23 results on '"Francisca P. Díaz"'
Search Results
2. ‘White gold’ guano fertilizer drove agricultural intensification in the Atacama Desert from ad 1000
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Francisca Santana-Sagredo, Virginia McRostie, Calogero M. Santoro, Rodrigo Loyola, Rick Schulting, Mauricio Uribe, Claudio Latorre, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, Anahí Maturana-Fernández, Chris Harrod, Valentina Mandakovic, Pablo Mendez-Quiros, Francisca P. Díaz, and Ale Vidal-Elgueta
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,education.field_of_study ,δ13C ,business.industry ,Agroforestry ,Archaeological record ,Population ,Plant Science ,engineering.material ,01 natural sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,Geography ,Productivity (ecology) ,Agriculture ,Bioarchaeology ,Guano ,engineering ,Fertilizer ,business ,education ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
The archaeological record shows that large pre-Inca agricultural systems supported settlements for centuries around the ravines and oases of northern Chile’s hyperarid Atacama Desert. This raises questions about how such productivity was achieved and sustained, and its social implications. Using isotopic data of well-preserved ancient plant remains from Atacama sites, we show a dramatic increase in crop nitrogen isotope values (δ15N) from around ad 1000. Maize was most affected, with δ15N values as high as +30‰, and human bone collagen following a similar trend; moreover, their carbon isotope values (δ13C) indicate a considerable increase in the consumption of maize at the same time. We attribute the shift to extremely high δ15N values—the highest in the world for archaeological plants—to the use of seabird guano to fertilize crops. Guano—‘white gold’ as it came to be called—thus sustained agricultural intensification, supporting a substantial population in an otherwise extreme environment. The source of pre-Inca agriculture in the Atacama Desert of Chile has been the subject of multiple theories, but this Article uses preserved maize remains to deduce that coastal guano deposits were utilized in an impressive display of social and ecological sophistication.
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- 2021
3. Revealing hidden plant diversity in arid environments
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Daniela C. Soto, Francisca P. Díaz, Catalina Hernández‐Castro, Claudio Latorre, Gabriela Carrasco‐Puga, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Antonio Maldonado, and Orlando Contreras-López
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Geography ,Ecology ,Plant community ,Arid ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Plant diversity - Published
- 2020
4. Plant ecological genomics at the limits of life in the Atacama Desert
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Alejandro Maass, Dennis W. Stevenson, Soledad F. Undurraga, Ariel Orellana, Francisca P. Díaz, Charles Zegar, Chase W. Nelson, Gabriela Carrasco‐Puga, Robert DeSalle, Kranthi Varala, Viviana Araus, Daniela Soto, Miguel L. Allende, Jonathan Maldonado, Mauricio González, Tatiana Kraiser, Carol Moraga, Gil Eshel, Tomás C. Moyano, Claudio Latorre, Gloria M. Coruzzi, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Henrietta Pal-Gabor, Orlando Contreras-López, Alejandro Montecinos, Martin Montecino, and Ricardo Nilo-Poyanco
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Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,Altitude ,Climate Change ,fungi ,food and beverages ,Genomics ,Cline (biology) ,Biology ,Plants ,Biological Sciences ,Crop ,Soil ,Taxon ,Nutrient ,Nitrogen fixation ,Adaptation ,Chile ,Desert Climate ,Transect ,Ecosystem ,Phylogeny ,Soil Microbiology - Abstract
The Atacama Desert in Chile—hyperarid and with high–ultraviolet irradiance levels—is one of the harshest environments on Earth. Yet, dozens of species grow there, including Atacama-endemic plants. Herein, we establish the Talabre–Lejia transect (TLT) in the Atacama as an unparalleled natural laboratory to study plant adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. We characterized climate, soil, plant, and soil–microbe diversity at 22 sites (every 100 m of altitude) along the TLT over a 10-y period. We quantified drought, nutrient deficiencies, large diurnal temperature oscillations, and pH gradients that define three distinct vegetational belts along the altitudinal cline. We deep-sequenced transcriptomes of 32 dominant plant species spanning the major plant clades, and assessed soil microbes by metabarcoding sequencing. The top-expressed genes in the 32 Atacama species are enriched in stress responses, metabolism, and energy production. Moreover, their root-associated soils are enriched in growth-promoting bacteria, including nitrogen fixers. To identify genes associated with plant adaptation to harsh environments, we compared 32 Atacama species with the 32 closest sequenced species, comprising 70 taxa and 1,686,950 proteins. To perform phylogenomic reconstruction, we concatenated 15,972 ortholog groups into a supermatrix of 8,599,764 amino acids. Using two codon-based methods, we identified 265 candidate positively selected genes (PSGs) in the Atacama plants, 64% of which are located in Pfam domains, supporting their functional relevance. For 59/184 PSGs with an Arabidopsis ortholog, we uncovered functional evidence linking them to plant resilience. As some Atacama plants are closely related to staple crops, these candidate PSGs are a “genetic goldmine” to engineer crop resilience to face climate change.
