Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Mostrar: 20 | 50 | 100
Resultados 1 - 20 de 22
Filtrar
1.
Parasit Vectors ; 16(1): 137, 2023 Apr 19.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37076920

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Since 2000, Burkina Faso has experienced regular dengue cases and outbreaks, making dengue an increasingly important health concern for the country. Previous studies in Burkina Faso reported that resistance of Aedes aegypti to pyrethroid insecticides was associated with the F1534C and V1016I kdr mutations. The current study reports high resistance of Ae. aegypti populations to pyrethroid insecticides, likely supported by mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel, here evidenced by genotyping the kdr SNPs V410L, V1016I and F1534C. We also describe a new multiplex PCR-based diagnostic of F1534C and V1016I kdr SNPs. METHODS: Larvae of Ae. aegypti were collected from three health districts of Ouagadougou in 2018. The resistance status of Ae. aegypti to permethrin (15 µg/ml) and deltamethrin (10 µg/ml) was tested using bottles and to malathion (5%) using WHO tube tests. All bioassays used 1-h exposure and mortality recorded 24 h post-exposure. Bioassay results were interpreted according to WHO thresholds for resistance diagnosis. The kdr mutations were screened using AS-PCR and TaqMan methods in exposed and non-exposed Aedes mosquitoes. RESULTS: Females from all health districts were resistant to permethrin and deltamethrin (< 20% mortality) but were fully susceptible to 5% malathion. The F1534C and V1016I kdr mutations were successfully detected using a newly developed multiplex PCR in perfect agreement with TaqMan method. The 1534C/1016I/410L haplotype was correlated with permethrin resistance but not with deltamethrin resistance; however, the test power was limited by a low frequency of dead individuals in deltamethrin exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides is associated with kdr mutant haplotypes, while the absence of substantial resistance to malathion suggests that it remains a viable option for dengue vector control in Ouagadougou.


Asunto(s)
Aedes , Dengue , Insecticidas , Piretrinas , Animales , Femenino , Humanos , Insecticidas/farmacología , Malatión , Aedes/genética , Burkina Faso , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa Multiplex , Permetrina , Piretrinas/farmacología , Mutación , Resistencia a los Insecticidas/genética , Mosquitos Vectores/genética , Receptor 2 de Factores de Crecimiento Endotelial Vascular/genética
2.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol ; 43(4): 305-310, 2022 Dec 01.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36103402

RESUMEN

ABSTRACT: The polymerase chain reaction is indispensable for diagnosing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in forensic cases. However, studies regarding the effectiveness of rapid antigen testing (RAT) in forensic cases remain limited. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of RAT compared with reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for confirming SARS-CoV-2 infection (including the delta variant). Before the external examination or autopsy, we collected samples from the nasopharyngeal mucosa, which were then assessed via RAT (QuickNavi COVID-19 Ag kit, QuickNavi-Flu+COVID-19 Ag kit) and RT-qPCR. Reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction results were positive in 73 of 1255 cases, and 21 cases were identified as those of delta variants. Low RT-qPCR threshold cycle value cases and delta variant infections were more likely to result in coronavirus disease-related deaths. The sensitivity of the QuickNavi COVID-19 Ag kit was 76.32%, and that of the QuickNavi-Flu+COVID-19 Ag kit was 77.14%. The specificity of both RATs was 100%. In QuickNavi COVID-19 Ag kit cases, delta variant cases showed lower sensitivity than non-delta variant cases, even for a similar viral load. Thus, RAT in forensic cases is sufficiently useful as a screening test for SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, RAT carries a risk of false negatives, especially for delta variant cases.


Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Humanos , COVID-19/diagnóstico , SARS-CoV-2 , Sensibilidad y Especificidad , Prueba de COVID-19
3.
Sci Rep ; 12(1): 12191, 2022 07 16.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35842442

RESUMEN

Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is a form of therapeutic wound treatment in which live fly larvae are used intentionally to debride necrotic tissues. MDT has been widely used to treat chronic wounds in humans or animals, such as diabetic foot ulcers. Larvae of a carrion blowfly, Lucilia sericata (green bottle fly), debride wounds by consuming necrotic tissue and removing pathogenic bacteria, promoting effective wound healing. Most medical L. sericata strains were initially collected from natural environments using animal meat as bait and reared on artificial protein-rich media or ground meat. It remains to be examined which strain would be more appropriate for MDT, whereas any method for evaluating the fly's therapeutic potential in humans has not been available. A feeding assay was developed using minced human tissues obtained from surgical waste. To establish L. sericata strains highly eligible for MDT, carrion fly larvae were collected from 45 corpses subjected to forensic autopsy (such as decomposed bodies). Four corpse-derived L. sericata strains were obtained and evaluated using the feeding assay. One strain showed that its feeding activity was 1.4 times higher than the control strain used in conventional MDT. The body length of the adult fly of the corpse-derived strain was longer than the control, which was consistent with the observation that its cell size was enlarged. The human tissue-based assay developed in this study accurately evaluated the ability of fly larvae to debride necrotic wounds. The L. sericata strain newly established from human corpses harboring high feeding activity may offer a clinically significant improvement in MDT.


Asunto(s)
Calliphoridae , Dípteros , Adulto , Animales , Cadáver , Desbridamiento/métodos , Humanos , Larva
4.
Inflamm Regen ; 40: 38, 2020.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33062076

RESUMEN

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first emerged in Wuhan, China, and has spread globally to most countries. In Japan, the first COVID-19 patient was identified on January 15, 2020. By June 30, the total number of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 reached 18,000. The impact of molecular detection of pathogens is significant in acute-care settings where rapid and accurate diagnostic measures are critical for decisions in patient treatment and outcomes of infectious diseases. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods, such as quantitative PCR (qPCR), are the most established gene amplification tools and have a comprehensive range of clinical applications, including detecting a variety of pathogens, even novel agents causing emerging infections. Because SARS-CoV-2 contains a single-stranded RNA genome, reverse-transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR) has been broadly employed for rapid and sensitive quantitative measurements of viral RNA copy numbers. The RT-qPCR method, however, still requires time-consuming reactions with two different enzymes in addition to isolation of RNA from patient samples, limiting the numbers of testing institutions for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Japan is known to have performed a relatively small number of PCR tests as well as confirmed cases among developed nations; as of June 30, 2020, approximately 390,000 people in Japan had undergone PCR tests. Given the devastating impact on medical services and the scale of demand for diagnostic testing of COVID-19, it has been proposed that academic settings such as basic research departments in university/college can be engaged in diagnosing, especially in university hospitals or academic medical centers. In collaboration with established diagnostic laboratories, academic facilities can divert their function to detecting virus from patients with suspected COVID-19, adopting existing specialized expertise in virus handling, molecular work, and data analysis. This in-house testing strategy facilitates the rapid diagnosing of thousands of samples per day and reduces sample turnaround time from 1 week to less than 24 h. This review provides an overview of the general principles, diagnostic value, and limitations of COVID-19 diagnosis platforms in Japan, in particular in-house testing at academic settings.

5.
Curr Opin Insect Sci ; 37: 8-15, 2020 02.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31726321

RESUMEN

Wolbachia pipientis, one of the most dominant insect-symbiotic bacteria, highjacks the female germline of insects for its own propagation across host generations. Such strict dependence on female gametes in trans-generational propagation has driven Wolbachia to devise ingenious strategies to enhance female fertility. In Drosophila melanogaster females with female-sterile mutant alleles of the master sex-determining gene Sex-lethal (Sxl), Wolbachia colonizing female germline stem cells (GSCs) support the maintenance of GSCs, thereby rescuing the defective ovarian development. In the germ cell cytoplasm, Wolbachia are often found in proximity to ribonucleoprotein-complex processing bodies (P bodies), where the Wolbachia-derived protein TomO interacts with RNAs encoding Nanos and Orb proteins, which support the GSC maintenance and oocyte polarization, respectively. Thus, manipulation of host RNA is the key to successful vertical transmission of Wolbachia.


