Communicative and Integrative Biology最新文献

The modern telecommunications industry is ubiquitous throughout the world, with a significant percentage of the population using cellular phones on a daily basis. The possible physiological consequences of wireless emissions in the GHz range are therefore of major interest, but remain poorly understood. Here, we show that exposure to a 1.8 GHz carrier frequency in the amplitude range of household telecommunications induces the formation of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) in human HEK293 cultured cells. The ROS concentrations detected by fluorescent imaging techniques increased significantly after 15 minutes of RF field exposure, and were localized to both nuclear and cytosolic cellular compartments. qPCR analysis showed altered gene expression of both anti-oxidative (SOD, GPX, GPX, and CAT) and oxidative (Nox-2) enzymes. In addition, multiple genes previously identified as responsive to static magnetic fields were found to also be regulated by RF, suggesting common features in response mechanisms. By contrast, many RF effects showed evidence of hormesis, whereby biological responsivity does not occur linearly as a function of signal amplitude. Instead, biphasic dose response curves occur with 'blind' spots at certain signal amplitudes where no measureable response occurs. We conclude that modulation of intracellular ROS can be a direct consequence of RF exposure dependent on signal frequency and amplitude. Since changes in intracellular ROS may have both harmful and beneficial effects, these could provide the basis for many reported physiological effects of RF exposure.

In reconstructive surgery using artificial materials after wide resection, soft tissues are usually adjacent to metal surfaces or mesh. The purpose of this study was to provide histological evaluation of the soft tissues adjacent to the metal surfaces of megaprostheses and mesh. Tissues from revision surgery of megaprosthesis and from wide resection after recurrent thoracic wall sarcoma were used. Histological analysis was evaluated by hematoxylin/eosin (HE) and Masson's trichrome staining, and by immunohistochemical staining for markers including cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68), vimentin, collagen type and S100A4. Soft tissue adherence to the smooth metal surface of Ti alloy was not observed. On the surface of capsule, CD68- and vimentin-positive cells formed a thin layer. In contrast, soft tissue adherence to a rough-surface cobalt chrome alloy was observed. Capsule was not apparent for this tissue, in which CD68- and vimentin-positive cells were aggregated randomly. In the resected tissues of recurrent chest wall sarcoma, muscles showed connections to connective soft tissues but did not invade to the inside of the mesh. Around the polypropylene mesh, large numbers of CD68- and vimentin-positive cells were seen. On the ePTFE, small numbers of CD68-positive cells were observed, while a larger number of the cells were vimentin positive. High accumulation of S100A4-positive cells was observed at the metal surface and polypropylene surface. Cells were strongly positive for CD68 and vimentin in tissues adjacent to metal and mesh surfaces. Macrophages and vimentin may play important roles in the foreign body reaction to metal and mesh, and so may contribute to encapsulation and fibrosis.

Ciliary extracellular vesicles (ciEVs), released from primary cilia, contain functional proteins that play an important role in cilia structure and functions. We have recently shown that ciEVs and cytosolic extracellular vesicles (cyEVs) have unique and distinct biomarkers. While ciEV biomarkers have shown some interactions with known ciliary proteins, little is known about the interaction of ciEV proteins with proteins involved in ciliopathy and neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we reveal for the first time the protein-protein interaction (PPI) between the top five ciEVs biomarkers with ciliopathy and Alzheimer disease (AD) proteins. These results support the growing evidence of the critical physiological roles of cilia in neurodegenerative disorders.

We consider the effect of non-constant parameters on the human-forest interaction logistic model coupled with human technological growth introduced in [1]. In recent years in fact, a decrease in human population growth rate has emerged which can be measured to about 1.7% drop per year since 1960 value, which coincides with latest UN projections for next decades up to year 2100 [2]. We therefore consider here the effect of decreasing human population growth-rate on the aforementioned model and we evaluate its effect on the probability of survival of human civilization without going through a catastrophic population collapse. We find that for realistic values of the human population carrying capacity of the earth (measured by the parameter β) this decrease would not affect previous results, leading to a low probability of avoiding a catastrophic collapse. For larger more optimistic values of β instead, a decrease in growth-rate would tilt the probability in favor of a positive outcome, i.e. from 10-20% up to even 95% likelihood of avoiding collapse.

The fields of developmental biology, biomedicine, and artificial life are being revolutionized by advances in synthetic morphology. The next phase of synthetic biology and bioengineering is resulting in the construction of novel organisms (biobots), which exhibit not only morphogenesis and physiology but functional behavior. It is now essential to begin to characterize the behavioral capacity of novel living constructs in terms of their ability to make decisions, form memories, learn from experience, and anticipate future stimuli. These synthetic organisms are highly diverse, and often do not resemble familiar model systems used in behavioral science. Thus, they represent an important context in which to begin to unify and standardize vocabulary and techniques across developmental biology, behavioral ecology, and neuroscience. To facilitate the study of behavior in novel living systems, we present a primer on techniques from the behaviorist tradition that can be used to probe the functions of any organism - natural, chimeric, or synthetic - regardless of the details of their construction or origin. These techniques provide a rich toolkit for advancing the fields of synthetic bioengineering, evolutionary developmental biology, basal cognition, exobiology, and robotics.

