CK2 promotes jasmonic acid signaling response by phosphorylating MYC2 in Arabidopsis.

Jasmonic acid (JA) signaling plays a pivotal role in plant development and defense. MYC2 is a master transcription factor in JA signaling, and was found to be phosphorylated and negatively regulated by MAP kinase and receptor-like kinase. However, the kinases that positively regulate MYC2 through phosphorylation and promote MYC2-mediated activation of JA response have not been identified. Here, we identified CK2 as a kinase that phosphorylates MYC2 and thus regulates the JA signaling. CK2 holoenzyme can interact with MYC2 using its regulatory subunits and phosphorylate MYC2 at multiple sites with its catalytic subunits. Inhibition of CK2 activity in a dominant-negative plant line, CK2mut, repressed JA response. On the other hand, increasing CK2 activity by overexpression of CKB4, a regulatory subunit gene of CK2, enhanced JA response in a MYC2-dependent manner. Substitution of the Ser and Thr residues at phosphorylation sites of MYC2 by CK2 with Ala impaired MYC2 function in activating JA response. Further investigations evidenced that CK2 facilitated the JA-induced increase of MYC2 binding to the promoters of JA-responsive genes in vivo. Our study demonstrated that CK2 plays a positive role in JA signaling, and reveals a previously undiscovered mechanism that regulates MYC2 function.

TIME FOR COFFEE controls root meristem size by changes in auxin accumulation in Arabidopsis.

Roots play important roles in plant survival and productivity as they not only anchor the plants in the soil but are also the primary organ for the uptake of nutrients from the outside. The growth and development of roots depend on the specification and maintenance of the root meristem. Here, we report a previously unknown role of TIME FOR COFFEE (TIC) in controlling root meristem size in Arabidopsis. The results showed that loss of function of TIC reduced root meristem length and cell number by decreasing the competence of meristematic cells to divide. This was due to the repressed expression of PIN genes for decreased acropetal auxin transport in tic-2, leading to low auxin accumulation in the roots responsible for reduced root meristem, which was verified by exogenous application of indole-3-acetic acid. Downregulated expression of PLETHORA1 (PLT1) and PLT2, key transcription factors in mediating the patterning of the root stem cell niche, was also assayed in tic-2. Similar results were obtained with tic-2 and wild-type plants at either dawn or dusk. We also suggested that the MYC2-mediated jasmonic acid signalling pathway may not be involved in the regulation of TIC in controlling the root meristem. Taken together, these results suggest that TIC functions in an auxin-PLTs loop for maintenance of post-embryonic root meristem.

Ultrasound blood flow characteristics changes in fetal umbilical artery thrombosis: A retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Umbilical artery thrombosis (UAT) is extremely uncommon and leads to adverse perinatal outcomes. Hypercoagulation of blood in pregnant women is suspected to be an important risk for UAT. Ultrasound is an effective way to detect thrombosis. The mother can monitor her own fetal health using ultrasound, which enables her to take preventative action in case of emergency. AIM: To investigate ultrasonic blood signal after UAT in the umbilical artery, and evaluate the relationship between hypercoagulability and UAT. METHODS: We described a case of a newly formed UAT with markedly altered ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow, and retrospectively studied it with 18 UAT patients confirmed by histopathology from October 2019 and March 2023 in Xiamen Women and Children's Hospital. Patients' information was collected from medical archives, including maternal clinical data, neonatal outcomes, pathological findings and ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow, such as systolic-diastolic duration ratio (S/D), resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI) and peak systolic velocity (PSV). Ultrasound and coagulation indices were analyzed with matched samples t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test using the statistical packages in R (version 4.2.1) including car (version 3.1-0) and stats (version 4.2.1), and visualized by ggplot2 package (version 3.3.6). RESULTS: A patient with normal findings in second and third-trimester routine ultrasound scan developed UAT with severe changes in ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow (within 2.5th of reference ranges) in a short period of time. Statistical analysis of umbilical artery blood flow ultrasound indices for 19 patients with UAT showed that the decrease in S/D, RI, and PI and increase of PSV during the disease process was greater than that of non-UAT. All 18 patients delivered in our hospital showed characteristic manifestations of UAT on histological examination after delivery, most of which (16/18) showed umbilical cord abnormalities, with 15 umbilical cord torsion and 1 pseudoknot. Coagulation parameters were not significantly changed in UAT patients compared with normal pregnancy women. CONCLUSION: Significant changes in ultrasound indicators after UAT were demonstrated. PSV can play important roles in the diagnosis of UAT. Hypercoagulability alone is not sufficient for the occurrence of UAT.

