The structures of the lipooligosaccharides fromBrucella melitensismutants affected in the WbkD and ManBcoreproteins have been fully characterized using NMR spectroscopy. The results revealed that disruption ofwbkDgives rise to a rough lipopolysaccharide (R-LPS) with a complete core structure (β-d-Glcp-(1→4)-α-Kdop-(2→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)-β-d-GlcpN-(1→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)]-β-d-GlcpN-(1→3)-α-d-Manp-(1→5)]-α-Kdop-(2→6)-β-d-GlcpN3N4P-(1→6)-α-d-GlcpN3N1P), in addition to components lacking one of the terminal β-d-GlcpN and/or the β-d-Glcpresidues (48 and 17%, respectively). These structures were identical to those of the R-LPS fromB. melitensisEP, a strain simultaneously expressing both smooth and R-LPS, also studied herein. In contrast, disruption ofmanBcoregives rise to a deep-rough pentasaccharide core (β-d-Glcp-(1→4)-α-Kdop-(2→4)-α-Kdop-(2→6)-β-d-GlcpN3N4P-(1→6)-α-d-GlcpN3N1P) as the major component (63%), as well as a minor tetrasaccharide component lacking the terminal β-d-Glcpresidue (37%). These results are in agreement with the predicted functions of the WbkD (glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the O-antigen) and ManBcoreproteins (phosphomannomutase involved in the biosynthesis of a mannosyl precursor needed for the biosynthesis of the core and O-antigen). We also report that deletion ofB. melitensis wadCremoves the core oligosaccharide branch not linked to the O-antigen causing an increase in overall negative charge of the remaining LPS inner section. This is in agreement with the mannosyltransferase role predicted for WadC and the lack of GlcpN residues in the defective core oligosaccharide. Despite carrying the O-antigen essential inB. melitensisvirulence, the core deficiency in thewadCmutant structure resulted in a more efficient detection by innate immunity and attenuation, proving the role of the β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)-β-d-GlcpN-(1→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)]-β-d-GlcpN-(1→3)-α-d-Manp-(1→5) structure in virulence.

Protein lysine acetylation is a reversible and dynamic post-translational modification. It plays an important role in regulating diverse cellular processes including chromatin dynamic, metabolic pathways, and transcription in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Although studies of lysine acetylome in plants have been reported, the throughput was not high enough, hindering the deep understanding of lysine acetylation in plant physiology and pathology. In this study, taking advantages of anti-acetyllysine-based enrichment and high-sensitive-mass spectrometer, we applied an integrated proteomic approach to comprehensively investigate lysine acetylome in strawberry. In total, we identified 1392 acetylation sites in 684 proteins, representing the largest dataset of acetylome in plants to date. To reveal the functional impacts of lysine acetylation in strawberry, intensive bioinformatic analysis was performed. The results significantly expanded our current understanding of plant acetylome and demonstrated that lysine acetylation is involved in multiple cellular metabolism and cellular processes. More interestingly, nearly 50% of all acetylated proteins identified in this work were localized in chloroplast and the vital role of lysine acetylation in photosynthesis was also revealed. Taken together, this study not only established the most extensive lysine acetylome in plants to date, but also systematically suggests the significant and unique roles of lysine acetylation in plants.

Duckweed is a novel aquatic bioenergy crop that is found ubiquitously throughout the world. Uniconazole plays an important role in improving crop production through the regulation of endogenous hormone levels. We found that a high quantity and quality of duckweed growth can be achieved by uniconazole application, although the mechanisms are unknown.

Pez functions as an upstream negative regulator of Yorkie (Yki) to regulate intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation and is essential for the activity of the Hippo pathway specifically in the Drosophila midgut epithelium. Here we report that Suppressor of Deltex (Su(dx)) acts as a negative regulator of Pez. We show that Su(dx) targets Pez for degradation both in vitro and in vivo. Overexpression of Su(dx) induces proliferation in the fly midgut epithelium, which can be rescued by overexpressed Pez. We also demonstrate that the interaction between Su(dx) and Pez, bridged by WW domains and PY/PPxY motifs, is required for Su(dx)-mediated Pez degradation. Furthermore, we find that Kibra, a binding partner of Pez, stabilizes Pez via WW-PY/PPxY interaction. Moreover, PTPN14, a Pez mammalian homolog, is degraded by overexpressed Su(dx) or Su(dx) homologue WWP1 in mammalian cells. These results reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism of Pez degradation in maintaining the homeostasis of Drosophila midgut.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) family members including PDI and ERp57 emerge as novel targets for anti-thrombotic treatments, but chemical agents with selectivity remain to be explored. We previously reported a novel derivative of danshensu (DSS), known as ADTM, displayed strong cardioprotective effects against oxidative stress-induced cellular injury in vitro and acute myocardial infarct in vivo. Herein, using chemical proteomics approach, we identified ERp57 as a major target of ADTM. ADTM displayed potent inhibitory effects on the redox activity of ERp57, inhibited the adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced expressions of P-selectin and αIIbβ3 integrin, and disrupted the interaction between ERp57 and αIIbβ3. In addition, ADTM inhibited both arachidonic acid (AA)-induced and ADP-induced platelet aggregation in vitro. Furthermore, ADTM significantly inhibited rat platelet aggregation and thrombus formation in vivo. Taken together, ADTM represents a promising candidate for anti-thrombotic therapy targeting ERp57.

