@article{MuellerKoehlerHendricksetal.2021, author = {M{\"u}ller, Sophie and K{\"o}hler, Franziska and Hendricks, Anne and Kastner, Carolin and B{\"o}rner, Kevin and Diers, Johannes and Lock, Johan F. and Petritsch, Bernhard and Germer, Christoph-Thomas and Wiegering, Armin}, title = {Brain metastases from colorectal cancer: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to establish a guideline for daily treatment}, series = {Cancers}, volume = {13}, journal = {Cancers}, number = {4}, issn = {2072-6694}, doi = {10.3390/cancers13040900}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228883}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Most patients with metastatic CRC develop liver or lung metastases, while a minority suffer from brain metastases. There is little information available regarding the presentation, treatment, and overall survival of brain metastases (BM) from CRC. This systematic review and meta-analysis includes data collected from three major databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase) based on the key words "brain", "metastas*", "tumor", "colorectal", "cancer", and "malignancy". In total, 1318 articles were identified in the search and 86 studies matched the inclusion criteria. The incidence of BM varied between 0.1\% and 11.5\%. Most patients developed metastases at other sites prior to developing BM. Lung metastases and KRAS mutations were described as risk factors for additional BM. Patients with BM suffered from various symptoms, but up to 96.8\% of BM patients were asymptomatic at the time of BM diagnosis. Median survival time ranged from 2 to 9.6 months, and overall survival (OS) increased up to 41.1 months in patients on a multimodal therapy regimen. Several factors including age, blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), multiple metastases sites, number of brain lesions, and presence of the KRAS mutation were predictors of OS. For BM diagnosis, MRI was considered to be state of the art. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgery, radiation, or systemic treatment.}, language = {en} } @article{OelschlaegelWeissSadanSalpeteretal.2020, author = {Oelschlaegel, Diana and Weiss Sadan, Tommy and Salpeter, Seth and Krug, Sebastian and Blum, Galia and Schmitz, Werner and Schulze, Almut and Michl, Patrick}, title = {Cathepsin inhibition modulates metabolism and polarization of tumor-associated macrophages}, series = {Cancers}, volume = {12}, journal = {Cancers}, number = {9}, issn = {2072-6694}, doi = {10.3390/cancers12092579}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213040}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Stroma-infiltrating immune cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), play an important role in regulating tumor progression and chemoresistance. These effects are mostly conveyed by secreted mediators, among them several cathepsin proteases. In addition, increasing evidence suggests that stroma-infiltrating immune cells are able to induce profound metabolic changes within the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we aimed to characterize the impact of cathepsins in maintaining the TAM phenotype in more detail. For this purpose, we investigated the molecular effects of pharmacological cathepsin inhibition on the viability and polarization of human primary macrophages as well as its metabolic consequences. Pharmacological inhibition of cathepsins B, L, and S using a novel inhibitor, GB111-NH\(_2\), led to changes in cellular recycling processes characterized by an increased expression of autophagy- and lysosome-associated marker genes and reduced adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content. Decreased cathepsin activity in primary macrophages further led to distinct changes in fatty acid metabolites associated with increased expression of key modulators of fatty acid metabolism, such as fatty acid synthase (FASN) and acid ceramidase (ASAH1). The altered fatty acid profile was associated with an increased synthesis of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandin PGE\(_2\), which correlated with the upregulation of numerous NF\(_k\)B-dependent pro-inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα). Our data indicate a novel link between cathepsin activity and metabolic reprogramming in macrophages, demonstrated by a profound impact on autophagy and fatty acid metabolism, which facilitates a pro-inflammatory micromilieu generally associated with enhanced tumor elimination. These results provide a strong rationale for therapeutic cathepsin inhibition to overcome the tumor-promoting effects of the immune-evasive tumor micromilieu.