Article
Microbiology
Helena Chan, Najwa Taib, Michael C. Gilmore, Ahmed M. T. Mohamed, Kieran Hanna, Johana Luhur, Hieu Nguyen, Elham Hafiz, Felipe Cava, Simonetta Gribaldo, David Rudner, Christopher D. A. Rodrigues
Summary: Cell envelope remodeling is critical for bacteria growth and division, especially during the development of highly resistant endospores. This study identifies two new factors, YrvJ and MurAB, that are required for efficient envelope remodeling during sporulation, highlighting the importance of peptidoglycan precursor synthesis for engulfment efficiency in B. subtilis and likely other endospore-forming bacteria.
Review
Plant Sciences
Neha Bhatia, Adam Runions, Miltos Tsiantis
Summary: This article discusses the considerable variation in plant leaf shapes and the genetic control of leaf shape diversity. It emphasizes how live imaging and computational frameworks can help conceptualize regulated cellular growth translating into different leaf shapes. Additionally, it explores the morphogenetic differences between simple and complex leaves, as well as how evolution has shaped leaf diversity in carnivorous plants.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF PLANT BIOLOGY, VOL 72, 2021
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Takuya Tsujino, Tomoaki Takai, Kunihiko Hinohara, Fu Gui, Takeshi Tsutsumi, Xiao Bai, Chenkui Miao, Chao Feng, Bin Gui, Zsofia Sztupinszki, Antoine Simoneau, Ning Xie, Ladan Fazli, Xuesen Dong, Haruhito Azuma, Atish D. D. Choudhury, Kent W. W. Mouw, Zoltan Szallasi, Lee Zou, Adam S. S. Kibel, Li Jia
Summary: Prostate cancer with BRCA1/2 mutations is sensitive to PARP inhibitors, but other DNA damage response gene alterations are not consistently predictive. In this study, CRISPR-Cas9 screens in BRCA1/2-proficient prostate cancer cells identify MMS22L deletion as a biomarker for PARP inhibitor hypersensitivity. Loss of CHEK2, unexpectedly, confers resistance to PARP inhibition through increased expression of BRCA2, but combination treatment with ATR inhibitor overcomes this resistance. These findings have implications for the use of PARP inhibitors and biomarkers in prostate cancer.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Hematology
Stephan R. Bohl, Laura K. Schmalbrock, Imke Bauhuf, Tatjana Meyer, Anna Dolnik, Martin Szyska, Tamara J. Blaette, Sarah Knoedler, Linda Roehner, Denise Miller, Miriam Kull, Christian Langer, Hartmut Doehner, Anthony Letai, Frederik Damm, Dirk Heckl, Lars Bullinger, Jan Kroenke
Summary: The study investigated the genetic mutations associated with relapsed/resistant multiple myeloma and their relationship to drug sensitivity, identifying 15 genes linked to resistance. This research has potential implications for personalized treatment approaches.
Article
Cell Biology
Gaurav Kumar Pandey, Nick Landman, Hannah K. Neikes, Danielle Hulsman, Cor Lieftink, Roderick Beijersbergen, Krishna Kalyan Kolluri, Sam M. Janes, Michiel Vermeulen, Jitendra Badhai, Maarten van Lohuizen
Summary: More than half of patients with malignant mesothelioma have alterations in the BAP1 tumor-suppressor gene. CRISPR-Cas9 kinome screening in mesothelioma cells identified two kinases in the mevalonate/cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Inhibition of PRC2 and the mevalonate pathway showed a potent anti-tumor effect in Bap1-deficient mesothelioma, suggesting a targeted combination therapy.