Although many epidemiologic studies have investigated the CYP1A1 MspI gene polymorphisms and their associations with esophageal cancer (EC), definite conclusions cannot be drawn. To clarify the effects of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphisms on the risk of EC, a meta-analysis was performed in Chinese population.

As an important marker for health equity and access, under-five mortality (UFM) is a primary measure for socioeconomic development. The importance of reducing UFM has been further emphasized in an ambitious target under Sustainable Development Goals. The factors influencing UFM are not adequately understood in Bhutan.

Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor characterized by rapid growth, diffuse invasion and therapeutic resistance. We recently used microRNA expression profiles to subclassify glioblastoma into five genetically and clinically distinct subclasses, and showed that microRNAs both define and contribute to the phenotypes of these subclasses. Here we show that miR-29a activates a multi-faceted growth and invasion program that promotes glioblastoma aggressiveness.

During infection, transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) is essential for the control of host defense. Here we show that the microtubule-associated guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF)-H1, is required for the phosphorylation of IRF5 by microbial muramyl-dipeptides (MDP), the minimal structural motif of peptidoglycan of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Specifically, GEF-H1 functions in a microtubule based recognition system for microbial peptidoglycans that mediates the activation of IKKε which we identify as a new upstream IKKα/β and IRF5 kinase. The deletion of GEF-H1 or dominant-negative variants of GEF-H1 prevent activation of IKKε and phosphorylation of IRF5. The GEF-H1-IKKε-IRF5 signaling axis functions independent of NOD-like receptors and is critically required for the recognition of intracellular peptidoglycans and host defenses against Listeria monocytogenes.

Although the generation of BCR-ABL is the molecular hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the comprehensive molecular mechanisms of the disease remain unclear yet. Growth arrest specific 2 (GAS2) regulates multiple cellular functions including cell cycle, apoptosis and calpain activities. In the present study, we found GAS2 was up-regulated in CML cells including CD34+ progenitor cells compared to their normal counterparts. We utilized RNAi and the expression of dominant negative form of GAS2 (GAS2DN) to target GAS2, which resulted in calpain activity enhancement and growth inhibition of both K562 and MEG-01 cells. Targeting GAS2 also sensitized K562 cells to Imatinib mesylate (IM). GAS2DN suppressed the tumorigenic ability of MEG-01 cells and impaired the tumour growth as well. Moreover, the CD34+ cells from CML patients and healthy donors were transduced with control and GAS2DN lentiviral vectors, and the CD34+ transduced (YFP+) progeny cells (CD34+YFP+) were plated for colony-forming cell (CFC) assay. The results showed that GAS2DN inhibited the CFC production of CML cells by 57±3% (n = 3), while affected those of normal hematopoietic cells by 31±1% (n = 2). Next, we found the inhibition of CML cells by GAS2DN was dependent on calpain activity but not the degradation of beta-catenin. Lastly, we generated microarray data to identify the differentially expressed genes upon GAS2DN and validated that the expression of HNRPDL, PTK7 and UCHL5 was suppressed by GAS2DN. These 3 genes were up-regulated in CML cells compared to normal control cells and the growth of K562 cells was inhibited upon HNRPDL silence. Taken together, we have demonstrated that GAS2 is up-regulated in CML cells and the inhibition of GAS2 impairs the growth of CML cells, which indicates GAS2 is a novel regulator of CML cells and a potential therapeutic target of this disease.

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of laminar shear stress on inhibition of apoptosis in endothelial cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were starved in medium containing 2% fetal bovine serum and 20 dyne/cm(2) shear stress.

