Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elena E. Grintsevich
Summary: Drebrin is a crucial regulator of actin cytoskeleton in neuronal cells, playing a key role in synaptic plasticity. Decreased levels of drebrin have been linked to various neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. However, there is still much to learn about its interactome and effects on cytoskeletal dynamics.
BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lisa Marie Walter, Sebastian Rademacher, Andreas Pich, Peter Claus
Summary: Under stress conditions, nuclear and cytoplasmic actin-cofilin rods are transiently formed to reduce actin filament turnover and ATP hydrolysis. The presence of actin rods in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) highlights the importance of dysregulated actin dynamics in motoneuron loss. Analysis of the composition of actin rods in a SMA cell culture model revealed binding of proteins involved in ubiquitination, translation, and protein folding, suggesting sequestration of these proteins and impairment of essential cellular functions. Involvement of profilin2 and its upstream effectors RhoA/ROCK in actin rod assembly in SMA indicates detrimental effects on motoneuron homeostasis by affecting actin dynamics and disturbing essential cellular pathways.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Chen Chen, Chien-Hsi Chu, Ying Chu, Ting-Ya Chang, Sheng-Wen Chen, Shu-Yang Liang, Yun-Chi Tsai, Bi-Chang Chen, Hsiung-Lin Tu, Pei-Lin Cheng
Summary: Soft tissue environments play an important role in neuronal morphogenesis. This study reveals that drebrin, a growth cone T-zone protein, modulates growth cone turning in response to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on soft substrates. Structurally, axonal growth cones on soft hydrogels have an expanded T zone with integrated drebrin, F-actin and microtubules. Biochemically, paxillin interacts with drebrin specifically on soft hydrogels. Functionally, BDNF-induced growth cone turning and force generation on soft substrates require phosphorylation of drebrin and association of paxillin with drebrin.
Article
Cell Biology
Minghan Hu, Andrew D. Doyle, Kenneth M. Yamada, Ashok B. Kulkarni
Summary: The mechanisms underlying facial pain are not fully understood, but this study explores the role of Cdk5 in pain signaling and its potential as a therapeutic target. The researchers use intravital imaging to study trigeminal neuronal activities and find that a Cdk5 inhibitor can alleviate facial inflammatory pain and inflammation-induced allodynia. This suggests that Cdk5 inhibitors may be promising non-opioid candidates for pain treatment.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anthony Ariza, Yasuhiro Funahashi, Sachi Kozawa, Md Omar Faruk, Taku Nagai, Mutsuki Amano, Kozo Kaibuchi
Summary: This study identified approximately 40 novel candidate proteins in the striatum of the C57BL/6 mouse brain after cocaine administration, with a focus on the protein MKL2. The results demonstrate that dopamine signaling regulates the interaction of MKL2 with CBP in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, thereby controlling SRF-dependent gene expression.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Gilberto Betancor, Madeleine Bangham, Jun Ki Jeon, Kanisha Shah, Steven Lynham, Jose M. Jimenez-Guardeno, Michael H. Malim
Summary: Phosphorylation of MX2 plays a crucial role in regulating its antiviral activity and determining susceptible viral substrates.
Article
Neurosciences
Megan R. Radler, Elias T. Spiliotis
Summary: Septins play a crucial role in neurogenesis by controlling membrane domain localization and regulating the cytoskeletal proteins to promote axon-dendrite formation and stability.
CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Riasat Zaman, Andrew Lombardo, Cecile Sauvanet, Raghuvir Viswanatha, Valerie Awad, Locke Ezra-Ros Bonomo, David McDermitt, Anthony Bretscher
Summary: The study reveals that LOK/SLK play a central role in activating ERMs, and their knockout results in significant changes in apical structures. Active ERMs act as negative regulators of RhoA-GTP, forming a novel local feedback loop.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tanisha Singh, Yuanyuan Jiao, Lisa M. Ferrando, Svitlana Yablonska, Fang Li, Emily C. Horoszko, David Lacomis, Robert M. Friedlander, Diane L. Carlisle
Summary: This study revealed a unified mitochondrial dysfunction phenotype in motor neurons of sALS and fALS patients, suggesting that treatments aimed at rescuing mitochondrial function may be beneficial for both types of ALS patients.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Angelika B. Harbauer, J. Tabitha Hees, Simone Wanderoy, Inmaculada Segura, Whitney Gibbs, Yiming Cheng, Martha Ordonez, Zerong Cai, Romain Cartoni, Ghazaleh Ashrafi, Chen Wang, Fabiana Perocchi, Zhigang He, Thomas L. Schwarz
Summary: PINK1 is a short-lived protein that removes damaged mitochondria through Parkin translocation and mitophagy. Local translation is required for this pathway to be active far from the soma due to the protein's short half-life.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paloma Alvarez-Suarez, Natalia Nowak, Anna Protasiuk-Filipunas, Hiroyuki Yamazaki, Tomasz J. Proszyriski, Marta Gawor
Summary: The study reveals the role of drebrin in the postsynaptic machinery at NMJs, including its colocalization with AChRs and enrichment at synaptic podosomes, as well as interactions with rapsyn and EB3.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
