2,694 research outputs found
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No full textDetecting pathogens and mounting immune responses upon infection is crucial for animal health. However, these responses come at a high metabolic price (McKean and Lazzaro, 2011, Kominsky et al., 2010), and avoiding pathogens before infection may be advantageous. The bacterial endotoxins lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are important immune system infection cues (Abbas et al., 2014), but it remains unknown whether animals possess sensory mechanisms to detect them prior to infection. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster display strong aversive responses to LPS and that gustatory neurons expressing Gr66a bitter receptors mediate avoidance of LPS in feeding and egg laying assays. We found the expression of the chemosensory cation channel dTRPA1 in these cells to be necessary and sufficient for LPS avoidance. Furthermore, LPS stimulates Drosophila neurons in a TRPA1-dependent manner and activates exogenous dTRPA1 channels in human cells. Our findings demonstrate that flies detect bacterial endotoxins via a gustatory pathway through TRPA1 activation as conserved molecular mechanism.sponsorship: Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie Alessia Soldano Luis Franco Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Bassem A Hassanr Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0702.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0077.15 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0680.10 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0681.10 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0503.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0654.15 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0761.10N Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0596.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0565.07 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar KU Leuven GOA/14/011 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar European Commission IUAP P7/13 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekensr KU Leuven OT/12/091 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar KU Leuven PF-TRPLe Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talavera (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0702.12, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0077.15, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0680.10, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0681.10, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0503.12, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0654.15, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0761.10N, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0596.12, KU Leuven|GOA/14/011, KU Leuven|OT/12/091, European Commission|IUAP P7/13, KU Leuven PF-TRPLe)status: Publishe
The amyloid precursor protein is a conserved Wnt receptor
No full textThe Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and its homologues are transmembrane proteins required for various aspects of neuronal development and activity, whose molecular function is unknown. Specifically, it is unclear whether APP acts as a receptor, and if so what its ligand(s) may be. We show that APP binds the Wnt ligands Wnt3a and Wnt5a and that this binding regulates APP protein levels. Wnt3a binding promotes full-length APP (flAPP) recycling and stability. In contrast, Wnt5a promotes APP targeting to lysosomal compartments and reduces flAPP levels. A conserved Cysteine-Rich Domain (CRD) in the extracellular portion of APP is required for Wnt binding, and deletion of the CRD abrogates the effects of Wnts on flAPP levels and trafficking. Finally, loss of APP results in increased axonal and reduced dendritic growth of mouse embryonic primary cortical neurons. This phenotype can be cell-autonomously rescued by full length, but not CRD-deleted, APP and regulated by Wnt ligands in a CRD-dependent manner.sponsorship: China Scholarship Council Tengyuan Liu Hersenstichting HS 2011(1)-46 Lee Fradkin Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research Maya Nicolas Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie Bart De Strooper Bassem A Hassan Fondation Roger de Spoelberch 1911001IN Bassem A Hassan Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-10-IAIHU-06 Marie-Claude Potier Bassem A Hassan Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0543.08 Bassem A Hassan Neuron-Glia Foundation 2003009NA Bassem A Hassan KU Leuven Methusalem Bart De Strooper Bassem A Hassan Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 40-00812-98-10058 Lee Fradkin Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0680.10 Bassem A Hassan Fonds Wetenschappelijk On-G.0681.10 Bassem A Hassan derzoek Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0503.12 Bassem A Hassan Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-11-INBS-0011-NeurATRIS Marie-Claude Potier Bassem A Hassan Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-12-MALZ-0004 Marie-Claude Potier Bassem A Hassan The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. (China Scholarship Council, Hersenstichting|HS 2011(1)-46, Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Fondation Roger de Spoelberch|1911001IN, Agence Nationale de la Recherche|ANR-10-IAIHU-06, Agence Nationale de la Recherche|ANR-11-INBS-0011-NeurATRIS, Agence Nationale de la Recherche|ANR-12-MALZ-0004 Marie-Claude, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0543.08, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0680.10, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0503.12, Neuron-Glia Foundation|2003009NA, KU Leuven, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|40-00812-98-10058, Medical Research Council|UKDRI-1004)status: Publishe
Whole-genome prediction of<i>cis</i>-regulatory modules and target genes yields insight into gene regulatory networks underlying sensory differentiation
