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Soldanella alpina differing in leaf epidermal UV-A absorbance (DEA(375)), as measured with the Dualex, was investigated as a model alpine plant for the flavonoid (Flay) composition and concentration and for anatomical and pigment characteristics. In sun leaves, twenty-three flavones were characterised by their mass formula, their maximum absorption, their glycosylation, their methylation and dehydroxylation pattern. The flavones belonged to four subfamilies (tetra-hydroxy-flavones, penta-hydroxy-flavones, penta-hydroxy-methyl-flavones and trihydroxy-di-methoxy-flavones), abundant in sun and shade leaves. Their concentration was estimated by their absorption at 350 nm after HPLC separation. Sun leaves contained relatively higher contents of penta-hydroxymethyl-flavones and shade leaves higher contents of tetra-hydroxy-flavones. The flavones were present mainly in vacuoles, all over the leaf. After shade-sun transfer, the content of most flavones increased, irrespective of the presence or absence of UV radiation. Highly significant correlations with the log-transformed DEA(375) suggest that DEA(375) can be readily applied to predict the flavone content of S. alpina leaves. Shade-sun transfer of leaves decreased the hydroxycinnamic acid (HCA) content, the mass-based chlorophyll (Chl) a + b content and the Chl/Carotenoid (Car) ratio but increased DEA(375), and the Car content. Together with previously reported anatomical characteristics all these parameters correlated significantly with the DEA(375). The Flay content is therefore correlated to most of the structural characteristics of leaf acclimation to light and this can be probed in situ by DEA(375).

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) are secreted regulators of cell fate in several developing tissues. In the embryonic spinal cord, they control the emergence of the neural crest, roof plate and distinct subsets of dorsal interneurons. Although a gradient of BMP activity has been proposed to determine cell type identity invivo, whether this is sufficient for pattern formation invitrois unclear. Here, we demonstrate that exposure to BMP4 initiates distinct spatial dynamics of BMP signalling within the self-emerging epithelia of both mouse and human pluripotent stem cells derived spinal organoids. The pattern of BMP signalling results in the stereotyped spatial arrangement of dorsal neural tube cell types and concentration, timing and duration of BMP4 exposure modulate these patterns. Moreover, differences in the duration of competence time-windows between mouse and human account for the species specific tempo of neural differentiation. Together the study describes efficient methods to generate patterned subsets of dorsal interneurons in spinal organoids and supports the conclusion that graded BMP activity orchestrates the spatial organization of the dorsal neural tube cellular diversity in mouse and human.

International audience; Plasmodium sporozoites are deposited in the host skin by Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites migrate from the dermis to the liver, where they invade hepatocytes through a moving junction (MJ) to form a replicative parasitophorous vacuole (PV). Malaria sporozoites need to traverse cells during progression through host tissues, a process requiring parasite perforin-like protein 1 (PLP1). We find that sporozoites traverse cells inside transient vacuoles that precede PV formation. Sporozoites initially invade cells inside transient vacuoles by an active MJ-independent process that does not require vacuole membrane remodeling or release of parasite secretory organelles typically involved in invasion. Sporozoites use pH sensing and PLP1 to exit these vacuoles and avoid degradation by host lysosomes. Next, parasites enter the MJ-dependent PV, which has a different membrane composition, precluding lysosome fusion. The malaria parasite has thus evolved different strategies to evade host cell defense and establish an intracellular niche for replication.

Production of ROS by the leukocyte NADPH oxidase is essential for the destruction of pathogenic bacteria inside phagosomes. The enzyme is a complex of cytosolic and membranous subunits that need to assemble upon activation. Biochemical data suggest that the complex is renewed continuously during activity. Furthermore, it is generally assumed that complex assembly and activity occur in parallel. However, information about the oxidase assembly in individual phagosomes in live cells is scarce. We studied the dynamic behavior of the crucial cytosolic NADPH oxidase component p67phox during phagocytosis by videomicroscopy. p67phox is involved in the regulation of electron flow from NADPH to oxygen, leading to superoxide radical formation inside the phagosome. p67phox-citrine, expressed in myeloid PLB-985 cells, accumulated at the phagosomal membrane during phagocytosis of yeast particles. Using photobleaching techniques (FRAP, FLIP), we demonstrated that p67phox-citrine diffused freely in this phagosomal membrane, but the phagosomal pool of p67phox-citrine did not exchange with the cytosolic pool. This result suggests that once assembled in the NADPH oxidase complex, p67phox is stable in this complex. Furthermore, the time of the presence of p67phox-citrine at the phagosome increased substantially in the presence of complement in the opsonizing serum compared with decomplemented serum. PI(3)P also accumulated around phagosomes for twice as long in the presence of complement. The presence of p67phox-citrine was correlated with the duration of phagosomal ROS production in different opsonization conditions. These data support the critical role of p67phox for ROS production on the level of individual phagosomes.