Chromatin remodeling processes are among the most important regulatory mechanisms in controlling cell proliferation and regeneration. Drosophila intestinal stem cells (ISCs) exhibit self-renewal potentials, maintain tissue homeostasis, and serve as an excellent model for studying cell growth and regeneration. In this study, we show that Brahma (Brm) chromatin-remodeling complex is required for ISC proliferation and damage-induced midgut regeneration in a lineage-specific manner. ISCs and enteroblasts exhibit high levels of Brm proteins; and without Brm, ISC proliferation and differentiation are impaired. Importantly, the Brm complex participates in ISC proliferation induced by the Scalloped-Yorkie transcriptional complex and that the Hippo (Hpo) signaling pathway directly restricted ISC proliferation by regulating Brm protein levels by inducing caspase-dependent cleavage of Brm. The cleavage resistant form of Brm protein promoted ISC proliferation. Our findings highlighted the importance of Hpo signaling in regulating epigenetic components such as Brm to control downstream transcription and hence ISC proliferation. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00999.001.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of caveolin-1 in treadmill-exercise-induced angiogenesis in the ischemic penumbra of rat brains, and whether caveolin-1 changes correlated with reduced brain injury induced by treadmill exercise, in rats after cerebral ischemia. Rats were randomized into five groups: sham-operated (S, n=7), model (M, n=36), exercise and model (EM, n=36), inhibitor and model (IM, n=36), and inhibitor, exercise, and model (IEM, n=36). Rats in the model groups underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Rats in the inhibitor groups received an IP injection of the caveolin-1 inhibitor, daidzein (0.4 mg/kg), every 24 h following reperfusion. Rats were killed at 7 or 28 days after the operation. The exercise group showed better neurological recovery and smaller infarction volumes compared with the non-exercise group. Correspondingly, significant increases of caveolin-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression were observed compared with the non-exercise group. Additionally, the number of Flk-1/CD34 double-positive cells towards the ischemic penumbra was increased in the exercise group. Furthermore, the induction of VEGF protein, microvessel density, decrease of infarct volumes and neurological recovery was significantly inhibited by daidzein. This study indicates that treadmill exercise reduces brain injury in stroke. Our findings suggest that the caveolin-1 pathway is involved in the regulation of VEGF in association with promoted angiogenesis in the ischemic penumbra of rat brains after treadmill exercise. The caveolin-1/VEGF signaling pathway may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention in rats following MCAO.

Hedgehog (Hh) has been known as the only cholesterol-modified morphogen playing pivotal roles in development and tumorigenesis. A major unsolved question is how Hh signaling regulates the activity of Smoothened (SMO). Here, we performed an unbiased biochemical screen and identified that SMO was covalently modified by cholesterol on the Asp95 (D95) residue through an ester bond. This modification was inhibited by Patched-1 (Ptch1) but enhanced by Hh. The SMO(D95N) mutation, which could not be cholesterol modified, was refractory to Hh-stimulated ciliary localization and failed to activate downstream signaling. Furthermore, homozygous SmoD99N/D99N (the equivalent residue in mouse) knockin mice were embryonic lethal with severe cardiac defects, phenocopying the Smo-/- mice. Together, the results of our study suggest that Hh signaling transduces to SMO through modulating its cholesterylation and provides a therapeutic opportunity to treat Hh-pathway-related cancers by targeting SMO cholesterylation.

Anthocyanins provide nutritional benefits and are responsible for red coloration in many fruits. Light affects anthocyanin biosynthesis in peach (Prunus persica). However, some cultivars show differential sensitivity to light. In the present study, 'Hujingmilu (HJ),' a naturally deeply colored cultivar, and 'Yulu (YL),' showing low pigmentation, were used to study the mechanism underlying UV-light-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis. Both UVA and UVB induced fruit pigmentation of 'HJ,' but 'YL' was only sensitive to UVB. Transcriptomic analyses showed over 5000 genes were differentially expressed by pairwise comparisons of RNA libraries isolated from tissue of each cultivar treated with darkness, UVA and UVB. Twenty-three genes related to anthocyanin biosynthesis were identified from the transcriptome data, which were coordinately up-regulated during accumulation of anthocyanins, and down-regulated in the dark. Altered expression of several light receptors, as well as CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC10 (COP10) and ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 homolog (HYH), and a specific anthocyanin transporter glutathione S-transferase (GST), in 'YL' fruit appears to be responsible for the insensitivity to UVA of this cultivar. Expression profiles of several transcription factors of the families MYB, bHLH, bZIP and NAC were highly correlated with those of the anthocyanin biosynthesis genes. The study provides a valuable overview of the underlying molecular mechanisms of UV-light induced anthocyanin response using peach cultivars with differing light sensitivities.

Harmful drinking among young people is common in Australia and many other countries. Social norms and their influence on adolescents' alcohol consumption behaviours have received much research attention in recent years. However, there is limited understanding of how social norms related to alcohol are developed and transmitted across social networks and a specific tool that measures these constructs has yet to be developed. This paper outlines the rationale and protocol for the design and validation of a multidimensional survey instrument which measures the development and transmission pathways of alcohol-related norms among adolescents. A longer term aim is to apply the instrument in a respondent-driven sampling study with a large adolescent cohort.

