Project description:The present study investigated whether maternal periodontal disease modifies the microRNA expression profile in adult offspring. *************************************************************** This study was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [grant #2019/04183-9; #2022/08872-6; #2023/03786-7; #2023/12488-0; #2023/01400-4] and CNPq [grant 151151/2023-7], São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The grants #2019/04183-9; #2023/12488-0; #2023/01400-4 and 151151/2023-7 were awarded to the author Maria Sara de Lima Coutinho Mattera. The grant #2022/08872-6 was awarded to Heloisa Macedo Sampaio. The grant #2023/03786-7 was awarded to Gabriele Fernandes Baliero. ***************************************************************
Project description:Transcriptomics study which main goal is to elucidate the programme of gene expression triggered by water stress in leaflets of the drought-tolerant wild-related tomato Solanum pennellii (acc. PE47) compared with domesticated tomato (S. lycopersicum, cv. P73). In this study we used S. lycopersicum (Sl) (cv. P73) and S. pennellii (Sp) (acc. PE47) species displaying remarkable divergences regarding drought tolerance, to investigate the physiological and molecular responses in leaves of plants grown without stress (control) and after four days of water withholding (water stress, WS), when plant water loss was significant but leaves did not show visual dehydration symptoms yet. Significant physiological differences between species were found, showing Sp leaves higher ability to avoid water loss. Leaf transcriptomic analysis showed important constitutive expression differences between Sp and Sl, including genes with unknown function. In relation to the genes specifically induced by drought in Sp, those linked to stomatal closure, cell wall and primary carbohydrate metabolism and, specially, nitrogen metabolism were identified. Thus, genes linked to NH4+ assimilation, GOGAT/GS cycle and the GDH- and GABA-shunt were specifically induced by water stress in leaves of Sp. Our results showed also the up-regulation in Sp of genes involved in JA biosynthesis pathway, which were induced in both conditions, whereas genes involved in ET biosynthesis were specifically induced under WS. Regarding ET signaling, ERF genes were up-regulated by WS in Sp, hinting at the importance of these transcriptional regulators in the drought response of Sp.
Project description:Ependymomas of the spinal cord are rare among children and adolescents, and the individual risk of disease progression is difficult to predict. This study aims at evaluating the prognostic impact of molecular typing of pediatric spinal cord ependymomas. Eighty-three patients with spinal ependymomas ≦ 22 years registered in the HIT-MED database between 1992 and 2022 were included. Forty-seven tumors were analyzed by DNA methylation array profiling. In six cases, HOXB13 and MYCN proteins were detected as surrogate markers for specific methylation classes. With a median follow-up time of 4.9 years (y), 5y- and 10y-overall survival (OS) were 100% and 86%, while 5y- and 10y-progression-free survival (PFS) were 65% and 54%. Myxopapillary ependymoma (SP-MPE, n=32, 63%) was the most common molecular type followed by spinal ependymoma (SP-EPN, n=17, 33%) and MYCN-amplified ependymoma (n=2, 4%). One case could not be molecularly classified, and one was reclassified as anaplastic pilocytic astrocytoma. 5y-PFS did not significantly differ between SP-MPE and SP-EPN (65% versus 78%, p=0.64). MYCN-amplification was associated with early relapses (<2.3y) in both cases and death in one patient. Patients with SP-MPE subtype B (n=9) showed a non-significant trend for better 5y-PFS compared to subtype A (n=18; 86% versus 56%, p=0.15). The extent of resection and WHO tumor grades significantly influenced PFS in a uni- and multivariate analysis.
Project description:Glutamine synthetase (GS), a key enzyme in biological nitrogen assimilation, is regulated in multiple ways in response to varying nitrogen sources and levels. Here we show a small regulatory RNA, NsiR4 (nitrogen stress induced RNA 4), which plays an important role in the regulation of GS in cyanobacteria. NsiR4 expression in the unicellular Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and in the filamentous, nitrogen-fixing Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 is stimulated through nitrogen-limitation via NtcA, the global transcriptional regulator of genes involved in nitrogen metabolism. NsiR4 is widely conserved throughout the cyanobacterial phylum, suggesting a conserved function. In silico target prediction, transcriptome profiling upon pulse overexpression and site-directed mutagenesis experiments using a heterologous reporter system showed that NsiR4 interacts with the 5’UTR of gifA mRNA, which encodes glutamine synthetase inactivating factor IF7. In Synechocystis, we observed an inverse relationship between the levels of NsiR4 and the accumulation of IF7 in vivo. This NsiR4-dependent modulation of gifA (IF7) mRNA accumulation influenced the glutamine pool and thus NH4+ assimilation via glutamine synthetase. As a second target, we identified ssr1528, a hitherto uncharacterized nitrogen-regulated gene. Competition experiments between wild type and an NsiR4 knock-out mutant showed that the lack of NsiR4 led to decreased acclimation capabilities of Synechocystis towards oscillating nitrogen levels. These results suggest a role for NsiR4 in the regulation of nitrogen metabolism in cyanobacteria, especially for the adaptation to rapid changes in available nitrogen sources and concentrations. NsiR4 is the first identified bacterial sRNA regulating the primary assimilation of a macronutrient.