PI(4,5)P2 regulates myoblast fusion through Arp2/3 regulator localization at the fusion site

Cell-cell fusion is a regulated process that requires merging of the opposing membranes and underlying cytoskeletons. However, the integration between membrane and cytoskeleton signaling during fusion is not known. Using Drosophila, we demonstrate that the membrane phosphoinositide PI(4,5)P2 is a crucial regulator of F-actin dynamics during myoblast fusion. PI(4,5)P2 is locally enriched and colocalizes spatially and temporally with the F-actin focus that defines the fusion site. PI(4,5)P2 enrichment depends on receptor engagement but is upstream or parallel to actin remodeling. Regulators of actin branching via Arp2/3 colocalize with PI(4,5)P2 in vivo and bind PI(4,5)P2 in vitro. Manipulation of PI(4,5)P2 availability leads to impaired fusion, with a reduction in the F-actin focus size and altered focus morphology. Mechanistically, the changes in the actin focus are due to a failure in the enrichment of actin regulators at the fusion site. Moreover, improper localization of these regulators hinders expansion of the fusion interface. Thus, PI(4,5)P2 enrichment at the fusion site encodes spatial and temporal information that regulates fusion progression through the localization of activators of actin polymerization.

The impact of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) fasting glucose diagnostic criterion on the prevalence and outcomes of gestational diabetes mellitus in Han Chinese women

AIMS

The International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) proposed that a one-time value of fasting plasma glucose of 5.1 mmol/l or over at any time of the pregnancy is sufficient to diagnose gestational diabetes. We evaluated the repercussions of the application of this threshold in pregnant Han Chinese women.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study of 5360 (72.3% of total) consecutively recruited pregnant Han Chinese women in one centre from 2008 to 2011. These women underwent a two-step gestational diabetes diagnostic protocol according to the previous American Diabetes Association criteria. The IADPSG fasting plasma glucose criterion was used to reclassify these 5360 women. The prevalence, clinical characteristics and obstetric outcomes were compared among the women classified as having gestational diabetes by the previous American Diabetes Association criteria (approximately 90% were treated), those reclassified as having gestational diabetes by the single IADPSG fasting plasma glucose criterion (untreated), but not as having gestational diabetes by the previous American Diabetes Association criteria, and those with normal glucose tolerance.

RESULTS

There were 626 cases of gestational diabetes defined by the previous American Diabetes Association criteria (11.7%) and these cases were associated with increased risks of maternal and neonatal outcomes when compared with the women with normal glucose tolerance. With the IADPSG fasting plasma glucose criterion, another 1314 (24.5%) women were reclassified as having gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes classified by the IADPSG fasting plasma glucose criterion was associated with gestational hypertension (P = 0.0094) and neonatal admission to nursery (P = 0.035) prior to adjustment for maternal age and BMI, but was no longer a predictor for adverse pregnancy outcomes after adjustment.

CONCLUSION

The simple IADPSG fasting plasma glucose criterion increased the Chinese population with gestational diabetes by 200%. The increased population with gestational diabetes was not significantly associated with excess obstetric and neonatal morbidity.

A peptide-free, liposome-based oligosaccharide vaccine, adjuvanted with a natural killer T cell antigen, generates robust antibody responses in vivo

Due to the prevalence of oligo- and polysaccharides on the surfaces of pathogenic organisms, carbohydrates are primary targets for recognition by antibodies generated by the immune systems of higher organisms. Consequently, substantial effort has been expended in efforts to develop vaccines based on carbohydrate epitopes. Typical approaches involve multivalent presentation of carbohydrate targets on antigenic peptides or proteins, which often involve substantial synthetic commitments and/or vaccines that are heterogeneous and difficult to characterize. We have developed a simple, liposome-based approach to generate multivalent carbohydrate vaccines, and in place of an antigenic peptide or protein, we have used a potent antigen for natural killer T cells. This vaccine, based on the Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 14 polysaccharide, gave a response superior to that from a clinically used vaccine (Prevnar). The dependence of this response on liposome formation was demonstrated by comparison to a simple mixture of the oligosaccharide and the natural killer T cell adjuvant. The importance of the strength of the adjuvant was observed by use of a potent synthetic adjuvant and a weaker, bacterial derived glycolipid adjuvant. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel and relatively simple means of generating carbohydrate-based vaccines.

Air-based photoelectrochemical cell capturing water molecules from ambient air for hydrogen production

A system is demonstrated that autonomously produces hydrogen gas using sunlight and outside air as the only inputs.