Asunto(s)
Drosophila melanogaster/microbiología , Células Madre Oogoniales/microbiología , Wolbachia/fisiología , Animales , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Femenino , Células Madre Oogoniales/metabolismo , ARN/metabolismo , Simbiosis
6.
PLoS Genet ; 15(7): e1008309, 2019 07.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31344027

RESUMEN

Males of the Drosophila melanogaster mutant croaker (cro) generate a polycyclic pulse song dissimilar to the monocyclic songs typical of wild-type males during courtship. However, cro has not been molecularly mapped to any gene in the genome. We demonstrate that cro is a mutation in the gene encoding the Calmodulin-binding transcription factor (Camta) by genetic complementation tests with chromosomal deficiencies, molecular cloning of genomic fragments that flank the cro-mutagenic P-insertion, and phenotypic rescue of the cro mutant phenotype by Camta+-encoding cDNA as well as a BAC clone containing the gene for Camta. We further show that knockdown of the Camta-encoding gene phenocopies cro mutant songs when targeted to a subset of fruitless-positive neurons that include the mcALa and AL1 clusters in the brain. cro-GAL4 and an anti-Camta antibody labeled a large number of brain neurons including mcALa. We conclude that the Camta-encoding gene represents the cro locus, which has been implicated in a species-specific difference in courtship songs between D. sechellia and simulans.


Asunto(s)
Calmodulina/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiología , Conducta Sexual Animal/fisiología , Transactivadores/genética , Animales , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Cortejo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Prueba de Complementación Genética , Masculino , Especificidad de la Especie , Transactivadores/metabolismo , Vocalización Animal
7.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol ; 99(1): e21475, 2018 Sep.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29851149

RESUMEN

Wolbachia is an endosymbiont prevalent in arthropods. To maximize its transmission thorough the female germline, Wolbachia induces in infected hosts male-to-female transformation, male killing, parthenogenesis, and cytoplasmic incompatibility, depending on the host species and Wolbachia strain involved. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these host manipulations by Wolbachia remain largely unknown. The Wolbachia strain wMel, an inhabitant of Drosophila melanogaster, impairs host oogenesis only when transplanted into a heterologous host, for example, Drosophila simulans. We found that egg polarity defects induced by wMel infection in D. simulans can be recapitulated in the natural host D. melanogaster by transgenic overexpression of a variant of the Wolbachia protein Toxic manipulator of oogenesis (TomO), TomOwMel∆HS , in the female germline. RNA immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that TomO physically associates with orb mRNA, which, as a result, fails to interact with the translation repressor Cup. This leads to precocious translation of Orb, a posterior determinant, and thereby to the misspecification of oocytes and accompanying polarity defects. We propose that the ability of TomO to bind to orb mRNA might provide a means for Wolbachia to enter the oocyte located at the posterior end of the egg chamber, thereby accomplishing secure maternal transmission thorough the female germline.


Asunto(s)
Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Drosophila simulans/embriología , Drosophila simulans/microbiología , Wolbachia/fisiología , Animales , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Tipificación del Cuerpo , Embrión no Mamífero/microbiología , Desarrollo Embrionario , Oocitos/crecimiento & desarrollo , ARN/metabolismo , Wolbachia/genética
8.
Trop Med Health ; 46: 16, 2018.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29849477

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Vector-borne infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms transmitted mainly by blood-sucking arthropod vectors. In laboratories, the handling of insects carrying human pathogens requires extra caution because of safety concerns over their escape risk. Based on standard insect containment practices, there have been cases where costly enhancements were required to definitely protect laboratory workers and neighbors from potential infection through mosquito bites. Here, we developed a mosquito rearing method that provides a reliable and cost-effective means to securely contain pathogen-infected females of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. RESULTS: To debilitate the motility of A. aegypti females, mosquitoes were rendered completely flightless by ablation of either wing. The "single-winged" mosquitoes exhibited a severe defect in flying ability and were incubated in a container with inside surfaces covered with a net stretched to approximately 1-mm mesh, which helped the mosquitoes hold on and climb up the wall. In this container, flightless females consistently showed similar blood feeding and egg laying activities to intact females. Eighty-five percent of the flightless mosquitoes survived at 1 week after wing ablation, ensuring feasibility of the use of these mosquitoes for studying pathogen dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: This mosquito rearing method, with a detailed protocol, is presented here and can be readily implemented as a highly secure insectary for vectors carrying human pathogens. For researchers in an environment where highly strict containment practices are mandatory, this method could offer appropriate opportunities to perform research on pathogen-mosquito interactions in vivo.