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- 2021
5. Mild deficiency of mitochondrial Complex III in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease decreases amyloid beta plaque formation
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Roberta Brambilla, Chelsey S Guastucci, Milena F. Pinto, Francisca P. Díaz, Placido Illiano, Carlos T. Moraes, and Nadee Nissanka
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Text mining ,biology ,Amyloid beta ,Chemistry ,business.industry ,mental disorders ,biology.protein ,Mitochondrial complex III ,Disease ,business ,Molecular biology - Abstract
Background: For decades, mitochondrial dysfunctions and the generation of reactive oxygen species have been proposed to promote the development and progression of the amyloid pathology in Alzheimer’s disease, but this association is still debated. In particular, it is still unclear if mitochondrial dysfunctions are a trigger or rather a consequence of the formation of amyloid aggregates, and in particular, the role of the different mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complexes in Alzheimer’s patients’ brain remains poorly understood. Methods: To study how mitochondrial Complex III defects affect amyloid beta pathology in vivo , we partially knocked out mitochondrial Complex III (CIII KO ) in mature forebrain neurons of an Alzheimer’s mouse model that develops plaque pathology (APP/PS1). Results: We found that Complex III dysfunction in adult neurons induced mild oxidative stress which did not correlate with increased amyloid beta accumulation. In fact, CIII KO -AD mice showed decreased plaque number, decreased Aβ42 toxic fragment and altered amyloid precursor protein cleavage pathway. Conclusions: Our results support a model in which mitochondrial dysfunction is not the cause of amyloid oligomer accumulation but rather a consequence of amyloid beta toxicity.
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- 2021
6. Nitrate signaling and the control of Arabidopsis growth and development
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Sebastián Moreno, Isabel Fredes, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, and Francisca P. Díaz
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Cell signaling ,Nitrates ,biology ,Arabidopsis ,Germination ,Flowers ,Plant Science ,biology.organism_classification ,01 natural sciences ,Molecular mechanics ,Cell biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Plant development ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,030104 developmental biology ,Nitrate ,chemistry ,Seeds ,Signal transduction ,Signal Transduction ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
Coordination between plant development and nutrient availability ensures a suitable supply of macromolecules for growth and developmental programs. Nitrate is an important source of nitrogen (N) that acts as a signal molecule to modulate gene expression, physiological, growth and developmental responses throughout the life of the plant. New key players in the nitrate signaling pathway have been described and knowledge of the molecular mechanics of how it impacts growth and developmental processes is increasing fast. Importantly, mechanisms for nitrate-control of growth and developmental processes have been proposed for both local as well as systemic responses. This article provides a synthesis of recent insights into molecular mechanisms by which nitrate impacts growth and development over Arabidopsis life-cycle.
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- 2019
7. Another Tale from the Harsh World: How Plants Adapt to Extreme Environments
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Yves Gibon, Claudio Latorre, Pierre Pétriacq, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Dominique Rolin, Francisca P. Díaz, Thomas Dussarrat, Guillaume Decros, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC), Biologie du fruit et pathologie (BFP), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Plateforme Metabolome Bordeaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
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0106 biological sciences ,0303 health sciences ,abiotic stress ,Abiotic stress ,Ecology ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,adaptation ,15. Life on land ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,redox ,Extremophile ,Extreme environment ,[SDV.BV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology ,extreme environment ,Adaptation ,metaphenomics ,extremophile ,metabolism ,030304 developmental biology ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
International audience; The environmental fluctuations of a constantly evolving world can mould a changing context, often unfavourable to sessile organisms that must adjust their resource allocation between both resistance or tolerance mechanisms and growth. Plants bear the fascinating ability to survive and thrive under extreme conditions, a capacity that has always attracted the curiosity of humans, who have discovered and improved species capable of meeting our physiological needs. In this context, plant research has produced a great wealth of knowledge on the responses of plants to a range of abiotic stresses, mostly considering model species and/or controlled conditions. However, there is still minimal comprehension of plant adaptations and acclimations to extreme environments, which cries out for future investigations. In this article, we examined the main advances in understanding the adapted traits fixed through evolution that allowed for plant resistance against abiotic stress in extreme natural ecosystems. Spatio-temporal adaptations from extremophile plant species are described from morpho-anatomical features to physiological function and metabolic pathways adjustments. Considering that metabolism is at the heart of plant adaptations, a focus is given to the study of primary and secondary metabolic adjustments as well as redox metabolism under extreme conditions. This article further casts a critical glance at the main successes in studying extreme environments and examines some of the challenges and opportunities this research offers, especially considering the possible interaction with ecology and metaphenomics.