Latent factor analysis facilitates modelling of oncogenic genes for colon adenocarcinoma

Identification of oncogenic genes from a large sample number of genomic data is a challenge. In this study, a well-established latent factor model, Bayesian factor and regression model, are applied to predict unknown colon cancer related genes from colon adenocarcinoma genomic data. Four important latent factors were addressed by the latent factor model, focusing on characterisation of heterogeneity of expression patterns of specific oncogenic genes by using microarray data of 174 colon cancer patients. Based on the fact that variables included in the same latent factor have some common characteristics and known cancer related genes in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, the authors found that the four latent factors can be employed to predict unknown colon cancer related genes that were never reported in the literature. The authors validated 15 identified genes by checking their somatic mutations of the same patients from DNA sequencing data.

A Spatial Resource Top-K Query Algorithm in Cyber Physical System

Cyber physical system (CPS) mainly means that the conjoining of information and physical resources. The physical elements, which could be treated as spatial resources, need be queried through information field. The key problem is how to construct spatial resource index structure and accordingly retrieving algorithm. The spatial retrieving algorithm is widely used in the Internet and moving object. The traditional spatial resource retrieving algorithms ignore the uncertain factor of the spatial resource, which is the important feature of the military resource network. This paper use an index structure named BIR-tree, based on the belief of resource, we also propose corresponding efficient and accurate top-k retrieving algorithm. On the base of traditional IR-tree, we define the resource and regional belief aiming at special spatial environment. The results of our empirical studies with an implementation of the proposed algorithm show it is capable of excellent performance.

Transplant tolerance to pancreatic islets is initiated in the graft and sustained in the spleen

The immune system is comprised of several CD4(+) T regulatory (Treg) cell types, of which two, the Foxp3(+) Treg and T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells, have frequently been associated with transplant tolerance. However, whether and how these two Treg-cell types synergize to promote allograft tolerance remains unknown. We previously developed a mouse model of allogeneic transplantation in which a specific immunomodulatory treatment leads to transplant tolerance through both Foxp3(+) Treg and Tr1 cells. Here, we show that Foxp3(+) Treg cells exert their regulatory function within the allograft and initiate engraftment locally and in a non-antigen (Ag) specific manner. Whereas CD4(+) CD25(-) T cells, which contain Tr1 cells, act from the spleen and are key to the maintenance of long-term tolerance. Importantly, the role of Foxp3(+) Treg and Tr1 cells is not redundant once they are simultaneously expanded/induced in the same host. Moreover, our data show that long-term tolerance induced by Foxp3(+) Treg-cell transfer is sustained by splenic Tr1 cells and functionally moves from the allograft to the spleen.

Kidney transplantation from donors after brain or cardiac death in China--a clinical analysis of 94 cases

BACKGROUND

We analyzed outcomes of kidney transplantation (KTx) from donation after brain death (DBD) or cardiac death (DCD) in China under the current level of the health care system.

METHODS

Among 94 KTx performed from February 2007 to March 2012 in two organ transplant centers in the south of China, 50 KTx were used DBD and 44 DCD donors. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

At a mean follow-up of 25.5 months, the 1-year and 2-year graft survival rates were 96.8% and 95.2% respectively. Delayed graft function (DGF) occurred in 27.7% recipients, three of whom lost graft function. Among six observed acute rejection episodes, five were reversed. When compared to the DCD group in DBD patients were apt to recover from DGF. Serum creatinine decreased more promptly in the DBD than in DCD group. Serum creatinine in the DCD group increased after months 12, when it was significantly higher than that in the DBD group (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Kidney transplantation from DBD donors showed good outcomes with few complications. Although KTx from DCD donors showed a higher DGF rate and longer duration of graft recovery, we achieved favorable short-term clinical outcome using this source.

Influence of the human MIF promoter polymorphism on hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common worldwide malignancies. A relative complete diagnosis system for primary carcinoma of liver has already been established, but the surgical prognosis for HCC, which depends mainly on postoperative pathological classification and data of recurrence and metastasis, lacks valid experimental indicators. Macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) is related to many cancers; hence, the polymorphism of MIF genes may be associated with the surgical prognosis of HCC. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between polymorphisms of MIF gene promoter 794CATT (MIF-794CATT) microsatellite repeats and HCC surgical prognosis and evaluate the contribution of polymorphism to the prognosis of hepatectomy. Sequencing was used to identify the MIF-794CATT of 241 patients who had been submitted to HCC surgery. These patients were classified into 2 groups: one with MIF-794CATT high-repetitive-sequence genotypes (7/x+8/x) and one with low-repetitive-sequence genotypes (5/5+5/6+6/6). Five indictors were analyzed: average survival times were compared using the t-test, and tumor-node-metastasis staging, recurrence and metastasis, differentiation grade, and survival rate were compared using the chi-square test. The (7/x+8/x) CATT group had 139 patients and the (5/5+5/6+6/6) CATT group had 102. Significant differences were found in the 5 factors (P = 0.000, 0.008, 0.002, 0.000, and 0.003, respectively). Patients with MIF-794CATT5-8 low-repetitive-sequence genotypes had better prognosis than those with high-repetitive-sequence genotypes. The polymorphism detection of MIF-794CATT microsatellite repeats is valuable for HCC surgical prognosis.