9.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol ; 98(3): e21471, 2018 Jul.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29701280

RESUMEN

The toxic manipulator of oogenesis (TomO) protein has been identified in the wMel strain of Wolbachia that symbioses with the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, as a protein that affects host reproduction. TomO protects germ stem cells (GSCs) from degeneration, which otherwise occurs in ovaries of host females that are mutant for the gene Sex-lethal (Sxl). We isolated the TomO homologs from wPip, a Wolbachia strain from the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. One of the homologs, TomOwPip 1, exerted the GSC rescue activity in fly Sxl mutants when lacking its hydrophobic stretches. The GSC-rescuing action of the TomOwPip 1 variant was ascribable to its abilities to associate with Nanos (nos) mRNA and to enhance Nos protein expression. The analysis of structure-activity relationships with TomO homologs and TomO deletion variants revealed distinct modules in the protein that are each dedicated to different functions, i.e., subcellular localization, nos mRNA binding or Nos expression enhancement. We propose that modular reshuffling is the basis for structural and functional diversification of TomO protein members.


Asunto(s)
Proteínas Bacterianas/fisiología , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila/microbiología , Células Germinativas/fisiología , Proteínas de Unión al ARN/metabolismo , Wolbachia/fisiología , Animales , Animales Modificados Genéticamente , Culex/genética , Culex/microbiología , Drosophila/fisiología , Femenino , Masculino , Relación Estructura-Actividad , Simbiosis
10.
Gene ; 638: 26-35, 2018 Jan 05.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28943345

RESUMEN

The present study was conducted to clarify the involvement of the basement membrane (BM) in insect metamorphosis through analysis of the expression profile of two types of metalloproteinase (MMP and ADAMTS) genes in several organs, their ecdysone involvement, and the histological change of BM. BM was observed around wing sac and in the wing cavity and around fat bodies at the W0 stage but disappeared after the W3 stage, and wing discs evaginated and fat body cells scattered after the W3 stage. The disappearance of the BM of midgut and silk glands was not observed after the W3 stage, but degenerated epithelium cells in the midgut and shrunken cells in the silk gland were observed after the W3 stage. BmMMP1 showed a peak at P0 in the wing discs, fat bodies, midgut, and silk gland. BmMMP2 showed a broad peak around pupation in the wing discs, fat bodies, midgut, and silk gland. BmADAMTS-1 showed enhanced expression at W2 in the wing discs, fat bodies, midgut, and hemocyte, while BmADAMTS-L showed enhanced expression at W3 in the fat bodies, midgut, silk gland, and hemocyte. After pupation, they showed a different expression in different organs. All of four genes were induced by 20-hydroxyecdysone in wing discs in vitro. The present results suggested the involvement of MMPs and ADAMTS in the BM digestion and the morphogenesis of organs during Bombyx metamorphosis.


Asunto(s)
Bombyx/crecimiento & desarrollo , Bombyx/genética , Metaloproteinasas de la Matriz/genética , Proteínas ADAMTS/genética , Proteínas ADAMTS/metabolismo , Animales , Membrana Basal/metabolismo , Bombyx/enzimología , Bombyx/metabolismo , Ecdisona/metabolismo , Larva/crecimiento & desarrollo , Larva/metabolismo , Metamorfosis Biológica , Alas de Animales/crecimiento & desarrollo , Alas de Animales/metabolismo
11.
Curr Biol ; 26(17): 2223-32, 2016 09 12.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27498563