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- 2021
8. Metformin delays neurological symptom onset in a mouse model of neuronal complex I deficiency
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Francisca P. Díaz, Carlos T. Moraes, Tania Arguello, Sofia Garcia, Susana Peralta, and Milena F. Pinto
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Male ,0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Mitochondrial Diseases ,Protein subunit ,Glucose uptake ,Mitochondrion ,Mouse models ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathies ,Oxidoreductase ,Internal medicine ,Genetics ,Animals ,Hypoglycemic Agents ,Medicine ,Glycolysis ,Gene ,Mice, Knockout ,Neurons ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Electron Transport Complex I ,business.industry ,NADH Dehydrogenase ,General Medicine ,Metformin ,Mitochondria ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Forebrain ,Female ,Energy Metabolism ,business ,Research Article ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Complex I (also known as NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase) deficiency is the most frequent mitochondrial disorder present in childhood. NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase iron-sulfur protein 3 (NDUFS3) is a catalytic subunit of the mitochondrial complex I; NDUFS3 is conserved from bacteria and essential for complex I function. Mutations affecting complex I, including in the Ndufs3 gene, cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases, such as Leigh syndrome. No treatment is available for these conditions. We developed and performed a detailed molecular characterization of a neuron-specific Ndufs3 conditional KO mouse model. We showed that deletion of Ndufs3 in forebrain neurons reduced complex I activity, altered brain energy metabolism, and increased locomotor activity with impaired motor coordination, balance, and stereotyped behavior. Metabolomics analyses showed an increase of glycolysis intermediates, suggesting an adaptive response to the complex I defect. Administration of metformin to these mice delayed the onset of the neurological symptoms but not of neuronal loss. This improvement was likely related to enhancement of glucose uptake and utilization, which are known effects of metformin in the brain. Despite reports that metformin inhibits complex I activity, our findings did not show worsening a complex I defect nor increases in lactic acid, suggesting that metformin should be further evaluated for use in patients with mitochondrial encephalopathies., Metformin delays onset of mitochondrial encephalopathy in a CNS model of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation defect.
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- 2020
9. 'White gold' guano fertilizer drove agricultural intensification in the Atacama Desert from AD 1000
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Francisca, Santana-Sagredo, Rick J, Schulting, Pablo, Méndez-Quiros, Ale, Vidal-Elgueta, Mauricio, Uribe, Rodrigo, Loyola, Anahí, Maturana-Fernández, Francisca P, Díaz, Claudio, Latorre, Virginia B, McRostie, Calogero M, Santoro, Valentina, Mandakovic, Chris, Harrod, and Julia, Lee-Thorp
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Crops, Agricultural ,History, 17th Century ,Archaeology ,History, 16th Century ,Agriculture ,History, 19th Century ,Chile ,Desert Climate ,History, 18th Century ,History, Medieval ,History, 15th Century - Abstract
The archaeological record shows that large pre-Inca agricultural systems supported settlements for centuries around the ravines and oases of northern Chile's hyperarid Atacama Desert. This raises questions about how such productivity was achieved and sustained, and its social implications. Using isotopic data of well-preserved ancient plant remains from Atacama sites, we show a dramatic increase in crop nitrogen isotope values (δ
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- 2020
10. Plant pathogen responses to Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate change in the central Atacama Desert, Chile
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Janet M. Wilmshurst, Francisca P. Díaz, Olivia R. Burge, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Jamie R. Wood, and Claudio Latorre
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Environmental change ,Pleistocene ,Climate Change ,lcsh:Medicine ,Climate change ,Rodentia ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,Feces ,03 medical and health sciences ,RNA, Ribosomal, 18S ,Animals ,Chile ,DNA, Ancient ,lcsh:Science ,DNA, Fungal ,Plant Diseases ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Fossils ,Ecology ,lcsh:R ,Fungi ,food and beverages ,Plant community ,biology.organism_classification ,030104 developmental biology ,Pucciniaceae ,Pluvial ,lcsh:Q ,Metagenomics ,sense organs ,Species richness ,Desert Climate ,Quaternary ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
Future climate change has the potential to alter the distribution and prevalence of plant pathogens, which may have significant implications for both agricultural crops and natural plant communities. However, there are few long-term datasets against which modelled predictions of pathogen responses to climate change can be tested. Here, we use 18S metabarcoding of 28 rodent middens (solidified deposits of rodent coprolites and nesting material) from the Central Atacama, spanning the last ca. 49 ka, to provide the first long-term late Quaternary record of change in plant pathogen communities in response to changing climate. Plant pathogen richness was significantly greater in middens deposited during the Central Andean Pluvial Event (CAPE); a period of increased precipitation between 17.5–8.5 ka. Moreover, the occurrence frequency of Pucciniaceae (rust fungi) was significantly greater during the CAPE, and the highest relative abundances for five additional potentially pathogenic taxa also occurred during this period. The results demonstrate the promising potential for ancient DNA analysis of late Quaternary samples to reveal insights into how plant pathogens responded to past climatic and environmental change, which could help predict how pathogens may responded to future change.
