Article
Microbiology
Joseph T. Smith Jr, Brianna Tylec, Arunasalam Naguleswaran, Isabel Roditi, Laurie K. Read
Summary: This study reveals the importance of mitochondrial mRNA editing in the developmental regulation of Trypanosoma brucei. The researchers found that temperature reduction and depletion of the differentiation-repressive kinase RDK1 can affect the metabolism of Trypanosoma brucei by altering the editing of mitochondrial cytochrome mRNAs.
Article
Immunology
Manon Geerts, Nick Van Reet, Sander Leyten, Raf Berghmans, Kat S. Rock, Theresa H. T. Coetzer, Lauren E-A Eyssen, Philippe Buscher
Summary: The newly developed T. b. gambiense inhibition ELISA (g-iELISA) based on the principle of antibody binding showed high specificity and sensitivity, making it suitable for regional laboratories in gHAT endemic countries for monitoring and surveillance.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pooja Kumari, Lars Harald Thuestad, Rafal Ciosk
Summary: The LIN-41/TRIM71 protein in Caenorhabditis elegans serves as a versatile regulator of mRNA fate, playing different roles in somatic and germline cells. In somatic cells, LIN-41 recognizes specific mRNA sequences and either triggers decay or represses translation. In the germline, LIN-41's targets and regulatory mechanisms are not well understood, but it has been suggested to indirectly control mRNA by interacting with other RNA-binding proteins. This study demonstrates that LIN-41 can directly regulate germline mRNA via specific sequence elements, identifying potential targets and validating one known target involved in chromatin modification.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jaime A. Castro-Mondragon, Miriam Ragle Aure, Ole Christian Lingjaerde, Anita Langerod, John W. M. Martens, Anne-Lise Borresen-Dale, Vessela N. Kristensen, Anthony Mathelier
Summary: Most cancer alterations occur in the noncoding portion of the genome, where regulatory regions control gene expression. This study shows that transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) have similar mutation loads to protein-coding exons. By analyzing cancer somatic mutations in TFBSs and gene expression data, the combined effects of transcriptional and post-transcriptional alterations on regulatory programs in cancer can be evaluated.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Yan-Zi Wen, Hao-Tian Tang, Xiao-Li Cai, Na Wu, Jia-Zhen Xu, Bi-Xiu Su, Geoff Hide, Zhao-Rong Lun, De-Hua Lai
Summary: In this study, PAG3 was identified as a key nuclear gene involved in the slender to stumpy differentiation pathway of Trypanosoma brucei in the mammalian host. The loss of this gene might explain the inability of T. evansi and some T. equiperdum to differentiate and the adaptation to transmission cycles that bypass the tsetse vector or mechanical contact.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Kacper M. Sendra, Andrew K. Watson, Ekaterina Kozhevnikova, Anthony L. Moore, T. Martin Embley, Robert P. Hirt
Summary: This article investigates the role of highly reduced forms of mitochondria called mitosomes in parasites, revealing their importance in the progression of the parasite life cycle and the biosynthesis of essential proteins. Additionally, the authors demonstrate that T. hominis is a useful model for studying microsporidian parasites and testing therapeutic agents.
Article
Cell Biology
Meagan M. Kitt, Nobuko Tabuchi, W. Clay Spencer, Heath L. Robinson, Xinrui L. Zhang, Brent A. Eastman, Katherine J. Lobur, Jerry Silver, Lin Mei, Evan S. Deneris
Summary: This study reveals a specialized transcriptional program in adult-stage neurons that ensures the preservation of neuronal connectivity. The transcription factors Lmx1b and Pet1 switch their function from controlling embryonic axonal growth to sustaining a transcriptomic signature of serotonin (5-HT) connectivity in adult-stage. Deficiency of Lmx1b and Pet1 in adulthood leads to progressive degeneration of 5-HT synapses and axons, increased susceptibility of axons to neurotoxic injury, and abnormal stress responses. These findings suggest that maintaining connectivity transcriptomes protects neuronal connectivity and the decay of such transcriptomes may contribute to age-related brain circuitry diseases.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brian S. Mantilla, Leticia D. Do Amaral, Henning J. Jessen, Roberto Docampo
Summary: The study highlights the importance of highly phosphorylated IPs in the life cycle of T. cruzi, identifying new highly phosphorylated IPs and the kinases involved in their synthesis.
