Article
Plant Sciences
Sona Pandey, Swarup Roy Choudhury, Chien Van Ha, Boominathan Mohanasundaram, Mao Li, Audrey Dodds
Summary: The function of G alpha proteins in plants shows some conservation across different lineages, but there are also differences in their effects on plant phenotypes. The ability of different G alpha proteins to complement mutant phenotypes varies, indicating that the functions of G proteins in plants have evolved differently in different plant lineages.
PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Nyshadham S. N. Chaitanya, Prasad Tammineni, Ganji Purnachandra Nagaraju, Aramati B. M. Reddy
Summary: The cytosolic adaptor protein ECSIT is involved in the toll-like receptor pathway and regulates various biological processes. It interacts with multiple signaling intermediates and its molecular functions in pathophysiology remain unclear.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Nicholas O. Burton, Alexandra Willis, Kinsey Fisher, Fabian Braukmann, Jonathan Price, Lewis Stevens, L. Ryan Baugh, Aaron Reinke, Eric A. Miska
Summary: The study found that intergenerational physiological adaptations to stress in Caenorhabditis elegans are conserved in multiple species, stress-specific, and have deleterious tradeoffs in mismatched environments. It also showed that presumed adaptive and deleterious intergenerational effects are molecularly related at the gene expression level. Additionally, the effects of parental stress on progeny gene expression were reversible and not maintained transgenerationally.
Article
Biology
Elin Karlsson, Frieda A. Sorgenfrei, Eva Andersson, Jakob Dogan, Per Jemth, Celestine N. Chi
Summary: The evolution of proteins is constrained by their structure and function. A recent study on the Nuclear Coactivator Binding Domain (NCBD) from CREB-binding protein reveals that although it has increased thermodynamic stability during evolution, its dynamic biophysical properties have been maintained. These findings suggest that the dynamic properties of NCBD are important for its function.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Susanne Bornelov, Benjamin Czech, Gregory J. Hannon
Summary: Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are small RNAs produced by processing of long precursor transcripts. The authors discovered that piRNA precursor cleavage occurs at stop codon positions and this pattern is conserved across mammals.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Liang Xu, Peixue Li, Xue Hao, Yi Lu, Mingxian Liu, Wenqian Song, Lin Shan, Jiao Yu, Hongyu Ding, Shishuang Chen, Ailing Yang, Yi Arial Zeng, Lei Zhang, Hai Jiang
Summary: The study identifies SHANK2 as a frequently amplified regulator of the Hippo pathway in human cancer, promoting cancer progression. Overexpression of SHANK2 in multiple human cell lines disrupts Hippo signaling, while depletion of SHANK2 restores Hippo signaling and halts cellular proliferation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Huihui Yu, Mu Li, Jaspreet Sandhu, Guangchao Sun, James C. Schnable, Harkamal Walia, Weibo Xie, Bin Yu, Jeffrey P. Mower, Chi Zhang
Summary: The study developed computational pipelines to identify microexons in plants and showed their importance and diversity in plant evolution.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tamar Szoke, Anat Nussbaum-Shochat, Orna Amster-Choder
Summary: Research shows that proteins with tail anchors in Escherichia coli are directed to bacterial cell poles and exhibit affinity to phosphatidic acid (PA). This mechanism may be conserved from bacteria to mitochondria.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dana A. Dahhan, Gregory D. Reynolds, Jessica J. Cardenas, Dominique Eeckhout, Alexander Johnson, Klaas Yperman, Walter A. Kaufmann, Nou Vang, Xu Yan, Inhwan Hwang, Antje Heese, Geert De Jaeger, Jiri Friml, Daniel Van Damme, Jianwei Pan, Sebastian Y. Bednarek
Summary: In this study, mass spectrometry was used to analyze the proteome of Arabidopsis suspension-cultured cell clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). The study identified evolutionarily conserved and plant-specific factors associated with CCVs. Notably, the AP-4 complex was found to be abundantly present in the CCV proteome.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dhurjhoti Saha, Solomon Hailu, Arjan Hada, Junwoo Lee, Jie Luo, Jeff A. Ranish, Yuan-chi Lin, Kyle Feola, Jim Persinger, Abhinav Jain, Bin Liu, Yue Lu, Payel Sen, Blaine Bartholomew