Expression levels of the cell surface glycoprotein, CD7, and the serine protease, elastase 2 (ELA2), in the leukemic cells of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have been associated with clinical outcome. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the variable expression of these genes in the leukemic cells.

RNA alternative splicing (AS) is an important post-transcriptional mechanism enabling single genes to produce multiple proteins. It has been well demonstrated that viruses deploy host AS machinery for viral protein productions. However, knowledge on viral AS is limited to a few disease-causing viruses in model species. Here we report a novel approach to characterizing viral AS using whole transcriptome dataset from host species. Two insect transcriptomes (Acheta domesticus and Planococcus citri) generated in the 1,000 Insect Transcriptome Evolution (1KITE) project were used as a proof of concept using the new pipeline. Two closely related densoviruses (Acheta domesticus densovirus, AdDNV, and Planococcus citri densovirus, PcDNV, Ambidensovirus, Densovirinae, Parvoviridae) were detected and analyzed for AS patterns. The results suggested that although the two viruses shared major AS features, dramatic AS divergences were observed. Detailed analysis of the splicing junctions showed clusters of AS events occurred in two regions of the virus genome, demonstrating that transcriptome analysis could gain valuable insights into viral splicing. When applied to large-scale transcriptomics projects with diverse taxonomic sampling, our new method is expected to rapidly expand our knowledge on RNA splicing mechanisms for a wide range of viruses.

Melatonin is an endocrine neurohormone secreted by pinealocytes in the pineal gland. It exerts diverse physiological effects, such as circadian rhythm regulator and antioxidant. However, the functional importance of melatonin in spermatogenesis regulation remains unclear. The objectives of this study are to: (1) detect melatonin affection on miRNA expression profiles in GC-1 spg cells by miRNA deep sequencing (DeepSeq) and (2) define melatonin affected miRNA-mRNA interactions and associated biological processes using bioinformatics analysis. GC-1 spg cells were cultured with melatonin (10-7M) for 24h. DeepSeq data were validated using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR). A total of 176 miRNA expressions were found to be significantly different between two groups (fold change of >2 or <0.5 and FDR<0.05). Among these expressions, 171 were up-regulated, and 5 were down-regulated. Ontology analysis of biological processes of these targets indicated a variety of biological functions. Pathway analysis indicated that the predicted targets were involved in cancers, apoptosis and signaling pathways, such as VEGF, TNF, Ras and Notch. Results implicated that melatonin could regulate the expression of miRNA to perform its physiological effects in GC-1 spg cells. These results should be useful to investigate the biological function of miRNAs regulated by melatonin in spermatogenesis and testicular germ cell tumor.

The pathogen Botrytis cinerea is a very dangerous pathogen that infects many economically important crops such as grape, strawberry, tomato, and eggplant. Cyprodinil, a pyrimidine amine fungicide, and fenhexamid, an amide fungicide, are new reagents for controlling gray mold with special efficacy. It is necessary to understand the change trends in the toxicological and physiological characteristics of B. cinerea with successive selective pressures of cyprodinil and fenhexamid to elongate the serving life of these fungicides for effective disease control. The toxicities of cyprodinil and fenhexamid at successive concentrations of EC25, EC50 and EC75 on B. cinerea strain BO5.10 were assayed along with mycelial growth-inhibition capacity. The results showed that the EC50 value of the cyprodinil-treated F27 strain increased approximately 18-fold, whereas of which in the fenhexamid-treated F27 strain increased only 3-fold compared with that of the F0 strain. The conductivities and glycerinum contents of the strains resistant to cyprodinil and fenhexamid were obviously enhanced; in contrast, the oxalic acid contents were decreased compared with those in the F0 strain. The transcriptomes of the F27 control (T01), cyprodinil-treated (T02) and fenhexamid- treated (T03) strains were analyzed, and the expression levels of functional genes in the T02 and T03 strains were significantly increased compared with those in the T01 strain; these results were further validated using qRT-PCR. The results indicated that the relative expression of two genes encoding mixed-functional oxidases (MFOs) BC1G_16062 and BC1G_16084, two genes encoding transmembrane proteins BC1G_12366 and BC1G_13768, two genes encoding Zinc finger proteins BC1G_13764 and BC1G_10483,one gene encoding citrate synthase enzyme BC1G_09151, one gene encoding gluconolactonase BC1G_15612 in the T02 and T03 strains and one gene encoding lysophospholipids enzyme BC1G_04893 in the T3 strain increased substantially compared with that in the T1 strain (P < 0.01). Functional prediction analysis of upregulated gene expression and structural verification was also performed, and the results showed that BC1G_10483 was a ZnF_C2HC transcriptional regulator interacting with the Sp1 element of these genes to respond to the pressures from cyprodinil and fenhexamid. Our results could contribute to a better understanding of the resistance mechanism of B. cinerea against cyprodinil and fenhexamid.