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Duque2022, author = {Duque, Laura Maria Ribeiro}, title = {Effects of ozone on plants and plant-insect interactions}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-27798}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-277983}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Anthropogenic activities are causing air pollution. Amongst air pollutants, tropospheric ozone is a major threat to human health and ecosystem functioning. In this dissertation, I present three studies that aimed at increasing our knowledge on how plant exposure to ozone affects its reproduction and its interactions with insect herbivores and pollinators. For this purpose, a new fumigation system was built and placed in a greenhouse. The annual plant Sinapis arvensis (wild mustard) was used as the model plant. Plants were exposed to either 0 ppb (control) or 120 ppb of ozone, for variable amounts of time and at different points of their life cycle. After fumigation, plants were exposed to herbivores or pollinators in the greenhouse, or to both groups of insects in the field. My research shows that ozone affected reproductive performance differently, depending on the timing of exposure: plants exposed at earlier ages had their reproductive fitness increased, while plants exposed later in their life cycle showed a tendency for reduced reproductive fitness. Plant phenology was a key factor influencing reproductive fitness: ozone accelerated flowering and increased the number of flowers produced by plants exposed at early ages, while plants exposed to ozone at later ages tended to have fewer flowers. On the other hand, the ozone-mediated changes in plant-insect interactions had little impact on plant reproductive success. The strongest effect of ozone on plant-pollinator interactions was the change in the number of flower visits received per plant, which was strongly linked to the number of open flowers. This means that, as a rule, exposure of plants to ozone early in the life cycle resulted in a higher number of pollinator visits, while exposure later in the life cycle resulted in fewer flower visits by potential pollinators. An exception was observed: the higher number of visits performed by large syrphid flies to young ozone-exposed plants than to the respective control plants went beyond the increase in the number of open flowers in those plants. Also, honeybees spent more time per flower in plants exposed to ozone than on control plants, while other pollinators spent similar amounts of time in control and ozone-exposed plants. This guild-dependent preference for ozone-exposed plants may be due to species-specific preferences related to changes in the quality and quantity of floral rewards. In the field, ozone-exposed plants showed only a tendency for increased colonization by sucking herbivores and slightly more damage by chewing herbivores than control plants. On the other hand, in the greenhouse experiment, Pieris brassicae butterflies preferred control plants over ozone-exposed plants as oviposition sites. Eggs laid on ozone-exposed plants took longer to hatch, but the chances of survival were higher. Caterpillars performed better in control plants than in ozone-exposed plants, particularly when the temperature was high. Most of the described effects were dependent on the duration and timing of the ozone exposure and the observed temperature, with the strongest effects being observed for longer exposures and higher temperatures. Furthermore, the timing of exposure altered the direction of the effects. The expected climate change provides ideal conditions for further increases in tropospheric ozone concentrations, therefore for stronger effects on plants and plant-insect interactions. Acceleration of flowering caused by plant exposure to ozone may put plant-pollinator interactions at risk by promoting desynchronization between plant and pollinator activities. Reduced performance of caterpillars feeding on ozone-exposed plants may weaken herbivore populations. On the other hand, the increased plant reproduction that results from exposing young plants to ozone may be a source of good news in the field of horticulture, when similar results would be achieved in high-value crops. However, plant response to ozone is highly species-specific. In fact, Sinapis arvensis is considered a weed and the advantage conferred by ozone exposure may increase its competitiveness, with negative consequences for crops or plant communities in general. Overall, plant exposure to ozone might constitute a threat for the balance of natural and agro-ecosystems.}, subject = {Plant}, language = {en} } @article{KruegerMausKressetal.2021, author = {Kr{\"u}ger, Timothy and Maus, Katharina and Kreß, Verena and Meyer-Natus, Elisabeth and Engstler, Markus}, title = {Single-cell motile behaviour of Trypanosoma brucei in thin-layered fluid collectives}, series = {The European Physical Journal E}, volume = {44}, journal = {The European Physical Journal E}, number = {3}, issn = {1292-895X}, doi = {10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00052-7}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-273022}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We describe a system for the analysis of an important unicellular eukaryotic flagellate in a confining and crowded environment. The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is arguably one of the most versatile microswimmers known. It has unique properties as a single microswimmer and shows remarkable adaptations (not only in motility, but prominently so), to its environment during a complex developmental cycle involving two different hosts. Specific life cycle stages show fascinating collective behaviour, as millions of cells can be forced to move together in extreme confinement. Our goal is to examine such motile behaviour directly in the context of the relevant environments. Therefore, for the first time, we analyse the motility behaviour of trypanosomes directly in a widely used assay, which aims to evaluate the parasites behaviour in collectives, in response to as yet unknown parameters. In a step towards understanding whether, or what type of, swarming behaviour of trypanosomes exists, we customised the assay for quantitative tracking analysis of motile behaviour on the single-cell level. We show that the migration speed of cell groups does not directly depend on single-cell velocity and that the system remains to be simplified further, before hypotheses about collective motility can be advanced.