Analysis of human biologics with a mouse skin transplant model in humanized mice

Preclinical testing of human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies has been limited in murine models due to species differences in pharmacokinetics and biologic responses. To overcome these constraints we developed a murine skin transplant model in humanized mice and used it to test human monoclonal antibody therapy. Neonatal NOD/SCID/IL2Rγc(null) mice (NSG) were reconstituted with human CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (hNSG). When adult, these mice rejected MHC mismatched murine C57BL/6J skin grafts. Rejection required adequate reconstitution with human cells. There was diffuse infiltration of the epidermis and dermis with hCD8 and hCD4 cells in rejected grafts by immunohistochemistry. Studies with B6/MHC class I and II knockout mice donors indicated that neither is required for rejection. Graft rejection was associated with the development of effector and central memory T cells and an increase in serum immunoglobulins. We also tested the effects of teplizumab (anti-CD3 mAb) and found it could delay skin graft rejection, whereas ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4 [cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4] mAb) treatment accelerated rejection. These findings demonstrate that hNSG mice reliably and predictably reject a xenogenic mouse skin graft by a human T cell mediated mechanism. The model can be utilized to investigate the ability of human immunotherapies to enhance or suppress functional human immune responses.

Kidney transplantation from donation after cardiac death donors in China--a single-center experience

OBJECTIVE

To report clinical outcomes of kidney transplantation from cardiac death donors (DCD) in China, and to investigate its feasibility to expand the organ donor pool.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively studied clinical data of 46 DCD kidneys from 31 donors from February 2007 to August 2011. Recipients were followed for patient and graft survival.

RESULTS

We discarded the organs from 3 of 29 (10.3%) DCD donors and 7 of 42 (16.7%) kidneys that displayed renal thrombosis. Of the 39 recipients engrafted with DCD kidneys successfully, the mean follow-up was 16 months, (range = 50 days to 43 months). Delayed graft function (DGF) occurred in 15 (38.5%) recipients, who except one recovered within 3 months. Three biopsy-proven acute rejection episodes were observed in two recipients (5.1%). All patients survived through the follow-up. The graft survival rate was 97.4% at 12 months and 94.9% at 24 months. A 45-year-old male recipient who received a pair of grafts from a 6-year-old child survived with good renal function.

CONCLUSION

Although kidney transplantations from DCD donors showed a higher rate of DGF with a longer duration of graft recovery, we achieved favorable short-term clinical outcome in terms of graft survival and function. Donation after cardiac death can expand the organ donor pool in China.

α-Fe2O3 nanotubes-reduced graphene oxide composites as synergistic electrochemical capacitor materials

We present a facile approach for the fabrication of a nanocomposite comprising α-Fe(2)O(3) nanotubes (NTs) anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for electrochemical capacitors (ECs). The hollow tubular structure of the α-Fe(2)O(3) NTs presents a high surface area for reaction, while the incorporation of rGO provides an efficient two-dimensional conductive pathway to allow fast, reversible redox reaction. As a result, the nanocomposite materials exhibit a specific capacitance which is remarkably higher (~7 times) than α-Fe(2)O(3) NTs alone. In addition, the nanocomposites show excellent cycling life and large negative potential window. These findings suggest that such nanocomposites are a promising candidate as negative electrodes in asymmetrical capacitors with neutral electrolytes.

Numerical studies on the microclimate around a sleeping person and the related thermal neutrality issues

This article reports on two numerical studies on the microclimate around, and the thermal neutrality of, a sleeping person in a space installed with a displacement ventilation system. The development of a sleeping computational thermal manikin (SCTM) placed in a space air-conditioned by a displacement ventilation system is first described. This is followed by reporting the results of the first numerical study on the microclimate around the SCTM, including air temperature and velocity distributions and the heat transfer characteristics. Then the outcomes of the other numerical study on the thermal neutrality of a sleeping person are presented, including the thermal neutrality for a naked sleeping person and the effects of the total insulation value of a bedding system on the thermal neutrality of a sleeping person. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The thermal environment would greatly affect the sleep quality of human beings. Through developing a SCTM, the microclimate around a sleeping person has been numerically studied. The thermal neutral environment may then be predicted and contributions to improved sleep quality may be made.