Review
Oncology
Benjamin J. Lichtbroun, Arnav Srivastava, Sai Krishnaraya Doppalapudi, Kevin Chua, Eric A. Singer
Summary: This article discusses the role of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and the need to reevaluate its role with the emergence of immunotherapy agents. While current data suggests that CN may provide clinical benefit, further research is needed to clarify its role in this new era of cancer care.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Liang Chang, Qing An, Lingfei Duan, Kaixuan Feng, Zhiwei Zuo
Summary: This review comprehensively summarizes the recent progress in alkoxy radical-mediated transformations under visible light irradiation. The mechanisms of alkoxy radical generation and their impact on synthetic utilizations are discussed. The catalytic generation of alkoxy radicals from abundant alcohols is still in the early stage, but holds great potential.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Jurriaan van Ginkel, Ian Tomlinson, Ignacio Soriano
Summary: Using colorectal cancer as a model, the insights into cancer evolution provided by cancer sequencing are reviewed. These include nonlinear and neutral evolution, polyclonality of driver mutations, parallel evolution in adenomas, mutational processes shaping evolution against selection, rare driver genes functioning in the same signaling pathways as canonical drivers, and selective windows constraining the functional effects of cancer driver mutations. These evolutionary paradigms are potentially significant for treating colorectal cancers as well as understanding their development.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jaewan Jung, Byung Woo Jhun, Mijeong Jeong, Sun Joo Yoon, Hee Jae Huh, Chul Won Jung, Kihyun Kim, Jae Berm Park, Dae Joong Kim, Wooseong Huh, Hye Ryoun Jang, Young-Ho Kim, Sung Noh Hong, Doo Ryeon Chung, Eun-Suk Kang
Summary: In this study, a newly developed IGRA TBF showed comparable performance to the current standard QFT-Plus in detecting latent tuberculosis infections (LTBIs) in tertiary care settings. TBF demonstrated higher sensitivity but slightly lower specificity compared to QFT-Plus. Analysis of discordant results and the implications near the cutoff values between different IGRAs is necessary for future studies.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maria Luna-Luna, Eric Niesor, Oscar Perez-Mendez
Summary: The cardioprotective role of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) may not only be explained by reverse cholesterol transport, but also by bidirectional lipid transport. HDL plays an important role in tissue repair and cell function restoration. This hypothesis is consistent with the beneficial effects of HDL against atherosclerosis and its capacity to induce insulin secretion.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Vijayakumar Mayakrishnan, Priya Kannappan, Nagendran Tharmalingam, Rajendran J. C. Bose, Thiagarajan Madheswaran, Mohankandhasamy Ramasamy
Summary: Cancer treatments have improved significantly, but there is still room for improvement. In recent years, bacteria-based cancer therapy has gained attention for its unique properties, as bacteria can control tumor growth and improve prognosis.
DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gilbert Roberts, Marion Petrie
Summary: Sexual selection primarily acts through females preferentially mating with males carrying beneficial mutations. This process could overcome the 'two-fold cost of sex' and potentially play a more powerful role in driving adaptation compared to existing theories.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
John P. McCutcheon
Summary: Microbes can access eukaryotic cells through various pathways, including being food for bacteria-grazing protists, being killed by immune cells for host protection, or entering host cells as pathogens. Beneficial microbial infections, such as ancient eukaryotic organelles like mitochondria and plastids, exist alongside other intracellular infections throughout eukaryotes, but the cellular mechanisms of these beneficial bacterial infections are not well understood.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, VOL 37
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
B. H. Jaswanth Gowda, Mohammed Gulzar Ahmed, Saad Ali Alshehri, Shadma Wahab, Lalitkumar K. Vora, Raghu Raj Singh Thakur, Prashant Kesharwani
Summary: Lyotropic liquid crystals, specifically cubosomes, are highly promising drug carriers due to their self-assembled, non-lamellar, and mesophase nanostructured properties. Cubosomes exhibit bicontinuous structures formed through the self-organization of amphiphilic lipids and stabilization using steric polymers. They have shown superior entrapment efficiency and stability for hydrophobic drugs compared to liposomes. Additionally, cubosomes have been extensively explored for their safe and effective delivery of therapeutic and contrast agents in cancer treatment and imaging.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biology
Rasa A. Muktupavela, Martin Petr, Laure Segurel, Thorfinn Korneliussen, John Novembre, Fernando Racimo
Summary: Ancient genome sequencing technologies allow us to study natural selection in unprecedented detail by directly observing the presence or absence of specific alleles in a particular region during the last 10,000 years. However, a complete understanding of natural selection requires more nuanced statistical methods to model allele frequency changes across space and time.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Jiangyong Liu, Xingyang Ji, Chennan Wang, Lixia Wang, Panming Jian
Summary: Utilization of limonene as a renewable biomass starting material for the synthesis of valuable chemicals shows promise in reducing dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels and global CO2 emissions. A highly active ZnCo2O4 catalyst was developed for the selective oxidation of limonene, achieving a high conversion rate and selectivity for 1,2-limonene oxide (LO), outperforming other monometallic oxide catalysts.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carolin Brombach, Wen Tong, Dino A. Giussani
Summary: The prevalence of maternal obesity is increasing rapidly, posing a major challenge for obstetric practice. Adverse effects on maternal and fetal health are mediated by complex interactions in the placenta. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR) may be key mediators in the pathogenesis of placental dysfunction. This article summarizes the current literature on placental changes in obese women, with a special focus on ER stress in obese pregnancy.