M. Daniel Ricketts, Ryan P. Emptage, Gerd A. Blobel, Ronen Marmorstein
Summary: HRI is a heme-sensing kinase that can be activated through autophosphorylation. In heme deficiency, HRI is activated to phosphorylate eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha and halt production of globins. Heme inhibits HRI primarily through binding to the heme-binding site within the kinase domain.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jamis McGrath, Chun-Yu Tung, Xiayi Liao, Inna A. Belyantseva, Pallabi Roy, Oisorjo Chakraborty, Jinan Li, Nicolas F. Berbari, Christian C. Faaborg-Andersen, Melanie Barzik, Jonathan E. Bird, Bo Zhao, Lata Balakrishnan, Thomas B. Friedman, Benjamin J. Perrin
Summary: Research indicates that actin turnover is increased at the tips of mechanotransducing stereocilia during bundle maturation. These data show that actin is remodeled, likely by a severing mechanism, in response to mechanotransduction.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jing Gao, Fumihiko Nakamura
Summary: This review article introduces actin-associated proteins (AAPs) and their roles in regulating cell movement, shape change, division, organelle localization, and trafficking. The article lists all discovered AAPs and allows sorting based on various criteria. It also provides links to databases for accessing detailed information about protein structures, expression levels, mutations, and pathology. Additionally, small molecules targeting actin and AAPs with potential for treating diseases are listed.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Feifei Chen, Hongxia Di, Yanhui Wang, Chao Peng, Rongrong Chen, Huiwen Pan, Cai-Guang Yang, Haihua Liang, Lefu Lan
Summary: Phosphorylation plays an important role in modulating the activity of the transpeptidase enzyme SrtA in Staphylococcus aureus. The catalytic site residue cysteine-184 of SrtA is primarily phosphorylated by Stk1 kinase or small-molecule phosphodonor AcP. Deletion of the phosphatase gene Stp1 increases the phosphorylation level of SrtA and leads to phenotypic defects.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gareth Chapman, Mouhamed Alsaqati, Sharna Lunn, Tanya Singh, Stefanie C. Linden, David E. J. Linden, Marianne B. M. van den Bree, Mike Ziller, Michael J. Owen, Jeremy Hall, Adrian J. Harwood, Yasir Ahmed Syed
Summary: Copy Number Variation (CNV) at the 1q21.1 locus is associated with a range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in humans, with deletion or duplication of this locus leading to reciprocal phenotypes in neuronal development. These differences are also conserved in a mouse model of 1q21.1 deletion, indicating potential for drug interventions through targeting calcium channels in neurons with 1q21.1 deletion or duplication.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Emmanuel Margolin, Joel D. Allen, Matthew Verbeek, Ros Chapman, Ann Meyers, Michiel van Diepen, Phindile Ximba, Thopisang Motlou, Penny L. Moore, Jeremy Woodward, Richard Strasser, Max Crispin, Anna-Lise Williamson, Edward P. Rybicki
Summary: Improving the production of complex viral glycoproteins in plants can be achieved by engineering glycosylation-directed folding and combining chaperone coexpression with glyco-engineering techniques.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Phindile Ximba, Rosamund Chapman, Ann Meyers, Emmanuel Margolin, Michiel T. van Diepen, Adam F. Sander, Jeremy Woodward, Penny L. Moore, Anna-Lise Williamson, Edward P. Rybicki
Summary: In this study, two-component self-assembling virus-like particles were used to display HIV-1 envelope trimers. The results showed that displaying gp140-ST on the virus-like particles effectively enhanced the production of neutralising antibodies in rabbits. However, injection of the virus-like particles alone did not induce the same effect.
Article
Microscopy
Thomas A. A. Phillips, Valeria Caprettini, Nandini Aggarwal, Stefania Marcotti, Rob Tetley, Yanlan Mao, Tanya Shaw, Ciro Chiappini, Maddy Parsons, Susan Cox
Summary: Multicellular tumour cell spheroids embedded within 3D hydrogels or extracellular matrices are used as cancer models. UV photolithography is used to create PDMS stamps for generating well-like structures for precise positioning of spheroids. This method allows for reproducible high-/super-resolution live imaging.
JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY
(2023)
Article
Dermatology
Chuin Y. Ung, Alasdair Warwick, Alexandros Onoufriadis, Jonathan N. Barker, Maddy Parsons, John A. McGrath, Tanya J. Shaw, Nick Dand
Summary: This study evaluated established comorbidities of excessive scarring in European individuals and identified novel comorbidities using a phenome-wide association study. The results showed associations between excessive scarring and hypertension and atopic eczema. This study validated common comorbidities of excessive scarring and provided a reference for future studies on underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Claudia Owczarek, Yassmin Elmasry, Maddy Parsons
Summary: Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is a crucial cell-cell adhesion receptor that plays a key role in maintaining epithelial barrier integrity and mediating immune cell transmigration across epithelial tissues. CAR is emerging as a potential mediator of tumorigenesis and a target for viral therapy delivery on cancer cells, but its function is tightly regulated and the contributions to disease progression are likely to be context specific.
BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Dermatology
Sofia Endzhievskaya, Chao-Kai Hsu, Hsing-San Yang, Hsin-Yu Huang, Yu-Chen Lin, Yi-Kai Hong, John Y. W. Lee, Alexandros Onoufriadis, Takuya Takeichi, Julia Yu-Yun Lee, Tanya J. Shaw, John A. McGrath, Maddy Parsons
Summary: Dermatofibromas (DFs) are common, benign fibrous skin tumors that can occur at any skin site. In some cases, DFs are multiple and familial, but the mechanisms leading to these lesions are currently unclear. This study identified a variant in the RND3 gene that encodes the small GTPase RhoE, and loss of RhoE function was found to enhance collagen activation and integrin activation, resulting in a disorganized extracellular matrix and contributing to the development of DF.
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oliver Kann
Summary: Lactate can serve as a source of pyruvate for neurons. Its role in neural signaling associated with complex cortex function is unclear. Lactate in the absence of glucose impairs certain neural network functions, while lactate utilization increases ATP synthesis.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Lena Bruecker, Stefanie Kornelia Becker, Vanessa Maissl, Gregory Harms, Maddy Parsons, Helen Louise May-Simera
Summary: Primary cilia are important for cellular communication and defects in cilia development or function are associated with genetic disorders. Recent research suggests that ciliary proteins are involved in actin regulation, but the exact nature of their interconnection is not fully understood.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Frederic Li Mow Chee, Bruno Beernaert, Billie G. C. Griffith, Alexander E. P. Loftus, Yatendra Kumar, Jimi C. Wills, Martin Lee, Jessica Valli, Ann P. Wheeler, J. Douglas Armstrong, Maddy Parsons, Irene M. Leigh, Charlotte M. Proby, Alex von Kriegsheim, Wendy A. Bickmore, Margaret C. Frame, Adam Byron
Summary: In this study, the authors discovered that the integrin adhesome undergoes systems-level changes in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cells. They also found that the actin regulator Mena plays an important role in force transmission at the nuclear envelope, regulating nuclear architecture, chromatin organization, and gene expression.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Julia M. T. Ledderose, Timothy A. Zolnik, Maria Toumazou, Thorsten Trimbuch, Christian Rosenmund, Britta J. Eickholt, Dieter Jaeger, Matthew E. Larkum, Robert N. S. Sachdev
Summary: We studied the input to layer 1 of the mouse somatosensory cortex using retrograde tracing and optogenetics. Results indicate that the local input primarily comes from layers 2/3 and 5 pyramidal neurons and interneurons, with different probabilities of projection from different types of local neurons. Long-range input mainly originates from layers 2/3 neurons in the sensory-motor cortices. Optogenetic experiments also revealed the relationship between layer 5 pyramidal neurons and layer 1 interneurons and apical tuft dendrites.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tanguy Lechertier, Louise E. Reynolds, Hyojin Kim, Ana Rita Pedrosa, Jesus Gomez-Escudero, Jose M. Munoz-Felix, Silvia Batista, Matthew Dukinfield, Fevzi Demircioglu, Ping Pui Wong, Kylie P. Matchett, Neil C. Henderson, Gabriela D'Amico, Maddy Parsons, Catherine Harwood, Pascal Meier, Kairbaan M. Hodivala-Dilke
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Salwa Alhamad, Yassmin Elmasry, Isabel Uwagboe, Elena Chekmeneva, Caroline Sands, Benjamin W. Cooper, Stephane Camuzeaux, Ash Salam, Maddy Parsons
Summary: B7-H3 is a protein associated with lung cancer and is involved in the metabolic signaling of cancer cells. It forms a complex with the enzyme IMPDH2, protecting cancer cells from oxidative stress and apoptosis triggered by chemotherapy. However, its loss promotes tumor growth in 3D models. These findings provide insights into the function of B7-H3 in lung cancer cells and caution against the use of anti-B7-H3 therapies in certain clinical settings.
Article
Cell Biology
Jennifer Rynne, Elena Ortiz-Zapater, Dustin C. Bagley, Onofrio Zanin, George Doherty, Varsha Kanabar, Jon Ward, David J. Jackson, Maddy Parsons, Jody Rosenblatt, Ian M. Adcock, Rocio T. Martinez-Nunez
Summary: The article discusses the importance of asthma as the most common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. It focuses on the expression and potential role of the TTP family of RNA binding proteins in asthma.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Niklas Hegemann, Willem Bintig, Paul-Lennard Perret, Judith Rees, Alessandra Viperino, Britta Eickholt, Wolfgang M. M. Kuebler, Michael Hoepfner, Bianca Nitzsche, Jana Grune
Summary: Preclinical cardiovascular research heavily relies on non-invasive echocardiography in mice and rats to assess cardiac function and morphology. This study tested the feasibility of using an in-ovo system of incubated chicken eggs interfaced with small animal echocardiography as an alternative tool for cardiovascular research. Detailed standard operating procedures and reference values were provided, demonstrating the sensitivity of in-ovo echocardiography.
BASIC RESEARCH IN CARDIOLOGY
(2023)