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| 2. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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| 3. |
- Fuchs, A., et al.
(författare)
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Minimum Information about T Regulatory Cells: A Step toward Reproducibility and Standardization
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-3224. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cellular therapies with CD4+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) hold promise of efficacious treatment for the variety of autoimmune and allergic diseases as well as posttransplant complications. Nevertheless, current manufacturing of Tregs as a cellular medicinal product varies between different laboratories, which in turn hampers precise comparisons of the results between the studies performed. While the number of clinical trials testing Tregs is already substantial, it seems to be crucial to provide some standardized characteristics of Treg products in order to minimize the problem. We have previously developed reporting guidelines called minimum information about tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells, which allows the comparison between different preparations of tolerance-inducing antigen-presenting cells. Having this experience, here we describe another minimum information about Tregs (MITREG). It is important to note that MITREG does not dictate how investigators should generate or characterize Tregs, but it does require investigators to report their Treg data in a consistent and transparent manner. We hope this will, therefore, be a useful tool facilitating standardized reporting on the manufacturing of Tregs, either for research purposes or for clinical application. This way MITREG might also be an important step toward more standardized and reproducible testing of the Tregs preparations in clinical applications.
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| 5. |
- Golab, Maria J., et al.
(författare)
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Let's mate here and now - seasonal constraints increase mating efficiency
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ecological Entomology. - : WILEY. - 0307-6946 .- 1365-2311. ; 44:5, s. 623-629
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Latitudinal climatic conditions shape the length of the mating season and could thus influence reproductive traits. Knowledge of how animals behave along latitudinal clines will increase understanding of the impact of climate on sexual selection and might help in the prediction of whether peripheral populations will spread or shrink in response to changes in climate. 2. This study investigated variation in the mating efficiency of a temperate insect, the emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa, under semi-natural field conditions along a latitudinal gradient covering three regions of the species' distribution: south, central and north. 3. A comparison was done of the proportion of copulating males, the proportion of males that formed tandems but did not copulate (unsuccessful males), and the proportion of males that did not attempt to form a tandem (passive males) in these three regions. 4. It was found that the proportion of copulations was significantly higher at northern latitudes than in the southern and central regions. Southern latitudes had a higher proportion of successful copulations compared with central latitudes. The northern region had a significantly lower frequency of passive males. The southern region had an intermediate proportion of passive males, and the central region had the highest proportion. The proportion of unsuccessful males did not differ between regions. The population density across sites did not affect these results. 5. The study shows that damselflies inhabiting northern populations mate more intensively than individuals from southern and central populations. This suggests that more restrictive environmental conditions during a brief mating season select for higher mating efficiency.
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| 6. |
- Maffi, P., et al.
(författare)
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Targeting CXCR1/2 Does Not Improve Insulin Secretion After Pancreatic Islet Transplantation: A Phase 3, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Type 1 Diabetes
- 2020
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Ingår i: Diabetes Care. - : American Diabetes Association. - 0149-5992 .- 1935-5548. ; 43:4, s. 710-718
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE Reparixin is an inhibitor of CXCR1/2 chemokine receptor shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory adjuvant in a pilot clinical trial in allotransplant recipients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-assignment study () was conducted in recipients of islet allotransplants randomized (2:1) to reparixin or placebo in addition to immunosuppression. Primary outcome was the area under the curve (AUC) for C-peptide during the mixed-meal tolerance test at day 75 +/- 5 after the first and day 365 +/- 14 after the last transplant. Secondary end points included insulin independence and standard measures of glycemic control. RESULTS The intention-to-treat analysis did not show a significant difference in C-peptide AUC at both day 75 (27 on reparixin vs. 18 on placebo, P = 0.99) and day 365 (24 on reparixin vs. 15 on placebo, P = 0.71). There was no statistically significant difference between treatment groups at any time point for any secondary variable. Analysis of patient subsets showed a trend for a higher percentage of subjects retaining insulin independence for 1 year after a single islet infusion in patients receiving reparixin as compared with patients receiving placebo (26.7% vs. 0%, P = 0.09) when antithymocyte globulin was used as induction immunosuppression. CONCLUSIONS In this first double-blind randomized trial, islet transplantation data obtained with reparixin do not support a role of CXCR1/2 inhibition in preventing islet inflammation-mediated damage.
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| 7. |
- Outomuro, David, et al.