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- 2018
11. Variations in soil carbonate formation and seasonal bias over >4 km of relief in the western Andes (30°S) revealed by clumped isotope thermometry
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Francisca P. Díaz, Katharine W. Huntington, Mallory Cecile Ringham, Gregory D. Hoke, Andrew J. Schauer, Landon Burgener, and Claudio Latorre
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010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,Snow ,Atmospheric sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Arid ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Geophysics ,chemistry ,Space and Planetary Science ,Geochemistry and Petrology ,Soil water ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Carbonate ,Precipitation ,Transect ,Geomorphology ,Water content ,Geology ,Holocene ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Carbonate clumped isotope thermometry provides a new method for investigating long-standing questions regarding seasonal biases in soil carbonate formation and the relationship between soil carbonate formation temperatures recorded by clumped isotopes ( T ( Δ 47 ) ) and surface temperatures. We address these questions by comparing C, O, and clumped isotope data from Holocene soil carbonates to meteorological and in situ soil monitoring data along a 170 km transect with >4 km of relief in Chile (30°S). This arid transect experiences a winter wet season, and a >20 °C range in mean annual air temperature. We test the hypothesis that, regardless of soil moisture conditions, soil carbonates from arid regions record warm season biases and form in isotopic equilibrium with soil water and soil CO2. Below 3200 m, precipitation falls as rain and soil carbonate T ( Δ 47 ) values at depths >40 cm resemble summer soil temperatures. Above 3200 m, precipitation falls as snow and T ( Δ 47 ) values resemble mean annual soil temperatures. Soil carbonates from the highest site yield anomalous δ 18 O , δ 13 C , and T ( Δ 47 ) values indicative of kinetic isotope effects consistent with cryogenic carbonate formation. Our findings (1) demonstrate that soil carbonate T ( Δ 47 ) values from shallow ( 40 cm; (3) highlight the role of the soil moisture regime in modulating the timing of soil carbonate formation, which affects the resulting carbonate T ( Δ 47 ) values; and (4) show that soil carbonates from high elevation or high latitude sites may form under non-equilibrium conditions. These findings underscore the importance of understanding past soil moisture conditions when attempting to reconstruct paleotemperatures using carbonate clumped isotope thermometry.
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- 2016
12. Ancient parasite DNA from late Quaternary Atacama Desert rodent middens
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Francisca P. Díaz, Jamie R. Wood, Claudio Latorre, Janet M. Wilmshurst, Francisco Gonzalez, Olivia R. Burge, and Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez
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010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Global and Planetary Change ,Paleoparasitology ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Ecology ,Fauna ,Geology ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,Molecular ecology ,Habitat destruction ,Taxon ,Pluvial ,Paleoecology ,Taxonomic rank ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Paleoparasitology offers a window into prehistoric parasite faunas, and through studying time-series of parasite assemblages it may be possible to observe how parasites responded to past environmental or climate change, or habitat loss (host decline). Here, we use DNA metabarcoding to reconstruct parasite assemblages in twenty-eight ancient rodent middens (or paleomiddens) from the central Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The paleomiddens span the last 50,000 years, and include middens deposited before, during and after the Central Andean Pluvial Event (CAPE; 17.5–8.5 ka BP). The CAPE was a period of increased precipitation and vegetation change, which we also demonstrate was associated with changes in local rodent taxa. Thirteen parasite taxa (including lice, mites, ticks, nematodes and coccidians) were identified from the middens, nine of which were likely derived from rodent hosts and four from alternative (insect or avian) hosts. The former are consistent with parasites known to infect South American rodent hosts. At our conservative level of high taxonomic rank assignment, the parasites appear to have been resilient to the major perturbations in climate and host taxa associated with the CAPE, and finer taxonomic resolution would be required to detect whether any species turnover occurred within the identified parasite groups. Rodent paleomiddens are fast becoming an unrivaled source of genomic data that can be used to reconstruct past ecosystem change on multiple taxonomic, temporal and spatial scales providing new insights into ecological responses to global change.
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- 2019
13. Multiscale climate change impacts on plant diversity in the Atacama Desert
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Janet M. Wilmshurst, Theresa L. Cole, Gabriela Carrasco‐Puga, Francisca P. Díaz, Claudio Latorre, Jamie R. Wood, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, and Daniela C. Soto
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Global and Planetary Change ,Ecology ,Fossils ,Plant Dispersal ,Climate Change ,Population Dynamics ,Biodiversity ,Climate change ,Plant community ,Vegetation ,Plants ,Geography ,Pluvial ,Paleoecology ,Environmental Chemistry ,Ecosystem ,Chile ,DNA, Ancient ,Desert Climate ,Temporal scales ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
Comprehending ecological dynamics requires not only knowledge of modern communities but also detailed reconstructions of ecosystem history. Ancient DNA (aDNA) metabarcoding allows biodiversity responses to major climatic change to be explored at different spatial and temporal scales. We extracted aDNA preserved in fossil rodent middens to reconstruct late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in the hyperarid Atacama Desert. By comparing our paleo-informed millennial record with contemporary observations of interannual variations in diversity, we show local plant communities behave differentially at different timescales. In the interannual (years to decades) time frame, only annual herbaceous expand and contract their distributional ranges (emerging from persistent seed banks) in response to precipitation, whereas perennials distribution appears to be extraordinarily resilient. In contrast, at longer timescales (thousands of years) many perennial species were displaced up to 1,000 m downslope during pluvial events. Given ongoing and future natural and anthropogenically induced climate change, our results not only provide baselines for vegetation in the Atacama Desert, but also help to inform how these and other high mountain plant communities may respond to fluctuations of climate in the future.
