University of Tübingen

About: University of Tübingen is a education organization based out in Tübingen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Immune system. The organization has 40555 authors who have published 84108 publications receiving 3015320 citations. The organization is also known as: Eberhard Karls University & Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.

OpenMS: a flexible open-source software platform for mass spectrometry data analysis

Abstract: High-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) has become an important tool in the life sciences, contributing to the diagnosis and understanding of human diseases, elucidating biomolecular structural information and characterizing cellular signaling networks. However, the rapid growth in the volume and complexity of MS data makes transparent, accurate and reproducible analysis difficult. We present OpenMS 2.0 (http://www.openms.de), a robust, open-source, cross-platform software specifically designed for the flexible and reproducible analysis of high-throughput MS data. The extensible OpenMS software implements common mass spectrometric data processing tasks through a well-defined application programming interface in C++ and Python and through standardized open data formats. OpenMS additionally provides a set of 185 tools and ready-made workflows for common mass spectrometric data processing tasks, which enable users to perform complex quantitative mass spectrometric analyses with ease.

α2-Heremans-Schmid Glycoprotein/ Fetuin-A Is Associated With Insulin Resistance and Fat Accumulation in the Liver in Humans

Abstract: OBJECTIVE —The α 2 -Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein (AHSG; fetuin-A in animals) impairs insulin signaling in vitro and in rodents. Whether AHSG is associated with insulin resistance in humans is under investigation. In an animal model of diet-induced obesity that is commonly associated with hepatic steatosis, an increase in Ahsg mRNA expression was observed in the liver. Therefore, we hypothesized that the AHSG plasma protein, which is exclusively secreted by the liver in humans, may not only be associated with insulin resistance but also with fat accumulation in the liver. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —Data from 106 healthy Caucasians without type 2 diabetes were included in cross-sectional analyses. A subgroup of 47 individuals had data from a longitudinal study. Insulin sensitivity was measured by a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, and liver fat was determined by 1 H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS —AHSG plasma levels, adjusted for age, sex, and percentage of body fat, were higher in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance compared with subjects with normal glucose tolerance ( P = 0.006). AHSG plasma levels were negatively associated with insulin sensitivity ( r = −0.22, P = 0.03) in cross-sectional analyses. Moreover, they were positively associated with liver fat ( r = 0.27, P = 0.01). In longitudinal analyses, under weight loss, a decrease in liver fat was accompanied by a decrease in AHSG plasma concentrations. Furthermore, high AHSG levels at baseline predicted less increase in insulin sensitivity ( P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS —We found that high AHSG plasma levels are associated with insulin resistance in humans. Moreover, AHSG plasma levels are elevated in subjects with fat accumulation in the liver. This is consistent with a potential role of AHSG as a link between fatty liver and insulin resistance.

Linking N2O emissions from biochar-amended soil to the structure and function of the N-cycling microbial community

Abstract: Nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes 8% to global greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural sources represent about 60% of anthropogenic N2O emissions. Most agricultural N2O emissions are due to increased fertilizer application. A considerable fraction of nitrogen fertilizers are converted to N2O by microbiological processes (that is, nitrification and denitrification). Soil amended with biochar (charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass) has been demonstrated to increase crop yield, improve soil quality and affect greenhouse gas emissions, for example, reduce N2O emissions. Despite several studies on variations in the general microbial community structure due to soil biochar amendment, hitherto the specific role of the nitrogen cycling microbial community in mitigating soil N2O emissions has not been subject of systematic investigation. We performed a microcosm study with a water-saturated soil amended with different amounts (0%, 2% and 10% (w/w)) of high-temperature biochar. By quantifying the abundance and activity of functional marker genes of microbial nitrogen fixation (nifH), nitrification (amoA) and denitrification (nirK, nirS and nosZ) using quantitative PCR we found that biochar addition enhanced microbial nitrous oxide reduction and increased the abundance of microorganisms capable of N2-fixation. Soil biochar amendment increased the relative gene and transcript copy numbers of the nosZ-encoded bacterial N2O reductase, suggesting a mechanistic link to the observed reduction in N2O emissions. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of biochar on the nitrogen cycling microbial community and the consequences of soil biochar amendment for microbial nitrogen transformation processes and N2O emissions from soil.