Insect Sterol Nutrition: Physiological Mechanisms, Ecology, and Applications

Insects, like all eukaryotes, require sterols for structural and metabolic purposes. However, insects, like all arthropods, cannot make sterols. Cholesterol is the dominant tissue sterol for most insects; insect herbivores produce cholesterol by metabolizing phytosterols, but not always with high efficiency. Many insects grow on a mixed-sterol diet, but this ability varies depending on the types and ratio of dietary sterols. Dietary sterol uptake, transport, and metabolism are regulated by several proteins and processes that are relatively conserved across eukaryotes. Sterol requirements also impact insect ecology and behavior. There is potential to exploit insect sterol requirements to ( a) control insect pests in agricultural systems and ( b) better understand sterol biology, including in humans. We suggest that future studies focus on the genetic mechanism of sterol metabolism and reverse transportation, characterizing sterol distribution and function at the cellular level, the role of bacterial symbionts in sterol metabolism, and interrupting sterol trafficking for pest control.

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Structure and function at the cellular level

JAMA ◽

10.1001/jama.198.8.815 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 198 (8) ◽

pp. 815-825 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

G. E. Palade

Keyword(s):

Cellular Level ◽

Structure And Function ◽

And Function

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SISTEM PENDUKUNG KEPUTUSAN ANALISIS KEPUASAN MAHASISWA TERHADAP PENGGUNAAN SARANA LABORATORIUM SISTEM INFORMASI

Jurnal Sains dan Informatika ◽

10.22216/jsi.v4i2.3735 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 150

Author(s):

Rahmadini Darwas

Keyword(s):

Service Quality ◽

Learning Process ◽

Quality Of Services ◽

Laboratory Facilities ◽

Cold Room ◽

And Function ◽

And Behavior ◽

Attitudes And Behavior ◽

Role And Function

Abstract Laboratory is one of the supporting facilities in im[roving the learning process. Problems found by students regarding the information system laboratory facilities at STMIK Indonesia Padang are the computers that suddenly die when operated, the less cold room, display data is blurred, making the inconvenience in the learning process that causes the students less satisfied with the services provided. Students will feel satisfied if the service is expected to match the received. Therefore, a decision support system is needed to analyze the quality of services provided to the students so that it can support the role and function of the laboratory optimally and what attributes need to be improved the quality of service. The method used is Fuzzy Service Quality (Servqual) method. The results showed that the service quality received was not in accordance with the expected because there is a gap of -1.55 for tangibles dimension. Attributes that need to be improved the quality of services are laboratory space is cool and comfortable, the use of laboratories relevant to the field of science, the responsibility of laboratory assistant, the availability of professional teachers and attitudes and behavior of labor officers. Abstrak Laboratorium merupakan salah satu fasilitas pendukung dalam meningkatkan proses pembelajaran. Permasalahan yang ditemukan mahasiswa mengenai fasilitas laboratorium sistem informasi pada STMIK Indonesia Padang adalah komputer yang tiba-tiba mati saat dioperasikan, ruangan yang kurang dingin, data display yang buram sehingga membuat ketidaknyamanan dalam proses pembelajaran yang menyebabkan mahasiswa kurang puas terhadap layanan yang diberikan. Mahasiswa akan merasa puas apabila layanan yang diharapkan sesuai dengan yang diterima. Oleh sebab itu, diperlukan suatu sistem pendukung keputusan untuk menganalisis kualitas layanan yang diberikan kepada mahasiswa sehingga dapat mendukung peran dan fungsi laboratorium secara optimal serta atribut apa saja yang perlu ditingkatkan kualitas layanannya. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode Fuzzy Service Quality (Servqual). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kualitas layanan yang diterima belum sesuai dengan yang diharapkan karena terdapat gap sebesar -1.55 untuk dimensi tangibles. Atribut yang perlu ditingkatkan kualitas layanannya yaitu ruangan laboratorium yang sejuk dan nyaman, penggunaan laboratorium yang relevan dengan bidang ilmu, tanggungjawab asisten labor, tersedianya tenaga pengajar yang professional dan sikap serta perilaku petugas laborKata kunci : sistem pendukung keputusan, laboratorium, fuzzy, servqual

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Understanding Motivating Operations and the Impact on the Function of Behavior

Intervention in School and Clinic ◽

10.1177/1053451220914901 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 119-122

Author(s):

