Photosynthetic carbon converted to sucrose is vital for plant growth. Sucrose acts as a signaling molecule and a primary energy source that coordinates the source and sink development. Alteration in source-sink balance halts the physiological and developmental processes of plants, since plant growth is mostly triggered when the primary assimilates in the source leaf balance with the metabolic needs of the heterotrophic sinks. To measure up with the sink organ\'s metabolic needs, the improvement of photosynthetic carbon to synthesis sucrose, its remobilization, and utilization at the sink level becomes imperative. However, environmental cues that influence sucrose balance within these plant organs, limiting positive yield prospects, have also been a rising issue over the past few decades. Thus, this review discusses strategies to improve photosynthetic carbon assimilation, the pathways actively involved in the transport of sucrose from source to sink organs, and their utilization at the sink organ. We further emphasize the impact of various environmental cues on sucrose transport and utilization, and the strategic yield improvement approaches under such conditions.

Hypertension (HT) is a public health problem in children particularly related to the epidemic of overweight and obesity. Monogenic forms of HT are important in the differential diagnosis in children presenting with severe or refractory HT, who have a family history of early-onset HT, unusual physical examination findings, and/or characteristic hormonal and biochemical abnormalities. Most genetic defects in these disorders ultimately result in increased sodium transport in the distal nephron resulting in volume expansion and HT. Genetic testing, which is increasingly available, has diagnostic, therapeutic, and predictive implications for families affected by these rare conditions.

ATP binding cassette (ABC) ATPases form chemo-mechanical engines and switches that function in a broad range of biological processes. Most prominently, a very large family of integral membrane NTPases-ABC transporters-catalyzes the import or export of a diverse molecules across membranes. ABC proteins are also important components of the chromosome segregation, recombination, and DNA repair machineries and regulate or catalyze critical steps of ribosomal protein synthesis. Recent structural and mechanistic studies draw interesting architectural and mechanistic parallels between diverse ABC proteins. Here, I review this state of our understanding how NTP-dependent conformational changes of ABC proteins drive diverse biological processes. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 105: 492-504, 2016.

The presence of parietal cell antibody (PCA) in serum is a biomarker of autoimmune gastritis. PCA directly recognizes the H/K ATPase expressed in parietal cells, which is responsible for the active transport of hydrogen ions in exchange for potassium ions to increase the acidity of gastric secretions. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) mainly results from pancreatic β-cell destruction due to cell-type specific autoimmunity. Considering autoimmune factors may be the common characteristics of both PCA positivity and T1DM, it is likely that both disorders may coexist within the same patient. The main objective of this meta-analysis is to provide a reliable evaluation to clarify the association between PCA positivity and T1DM by combining the raw data from all of the relevant studies.Literature databases, including the Medline, Embase, and Web of Science, were systematically queried for studies investigating the association between PCA positivity and T1DM and were published from January 1980 to December 2014. A total of 3,584 T1DM cases and 2,650 non-T1DM controls were included in this meta-analysis, which showed that PCA positivity was more prevalent in patients with T1DM than healthy controls. Publication bias testing found no significant biases and sensitivity analysis demonstrated that our statistics were relatively stable and credible.Our findings suggested that T1DM was associated with an increased risk of PCA positivity compared to control populations.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death around the world; the addition of chemotherapy to treatment of this disease has been shown to significantly increase progression-free survival and overall survival. Despite newer chemotherapies, it is important to personalize the care (treatment and dose) upon each single patient\'s susceptibility for controlling and reducing adverse side-effects, at best. The present review describes the current status of pharmacogenomics studies regarding germline DNA variants that may alter response and tolerability to chemotherapeutic agents used to treat lung cancer, including perspective studies.

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world. Special molecules have evolved for iron acquisition, transport and storage in soluble, nontoxic forms. Studies about the effects of iron on health are focused on iron metabolism or nutrition to prevent or treat iron deficiency and anemia. These studies are focused in two main aspects: (1) basic studies to elucidate iron metabolism and (2) nutritional studies to evaluate the efficacy of iron supplementation to prevent or treat iron deficiency and anemia. This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of the experimental models commonly used as well as the methods that are more used in studies related to iron. In vitro studies have used different parts of the gut. In vivo studies are done in humans and animals such as mice, rats, pigs and monkeys. Iron metabolism is a complex process that includes interactions at the systemic level. In vitro studies, despite physiological differences to humans, are useful to increase knowledge related to this essential micronutrient. Isotopic techniques are the most recommended in studies related to iron, but their high cost and required logistic, making them difficult to use. The depletion-repletion of hemoglobin is a method commonly used in animal studies. Three depletion-repletion techniques are mostly used: hemoglobin regeneration efficiency, relative biological values (RBV) and metabolic balance, which are official methods of the association of official analytical chemists. These techniques are well-validated to be used as studies related to iron and their results can be extrapolated to humans. Knowledge about the main advantages and disadvantages of the in vitro and animal models, and methods used in these studies, could increase confidence of researchers in the experimental results with less costs.