}, language = {en} } @article{FerreiraBoffVerzaetal.2021, author = {Ferreira, Eliana Aparecida and Boff, Samuel and Verza, Sandra S. and Mussury, Rosilda Mara}, title = {Bioecological and behavioral interaction between pollinating bees and the pioneer shrub Ludwigia nervosa in degraded area suggests an exotic bee as its major pollinator}, series = {Biology}, volume = {10}, journal = {Biology}, number = {2}, issn = {2079-7737}, doi = {10.3390/biology10020114}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228757}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The flowers of plants of the genus Ludwigia are an important source of food for several species of bees. In the current study, we conducted an experiment with the aim to describe the reproductive biology and phenology of L. nervosa; to identify the species of visiting bees; analyze the foraging behavior of bees; and to investigate whether the reproductive success of the species is related to the foraging activity of bees. We found that the flowers received visits from several native bee species (n = 7), in addition of the exotic honey bees which came to be the dominant species. During visits the majority of the bees foraged in both resources, pollen and nectar. The significantly higher production of fruits in open pollinated pollination experiment compared to artificial cross pollination, suggests honey bees as effective pollinator of this plant species in the study site. Pollen deposition occurs efficiently, given the absence of pollen limitation. Despite massive visitation of honey bees, Ludwigianervosa is attractive to native bees, and therefore it may help to sustain population of both native and exotic pollinators in fragmented humid areas.}, language = {en} } @article{DandekarBencurovaOsmanogluetal.2021, author = {Dandekar, Thomas and Bencurova, Elena and Osmanoglu, {\"O}zge and Naseem, Muhammad}, title = {Klimapflanzen und biologische Wege zu negativen Kohlendioxidemissionen}, series = {BIOspektrum}, volume = {27}, journal = {BIOspektrum}, number = {7}, issn = {1868-6249}, doi = {10.1007/s12268-021-1677-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270067}, pages = {769-772}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Climate plants are critical to prevent global warming as all efforts to save carbon dioxide are too slow and climate disasters on the rise. For best carbon dioxide harvesting we compare algae, trees and crop plants and use metagenomic analysis of environmental samples. We compare different pathways, carbon harvesting potentials of different plants as well as synthetic modifications including carbon dioxide flux balance analysis. For implementation, agriculture and modern forestry are important.}, language = {de} } @article{SputhPanzerStigloheretal.2021, author = {Sputh, Sebastian and Panzer, Sabine and Stigloher, Christian and Terpitz, Ulrich}, title = {Superaufgel{\"o}ste Mikroskopie: Pilze unter Beobachtung}, series = {BIOspektrum}, volume = {27}, journal = {BIOspektrum}, number = {4}, issn = {1868-6249}, doi = {10.1007/s12268-021-1592-6}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270014}, pages = {380-382}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The diffraction limit of light confines fluorescence imaging of subcellular structures in fungi. Different super-resolution methods are available for the analysis of fungi that we briefly discuss. We exploit the filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi expressing a YFP-labeled membrane protein showing the benefit of correlative light- and electron microscopy (CLEM), that combines structured illumination microscopy (SIM) and scanning election microscopy (SEM).}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Wagner2022, author = {Wagner, Martin}, title = {Zyto- und Gentoxizit{\"a}t von Zinkoxid-Nanopartikeln in humanen mesenchymalen Stammzellen nach repetitiver Exposition und im Langzeitversuch}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-27572}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-275726}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Zinkoxid-Nanopartikel (ZnO-NP) finden in vielen Produkten des t{\"a}glichen Verbrauchs Verwendung. Daten {\"u}ber die toxikologischen Eigenschaften von ZnO-NP werden kontrovers diskutiert. Die menschliche Haut ist in Bezug auf die ZnO-NP Exposition das wichtigste Kontakt-Organ. Intakte Haut stellt eine suffiziente Barriere gegen{\"u}ber NP dar. Bei defekter Haut ist ein Kontakt zu den proliferierenden Stammzellen m{\"o}glich, sodass diese als wichtiges toxikologische Ziel f{\"u}r NP darstellen. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation war die Bewertung der genotoxischen und zytotoxischen Effekte an humanen mesenchymalen Stammzellen (hMSC) durch niedrig dosierte ZnO-NP nach 24 st{\"u}ndiger Exposition, repetitiven Expositionen und im Langzeitversuch bis zu 6 Wochen. Zytotoxische Wirkungen von ZnO-NP wurden mit 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromid-Test (MTT) gemessen. