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Aggregation of Ig light chains to form amyloid fibrils is a characteristic feature of light-chain amyloidosis, a light-chain deposition disease. A recombinant variable domain of the light chain SMA was used to form amyloid fibrils in vitro. Fibril formation was monitored by atomic force microscopy imaging. Single filaments 2.4 nm in diameter were predominant at early times; protofibrils 4.0 nm in diameter were predominant at intermediate times; type I and type II fibrils 8.0 nm and 6.0 nm in diameter, respectively, were predominant at the endpoints. The increase in number of fibrils correlated with increased binding of the fluorescent dye thioflavin T. The fibrils and protofibrils showed a braided structure, suggesting that their formation involves the winding of protofibrils and filaments, respectively. These observations support a model in which two filaments combine to form a protofibril, two protofibrils intertwine to form a type I fibril, and three filaments form a type II fibril.

BackgroundPlants contain significant quantities of small RNAs (sRNAs) derived from various sRNA biogenesis pathways. Many of these sRNAs play regulatory roles in plants. Previous analysis revealed that numerous sRNAs in corn, rice and soybean seeds have high sequence similarity to animal genes. However, exogenous RNA is considered to be unstable within the gastrointestinal tract of many animals, thus limiting potential for any adverse effects from consumption of dietary RNA. A recent paper reported that putative plant miRNAs were detected in animal plasma and serum, presumably acquired through ingestion, and may have a functional impact in the consuming organisms.ResultsTo address the question of how common this phenomenon could be, we searched for plant miRNAs sequences in public sRNA datasets from various tissues of mammals, chicken and insects. Our analyses revealed that plant miRNAs were present in the animal sRNA datasets, and significantly miR168 was extremely over-represented. Furthermore, all or nearly all (>96%) miR168 sequences were monocot derived for most datasets, including datasets for two insects reared on dicot plants in their respective experiments. To investigate if plant-derived miRNAs, including miR168, could accumulate and move systemically in insects, we conducted insect feeding studies for three insects including corn rootworm, which has been shown to be responsive to plant-produced long double-stranded RNAs.ConclusionsOur analyses suggest that the observed plant miRNAs in animal sRNA datasets can originate in the process of sequencing, and that accumulation of plant miRNAs via dietary exposure is not universal in animals.

ABSTRACT:Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), pregnane X receptor (PXR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-␣ (PPAR␣), and nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) are transcription factors that mediate xenobiotic induction of biotransformation enzymes and transporters. The purpose of this study was to determine the tissue distribution and xenobiotic induction of these transcription factors and their associated target genes in mice. Many of these transcription factors were most highly expressed in extrahepatic tissues. CAR expression in female liver was twice that in male liver. This corresponded with greater induction of the CAR target genes Cyp2b10 and multidrug resistance-associated protein