Comptes Rendus Biologies最新文献

{"title":"[Nanomedicines for the treatment of serious diseases and dual research].","authors":"Patrick Couvreur","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.168","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.168","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of nanotechnologies for the encapsulation of pharmacologically active molecules (nanomedicines) has enhanced the delivery of these molecules within the body after administration. By releasing the active ingredient at the level of pathological cells and tissues, these nanocarriers help reduce toxicity while improving therapeutic efficacy. They also protect fragile molecules from rapid metabolization and can promote their intracellular penetration. Nanomedicines have made significant advances in various therapeutic areas such as oncology, infectious diseases, and several neurological disorders. They have also contributed to groundbreaking discoveries, including the introduction of the first mRNA vaccine (against COVID-19), and have improved certain imaging and diagnostic techniques, too. Depending on the country and therapeutic indications, between 40 to 60 nanomedicines are currently on the market, with over a hundred in clinical trials. This review aims to describe and discuss the characteristics and functionalities of the different generations of nanocarriers, from their inception to the present day, discussing the prospects they offer for the production of therapeutic proteins, for facilitating gene editing (CRISPR/Cas9), and for enabling immune checkpoint blockade in oncology. The potential of extracellular vesicles and exosomes as drug carriers is also explored. These advances compel researchers to consider the dual risks, both conscious and unconscious, that they may pose.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"187-198"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142632976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Biodiversity : a need for clarification].","authors":"Guillaume Lecointre","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.163","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.163","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ever since the term “biodiversity” was first defined, it has been used in a mixed way, referring on the one hand to the characterisation of living organisms (which is the domain of systematics), and on the other hand to their functional interactions (which are the domain of ecology). This ambiguity has led to the terms biodiversity and ecosystem being used almost synonymously, a mistake that is both epistemologically and politically damaging. To clear up this confusion, the term biodiversity should be reserved for what we observe when we characterise or discover “what there is” (a task for systematics) at the three infra-specific, specific and supra-specific levels, and the term ecosystem should be reserved for what we observe when we are interested in the functional interactions (“what it does”, a task for ecology) between living organisms, and between the latter and the abiotic environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"175-180"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142590755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oncogenic processes: a neglected parameter in the evolutionary ecology of animals.","authors":"Frédéric Thomas, Klara Asselin, Nick MacDonald, Lionel Brazier, Jordan Meliani, Beata Ujvari, Antoine Marie Dujon","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.159","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.159","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer is a biological process that emerged at the end of the Precambrian era with the rise of multicellular organisms. Traditionally, cancer has been viewed primarily as a disease relevant to human and domesticated animal health, attracting attention mainly from oncologists. In recent years, however, the community of ecologists and evolutionary biologists has recognized the pivotal role of cancer-related issues in the evolutionary paths of various species, influencing multiple facets of their biology. It has become evident that overlooking these issues is untenable for a comprehensive understanding of species evolution and ecosystem functioning. In this article, we highlight some significant advancements in this field, also underscoring the pressing need to consider reciprocal interactions not only between cancer cells and their hosts but also with all entities comprising the holobiont. This reflection gains particular relevance as ecosystems face increasing pollution from mutagenic substances, resulting in a resurgence of cancer cases in wildlife.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"137-157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142607524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The milpa, from Mesoamerica to present days, a multicropping traditional agricultural system serving agroecology.","authors":"Noa Vazeux-Blumental, Domenica Manicacci, Maud Tenaillon","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.164","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The association of maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and squash (Cucurbita ssp.) within the milpa represents the most emblematic multi-cropping subsistence system of Mesoamerica. This system was likely established in the Guerrero-Jalisco area in southwestern Central Mexico shortly after—or perhaps even before—the domestication of the three taxa. Its success relies on several factors: complementarity of nutritional intakes, resilience to biotic and abiotic constraints, and the mobilization of positive interactions between the three taxa, enabling the system to be productive under input-limited conditions. Higher yields compared to sole-cropping have frequently been described and attributed to the complementarity between the aerial and root systems of the different taxa of the milpa, as well as to direct and indirect facilitation processes involving root exudates, bacterial symbioses, and the mycorrhizal network. In Europe, while practiced until recently, the milpa has gradually been abandoned in favor of maize sole-cropping, except in some isolated regions (such as Transylvania) where this traditional agricultural system has persisted. The question of whether varieties of the three taxa used in multi-cropping systems were co-introduced to Europe at the time of the discovery of the Americas, as opposed to being re-associated later in Europe, remains open. It is important to note that maize usage differed: maize of flint type is coarsely ground for the preparation of polenta in Europe, while in Mesoamerica, tropical varieties are soaked in alkaline solution to improve nutritional quality before being finely ground to make tortilla dough. Recently, maize-bean intercropping has been reintroduced into modern European agricultural systems. However, the use of elite varieties and chemical inputs in conventional conducts prevents full exploitation of positive interactions between species. We argue here that milpa has an important role to play in the agroecological transition. In this context, we propose avenues for the selection of varieties that promote synergies between species and discuss the constraints linked to its mechanization.