ACS CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Natoya J. Peart, Jae Yeon Hwang, Mathieu Quesnel-Vallieres, Matthew J. Sears, Yuequin Yang, Peter Stoilov, Yoseph Barash, Juw Won Park, Kristen W. Lynch, Russ P. Carstens
Summary: Epithelial splicing regulatory proteins ESRP1 and ESRP2 play crucial roles in the regulation of alternative splicing during mammalian development, particularly in genes involved in maintaining epithelial cell function. Through eCLIP and RNA-Seq analyses, it was found that ESRP1 primarily functions in splicing regulation by directly binding to specific sites to promote exon inclusion or skipping. Additionally, ESRP1 also exhibits widespread binding in the untranslated regions of genes related to epithelial cell function, suggesting its involvement in post-transcriptional regulation beyond splicing.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Li-Ting Diao, Shu-Juan Xie, Hang Lei, Xiu-Sheng Qiu, Meng-Chun Huang, Shuang Tao, Ya-Rui Hou, Yan-Xia Hu, Yu-Jia Sun, Qi Zhang, Zhen-Dong Xiao
Summary: METTL3 increases mature miRNA levels by modifying pri-miRNA transcripts through m6A, but surprisingly represses muscle-specific miRNAs in C2C12 cells and mouse skeletal muscle regeneration models. This repression may involve both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulations.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Eirini Kalliara, Malgorzata Kardynska, James Bagnall, David G. Spiller, Werner Muller, Dominik Ruckerl, Jaroslaw Smieja, Subhra K. Biswas, Pawel Paszek
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated interferon-induced JAK-STAT signaling in innate immune macrophages using live-cell confocal microscopy and mathematical modeling. They found that transient exposure to IFN-γ stimulation leads to long-term desensitization of STAT1 signaling and gene expression responses. The study also revealed that IFN-α/β 1 and IFN-γ elicit different levels of desensitization, with cells that are refractory to IFN-α/β 1 being sensitive to IFN-γ, but not vice versa.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Nils O. Lindstrom, Rachel Sealfon, Xi Chen, Riana K. Parvez, Andrew Ransick, Guilherme De Sena Brandine, Jinjin Guo, Bill Hill, Tracy Tran, Albert D. Kim, Jian Zhou, Alicja Tadych, Aaron Watters, Aaron Wong, Elizabeth Lovero, Brendan H. Grubbs, Matthew E. Thornton, Jill A. McMahon, Andrew D. Smith, Seth W. Ruffins, Chris Armit, Olga G. Troyanskaya, Andrew P. McMahon
Summary: Researchers spatially resolved a stereotypical process of nephron progenitor generation and constructed three-dimensional protein maps using data-driven approaches to predict interactions within and between nephron cell types. Single-cell RNA sequencing and network mining identified developmental disease genes and predicted interesting targets. This spatially resolved nephrogenic program will enhance efforts in understanding kidney development and disease as well as in generating new kidney structures.
DEVELOPMENTAL CELL
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Mariya London, Angelina M. Bilate, Tiago B. R. Castro, Tomohisa Sujino, Daniel Mucida
Summary: The study demonstrates that mesenteric lymph node T cells undergo tissue adaptation upon migrating to intestinal lamina propria and epithelium, with changes in transcription and chromatin. Cells occupying different gut layers have specific CD4 programming, and the transition to intraepithelial lymphocytes involves the shutdown of the T-reg cell program before accessibility to epithelium.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alireza Fotuhi Siahpirani, Sara Knaack, Deborah Chasman, Morten Seirup, Rupa Sridharan, Ron Stewart, James Thomson, Sushmita Roy
Summary: Dynamic regulatory module networks (DRMNs) are a novel approach to infer cell type-specific cis-regulatory networks and their dynamics by integrating multi-omic data. DRMNs can predict cis-regulators of context-specific expression and capture network dynamics across linearly and hierarchically related contexts.
Article
Cell Biology
Tsung-Yen Huang, Masato Hirota, Daiki Sasaki, Rajkumar Singh Kalra, Hsiao-Chiao Chien, Miho Tamai, Shukla Sarkar, Yang Mi, Mio Miyagi, Yu Seto, Hiroki Ishikawa
Summary: Aerobic glycolysis, essential for effector T cell survival and proliferation, regulates Th17 differentiation through the negative regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). PEP supplementation or inhibition of downstream glycolytic enzymes increases PEP levels and inhibits IL-17A expression. Mechanistically, PEP binds to JunB and inhibits DNA binding of the JunB/BATF/IRF4 complex, thereby modulating the Th17 transcriptional program. PEP administration inhibits Th17 generation and improves Th17-dependent autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
