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A sustainable agricultural method to increase crop yield and reduce dependence on chemical inputs is the use of beneficial microbial species as bioinoculants, especially Trichoderma spp., Pseudomonas spp. and microbial consortia. This study evaluated the impact of single and combined inoculations of Trichoderma harzianum ITEM 3636 and Pseudomonas putida PCI2 on pepper plants in field assays. Fruits from consortium-inoculated plants were larger than those from single-strain treatments or uninoculated controls, showing pronounced increases in fruit width and fruit length. Additionally, yield gains were highest under consortium inoculation, whereas individual strain inoculations resulted in intermediate responses. These results suggest the potential use of the consortium as an effective bioinoculant for increasing pepper yield. An initial qualitative assessment of soil microbial taxonomic profiles was carried out. Results showed that root-associated soil from individual inoculations showed higher abundances of one dominant fungal taxon compared to the remaining taxa, in contrast to dual inoculation that displayed a more balanced fungal distribution. Also, bacterial taxa were more balanced in inoculated soils compared to the control. Overall, our work reports on a useful microbiological tool to improve sustainability in horticultural systems.

A sustainable agricultural method to increase crop yield and reduce dependence on chemical inputs is the use of beneficial microbial species as bioinoculants, especially Trichoderma spp., Pseudomonas spp. and microbial consortia. This study evaluated the impact of single and combined inoculations of Trichoderma harzianum ITEM 3636 and Pseudomonas putida PCI2 on pepper plants in field assays. Fruits from consortium-inoculated plants were larger than those from single-strain treatments or uninoculated controls, showing pronounced increases in fruit width and fruit length. Additionally, yield gains were highest under consortium inoculation, whereas individual strain inoculations resulted in intermediate responses. These results suggest the potential use of the consortium as an effective bioinoculant for increasing pepper yield. An initial qualitative assessment of soil microbial taxonomic profiles was carried out. Results showed that root-associated soil from individual inoculations showed higher abundances of one dominant fungal taxon compared to the remaining taxa, in contrast to dual inoculation that displayed a more balanced fungal distribution. Also, bacterial taxa were more balanced in inoculated soils compared to the control. Overall, our work reports on a useful microbiological tool to improve sustainability in horticultural systems.

Background and purpose Various electrodiagnostic criteria have been developed in Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). Their performance in a broad representation of GBS patients has not been evaluated. Motor conduction data from the International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS) cohort were used to compare two widely used criterion sets and relate these to diagnostic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis criteria. Methods From the first 1500 patients in IGOS, nerve conduction studies from 1137 (75.8%) were available for the current study. These patients were classified according to nerve conduction studies criteria proposed by Hadden and Rajabally. Results Of the 1137 studies, 68.3% (N = 777) were classified identically according to criteria by Hadden and Rajabally: 111 (9.8%) axonal, 366 (32.2%) demyelinating, 195 (17.2%) equivocal, 35 (3.1%) inexcitable and 70 (6.2%) normal. Thus, 360 studies (31.7%) were classified differently. The areas of differences were as follows: 155 studies (13.6%) classified as demyelinating by Hadden and axonal by Rajabally; 122 studies (10.7%) classified as demyelinating by Hadden and equivocal by Rajabally; and 75 studies (6.6%) classified as equivocal by Hadden and axonal by Rajabally. Due to more strictly defined cutoffs fewer patients fulfilled demyelinating criteria by Rajabally than by Hadden, making more patients eligible for axonal or equivocal classification by Rajabally. In 234 (68.6%) axonal studies by Rajabally the revised El Escorial (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) criteria were fulfilled; in axonal cases by Hadden this was 1.8%. Conclusions and discussion This study shows that electrodiagnosis in GBS is dependent on the criterion set utilized, both of which are based on expert opinion. Reappraisal of electrodiagnostic subtyping in GBS is warranted.

Organized in five major sections (General Issues, Developmental Issues, Treatment and Training, Mental Health, and Physical Health), the Handbook of Adolescent Health Psychology addresses common and not so common health issues that tend to affect adolescents.