RESUMEN

Wolbachia, endosymbiotic bacteria prevalent in invertebrates, manipulate their hosts in a variety of ways: they induce cytoplasmic incompatibility, male lethality, male-to-female transformation, and parthenogenesis. However, little is known about the molecular basis for host manipulation by these bacteria. In Drosophila melanogaster, Wolbachia infection makes otherwise sterile Sex-lethal (Sxl) mutant females capable of producing mature eggs. Through a functional genomic screen for Wolbachia genes with growth-inhibitory effects when expressed in cultured Drosophila cells, we identified the gene WD1278 encoding a novel protein we call toxic manipulator of oogenesis (TomO), which phenocopies some of the Wolbachia effects in Sxl mutant D. melanogaster females. We demonstrate that TomO enhances the maintenance of germ stem cells (GSCs) by elevating Nanos (Nos) expression via its interaction with nos mRNA, ultimately leading to the restoration of germ cell production in Sxl mutant females that are otherwise without GSCs.


Asunto(s)
Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica , Proteínas de Unión al ARN/genética , Células Madre/metabolismo , Wolbachia/fisiología , Animales , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/crecimiento & desarrollo , Drosophila melanogaster/microbiología , Femenino , Células Germinativas/metabolismo , ARN Mensajero/genética , ARN Mensajero/metabolismo , Proteínas de Unión al ARN/metabolismo , Wolbachia/genética
12.
J Exp Biol ; 219(Pt 15): 2331-9, 2016 08 01.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27229474

RESUMEN

The metazoan gut performs multiple physiological functions, including digestion and absorption of nutrients, and also serves as a physical and chemical barrier against ingested pathogens and abrasive particles. Maintenance of these functions and structures is partly controlled by the nervous system, yet the precise roles and mechanisms of the neural control of gut integrity remain to be clarified in Drosophila Here, we screened for GAL4 enhancer-trap strains and labeled a specific subsets of neurons, using Kir2.1 to inhibit their activity. We identified an NP3253 line that is susceptible to oral infection by Gram-negative bacteria. The subset of neurons driven by the NP3253 line includes some of the enteric neurons innervating the anterior midgut, and these flies have a disorganized proventricular structure with high permeability of the peritrophic matrix and epithelial barrier. The findings of the present study indicate that neural control is crucial for maintaining the barrier function of the gut, and provide a route for genetic dissection of the complex brain-gut axis in adults of the model organism Drosophila.


Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/fisiología , Sistema Digestivo/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiología , Matriz Extracelular/metabolismo , Neuronas/fisiología , Animales , Infecciones Bacterianas/metabolismo , Azul de Bromofenol/metabolismo , Línea Celular , Drosophila melanogaster/microbiología , Conducta Alimentaria , Femenino , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/metabolismo , Permeabilidad , Fenotipo , Análisis de Supervivencia
13.
J Neurogenet ; 29(1): 8-17, 2015 Mar.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24913805

RESUMEN

Recently mated Drosophila females were shown to be reluctant to copulate and to exhibit rejecting behavior when courted by a male. Males that experience mate refusal by a mated female subsequently attenuate their courtship effort toward not only mated females but also virgin females. This courtship suppression persists for more than a day, and thus represents long-term memory. The courtship long-term memory has been shown to be impaired in heterozygotes as well as homozygotes of mutants in orb2, a locus encoding a set of CPEB RNA-binding proteins. We show that the impaired courtship long-term memory in orb2-mutant heterozygotes is restored by reducing the activity of lig, another putative RNA-binding protein gene, yet on its own the loss-of-function lig mutation is without effect. We further show that Lig forms a complex with Orb2. We infer that a reduction in the Lig levels compensates the Orb2 deficiency by mitigating the negative feedback for Orb2 expression and thereby alleviating defects in long-term memory.


