Bacteria's hidden traffic control

 Researchers at the University of Washington map the localization pattern of nearly every protein in a bacterial cell for its entire cell cycle, a new tool for discovering how bacteria coordinate the timing and location of subcellular processes

Not unlike an urban restaurant, the success of a bacterial cell depends on three things: localization, localization and localization. But the complete set of controls by which bacteria control the movement of proteins and other essential biological materials globally within the confines of their membrane walls has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers at the University of Washington have parsed out the localization mechanisms that E. coli use to sort through and organize their subcellular components.

"Despite their small size and relative simplicity, bacterial cells appear to possess a robust and complex level of subcellular organization, both spatially and temporally, that was once thought to only exist in more complex organisms," said Nathan Kuwada, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Paul Wiggins at the University of Washington.

"We wanted to know how many mechanisms bacteria possess to localize subcellular components, and to answer this question, we set out to image the localization pattern of nearly every protein in a bacterial cell for the entire cell cycle."

Kuwada will describe the group's findings this week at the Biophysical Society's 59th annual meeting in Baltimore, Md.

E. coli localize nearly one-fifth of their proteins to specific subcellular sites, but until now, the cell-cycle localization behavior of only a small subset of proteins had been characterized in detail.

Kuwada and his colleagues sought to remedy this by imaging an existing library of green-fluorescent protein fusions in E. coli by use of a high-throughput live-cell imaging scheme. This allowed them to image close to a thousand individual protein fusions in growing cells for 6-8 hours, providing them with hundreds of complete cell cycles for each protein.

Using custom image processing software, the researchers processed and organized the thousands of images from each experiment, allowing them to quantitatively compare the localization patterns on a genomic scale. The researchers also developed a public online database with all of their raw and processed data in a browsable and searchable form at:http://mtshasta.phys.washington.edu/localizome

Rather than a small number of patterns combining in various permutations determined by function, the researchers found that bacteria possess a large number of distinct patterns with subtle spatial and temporal differences.

For example, Kuwada and his colleagues also observed that the DNA-binding proteins were asymmetrically distributed towards the daughter cell during cell divisions, despite the morphological symmetry between parent and daughter cells.

"Although the asymmetry is somewhat weak, it is still statistically significant and we think it must have an exciting biological significance," Kuwada said. "This finding, which is only observable using our complete-cell-cycle approach, potentially has many biological consequences that we are currently trying to better understand."

Future work for Kuwada and his colleagues includes further exploring the specific mechanisms that drive subcellular organization, through targeting the behavior of specific groups of proteins such as transcription factors with increased precision.

The presentation, "Global characterization of transcription factor localization and partitioning in Escherichia coli" by Nathan J. Kuwada and Paul A. Wiggins, is at 1:45 PM, on Sunday, February 8, 2015, at the Baltimore Convention Center, in Hall C, poster 383. ABSTRACT:http://bit.ly/1KkOgN0

Source:Biophysical Society

Neuroscientist Describes Documented Cases Of Humans “Flying” Outside Of Their Body

 Scientific knowledge is expanding every day at an exponential rate, and the implications of new developments, particularly those that challenge the current framework regarding the true nature of reality, are far-reaching indeed. One area that continues to become a focal point of study for many physicians and neuroscientists is the relationship between mind, brain, and consciousness.

Is the brain a receiver of consciousness, or is consciousness a product of the brain? Although science has not yet shown with absolute certainty that consciousness exists separately from our physical organs, there is a lot of evidence (both anecdotal and scientific) which indicates that consciousness is something completely separate – that it continues on even after we have deceased, that it is and can be a separate “thing” from the brain. There seems to be a lot of consistency when it comes to studies that have examined this issue. New findings within this field are rapidly changing how we perceive and relate to the physical world.

Below is a video of Dr. Bruce Greyson speaking at a conference that was held by the United Nations. He is considered to be one of the “fathers” of near death studies. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science at the University of Virginia.

In the video he describes documented cases of individuals who were clinically dead (showing no brain activity), but observing everything that was happening to them on the medical table below at the same time. He describes how there have been many instances of this – where individuals are able to describe things that should have been impossible to describe. Another significant statement by Dr Greyson posits that this type of study has been discouraged due to our tendency to view science as completely materialistic. Seeing is believing, so to speak, in the scientific community. It’s unfortunate that just because we cannot explain something through materialistic means, it must be instantly discredited. The simple fact that “consciousness” itself is a non-physical “thing” is troubling for some scientists to comprehend, and as a result of it being non material, they believe it cannot be studied by science.
Source:CE

Coconut Oil and Exercise can Beat High Blood Pressure

Combination of coconut oil supplementation and physical exercise can beat high blood pressure, according to scientists at the Biotechnology Center at the Federal University of Paraiba in Brazil.

 
Coconut oil has a unique combination of fatty acids that can have profound positive effects on health, including fat loss, better brain function and many other remarkable benefits. Researchers tested the hypothesis that a combination of daily coconut oil intake and exercise training would restore baroreflex sensitivity and reduce oxidative stress, resulting in reduction in blood pressure. 

