Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cheng-Rung Huang, Cheng-Ju Kuo, Chih-Wen Huang, Yu-Ting Chen, Bang-Yu Liu, Chung-Ta Lee, Po-Lin Chen, Wen-Tsan Chang, Yun-Wen Chen, Tzer-Min Lee, Hui-Chen Hsieh, Chang-Shi Chen
Summary: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) induces attaching and effacing lesions in the intestine through a host signaling pathway involving cyclin-dependent kinase CDK1 and formin CYK1, as demonstrated using human intestinal cells and a C. elegans model of infection.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tin Tin Manh Nguyen, Van-Hieu Mai, Han Sun Kim, Doyeon Kim, Munjun Seo, Yong Jin An, Sunghyouk Park
Summary: In this study, a fluorine NMR-based method was developed to quantitatively estimate the metabolic interaction between host and gut microbiome. The experimental results revealed the contributions of microbial species with different genetic backgrounds to host drug metabolism, as well as the differential drug metabolism among bacterial substrains and their contributions to host metabolism, which were not observable by conventional sequencing methods. These metabolic contributions were correlated with the developmental toxicity of the drug to the host fed with different substrains.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alyssa C. Walker, Rohan Bhargava, Autumn S. Dove, Amanda S. Brust, Ali A. Owji, Daniel M. Czyz
Summary: Neurodegenerative protein conformational diseases are influenced by bacterial products called bacteria-derived protein aggregates (BDPAs) and antibiotics. This study used Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism to investigate the effect of bacteria on host protein folding and found that the presence of BDPAs correlated with proteotoxicity. The abundance and proteotoxicity of BDPAs were also influenced by gentamicin, an antibiotic, and butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tong Pan, Elizabeth A. Ronan, X. Z. Shawn Xu
Summary: A new study shows that the heat-sensing neuron AFD is responsible for attracting the parasitic nematode Strongyloides stercoralis to human body heat, using unknown neural mechanisms. Interestingly, this same neuron also plays a role in thermotaxis in the nematode C. elegans.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeroen Dobbelaere, Tiffany Y. Su, Balazs Erdi, Alexander Schleiffer, Alexander Dammermann
Summary: Cilia are cellular projections that perform sensory and motile functions in eukaryotic cells. In this study, a set of 386 human genes associated with cilium assembly or motility were identified by analyzing the presence and absence pattern in the genomes of diverse eukaryotes. The novel genes were further characterized and found to be related to cilium defects in fruit flies and nematodes. This dataset defines the core set of genes required for cilium assembly and motility across eukaryotes and provides a valuable resource for future studies.
Review
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Brendan Miller, Su-Jeong Kim, Hiroshi Kumagai, Kelvin Yen, Pinchas Cohen
Summary: This review presents the latest advances in microprotein (MDP) research, focusing on MDPs and their role in aging and age-related diseases. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of these diseases and drug development.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hayao Ohno, Zhirong Bao
Summary: This study reveals that Caenorhabditis elegans undergoes alternative embryogenesis in response to maternal gut microbes, resulting in changes in cell divisions, morphology, and reproduction. The miR-35 microRNA family transmits intergenerational information to regulate embryonic development. These findings challenge the assumption of an invariant cell lineage in C. elegans and provide insights into how organisms adapt to environmental changes through epigenetic control.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sandeep Gopal, Aqilah Amran, Andre Elton, Leelee Ng, Roger Pocock
Summary: The study demonstrates that syndecan-1 in C. elegans regulates the expression of the GLP-1 receptor by promoting calcium-dependent binding, influencing germ cell mitosis. This reveals a potential communication pathway between somatic and germ cells to control germ cell fate.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Eric Cornes, Loan Bourdon, Meetali Singh, Florian Mueller, Piergiuseppe Quarato, Erik Wernersson, Magda Bienko, Blaise Li, Germano Cecere
Summary: Our study identifies piRNAs as direct regulators of endogenous transcriptional programs during germline development and gamete differentiation in C. elegans, triggering the transcriptional silencing of hundreds of spermatogenic genes and promoting sperm differentiation and function. This silencing signal requires piRNA-dependent small RNA biogenesis and loading into downstream nuclear effectors.
DEVELOPMENTAL CELL
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bingying Wang, Taruna Pandey, Yong Long, Sofia E. Delgado-Rodriguez, Matthew D. Daugherty, Dengke K. Ma
Summary: This study reveals the detoxification mechanism of cyanide in the nematode C. elegans, which is regulated by a series of genes in a genetic pathway. The study also suggests that the two genes, cysl-1 and cysl-2, involved in this detoxification mechanism, may have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer from green algae and functionally co-opted in protecting the host against amygdalin toxicity.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jagadish Chandra Kumar Mangu, Marios Stylianou, Per-Erik Olsson, Jana Jass
Summary: The exposure to PFAS increases susceptibility to pathogens in Caenorhabditis elegans by reducing host immunity and increasing intestinal membrane permeability, while also increasing bacterial virulence, with potential implications for humans and other animals.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hana Zand Karimi, Roger W. Innes
Summary: This article reviews the molecular mechanisms of silencing pathogen and pest genes by expressing complementary RNAs in the host plant. Key unanswered questions are identified, and strategies for improving the efficacy and reproducibility of HIGS treatments in controlling crop diseases are explored.
Article
Cell Biology
Bikash Choudhary, Olivia Marx, Adam D. Norris
Summary: The core splicing regulator PRP-40 is essential for the inclusion of alternatively spliced exons, particularly neuronal microexons, suggesting a central role in microexon splicing regulation. Knockdown of the orthologous PRPF40A in mouse neuroblastoma cells results in widespread dysregulation of microexons but not conventionally sized exons, indicating a highly conserved role of PRP-40 in neuronal microexon regulation.
Article
Biology
Heesun Kim, Yue-He Ding, Shan Lu, Mei-Qing Zuo, Wendy Tan, Darryl Conte, Meng-Qiu Dong, Craig C. Mello
Summary: Germlines play a crucial role in maintaining germline fate and surveillance in adult germlines. Research has found that PIE-1 plays a key role in integrating and regulating genetic information, engaging in SUMO pathway and capturing HDAC SUMOylation.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Junli Ma, Zekun Liu, Xinxin Gao, Yiyang Bao, Ying Hong, Xiaofang He, Weize Zhu, Yan Li, Wenjin Huang, Ningning Zheng, Lili Sheng, Ben Zhou, Hongzhuan Chen, Houkai Li
Summary: Accumulating evidence suggests that gut microbiota plays a role in aging-related disorders, but the mechanism of gut dysbiosis-related changes during aging is still unclear. In this study, gut microbiota remodeling through fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) improved aging-related disorders in old mice, particularly protecting the liver and improving glucose sensitivity, inflammation, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal barrier. FMT increased the abundance of A.muciniphila and supplementation with A.muciniphila had similar benefits. Acetic acid, a short chain fatty acid, was consistently reversed by FMT and intervention with acetic acid had beneficial effects on both C. elegans and aging mice. Overall, this study demonstrated that gut microbiota remodeling improved aging-related disorders through A.muciniphila and its derived acetic acid, suggesting it as a potential strategy for healthy aging.
PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)