Asunto(s)
Proteínas Portadoras/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Memoria a Largo Plazo/fisiología , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Factores de Escisión y Poliadenilación de ARNm/metabolismo , Animales , Animales Modificados Genéticamente , Proteínas Portadoras/genética , Células Cultivadas , Citocalasina D/farmacología , Drosophila , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Femenino , Proteína de la Discapacidad Intelectual del Síndrome del Cromosoma X Frágil/genética , Proteína de la Discapacidad Intelectual del Síndrome del Cromosoma X Frágil/metabolismo , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/genética , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/metabolismo , Inmunoprecipitación , Masculino , Neuronas/efectos de los fármacos , Neuronas/metabolismo , Interferencia de ARN/fisiología , Conducta Sexual Animal/fisiología , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Transfección , Factores de Escisión y Poliadenilación de ARNm/genética
14.
J Neurogenet ; 29(1): 23-9, 2015 Mar.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25518733

RESUMEN

The muscle of Lawrence (MOL) is a male-specific muscle present in the abdomen of some adult Drosophila species. Formation of the MOL depends on innervation by motoneurons that express fruitless, a neural male determinant. Drosophila melanogaster males carry a pair of MOLs in the 5th abdominal segment, whereas D. subobscura males carry a pair in both the 5th and 4th segments. We hypothesized that the fru gene of D. subobscura but not that of D. melanogaster contains a cis element that directs the formation of the additional pair of MOLs. Successively extended 5' DNA fragments to the P1 promoter of D. subobscura or the corresponding fragments that are chimeric (i.e., containing both melanogaster and subobscura elements) were introduced into D. melanogaster and tested for their ability to induce the MOL to locate the hypothetical cis element. We found that a 1.5-2-kb genomic fragment located 4-6-kb upstream of the P1 promoter in D. subobscura but not that of D. melanogaster permits MOL formation in females, provided this fragment is grafted to the distal ∼4-kb segment from D. melanogaster, demonstrating that this genomic fragment of D. subobscura contains a cis element for the MOL induction.


Asunto(s)
Músculos Abdominales/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica/genética , Proteínas del Tejido Nervioso/genética , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Especificidad de la Especie , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Animales , Animales Modificados Genéticamente , Drosophila melanogaster , Femenino , Masculino , Factores Sexuales
15.
Cell ; 149(6): 1327-38, 2012 Jun 08.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22682252

RESUMEN

The Drosophila fruitless (fru) gene encodes a set of putative transcription factors that promote male sexual behavior by controlling the development of sexually dimorphic neuronal circuitry. However, the mechanism whereby fru establishes the sexual fate of neurons remains enigmatic. Here, we show that Fru forms a complex with the transcriptional cofactor Bonus (Bon), which, in turn, recruits either of two chromatin regulators, Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), which masculinizes individual sexually dimorphic neurons, or Heterochromatin protein 1a (HP1a), which demasculinizes them. Manipulations of HDAC1 or HP1a expression change the proportion of male-typical neurons and female-typical neurons rather than producing neurons with intersexual characteristics, indicating that on a single neuron level, this sexual switch operates in an all-or-none manner.


Asunto(s)
Proteínas Cromosómicas no Histona/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila/metabolismo , Histona Desacetilasa 1/metabolismo , Proteínas del Tejido Nervioso/metabolismo , Neuronas/metabolismo , Caracteres Sexuales , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Animales , Homólogo de la Proteína Chromobox 5 , Proteínas Cromosómicas no Histona/genética , Drosophila/genética , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Femenino , Histona Desacetilasa 1/genética , Masculino , Conducta Sexual Animal , Transcripción Genética
16.
Nature ; 438(7065): 229-33, 2005 Nov 10.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-16281036

RESUMEN

The Drosophila fruitless (fru) gene product Fru has been postulated to be a neural sex determination factor that directs development of the central nervous system (CNS), thereby producing male-typical courtship behaviour and inducing male-specific muscle. Male-specific Fru protein is expressed in small groups of neurons scattered throughout the CNS of male, but not female, Drosophila. Collectively, these observations suggest that Fru 'masculinizes' certain neurons, thereby establishing neural substrates for male-typical behaviour. However, specific differences between neurons resulting from the presence or absence of Fru are unknown. Previous studies have suggested that Fru might result in sexual differences in the CNS at the functional level, as no overt sexual dimorphism in CNS structure was discernible. Here we identify a subset of fru-expressing interneurons in the brain that show marked sexual dimorphism in their number and projection pattern. We also demonstrate that Fru supports the development of neurons with male-specific dendritic fields, which are programmed to die during female development as a result of the absence of Fru. Thus, Fru expression can produce a male-specific neural circuit, probably used during heterosexual courtship, by preventing cell death in identifiable neurons.