Summary: The SWI/SNF ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler, with its conserved AT-hook domain, is critical for regulating pluripotency, differentiation, and gene transcription. The AT-hook not only anchors chromatin modifiers to DNA but also regulates the intrinsic catalytic activity of SWI/SNF, leading to changes in ATP hydrolysis and nucleosome movement. The AT-hook is essential for SWI/SNF remodeling and activation of specific genes and enhancers in various cells.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gianlucca G. Nicastro, A. Maxwell Burroughs, Lakshminarayan M. Iyer, L. Aravind
Summary: Recent findings have revealed immune effectors that target nucleotides and the cellular energy currency-free nucleotides. Comparative genomics and sequence-structure analysis have identified several distinct effector domains, which are widely present in prokaryotic immune systems. This study establishes nucleotide-degrading effectors as an emerging immune paradigm and traces their origins back to homologous domains in housekeeping systems.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Kriti Gupta, Sveta Chakrabarti, Vishnu Janardan, Nishita Gogia, Sanghita Banerjee, Swarna Srinivas, Deepthi Mahishi, Sandhya S. Visweswariah
Summary: This article describes the multiple roles of a previously uncharacterized metallophosphodiesterase in Drosophila, including regulation of immune pathways, lifespan, perception ability, and sensitivity to odorants. Further studies revealed similarities between this gene product and the mammalian gene MPPED2, which is associated with WAGR syndrome.
Article
Dermatology
Julia Lachner, Sophia Derdak, Veronika Mlitz, Tanja Wagner, Karin Brigit Holthaus, Florian Ehrlich, Michael Mildner, Erwin Tschachler, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: The study revealed common upregulated genes in the differentiation of chicken and human skin cells, such as specific keratins and genes of the epidermal differentiation complex. Additionally, some avian skin cell transcripts lack homologs in mammals, indicating a genetic basis for species-specific skin features.
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Richel J. C. Bilderbeek, Maksim V. Baranov, Geert van den Bogaart, Frans Bianchi
Summary: This study reveals the over-presentation of membrane protein fragments in cytolytic and helper T cell responses. It also demonstrates the evolutionary conservation and lower frequency of mutations in transmembrane helices, suggesting that T cells are more tuned to respond to membrane proteins to avoid evasion by pathogens.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jennifer Guerrero-Santoro, Jian Ming Khor, Ayse Haruka Acikbas, James B. Jaynes, Charles A. Ettensohn
Summary: Alx1 is a highly conserved transcription factor in echinoderms that regulates skeletogenesis. It plays a unique role in the differentiation of embryonic PMCs. Alx1 has distinct DNA-binding properties, and the exonization of the D2 domain may have facilitated the acquisition of new transcriptional targets and a novel developmental function.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Dermatology
Jacob P. Thyssen, Ivone Jakasa, Christoph Riethmueller, Michael P. Schoen, Andrea Braun, Marek Haftek, Padraic G. Fallon, Jacek Wroblewski, Hieronim Jakubowski, Leopold Eckhart, Wim Declercq, Sjors Koppes, Kristiane A. Engebretsen, Charlotte Bonefeld, Alan D. Irvine, Sokhna Keita-Alassane, Michel Simon, Hiroshi Kawasaki, Akiharu Kubo, Masayuki Amagai, Takeshi Matsui, Sanja Kezic
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Malgorzata Anna Cichon, Katharina Klas, Maria Buchberger, Martina Hammer, Kristin Sere, Martin Zenke, Erwin Tschachler, Adelheid Elbe-Burger
Summary: The study found that RTN1A is expressed not only in neural tissue but also in skin dendritic cells, especially LCs. The expression of RTN1A in lymph nodes and spleen suggests its potential important role in immune cells, while its expression in skin nerves is also noteworthy.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Veronika Mlitz, Marcela Hermann, Maria Buchberger, Erwin Tschachler, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: In this study, scaffoldin was found to play an important role in the development of the avian beak, particularly in the morphogenesis of the egg tooth. The mRNA levels of scaffoldin and cornulin were investigated in the beaks and other embryonic tissues of chickens and quails, showing that both proteins are expressed in these tissues. Immunohistochemistry revealed the localization of scaffoldin in the peridermal compartment of the egg tooth and a multilayered structure on the lower beak.