No full textPerhaps the most fundamental aspect of development is the acquisition by a cell of a terminal and stable fate because it marks the usually irreversible commitment to a specific morphology and function. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that control this process has profound implications for stem cell biology and cancer research. Because cell fate commitment is regulated by transcription factors acting as master switches, a mechanistic understanding of the process requires revealing the gene regulatory networks downstream of these factors. We discuss the biological functions of the proneural targetome in the light of signaling pathways, and the recent progress on computational target gene predictions using cisTargetX.sponsorship: We thank Carl Herrmann, Delphine Potier, Zeynep Kalender Atak and Bram Van de Sande for discussions and further developments of cisTargetX. cisTargetX for Drosophila is funded by FWO grants G.0704.11N (to Stein Aerts) and G.0542.08 (to Bassem A. Hassan and Stein Aerts) as well as KULeuven research fund grants CREA/10/014 (to Stein Aerts) and CREA/07/024 (to Bassem A. Hassan). (FWO|G.0704.11N, FWO|G.0542.08, KULeuven research fund|CREA/10/014, KULeuven research fund|CREA/07/024)status: Publishe
Beyond pathology: APP, brain development and Alzheimer's disease
No full textAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among the elderly. Research in the AD field has been mostly focused on the biology of the Aβ peptide but increasing evidence is shifting attention toward the physiological role of APP as key to understanding AD pathology. It is becoming apparent that APP plays a central role in the mechanisms that guarantee the accuracy and the robustness of brain wiring. In the present review we explore APP functions with focus on some of the underlying molecular mechanisms
sj-docx-1-aim-10.1177_09645284211055746 – Supplemental material for Perspectives of patients on medical acupuncture in a primary care setting in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-aim-10.1177_09645284211055746 for Perspectives of patients on medical acupuncture in a primary care setting in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study by Rana T El-Jarrah, Fadila Bassem Naji, Ghassan Hamadeh, Maya Abdul Rahman and Hassan Charafeddine in Acupuncture in Medicine</p
Mutual inhibition among postmitotic neurons regulates robustness of brain wiring in Drosophila
No full textBrain connectivity maps display a delicate balance between individual variation and stereotypy, suggesting the existence of dedicated mechanisms that simultaneously permit and limit individual variation. We show that during the development of the central nervous system, mutual inhibition among groups of neighboring postmitotic neurons during development regulates the robustness of axon target choice in a nondeterministic neuronal circuit. Specifically, neighboring postmitotic neurons communicate through Notch signaling during axonal targeting, to ensure balanced alternative axon target choices without a corresponding change in cell fate. Loss of Notch in postmitotic neurons modulates an axon's target choice. However, because neighboring axons respond by choosing the complementary target, the stereotyped connectivity pattern is preserved. In contrast, loss of Notch in clones of neighboring postmitotic neurons results in erroneous coinnervation by multiple axons. Our observations establish mutual inhibition of axonal target choice as a robustness mechanism for brain wiring and unveil a novel cell fate independent function for canonical Notch signaling. http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00337.001.sponsorship: [
"Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook G.0543.08, G.0680.10, G.0681.10, G.0503.12, 1.2888.11N Bassem Hassan, Marta Koch, Dietmar Schmucker, Yves Moreau",
"Belgian Science Policy P6/20, P5/22 Bassem Hassan, Dietmar Schmucker",
"agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie 060729 Marta Koch",
"Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bassem Hassan, Barret D Pfeiffer"
] (Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook|G.0543.08, Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook|G.0680.10, Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook|G.0681.10, Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook|G.0503.12, Fonds Wetenschaplijk Onderzook|1.2888.11N, Belgian Science Policy|P6/20, Belgian Science Policy|P5/22, agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie|060729, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bassem Hassan)status: Publishe
DS_10.1369_0022155418782696 – Supplemental material for Acute and Chronic Iron Overloading Differentially Modulates the Expression of Cellular Iron-homeostatic Molecules in Normal Rat Kidney
No full textSupplemental material, DS_10.1369_0022155418782696 for Acute and Chronic Iron Overloading Differentially Modulates the Expression of Cellular Iron-homeostatic Molecules in Normal Rat Kidney by Bassem Refaat, Abdelghany Hassan Abdelghany, Mohammad A. BaSalamah, Mohamed El-Boshy, Jawwad Ahmad and Shakir Idris in Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry</p
Interview with Hassan Mohseb
No full textهذة المقابلة مع المؤلف المصري حسن محسب يتحدث عن مسيرته في الكتابة. يشرح ويحلل السبب الرئيسي وراء أزمة النشر. كما يسلط الضوء على عدد الروايات التي كتبها. أجرت المقابلة درية شرف الدين.In this interview, Egyptian author Hassan Mohseb speaks about his writing career. The interview was conducted by Dorreya Sharaf al-Din
Interview with Hassan Muhsab
No full textفي هذه المقابلة، يتحدث الأديب حسن محسب عن غزاره الإنتاج الروائي للكاتب وعلاقته بفكره وبتحول أعماله لمجال الدراما.In this conversation, Egyptian writer Hassan Muhsab discusses the extensive output of the author and its connection to his idea and the transition of his work into the field of theater
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