Apical organs are sensory structures present in many marine invertebrate larvae where they are considered to be involved in their settlement, metamorphosis and locomotion. In bilaterians they are characterised by a tuft of long cilia and receptor cells and they are associated with groups of neurons, but their relatively low morphological complexity and dispersed phylogenetic distribution have left their evolutionary relationship unresolved. Moreover, since apical organs are not present in the standard model organisms, their development and function are not well understood. To provide a foundation for a better understanding of this structure we have characterised the molecular composition of the apical organ of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. In a microarray-based comparison of the gene expression profiles of planulae with either a wildtype or an experimentally expanded apical organ, we identified 78 evolutionarily conserved genes, which are predominantly or specifically expressed in the apical organ of Nematostella. This gene set comprises signalling molecules, transcription factors, structural and metabolic genes. The majority of these genes, including several conserved, but previously uncharacterized ones, are potentially involved in different aspects of the development or function of the long cilia of the apical organ. To demonstrate the utility of this gene set for comparative analyses, we further analysed the expression of a subset of previously uncharacterized putative orthologs in sea urchin larvae and detected expression for twelve out of eighteen of them in the apical domain. Our study provides a molecular characterization of the apical organ of Nematostella and represents an informative tool for future studies addressing the development, function and evolutionary history of apical organ cells.

Context Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of anovulation. A key feature of PCOS is arrest of follicles at the small- to medium-sized antral stage. Objective and Design To provide further insight into the mechanism of follicle arrest in PCOS, we profiled (i) gonadotropin receptors; (ii) characteristics of aberrant steroidogenesis; and (iii) expression of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and its receptor in granulosa cells (GCs) from unstimulated, human small antral follicles (hSAFs) and from granulosa lutein cells (GLCs). Setting GCs from hSAFs were collected at the time of cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for fertility preservation and GLCs collected during oocyte aspiration before in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Participants We collected hSAF GCs from 31 women (98 follicles): 10 with polycystic ovaries (PCO) and 21 without. GLCs were collected from 6 women with PCOS and 6 controls undergoing IVF. Main Outcome Measures Expression of the following genes: LHCGR, FSHR, AR, INSR, HSD3B2, CYP11A1, CYP19, STAR, AMH, AMHR2, FST, INHBA, INHBB in GCs and GLCs were compared between women with PCO and controls. Results GCs in hSAFs from women with PCO showed higher expression of LHCGR in a subset (20%) of follicles. Expression of FSHR (P < 0.05), AR (P < 0.05), and CYP11A1 (P < 0.05) was lower, and expression of CYP19A1 (P < 0.05), STAR (P < 0.05), HSD3B2 (P = NS), and INHBA (P < 0.05) was higher in PCO GCs. Gene expression in GL cells differed between women with and without PCOS but also differed from that in GCs. Conclusions Follicle arrest in PCO is characterized in GCs by differential regulation of key genes involved in follicle growth and function.

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01667406.

ObjectivesTo identify the genes responsible for tetracycline resistance in a strain of Streptococcus australis isolated from pooled saliva from healthy volunteers in France. S. australis is a viridans Streptococcus, originally isolated from the oral cavity of children in Australia, and subsequently reported in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients and as a cause of invasive disease in an elderly patient.MethodsAgar containing 2 mg/L tetracycline was used for the isolation of tetracycline-resistant organisms. A genomic library in Escherichia coli was used to isolate the tetracycline resistance determinant. In-frame deletions and chromosomal repair were used to confirm function. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined by agar dilution and disc diffusion assay.ResultsThe tetracycline resistance determinant from S. australis FRStet12 was isolated from a genomic library in E. coli and DNA sequencing showed two open reading frames predicted to encode proteins with similarity to multidrug resistance-type ABC transporters. Both genes were required for tetracycline resistance (to both the naturally occurring and semi-synthetic tetracyclines) and they were designated tetAB(46).ConclusionsThis is the first report of a predicted ABC transporter conferring tetracycline resistance in a member of the oral microbiota.

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24Introduction 25Aberrant function of granulosa cells has been implicated in the pathophysiology of PCOS. 26 Materials & methods 27GL cells were collected during oocyte retrieval for IVF/ICSI. RT-qPCR was used to compare 28 gene expression between 12 control women, 12 with ovulatory PCO and 12 with anovulatory 29 PCOS. To examine which genes are directly regulated by androgens, GL cells from an 30 additional 12 control women were treated in-vitro with 10nM dihydrotestosterone (DHT). 31 Results 32Women with PCOS showed reduced expression of CYP11A1 3-fold (p=0.005), HSD17B1 33 1.8-fold (p=0.02) and increased expression of SULT1E1 7-fold (p=0.0003). Similar results 34 were seen in ovulatory women with PCO. GL cells treated with 10nM DHT showed a 4-fold 35 (p=0.03) increase in expression of SULT1E1 and a 5-fold reduction in SRD5A1 (p=0.03). 36 Conclusions 37These findings support the notion that aberrant regulation of steroid metabolism or action 38 play a part in ovarian dysfunction in PCOS 39 40

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy that is associated with an adverse metabolic profile including reduced postprandial thermogenesis. Although abnormalities in adipose tissue function have been widely reported in women with PCOS, less is known about direct effects of androgen on white and, particularly, brown adipocytes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the nonaromatizable androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on (1) lipid accumulation and expression of adipogenic markers in immortalized mouse brown adipose cell lines (IMBATs), (2) mitochondrial respiration in IMBATs, (3) mitochondrial DNA content and gene expression, (4) expression of brown adipose tissue (BAT) markers and thermogenic activation. In addition, we profiled the relative levels of 38 adipokines secreted from BAT explants and looked at androgen effects on adipokine gene expression in both IMBATs and immortalized mouse white adipose (IMWATs) cell lines. Androgen treatment inhibited IMBAT differentiation in a dose-dependent manner, reduced markers of adipogenesis, and attenuated the β-adrenoceptor-stimulated increase in uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) expression. In explants of mouse interscapular BAT, androgen reduced expression of UCP1, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1 (PCG-1) and Cidea. Significantly, as well as affecting genes involved in thermogenesis in BAT, androgen treatment reduced mitochondrial respiration in IMBATs, as measured by the Seahorse XF method. The results of this study suggest a role for excess androgen in inhibiting brown adipogenesis, attenuating the activation of thermogenesis and reducing mitochondrial respiration in BAT. Together, these data provide a plausible molecular mechanism that may contribute to reduced postprandial thermogenesis and the tendency to obesity in women with PCOS.

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