ALBERT

Description: Using next-generation sequencing technology alone, we have successfully generated and assembled a draft sequence of the giant panda genome. The assembled contigs (2.25 gigabases (Gb)) cover approximately 94% of the whole genome, and the remaining gaps (0.05 Gb) seem to contain carnivore-specific repeats and tandem repeats. Comparisons with the dog and human showed that the panda genome has a lower divergence rate. The assessment of panda genes potentially underlying some of its unique traits indicated that its bamboo diet might be more dependent on its gut microbiome than its own genetic composition. We also identified more than 2.7 million heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the diploid genome. Our data and analyses provide a foundation for promoting mammalian genetic research, and demonstrate the feasibility for using next-generation sequencing technologies for accurate, cost-effective and rapid de novo assembly of large eukaryotic genomes.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951497/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951497/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Li, Ruiqiang -- Fan, Wei -- Tian, Geng -- Zhu, Hongmei -- He, Lin -- Cai, Jing -- Huang, Quanfei -- Cai, Qingle -- Li, Bo -- Bai, Yinqi -- Zhang, Zhihe -- Zhang, Yaping -- Wang, Wen -- Li, Jun -- Wei, Fuwen -- Li, Heng -- Jian, Min -- Li, Jianwen -- Zhang, Zhaolei -- Nielsen, Rasmus -- Li, Dawei -- Gu, Wanjun -- Yang, Zhentao -- Xuan, Zhaoling -- Ryder, Oliver A -- Leung, Frederick Chi-Ching -- Zhou, Yan -- Cao, Jianjun -- Sun, Xiao -- Fu, Yonggui -- Fang, Xiaodong -- Guo, Xiaosen -- Wang, Bo -- Hou, Rong -- Shen, Fujun -- Mu, Bo -- Ni, Peixiang -- Lin, Runmao -- Qian, Wubin -- Wang, Guodong -- Yu, Chang -- Nie, Wenhui -- Wang, Jinhuan -- Wu, Zhigang -- Liang, Huiqing -- Min, Jiumeng -- Wu, Qi -- Cheng, Shifeng -- Ruan, Jue -- Wang, Mingwei -- Shi, Zhongbin -- Wen, Ming -- Liu, Binghang -- Ren, Xiaoli -- Zheng, Huisong -- Dong, Dong -- Cook, Kathleen -- Shan, Gao -- Zhang, Hao -- Kosiol, Carolin -- Xie, Xueying -- Lu, Zuhong -- Zheng, Hancheng -- Li, Yingrui -- Steiner, Cynthia C -- Lam, Tommy Tsan-Yuk -- Lin, Siyuan -- Zhang, Qinghui -- Li, Guoqing -- Tian, Jing -- Gong, Timing -- Liu, Hongde -- Zhang, Dejin -- Fang, Lin -- Ye, Chen -- Zhang, Juanbin -- Hu, Wenbo -- Xu, Anlong -- Ren, Yuanyuan -- Zhang, Guojie -- Bruford, Michael W -- Li, Qibin -- Ma, Lijia -- Guo, Yiran -- An, Na -- Hu, Yujie -- Zheng, Yang -- Shi, Yongyong -- Li, Zhiqiang -- Liu, Qing -- Chen, Yanling -- Zhao, Jing -- Qu, Ning -- Zhao, Shancen -- Tian, Feng -- Wang, Xiaoling -- Wang, Haiyin -- Xu, Lizhi -- Liu, Xiao -- Vinar, Tomas -- Wang, Yajun -- Lam, Tak-Wah -- Yiu, Siu-Ming -- Liu, Shiping -- Zhang, Hemin -- Li, Desheng -- Huang, Yan -- Wang, Xia -- Yang, Guohua -- Jiang, Zhi -- Wang, Junyi -- Qin, Nan -- Li, Li -- Li, Jingxiang -- Bolund, Lars -- Kristiansen, Karsten -- Wong, Gane Ka-Shu -- Olson, Maynard -- Zhang, Xiuqing -- Li, Songgang -- Yang, Huanming -- Wang, Jian -- Wang, Jun -- R01 HG003229/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HG003229-05/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2010 Jan 21;463(7279):311-7. doi: 10.1038/nature08696. Epub 2009 Dec 13.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20010809" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is characterized by its ability to bind to AMP, which enables it to adjust enzymatic activity by sensing the cellular energy status and maintain the balance between ATP production and consumption in eukaryotic cells. It also has important roles in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation, and in the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity. These important functions have rendered AMPK an important drug target for obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer treatments. However, the regulatory mechanism of AMPK activity by AMP binding remains unsolved. Here we report the crystal structures of an unphosphorylated fragment of the AMPK alpha-subunit (KD-AID) from Schizosaccharomyces pombe that contains both the catalytic kinase domain and an autoinhibitory domain (AID), and of a phosphorylated kinase domain from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Snf1-pKD). The AID binds, from the 'backside', to the hinge region of its kinase domain, forming contacts with both amino-terminal and carboxy-terminal lobes. Structural analyses indicate that AID binding might constrain the mobility of helix alphaC, hence resulting in an autoinhibited KD-AID with much lower kinase activity than that of the kinase domain alone. AMP activates AMPK both allosterically and by inhibiting dephosphorylation. Further in vitro kinetic studies demonstrate that disruption of the KD-AID interface reverses the autoinhibition and these AMPK heterotrimeric mutants no longer respond to the change in AMP concentration. The structural and biochemical data have shown the primary mechanism of AMPK autoinhibition and suggest a conformational switch model for AMPK activation by AMP.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chen, Lei -- Jiao, Zhi-Hao -- Zheng, Li-Sha -- Zhang, Yuan-Yuan -- Xie, Shu-Tao -- Wang, Zhi-Xin -- Wu, Jia-Wei -- England -- Nature. 2009 Jun 25;459(7250):1146-9. doi: 10.1038/nature08075. Epub 2009 May 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19474788" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Yuehong -- England -- Nature. 2010 Sep 9;467(7312):153. doi: 10.1038/467153d.