The Yuanjiang dry-hot valley features hot and dry climate, low vegetation and soil degradation. It had lush vegetation in the past, but has become degraded in recent decades. Understanding the interrelationship between species and the habitat is necessary to explain this change. In this study, a link between fern and fern allies - a group that is hypersensitive to environmental factors and their circumstances is constructed. Intensive transects and plots were designed to be proxies for extant fern and fern allies, and their habitats. Fifty years of meteorological records of precipitation and temperature along altitude and river running direction (latitudinal) were employed. Alpha and beta diversity are used to access diversity. Species_estimated, Singletons, Uniques, ACE, ICE, and Chao2, which associate to abundance and rarity, are subscribed to the correlation between fern and fern allies, and their ecosystem. Eight species, Selaginella pseudopaleifera, Aleuritopteris squamosa, Adiantum malesianum, Pteris vittata, Davallia trichomanoides, Sinephropteris delavayi, Selaginella jugorum, and Lygodium japonicum are used as indicators of a typical xeric and sun-drying habitat. The results indicate (1) accompanied by dramatically shrinking habitats, fern and fern allies are in very low diversity and abundance, whereas the rarity is relatively high; (2) for fern and fern allies, environmental factors are positive when altitude goes up; and (3) eight indicator species are latitudinally correlated with fern and fern allies along the river running direction.

In this paper, we argue that Bohm's unbroken and undivided totality he called the holomovement, the title he gave to the concept of the self-organizing universe, is more coherently understood when viewed as universal consciousness. Bohm's understanding of consciousness oscillates around being a quality of local minds and the interconnected totality of the holomovement. We suggest such equivocations impose limitations on Bohm's general holistic framework because they import into his model the limiting restrictions of Cartesian separation and are, therefore, incongruous for use within his holistic model of the holomovement. We also argue that the term 'meaning' has a structural and functional agency appropriate to Bohm's model of the holomovement, while also reflecting the living characteristics of this organic totality that is full of meaning.

The leading cause of mortality from COVID-19 infection is respiratory distress due to an exaggerated host immune response, resulting in hyper-inflammation and ensuing cytokine storms in the lungs. Current drug-based therapies are of limited efficacy, costly, and have potential negative side effects. By contrast, photobiomodulation therapy, which involves periodic brief exposure to red or infrared light, is a noninvasive, safe, and affordable method that is currently being used to treat a wide range of diseases with underlying inflammatory conditions. Here, we show that exposure to two 10-min, high-intensity periods per day of infrared light causes a marked reduction in the TLR-4 dependent inflammatory response pathway, which has been implicated in the onset of cytokine storms in COVID-19 patients. Infrared light exposure resulted in a significant decline in NFkB and AP1 activity as measured by the reporter gene assay; decreased expression of inflammatory marker genes IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, INF-alpha, and INF-beta as determined by qPCR gene expression assay; and an 80% decline in secreted cytokine IL6 as measured by ELISA assay in cultured human cells. All of these changes occurred after only 48 hours of treatment. We suggest that an underlying cellular mechanism involving modulation of ROS may downregulate the host immune response after Infrared Light exposure, leading to decrease in inflammation. We further discuss technical considerations involving light sources and exposure conditions to put these observations into potential clinical use to treat COVID-19 induced mortality.

Some stem cell types not only release molecules that reduce viral replication, but also reduce the hypercytokinemia and inflammation induced by the immune system, and have been found to be part of the innate and adaptive immune systems. An important component of the stem cell's ability to ameliorate viral diseases, especially the complications post-clearance of the pathogen, is the ability of adult stem cells to reset the innate and adaptive immune systems from an inflammatory state to a repair state. Thus, the molecules released from certain stem cell types found to be safe and efficacious, may be an important new means for therapeutic development in Covid-19, especially for late-stage inflammation and tissue damage once the virus has cleared, particularly in the aged population.

Red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum secrete extracellular vesicles in order to facilitate the survival and infection of human cells. Various researchers have studied the composition of these extracellular vesicles and identified the proteins contained inside. In this work, we used that information to detect potential P. falciparum molecules that could be imitating host proteins. We carried out several searches to detect sequences and structural similarities between the parasite and host. Additionally, the possibility of functional mimicry was explored in line with the potential role that each candidate can perform for the parasite inside the host. Lastly, we determined a set of eight sequences (mainly moonlighting proteins) with a remarkable resemblance to human proteins. Due to the resemblance observed, this study proposes the possibility that certain P. falciparum molecules carried by extracellular vesicles could be imitating human proteins to manipulate the host cell's physiology.