microPublication biology最新文献

Road salt application improves road safety but leads to salinization of nearby freshwater ecosystems. If populations readily adapt to their local salinity environment, then we expect to find differences in salt tolerance between populations found near vs. far from roads. We determined the salt tolerance of 10 wild strains of the freshwater microbial eukaryote Tetrahymena . We found no significant correlation between salt tolerance and road distance, suggesting that these populations are not locally adapted to their salinity environment. This result may be due to the unexpectedly high salt tolerance across lines, unknown patterns of migration between ponds, or sampling conditions.

Dye-filling has been used extensively to study the development and morphology of sensory neurons in the nematode C. elegans . Here, we report a modified dye-filling protocol that improves the robustness of amphid, phasmid, and inner labial neuron dye-filling in C. elegans , as well as in the nematode satellite model P. pacificus. Our method also allows for the consistent visualization of male specific ray sensory neurons and associated support cells in these species.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 1-alpha is among the most highly expressed genes in vertebrates. Because its transcript levels are less sensitive to perturbations than those of other housekeeping genes, the zebrafish ortholog eef1a1l1 is widely used as a reference. Here, we report absolute measurements of eef1a1l1 transcript abundance spanning the first 36 hours of zebrafish development. We find that eef1a1l1 transcripts accumulate rapidly; however, when normalized to cell number, its expression is remarkably steady. This distinguishes eef1a1l1 from developmentally regulated genes and underscores its suitability as an invariant internal control.

Dandelion seed extract exhibits potent anticancer activity in HeLa cells. HeLa viability decreased with increasing doses of DSE from 0 to 0.8 mg/mL, while HDF viability was not affected under similar conditions. DSE reduced HeLa cells' migration speed between 0-0.050 mg/mL, while no significant effect was observed in HDF cells over the same range. Both cell lines exhibited a significant decrease in cell migration speed at 0.1 mg/mL. This data suggests that DSE treatment inhibits cell migration before it significantly reduces cell viability. It points to a specific anti-migratory effect independent of viability loss.

Primary cilia, microtubule-based sensory organelles that mediate cell-cell communication, may facilitate signaling in the brain through direct physical contacts (e.g., synapse-like structures). Similarly, specialized glial cells lining the third ventricle (3V) called tanycytes signal through physical interactions and can dynamically alter their morphology in response to external stimuli and physiological changes. Here, we identify robust cilia-tanycyte contacts; we term HUGS ( H ypothalamic, U nifying G lia-cilia S tructures) and discover that these connections are disrupted in a mouse ciliopathy model ( Bbs4 ) exhibiting hypothalamic dysfunction. These data provide insight into potentially new cell-cell signaling mechanisms deployed by neuronal cilia. .

Calcium signaling is central to neural plasticity. In C. elegans , the CaM kinase I/ CMK-1 and the phosphatase Calcineurin A/ TAX-6 antagonistically regulate thermo-nociceptive behavior via partially overlapping neuronal circuits. Following prolonged exposure to noxious temperature (90 min, 28°C) CMK-1 localization shifts from cytoplasmic to nuclear in FLP neurons, which reduces behavioral responsiveness. We examined whether Calcineurin A/ TAX-6 influences this process. Using CMK-1 ::mNeonGreen, we found that Calcineurin A/ TAX-6 activation blocks, while its loss slightly enhances, CMK-1 nuclear translocation at 28°C. These results reveal that Calcineurin A/ TAX-6 signaling negatively regulates CMK-1 nuclear accumulation, providing a potential mechanism for opposing modulation of thermo-nociceptive plasticity.

The posterior ventral pallidum (pVP) is involved in positive affective behaviors and is called the "hedonic hotspot". However, the responses of the pVP neurons to affective taste stimuli are poorly understood. We examined the expression of c-fos , a molecular marker of neuronal activation, in the pVP and surrounding regions after several taste stimuli. The c-fos -positive cells were significantly increased in the pVP by bitter taste stimuli, which induced disgust reactions, suggesting that a subset of pVP neurons was activated by bitter taste stimuli associated with negative affective behaviors.

During endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, the ER membrane protein IRE1 initiates the regulated splicing of Xbp1 mRNA, leading to the production of a potent transcription factor that helps cells restore proteostasis. We report that Xbp1 is also spliced following the routine passaging of mouse MC3T3-E1 cells, without the addition of canonical ER stressors. This splicing was independent of the type of dissociation buffer used to release cells from the surface, but was reduced when cells were plated on non-adherent culture dishes. These findings suggest that certain cultured mammalian cells induce an unfolded protein response during reattachment and spreading after passaging.

The promiscuous fluorescence-activating and absorption-shifting tag (pFAST) enables reversible chemogenetic labeling with multiple fluorogens. We generated a single-copy tandem pFAST (td-pFAST) transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans strain expressed in pharyngeal muscle. In dissected worms, lime fluorogen produced rapid fluorescence that was efficiently quenched by the competing ligand darth, demonstrating reversibility. Amber and coral fluorogens also produced reversible signals with distinct emission spectra, supporting multicolor labeling. However, fluorogen delivery by soaking intact worms failed, indicating cuticle permeability remains a barrier. These findings establish td-pFAST as a functional probe for reversible, multicolor labeling in dissected C. elegans tissues.

Precise detection of endogenous protein expression is essential for understanding gene function in vivo . We generated a Drosophila knock-in line inserting a 3×Ollas tag at the C-terminus of the endogenous biniou ( bin ) locus, enabling specific visualization of the Bin transcription factor. The bin ^3xOllas allele faithfully recapitulates native expression in the visceral mesoderm and does not disrupt Bin function. Integrating single-cell RNA-sequencing data, we further identified Bin expression in adult reproductive tissues, including ovarian escort cells and testis hub and cyst cells. This allele provides a robust tool for studying Bin function and dynamics.