Case of stage 0 pulmonary sarcoidosis pathologically diagnosed via transbronchial lung cryobiopsy.

A 45-year-old male was diagnosed with arrhythmia during a routine health examination. Findings from different modalities, such as echocardiography and radiography, were consistent with cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis. There was no ocular involvement or superficial lymph node enlargement. A chest computed tomography scan did not reveal any pulmonary lesions or bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy. To pathologically diagnose systemic sarcoidosis, transbronchial lung cryobiopsy was performed. Results showed pathological evidence of noncaseating epithelioid granulomas. Herein, we present a case in which sarcoidosis diagnosis was confirmed via transbronchial lung cryobiopsy despite the absence of respiratory lesions on computed tomography scan.

Analysis of the effect of each plant hormone on the maturation of woodland strawberry fruit in auxin-induced parthenocarpic fruit.

Evaluation of individual roles of plant hormones in fruit development is difficult because various plant hormones function simultaneously. In this study, to analyze the effect of plant hormones on fruit maturation one by one, plant hormones were applied to auxin-induced parthenocarpic woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) fruits. As a result, auxin, gibberellin (GA), and jasmonate, but, not abscisic acid and ethylene increased the proportion of ultimately mature fruits. So far, to produce comparable fruit with pollinated fruit in size, auxin with GA treatment was required in woodland strawberry. Picrolam (Pic), the most potent auxin in inducing parthenocarpic fruit, induced fruit which is comparable in size with pollinated fruit without GA. The endogenous GA level and the result of the RNA interference analysis of the main GA biosynthetic gene suggest that a basal level of endogenous GA is essential for fruit development. The effect of other plant hormones was also discussed.

Propiconazole-induced brassinosteroid deficiency reduces female fertility by inhibiting female gametophyte development in woodland strawberry.

KEY MESSAGE: In woodland strawberry, a brassinosteroid biosynthesis inhibitor propiconazole induced typical brassinosteroid-deficient phenotypes and decreased female fertility due to attenuated female gametophyte development. Brassinosteroids (BRs) play roles in various aspects of plant development. We investigated the physiological roles of BRs in the woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca. BR-level-dependent phenotypes were observed using a BR biosynthetic inhibitor, propiconazole (PCZ), and the most active natural BR, brassinolide (BL). Endogenous BL and castasterone, the active BRs, were below detectable levels in PCZ-treated woodland strawberry. The plants were typical BR-deficient phenotypes, and all phenotypes were restored by treatment with BL. These observations indicate that PCZ is an effective inhibitor of BR in woodland strawberry. Only one gene for each major step of BR biosynthesis in Arabidopsis is encoded in the woodland strawberry genome. BR biosynthetic genes are highly expressed during the early stage of fruit development. Emasculated flowers treated with BL failed to develop fruit, implying that BR is not involved in parthenocarpic fruit development. Similar to BR-deficient and BR-insensitive Arabidopsis mutants, female fertility was lower in PCZ-treated plants than in mock-treated plants due to failed attraction of the pollen tube to the ovule. In PCZ-treated plants, expression of FveMYB98, the homologous gene for Arabidopsis MYB98 (a marker for synergid cells), was downregulated. Ovules were smaller in PCZ-treated plants than in mock-treated plants, and histological analysis implied that the development of more than half of female gametophytes was arrested at the early stage in PCZ-treated plants. Our findings explain how BRs function during female gametophyte development in woodland strawberry.

Differential activation of NLRP3 inflammasome by Acinetobacter baumannii strains.

Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging nosocomial, opportunistic pathogen with growing clinical significance globally. A. baumannii has an exceptional ability to rapidly develop drug resistance. It is frequently responsible for ventilator-associated pneumonia in clinical settings and inflammation resulting in severe sepsis. The inflammatory response is mediated by host pattern-recognition receptors and the inflammasomes. Inflammasome activation triggers inflammatory responses, including the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß and IL-18, the recruitment of innate immune effectors against A. baumannii infection, and the induction programmed cell death by pyroptosis. An important knowledge gap is how variation among clinical isolates affects the host's innate response and activation of the inflammasome during A. baumannii infection. In this study, we compared nine A. baumannii strains, including clinical locally-acquired isolates, in their ability to induce activation of the inflammasome and programmed cell death in primary macrophages, epithelial lung cell line and mice. We found a variation in survival outcomes of mice and bacterial dissemination in organs among three commercially available A. baumannii strains, likely due to the differences in virulence between strains. Interestingly, we found variability among A. baumannii strains in activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, non-canonical Caspase-11 pathway, plasmatic secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß and programmed cell death. Our study highlights the importance of utilising multiple bacterial strains and clinical isolates with different virulence to investigate the innate immune response to A. baumannii infection.

New bibenzyl cannabinoid from the New Zealand liverwort Radula marginata.

The ether extract of the New Zealand liverwort Radula marginata afforded a new cannabinoid type bibenzyl compound named perrottetinenic acid, and two new bibenzyls, together with a known cannabinoid, perrottetinene. Their structures were established by two dimensional (2D) NMR spectral data. The structure of perrottetinenic acid was a similar to that of Delta(1)-tetrahydrocannabinol, a known hallucinogen. Cannabinoid type bibenzyls have been isolated from liverwort Radula perrottetii, though have not previously been reported from the liverwort R. marginata.