Mice studies revealed that both coconut oil and exercise training were able to reduce weight gain compared to rats that were given saline and were not exposed to the exercise training protocol along the 5 weeks of study. Either supplementation with coconut oil or exercise training was shown to reduce blood pressure. However, only the combination of coconut oil supplementation and exercise training was able to bring the blood pressure back to normotensive values. This reduction in blood pressure caused by the combination might be explained by the improvement of the reduced baroreflex sensitivity and by the reduction in oxidative stress in the serum, heart and aorta. 

Dr. Valdir de Andrade Braga, co-author of the study said, "The finding was important as coconut oil is currently being considered a popular 'superfood' and it is being consumed by athletes and the general population who seek a healthy lifestyle. The possibility of using coconut oil as an adjuvant to treat hypertension adds to the long list of benefits associated with its consumption." 

Source:The study appears in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
 

Drinking green tea before taking supplements may offer protection from toxicity

As high doses of green tea extract supplements for weight loss become more popular, potential liver toxicity becomes a concern. In the last decade, dozens of people have been diagnosed with the condition. However, drinking green tea in the weeks before taking supplements likely reduces risk, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Researchers gave mice high doses of the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). The dosage was equivalent to the amount of the polyphenol found in some dietary supplements taken by humans.

One group of mice was pretreated with a diet containing a low level of ECGC for two weeks prior to receiving high doses of the polyphenol. Another group was fed a diet that did not include EGCG prior to receiving the high, supplement-like doses. After three days of high doses, the scientists tested the blood of the mice to determine how their livers handled the EGCG. Pretreated mice had a 75 percent reduction in liver toxicity compared to untreated mice.

The research data show that dietary pretreatment with the green tea polyphenol protects mice from liver toxicity caused by subsequent high oral doses of the same compound, explained Josh Lambert, associate professor of food science. He suggested that the research has relevance to people who are taking or are considering taking supplements containing green tea extract.

"We believe this study indicates that those who are chronic green tea consumers would be less sensitive to potential liver toxicity from green-tea-based dietary supplements," he said. "If you are going to take green tea supplements, drinking green tea for several weeks or months ahead of time may reduce your potential side effects."

Lambert has another suggestion for people considering green tea supplements -- drink green tea instead.

"Drinking green tea rather than taking supplements will allow you to realize the benefits and avoid the risk of liver toxicity," he said. "The beneficial effects that people have reported as being associated with green tea are the result of dietary consumption rather than the use of supplements. The relative risk of using supplements remains unclear."

Tea -- Camellia sinensis -- is rich in catechins, polyphenols that are natural antioxidants. A number of animal studies have shown the preventive effects of green tea polyphenols against obesity. And Lambert pointed out that a recent analysis of 11 human trials with green tea preparations reported a nearly three-pound average body weight loss in intervention groups compared to control groups.

Green tea's effect on weight loss may be more noticeable if a person exercises. In research published last year, Lambert showed that mice on a high-fat diet that consumed decaffeinated green tea extract and exercised regularly experienced sharp reductions in final body weight and significant improvements in health.

Approximately 34 percent of adults in the United States are classified as obese, Lambert noted, leading to a strong interest in the potential benefits of including green tea and green tea supplements in weight-loss efforts. The liver toxicity research, recently published online inFood and Chemical Toxicology, revealed a unique property of the green tea polyphenol EGCG.

"It appears that EGCG can modulate its own bioavailability and that dietary treatment may reduce the toxic potential of acute high oral doses of EGCG," said lead researcher Sarah Forester, assistant professor of chemistry, California State University, Bakersfield, a former Penn State postdoctoral fellow.

"These data may partly explain the observed variation in liver toxicity response to dietary supplements containing green tea."

Some people drink surprisingly large volumes of green tea, according to Lambert, as much as 10-20 cups a day, but liver toxicity has never been reported in that context.

"No person can sit down and drink 16 cups of green tea all at once," he said. "However if you take a supplement you can get that type of green tea extract dose, so there is some indication that the dosage form has an influence on the potential to cause liver toxicity."

Source:Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Medical marijuana for children with developmental and behavioral disorders?

Despite lack of evidence, some are advocating cannabis for children with autism, reports Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

 As medical marijuana becomes increasingly accepted, there is growing interest in its use for children and adolescents with developmental and behavioral problems such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a review in the February Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

That's despite a lack of studies showing any clinical benefit of cannabis for young patients with these disorders--whereas evidence strongly suggests harmful effects of regular marijuana use in the developing brain. Scott Hadland, MD, MPH, John R. Knight, MD, and Sion Kim Harris, PhD of Boston Children's Hospital write, "Given the current scarcity of data, cannabis cannot be safely recommended for the treatment of developmental or behavioral disorders at this time."

"Children with severe ASD cannot communicate verbally and may relate to the world through loud, repetitive shrieking and hand-flapping that is very disruptive to their families and all those around them," comments Dr Knight, the study's senior author. "So my heart goes out to families who are searching for something, anything to help their child," he continues. "But in using medicinal marijuana they may be trading away their child's future for short-term symptom control."