CELL REPORTS MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Won-Seok Lee, Ismael Al-Ramahi, Hyun-Hwan Jeong, Youjin Jang, Tao Lin, Carolyn J. Adamski, Laura A. Lavery, Smruti Rath, Ronald Richman, Vitaliy V. Bondar, Elizabeth Alcala, Jean-Pierre Revelli, Harry T. Orr, Zhandong Liu, Juan Botas, Huda Y. Zoghbi
Summary: The study identified TG5 as a regulator of mutant ATXN1, modulating its stability and oligomerization by cross-linking ATXN1 in a polyQ-length-dependent manner. Disrupting TG in Drosophila models can regulate the toxicity of mutant ATXN1, with TG5 enriched in the nuclei of SCA1-affected neurons.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Elad Dvir, Shahar Shohat, Jonathan Flint, Sagiv Shifman
Summary: This study investigates the tissue specificity of gene action in complex diseases using CRISPR screens in cancer cell lines. The findings reveal that the expression pattern of the gene across tissues only explains a small portion of tissue specificity, while gene amplification and expression levels of paralogs play key roles. Moreover, the transfer of small molecules to mutant cells also contributes to tissue-specific gene action in blood. The identified tissue-specific genes are not specific to human cancer cell lines and show intolerance to functional mutations in the human population, indicating their association with human diseases.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Eva Sheardown, Aleksandra M. Mech, Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini, Adele Leggieri, Agnieszka Gidziela, Saeedeh Hosseinian, Ian M. Sealy, Jose Torres-Perez, Elisabeth M. Busch-Nentwich, Margherita Malanchini, Caroline H. Brennan
Summary: Psychiatric disorders are a significant burden in society, but the genetic factors contributing to their etiology are still poorly understood. Animal models and genomic studies in human populations can provide valuable insights into the causes of psychiatric diseases.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Review
Immunology
David W. Vredevoogd, Daniel S. Peeper
Summary: Functional genetic screens have identified tumor-intrinsic nodes of immune resistance, revealing various mechanisms by which tumors evade the immune system. However, limitations in capturing tumor heterogeneity have impacted these analyses. This article provides an overview of the nature and sources of heterogeneity that impact tumor-immune interactions and argues that considering tumor heterogeneity is crucial for discovering novel immune evasion mechanisms.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Russell T. Walton, Avtar Singh, Paul C. Blainey
Summary: Spatial structure in biology is encoded through a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors, with microscopy being a key tool for exploring biological systems. Genetic screens combined with microscopy-based cellular profiling are helping reveal the detailed workings of biological systems by cataloging cellular phenotypes.
MOLECULAR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
David Feldman, Luke Funk, Anna Le, Rebecca J. Carlson, Michael D. Leiken, FuNien Tsai, Brian Soong, Avtar Singh, Paul C. Blainey
Summary: The combination of efficient genetic engineering and high-resolution phenotypic readouts has greatly accelerated the discovery of genetic components underlying fundamental and disease-related processes. Optical pooled screens using in situ sequencing provide a scalable integration of barcoded lentiviral libraries with high-content imaging assays, enabling single-cell resolution and accurate sequence reads for large-scale genetic screens.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brecht Driesschaert, Lucas Mergan, Liesbet Temmerman
Summary: A mechanistic understanding of biology involves appreciating the spatiotemporal aspects of gene expression and its functional implications. Conditional gene expression allows reversible or irreversible switching of genes on or off, providing spatial and/or temporal control for a wider range of research questions across biological disciplines. The use of specific promoters, temperature regimens, compound addition, or illumination grants spatial and/or temporal control, particularly in invertebrate animal models, facilitating the study of biological processes on large scales in short time frames. Recent years have seen exciting expansion and optimization of genetic tool kits in these models, highlighting their mechanisms, applicability, benefits, drawbacks, and future developments.
JOURNAL OF GENETICS AND GENOMICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Valentina Diehl, Martin Wegner, Paolo Grumati, Koraljka Husnjak, Simone Schaubeck, Andrea Gubas, Varun Jayeshkumar Shah, Ibrahim H. Polat, Felix Langschied, Cristian Prieto-Garcia, Konstantin Muller, Alkmini Kalousi, Ingo Ebersberger, Christian H. Brandts, Ivan Dikic, Manuel Kaulich
Summary: 3Cs multiplexing is a rapid and scalable method for generating highly diverse and uniformly distributed combinatorial CRISPR libraries, reducing library distribution skew and screening coverage requirements. It enables screening of genetic interactions at scale, identifying essential interactions and functional compensation within gene families. This work establishes 3Cs multiplexing as a platform for large-scale genetic interaction screens.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yingshu Guo, Shiwei Liu, Dan Jing, Nianzu Liu, Xiliang Luo
Summary: Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are thermally responsive biopolymers with unique properties that can be tailored through genetic engineering. They have been widely used in drug delivery and tissue repair applications due to their biocompatibility, prolonged drug release, and nanostructure formation capabilities.