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- 2018
14. Structure and co-occurrence patterns in microbial communities under acute environmental stress reveal ecological factors fostering resilience
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Alejandro Maass, Beatriz Fernández-Gómez, Pablo Cabrera, Mauricio González, Jonathan Maldonado, Verónica Cambiazo, Alexis Gaete, Sergio A. Navarrete, Claudio Latorre, Dante Travisany, Damien Eveillard, Erwan Delage, Audrey Bihouée, Francisca P. Díaz, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Mauricio Latorre, Dinka Mandakovic, Géraldine Jean, Claudia Rojas, Millennium Nucleus in Plant Cell Biology and Plant Biotechnology Center, Universidad Andrés Bello [Santiago] (UNAB), Universidad de Santiago de Chile [Santiago] (USACH), Center for Mathematical Modelling - Centro de Modelamiento Matematico [Santiago] (CMM), Universidad de Chile = University of Chile [Santiago] (UCHILE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (LS2N), IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-École Centrale de Nantes (ECN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Combinatoire et Bioinformatique (COMBI), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-École Centrale de Nantes (ECN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (IMT Atlantique), unité de recherche de l'institut du thorax UMR1087 UMR6291 (ITX), Université de Nantes - UFR de Médecine et des Techniques Médicales (UFR MEDECINE), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Neurology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM), Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Expresión Génica, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Millennium Nucleus Center for Plant Systems and Synthetic Biology, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, FONDAP Center for Genome Regulation (CGR), Centre de Modélisation Mathématique / Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (CMM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), and Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)
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0301 basic medicine ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Ecology (disciplines) ,[INFO.INFO-OH]Computer Science [cs]/Other [cs.OH] ,030106 microbiology ,lcsh:Medicine ,Biology ,Bacterial Physiological Phenomena ,complex mixtures ,Environmental stress ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Taxonomic composition ,Soil functions ,Stress, Physiological ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,lcsh:Science ,Soil Microbiology ,media_common ,Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,Microbiota ,lcsh:R ,Co-occurrence ,15. Life on land ,[SDV.BIBS]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Quantitative Methods [q-bio.QM] ,Archaea ,030104 developmental biology ,Microbial population biology ,Soil water ,lcsh:Q ,Psychological resilience ,[INFO.INFO-BI]Computer Science [cs]/Bioinformatics [q-bio.QM] ,[SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Symbiosis - Abstract
Understanding the factors that modulate bacterial community assembly in natural soils is a longstanding challenge in microbial community ecology. In this work, we compared two microbial co-occurrence networks representing bacterial soil communities from two different sections of a pH, temperature and humidity gradient occurring along a western slope of the Andes in the Atacama Desert. In doing so, a topological graph alignment of co-occurrence networks was used to determine the impact of a shift in environmental variables on OTUs taxonomic composition and their relationships. We observed that a fraction of association patterns identified in the co-occurrence networks are persistent despite large environmental variation. This apparent resilience seems to be due to: (1) a proportion of OTUs that persist across the gradient and maintain similar association patterns within the community and (2) bacterial community ecological rearrangements, where an important fraction of the OTUs come to fill the ecological roles of other OTUs in the other network. Actually, potential functional features suggest a fundamental role of persistent OTUs along the soil gradient involving nitrogen fixation. Our results allow identifying factors that induce changes in microbial assemblage configuration, altering specific bacterial soil functions and interactions within the microbial communities in natural environments.
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- 2017
15. Retraction Notice to: Activation of the PPAR/PGC-1α Pathway Prevents a Bioenergetic Deficit and Effectively Improves a Mitochondrial Myopathy Phenotype
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Francisca P. Díaz, Bruce M. Spiegelman, Carlos T. Moraes, and Tina Wenz
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0301 basic medicine ,Bioenergetics ,Physiology ,Cytochrome-c Oxidase Deficiency ,Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ,Mice, Inbred Strains ,Mice, Transgenic ,Biology ,Bioinformatics ,Scientific integrity ,Article ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,Adenosine Triphosphate ,Mitochondrial myopathy ,medicine ,Animals ,Transgenes ,Muscle, Skeletal ,Molecular Biology ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Notice ,Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Mitochondrial Myopathies ,Cell Biology ,medicine.disease ,Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha ,Phenotype ,Mitochondria, Muscle ,PPAR gamma ,Survival Rate ,Blot ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,Cell metabolism ,chemistry ,Trans-Activators ,Female ,Bezafibrate ,Energy Metabolism ,Signal Transduction ,Transcription Factors - Abstract
Neuromuscular disorders with defects in the mitochondrial ATP-generating system affect a large number of children and adults worldwide, but remain without treatment. We used a mouse model of mitochondrial myopathy, caused by a cytochrome c oxidase deficiency, to evaluate the effect of induced mitochondrial biogenesis on the course of the disease. Mitochondrial biogenesis was induced either by transgenic expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) coactivator alpha (PGC-1alpha) in skeletal muscle or by administration of bezafibrate, a PPAR panagonist. Both strategies successfully stimulated residual respiratory capacity in muscle tissue. Mitochondrial proliferation resulted in an enhanced OXPHOS capacity per muscle mass. As a consequence, ATP levels were conserved resulting in a delayed onset of the myopathy and a markedly prolonged life span. Thus, induction of mitochondrial biogenesis through pharmacological or metabolic modulation of the PPAR/PGC-1alpha pathway promises to be an effective therapeutic approach for mitochondrial disorders.
