Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:p>The gut microbiota affects tissue physiology, metabolism, and function of both the immune and nervous systems. We found that intrinsic enteric-associated neurons (iEANs) in mice are functionally adapted to the intestinal segment they occupy; ileal and colonic neurons are more responsive to microbial colonization than duodenal neurons. Specifically, a microbially responsive subset of viscerofugal CART<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> neurons, enriched in the ileum and colon, modulated feeding and glucose metabolism. These CART<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> neurons send axons to the prevertebral ganglia and are polysynaptically connected to the liver and pancreas. Microbiota depletion led to NLRP6- and caspase 11–dependent loss of CART<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> neurons and impaired glucose regulation. Hence, iEAN subsets appear to be capable of regulating blood glucose levels independently from the central nervous system.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Morphogen gradients provide positional information during development. To uncover the minimal requirements for morphogen gradient formation, we have engineered a synthetic morphogen in <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> wing primordia. We show that an inert protein, green fluorescent protein (GFP), can form a detectable diffusion-based gradient in the presence of surface-associated anti-GFP nanobodies, which modulate the gradient by trapping the ligand and limiting leakage from the tissue. We next fused anti-GFP nanobodies to the receptors of Dpp, a natural morphogen, to render them responsive to extracellular GFP. In the presence of these engineered receptors, GFP could replace Dpp to organize patterning and growth in vivo. Concomitant expression of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)–anchored nonsignaling receptors further improved patterning, to near–wild-type quality. Theoretical arguments suggest that GPI anchorage could be important for these receptors to expand the gradient length scale while at the same time reducing leakage.</jats:p>