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"159-173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142584937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Species abundance, urn models, and neutrality.","authors":"Jerome Chave","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.162","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.162","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography has stimulated much research in community ecology. Here, exact results are used to apply neutral model predictions to large regional samples. Three complementary neutral models are presented: the Ewens canonical neutral model, a model of subdivided ecological communities, and a “diversity begets diversity” neutral model. For all three models, an exact sampling formula is provided, and a new R package neutr, is presented. This package is used to fit species abundances from regional inventories of tropical forest trees in the Amazon, tropical Africa and Southeast Asia. It is shown that the neutral models fit well empirical data for all but the few most abundant species (from 6 to 40 depending on the continent). When the parameter θ is taken as an index or regional diversity, the Amazonia and Southeast Asia emerge with similar regional diversities (θ = 654 for Amazonia, versus θ = 726 for Southeast Asia), with a less diverse tropical African tree flora (θ = 219). The model infers 10,141 tree species with at least 50 individuals in Amazonia, 3477 in tropical Africa and 9915 in Southeast Asia. The spatially subdivided neutral model provides clear evidence for a spatial substructure in all three regional floras. These results show how neutral models are useful to explore regional patterns of species abundance and to provide insights about regional species pools.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"119-135"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142362503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incomplete divisions between sister germline cells require Usp8 function.","authors":"Juliette Mathieu, Jean-René Huynh","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.161","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.161","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cytokinetic abscission is the final step of cell division, resulting in two separate daughter cells. While abscission is typically complete across most cell types, germline cells, which produce sexual gametes, do not finish cytokinesis, maintaining connections between sister cells. These connections are essential for sharing cytoplasm as they differentiate into oocyte and sperm. First, we outline the molecular events of cytokinesis during both complete and delayed abscission, highlighting the role of the ESCRT-III proteins. We then focus on recent discoveries that reveal the molecular mechanisms blocking abscission in Drosophila germline cells. The enzyme Usp8 was identified as vital for ensuring incomplete cytokinesis through the regulation of ESCRT-III ubiquitination and localization. Finally, we explore how the processes of incomplete cytokinesis could hold evolutionary importance, suggesting additional studies into choanoflagellates to comprehend the origins of multicellularity.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"109-117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142332766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Evolution of plant mating systems in the face of global change].","authors":"Pierre-Olivier Cheptou","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.160","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.160","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beyond species extinction, it is likely that global change modifies selection regimes in natural populations. Whereas the classical Darwinian paradigm considers evolution as a slow process, it is now accepted that populations can evolve rapidly, in a few dozen generations. Plant-pollinator relationship is a central relationship in terrestrial ecosystems and the current pollinator decline can potentially disrupt this relationship. In this paper, we explore the possibility that reproductive systems in plants evolve in the face of pollinator decline. Using the case of a recent resurrection ecology study in Viola arvensis, the field pansy, we show that the evolution of a self-fertilization syndrome, and thus the breakdown of the plant-pollinator interaction, is in progress. Beyond the species itself, the evolution of reproductive regimes in plants involves relationships between species (pollinators and higher trophic levels). Thus, this example illustrates that global change is likely to affect biodiversity at different scales: from populations (Darwinian evolution) to ecosystem functions (relationships between species). This study shows that evolutionary processes modify the functioning of ecological systems and, where applicable, the related ecosystem services.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"95-107"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142301435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The dangerous biology of pathogenic germs.","authors":"Patrick Berche","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.157","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.157","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The convergence of biotechnologies with other disciplines, including computer science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), may make it possible to carry out dangerous genetic manipulations on pathogenic germs, as the gain-of-function experiments exacerbating virulence, as those carried out on myxoviruses and coronaviruses. Moreover, it is now possible to chemically synthesise any microorganism from in silico sequences, including the most dangerous viruses (poxviruses, Ebola, etc.), whose sequences are accessible. It might even be possible to use AI to design new germs that could be used as biological weapons.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"77-86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142301437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shedding light on the unseen: how live imaging of translation could unlock new insights in developmental biology.","authors":"Jeremy Dufourt, Maelle Bellec","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.158","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.158","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent advances in live imaging technologies have refined our understanding of protein synthesis in living cells. Among the various approaches to live imaging of translation, this perspective highlights the use of antibody-based nascent peptide detection, a method that enables visualization of single-molecule translation in vivo. We examine how these advances improve our understanding of biological processes, particularly in developing organisms. In addition, we discuss technological advances in this field and suggest further improvements. Finally, we review some examples of how this method could lead to future scientific breakthroughs in the study of translation and its regulation in whole organisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"87-93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142301436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tribute to Roger Guillemin, a pioneer in neuroendocrinology (1924-2024), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.","authors":"Christiane Mougin, Jean Rossier, Bertrand Bloch","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.156","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.156","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Roger Guillemin discovered and characterized the hypothalamic factors that control anterior pituitary functions. He consequently demonstrated that these brain peptides regulate a large number of major body activities through neuroendocrine mechanisms. This especially include growth, fertility and reproduction, endocrine gland functions and stress. These seminal works paved the way to major applications in many fields of physiology and medicine for diagnosis, pharmacology and therapy, far beyond the initial discovery and properties of these molecules, including in cancerology, immunology, inflammation, drug addiction and behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":"347 ","pages":"53-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142074629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}