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A variety of joint action studies show that people tend to fall into synchronous behavior with others participating in the same task, and that such synchronization is beneficial, leading to greater rapport, satisfaction, and performance. It has been noted that many of these task environments require simple interactions that involve little planning of action coordination toward a shared goal. The present study utilized a complex joint construction task in which dyads were instructed to build model cars while their hand movements and heart rates were measured. Participants built these models under varying conditions, delimiting how freely they could divide labor during a build session. While hand movement synchrony was sensitive to the different tasks and outcomes, the heart rate measure did not show any effects of interpersonal synchrony. Results for hand movements show that the more participants were constrained by a particular building strategy, the greater their behavioral synchrony. Within the different conditions, the degree of synchrony was predictive of subjective satisfaction and objective product outcomes. However, in contrast to many previous findings, synchrony was negatively associated with superior products, and, depending on the constraints on the interaction, positively or negatively correlated with higher subjective satisfaction. These results show that the task context critically shapes the role of synchronization during joint action, and that in more complex tasks, not synchronization of behavior, but rather complementary types of behavior may be associated with superior task outcomes.
Biallelic mutations in TMEM126B cause severe complex i deficiency with a variable clinical phenotype
(2016)
Complex I deficiency is the most common biochemical phenotype observed in individuals with mitochondrial disease. With 44 structural subunits and over 10 assembly factors, it is unsurprising that complex I deficiency is associated with clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technologies including custom, targeted gene panels or unbiased whole-exome sequencing (WES) are hugely powerful in identifying the underlying genetic defect in a clinical diagnostic setting, yet many individuals remain without a genetic diagnosis. These individuals might harbor mutations in poorly understood or uncharacterized genes, and their diagnosis relies upon characterization of these orphan genes. Complexome profiling recently identified TMEM126B as a component of the mitochondrial complex I assembly complex alongside proteins ACAD9, ECSIT, NDUFAF1, and TIMMDC1. Here, we describe the clinical, biochemical, and molecular findings in six cases of mitochondrial disease from four unrelated families affected by biallelic (c.635G>T [p.Gly212Val] and/or c.401delA [p.Asn134Ilefs∗2]) TMEM126B variants. We provide functional evidence to support the pathogenicity of these TMEM126B variants, including evidence of founder effects for both variants, and establish defects within this gene as a cause of complex I deficiency in association with either pure myopathy in adulthood or, in one individual, a severe multisystem presentation (chronic renal failure and cardiomyopathy) in infancy. Functional experimentation including viral rescue and complexome profiling of subject cell lines has confirmed TMEM126B as the tenth complex I assembly factor associated with human disease and validates the importance of both genome-wide sequencing and proteomic approaches in characterizing disease-associated genes whose physiological roles have been previously undetermined.
Allostery is a phenomenon observed in many proteins where binding of a macromolecular partner or a small-molecule ligand at one location leads to specific perturbations at a site not in direct contact with the region where the binding occurs. The list of proteins under allosteric regulation includes AGC protein kinases. AGC kinases have a conserved allosteric site, the phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1)-interacting fragment (PIF) pocket, which regulates protein ATP-binding, activity, and interaction with substrates. In this study, we identify small molecules that bind to the ATP-binding site and affect the PIF pocket of AGC kinase family members, PDK1 and Aurora kinase. We describe the mechanistic details and show that although PDK1 and Aurora kinase inhibitors bind to the conserved ATP-binding site, they differentially modulate physiological interactions at the PIF-pocket site. Our work outlines a strategy for developing bidirectional small-molecule allosteric modulators of protein kinases and other signaling proteins.
BACKGROUND: Polyclonal anti-thymocyte globulins (ATGs) are immunosuppressive drugs widely used in induction of immunosuppression and treatment of acute rejection after solid organ transplantation. We have previously demonstrated that ATGs bind to endothelial cells in vitro, and are able to modulate ECs. The aim of this study was to investigate the binding of ATGs to endothelial cells under in vivo conditions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Muscle biopsies from extremities of cynomolgus monkeys were obtained after ischemia/reperfusion at 4°C. ATGs (Thymoglobulin, Sanofi-Aventis, France; 1 mg/kg) were added to the blood 30 min prior to the reperfusion. Biopsies (n=10) of patients undergoing heart transplantation and preoperatively treated with ATGs (Thymoglobulin, Sanofi-Aventis, France; 1.5 mg/kg) as induction therapy were also analyzed 6 hours and 7 days after induction. Binding of ATGs to ECs was analyzed with an anti-rabbit IgG antibody by means of immunohistochemistry.
RESULTS: Binding of ATGs to endothelial cells could be demonstrated in vivo in our animal experiments 4 hours after reperfusion, as well as in the clinical biopsies 6 hours after induction of immunosuppression in heart transplant patients, showing a preferred localization in post-capillary veins. No expression of ATGs on the endothelial surface could be observed after 7 days, suggesting that ATGs may be washed out from the endothelial surface in a time-dependent manner.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that ATGs are able to bind to endothelial cells in an experimental model and in clinical practice, supporting preconditioning strategies with ATGs in solid organ transplantation.
