Production of β-ketoacyl-CoA, which is catalyzed by 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS), is the first step in very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) biosynthesis. Here we identified 58 KCS genes from Gossypium hirsutum, 31 from G. arboreum and 33 from G. raimondii by searching the assembled cotton genomes. The gene family was divided into the plant-specific FAE1-type and the more general ELO-type. KCS tr...

Inhibitory interneurons play critical roles in shaping the firing patterns of principal neurons in many brain systems. Despite difference in the anatomy or functions of neuronal circuits containing inhibition, two basic motifs repeatedly emerge: feed-forward and feedback. In the locust, it was proposed that a subset of lateral horn interneurons (LHNs), provide feed-forward inhibition onto Kenyo...

BACKGROUND A condition vital for the consolidation and maintenance of sleep is generally reduced responsiveness to external stimuli. Despite this, the sleeper maintains a level of stimulus processing that allows to respond to potentially dangerous environmental signals. The mechanisms that subserve these contradictory functions are only incompletely understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS ...

Efficient and targeted delivery approach to transfer exogenous genes into macrophages is still a great challenge. Current gene delivery methods often result in low cellular uptake efficiency in vivo in some types of cells, especially for the Kupffer cells (KCs). In this article, we demonstrate that amphiphilic core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) consisting of well-defined hydrophobic poly(methyl met...

NOD-like receptor (NLR) NLRP3 inflammasome activation has been implicated in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) from non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). It has been also shown that palmitic acid (PA) activates NLRP3 inflammasome and promotes interleukin-1β (IL-1β) secretion in Kupffer cells (KCs). However, the specific mechanism of...

Recordings from the mushroom body demonstrate high specificity in Kenyon cell (KC) responses during odor processing. We explored the possibility that a form of plasticity may control and tune synaptic weights to the mushroom body to provide specificity of KCs responses to familiar or meaningful odors. To test our hypothesis, we compared two potential mechanisms: (1) spike-rate dependent plastic...

Keratinocytes (KCs) may play important roles for maintenance of peripheral tolerance in the upper layers of the skin. Coinhibitory signals mediated via the programmed death (PD)-1 and its ligand B7-H1 (PD-L1/CD274) are crucial for the downregulation of T cell immune responses and for the maintenance of peripheral tolerance. In this study, to investigate the role of KC-expressed B7-H1 in the reg...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Leptin has profibrogenic effects in liver, although the mechanisms of this process are unclear. We sought to elucidate the direct and indirect effects of leptin on hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). METHODS HSCs from Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to leptin and expression of collagen-I, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP1), transforming growth factor beta1 (...

Microspore-derived embryos of Brassica napus cv Reston were used to examine the effects of exogenous (+)-abscisic acid (ABA) and related compounds on the accumulation of very-long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids (VLCMFAs), VLCMFA elongase complex activity, and induction of the 3-ketoacyl-coenzyme A synthase (KCS) gene encoding the condensing enzyme of the VLCMFA elongation system. Of the conc...

The transcriptional coactivator complex Mediator (MED) facilitates transcription of nuclear hormone receptors and other transcription factors. We have previously isolated the MED complex from primary keratinocytes (KCs) as the vitamin D receptor-interacting protein complex. We identified a role for MED in KC proliferation and differentiation in cultured KCs. Here, we investigated the in vivo ro...