University of California, Irvine

About: University of California, Irvine is a education organization based out in Irvine, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 47031 authors who have published 113602 publications receiving 5521832 citations. The organization is also known as: UC Irvine & UCI.

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy

Abstract: In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

High-impedance electromagnetic surfaces with a forbidden frequency band

Abstract: A new type of metallic electromagnetic structure has been developed that is characterized by having high surface impedance. Although it is made of continuous metal, and conducts dc currents, it does not conduct ac currents within a forbidden frequency band. Unlike normal conductors, this new surface does not support propagating surface waves, and its image currents are not phase reversed. The geometry is analogous to a corrugated metal surface in which the corrugations have been folded up into lumped-circuit elements, and distributed in a two-dimensional lattice. The surface can be described using solid-state band theory concepts, even though the periodicity is much less than the free-space wavelength. This unique material is applicable to a variety of electromagnetic problems, including new kinds of low-profile antennas.

The cortical organization of speech processing

Abstract: Despite decades of research, the functional neuroanatomy of speech processing has been difficult to characterize. A major impediment to progress may have been the failure to consider task effects when mapping speech-related processing systems. We outline a dual-stream model of speech processing that remedies this situation. In this model, a ventral stream processes speech signals for comprehension, and a dorsal stream maps acoustic speech signals to frontal lobe articulatory networks. The model assumes that the ventral stream is largely bilaterally organized--although there are important computational differences between the left- and right-hemisphere systems--and that the dorsal stream is strongly left-hemisphere dominant.

Common Structure of Soluble Amyloid Oligomers Implies Common Mechanism of Pathogenesis

Abstract: Soluble oligomers are common to most amyloids and may represent the primary toxic species of amyloids, like the Aβ peptide in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we show that all of the soluble oligomers tested display a common conformation-dependent structure that is unique to soluble oligomers regardless of sequence. The in vitro toxicity of soluble oligomers is inhibited by oligomer-specific antibody. Soluble oligomers have a unique distribution in human AD brain that is distinct from fibrillar amyloid. These results indicate that different types of soluble amyloid oligomers have a common structure and suggest they share a common mechanism of toxicity.