570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
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Solutions to the 3D Model Problem of Pressure Measurement in the Area of Maxillary Sinus Anastomosis
(2020)
The ostiomeatal complex (OMC) is a key area that determines the occurrence of inflammatory processes in the paranasal sinuses (PNSs). The aim of our work was to develop a procedure for studying the OMC components in the preoperative period that allows for identification the impact of anatomical peculiarities on change of physiological pressure in the maxillary sinus. Materials and methods: The study was carried out on the basis of the otorhinolaryngological department of Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital in 2019-2020. It involved 100 patients of both sexes aged 20-59 years with chronic non-polyposis maxillary sinusitis. Results: The sizes of the uncinate process, the middle turbinate and the natural anastomosis were determined using the calculation of uncertainty. Basing on the data obtained, all the patients were divided into three groups. Conclusions: Changes in the size of the natural anastomosis (both an increase and its narrowing) lead to changes in pressure in the area of the anastomosis, and a decrease in ventilation in the paranasal sinuses. SCT study with subsequent 3D modeling is an informative, accurate and effective method for assessment of OMC and PNSs condition. It allows surgeons to presume the method and volume of surgery as early as at the preoperative stage, without resorting to invasive research methods.
Glycolysis is one of the primordial pathways of metabolism, playing a pivotal role in energy metabolism and biosynthesis. Glycolytic enzymes are known to form transient multi-enzyme assemblies. Here we examine the wider protein-protein interactions of plant glycolytic enzymes and reveal a moonlighting role for specific glycolytic enzymes in mediating the co-localization of mitochondria and chloroplasts. Knockout mutation of phosphoglycerate mutase or enolase resulted in a significantly reduced association of the two organelles. We provide evidence that phosphoglycerate mutase and enolase form a substrate-channelling metabolon which is part of a larger complex of proteins including pyruvate kinase. These results alongside a range of genetic complementation experiments are discussed in the context of our current understanding of chloroplast-mitochondrial interactions within photosynthetic eukaryotes.
Today, academic researchers benefit from the changes driven by digital technologies and the enormous growth of knowledge and data, on globalisation, enlargement of the scientific community, and the linkage between different scientific communities and the society. To fully benefit from this development, however, information needs to be shared openly and transparently. Digitalisation plays a major role here because it permeates all areas of business, science and society and is one of the key drivers for innovation and international cooperation. To address the resulting opportunities, the EU promotes the development and use of collaborative ways to produce and share knowledge and data as early as possible in the research process, but also to appropriately secure results with the European strategy for Open Science (OS). It is now widely recognised that making research results more accessible to all societal actors contributes to more effective and efficient science; it also serves as a boost for innovation in the public and private sectors. However for research data to be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable the use of standards is essential. At the metadata level, considerable efforts in standardisation have already been made (e.g. Data Management Plan and FAIR Principle etc.), whereas in context with the raw data these fundamental efforts are still fragmented and in some cases completely missing. The CHARME consortium, funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Agency, has identified needs and gaps in the field of standardisation in the life sciences and also discussed potential hurdles for implementation of standards in current practice. Here, the authors suggest four measures in response to current challenges to ensure a high quality of life science research data and their re-usability for research and innovation.
This review presents the 100-year history of the Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine in Moscow, Russia, starting with its foundation and early activities, and also describes the impact of its leading scientists, some of whom became internationally known. The institute headed a network of nine tropical institutes in the various Soviet republics from the 1920s to 1990. The extensive body of literature on the history and research accomplishments of this institute has mainly been published in Russian; our goal here is to introduce these achievements and this expertise to the international scientific and medical community, focusing on malaria and leishmaniasis and the development of measures to control and monitor these diseases in the USSR.
Pepper bacterial spot is one of the most severe plant diseases in terms of infection persistence and economic losses when it comes to fresh pepper fruits used in nutrition and industrial processing. In this study, Bacillus velezensis IP22 isolated from fresh cheese was used as a biocontrol agent of pepper bacterial spot, whose main causal agent is the cosmopolitan pathogen Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. After optimization of the cultivation medium composition aimed at maximizing of the antimicrobial activity against X. euvesicatoria and validation of the optimized medium at the scale of a laboratory bioreactor, in planta tests were performed. The results have showed significant suppression of bacterial spot symptoms in pepper plants by the produced biocontrol agent, as well as reduction of disease spreading on the healthy (uninoculated) pepper leaves. Furthermore, HPLC-MS (high pressure liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry) analysis was employed to examine antimicrobial metabolites produced by B. velezensis IP22, where lipopeptides were found with similar m/z values compared to lipopeptides from fengycin and locillomycin families. The bioprocess solution developed at the laboratory scale investigated in this study represents a promising strategy for production of pepper bacterial spot biocontrol agent based on B. velezensis IP22, a food isolate with a great perspective for application in plant protection.