Doris Adams Hill ◽

Theoni Mantzoros ◽

Jonté C. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Interventions ◽

Special Educators ◽

Motivating Operations ◽

Behavior Intervention Plans ◽

Education Professionals ◽

Functional Behavior ◽

Special Education Professionals ◽

And Function ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Impact

Special educators are often considered the experts in their school when it comes to developing functional behavior assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP), yet rarely are they trained much beyond basic antecedents, behaviors, and consequences (ABC). This column discusses concepts that will expand special education professionals’ knowledge to make better decisions regarding interventions for the students they serve. Specifically, the focus is on motivating operations (MO) and function-based interventions and the implications of these on behavior. Knowledge of the concept of MOs can enhance a teacher’s ability to provide evidence-based interventions and more fully developed behavioral interventions for students in their purview.

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Impact of Aldosterone on the Failing Myocardium: Insights from Mitochondria and Adrenergic Receptors Signaling and Function

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10061552 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1552

Author(s):

Mariona Guitart-Mampel ◽

Pedro Urquiza ◽

Jordana I. Borges ◽

Anastasios Lymperopoulos ◽

Maria E. Solesio

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dysfunction ◽

G Protein ◽

Adrenergic Receptor ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Cardiac Physiology ◽

Failing Heart ◽

Receptor Kinases ◽

And Function ◽

The Impact ◽

G Protein Coupled

The mineralocorticoid aldosterone regulates electrolyte and blood volume homeostasis, but it also adversely modulates the structure and function of the chronically failing heart, through its elevated production in chronic human post-myocardial infarction (MI) heart failure (HF). By activating the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), a ligand-regulated transcription factor, aldosterone promotes inflammation and fibrosis of the heart, while increasing oxidative stress, ultimately induding mitochondrial dysfunction in the failing myocardium. To reduce morbidity and mortality in advanced stage HF, MR antagonist drugs, such as spironolactone and eplerenone, are used. In addition to the MR, aldosterone can bind and stimulate other receptors, such as the plasma membrane-residing G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), further complicating it signaling properties in the myocardium. Given the salient role that adrenergic receptor (ARs)—particularly βARs—play in cardiac physiology and pathology, unsurprisingly, that part of the impact of aldosterone on the failing heart is mediated by its effects on the signaling and function of these receptors. Aldosterone can significantly precipitate the well-documented derangement of cardiac AR signaling and impairment of AR function, critically underlying chronic human HF. One of the main consequences of HF in mammalian models at the cellular level is the presence of mitochondrial dysfunction. As such, preventing mitochondrial dysfunction could be a valid pharmacological target in this condition. This review summarizes the current experimental evidence for this aldosterone/AR crosstalk in both the healthy and failing heart, and the impact of mitochondrial dysfunction in HF. Recent findings from signaling studies focusing on MR and AR crosstalk via non-conventional signaling of molecules that normally terminate the signaling of ARs in the heart, i.e., the G protein-coupled receptor-kinases (GRKs), are also highlighted.

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The fate and function of glycosphingolipid glucosylceramide

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2003.1266 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 358 (1433) ◽

pp. 869-873 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Gerrit van Meer ◽

Jasja Wolthoorn ◽

Sophie Degroote

Keyword(s):

Cellular Differentiation ◽

Membrane Lipids ◽

Early Stage ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Mature Stage ◽

Storage Diseases ◽

Head Groups ◽

Biological Studies ◽

Intracellular Membrane Transport ◽

And Function

In higher eukaryotes, glucosylceramide is the simplest member and precursor of a fascinating class of membrane lipids, the glycosphingolipids. These lipids display an astounding variation in their carbohydrate head groups, suggesting that glycosphingolipids serve specialized functions in recognition processes. It is now realized that they are organized in signalling domains on the cell surface. They are of vital importance as, in their absence, embryonal development is inhibited at an early stage. Remarkably, individual cells can live without glycolipids, perhaps because their survival does not depend on glycosphingolipid–mediated signalling mechanisms. Still, these cells suffer from defects in intracellular membrane transport. Various membrane proteins do not reach their intracellular destination, and, indeed, some intracellular organelles do not properly differentiate to their mature stage. The fact that glycosphingolipids are required for cellular differentiation suggests that there are human diseases resulting from defects in glycosphingolipid synthesis. In addition, the same cellular differentiation processes may be affected by defects in the degradation of glycosphingolipids. At the cellular level, the pathology of glycosphingolipid storage diseases is not completely understood. Cell biological studies on the intracellular fate and function of glycosphingolipids may open new ways to understand and defeat not only lipid storage diseases, but perhaps other diseases that have not been connected to glycosphingolipids so far.