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi , is endemic to Latin America and is characterized by chronic inflammation of cardiac tissues due to parasite persistence. Hypoxia within infected tissues may trigger the stabilization of HIF-1 and be linked to ATP release. Extracellular ATP exhibits microbicidal effects but is scavenged by CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases, which ultimately generate adenosine (ADO), a potent immunosuppressor. Here, we comprehensively study the importance of HIF-1 stabilization and the CD39/CD73/ADO axis, on CD4 + T cells with the cytotoxic phenotype, in facilitating the persistence of T. cruzi . Myocardial infection induces prominent areas of hypoxia, which is concomitant with HIF-1α stabilization in T cells and linked to early expansion of CD39 + CD73 + CD4 + T cell infiltrating population. Functional assays further demonstrate that HIF-1 stabilization and CD73 activity are associated with impaired CD4 + T cell cytotoxic potential. RNA-Seq analysis reveals that HIF-1 and purinergic signaling pathways are overrepresented in cardiac tissues of patients with end-stage Chagas disease. The findings highlight a major effect of purinergic signaling on CD4 + T cells with potential cytotoxic capacity in the setting of T. cruzi infection and have translational implications for therapy.

c-MYC (MYC) is a major driver of prostate cancer tumorigenesis and progression. Although MYC is overexpressed in both early and metastatic disease and associated with poor survival, its impact on prostate transcriptional reprogramming remains elusive. We demonstrate that MYC overexpression significantly diminishes the androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional program (the set of genes directly targeted by the AR protein) in luminal prostate cells without altering AR expression. Analyses of clinical specimens reveal that concurrent low AR and high MYC transcriptional programs accelerate prostate cancer progression toward a metastatic, castration-resistant disease. Data integration of single-cell transcriptomics together with ChIP-seq uncover an increase in RNA polymerase II (Pol II) promoter-proximal pausing at AR-dependent genes following MYC overexpression without an accompanying deactivation of AR-bound enhancers. Altogether, our findings suggest that MYC overexpression antagonizes the canonical AR transcriptional program and contributes to prostate tumor initiation and progression by disrupting transcriptional pause release at AR-regulated genes. The role of MYC in transcriptional reprogramming in prostate cancer remains poorly characterized. Here, MYC overexpression antagonizes the canonical AR transcriptional program leading to prostate tumor initiation and progression by disrupting transcriptional pause release at AR-regulated genes.

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi , is the major cause of infectious cardiopathology worldwide. Although cytotoxic CD4 T-cells (CD4 CTLs) have recently been recognized as crucial effectors in infections and inflammation, the mechanisms that control their differentiation and impact on pathological outcomes remain largely undefined. Here, we demonstrate that the ectonucleotidase CD73, which generates adenosine from extracellular AMP, acts as a key immunoregulator of CD4 CTL response during T. cruzi infection. Using murine models, we found that infection induced a robust expansion of CD4 T-cells expressing granzyme B, perforin, and IFN-γ. CD73 deficiency improved parasite control and amplified the frequency and cytotoxic program of CD4 T-cells during the acute phase. However, the absence of CD73 also led to sustained cardiac inflammation, extensive fibrosis, and impaired contractility during chronic infection. In patients with asymptomatic chronic Chagas disease, circulating CD4 T-cells exhibited elevated granzyme B expression, predominantly within the CD73 - subset. Consistently, cardiac tissue from patients with chronic terminal Chagas cardiomyopathy showed transcriptomic enrichment of granzyme B ( GZMB ), perforin ( PRF1 ), and IFN-γ ( IFNG ), with CD4 T-cells as the major contributors. Together, these findings identify CD73 ectoenzyme as a critical immunometabolic checkpoint that modulates CD4 CTL responses, revealing a dual role for this pathway in controlling infection and limiting tissue damage.

