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Current Opinion in Neurobiology Dec 2016Recent trends in neuroscience have narrowed the scope of this field, notably through the progressive elimination of 'model systems' that were key to the development of... (Review)
Review
Recent trends in neuroscience have narrowed the scope of this field, notably through the progressive elimination of 'model systems' that were key to the development of modern molecular, developmental and functional neuroscience. Although the fantastic opportunities offered by modern molecular biology entirely justify the use of selected organisms (e.g., for their genetic advantages), we argue that a diversity of model systems is essential if we wish to identify the brain's computational principles. It is through comparisons that we can hope to separate mechanistic details (results of each organism's specific history) from functional principles, those that will hopefully one day lead to a theory of the brain.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Humans; Models, Biological; Neurosciences
PubMed: 27504859
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2016.07.009 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jan 2009An organism's fitness is critically reliant on its immune system to provide protection against parasites and pathogens. The structure of even simple immune systems is...
An organism's fitness is critically reliant on its immune system to provide protection against parasites and pathogens. The structure of even simple immune systems is surprisingly complex and clearly will have been moulded by the organism's ecology. The aim of this review and the theme issue is to examine the role of different ecological factors on the evolution of immunity. Here, we will provide a general framework of the field by contextualizing the main ecological factors, including interactions with parasites, other types of biotic as well as abiotic interactions, intraspecific selective constraints (life-history trade-offs, sexual selection) and population genetic processes. We then elaborate the resulting immunological consequences such as the diversity of defence mechanisms (e.g. avoidance behaviour, resistance, tolerance), redundancy and protection against immunopathology, life-history integration of the immune response and shared immunity within a community (e.g. social immunity and microbiota-mediated protection). Our review summarizes the concepts of current importance and directs the reader to promising future research avenues that will deepen our understanding of the defence against parasites and pathogens.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Ecosystem; Genetics, Population; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Immunity
PubMed: 18926970
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0249 -
Cell Chemical Biology Jan 2016Organism-level systems biology aims to identify, analyze, control and design cellular circuits in organisms. Many experimental and computational approaches have been... (Review)
Review
Organism-level systems biology aims to identify, analyze, control and design cellular circuits in organisms. Many experimental and computational approaches have been developed over the years to allow us to conduct these studies. Some of the most powerful methods are based on using optical imaging in combination with fluorescent labeling, and for those one of the long-standing stumbling blocks has been tissue opacity. Recently, the solutions to this problem have started to emerge based on whole-body and whole-organ clearing techniques that employ innovative tissue-clearing chemistry. Here, we review these advancements and discuss how combining new clearing techniques with high-performing fluorescent proteins or small molecule tags, rapid volume imaging and efficient image informatics is resulting in comprehensive and quantitative organ-wide, single-cell resolution experimental data. These technologies are starting to yield information on connectivity and dynamics in cellular circuits at unprecedented resolution, and bring us closer to system-level understanding of physiology and diseases of complex mammalian systems.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Brain Mapping; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Microscopy; Optical Imaging; Single-Cell Analysis; Systems Biology; Whole Body Imaging
PubMed: 26933741
DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.11.009 -
Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Feb 2012Throughout gestation, the close relationship between mothers and their progeny ensures adequate development and a successful transition to postnatal life. By living... (Review)
Review
Throughout gestation, the close relationship between mothers and their progeny ensures adequate development and a successful transition to postnatal life. By living inside the maternal compartment, the fetus is inevitably exposed to rhythms of the maternal internal milieu such as temperature; rhythms originated by maternal food intake and maternal melatonin, one of the few maternal hormones that cross the placenta unaltered. The fetus, immature by adult standards, is however perfectly fit to accomplish the dual functions of living in the uterine environment and developing the necessary tools to "mature" for the next step, i.e. to be a competent newborn. In the fetal physiological context, organ function differs from the same organ's function in the newborn and adult. This may also extend to the developing circadian system. The information reviewed here suggests that the fetal circadian system is organized differently from that of the adult. Moreover, the fetal circadian rhythm is not just present simply as the initial immature expression of a mechanism that has function in the postnatal animal only. We propose that the fetal suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus and fetal organs are peripheral maternal circadian oscillators, entrained by different maternal signals. Conceptually, the arrangement produces internal temporal order during fetal life, inside the maternal compartment. Following birth, it will allow for postnatal integration of the scattered fetal circadian clocks into an adult-like circadian system commanded by the SCN.
Topics: Adrenal Glands; Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Female; Fetus; Humans; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Melatonin; Pregnancy; Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
PubMed: 21840372
DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2011.07.039 -
Revue Neurologique May 2021Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex disease that affects not only sensory and motor pathways below the neurological level of injury (NLI) but also all the organs and... (Review)
Review
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex disease that affects not only sensory and motor pathways below the neurological level of injury (NLI) but also all the organs and systems situated below this NLI. This multisystem impairment implies comprehensive management in dedicated SCI specialized centers, by interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams, able to treat not only the neurological impairment, but also all the systems and organs affected. After a brief history of the Spinal Cord Medicine, the author describes how to determine the level and severity of a SCI based on the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury and the prognosis factors of recovery. This article provides also a review of the numerous SCI-related impairments (except for urinary, sexual problems and pain treated separately in this issue), their principles of management and related complications.