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Behavioral and Neuroanatomical Consequences of Cell-Type Specific Loss of Dopamine D2 Receptors in the Mouse Cerebral Cortex

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnbeh.2021.815713 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Gloria S. Lee ◽

Devon L. Graham ◽

Brenda L. Noble ◽

Taylor S. Trammell ◽

Deirdre M. McCarthy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Cortex ◽

Motor Coordination ◽

Cellular Level ◽

D2 Receptors ◽

Dopamine D2 Receptors ◽

Inhibitory Neurons ◽

Specific Loss ◽

Dopamine D2 ◽

And Behavior ◽

Circuit Formation

Developmental dysregulation of dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) alters neuronal migration, differentiation, and behavior and contributes to the psychopathology of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The current study is aimed at identifying how cell-specific loss of D2Rs in the cerebral cortex may impact neurobehavioral and cellular development, in order to better understand the roles of this receptor in cortical circuit formation and brain disorders. We deleted D2R from developing cortical GABAergic interneurons (Nkx2.1-Cre) or from developing telencephalic glutamatergic neurons (Emx1-Cre). Conditional knockouts (cKO) from both lines, Drd2fl/fl, Nkx2.1-Cre+ (referred to as GABA-D2R-cKO mice) or Drd2fl/fl, Emx1-Cre+ (referred to as Glu-D2R-cKO mice), exhibited no differences in simple tests of anxiety-related or depression-related behaviors, or spatial or nonspatial working memory. Both GABA-D2R-cKO and Glu-D2R-cKO mice also had normal basal locomotor activity, but GABA-D2R-cKO mice expressed blunted locomotor responses to the psychotomimetic drug MK-801. GABA-D2R-cKO mice exhibited improved motor coordination on a rotarod whereas Glu-D2R-cKO mice were normal. GABA-D2R-cKO mice also exhibited spatial learning deficits without changes in reversal learning on a Barnes maze. At the cellular level, we observed an increase in PV+ cells in the frontal cortex of GABA-D2R-cKO mice and no noticeable changes in Glu-D2R-cKO mice. These data point toward unique and distinct roles for D2Rs within excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the regulation of behavior and interneuron development, and suggest that location-biased D2R pharmacology may be clinically advantageous to achieve higher efficacy and help avoid unwanted effects.

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Evaluating Effects of a Critical Micronutrient (24-Methylenecholesterol) on Honey Bee Physiology

Annals of the Entomological Society of America ◽

10.1093/aesa/saz067 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 113 (3) ◽

pp. 176-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Priyadarshini Chakrabarti ◽

Hannah M Lucas ◽

Ramesh R Sagili

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Vital Role ◽

Pollinator Decline ◽

Nutritional Physiology ◽

Dietary Sterol ◽

Dry Diet ◽

Dietary Sterols

Abstract Although poor nutrition is cited as one of the crucial factors in global pollinator decline, the requirements and role of several important nutrients (especially micronutrients) in honey bees are not well understood. Micronutrients, viz. phytosterols, play a physiologically vital role in insects as precursors of important molting hormones and building blocks of cellular membranes. There is a gap in comprehensive understanding of the impacts of dietary sterols on honey bee physiology. In the present study, we investigated the role of 24-methylenecholesterol—a key phytosterol—in honey bee nutritional physiology. Artificial diets with varying concentrations of 24-methylenecholesterol (0%, 0.1%. 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1% dry diet weight) were formulated and fed to honey bees in a laboratory cage experiment. Survival, diet consumption, head protein content, and abdominal lipid contents were significantly higher in dietary sterol-supplemented bees. Our findings provide additional insights regarding the role of this important sterol in honey bee nutritional physiology. The insights gleaned from this study could also advance the understanding of sterol metabolism and regulation in other bee species that are dependent on pollen for sterols, and assist in formulation of a more complete artificial diet for honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

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Development of a CRISPR-SaCas9 system for projection- and function-specific gene editing in the rat brain

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aay6687 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (12) ◽

pp. eaay6687 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Haojie Sun ◽

Su Fu ◽

Shuang Cui ◽

Xiangsha Yin ◽

Xiaoyan Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rat Brain ◽

Gene Editing ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Protein A ◽

Cell Types ◽

Cell Labeling ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Creb Binding Protein ◽

