Tenascin C upregulates interleukin-6 expression in human cardiac myofibroblasts via toll-like receptor 4.

AIM: To investigate the effect of Tenascin C (TNC) on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases in human cardiac myofibroblasts (CMF). METHODS: CMF were isolated and cultured from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Cultured cells were treated with either TNC (0.1 μmol/L, 24 h) or a recombinant protein corresponding to different domains of the TNC protein; fibrinogen-like globe (FBG) and fibronectin type III-like repeats (TNIII 5-7) (both 1 μmol/L, 24 h). The expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines; interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, TNFα and the matrix metalloproteinases; MMPs (MMP1, 2, 3, 9, 10, MT1-MMP) was assessed using real time RT-PCR and western blot analysis. RESULTS: TNC increased both IL-6 and MMP3 (P < 0.01) mRNA levels in cultured human CMF but had no significant effect on the other markers studied. The increase in IL-6 mRNA expression was mirrored by an increase in protein secretion as assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (P < 0.01). Treating CMF with the recombinant protein FBG increased IL-6 mRNA and protein (P < 0.01) whereas the recombinant protein TNIII 5-7 had no effect. Neither FBG nor TNIII 5-7 had any significant effect on MMP3 expression. The expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in human CMF was confirmed by real time RT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Pre-incubation of cells with TLR4 neutralising antisera attenuated the effect of both TNC and FBG on IL-6 mRNA and protein expression. CONCLUSION: TNC up-regulates IL-6 expression in human CMF, an effect mediated through the FBG domain of TNC and via the TLR4 receptor

The control of the oystershell scale with oil sprays

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Survival, growth, and settlement of Dreissena rostriformis bugensis veligers in low and high calcium waters

Populations ofDreissena rostriformis bugensis(quagga mussels) have continued to spread throughout the western United States since their discovery in the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead, NV-AZ in early 2007. Today, quagga mussel specific research is still lacking and the physicochemical characteristics of aquatic systems required by quagga mussels to successfully establish is not fully understood. This includes an absence of research in aquatic environments in the western United States and on quagga mussel veligers (larval stage). Calcium is considered the defining factor for determining if a lake or river is suitable for quagga mussel establishment. The minimum calcium threshold for invasion was developed in prior studies using the calcium requirements of zebra mussels, a close relative to the quagga mussels. Research has shown that there are many differences between the two species and the risk of quagga mussel survival in low calcium waters might be underestimated. This study sought to fill the gaps in quagga mussel veliger research. Three parameters (survival, growth, and settlement) were used to determine their potential effectiveness of establishment in aquatic environments with varying levels of dissolved calcium. To study the potential of veligers to survive, grow, and settle, three bioassays were completed. The first analyzed survival and growth of veligers in two different systems (Lake Mead and Lake Tahoe). Lake Tahoe, CA-NV was chosen as the system to represent naturally low calcium levels (approximately 12 ppm Ca). Quagga mussels have yet to establish in the Lake. To represent a system of high calcium, water from Lake Mead, NV-AZ (approximately 70 ppm Ca) was used. This assay concluded that while veligers raised in the Lake Tahoe water had a lower survival rate than those in the Lake Mead water, those veligers which survived grew at an equal growth rate. The second assay looked at survival and growth with three additional water treatments (Lake Tahoe with Ca amended to approximately 20, 25, and 32 ppm). The added calcium in the Lake Tahoe water helped to increase survival; and again, growth rates among all five treatments were very similar. Both survival and growth assays showed that those veligers which survived the 28 day assay grew at a similar rate no matter the calcium level of the treatment water. The third assay was designed to determine the settlement potential of veligers raised in three different treatment waters (Lake Mead, Lake Tahoe, and Lake Tahoe with 25 ppm Ca). Veliger settlement is an important life event because it indicates that the veligers have found a suitable habitat to remain in and metamorphose into the adult stage. Results indicate that the percent of settlement was improved with increasing levels of calcium. The findings from these assays will aid in aquatic invasive species management. They were designed so that they can be replicated using water from other western lakes with low levels of calcium to test the potential for quagga mussel establishment. Quagga mussels cause both economic and ecological impacts. It is important to better understand them in hopes of preventing their spread to other systems and minimizing their impact on the environment

Sexual conflict drives male manipulation of female postmating responses in Drosophila melanogaster.

In many animals, females respond to mating with changes in physiology and behavior that are triggered by molecules transferred by males during mating. In Drosophila melanogaster, proteins in the seminal fluid are responsible for important female postmating responses, including temporal changes in egg production, elevated feeding rates and activity levels, reduced sexual receptivity, and activation of the immune system. It is unclear to what extent these changes are mutually beneficial to females and males or instead represent male manipulation. Here we use an experimental evolution approach in which females are randomly paired with a single male each generation, eliminating any opportunity for competition for mates or mate choice and thereby aligning the evolutionary interests of the sexes. After &gt;150 generations of evolution, males from monogamous populations elicited a weaker postmating stimulation of egg production and activity than males from control populations that evolved with a polygamous mating system. Males from monogamous populations did not differ from males from polygamous populations in their ability to induce refractoriness to remating in females, but they were inferior to polygamous males in sperm competition. Mating-responsive genes in both the female abdomen and head showed a dampened response to mating with males from monogamous populations. Males from monogamous populations also exhibited lower expression of genes encoding seminal fluid proteins, which mediate the female response to mating. Together, these results demonstrate that the female postmating response, and the male molecules involved in eliciting this response, are shaped by ongoing sexual conflict