Topics: Humans; Spinal Cord Injuries
PubMed: 33931244
DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2021.02.385 -
Burns & Trauma 2022Following injury, tissue autonomously initiates a complex repair process, resulting in either partial recovery or regeneration of tissue architecture and function in... (Review)
Review
Following injury, tissue autonomously initiates a complex repair process, resulting in either partial recovery or regeneration of tissue architecture and function in most organisms. Both the repair and regeneration processes are highly coordinated by a hierarchy of interplay among signal transduction pathways initiated by different growth factors, cytokines and other signaling molecules under normal conditions. However, under chronic traumatic or pathological conditions, the reparative or regenerative process of most tissues in different organs can lose control to different extents, leading to random, incomplete or even flawed cell and tissue reconstitution and thus often partial restoration of the original structure and function, accompanied by the development of fibrosis, scarring or even pathogenesis that could cause organ failure and death of the organism. Ample evidence suggests that the various combinatorial fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and receptor signal transduction systems play prominent roles in injury repair and the remodeling of adult tissues in addition to embryonic development and regulation of metabolic homeostasis. In this review, we attempt to provide a brief update on our current understanding of the roles, the underlying mechanisms and clinical application of FGFs in tissue injury repair.
PubMed: 35350443
DOI: 10.1093/burnst/tkac005 -
Current Opinion in Neurobiology Oct 2004Genetic mosaic techniques provide a powerful tool for dissecting gene function in the intricate genetic networks that underlie the formation and function of nervous... (Review)
Review
Genetic mosaic techniques provide a powerful tool for dissecting gene function in the intricate genetic networks that underlie the formation and function of nervous systems. For instance, it is possible to make individual cells or groups of cells homozygous for mutations of interest at specific points during an organism's development. It is also possible to resolve lineage relationships and to characterize cellular morphology and connectivity. Current techniques for creating genetically mosaic organisms incorporate improved controls over clone induction, identification, and/or mosaic tissue characterization.
Topics: Animals; Cell Lineage; Cell Shape; Genetic Markers; Humans; Molecular Biology; Mosaicism; Mutation; Nervous System; Phenotype; Recombination, Genetic
PubMed: 15464900
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2004.08.005 -
Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics 2021This article presents the new system approach for the biotribological description of the stomatognathic system, with particular emphasis on one of its subsystems, the...
PURPOSE
This article presents the new system approach for the biotribological description of the stomatognathic system, with particular emphasis on one of its subsystems, the dental organ.
METHODS
The peculiarity of the dental organ is emphasised, associated with a specific autonomic environment, next to the external environment, resulting from the impact of the organism on the dental organ. The autonomic environment increases the number of relations between elements in the dental organ and hinders its examination.
RESULTS
The characteristics of the dental organ are described. Its main elements, their properties, and the relationships between them are identified, and the system's functions, inputs and outputs are presented. The systems approach addresses these difficulties, enabling the analysis of the dental organ and its tribological characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS
The dental organ has an "autonomic" environment, which significantly increases the number of tribological relationships and complicates their analysis. Knowledge of the tribological attributes of the dental organ can be useful in studying detailed aspects of the function of the dental organ. The specific features of the analysed system and the uniqueness of its structure necessitate the use of appropriate methodology for testing the tribological properties.
PubMed: 37341106
DOI: No ID Found -
Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Jan 2014Systems biology describes a holistic and integrative approach to understand physiology and pathology. The "omic" disciplines include genomics, transcriptomics,... (Review)
Review
Systems biology describes a holistic and integrative approach to understand physiology and pathology. The "omic" disciplines include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolic profiling (metabonomics and metabolomics). By adopting a stance, which is opposing (yet complimentary) to conventional research techniques, systems biology offers an overview by assessing the "net" biological effect imposed by a disease or nondisease state. There are a number of different organizational levels to be understood, from DNA to protein, metabolites, cells, organs and organisms, even beyond this to an organism's context. Systems biology relies on the existence of "nodes" and "edges." Nodes are the constituent part of the system being studied (eg, proteins in the proteome), while the edges are the way these constituents interact. In future, it will be increasingly important to collaborate, collating data from multiple studies to improve data sets, making them freely available and undertaking integrative analyses.
Topics: Atherosclerosis; Biomarkers; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genomics; Humans; Metabolomics; Prognosis; Protein Interaction Maps; Proteomics; Signal Transduction; Systems Biology; Systems Integration
PubMed: 24212404
DOI: 10.1177/1538574413510628 -
Development, Growth & Differentiation Feb 2015Many genes that play essential roles in organ growth have been identified across a range of organisms. However, the mechanisms by which growing organs can sense their... (Review)
Review
Many genes that play essential roles in organ growth have been identified across a range of organisms. However, the mechanisms by which growing organs can sense their sizes and stop growing when they reach their proper sizes remain poorly understood. The mechanosensory organs of the fish lateral line system (neuromasts) provide an ideal system to address this question for the following reasons. First, each superficial neuromast is composed of a small number of cells situated on the body surface, making it relatively easy to quantify organ size throughout development. Second, while the sensory cells of superficial neuromasts are continuously renewed, overall organ size is homeostatically maintained. Third, there is another type of neuromast showing an opposite mode of growth: that is, canal neuromasts increase in size in proportion to organism body size. Here, we review recent findings regarding the mechanisms that control organ size in the zebrafish lateral line.
Topics: Animals; Lateral Line System; Organogenesis; Zebrafish
PubMed: 25703577
DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12196