain poorly characterized. Here, using the Caenorhabditis elegans model, we characterize the host pathways that protect against CQ toxicity. Transcriptomics studies reveal that CQ exposure results in the upregulation of innate immune response and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways. An analysis of multiple immune pathway mutants shows that different immune pathways defend against CQ toxicity. Intriguingly, some of these pathways, which converge to defend against pathogenic bacteria, operate independently to protect against CQ toxicity. Finally, we demonstrate that the ER-UPR pathways also play a crucial role in counteracting CQ toxicity.

Prenatal protein deficiency causes behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions in children. The deficits could be caused by altered acquisition and processing of sensory information in the brain. Although GABAergic neurons are the key regulators of neuronal activity, the effect of prenatal protein deficiency on GABA neurons in the brain is largely unknown. We fed pregnant mice diets with one-third (7%) or half (10%) the normal protein requirement (20% protein). After birth, the pups were fostered with normally fed lactating females. We used transgenic mice to show that protein deficiency in pregnant dams fed a 7% protein diet affected the number and distribution of GABA neurons in the somatosensory barrel cortex and individual cortical layers during early postnatal development of pups. If the mothers were fed a 10% protein diet, the effects on GABA neurons were much less. Development of barrels was also affected in pups born to mothers fed the 7% protein diet, but not the 10% group. In addition, high protein deficiency, i.e., the 7% protein diet, affected conception, hampered gestational weight gain, induced resorption of embryos, reduced litter sizes, and increased cannibalism, which was not observed in females on 10% protein diet.

The switch in the predominantly expressed transcript isoform of the same gene has been identified as a significant factor in the progression of various types of cancer. These switches can impact the gain or loss of different 3'UTRs, which are hotspots for the binding of microRNAs (miRNAs) and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). In this study, we found that in cancer-specific dominant expressing transcripts, the binding of miRNA and RBP is disrupted, suggesting that transcript switching could play a part in modulating post-transcriptional gene expression during the progression and development of cancer. Our spatial correlation analysis demonstrated that changes in miRNA and RBP binding, triggered by transcript switching, could interrupt their interplay. Additionally, statistical analysis revealed that local folding energy (LFE) is a key factor in changing miRNA and RBP interactions due to isoform switching. Overall, this study revealed that changes in cancerspecific transcripts could influence miRNA-RBP interactions due to alternations in the local RNA structure of the transcript caused by isoform switching, thereby leading to the dysregulation of crucial genes involved in the evolution and progression of cancer.

Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the primary model organisms for neuroscience research due to its well annotated and compact nervous system. Being the first organism with a mapped connectome, published nearly 40 years ago, it holds a critical place in the field of neuroscience. Over the past decades, exhaustive mapping of the C. elegans nervous system at the molecular and cellular level, along with the development of tools to probe neural dynamics, have given invaluable insights on neuronal communication at the cellular, circuit, and systems level. In this review, we discuss key features of the C. elegans connectome, the wired (synaptic) as well as the wireless (extrasynaptic) network, and their role in executing complex behaviours. We delve into recent advances in C. elegans neuroscience, highlighting how in vivo and in silico studies have elucidated functional principles that govern sensory integration and the importance of assessing behavioural features at a systems level. With emerging connectomes of other, more complex organisms, this field offers a robust framework for testable hypotheses and comparative connectomics.

Within a cell, the mitochondrion serves various functions, including ATP synthesis, generation of reactive oxygen species, maintenance of iron and calcium ion homeostasis, and apoptosis, all of which are essential for the cell's function. Recent studies have highlighted the significance of mitochondrial dynamics and spatial distribution in ensuring proper mitochondrial function and cell survival, particularly under various cellular stress conditions. Mitochondrial dynamics include various processes such as mitochondrial fission and fusion, mitophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis, and mitochondrial transport. This review article explores the impact of cellular stressors on mitochondrial dynamics and distribution. It also sheds light on the critical role of stress-induced alterations in mitochondrial dynamics and distribution from the perspective of cell survival.