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- 2016
16. Sustained AMPK activation improves muscle function in a mitochondrial myopathy mouse model by promoting muscle fiber regeneration
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Han Yang Yin, Francisca P. Díaz, Carlos T. Moraes, Susana Peralta, Sofia Garcia, and Tania Arguello
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0301 basic medicine ,Adenosine monophosphate ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Muscle Fibers, Skeletal ,AICA ribonucleotide ,Mice, Transgenic ,Biology ,Mitochondrion ,AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,Mitochondrial myopathy ,Internal medicine ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animals ,Regeneration ,Myopathy ,Molecular Biology ,Genetics (clinical) ,Alkyl and Aryl Transferases ,AMPK ,Skeletal muscle ,Membrane Proteins ,Mitochondrial Myopathies ,General Medicine ,Articles ,Ribonucleotides ,medicine.disease ,Aminoimidazole Carboxamide ,Mitochondria, Muscle ,Enzyme Activation ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,chemistry ,Biochemistry ,Mitochondrial biogenesis ,medicine.symptom ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Acute pharmacological activation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-kinase using 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) has been shown to improve muscle mitochondrial function by increasing mitochondrial biogenesis. We asked whether prolonged AICAR treatment is beneficial in a mouse model of slowly progressing mitochondrial myopathy (Cox10-Mef2c-Cre), and whether the compensatory mechanism is indeed an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis. We treated the animals for 3 months and found that sustained AMP-dependent kinase activation improved cytochrome c oxidase activity, rescued the motor phenotype and delayed the onset of the myopathy. This improvement was observed whether treatment started before or after the onset of the disease. We found that AICAR increased skeletal muscle regeneration thereby decreasing the levels of deleted Cox10-floxed alleles. We conclude that although increase in mitochondrial biogenesis and other pathways may contribute, the main mechanism by which AICAR improves the myopathy phenotype is by promoting muscle regeneration.
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- 2016
17. Nitrogen cycling in an extreme hyperarid environment inferred from delta n-15 analyses of plants, soils and herbivore diet
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Matías Frugone, Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez, Claudio Latorre, and Francisca P. Díaz
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010506 paleontology ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Nitrogen ,Environment ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,Feces ,Soil ,Animals ,Ecosystem ,Herbivory ,Chile ,Nitrogen cycle ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Abiotic component ,Herbivore ,Multidisciplinary ,δ13C ,Desert climate ,Ecology ,fungi ,technology, industry, and agriculture ,Plants ,Arid ,Carbon ,Isotope Labeling ,Soil water ,Environmental science ,Desert Climate - Abstract
Climate controls on the nitrogen cycle are suggested by the negative correlation between precipitation and δ15N values across different ecosystems. For arid ecosystems this is unclear, as water limitation among other factors can confound this relationship. We measured herbivore feces, foliar and soil δ15N and δ13C values and chemically characterized soils (pH and elemental composition) along an elevational/climatic gradient in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Although very positive δ15N values span the entire gradient, soil δ15N values show a positive correlation with aridity as expected. In contrast, foliar δ15N values and herbivore feces show a hump-shaped relationship with elevation, suggesting that plants are using a different N source, possibly of biotic origin. Thus at the extreme limits of plant life, biotic interactions may be just as important as abiotic processes, such as climate in explaining ecosystem δ15N values.
- Published
- 2016
18. Rodent middens reveal episodic, long-distance plant colonizations across the hyperarid Atacama Desert over the last 34,000 years
- Author
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Francisca P. Díaz, Jay Quade, Julio L. Betancourt, Antonio Maldonado, and Claudio Latorre
- Subjects
Ecology ,biology ,Macrofossil ,Vegetation ,biology.organism_classification ,Midden ,Geography ,Pluvial ,Glacial period ,Species richness ,Abrocoma ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Holocene - Abstract
Aim To document the impact of late Quaternary pluvial events on plant movements between the coast and the Andes across the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Location Sites are located along the lower and upper fringes of absolute desert (1100–2800 m a.s.l.), between the western slope of the Andes and the Coastal Ranges of northern Chile (24–26° S). Methods We collected and individually radiocarbon dated 21 rodent middens. Plant macrofossils (fruits, seeds, flowers and leaves) were identified and pollen content analysed. Midden assemblages afford brief snapshots of local plant communities that existed within the rodents’ limited foraging range during the several years to decades that it took the midden to accumulate. These assemblages were then compared with modern floras to determine the presence of extralocal species and species provenance. Results Five middens span the last glacial period (34–21 ka) and three middens are from the last glacial–interglacial transition (19–11 ka). The remaining 13 middens span the last 7000 years. Coastal hyperarid sites exhibit low taxonomic richness in middens at 19.3, 1.1, 1.0, 0.9, 0.5 ka and a modern sample. Middens are also dominated by the same plants that occur today. In contrast, middens dated to 28.1, 21.3, 17.3, 3.7 and 0.5 ka contain more species, including Andean extralocals. Precordillera middens (c. 2700 m) show a prominent increase in plant macrofossil richness, along with the appearance of Andean extralocals and sedges at 34.5 and 18.9 ka. Six younger middens dated to 6.1–0.1 ka are similar to the modern local vegetation. Main conclusions Increased species richness and Andean extralocal plants occurred along the current lower fringes of absolute desert during the last glacial–interglacial transition and late Holocene. The absence of soil carbonates indicates the persistence of absolute desert throughout the Quaternary. Colonization by Andean plants could have been accomplished through long-distance seed dispersal either by animals or floods that originated in the Andes. We postulate that dispersal would have been most frequent during regional pluvial events and associated increases in groundwater levels, forming local wetlands in the absolute desert, and generating large floods capable of crossing the Central Depression.
