ALBERT

Description: During a close pass of Cassini through the plasma wake of Saturn's moon Dione on April 7, 2010 the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) detected molecular oxygen ions (O2+) on pick up ring velocity distributions, thus providing the first in situ detection of a neutral exosphere surrounding the icy moon. The density of O2+ determined from the CAPS data ranges from 0.01 to 0.09 /cm3 and is used to estimate the exosphere O2 radial column density, obtaining the range 0.9 to 7 × 1011/cm2 . CAPS was unable to directly detect pick up H2O+ from the exosphere but the observations can be used to set an upper limit to their density of ∼10 times the O2+ density.

Description: Abstract 3186 Identification of new key players in erythropoiesis can lead to a better understanding of the etiology of anemia of unknown origin. Mouse models have significantly contributed to our understanding of normal erythropoiesis and the pathogenesis of erythroid disorders. Recently, we identified in the scat (severe combined anemia and thrombocytopenia) mouse model a missense mutation (G125V) in the Rasa3 gene, encoding a Ras GTPase activating protein (GAP). Homozygous scat mice present a cyclic phenotype with alternating episodes of crisis and remission. Crisis episodes are characterized by severe anemia and thrombocytopenia while, remarkably, the phenotype reverts to normal in the remission phase. Remissions are transient, however, and 94% of scat/scat mice die by P30 during a second crisis episode. We recently demonstrated a mechanism contributing to crisis episodes. The G125V mutation in Rasa3 is a loss of function mutation causing the protein to be mislocalized to the cytosol in scat reticulocytes. This results in loss of GAP activity and, as a consequence, increased levels of active GTP-bound Ras and a severe block in erythroid differentiation. Morpholino knockdowns of rasa3 in zebrafish result in profound anemia, confirming a conserved and non-redundant role for Rasa3 in vertebrate erythropoiesis. Here, we report that the cell cycle is affected in scat erythroid progenitors and extend studies to human primary erythroid cells. Using propidium iodine and flow cytometry, we found a significant increase in the G0/G1 phase (46.8% ± 3.1% in crisis vs 34.8% ± 2.5 in controls, × ± SD p

Description: Abstract 1270 Shwachman Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare autosomal recessive bone marrow failure syndrome mainly characterized by neutropenia, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and an increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia. The phenotype in patients is variable for unclear reasons, but approximately 90% of patients have biallelic mutations in the SBDS gene. At least one action of the SBDS protein is to couple with the GTPase ELF1 to facilitate release of the eIF6 protein from the 60S ribosome subunit, thus enabling joining of the 60S and 40S ribosome subunits, a function that has prompted many to consider SDS a “ribosomopathy”. We created a cellular model of SDS using TF-1 erythroleukemia cells transduced with lentiviral vectors containing two different shRNAs against SBDS or a scrambled sequence. Clones were grown under puromycin selection and a clone from each shRNA was selected. In each clone, knockdown of SBDS was verified at the protein level by western blot, and expression levels of SBDS were less than 1%. Both clones underwent differentiation to either myeloid or erythroid colonies by culturing in GM-CSF or erythropoietin, respectively. The 2–12 clone had a significant decrease in the number and size of both myeloid and erythroid colonies (see Table) when compared with the scrambled shRNA control. In contrast, the 1–7 clone had the same number of myeloid and erythroid colonies as the control. Previous work by other investigators in SDS yeast models revealed that missense mutations in the anti-association factor, Tif6 suppress the slow growth phenotype of SDS-mutant yeast cells. In exploring the molecular basis for the difference in phenotype observed in our TF-1 cells, we therefore focused on eIF6, the human ortholog of Tif6. The 2–12 clone had similar expression of the eIF6 protein when compared to the scrambled control. However, the 1–7 clone had a significantly decreased amount of eIF6 protein compared to the control. DNA sequencing did not reveal any mutations in the eIF6 gene, and quantitative RT-PCR showed similar levels of eIF6 mRNA transcripts, suggesting that the differences in eIF6 protein levels may be due to post-translational modifications. Pressato and colleagues (Br J Haematol 157:503, 2012) have recently speculated that the relatively benign course of SDS patients with a deletion of chromosome 20q may be due to loss of the eIF6 protein (whose gene is located on 20q). Our findings add to the hypothesis that antagonizing eIF6 may modify or rescue the SDS phenotype, possibly by reducing the requirement of SBDS in giving rise to 60S subunits lacking eIF6. Scramble colonies +/− SE 2–12 colonies +/−SE 1–7 colonies +/− SE Myeloid 131+/−4.4 112+/−3.5 p