Stress-Induced Despair Behavior Develops Independently of the AHR-RORgt Axis in CD4+ cells

Current treatments for major depressive disorder are limited to neuropharmacological approaches and are ineffective for large numbers of patients. Recently, alternative means have been explored to understand the etiology of depression. Specifically, changes in the microbiome and immune system have been observed in both clinical settings and in mouse models. As such, microbial supplements and probiotics have become a target for potential therapeutics. A current hypothesis for the mechanism of action of these supplements is via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor’s (AHR) modulation of the T helper 17 cell (Th17) and T regulatory cell axis. As inflammatory RORgt+ CD4+ Th17 T cells and their primary cytokine IL-17 have been implicated in the development of stress-induced depression, the connection between stress, the AHR, Th17s and depression remains critical to disease understanding. Here, we utilize genetic knockouts to examine the role of the microbial sensor AHR in the development of stress induced despair behavior. We observe an AHR-independent increase in gut-associated Th17s in stressed mice, indicating that AHR is not responsible for this communication. Further, we utilized a CD4-specific Rorc knockout line to disrupt the production of Th17s. Mice lacking Rorc induced IL-17 did not show any differences in behavior from controls before or after stress. Finally, we utilize an unsupervised machine learning system to examine minute differences in behavior that could not be observed in traditional behavioral assays. Our data demonstrate that neither CD4 specific Ahr nor Rorc are necessary for the development of stress-induced anxiety-or depressive-like behaviors. These data suggest that research approaches should focus on other sources or sites of IL-17 production in stress-induced depression.

Optimization of Water Microbial Concentration Monitoring System Based on Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is an emerging information industry. Applying the information collection, transmission, and processing technologies in the Internet of Things technology to environmental monitoring, environmental emergency, and other environmental protection supervision fields will greatly improve the speed and accuracy of environmental supervision and facilitate the scientific development of environmental protection. Through the Internet of Things, people can obtain a large amount of reliable real-time information, and it is not easy to be affected by time, place, and environment, while the wireless sensor network has the advantages of easy installation and low cost, so environmental monitoring through the Internet of Things is the future development trend. In this paper, in view of the current situation of water scarcity and serious water pollution in China, combined with the development trend and advantages of the Internet of Things (IoT), and based on the inadequacy of the existing microbial sensor data collection equipment, we propose a design scheme of microbial concentration monitoring system for waters based on IoT. The system is based on Zig Bee wireless sensor network to build a common data acquisition platform and design special hardware to carry out high-precision microbial sensor data acquisition in water and through the PC to complete the real-time measurement data storage, waveform display, and data processing. In this paper, the schematic diagram and PCB board design of the system hardware module NUC120 main control board, CC2530 RF board, Wi-Fi wireless communication module, and high-precision ADC acquisition module are completed and fabricated. Then, the four modules are combined to realize the development of the data aggregation node and data acquisition node of the dedicated Zig Bee wireless network hardware device.

Microbial Sensor for Determination of Amoxicillin Activity

A sensor based on the electrodynamic microwave resonator has been developed to determine the antibacterial activity of antibiotics using amoxicillin as an example. Microbial cells immobilized on the polystyrene film surface were used as a sensitive element of the sensor. The optimal conditions for the immobilization of Escherichia coli Xl-1 microbial cells on the surface of a thin polystyrene film modified in high-frequency argon discharge plasma and deposited on a lithium niobate plate were determined. The effect of amoxicillin on immobilized microbial cells was studied using the developed sensor. It has been established that the increase in con- centration of amoxicillin from 5 to 50 μg/ml leads to a significant change in the reflection coefficient S11 at the resonance frequency from the lithium niobate plate in the range of -12.6 dB — -15.1 dB. It has been shown that the developed sensor allows determining the antibacterial activity of drugs in the studied concentration range with an analysis time of 15 min.

Evaluation of 3-Chlorobenzoate 1,2-Dioxygenase Inhibition by 2- and 4-Chlorobenzoate with a Cell-Based Technique

The electrochemical reactor microbial sensor with the Clark oxygen electrode as the transducer was used for investigation of the competition between 3-chlorobenzoate (3-CBA) and its analogues, 2- and 4-chlorobenzoate (2-CBA and 4-CBA), for 3-chlorobenzoate-1,2-dioxygenase (3-CBDO) of Rhodococcus opacus 1CP cells. The change in respiration of freshly harvested R. opacus 1CP cells in response to 3-CBA served as an indicator of 3-CBDO activity. The results obtained confirmed inducibility of 3-CBDO. Sigmoidal dependency of the rate of the enzymatic reaction on the concentration of 3-CBA was obtained and positive kinetic cooperativity by a substrate was shown for 3-CBDO. The Hill concentration constant, S0.5, and the constant of catalytic activity, Vmax, were determined. Inhibition of the rate of enzymatic reaction by excess substrate, 3-CBA, was observed. Associative (competitive inhibition according to classic classification) and transient types of the 3-CBA-1,2-DO inhibition by 2-CBA and 4-CBA, respectively, were found. The kinetic parameters such as S0.5i and Vmaxi were also estimated for 2-CBA and 4-CBA. The disappearance of the S-shape of the curve of the V versus S dependence for 3-CBDO in the presence of 4-CBA was assumed to imply that 4-chlorobenzoate had no capability to be catalytically transformed by 3-chlorobenzoate-1,2-dioxygenase of Rhodococcus opacus 1CP cells.