Trimeric photosystem I from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus (TePSI) is an intrinsic membrane protein, which converts solar energy into electrical energy by oxidizing the soluble redox mediator cytochrome c6 (Cyt c6) and reducing ferredoxin. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to characterize the transient binding of Cyt c6 to TePSI. The structure of TePSI cross-linked to Cyt c6 was solved at a resolution of 2.9 Å and shows additional cofactors as well as side chain density for 84% of the peptide chain of subunit PsaK, revealing a hydrophobic, membrane intrinsic loop that enables binding of associated proteins. Due to the poor binding specificity, Cyt c6 could not be localized with certainty in our cryo-EM analysis. SANS measurements confirm that Cyt c6 does not bind to TePSI at protein concentrations comparable to those for cross-linking. However, SANS data indicate a complex formation between TePSI and the non-native mitochondrial cytochrome from horse heart (Cyt cHH). Our study pinpoints the difficulty of identifying very small binding partners (less than 5% of the overall size) in EM structures when binding affinities are poor. We relate our results to well resolved co-structures with known binding affinities and recommend confirmatory methods for complexes with KM values higher than 20 μM.
Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) are blood-feeding insects that transmit the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp. and various arthropod-borne (arbo) viruses. While in Mediterranean parts of Europe the sand fly fauna is diverse, in Central European countries including Austria mainly Phlebotomus mascittii is found, an assumed but unproven vector of Leishmania infantum. To update the currently understudied sand fly distribution in Austria, a sand fly survey was performed and other entomological catches were screened for sand flies. Seven new trapping locations of Ph. mascittii are reported including the first record in Vienna, representing also one of the first findings of this species in a city. Morphological identification, supported by fluorescence microscopy, was confirmed by two molecular approaches, including sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) protein profiling. Sand fly occurrence and activity were evaluated based on surveyed locations, habitat requirements and climatic parameters. Moreover, a first comparison of European Ph. mascittii populations was made by two marker genes, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), and cytochrome b (cytb), as well as MALDI-TOF mass spectra. Our study provides new important records of Ph. mascittii in Austria and valuable data for prospective entomological surveys. MALDI-TOF MS protein profiling was shown to be a reliable tool for differentiation between sand fly species. Rising temperatures and globalization demand for regular entomological surveys to monitor changes in species distribution and composition. This is also important with respect to the possible vector competence of Ph. mascittii.
Research publications and data nowadays should be publicly available on the internet and, theoretically, usable for everyone to develop further research, products, or services. The long-term accessibility of research data is, therefore, fundamental in the economy of the research production process. However, the availability of data is not sufficient by itself, but also their quality must be verifiable. Measures to ensure reuse and reproducibility need to include the entire research life cycle, from the experimental design to the generation of data, quality control, statistical analysis, interpretation, and validation of the results. Hence, high-quality records, particularly for providing a string of documents for the verifiable origin of data, are essential elements that can act as a certificate for potential users (customers). These records also improve the traceability and transparency of data and processes, therefore, improving the reliability of results. Standards for data acquisition, analysis, and documentation have been fostered in the last decade driven by grassroot initiatives of researchers and organizations such as the Research Data Alliance (RDA). Nevertheless, what is still largely missing in the life science academic research are agreed procedures for complex routine research workflows. Here, well-crafted documentation like standard operating procedures (SOPs) offer clear direction and instructions specifically designed to avoid deviations as an absolute necessity for reproducibility.
Therefore, this paper provides a standardized workflow that explains step by step how to write an SOP to be used as a starting point for appropriate research documentation.
Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNET) do not only belong to the most common intracranial neoplasms but seem to be generally more common than has been thought. Minimally invasive liquid biopsies have the potential to improve their early screening efficiency as well as monitor prognosis by facilitating the diagnostic procedures. This review aims to assess the potential of using liquid biopsies of different kinds of biomarker species that have only been obtained from solid pituitary tissues so far. Numerous molecules have been associated with the development of a PitNET, suggesting that it often develops from the cumulative effects of many smaller genetic or epigenetic changes. These minor changes eventually pile up to switch critical molecules into tumor-promoting states, which may be the key regulatory nodes representing the most potent marker substances for a diagnostic test. Drugs targeting these nodes may be superior for the therapeutic outcome and therefore the identification of such pituitary-specific cellular key nodes will help to accelerate their application in medicine. The ongoing genetic degeneration in pituitary adenomas suggests that repeated tumor profiling via liquid biopsies will be necessary for personalized and effective treatment solutions.