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20829776" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The life cycle of mammals begins when a sperm enters an egg. Immediately after fertilization, both the maternal and paternal genomes undergo dramatic reprogramming to prepare for the transition from germ cell to somatic cell transcription programs. One of the molecular events that takes place during this transition is the demethylation of the paternal genome. Despite extensive efforts, the factors responsible for paternal DNA demethylation have not been identified. To search for such factors, we developed a live cell imaging system that allows us to monitor the paternal DNA methylation state in zygotes. Through short-interfering-RNA-mediated knockdown in mouse zygotes, we identified Elp3 (also called KAT9), a component of the elongator complex, to be important for paternal DNA demethylation. We demonstrate that knockdown of Elp3 impairs paternal DNA demethylation as indicated by reporter binding, immunostaining and bisulphite sequencing. Similar results were also obtained when other elongator components, Elp1 and Elp4, were knocked down. Importantly, injection of messenger RNA encoding the Elp3 radical SAM domain mutant, but not the HAT domain mutant, into MII oocytes before fertilization also impaired paternal DNA demethylation, indicating that the SAM radical domain is involved in the demethylation process. Our study not only establishes a critical role for the elongator complex in zygotic paternal genome demethylation, but also indicates that the demethylation process may be mediated through a reaction that requires an intact radical SAM domain.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2834414/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2834414/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Okada, Yuki -- Yamagata, Kazuo -- Hong, Kwonho -- Wakayama, Teruhiko -- Zhang, Yi -- R01 GM068804/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM068804-07/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2010 Jan 28;463(7280):554-8. doi: 10.1038/nature08732. Epub 2010 Jan 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7295, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20054296" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Oncogenic activation of BRAF fuels cancer growth by constitutively promoting RAS-independent mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway signalling. Accordingly, RAF inhibitors have brought substantially improved personalized treatment of metastatic melanoma. However, these targeted agents have also revealed an unexpected consequence: stimulated growth of certain cancers. Structurally diverse ATP-competitive RAF inhibitors can either inhibit or paradoxically activate the MAPK pathway, depending whether activation is by BRAF mutation or by an upstream event, such as RAS mutation or receptor tyrosine kinase activation. Here we have identified next-generation RAF inhibitors (dubbed 'paradox breakers') that suppress mutant BRAF cells without activating the MAPK pathway in cells bearing upstream activation. In cells that express the same HRAS mutation prevalent in squamous tumours from patients treated with RAF inhibitors, the first-generation RAF inhibitor vemurafenib stimulated in vitro and in vivo growth and induced expression of MAPK pathway response genes; by contrast the paradox breakers PLX7904 and PLX8394 had no effect. Paradox breakers also overcame several known mechanisms of resistance to first-generation RAF inhibitors. Dissociating MAPK pathway inhibition from paradoxical activation might yield both improved safety and more durable efficacy than first-generation RAF inhibitors, a concept currently undergoing human clinical evaluation with PLX8394.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Chao -- Spevak, Wayne -- Zhang, Ying -- Burton, Elizabeth A -- Ma, Yan -- Habets, Gaston -- Zhang, Jiazhong -- Lin, Jack -- Ewing, Todd -- Matusow, Bernice -- Tsang, Garson -- Marimuthu, Adhirai -- Cho, Hanna -- Wu, Guoxian -- Wang, Weiru -- Fong, Daniel -- Nguyen, Hoa -- Shi, Songyuan -- Womack, Patrick -- Nespi, Marika -- Shellooe, Rafe -- Carias, Heidi -- Powell, Ben -- Light, Emily -- Sanftner, Laura -- Walters, Jason -- Tsai, James -- West, Brian L -- Visor, Gary -- Rezaei, Hamid -- Lin, Paul S -- Nolop, Keith -- Ibrahim, Prabha N -- Hirth, Peter -- Bollag, Gideon -- England -- Nature. 2015 Oct 22;526(7574):583-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14982. Epub 2015 Oct 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Plexxikon Inc., 91 Bolivar Drive, Berkeley, California 94710, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26466569" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Intracellular ISG15 is an interferon (IFN)-alpha/beta-inducible ubiquitin-like modifier which can covalently bind other proteins in a process called ISGylation; it is an effector of IFN-alpha/beta-dependent antiviral immunity in mice. We previously published a study describing humans with inherited ISG15 deficiency but without unusually severe viral diseases. We showed that these patients were prone to mycobacterial disease and that human ISG15 was non-redundant as an extracellular IFN-gamma-inducing molecule. We show here that ISG15-deficient patients also display unanticipated cellular, immunological and clinical signs of enhanced IFN-alpha/beta immunity, reminiscent of the Mendelian autoinflammatory interferonopathies Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome and spondyloenchondrodysplasia. We further show that an absence of intracellular ISG15 in the patients' cells prevents the accumulation of USP18, a potent negative regulator of IFN-alpha/beta signalling, resulting in the enhancement and amplification of IFN-alpha/beta responses. Human ISG15, therefore, is not only redundant for antiviral immunity, but is a key negative regulator of IFN-alpha/beta immunity. In humans, intracellular ISG15 is IFN-alpha/beta-inducible not to serve as a substrate for ISGylation-dependent antiviral immunity, but to ensure USP18-dependent regulation of IFN-alpha/beta and prevention of IFN-alpha/beta-dependent autoinflammation.