A real-world evidence of a consecutive treatment of 42 spine-related pain using dorsal root ganglion-pulsed radiofrequency (DRG-PRF).

OBJECTIVES: Spine-related pain is oftentimes not managed satisfactorily by analgesic medications and physiotherapy. Pulsed radiofrequency targeting on dorsal root ganglion (DRG-PRF) is able to precisely relieve pain without permanent damage to nervous tissue. In this article, we provide a short-term result of DRG-PRF for spine-related pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review of a consecutive of 42 patients who underwent PRF between 2015-2016 was conducted. All patients had received pharmaceutical treatment or physiotherapy before PRF. The diagnoses included cervicogenic headache, cervicalgia, upper back, middle back and lower back pain with or without radiculopathy. All of them were treated with DRG-PRF according to corresponding segmental dermatomes. Preoperative and postoperative 1-week, 1-month and 3-month numerical rating scale (NRS) and the usage of analgesic medicines were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age was 56.9 ± 14.8 years and 50 % of them were men. Seventy-six percent of patients underwent PRF had their pain originated from cervical and lumbar spine. Sixty percent of PRF procedures were to treat new chronic pain (duration less than 6 months). The preoperative NRS was 7.6 ± 1.1; the postoperative 1-week, 1-month and 3-month NRS were 2.5 ± 2.1, 3.0 ± 2.4 and 3.2 ± 2.4, respectively. DRG-PRF provided significantly NRS decrease in spine-related pain (p < 0.001). DRG-PRF also significantly decrease and deescalate the usage of analgesic medicines at postoperative 3 months (p < 0.001). The drop of NRS from preoperative state to postoperative 1 week was more significant in new chronic pain than in established chronic pain group (1.6 ± 1.4 vs. 3.0 ± 2.2, p = 0.015), however, both groups achieved similar pain reduction at postoperative 3 months (3.1 ± 2.2 vs. 3.3 ± 2.7, p = 0.903). No permanent neurological sequela was found, except 2 patients (4.7 %) had transient paresthesia with mild motor weakness after PRF which resolved within hours spontaneously. CONCLUSION: DRG-PRF significantly decrease NRS and decrease and deescalate the usage of analgesic medicines in post-procedure 3 months in spine-related pain patients. DRG-PRF is effective for both new chronic and established chronic pain, and offers similar pain reduction for patients with radicular or non-radicular pain.

Evaluation of gastric emptying in diabetic gastropathy by an ultrasonic whole stomach cylinder method.

In order to explore the accuracy of ultrasonic whole stomach cylinder measurement (UWSCM) in the evaluation of gastric emptying, we measured the gastric emptying times (ET) at 25% (T1), 50% (T2) and 75% (T3) of healthy subjects and patients with diabetic gastropathy by UWSCM and scintigraphy. The ET of patients were compared with their clinical symptom scores. We found that the ET measured by UWSCM showed no significant difference with scintigraphy (p > 0.05). The correlation between them was good, and the correlation coefficient of T3 reached 0.744 (p < 0.05). All emptying times in the diabetic patients were longer than those in the healthy subjects (p < 0.05). The T3 in the diabetic group measured by UWSCM had the best correlation with the symptom index (r = 0.469, p < 0.05). We conclude that ET measured by UWSCM is accurate and T3 combining the symptoms index provides an accurate clinical basis for gastropathy.

Perturbation of auxin homeostasis by overexpression of wild-type IAA15 results in impaired stem cell differentiation and gravitropism in roots.

Aux/IAAs interact with auxin response factors (ARFs) to repress their transcriptional activity in the auxin signaling pathway. Previous studies have focused on gain-of-function mutations of domain II and little is known about whether the expression level of wild-type Aux/IAAs can modulate auxin homeostasis. Here we examined the perturbation of auxin homeostasis by ectopic expression of wild-type IAA15. Root gravitropism and stem cell differentiation were also analyzed. The transgenic lines were less sensitive to exogenous auxin and exhibited low-auxin phenotypes including failures in gravity response and defects in stem cell differentiation. Overexpression lines also showed an increase in auxin concentration and reduced polar auxin transport. These results demonstrate that an alteration in the expression of wild-type IAA15 can disrupt auxin homeostasis.