A Genome ◽

And Function

A genome editing technique based on the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–associated endonuclease Cas9 enables efficient modification of genes in various cell types, including neurons. However, neuronal ensembles even in the same brain region are not anatomically or functionally uniform but divide into distinct subpopulations. Such heterogeneity requires gene editing in specific neuronal populations. We developed a CRISPR-SaCas9 system–based technique, and its combined application with anterograde/retrograde AAV vectors and activity-dependent cell-labeling techniques achieved projection- and function-specific gene editing in the rat brain. As a proof-of-principle application, we knocked down the cbp (CREB-binding protein), a sample target gene, in specific neuronal subpopulations in the medial prefrontal cortex, and demonstrated the significance of the projection- and function-specific CRISPR-SaCas9 system in revealing neuronal and circuit basis of memory. The high efficiency and specificity of our projection- and function-specific CRISPR-SaCas9 system could be widely applied in neural circuitry studies.

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RETHINKING INNATENESS: A CONNECTIONIST PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPMENT.Jeffrey L. Elman, Elizabeth A. Bates, Mark H. Johnson, Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Domenico Parisi, & Kim Plunkett. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. Pp. xviii + 447. $45.00 cloth.

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263198333070 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 451-451

Author(s):

Nick Ellis

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Psychology ◽

Dynamical Systems ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Regulatory Control ◽

Synaptic Connectivity ◽

Special Focus ◽

Human Cortex ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Molecular Arrangement ◽

And Behavior

In this provocative book, six coauthors, representing cognitive psychology, connectionism, neurobiology, and dynamical-systems theory, synthesize a new theoretical framework for cognitive development with special focus on language acquisition. In the Emergentist perspective, interactions occurring at all levels, from genes to environment, give rise to emergent forms and behavior. These outcomes may be highly constrained and universal, but they are not themselves directly contained in the genes in any domain-specific way. The human body contains perhaps 5 × 1028 bits of information in its molecular arrangement, but our genome contains only about 105 bits of information. Thus, we are over 20 orders of magnitude short of being mosaic organisms, where development is prespecified in the genes. Our development is under regulatory control, where precise pathways to adulthood reflect numerous interactions at the cellular level occurring throughout development. The human cortex is plastic, its architecture reflects experience; innate specification of synaptic connectivity in the cortex is highly unlikely. Theories of language must reflect this—they must be biologically, developmentally, and ecologically plausible. Linguistic representational nativism is just not tenable. It is so implausible that UG could be directly encoded in the genotype that we must explore the alternatives. So the answer is not “Nature.” Nor, as the authors so clearly argue, is it “Nature or Nuture.” Rather, it is “Nature and Nurture.”

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Cardiac physiology at the cellular level: use of cultured HL-1 cardiomyocytes for studies of cardiac muscle cell structure and function

AJP Heart and Circulatory Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpheart.00986.2003 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 286 (3) ◽

pp. H823-H829 ◽

Cited By ~ 251

Author(s):

Steven M. White ◽

Phillip E. Constantin ◽

William C. Claycomb

Keyword(s):

Cell Line ◽

Cell Structure ◽

Ischemia Reperfusion ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Model Systems ◽

Cardiac Physiology ◽

Cardiac Phenotype ◽

Pathological Conditions ◽

And Function

HL-1 cells are currently the only cardiomyocyte cell line available that continuously divides and spontaneously contracts while maintaining a differentiated cardiac phenotype. Extensive characterization using microscopic, genetic, immunohistochemical, electrophysiological, and pharmacological techniques has demonstrated how similar HL-1 cells are to primary cardiomyocytes. In the few years that HL-1 cells have been available, they have been used in a variety of model systems designed to answer important questions regarding cardiac biology at the cellular and molecular levels. Whereas HL-1 cells have been used to study normal cardiomyocyte function with regard to signaling, electrical, metabolic, and transcriptional regulation, they have also been used to address pathological conditions such as hypoxia, hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinemia, apoptosis, and ischemia-reperfusion. The availability of an immortalized, contractile cardiac cell line has provided investigators with a tool for probing the intricacies of cardiomyocyte function. In this review, we describe the culture and characterization of HL-1 cardiomyocytes as well as various model systems that have been developed using these cells to gain a better understanding of cardiac biology at the cellular and molecular levels.

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