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Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is a hefty notothenioid fish and a key species within the marine ecosystem with a high migratory capacity across sub-Antarctic and south American Pacific oceans. Transcriptome characterization and molecular markers associated with micro and macro-evolutionary studies are not available, which in turn limits the gain of knowledge about the genetic basis of this species. Therefore, in the present study, a de novo transcriptome from eight tissue and an embryonic state of Patagonian toothfish was developed, using the Illumina Hiseq 4000 platform. A total of 233,424 superTranscripts were assembled and 37,446 annotated against public databases. Moreover, we identified 71,107 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs), with an average number of 0.3 SSRs per superTranscripts and one SSR per 1.12 kB. The most abundant SSR type was repeated dinucleotide (53.67%), followed by trinucleotide (13.73%) repeats. From the total of EST-SSRs identified, 34,196 primer pairs were properly designed and a subset of 25 immune loci were selected for its evaluation as potential EST-SSR population markers. Of this subset, 11 proved to have good technical features and were evaluated in 64 animals from four Patagonian toothfish populations. A number of 63 alleles were identified, with a mean of 4.9 alleles per locus and a polymorphism information content ranging from 0.224 to 0.591, with a mean of 0.50. Significant (F ST , range 0.082-0.117 and G ST , range 0.069-0.291) genetic differentiation (P < 0.05) was determined among the populations analyzed. Therefore, the results presented here represent a relevant genetic resource for biological studies on evolution, conservation, genetic diversity, population structure, and genetic management of breeding stocks of this important species.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo) has developed multiple immune evasion mechanisms involving the innate and adaptive immune responses. Recent findings have reported that Ngo reduces the IL-1β secretion of infected human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Here, we investigate the role of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in production and release of IL-1β in Ngo-infected MDM. We found that the exposure of Ngo-infected MDM to ATP increases IL-1β levels about ten times compared with unexposed Ngo-infected MDM (P < 0.01). However, we did not observe any changes in inflammasome transcriptional activation of speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (CARD) (ASC, P > 0.05) and caspase-1 (CASP1, P > 0.05). In addition, ATP was not able to modify caspase-1 activity in Ngo-infected MDM but was able to increase pyroptosis (P > 0.01). Notably ATP treatment defined an increase of positive staining for IL-1β with a distinctive intracellular pattern of distribution. Collectively, these data demonstrate that ATP induces IL-1β secretion by a mechanism not related to the NLRP3/ASC/caspase-1 axis and likely is acting at the level of vesicle trafficking or pore formation.

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Background We aimed to study the associations of adipocytokines, endothelial damage markers, and hs-CRP with metabolic syndrome (MetS) components. Methods This cross-sectional study included 202 subjects categorized into MetS and No-MetS according to Harmonizing ATP III. Results Subjects with MetS showed higher levels of pro-inflammatory molecules but significantly lower adiponectin levels than subjects with No-MetS. Among the studied adipocytokines, PAI-1 and adiponectin showed the strongest associations with most MetS components. PAI-1 was associated with MetS (OR 1.107 [1.065 – 1.151], p&lt;0.0001), whereas adiponectin was inversely associated with MetS (OR 0.710 [0.610 – 0.825], p&lt;0.0001). Following adjustment by sex, age, BMI, and 24 h urinary sodium excretion in a multivariate analysis, the association of PAI-1 (OR 1.090 [1.044 - 1.137], p&lt;0.0001) and adiponectin (OR 0.634 [0.519 – 0.775], p&lt;0.0001) with MetS remained significant. Multivariate analyses supported a model in which systolic blood pressure could be predicted by PAI-1, hsCRP, and MMP2 (R2 = 0.125; p = 0.04); diastolic blood pressure (R2 = 0.218; p=0.0001) and glucose (R2 = 0.074; p=0.0001) could be predicted by PAI-1; waist circumference could be predicted by PAI-1 and hsCRP (R2=0.28; p = 0.016). ROC curve analysis showed that a PAI-1 concentration had the best sensitivity and specificity for discriminating subjects with MetS. Conclusion PAI-1 and adiponectin rendered the most robust associations with MetS components in a general population, indicating that unfavorable adipose tissue performance is a key contributor to these metabolic anomalies. Further prospective analyses should allow establishing whether these adipocytokines can anticipate the progress of MetS and cardiovascular risk.