Asunto(s)
Encéfalo/citología , Encéfalo/fisiología , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiología , Proteínas del Tejido Nervioso/metabolismo , Vías Nerviosas/fisiología , Caracteres Sexuales , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Animales , Apoptosis , Cortejo , Dendritas/fisiología , Proteínas de Drosophila/deficiencia , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/clasificación , Drosophila melanogaster/citología , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Femenino , Interneuronas/citología , Interneuronas/metabolismo , Masculino , Proteínas del Tejido Nervioso/deficiencia , Proteínas del Tejido Nervioso/genética , Conducta Sexual Animal/fisiología , Factores de Transcripción/deficiencia , Factores de Transcripción/genética
17.
Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol ; 141(3): 314-22, 2005 Jul.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15936966

RESUMEN

Using microarray analyses, we identified carboxypeptidase A (MF-CPA), which was induced during pupal ecdysis in the wing discs of Bombyx mori. Here, we report the functional characterization of MF-CPA. MF-CPA has amino acid sequence similarities with the proteins in the carboxypeptidase A/B subfamily, from human to nematode. The MF-CPA gene is expressed during the molting periods in the epithelial tissues. MF-CPA is detected in the molting fluid, which fills the space between the old and new cuticle during molting. By Western blot analysis, we show that MF-CPA is secreted as a zymogen and processed in the molting fluid. Recombinant MF-CPA expressed in the insect cells has carboxypeptidase A activity. We propose that MF-CPA degrades the proteins from the old cuticle during the molting periods and contributes to recycling of the amino acids.


Asunto(s)
Bombyx/enzimología , Bombyx/crecimiento & desarrollo , Carboxipeptidasas A/metabolismo , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Muda/fisiología , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Baculoviridae , Bombyx/genética , Carboxipeptidasas A/genética , Carboxipeptidasas A/inmunología , Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Presión , Larva/enzimología , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Filogenia , Conejos , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/aislamiento & purificación , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismo , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa , Homología de Secuencia de Aminoácido
18.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol ; 59(2): 91-8, 2005 Jun.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15898116

RESUMEN

By microarray analyses, we identified two genes (BmADAMTS-1 and BmADAMTS-like) encoding a protein, which are induced during the pupal ecdysis in the wing discs of Bombyx mori; these genes are homologous to ADAMTS family members (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain, with thrombospondin type-1 repeats). A complete metal-binding motif of the ADAM-type metalloprotease domain (HEXXHXXGXXHD) was contained in both amino acid sequences. However, thrombospondin type 1 (TSP-1) repeats were observed only in BmADAMTS-1. The BmADAMTS-1 gene was expressed in the hemocyte and midgut of the larvae at day 2 of wandering stage (W2), and strongly induced during the pupal ecdysis in the hemolymph. The BmADAMTS-like gene was expressed in the epithelial tissues of the larvae at W2, and had expression peaks slightly later than the BmADAMTS-1 gene. Our results indicate that BmADAMTS-1 and BmADAMTS-like may cleave the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the degenerating and remodeling tissues during the molting periods.


Asunto(s)
Bombyx/genética , Desintegrinas/biosíntesis , Desintegrinas/genética , Proteínas de la Matriz Extracelular/genética , Metaloendopeptidasas/biosíntesis , Metaloendopeptidasas/genética , Muda/fisiología , Proteínas ADAM , Proteína ADAMTS1 , Secuencias de Aminoácidos/genética , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Secuencia de Bases , Northern Blotting , Bombyx/metabolismo , Cartilla de ADN , ADN Complementario/genética , Desintegrinas/metabolismo , Inducción Enzimática/genética , Proteínas de la Matriz Extracelular/metabolismo , Componentes del Gen , Larva/metabolismo , Metaloendopeptidasas/metabolismo , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Muda/genética , Análisis de Secuencia por Matrices de Oligonucleótidos , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN , Trombospondina 1/genética
19.
Gene ; 343(1): 133-42, 2004 Dec 08.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15563839