Biological control of introduced weeds in the 22 Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs) began in 1911, with the lantana seed-feeding fly introduced into Fiji and New Caledonia from Hawaii. To date, a total of 62 agents have been deliberately introduced into the PICTs to control 21 weed species in 17 countries. A further two agents have spread naturally into the region. The general impact of the 36 biocontrol agents now established in the PICTs ranges from none to complete control of their target weed(s). Fiji has been most active in weed biocontrol, releasing 30 agents against 11 weed species. Papua New Guinea, Guam, and the Federated States of Micronesia have also been very active in weed biocontrol. For some weeds such as Lantana camara, agents have been released widely, and can now be found in 15 of the 21 PICTs in which the weed occurs. However, agents for other commonly found weeds, such as Sida acuta, have been released in only a few countries in which the weed is present. There are many safe and effective biocontrol agents already in the Pacific that could be utilised more widely, and highly effective agents that have been released elsewhere in the world that could be introduced following some additional host specificity testing. This paper discusses the current status of biological control efforts against introduced weeds in the 22 PICTs and reviews options that could be considered by countries wishing to initiate weed biological control programmes.
In a recent Discussion Paper, Hoffmann and Courchamp (2016) posed the question: are biological invasions and natural colonisations that different? This apparently simple question resonates at the core of the biological study of human-induced global change, and we strongly believe that the answer is yes: biological invasions and natural colonisations differ in processes and mechanisms in ways that are crucial for science, management, and policy. Invasion biology has, over time, developed into the broader transdisciplinary field of invasion science. At the heart of invasion science is the realisation that biological invasions are not just a biological phenomenon: the human dimension of invasions is a fundamental component in the social-ecological systems in which invasions need to be understood and managed.
We argue that human-mediated invasions are part of the spectrum of species movements, not a unique phenomenon, because species self-dispersing into novel environments are subject to the same barriers of survival, reproduction, dispersal and further range expansion as those assisted by people. Species changing their distributions by human-mediated and non-human mediated modes should be of identical scientific interest to invasion ecology and ecology. Distinctions between human-mediated invasions and natural colonisations are very valid for management and policy, but we argue that these are value-laden distinctions and not necessarily an appropriate division for science, which instead should focus on distinctions based on processes and mechanisms. We propose an all-encompassing framework of species range expansion. This does not detract from the importance of invasion biology as a discipline, but instead will help bring together research being conducted on multiple taxa, and by multiple disciplines, including epidemiology, that are often focused on an identical phenomenon: colonisation.
To improve data availability and exchange in the area of the WAP complex, West Africa’s largest continuous area of reserves, we set up a citizen science project on the iNaturalist platform, allowing contribution of observations, ideally documented by photographs and/or sounds. Along with the project we created a number of online field guides for the local flora. Within only two months, 852 observations of 312 species have been assembled. We expect this dataset to further grow in the future and complement existing data sets from scientific collections and surveys.
Biotic interchange after the connection of previously independently evolving floras and faunas is thought to be one of the key factors that shaped global biodiversity as we see it today. However, it was not known how biotic interchange develops over longer time periods of several million years following the secondary contact of different biotas. Here we present a novel method to investigate the temporal dynamics of biotic interchange based on a phylogeographical meta-analysis by calculating the maximal number of observed dispersal events per million years given the temporal uncertainty of the underlying time-calibrated phylogenies. We show that biotic influx from mainland Asia onto the Indian subcontinent after Eocene continental collision was not a uniform process, but was subject to periods of acceleration, stagnancy and decrease. We discuss potential palaeoenvironmental causes for this fluctuation.
As legislation, research and management of invasive alien species (IAS) are not fully coordinated across countries or different stakeholder groups, one approach leading to more or less standardized activities is based on producing lists of prominent IAS that attain high level of concern and are a subject of priority monitoring and management. These so-called Black, Grey and Watch (alert) Lists represent a convenient starting point for setting priorities in prevention, early warning and management systems. It is important that these lists be based on transparent and robust criteria so as to accommodate interests and perception of impacts by groups of concerned authorities and stakeholders representing sectors as diverse as, e.g. forestry, horticulture, aquaculture, hunting, and nature conservation, and to justify possible trade restrictions. The principles for blacklisting need to be general enough to accommodate differences among taxonomic groups (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates) and invaded environments (e.g. aquatic, terrestrial, urban, suburban, seminatural), and must take into account invasion dynamics, the impact the IAS pose, and management strategies suitable for each particular invader. With these assumptions in mind, we synthesize available information to present Black, Grey and Watch Lists of alien species for the Czech Republic, with recommended categorized management measures for land managers, policy makers and other stakeholders. We took into account differences in the listed species’ distribution, invasion status, known or estimated environmental impact, as well as possible management options, and apply these criteria to both plants and animals. Species with lower impact, but for which some level of management and regulation is desirable, are included on the Grey List. Some potentially dangerous species occurring in European countries with comparable climatic conditions, as well as those introduced in the past but without presently known wild populations in the Czech Republic, are listed on the Watch list. In total, there are 78 plant and 39 animal species on the Black List, 47 and 16 on the Grey List, and 25 and 27, respectively, on the Watch List. The multilayered approach to the classification of alien species, combining their impacts, population status and relevant management, can serve as a model for other countries that are in process of developing their Black Lists.