Combined effect of genetic variants in the GluN2B coding gene (GRIN2B) on prefrontal function during working memory performance.

BACKGROUND: The GluN2B subunit of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors is crucially involved in the physiology of the prefrontal cortex during working memory (WM). Consistently, genetic variants in the GluN2B coding gene (GRIN2B) have been associated with cognitive phenotypes. However, it is unclear how GRIN2B genetic variation affects gene expression and prefrontal cognitive processing. Using a composite score, we tested the combined effect of GRIN2B variants on prefrontal activity during WM performance in healthy subjects. METHOD: We computed a composite score to combine the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms on post-mortem prefrontal GRIN2B mRNA expression. We then computed the composite score in independent samples of healthy participants in a peripheral blood expression study (n = 46), in a WM behavioural study (n = 116) and in a WM functional magnetic resonance imaging study (n = 122). RESULTS: Five polymorphisms were associated with GRIN2B expression: rs2160517, rs219931, rs11055792, rs17833967 and rs12814951 (all corrected p < 0.05). The score computed to account for their combined effect reliably indexed gene expression. GRIN2B composite score correlated negatively with intelligence quotient, WM behavioural efficiency and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity. Moreover, there was a non-linear association between GRIN2B genetic score and prefrontal activity, i.e. both high and low putative genetic score levels were associated with high blood oxygen level-dependent signals in the prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple genetic variants in GRIN2B are jointly associated with gene expression, prefrontal function and behaviour during WM. These results support the role of GRIN2B genetic variants in WM prefrontal activity in human adults.

Silver nanoparticles enter the tree stem faster through leaves than through roots.

A major environmental pollution problem is the release into the atmosphere of particulate matter, including nanoparticles (NPs), which causes serious hazards to human and ecosystem health, particularly in urban areas. However, knowledge about the uptake, translocation and accumulation of NPs in plant tissues is almost completely lacking. The uptake of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) and their transport and accumulation in the leaves, stems and roots of three different tree species, downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and black poplar (Populus nigra L.), were assessed. In the experiment, Ag-NPs were supplied separately to the leaves (via spraying, the foliar treatment) and roots (via watering, the root treatment) of the three species. Uptake, transport and accumulation of Ag were investigated through spectroscopy. The concentration of Ag in the stem was higher in the foliar than in the root treatment, and in poplar more than in oak and pine. Foliar treatment with Ag-NPs reduced aboveground biomass and stem length in poplars, but not in oaks or pines. Species-specific signals of oxidative stress were observed; foliar treatment of oak caused the accumulation of H2O2 in leaves, and both foliar and root treatments of poplar led to increased O2- in leaves. Ag-NPs affected leaf and root bacteria and fungi; in the case of leaves, foliar treatment reduced bacterial populations in oak and poplar and fungi populations in pine, and in the case of roots, root treatment reduced bacteria and increased fungi in poplar. Species-specific mechanisms of interaction, transport, allocation and storage of NPs in trees were found. We demonstrated definitively that NPs enter into the tree stem through leaves faster than through roots in all of the investigated tree species.