Matthew Freedman and colleagues show that androgen receptor (AR) binding sites undergo extensive reprogramming during prostate epithelial transformation. They further show that FOXA1 and HOXB13 colocalize at reprogrammed AR binding sites in human tumor tissue and are able to reprogram the AR cistrome of an immortalized prostate cell line to resemble that of prostate tumors. Master transcription factors interact with DNA to establish cell type identity and to regulate gene expression in mammalian cells 1 , 2 . The genome-wide map of these transcription factor binding sites has been termed the cistrome 3 . Here we show that the androgen receptor (AR) cistrome undergoes extensive reprogramming during prostate epithelial transformation in man. Using human prostate tissue, we observed a core set of AR binding sites that are consistently reprogrammed in tumors. FOXA1 and HOXB13 colocalized at the reprogrammed AR binding sites in human tumor tissue. Introduction of FOXA1 and HOXB13 into an immortalized prostate cell line reprogrammed the AR cistrome to resemble that of a prostate tumor, functionally linking these specific factors to AR cistrome reprogramming. These findings offer mechanistic insights into a key set of events that drive normal prostate epithelium toward transformation and establish the centrality of epigenetic reprogramming in human prostate tumorigenesis.

Epigenetic processes govern prostate cancer (PCa) biology, as evidenced by the dependency of PCa cells on the androgen receptor (AR), a prostate master transcription factor. We generated 268 epigenomic datasets spanning two state transitions—from normal prostate epithelium to localized PCa to metastases—in specimens derived from human tissue. We discovered that reprogrammed AR sites in metastatic PCa are not created de novo; rather, they are prepopulated by the transcription factors FOXA1 and HOXB13 in normal prostate epithelium. Reprogrammed regulatory elements commissioned in metastatic disease hijack latent developmental programs, accessing sites that are implicated in prostate organogenesis. Analysis of reactivated regulatory elements enabled the identification and functional validation of previously unknown metastasis-specific enhancers at HOXB13 , FOXA1 and NKX3-1 . Finally, we observed that prostate lineage-specific regulatory elements were strongly associated with PCa risk heritability and somatic mutation density. Examining prostate biology through an epigenomic lens is fundamental for understanding the mechanisms underlying tumor progression. Analyses of epigenomic datasets spanning transitions from normal prostate epithelium to localized prostate cancer to metastases show that latent developmental programs are reactivated in metastatic disease and that prostate lineage-specific regulatory elements are strongly enriched for prostate cancer risk heritability.

Lineage plasticity, the ability of a cell to alter its identity, is an increasingly common mechanism of adaptive resistance to targeted therapy in cancer. An archetypal example is the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) after treatment of prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) with inhibitors of androgen signaling. NEPC is an aggressive variant of prostate cancer that aberrantly expresses genes characteristic of neuroendocrine (NE) tissues and no longer depends on androgens. Here, we investigate the epigenomic basis of this resistance mechanism by profiling histone modifications in NEPC and PRAD patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) using chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing (ChIP-seq). We identify a vast network of cis -regulatory elements ( N ~15,000) that are recurrently activated in NEPC. The FOXA1 transcription factor (TF), which pioneers androgen receptor (AR) chromatin binding in the prostate epithelium, is reprogrammed to NE-specific regulatory elements in NEPC. Despite loss of dependence upon AR, NEPC maintains FOXA1 expression and requires FOXA1 for proliferation and expression of NE lineage-defining genes. Ectopic expression of the NE lineage TFs ASCL1 and NKX2-1 in PRAD cells reprograms FOXA1 to bind to NE regulatory elements and induces enhancer activity as evidenced by histone modifications at these sites. Our data establish the importance of FOXA1 in NEPC and provide a principled approach to identifying cancer dependencies through epigenomic profiling. The molecular processes that lead to neuroendocrine prostate cancer after treating prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) are not well understood. Here the authors show that regulation by FOXA1 and changes in the epigenomic profile drive the transition from PRAD to a neuroendocrine phenotype.