Sunflower oil, widely used in daily human nutrition and in various industrial applications, is economically important. Sunflower seeds are a rich source of healthy unsaturated fats. Fatty acid composition, particularly the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, plays a crucial role in determining the nutritional value of oils. Saturated fatty acids include stearic and palmitic acids, while oleic acid and linoleic acids are the predominant unsaturated fatty acids found in sunflower seeds. The quality of sunflower oil is closely related to the concentration of oleic and linoleic acids. In this study,we investigated the fatty acid compositions, oil content, and oil yield of the Helianthus annuus L. variety 'Adadi-1' under different pollination treatments. Using treatments replicated thrice by the randomized complete block design, we analyzed fatty acids from sunflower seeds after oil extraction using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry. Our findings revealed that unsaturated fatty acids predominate over saturated ones in sunflower oil. Notably, sunflowers pollinated by honeybees show significantly higher oil content and oil yield compared with self-pollinated ones. Although specific fatty acids (linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid) show no significant differences in area percentage and retention time, overall oil yield and oil content vary across pollination treatments. Generally, pollinating sunflowers with honeybees appears to be the optimal approach for achieving high oil yield and oil content for both human consumption and industrial purposes. Further research is needed to explore the effects of bee pollination, self-pollination, and open treatments on fatty acid composition in different agroecological settings.

Driving a car up a steep incline and the radiator overheats; the water is sizzling and bubbling; one had to stop and at the risk of severe scalding, loosen the stopper of the radiator, and release the steam. One always carried water to cool off the radiator. This is what we had to do with overheated cars 50 years ago. Today, radiators do not boil and bubble, and cars go up steep inclines with ease. Technology has solved the problem. In yesteryears, urgent messages could be transmitted via telegrams to people who did not have phones. Telegrams were received at post offices, where they were printed and home-delivered. Today, the telegram is obsolete, and the mobile phone has become a sensory appendage, an essential means of receiving and sending all kinds of messages, in most parts of the world.

Gut microbiota regulate host metabolism via its fermentation products, mainly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), i.e., acetate, propionate, and butyrate. Although butyrate is studied for its anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and anti-diabetic effects, propionate alone and in combination with acetate or butyrate is not well reported. In this study, we have shown the combinatorial effect of propionate with acetate or butyrate in the regulation of diabetes characteristics, liver metabolism, and inflammation via SCFA receptors and gut microbiota modulation. Diabetes was induced by high-fat diet administration for 4 months and was followed by oral administration of SCFAs for 1 month. Although propionate and butyrate alone showed reduced diabetic characteristics, a combination of propionate with acetate or butyrate more significantly regulated insulin downstream pathway molecules, i.e., liver X receptor (LXR), sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), and enhanced the expression of SCFA receptors, i.e., G-protein-coupled receptor 41 (GPR41), GPR43, and GPR109 in the liver. They increased microbial richness and evenness along with the restoration of probiotic bacterial strains, healthy bacteria, as well as butyrate producers, mainly, Lactobacillus, Oscillospira, Barnesiella, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Lachnospiraceae_NK4B4_group, Roseburia, Eubacteria, and Akkermensia. In conclusion, propionate in the presence of acetate or butyrate exerts beneficial effects on liver metabolism and inflammation via SCFA receptor modulation and gut microbiota alteration in the case of HFDinduced diabetic mice.

It is difficult to imagine a world without vision - eyes are everywhere around us. The evolution of vision has undeniably been one of the most profound events in the history of life on earth. Animals use their visual system to find food, shelter and mates, as well as in myriad other behaviours that enhance their fitness. On the other hand, vision is also an enemy for multitudes of prey animals that are hunted by visually-guided predators. For such prey animals, avoiding being perceived by the visual system of their potential predators is just as vital as is vision for predators. The earth has witnessed billions of prey species through evolutionary time, and today, some of the most striking adaptations are those that prey animals have evolved as a response to selection by predation. 'Camouflage' is an umbrella term that includes strategies to prevent detection or recognition (Ruxton et al. 2018). For instance, many prey match the colours and patterns of the background, i.e., background matching (Endler 1978). Others have colour patterns that break up the appearance of their body, i.e., disruptive colouration (Thayer 1909). Yet others closely resemble objects that are inedible to their predators, i.e., masquerade (Cott 1940). Camouflage can also involve other sensory systems such as olfaction such that chemically camouflaged prey may escape detection (Ruxton 2009).

Life on Earth is viable within a narrow window of physical parameters such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, oxygen concentration, etc. Fortunately, all these parameters are within that life-permissive window in most parts of our planet. Although most organisms cannot live beyond a limited range of these parameters, some fascinating lifeforms can survive, and some of them can even thrive, in extreme physical conditions beyond the optimal range. For example, Methanopyrus kandleri, a methanogenic archaeon, thrives at 122 °C (Takai et al. 2008). Archaea belonging to the genus Picrophilus can withstand pH values below 0.5 (Schleper et al. 1995). While just 5-10 Gy of radiation is fatal to humans, the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can tolerate 5000 Gy of radiation (Battista 1997; Krisko and Radman 2013).