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus wurde die Genotoxizit{\"a}t durch den Comet-Assay bewertet. Zur Langzeitbeobachtung bis zu 6 Wochen wurde die Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (TEM) verwendet. Zytotoxizit{\"a}t nach 24-st{\"u}ndiger ZnO-NP-Exposition war ab einer Konzentration von 50 µg/ml nachweisbar. Genotoxizit{\"a}t konnten bereits bei Konzentrationen von 1 und 10 µg/ml ZnO-NP beschrieben werden. Wiederholte Exposition verst{\"a}rkte die Zyto-, aber nicht die Genotoxizit{\"a}t. Eine intrazellul{\"a}re NP-Akkumulation mit Penetration der Zellorganelle wurde bei einer Exposition bis zu 6 Wochen beobachtet. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf zytotoxische und genotoxisches Effekte von ZnO-NP hin. Bereits geringe Dosen von ZnO-NP k{\"o}nnen bei wiederholter Exposition toxische Wirkungen hervorrufen sowie eine langfristige Zellakkumulation. Diese Daten sollten bei der Verwendung von ZnO-NP an gesch{\"a}digter Haut ber{\"u}cksichtigt werden.}, subject = {nanoparticle}, language = {de} } @article{PliegerWolf2022, author = {Plieger, Tanja and Wolf, Matthias}, title = {18S and ITS2 rDNA sequence-structure phylogeny of Prototheca (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae)}, series = {Biologia}, volume = {77}, journal = {Biologia}, number = {2}, issn = {1336-9563}, doi = {10.1007/s11756-021-00971-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269897}, pages = {569-582}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Protothecosis is an infectious disease caused by organisms currently classified within the green algal genus Prototheca. The disease can manifest as cutaneous lesions, olecranon bursitis or disseminated or systemic infections in both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients. Concerning diagnostics, taxonomic validity is important. Prototheca, closely related to the Chlorella species complex, is known to be polyphyletic, branching with Auxenochlorella and Helicosporidium. The phylogeny of Prototheca was discussed and revisited several times in the last decade; new species have been described. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and partial mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) sequence data. In this work we use Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) as well as 18S rDNA data. However, for the first time, we reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of Prototheca using primary sequence and RNA secondary structure information simultaneously, a concept shown to increase robustness and accuracy of phylogenetic tree estimation. Using encoded sequence-structure data, Neighbor-Joining, Maximum-Parsimony and Maximum-Likelihood methods yielded well-supported trees in agreement with other trees calculated on rDNA; but differ in several aspects from trees using cytb as a phylogenetic marker. ITS2 secondary structures of Prototheca sequences are in agreement with the well-known common core structure of eukaryotes but show unusual differences in their helix lengths. An elongation of the fourth helix of some species seems to have occurred independently in the course of evolution.}, language = {en} } @article{KriegelMatevskiSchuldt2021, author = {Kriegel, Peter and Matevski, Dragan and Schuldt, Andreas}, title = {Monoculture and mixture-planting of non-native Douglas fir alters species composition, but promotes the diversity of ground beetles in a temperate forest system}, series = {Biodiversity and Conservation}, volume = {30}, journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation}, number = {5}, issn = {1572-9710}, doi = {10.1007/s10531-021-02155-1}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269017}, pages = {1479-1499}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Planting non-native tree species, like Douglas fir in temperate European forest systems, is encouraged to mitigate effects of climate change. However, Douglas fir monocultures often revealed negative effects on forest biota, while effects of mixtures with native tree species on forest ecosystems are less well understood. We investigated effects of three tree species (Douglas fir, Norway spruce, native European beech), on ground beetles in temperate forests of Germany. Beetles were sampled in monocultures of each tree species and broadleaf-conifer mixtures with pitfall traps, and environmental variables were assessed around each trap. We used linear mixed models in a two-step procedure to disentangle effects of environment and tree species identity on ground beetle abundance, species richness, functional diversity and species assemblage structure. Contradictory to our expectations, ground beetle abundance and functional diversity was highest in pure Douglas fir stands, while tree mixtures showed intermediate values between pure coniferous and pure beech stands. The main drivers of these patterns were only partially dependent on tree species identity, which highlights the importance of structural features in forest stands. However, our study revealed distinct shifts in assemblage structure between pure beech and pure Douglas fir stands, which were only partially eased through mixture planting. Our findings suggest that effects of planting non-native trees on associated biodiversity can be actively modified by promoting beneficial forest structures. Nevertheless, integrating non-native tree species, even in mixtures with native trees, will invariably alter assemblage structures of associated biota, which can compromise conservation efforts targeted at typical species composition.}, language = {en} }