Article
Dermatology
Polina Kalinina, Vera Vorstandlechner, Maria Buchberger, Leopold Eckhart, Barbara Lengauer, Bahar Golabi, Maria Laggner, Manuela Hiess, Barbara Sterniczky, Dagmar Fodinger, Evgeniya Petrova, Adelheid Elbe-Burger, Lucian Beer, Alain Hovnanian, Erwin Tschachler, Michael Mildner
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Heidemarie Rossiter, Dragan Copic, Martin Direder, Florian Gruber, Samuele Zoratto, Martina Marchetti-Deschmann, Christopher Kremslehner, Michaela Sochorova, Ionela-Mariana Nagelreiter, Veronika Mlitz, Maria Buchberger, Barbara Lengauer, Bahar Golabi, Supawadee Sukseree, Michael Mildner, Leopold Eckhart, Erwin Tschachler
Summary: Autophagy in preputial glands delays age-related ductal ectasia, influences lipid droplet morphology, contributes to the complete dissolution of mature sebocytes during holocrine secretion, and regulates phospholipid and fatty acid metabolism, as well as pheromone production.
Article
Dermatology
Julia Lachner, Sophia Derdak, Veronika Mlitz, Tanja Wagner, Karin Brigit Holthaus, Florian Ehrlich, Michael Mildner, Erwin Tschachler, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: The study revealed common upregulated genes in the differentiation of chicken and human skin cells, such as specific keratins and genes of the epidermal differentiation complex. Additionally, some avian skin cell transcripts lack homologs in mammals, indicating a genetic basis for species-specific skin features.
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Attila Placido Sachslehner, Marta Surbek, Julia Lachner, Surya Paudel, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: The study identified the expression of TGM1 in the skin and esophagus of chickens, showing its role in protein cross-linking. Results suggest that TGM1 is conserved among birds and chicken keratinocytes may be a useful model for studying TGM1 in non-mammalian cornification.
Editorial Material
Dermatology
Jodi L. Johnson, Erwin Tschachler
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Dermatology
Michael Koch, Tobias Kockmann, Elke Rodriguez, Ulrike Wehkamp, Paul Hiebert, Maya Ben-Yehuda Greenwald, Dora Stoelzl, Hans-Dietmar Beer, Erwin Tschachler, Stephan Weidinger, Sabine Werner, Ulrich Auf Dem Keller
Summary: Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin disease characterized by a compromised epidermal barrier and cutaneous inflammation. This study identified the molecular alterations in the epidermis of patients with atopic dermatitis, revealing an impaired NRF2-antioxidant pathway and reduced abundance of mitochondrial proteins involved in key metabolic pathways. These findings provide insights into the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis and potential targets for pharmaceutical intervention.
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Attila Placido Sachslehner, Marta Surbek, Bahar Golabi, Miriam Geiselhofer, Karin Jaeger, Claudia Hess, Ulrike Kuchler, Reinhard Gruber, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: The study focuses on the localization of transglutaminase activity in various integumentary structures in mammals and birds. Transglutaminase activity was found in different layers of human epidermis, sweat glands, hair follicles, and nails. It was also present in claws, feathers, and keratinocytes of feathers in chickens. Additionally, transglutaminase activity was detected in tongue papillae of mice and chickens. The study suggests that transglutamination contributes to the cornification of hard skin appendages.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Caterina Barresi, Heidemarie Rossiter, Maria Buchberger, Johannes Pammer, Supawadee Sukseree, Maria Sibilia, Erwin Tschachler, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: Autophagy is a degradation mechanism that plays a critical role in cellular homeostasis. Inhibition of autophagy has been found to slow down the growth of skin tumors.
Article
Immunology
Leopold Eckhart, Wolfgang Sipos
Summary: This study identified inactivating mutations of OAS genes in primates through comparative genomics and revealed a diversifying evolution pattern of the OAS gene family. The study also found that camelids lack OAS2 and OAS3 genes, Asian pangolins lack both OASL and OAS3 genes, and a new OAS gene (OAS5) is present in the bat suborder Yangochiroptera. These differences may affect innate immune responses to coronaviruses and other RNA viruses.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marta Surbek, Supawadee Sukseree, Leopold Eckhart
Summary: The skin protects the body and its metabolism of iron is regulated by differentially expressed genes in the epidermal keratinocytes, supporting the recycling of iron and preventing its release from the skin surface.