UFGI Publications Round-Up Week 8/8/2016
The role of anxiety in vulnerability for self-injurious behaviour: studies in a rodent model.
Author information: Yuan X1, Devine DP2.
1University of Florida, Department of Psychology, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250, USA.
2University of Florida, Department of Psychology, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250, USA. Electronic address: dpdevine@ufl.edu.
Journal: Behavioral Brain Research
Date of e-pub: May 20, 2016
Abstract: Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) is a debilitating characteristic that is highly prevalent in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Pathological anxiety is also common, and there are reports of comorbid anxiety and self-injury in some children. We have investigated potential interactions between anxiety and self-injury, using a rat model of pemoline-induced self-biting. In one experiment, rats were pre-screened for trait anxiety by measuring expression of anxiety-related behaviour on the elevated plus maze and open field emergence test. The rats were then treated with pemoline once daily for ten days, and vulnerability for pemoline-induced self-injury was evaluated. This revealed modest correlations between innate levels of anxiety-related behaviour in the open field test (time in the start box, and latency to enter the open field), and vulnerability for pemoline-induced self-biting (total duration of self-injurious oral contact, and total size of tissue injury). Measures in the elevated plus maze were not significantly correlated with vulnerability for pemoline-induced self-injury. In a second experiment, rats were treated with the beta-carboline FG 7142 twice daily, during 5days of treatment with pemoline. The rats that were treated with this anxiogenic drug exhibited greater duration of self-injurious oral contact, and larger injuries than vehicle-treated controls did. Overall, these results suggest that anxiety may contribute to the etiology and/or expression of self-injurious behaviour, and indicate that further research is warranted.
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) changes over time among adolescent and young adult participants in the T1D exchange clinic registry.
Author information: Clements MA1, Foster NC2, Maahs DM3, Schatz DA4, Olson BA5, Tsalikian E6, Lee JM7, Burt-Solorzano CM8, Tamborlane WV9, Chen V2, Miller KM2, Beck RW2; T1D Exchange Clinic Network.
1Pediatrics (Endocrinology), Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, MO, 64018, USA.
2Jaeb Center for Health Research, T1D Exchange, Tampa, FL, 33647, USA.
3Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
4University of Florida College of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
5Park Nicollet International Diabetes Center, Minneapolis, MN, 55416, USA.
6University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
7Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Michigan, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
8University of Virginia Health System, Department of Pediatrics, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA.
9Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Journal: Pediatric Diabetes
Date of e-pub: July 8, 2016
Abstract: Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels among individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) influence the longitudinal risk for diabetes-related complications. Few studies have examined HbA1c trends across time in children, adolescents, and young adults with T1D. This study examines changes in glycemic control across the specific transition periods of pre-adolescence-to-adolescence and adolescence-to-young adulthood, and the demographic and clinical factors associated with these changes.
Available HbA1c lab results for up to 10 yr were collected from medical records at 67 T1D Exchange clinics. Two retrospective cohorts were evaluated: the pre-adolescent-to-adolescent cohort consisting of 85 016 HbA1c measurements from 6574 participants collected when the participants were 8-18 yr old and the adolescent-to-young adult cohort, 2200 participants who were 16-26 yr old at the time of 17 279 HbA1c measurements.
HbA1c in the 8-18 cohort increased over time after age 10 yr until ages 16-17; followed by a plateau. HbA1c levels in the 16-26 cohort remained steady from 16-18, and then gradually declined. For both cohorts, race/ethnicity, income, health insurance, and pump use were all significant in explaining individual variations in age-centered HbA1c (p < 0.001). For the 8-18 cohort, insulin pump use, age of onset, and health insurance were significant in predicting individual HbA1c trajectory.
Glycemic control among patients 8-18 yr old worsens over time, through age 16. Elevated HbA1c levels observed in 18 yr-olds begin a steady improvement into early adulthood. Focused interventions to prevent deterioration in glucose control in pre-adolescence, adolescence, and early adulthood are needed.
Identifying the topology of signaling networks from partial RNAi data.
Author information: Ren Y1, Wang Q2, Hasan MM2, Ay A3, Kahveci T2.
1Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611, FL, USA. yuanfang@cise.ufl.edu.
2Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611, FL, USA.
3Department of Biology & Mathematics, Colgate University, Hamilton, 13346, NY, USA.
Journal: BMC Systems Biology
Date of e-pub: Aug. 2, 2016
Abstract: Methods for inferring signaling networks using single gene knockdown RNAi experiments and reference networks have been proposed in recent years. These methods assume that RNAi information is available for all the genes in the signal transduction pathway, i.e., complete. This assumption does not always hold up since RNAi experiments are often incomplete and information for some genes is missing.
In this article, we develop two methods to construct signaling networks from incomplete RNAi data with the help of a reference network. These methods infer the RNAi constraints for the missing genes such that the inferred network is closest to the reference network. We perform extensive experiments with both real and synthetic networks and demonstrate that these methods produce accurate results efficiently.
Application of our methods to Wnt signal transduction pathway has shown that our methods can be used to construct highly accurate signaling networks from experimental data in less than 100 ms. The two methods that produce accurate results efficiently show great promise of constructing real signaling networks.
Transcriptome modulation during host shift is driven by secondary metabolites in desert Drosophila.
Author information:De Panis DN1, Padró J1, Furió-Tarí P2, Tarazona S2,3, Milla Carmona PS1,4, Soto IM1, Dopazo H5, Conesa A2,6, Hasson E1.
1Laboratorio de Evolución, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (CONICET-UBA), Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria (C1428 EHA),, CABA, Argentina.
2Genomics of Gene Expression Lab, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Eduardo Primo Yúfera 3, 46012, Valencia, Spain.
3Department of Applied Statistics, Operations Research and Quality, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
4Laboratorio de Ecosistemas Marinos Fósiles, Instituto de Estudios Andinos Don Pablo Groeber (CONICET-UBA), Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria (C1428 EHA),, CABA, Argentina.
5Laboratorio de Genómica Biomédica y Evolución, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (CONICET-UBA), Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria (C1428 EHA),, CABA, Argentina.
6Microbiology and Cell Science Department, Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida at Gainesville, Gainesville, FL, 32603, USA.
Journal: Molecular Ecology
Date of e-pub: Aug. 2, 2016
Abstract: High-throughput transcriptome studies are breaking new ground to investigate the responses that organisms deploy in alternative environments. Nevertheless much remains to be understood about the genetic basis of host plant adaptation. Here, we investigate genome-wide expression in the fly Drosophila buzzatii raised in different conditions. This species uses decaying tissues of cactus of the genus Opuntia as primary rearing substrate, and secondarily, the necrotic tissues of the columnar cactus Trichocereus terscheckii. The latter constitutes a harmful host, rich in mescaline and other related phenylethylamine alkaloids. We assessed transcriptomic responses of larvae reared in O. sulphurea and T. terscheckii, with and without the addition of alkaloids extracted from the latter. Whole genome expression profiles were massively modulated by the rearing environment, mainly by the presence of T. terscheckii alkaloids. Differentially expressed genes were mainly related to detoxification, oxidation-reduction and stress response, however, we also found genes involved in development and neurobiological processes. In conclusion, our study contributes new data onto the role of transcriptional plasticity in response to alternative rearing environments.
NOTE: These abstracts were retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine website managed in collaboration with the U.S. National Library of Medicine