JOURNAL OF NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Peter C. DeWeirdt, Kendall R. Sanson, Annabel K. Sangree, Mudra Hegde, Ruth E. Hanna, Marissa N. Feeley, Audrey L. Griffith, Teng Teng, Samantha M. Borys, Christine Strand, J. Keith Joung, Benjamin P. Kleinstiver, Xuewen Pan, Alan Huang, John G. Doench
Summary: In this study, an optimized Cas12a toolkit was developed for pooled, combinatorial genetic screens in human cells. By assaying the activity of thousands of guides, refined on-target design rules and comprehensive off-target rules were established. The toolkit was validated by screening for synthetic lethality in cancer cells and showed similar performance to Cas9 in genome-wide dropout screens with greatly reduced library size.
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Francesca Iannantuoni, Juan Diego Salazar, Aranzazu Martinez de Maranon, Celia Banuls, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Milagros Rocha, Felipe Hurtado-Murillo, Carlos Morillas, Marcelino Gomez-Balaguer, Victor Manuel Victor
Summary: Testosterone treatment in transgender men increases leukocyte-endothelium interactions and levels of adhesion molecules and proinflammatory cytokines, indicating the necessity to monitor cardiovascular risk in these patients.
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Fernando Vidal-Vanaclocha, Olatz Crende, Cira Garcia de Durango, Alejandro Herreros-Pomares, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Alvaro Gonzalez, Eva Ruiz-Casares, Thierry Vilboux, Riccardo Caruso, Hipolito Duran, Antonio Gil, Benedetto Ielpo, Fernando Lapuente, Yolanda Quijano, Emilio Vicente, Leticia Vidal-Lartitegui, Eduardo M. Sotomayor
Summary: Cancer begins as a localized tissue disorder, leading to a host response and eventually whole-body changes that facilitate metastasis. Remote organ-specific prometastatic reactions may occur, along with additional signaling factors from an inter-organ communication network that can also regulate prometastatic effects of cancer and non-cancer tissue.
SEMINARS IN CANCER BIOLOGY
(2021)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francisco Canet, Aranzazu Martinez de Maranon, Pedro Diaz-Pozo, Francesca Iannantuoni, Teresa Vezza, Zaida Abad-Jimenez, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Rosa Falcon, Begona Zaragoza, Celia Banuls, Eva Sola, Carlos Morillas, Milagros Rocha-Barajas, Victor Victor
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aranzazu M. de Maranon, Pedro Diaz-Pozo, Francisco Canet, Teresa Vezza, Zaida Abad-Jimenez, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Rosa Falcon, Celia Banuls, Milagros Rocha, Victor M. Victor
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cristina Solana-Manrique, Veronica Munoz-Soriano, Francisco Jose Sanz, Nuria Paricio
Summary: DJ-1 is a causative gene for familial Parkinson's disease, with a key role against oxidative stress. Mutant flies with a DJ-1 beta gene mutation show increased levels of oxidative stress markers, including carbonylated proteins such as SERCA, which plays a role in Ca2+ homeostasis. Therapeutic strategies targeting SERCA activation, such as CDN1163, have shown potential benefits in treating PD.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sromana Mukherjee, Nuria Paricio, Nicholas S. Sokol
Summary: This study identifies a posttranscriptional mechanism that modulates BMP signaling activity within Drosophila adult intestinal tissue to regulate intestinal stem cell numbers during both normal homeostasis and tissue regeneration.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Cristina Solana-Manrique, Francisco Jose Sanz, Isabel Torregrosa, Martina Palomino-Schatzlein, Carolina Hernandez-Oliver, Antonio Pineda-Lucena, Nuria Paricio
Summary: The study investigates metabolic disturbances underlying the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) using a Drosophila PD model. Through metabolomic analysis, the study finds that metabolic alterations are associated with PD and could potentially serve as therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the disease.