TRENDS IN MOLECULAR MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Danish Mahmood, Sattam K. Alenezi, Md. Jamir Anwar, Faizul Azam, Kamal A. Qureshi, Mariusz Jaremko
Summary: Psychedelics, when used in medically supervised low doses, have shown good tolerance and efficacy in treating various neuropsychiatric disorders. They primarily work by modulating serotonin receptors to impact brain connectivity and may share some common pathways with certain antipsychotic drugs through complex neurotransmitter interactions.
Article
Neurosciences
Kenneth A. Jacobson, Balaram Pradhan, Zhiwei Wen, Asmita Pramanik
Summary: The discovery and clinical implementation of adenosine, P2Y and P2X receptor modulators have advanced significantly in the past 50 years. Although previous clinical trials of selective ligands have not been successful, there is now a renewed focus on new disease conditions and the development of more selective compounds, as well as the elucidation of new receptor and enzyme structures.
Article
Biology
Agathe Ballu, Philomene Despreaux, Clementine Duplaix, Anne Deredec, Florence Carpentier, Anne-Sophie Walker
Summary: Alternation of fungicides can slow down the accumulation of resistance in Zymoseptoria tritici and increase generalism in evolved lines.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Rachel M. Germain, Simon P. Hart, Martin M. Turcotte, Sarah P. Otto, Jawad Sakarchi, Jonathan Rolland, Takuji Usui, Amy L. Angert, Dolph Schluter, Ronald D. Bassar, Mia T. Waters, Francisco Henao-Diaz, Adam M. Siepielski
Summary: Speciation often begins but rarely completes, possibly due to the failure of nascent lineages to persist. Key gaps between ecological and evolutionary theories exist, and bridging these gaps can help clarify the success or failure of speciation. The application of ecological coexistence theory can aid in understanding the initiation, progression, and completion of speciation, and contribute to unifying the origin and maintenance of species diversity across the tree of life.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Kenjiro W. Quides, Fathi Salaheldine, Ruchi Jariwala, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: Microbial mutualists provide substantial benefits to hosts, but may lead to evolutionary conflicts between symbiotic partners. The alignment of fitness interests between legumes and rhizobia increases as the number of nodules formed increases, but shifts to diverging interests once the host optimum is reached.
Article
Ecology
Lorena Torres-Martinez, Stephanie S. Porter, Camille Wendlandt, Jessica Purcell, Gabriel Ortiz-Barbosa, Jacob Rothschild, Mathew Lampe, Farsamin Warisha, Tram Le, Alexandra J. Weisberg, Jeff H. Chang, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: The study found that specialization in mutualism is accompanied by specialization in other niche dimensions, with different species showing asymmetric levels of specialization in climatic and edaphic niches. This suggests support for the oscillation model of specialization, indicating a parallel narrowing of multiple niche dimensions in host species.
Article
Biology
Kenjiro W. Quides, Alexandra J. Weisberg, Jerry Trinh, Fathi Salaheldine, Paola Cardenas, Hsu-Han Lee, Ruchi Jariwala, Jeff H. Chang, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: This study explores the evolution of rhizobia to provide benefits to novel hosts by simulating cycles of interactions with different plant genotypes. The results show that rhizobia evolved enhanced host benefits in some cases, but not consistently. Host-symbiont genotype interactions may play a role in mediating the evolution of enhanced benefits from symbionts.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Gabriel S. Ortiz-Barbosa, Lorena Torres-Martinez, Angela Manci, Sierra Neal, Tarek Soubra, Fizzah Khairi, Jerry Trinh, Paola Cardenas, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: Modern agriculture tends to focus on the aboveground structures of plants and overlooks the belowground features that influence microbiota. The domestication process in crops, along with drift, inbreeding, and relaxed selection for symbiosis, may lead to degradation of plant mechanisms that support beneficial microbes. However, domesticated cowpea does not show evidence of degradation in symbiosis unlike other crops.