- Published
- 2011
19. Role of Cytochrome c in Apoptosis: Increased Sensitivity to Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Is Associated with Respiratory Defects but Not with Lack of Cytochrome c Release
- Author
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Antoni Barrientos, José Luis Millán, Sonoko Narisawa, Lawrence H. Boise, Francisca P. Díaz, Abdul M. Mian, Uma D. Vempati, and Carlos T. Moraes
- Subjects
Cytochrome ,Transgene ,Cell Respiration ,Apoptosis ,Mice, Transgenic ,Oxidative phosphorylation ,Biology ,Mitochondrion ,Transfection ,Oxidative Phosphorylation ,Cell Line ,Mice ,Oxygen Consumption ,Animals ,Transgenes ,Molecular Biology ,Alleles ,Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ,Cytochrome c ,Intrinsic apoptosis ,Cytochromes c ,Articles ,Cell Biology ,Fibroblasts ,Immunohistochemistry ,Molecular biology ,Mitochondria ,biology.protein ,Apoptosome ,Polarography - Abstract
Although the role of cytochrome c in apoptosis is well established, details of its participation in signaling pathways in vivo are not completely understood. The knockout for the somatic isoform of cytochrome c caused embryonic lethality in mice, but derived embryonic fibroblasts were shown to be resistant to apoptosis induced by agents known to trigger the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. In contrast, these cells were reported to be hypersensitive to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced apoptosis, which signals through the extrinsic pathway. Surprisingly, we found that this cell line (CRL 2613) respired at close to normal levels because of an aberrant activation of a testis isoform of cytochrome c, which, albeit expressed at low levels, was able to replace the somatic isoform for respiration and apoptosis. To produce a bona fide cytochrome c knockout, we developed a mouse knockout for both the testis and somatic isoforms of cytochrome c. The mouse was made viable by the introduction of a ubiquitously expressed cytochrome c transgene flanked by loxP sites. Lung fibroblasts in which the transgene was deleted showed no cytochrome c expression, no respiration, and resistance to agents that activate the intrinsic and to a lesser but significant extent also the extrinsic pathways. Comparison of these cells with lines with a defective oxidative phosphorylation system showed that cells with defective respiration have increased sensitivity to TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis, but this process was still amplified by cytochrome c. These studies underscore the importance of oxidative phosphorylation and apoptosome function to both the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways.
- Published
- 2007
20. Partial complex I deficiency due to the CNS conditional ablation of Ndufa5 results in a mild chronic encephalopathy but no increase in oxidative damage
- Author
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Francisca P. Díaz, Tina Wenz, Carlos T. Moraes, Alessandra Torraco, Susana Peralta, and Sofia Garcia
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Transgene ,Central nervous system ,Respiratory chain ,Cre recombinase ,Brain damage ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Mice ,NDUFA5 ,Internal medicine ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animals ,Molecular Biology ,Genetics (clinical) ,Cerebral Cortex ,Mice, Knockout ,Neurons ,Electron Transport Complex I ,NADH Dehydrogenase ,General Medicine ,Articles ,Embryo, Mammalian ,Molecular biology ,Disease Models, Animal ,Oxidative Stress ,Endocrinology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Gliosis ,Brain Damage, Chronic ,medicine.symptom ,Oxidative stress ,DNA Damage - Abstract
Deficiencies in the complex I (CI; NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase) of the respiratory chain are frequent causes of mitochondrial diseases and have been associated with other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. The NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 alpha subcomplex subunit 5 (NDUFA5) is a nuclear-encoded structural subunit of CI, located in the peripheral arm. We inactivated Ndufa5 in mice by the gene-trap methodology and found that this protein is required for embryonic survival. Therefore, we have created a conditional Ndufa5 knockout (KO) allele by introducing a rescuing Ndufa5 cDNA transgene flanked by loxP sites, which was selectively ablated in neurons by the CaMKIIα-Cre. At the age of 11 months, mice with a central nervous system knockout of Ndufa5 (Ndufa5 CNS-KO) showed lethargy and loss of motor skills. In these mice cortices, the levels of NDUFA5 protein were reduced to 25% of controls. Fully assembled CI levels were also greatly reduced in cortex and CI activity in homogenates was reduced to 60% of controls. Despite the biochemical phenotype, no oxidative damage, neuronal death or gliosis were detected in the Ndufa5 CNS-KO brain at this age. These results showed that a partial defect in CI in neurons can lead to late-onset motor phenotypes without neuronal loss or oxidative damage.