Review
Andrology
Teresa Vezza, Pedro Diaz-Pozo, Francisco Canet, Aranzazu M. de Maranon, Zaida Abad-Jimenez, Celia Garcia-Gargallo, Ildefonso Roldan, Eva Sola, Celia Banuls, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Milagros Rocha, Victor M. Victor
Summary: This review explores the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial fusion and fission processes, their role in type 2 diabetes, and the therapeutic potential of targeting mitochondrial dynamics in this complex metabolic disorder.
WORLD JOURNAL OF MENS HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zaida Abad-Jimenez, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Celia Garcia-Gargallo, Teresa Vezza, Segundo Angel Gomez-Abril, Carlos Morillas, Pedro Diaz-Pozo, Rosa Falcon, Celia Banuls, Victor M. Victor, Milagros Rocha
Summary: This cohort study explored the molecular mechanisms involved in energy homeostasis in leukocytes of obese subjects one year after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. The surgery resulted in improved metabolic outcomes, reduced systemic inflammation, altered intracellular inflammatory pathways, enhanced autophagy/mitophagy markers, and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cristina Solana-Manrique, Francisco Jose Sanz, Guillermo Martinez-Carrion, Nuria Paricio
Summary: Neurodegenerative diseases pose a significant challenge and burden to human health globally, and carnosine, a natural molecule, shows potential neuroprotective effects, particularly in the most common neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francisco Jose Sanz, Cristina Solana-Manrique, Joaquin Lilao-Garzon, Yeray Brito-Casillas, Silvia Munoz-Descalzo, Nuria Paricio
Summary: Recent studies have found a potential link between diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Using fruit fly and mouse models, as well as human neuron-like cells, researchers discovered that high glucose levels may contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease, and the anti-diabetic drug metformin could potentially be used as a treatment for the disease.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zaida Abad-Jimenez, Teresa Vezza, Sandra Lopez-Domenech, Meylin Fernandez-Reyes, Francisco Canet, Carlos Morillas, Segundo Angel Gomez-Abril, Celia Banuls, Victor M. Victor, Milagros Rocha
Summary: The chronic low-grade inflammation associated with obesity can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction. This study investigated the effects of RYGB surgery on oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial dynamics in obese women. The results showed that RYGB surgery improved prooxidant and inflammatory status and enhanced mitochondrial dynamics in leukocytes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francisco Jose Sanz, Cristina Solana-Manrique, Nuria Paricio
Summary: Parkinson's disease (PD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Current therapies are symptomatic and do not halt the progression of the disease. In this study, a high-throughput screening identified vincamine as a potential therapeutic compound for PD. Vincamine improved locomotor ability and reduced oxidative stress in PD model flies and human cells. It exerted its effects, at least partially, through the inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels.
ACS CHEMICAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Francisco Jose Sanz, Guillermo Martinez-Carrion, Cristina Solana-Manrique, Nuria Paricio
Summary: Diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's disease are both age-associated diseases. Previous studies have shown that type 1 diabetes may be a risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease. This study using a Drosophila model provides evidence suggesting a potential link between type 1 diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Clinical Neurology
C. Solana-Manrique, F. J. Sanz, I. Torregrosa, N. Paricio
MOVEMENT DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Dermatology
Matthew J. Davis, Gokul Srinivasan, Rachael Chacko, Sophie Chen, Anish Suvarna, Louis J. Vaickus, Veronica C. Torres, Sassan Hodge, Eunice Y. Chen, Sarah Preum, Kimberley S. Samkoe, Brock C. Christensen, Matthew R. Leboeuf, Joshua J. Levy
Summary: The development and application of AI algorithms are of great significance for the removal of cSCC, as they can improve operational efficiency and accuracy, especially for moderately and poorly differentiated tumors/ neoplasms. Further improvement is needed to maintain sensitivity to surrounding tissue and determine anatomical positioning.
EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Dermatology
Lingjing Chen, Qing Yu, Feiying Guo, Xuewen Wang, Zhenying Cai, Qiang Zhou
Summary: This study investigated the role and mechanisms of NTS in stress-induced hair growth inhibition. The results demonstrated that NTS effectively counteracted hair growth inhibition caused by stress and regulated the expression of multiple genes related to hair growth at the transcriptional level.
EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY
(2024)