Known Harmful Effects of Marijuana in Children and Teens...

The review was prompted by rapid changes in US marijuana policy, with marijuana being permitted for medical use in many jurisdictions and legalized in others. "Amidst this political change, patients and families are increasingly asking whether cannabis and its derivatives may have therapeutic utility for a number of conditions, including developmental and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents," according to Dr Knight and colleagues.

They review the important pharmacological properties of cannabis and related compounds, along with data on marijuana use in the population. Adolescents with developmental and behavioral disorders--especially ADHD--may be predisposed to early and heavier substance use. Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence links cannabis to "long-term and potentially irreversible physical, neurocognitive, psychiatric, and psychosocial adverse outcomes."

Over time, regular cannabis use by adolescents has been linked to persistent declines in intelligence quotient and increased risk of addiction, major depression, anxiety disorders, and psychotic thinking. The adolescent brain may be uniquely susceptible to the harmful effects of marijuana, reflecting the role of the cannabinoid receptors in normal neurodevelopment. Brain abnormalities in adults who are heavy marijuana users may have their origin in neurodevelopmental changes starting in adolescence.

...With Little Data on Benefits in Developmental or Behavioral Disorders

While cannabis has been proposed to have a broad range of clinical benefits in adults, "At this time, good evidence is almost entirely lacking for its application in pediatric developmental and behavioral conditions," Dr Knight and coauthors write.

"The scant research that we have on adolescent use is alarming enough," says Leonard Rappaport MD, MS, Chief of the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and past president of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. "But we are really moving into entirely new territory when we consider giving cannabis to children as that has not even been done in neurotypical children, let alone those with developmental or behavioral problems."

And yet, a number of online groups are advocating the use of "medical marijuana" for children with autism, ADHD, and other developmental and behavioral conditions. These groups often cite evidence from animal research, or from a small number of clinical reports, to claim beneficial effects of cannabis in children. Those beneficial effects are likely from cannabidiols, which also benefit children with uncommon forms of epilepsy and have limited euphoric effects; rather than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), with its strong euphoric and neurotoxic effects.

This movement, coupled with the increased willingness of physicians to prescribe cannabis, "may result in issuing of medical marijuana permits for developmental or behavioral diagnoses for which no data on efficacy, safety, or tolerability exist," the researchers write. They note that if and when studies of cannabis for developmental and behavioral conditions are performed, they will likely use extracts formulations of known dosage--rather than plant forms of medical marijuana, which vary widely in strength and effects. Dr Knight adds, "We need more research on cannabidiols, and development of products that are high in cannabidiols and low in THC."

Dr Knight and coauthors hope their article will draw attention to the potential harmful effects of marijuana in young people--as well as lack of evidence on its effects in those with developmental or behavioral disorders. They conclude, "As marijuana policy evolves and as the drug becomes more readily available, it is important that practicing clinicians recognize the long-term health and neuropsychiatric consequences of regular use."

Source:Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics

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Hearing Have Evolved Over 300 Million Years Ago: Study

The early terrestrial vertebrates were able to hear 300 million years ago, even when there was no tympanic middle ear development, finds a new study.

 The research led by Aarhus University described that lungfish and salamanders can hear, despite of not having an outer ear or tympanic middle ear. 

The study revealed that not only the terrestrial adult salamanders, but also the fully aquatic juvenile salamanders and even the lungfish, which are completely maladapted to aerial hearing were able to detect airborne sound despite of not having a tympanic middle ear by sensing the vibrations induced by sound waves. 

The researchers concluded with their study that the early terrestrial vertebrates without tympanic middle ears were not deaf to airborne sound during the first 100 million years on land. 

Source:The study is published in two journals Proceedings of the Royal Society B and The Journal of Experimental Biology.

 

'Sixth Sense' in Fishes Allows Them to Detect Flows of Water

A new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters has provided a deeper insight into how 'sixth sense' in fishes allows them to detect flows of water.

 The findings of the study have helped researchers resolve a long-standing mystery about how these aquatic creatures respond to their environment. It is a known fact that fish respond to changes in their fluid environment, which include avoiding obstacles, reducing swimming effort by slaloming between vortices, or whirlpools, and tracking changes in water flow left by prey, even without the aid of vision. 

To explore how fish exploit this flow information, the research team focused on a fish's 'lateral line', a system of sensory organs known to detect both movement and vibration in the water that surrounds them, with particular consideration to the line's sensory-laden canals that open to the environment through a series of pores. They focused on the placement of these canals along the body, noting that their location can help explain how a fish's sixth sense functions. For example, the concentration of these canals at the heads of blind cave fish seems well-suited for detecting obstacles. 

The researchers found that the canal system was concentrated at locations on the body wherever strong variations in pressure occur. Just as the shape of a TV or radio antenna was designed to detect electromagnetic signals, the fish's canal system was like an antenna laid on the body surface and is configured to be sensitive to the pressure changes. The research team's use of finely detailed models, developed with the help of a taxidermist who made custom molds from real trout, made it possible to record this data for the first time.
Source:journal Physical Review Letters