- Published
- 2013
21. Endurance exercise is protective for mice with mitochondrial myopathy
- Author
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Francisca P. Díaz, Dayami Hernandez, Tina Wenz, and Carlos T. Moraes
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,biology ,Physiology ,Highlighted Topic ,Physical exercise ,Mitochondrion ,medicine.disease ,Endocrinology ,Mitochondrial myopathy ,Mitochondrial biogenesis ,Endurance training ,Physiology (medical) ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,biology.protein ,Cytochrome c oxidase ,Congenital disease - Abstract
Defects in the mitochondrial ATP-generating system are one of the most commonly inherited neurological disorders, but they remain without treatment. We have recently shown that modulation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) level in skeletal muscle of a mitochondrial myopathy mouse model offers a therapeutic approach. Here we analyzed if endurance exercise, which is known to be associated with an increased PGC-1α level in muscle, offers the same beneficial effect. We subjected male and female mice that develop a severe mitochondrial myopathy due to a cytochrome- c oxidase deficiency at 3 mo of age to endurance exercise training and monitored phenotypical and metabolic changes. Sedentary myopathy and wild-type mice were used as controls. Exercise increased PGC-1α in muscle, resulting in increased mitochondrial biogenesis, and successfully stimulated residual respiratory capacity in muscle tissue. As a consequence, ATP levels were increased in exercised mice compared with sedentary myopathy animals, which resulted in a delayed onset of the myopathy and a prolonged lifespan of the exercised mice. As an added benefit, endurance exercise induced antioxidant enzymes. The overall protective effect of endurance exercise delayed the onset of the mitochondrial myopathy and increased life expectancy in the mouse model. Thus stimulating residual oxidative phosphorylation function in the affected muscle by inducing mitochondrial biogenesis through endurance exercise might offer a valuable therapeutic intervention for mitochondrial myopathy patients.
- Published
- 2009
22. PGC-1alpha/beta induced expression partially compensates for respiratory chain defects in cells from patients with mitochondrial disorders
- Author
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Francisca P. Díaz, Carlos T. Moraes, Karine Auré, Sarika Srivastava, Anne Lombès, Luisa Iommarini, Srivastava S, Diaz F, Iommarini L, Aure K, Lombes A, and Moraes CT
- Subjects
Male ,Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy ,Mitochondrial Diseases ,mitochondrial biogenesis ,Mitochondrial disease ,Cell Respiration ,Gene Expression ,Biology ,Mitochondrion ,MELAS syndrome ,Electron Transport ,MTDNA ,Genetics ,medicine ,Humans ,Molecular Biology ,Cells, Cultured ,Heat-Shock Proteins ,Genetics (clinical) ,Infant ,RNA-Binding Proteins ,Articles ,General Medicine ,Fibroblasts ,medicine.disease ,Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha ,Mitochondria ,Up-Regulation ,Cell biology ,Biochemistry ,Mitochondrial biogenesis ,Child, Preschool ,DNAJA3 ,Female ,ATP–ADP translocase ,PPARGC1A ,Carrier Proteins ,Transcription Factors - Abstract
Members of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator (PGC) family are potent inducers of mitochondrial biogenesis. We have tested the potential effect of increased mitochondrial biogenesis in cells derived from patients harboring oxidative phosphorylation defects due to either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA mutations. We found that the PGC-1 alpha and/or PGC-1 beta expression improved mitochondrial respiration in cells harboring a complex III or IV deficiency as well as in transmitochondrial cybrids harboring mitochondrial encephalomyopathy lactic acidosis and stroke A3243G tRNA((Leu)UUR) gene mutation. The respiratory function improvement was found to be associated with increased levels of mitochondrial components per cell, although this increase was not homogeneous. These results reinforce the concept that increased mitochondrial biogenesis is a promising venue for the treatment of mitochondrial diseases.
- Published
- 2009
23. Cytochrome c oxidase deficiency in neurons decreases both oxidative stress and amyloid formation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease
- Author
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Francisca P. Díaz, Hirokazu Fukui, Sofia Garcia, and Carlos T. Moraes
- Subjects
Amyloid ,BACE1-AS ,Citrate (si)-Synthase ,medicine.disease_cause ,Presenilin ,Electron Transport Complex IV ,Mice ,Oxygen Consumption ,Alzheimer Disease ,medicine ,Amyloid precursor protein ,Cytochrome c oxidase ,Animals ,Respiratory function ,Mice, Knockout ,Neurons ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Neurodegeneration ,Biological Sciences ,medicine.disease ,Cell biology ,Mitochondria ,Peroxides ,Disease Models, Animal ,Oxidative Stress ,Biochemistry ,biology.protein ,Oxidative stress - Abstract
Defects in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COX) have been associated with Alzheimer's Disease, in which the age-dependent accumulation of β-amyloid plays an important role in synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration. To test the possibility that age-dependent decline in the mitochondrial respiratory function, especially COX activity, may participate in the formation and accumulation of β-amyloid, we generated mice expressing mutant amyloid precursor protein and mutant presenilin 1 in a neuron-specific COX-deficient background. A neuron-specific COX-deficient mouse was generated by the Cre-loxP system, in which the COX10 gene was deleted by a CamKIIα promoter-driven Cre-recombinase. COX10 is a farnesyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of heme a , required for COX assembly and function. These KO mice showed an age-dependent COX deficiency in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Surprisingly, COX10 KO mice exhibited significantly fewer amyloid plaques in their brains compared with the COX-competent transgenic mice. This reduction in amyloid plaques in the KO mouse was accompanied by a reduction in Aβ42 level, β-secretase activity, and oxidative damage. Likewise, production of reactive oxygen species from cells with partial COX activity was not elevated. Collectively, our results suggest that, contrary to previous models, a defect in neuronal COX does not increase oxidative damage nor predispose for the formation of amyloidgenic amyloid precursor protein fragments.
- Published
- 2007
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