The Nup107-160 nuclear pore subcomplex (Y-complex) and the chromatin-binding nucleoporin Elys dynamically colocalize with Nup98 and the export factor CRM1 in nuclear GLFG bodies present in HeLa sublines. Thus, in addition to its structural role at the NPC and its mitotic functions, the Y-complex may also act inside the nucleus during interphase., Nup98 is a glycine-leucine-phenylalanine-glycine (GLFG) repeat–containing nucleoporin that, in addition to nuclear transport, contributes to multiple aspects of gene regulation. Previous studies revealed its dynamic localization within intranuclear structures known as GLFG bodies. Here we show that the mammalian Nup107-160 complex (Y-complex), a major scaffold module of the nuclear pore, together with its partner Elys, colocalizes with Nup98 in GLFG bodies. The frequency and size of GLFG bodies vary among HeLa sublines, and we find that an increased level of Nup98 is associated with the presence of bodies. Recruitment of the Y-complex and Elys into GLFG bodies requires the C-terminal domain of Nup98. During cell division, Y-Nup–containing GLFG bodies are disassembled in mitotic prophase, significantly ahead of nuclear pore disassembly. FRAP studies revealed that, unlike at nuclear pores, the Y-complex shuttles into and out of GLFG bodies. Finally, we show that within the nucleoplasm, a fraction of Nup107, a key component of the Y-complex, displays reduced mobility, suggesting interaction with other nuclear components. Together our data uncover a previously neglected intranuclear pool of the Y-complex that may underscore a yet-uncharacterized function of these nucleoporins inside the nucleus, even in cells that contain no detectable GLFG bodies.

The presence or absence of Mad1 at kinetochores is a major determinant of spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) activity, the surveillance mechanism that delays anaphase onset if one or more kinetochores remain unattached to spindle fibers. Among the factors regulating the levels of Mad1 at kinetochores is the Rod, Zw10, and Zwilch (RZZ) complex, which is required for Mad1 recruitment through a mechanism that remains unknown. The relative dynamics and interactions of Mad1 and RZZ at kinetochores have not been extensively investigated, although Mad1 has been reported to be stably recruited to unattached kinetochores. In this study, we directly compare Mad1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) turnover dynamics on unattached Drosophila kinetochores with that of RZZ, tagged either with GFP-Rod or GFP-Zw10. We find that nearly 40 % of kinetochore-bound Mad1 has a significant dynamic component, turning over with a half-life of 12 s. RZZ in contrast is essentially stable on unattached kinetochores. In addition, we report that a fraction of RZZ and Mad1 can co-immunoprecipitate, indicating that the genetically determined recruitment hierarchy (in which Mad1 depends on RZZ) may reflect a physical association of the two complexes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10577-015-9472-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Because stem cells are often found to improve repair tissue including heart without evidence of engraftment or differentiation, mechanisms underlying wound healing are still elusive. Several studies have reported that stem cells can fuse with cardiomyocytes either by permanent or partial cell fusion processes. However, the respective physiological impact of these two processes remains unknown in part because of the lack of knowledge of the resulting hybrid cells. To further characterize cell fusion, we cocultured mouse fully differentiated cardiomyocytes with human multipotent adipose-derived stem (hMADS) cells as a model of adult stem cells. We found that heterologous cell fusion promoted cardiomyocyte reprogramming back to a progenitor-like state. The resulting hybrid cells expressed early cardiac commitment and proliferation markers such as GATA-4, myocyte enhancer factor 2C, Nkx2.5, and Ki67 and exhibited a mouse genotype. Interestingly, human bone marrow-derived stem cells shared similar reprogramming properties than hMADS cells but not human fibroblasts, which suggests that these features might be common to multipotent cells. Furthermore, cardiac hybrid cells were preferentially generated by partial rather than permanent cell fusion and that intercellular structures composed of f-actin and microtubule filaments were involved in the process. Finally, we showed that stem cell mitochondria were transferred into cardiomyocytes, persisted in hybrids and were required for somatic cell reprogramming. In conclusion, by providing new insights into previously reported cell fusion processes, our data might contribute to a better understanding of stem cell-mediated regenerative mechanisms and thus, the development of more efficient stem cell-based heart therapies.

International audience; BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Epidermal phenolic compounds (mainly flavonoids) constitute a vital screen that protects the leaf from damage by natural ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The effectiveness of epidermal UV-screening depends on leaf anatomy, the content of UV-screening compounds and their spatial uniformity over the leaf area. To investigate in vivo the spatial pattern of the epidermal UV-screen during leaf development, a fluorescence imaging method was developed to map the epidermal UV-absorbance at a microscopic scale. This study was done on oak (Quercus petraea) leaves that were used as a model of woody dicotyledonous leaves. METHODS: The leaf development of 2-year-old trees, grown outdoors, was monitored, at a macroscopic scale, by in vivo measurements of chlorophyll content per unit area and epidermal UV-absorbance using two optical leaf-clip meters. The distribution of pigments within leaves was assessed in vivo spectroscopically. The microscopic images of UV-induced fluorescence and UV-absorbance acquired in vivo during leaf development were interpreted from spectral characteristics of leaves. KEY RESULTS: At a macroscopic scale, epidermal UV-absorbance was high on the upper leaf side during leaf development, while it increased on the lower leaf side during leaf expansion and reached the adaxial value at maturity. At a microscopic scale, in immature leaves, for both leaf sides, the spatial distribution of epidermal UV-absorbance was heterogeneous, with a pattern depending on the flavonoid content of vacuoles in developing epidermal cells. At maturity, epidermal UV-absorbance was uniform. CONCLUSIONS: The spatial pattern of epidermal UV-screen over the area of oak leaves is related to leaf anatomy during development. In vivo spectroscopy and fluorescence imaging of the leaf surface showed the distribution of pigments within the leaf and hence can provide a tool to monitor optically the leaf development in nature.