(författare)
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Body and wing size, but not wing shape, vary along a large-scale latitudinal gradient in a damselfly
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale latitudinal studies that include both north and south edge populations and address sex differences are needed to understand how selection has shaped trait variation. We quantified the variation of flight-related morphological traits (body size, wing size, ratio between wing size and body size, and wing shape) along the whole latitudinal distribution of the damselfly Lestes sponsa, spanning over 2700 km. We tested predictions of geographic variation in the flight-related traits as a signature of: (1) stronger natural selection to improve dispersal in males and females at edge populations; (2) stronger sexual selection to improve reproduction (fecundity in females and sexual behaviors in males) at edge populations. We found that body size and wing size showed a U-shaped latitudinal pattern, while wing ratio showed the inverse shape. However, wing shape varied very little along the latitudinal gradient. We also detected sex-differences in the latitudinal patterns of variation. We discuss how latitudinal differences in natural and sexual selection regimes can lead to the observed quadratic patterns of variation in body and wing morphology via direct or indirect selection. We also discuss the lack of latitudinal variation in wing shape, possibly due to aerodynamic constraints.
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| 8. |
- Sniegula, Szymon, et al.
(författare)
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A large-scale latitudinal pattern of life-history traits in a strictly univoltine damselfly
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecological Entomology. - : Wiley. - 0307-6946 .- 1365-2311. ; 41:4, s. 459-472
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Variation in thermal conditions and season length along latitudinal gradients affect body size-related traits over different life stages. Selection is expected to optimise these size traits in response to the costs and benefits. 2. Egg, hatchling, larval and adult size in males and females were estimated along a latitudinal gradient of 2730km across Europe in the univoltine damselfly Lestes sponsa, using a combination of field-collection and laboratory-rearing experiments. In the laboratory, individuals were grown in temperatures and photoperiod simulating those at the latitude of origin, and in common-garden conditions. 3. The size of adults sampled in nature was negatively correlated with latitude. In all populations the females were larger than the males. Results from simulated and common-garden rearing experiments supported this pattern of size difference across latitudes and between sexes, suggesting a genetic component for the latitudinal size trend and female-biased size dimorphism. In contrast, hatchling size showed a positive relationship with latitude, but egg size, although differing between latitudes, showed no such relationship. 4. The results support a converse Bergmann cline, i.e. a negative body size cline towards the north. This negative cline in body size is probably driven by progressively stronger seasonal time and temperature constraints towards the higher latitudes and by the obligate univoltine life cycle of L. sponsa. As egg size showed no relationship with latitude, other environmental factors besides temperature, such as desiccation risk, probably affect this trait.
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| 9. |
- Sniegula, Szymon, et al.
(författare)
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Cannibalism and activity rate in larval damselflies increase along a latitudinal gradient as a consequence of time constraints
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Evolutionary Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2148. ; 17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Predation is ubiquitous in nature. One form of predation is cannibalism, which is affected by many factors such as size structure and resource density. However, cannibalism may also be influenced by abiotic factors such as seasonal time constraints. Since time constraints are greater at high latitudes, cannibalism could be stronger at such latitudes, but we know next to nothing about latitudinal variation in cannibalism. In this study, we examined cannibalism and activity in larvae of the damselfly Lestes sponsa along a latitudinal gradient across Europe. We did this by raising larvae from the egg stage at different temperatures and photoperiods corresponding to different latitudes. Results: We found that the more seasonally time-constrained populations in northern latitudes and individuals subjected to greater seasonal time constraints exhibited a higher level of cannibalism. We also found that activity was higher at north latitude conditions, and thus correlated with cannibalism, suggesting that this behaviour mediates higher levels of cannibalism in time-constrained animals. Conclusions: Our results go counter to the classical latitude-predation pattern which predicts higher predation at lower latitudes, since we found that predation was stronger at higher latitudes. The differences in cannibalism might have implications for population dynamics along the latitudinal gradients, but further experiments are needed to explore this.
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| 10. |
- Sniegula, Szymon, et al.
(författare)
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Do males with higher mating success invest more in armaments? : An across-populations study in damselflies
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecological Entomology. - : Wiley. - 0307-6946 .- 1365-2311. ; 42:4, s. 526-530
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Males with higher mating success would be expected to invest more in traits that facilitate mating, leading to steeper allometry of those traits with respect to body size. Across-population studies following latitudinal variation in male mating success are an excellent study system to address this question.2. Males of the damselfly Lestes sponsa were used to investigate whether the allometric patterns of the length and width of the anal appendages, used for grasping the female prior tomating, corresponded to male mating success. Across a large latitudinal gradient, it was hypothesised that there is a larger investment in the grasping apparatus, i.e. a steeper allometric slope, following higher mating success.3. Behavioural observations in field enclosures showed the highest mating success at high latitude, while there were no significant differences in mating success between the central and low latitudes. Positive allometry was found for the length of the anal appendages in high-latitude males, while central-and low-latitude males showed no significant regressions of the traits on body size.4. These results partially support the hypothesis, as high-latitude, more successful males invested more in the length ( but not the width) of the grasping apparatus than did central-and low-latitude males. Therefore, higher mating success might be facilitated by larger investment in armaments. Intraspecific studies on allometric patterns of traits that participate in mating success might offer new insights into the role of those traits in the reproductive behaviour of a species.
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