Fleshy fruit acidity is an important component of fruit organoleptic quality and is mainly due to the presence of malic and citric acids, the main organic acids found in most ripe fruits. The accumulation of these two acids in fruit cells is the result of several interlinked processes that take place in different compartments of the cell and appear to be under the control of many factors. This review combines analyses of transcriptomic, metabolomic, and proteomic data, and fruit process-based simulation models of the accumulation of citric and malic acids, to further our understanding of the physiological mechanisms likely to control the accumulation of these two acids during fruit development. The effects of agro-environmental factors, such as the source:sink ratio, water supply, mineral nutrition, and temperature, on citric and malic acid accumulation in fruit cells have been reported in several agronomic studies. This review sheds light on the interactions between these factors and the metabolism and storage of organic acids in the cell.

Except for their extra- and intra-cellular interfaces, cell membranes are hydrophobic and inhibit the transport of hydrophilic molecules. Metalloids in aqueous solutions form chemical species with oxygen and hydroxyl groups and, therefore, exist as hydrophilic neutral polar solutes or as hydrophilic anions. This characteristic of metalloids introduces a large barrier for their passage through the cell membrane via unaided diffusion. The necessity for an uptake mechanism for metalloids arises from the requirement of these species for the maintenance of life, such as the need of boron for plant cells. Conversely, the transport of these species out of the cell is necessary because some metalloids are toxic, such as arsenic and antimony, and their entrance into the cell is undesirable. The undesired uptake of these toxic species is possible via pathways designed for the uptake of other structurally and chemically similar essential compounds. Therefore, the extrusion of arsenic and antimony out of the cell is an example of a detoxification mechanism. As a consequence of the hydrophobic character of the cell membrane in all living systems, the main route for the uptake and efflux of metalloids is facilitated by transmembrane proteins, driven either by concentration gradients or by energy-fueled pumps. However, metalloids forming or embedded in nano-sized particles escape the need to cross the cell membrane because these particles can be taken into the cell by endocytosis. Here, we review the uptake and efflux pathways of boron, silicon, arsenic, and antimony through the cell membranes of different organisms and the protein channels involved in these processes. In particular, passive diffusion via aquaglyceroporins, active transport via primary and secondary ion pumps, extrusion into vacuoles of metalloid-thiol conjugates via ATP-binding cassette, the efflux of methylated metalloids, and endocytosis are summarized.

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Functional analysis of material transfers requires precise statement of residence times in each tissue compartment. For the placenta, neither extractive biochemistry, isotope partitioning, nor mass-based quantitative assays provide adequate spatial resolution to allow the necessary precision. Dual-perfusion assays of material transfer in isolated placental cotyledons provide time-series data for two compartments, the maternal and fetal blood, but fail to distinguish the two cellular compartments (syncytiotrophoblast, fetal endothelium) which actively regulate rates of transfer in each direction for essentially every important molecule type. At present, no definitive technology exists for functional analysis of placental transfer functions. The challenge in developing such a technology lies in the exquisitely small and delicate structures involved, which are scaled at cellular and subcellular sizes (between 50 nm and 50 microm). The only available technologies attaining this high spatial resolution are imaging technologies, primarily light and electron microscopy. To achieve the high-quality images necessary, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is required, to provide a uniform optical sectioning plane. In turn, this requires relatively high fluorescence intensities. Design of an adequate technology therefore bases on CLSM imaging fluorochrome-tagged tracers. The temporal resolution necessary to analyse placental material transfers is expected to be of the order of a few seconds, so that conventional wet-fixation protocols are too slow. For adequately rapid fixation, snap-freezing is required. As part of this review we report results obtained from an appropriately designed experimental protocol, analysed by CLSM and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The images acquired were tested for uniformity of illumination and fluorescence emission strength. Relevant data was encoded in the green channel of the trichrome images obtained, and this was thresholded by application of strict quantitative criteria. The thresholding procedure is suitable for automation and produces reproducible, objectifiable results. Thresholded images were subjected to image calculation procedures designed to highlight image elements (pixels) containing (green) fluorescence associated with the tracer protein; all other sources of fluorescence were visualised in the final images only if no green fluorescence was detectable in that pixel. The resulting images were maps, showing the distribution of tracer molecules at a predefined time interval after perfusion of the tracer into the vital (term) cotyledon. Spatial resolution was routinely better than 1 microm and temporal resolution was approximately 5s. At timepoints up to 10 min after intravital application into the fetal vascular circulation, tracer was associated with capillaries in the villous structures, and no tracer was observed in the syncytiotrophoblast. Clear distinction was achieved between the four tissue compartments relevant to placental transfers, thus providing a novel technology capable of generating high-quality data concerning the regulation of transfers of any molecule that can bear a fluorescent tag. The potential applications of this methodology lie in analyses of factors influencing the rates of fetomaternal and maternofetal exchanges (for example, drugs), and of functional responses of the placental regulation to pathophysiological conditions such as hypoxia.