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J Exp Biol 2021 Mar 3. Epub 2021 Mar 3.

Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

During social evolution, life-history traits not only diverged, with social insect queens becoming highly fecund and long-lived compared to their sterile workers, but also individual traits lost their importance compared to colony-level traits. In solitary animals, fecundity is largely influenced by female size, whereas in eusocial insects, colony size and queen number can affect the egg-laying rate. Here we focussed on the ant which exhibits two queen morphs varying in size and reproductive strategy, correlating with their colony's social organization. Read More

Mol Cell Proteomics 2021 Jan 7;20:100041. Epub 2021 Jan 7.

Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA; Mass Spectrometry Resource Laboratory, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA. Electronic address:

Cells continually degrade and replace damaged proteins. However, the high energetic demand of protein turnover generates reactive oxygen species that compromise the long-term health of the proteome. Thus, the relationship between aging, protein turnover, and energetic demand remains unclear. Read More

J Nanobiotechnology 2021 Feb 24;19(1):54. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment Instrument, Department of Instrument Science & Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.

Background: Gene and chemical therapy has become one of the rising stars in the field of molecular medicine during the last two decades. However, there are still numerous challenges in the development of efficient, targeted, and safe delivery systems that can avoid siRNA degradation and reduce the toxicity and adverse effects of chemotherapy medicine.

Results: In this paper, a highly efficient AS1411 aptamer modified, dsDNA and MMP-2 cleavable peptide-fabricated gold nanocage vehicle, which could load doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and siRNAs to achieve a combination of tumor responsive genetic therapy, chemotherapy, and photothermal treatment is presented. Read More

Front Immunol 2020 3;11:615402. Epub 2021 Feb 3.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States.

The obligate human pathogen causes both cutaneous ulcers in children and sexually transmitted genital ulcers (chancroid) in adults. Pathogenesis is dependent on avoiding phagocytosis and exploiting the suppurative granuloma-like niche, which contains a myriad of innate immune cells and memory T cells. Despite this immune infiltrate, long-lived immune protection does not develop against repeated infections-even with the same strain. Read More

Mech Ageing Dev 2021 Feb 16;195:111463. Epub 2021 Feb 16.

The Danish Twin Registry and The Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsloews Vej 9B, 5000 Odense C, Denmark; Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, J.B. Winsloews Vej 4, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.

Cognitive function is a substantially heritable trait related to numerous important life outcomes. Several genome-wide association studies of cognitive function have in recent years led to the identification of thousands of significantly associated loci and genes. Individuals included in these studies have rarely been nonagenarians and centenarians, and since cognitive function is an important component of quality of life for this rapidly expanding demographic group, there is a need to explore genetic factors associated with individual differences in cognitive function at advanced ages. Read More