RESUMEN

The present study was conducted to clarify what occurs during the metamorphosis of the imaginal disc in insects. To understand the metamorphosis on a molecular level, the changes in expression profiles in the imaginal disc during metamorphosis were investigated. For this purpose, we constructed cDNA libraries from four different stages of wing discs of Bombyx mori, sequenced about 1000 cDNAs randomly collected from each library, and constructed a database of expressed sequence tags (EST). The morphological changes and expression profiles from EST were compared during those four stages. Microarray analysis was applied to quantify the expression of each gene in each stage in order to confirm whether the expression of the genes identified from EST was induced by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in a stage-specific manner. Wing discs showed dynamic morphogenesis in 4-5 days during the preparatory stage of metamorphosis, which was under the control of an ecdysteroid. Different expressed profiles were observed in each of the four different stages by comparison of each EST clone. These profiles reflected the morphological changes of the Bombyx wing disc during metamorphosis. The results of expression profiles from the four stages suggested that the V4 stage was cell proliferating; W0, proliferating and the beginning of differentiation; W2, morphologically changing; W3, cuticle secreting. Microarray analysis showed the effectiveness of its application on 20E induction of genes in wing discs. The wing disc of B. mori is an exceptionally suitable system for understanding the relationship between morphological changes and the distribution of mRNA.


Asunto(s)
Bombyx/crecimiento & desarrollo , Bombyx/genética , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Metamorfosis Biológica/genética , Alas de Animales/fisiología , Animales , Secuencia de Bases , Cartilla de ADN , Reparación del ADN , ADN Complementario/genética , Etiquetas de Secuencia Expresada , Biblioteca de Genes , Proteínas de Insectos/genética , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa
20.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun ; 323(2): 599-614, 2004 Oct 15.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15369793

RESUMEN

The baculoviruses Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) and Autographa californica multicapsid NPV (AcMNPV) are highly homologous at the genomic level, but they have essentially nonoverlapping host ranges. In order to characterize baculovirus replication in permissive and nonpermissive cell lines, the expression profiles of baculovirus-specific genes (at 2, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 or 72 h post-infection) were examined in BmN (BmNPV-permissive) or Sf-9 (AcMNPV-permissive) cells that were inoculated with BmNPV or AcMNPV. Surprisingly, nearly all of the 154 genes of AcMNPV appeared to be expressed in both Sf-9 and BmN cells although the peak expression levels of these genes were delayed by roughly 12 h in the nonpermissive BmN cells. In addition, the expression levels of the very late AcMNPV polyhedrin and p10 genes were dramatically reduced in BmN cells, which presumably led to the inability of AcMNPV to form polyhedral inclusion bodies in BmN cells. Nearly all of the 136 genes of BmNPV appeared to be expressed in BmN cells, however, BmNPV gene expression was dramatically reduced in Sf-9 cells inoculated with BmNPV. Experiments in which BmNPV DNAs were transfected to Sf-9 cells suggested that this dramatic reduction in gene expression was not the result of poor attachment, penetration or uncoating of the BmNPV virion into Sf-9 cells. In conclusion, we established a system to monitor global gene expression patterns during baculovirus infection in permissive and nonpermissive cell lines. This system was used to identify global trends in the transcription of baculovirus genes during productive and nonproductive infection.


Asunto(s)
Baculoviridae/metabolismo , Bombyx/virología , Drosophila/virología , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica/métodos , Regulación Viral de la Expresión Génica/fisiología , Análisis de Secuencia por Matrices de Oligonucleótidos/métodos , Proteínas Virales/biosíntesis , Animales , Baculoviridae/genética , Bombyx/genética , Bombyx/metabolismo , Línea Celular , Análisis por Conglomerados , Drosophila/genética , Drosophila/metabolismo , Proteínas de Insectos/genética , Proteínas de Insectos/metabolismo , Proteínas Virales/genética , Virosis/genética , Virosis/metabolismo , Replicación Viral/fisiología
SELECCIÓN DE REFERENCIAS
DETALLE DE LA BÚSQUEDA
...