Article
Ecology
Camille E. Wendlandt, Kelsey A. Gano-Cohen, Peter J. N. Stokes, Basava N. R. Jonnala, Avissa J. Zomorrodian, Khadija Al-Moussawi, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: The effects of nitrogen enrichment on plants and soil microbial communities mainly depend on the differences among plant lines rather than soil nitrogen levels. Despite elevated soil nitrogen levels, plant populations still impose strong selection on rhizobial nitrogen fixation, suggesting that host control traits are stable under long-term nutrient enrichment.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Alexandra J. Weisberg, Joel L. Sachs, Jeff H. Chang
Summary: The chromosome architecture of Bradyrhizobium bacteria is largely conserved despite variations in genome composition and location of attachment sites recognized by integrases of symICEs. Simulated nonnative chromosome-symICE combinations are predicted to result in lethal deletions or disruptions to architecture. The findings suggest compatibility between chromosomes and symICEs.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Ecology
David C. Fronk, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: Diverse organisms have evolved specialized structures to interact with beneficial microbes, forming symbiotic organs that play crucial roles in shaping microbial genomes. Future research should consider the emergent forces that shape these symbiotic organs.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Alexandra J. Weisberg, Arafat Rahman, Dakota Backus, Parinita Tyavanagimatt, Jeff H. Chang, Joel L. Sachs
Summary: Genetic variation in symbiotic nitrogen fixation is maintained through a modular system that allows for flexibility and reshuffling of genes. This results in variation in the services provided by symbionts and can lead to the evolution of uncooperative genotypes. However, the overall symbiosis between legume hosts and Bradyrhizobium bacteria is evolutionarily stable.
Article
Ecology
Cyrill Hess, Jonathan M. Levine, Martin M. Turcotte, Simon P. Hart
Summary: This article investigates the ecological explanations for species coexistence and the impact of trait changes on competitive outcomes. The study finds that phenotypic plasticity can promote species coexistence in a way that is not captured by traditional measures of niche differentiation.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
M. Manci, O. G. Mercado, R. X. Camantigue, T. Nguyen, J. Rothschild, F. Khairi, S. Neal, W. F. Farsamin, M. T. Lampe, I. A. Perez, T. H. Le, G. S. Ortiz-Barbosa, L. Torres-Martinez, J. L. Sachs
Summary: This study investigated the benefits that cowpeas receive from microbiota, depending on plant genotype, domestication status, and soil source. The results showed that the variation in root nodulation and growth benefits to the host were observed among different soil sites, with soil microbiota being the predominant factor shaping plant performance.
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth N. Rudzki, Sara E. Kuebbing, David R. Clark, Burhan Gharaibeh, Mary J. Janecka, Rachael Kramp, Kevin D. Kohl, Talia Mastalski, Michel E. B. Ohmer, Martin M. Turcotte, Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki
Summary: Field research is crucial for career development in various academic fields. However, conducting research in field settings poses health and safety risks, with marginalized researchers facing greater risks. Failure to actively mitigate these additional risks can hinder qualified investigators from participating in field research and undermine efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of science.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Thomas J. Anneberg, Elizabeth M. O'Neill, Tia-Lynn Ashman, Martin M. Turcotte
Summary: Ecological theory predicts that early generation polyploids should quickly go extinct due to rarity and competition, but polyploids persist globally. This paradox has been theoretically addressed, but the direct effects of polyploidy at the population level remain largely untested.
Article
Agronomy
G. S. Ortiz-Barbosa, L. Torres-Martinez, J. Rothschild, J. L. Sachs
Summary: Legumes have the ability to optimize growth by discriminating between fixed nitrogen from rhizobia and nitrogen in the soil. However, the recognition and regulation of symbiotically fixed nitrogen remain poorly understood. This study manipulated the molecular form and concentration of nitrogen available to investigate the adaptability of Lotus japonicus plants in downregulating investment into symbiosis when exposed to different nitrogen sources. The results suggest that L. japonicus can selectively downregulate symbiosis when exposed to certain nitrogen sources, but fails to do so in the presence of aspartic acid, indicating that aspartic acid may interfere with the main signal used by L. japonicus to detect nitrogen fixation.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Thomas J. Anneberg, Martin M. Turcotte, Tia-Lynn Ashman
Summary: Research shows that whole-genome duplication directly affects the plant microbiome, and this effect is dependent on the genetic ancestry of the polyploid and can be generalized across many environmental contexts.