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4303590/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4303590/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Xianqin -- Bogunovic, Dusan -- Payelle-Brogard, Beatrice -- Francois-Newton, Veronique -- Speer, Scott D -- Yuan, Chao -- Volpi, Stefano -- Li, Zhi -- Sanal, Ozden -- Mansouri, Davood -- Tezcan, Ilhan -- Rice, Gillian I -- Chen, Chunyuan -- Mansouri, Nahal -- Mahdaviani, Seyed Alireza -- Itan, Yuval -- Boisson, Bertrand -- Okada, Satoshi -- Zeng, Lu -- Wang, Xing -- Jiang, Hui -- Liu, Wenqiang -- Han, Tiantian -- Liu, Delin -- Ma, Tao -- Wang, Bo -- Liu, Mugen -- Liu, Jing-Yu -- Wang, Qing K -- Yalnizoglu, Dilek -- Radoshevich, Lilliana -- Uze, Gilles -- Gros, Philippe -- Rozenberg, Flore -- Zhang, Shen-Ying -- Jouanguy, Emmanuelle -- Bustamante, Jacinta -- Garcia-Sastre, Adolfo -- Abel, Laurent -- Lebon, Pierre -- Notarangelo, Luigi D -- Crow, Yanick J -- Boisson-Dupuis, Stephanie -- Casanova, Jean-Laurent -- Pellegrini, Sandra -- 1P01AI076210-01A1/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- 309449/European Research Council/International -- 8UL1TR000043/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- P01 AI076210/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- P01 AI090935/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- P01AI090935/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R00 AI106942/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R00AI106942-02/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI035237/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R37 AI095983/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R37AI095983/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U19 AI083025/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U19AI083025/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- UL1 TR000043/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jan 1;517(7532):89-93. doi: 10.1038/nature13801. Epub 2014 Oct 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. ; 1] St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA [2] Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; Institut Pasteur, Cytokine Signaling Unit, CNRS URA 1961, 75724 Paris, France. ; 1] Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA [2] Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA [3] Microbiology Training Area, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; 1] Division of Immunology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2] Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy. ; Immunology Division and Pediatric Neurology Department, Hacettepe University Children's Hospital, 06100 Ankara, Turkey. ; Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Immunology, Pediatric Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 4739 Teheran, Iran. ; Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Genetic Medicine, Manchester, M13 9NT, UK. ; Department of Pediatrics, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China. ; St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China. ; Sangzhi County People's Hospital, Sangzhi 427100, China. ; Genetics Laboratory, Hubei Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China. ; 1] Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China [2] Center for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Molecular Cardiology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. ; Institut Pasteur, Bacteria-Cell Interactions Unit, 75724 Paris, France. ; CNRS UMR5235, Montpellier II University, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. ; Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada. ; Paris Descartes University, 75006 Paris, France. ; 1] Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France [2] Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, 75015 Paris, France. ; 1] Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France [2] Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, 75015 Paris, France [3] Center for the Study of Primary Immunodeficiencies, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France. ; 1] Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA [2] Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA [3] Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; 1] St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA [2] Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France [3] Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, 75015 Paris, France. ; Division of Immunology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; 1] Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Genetic Medicine, Manchester, M13 9NT, UK [2] Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, 75015 Paris, France [3] INSERM UMR 1163, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Neuroinflammation, Imagine Institute, 75006 Paris, France. ; 1] Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France [2] Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, 75015 Paris, France [3] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, New York 10065, USA [4] Pediatric Hematology-Immunology Unit, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, 75015 Paris, France [5]. ; 1] Institut Pasteur, Cytokine Signaling Unit, CNRS URA 1961, 75724 Paris, France [2].〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25307056" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: DNA replication in eukaryotes is strictly regulated by several mechanisms. A central step in this replication is the assembly of the heterohexameric minichromosome maintenance (MCM2-7) helicase complex at replication origins during G1 phase as an inactive double hexamer. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy, we report a near-atomic structure of the MCM2-7 double hexamer purified from yeast G1 chromatin. Our structure shows that two single hexamers, arranged in a tilted and twisted fashion through interdigitated amino-terminal domain interactions, form a kinked central channel. Four constricted rings consisting of conserved interior beta-hairpins from the two single hexamers create a narrow passageway that tightly fits duplex DNA. This narrow passageway, reinforced by the offset of the two single hexamers at the double hexamer interface, is flanked by two pairs of gate-forming subunits, MCM2 and MCM5. These unusual features of the twisted and tilted single hexamers suggest a concerted mechanism for the melting of origin DNA that requires structural deformation of the intervening DNA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Li, Ningning -- Zhai, Yuanliang -- Zhang, Yixiao -- Li, Wanqiu -- Yang, Maojun -- Lei, Jianlin -- Tye, Bik-Kwoon -- Gao, Ning -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 13;524(7564):186-91. doi: 10.1038/nature14685. Epub 2015 Jul 29.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; 1] Division of Life Science, Hong Kong Universityof Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China [2] Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. ; 1] Division of Life Science, Hong Kong Universityof Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China [2] Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26222030" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Meiosis is a germ-cell-specific cell division process through which haploid gametes are produced for sexual reproduction. Before the initiation of meiosis, mouse primordial germ cells undergo a series of epigenetic reprogramming steps, including the global erasure of DNA methylation at the 5-position of cytosine (5mC) in CpG-rich DNA. Although several epigenetic regulators, such as Dnmt3l and the histone methyltransferases G9a and Prdm9, have been reported to be crucial for meiosis, little is known about how the expression of meiotic genes is regulated and how their expression contributes to normal meiosis. Using a loss-of-function approach in mice, here we show that the 5mC-specific dioxygenase Tet1 has an important role in regulating meiosis in mouse oocytes. Tet1 deficiency significantly reduces female germ-cell numbers and fertility. Univalent chromosomes and unresolved DNA double-strand breaks are also observed in Tet1-deficient oocytes. Tet1 deficiency does not greatly affect the genome-wide demethylation that takes place in primordial germ cells, but leads to defective DNA demethylation and decreased expression of a subset of meiotic genes. Our study thus establishes a function for Tet1 in meiosis and meiotic gene activation in female germ cells.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3528851/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3528851/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yamaguchi, Shinpei -- Hong, Kwonho -- Liu, Rui -- Shen, Li -- Inoue, Azusa -- Diep, Dinh -- Zhang, Kun -- Zhang, Yi -- R01GM097253/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 DK089565/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- U01DK089565/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 Dec 20;492(7429):443-7. doi: 10.1038/nature11709. Epub 2012 Nov 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, WAB-149G, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23151479" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Genomic imprinting is an allele-specific gene expression system that is important for mammalian development and function. The molecular basis of genomic imprinting is allele-specific DNA methylation. Although it is well known that the de novo DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b are responsible for the establishment of genomic imprinting, how the methylation mark is erased during primordial germ cell (PGC) reprogramming remains unclear. Tet1 is one of the ten-eleven translocation family proteins, which have the capacity to oxidize 5-methylcytosine (5mC), specifically expressed in reprogramming PGCs. Here we report that Tet1 has a critical role in the erasure of genomic imprinting. We show that despite their identical genotype, progenies derived from mating between Tet1 knockout males and wild-Peg10 and Peg3, which exhibit aberrant hypermethylation in the paternal allele of differential methylated regions (DMRs). RNA-seq reveals extensive dysregulation of imprinted genes in the next generation due to paternal loss of Tet1 function. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of embryonic day 13.5 PGCs and sperm of Tet1 knockout mice revealed hypermethylation of DMRs of imprinted genes in sperm, which can be traced back to PGCs. Analysis of the DNA methylation dynamics in reprogramming PGCs indicates that Tet1 functions to wipe out remaining methylation, including imprinted genes, at the late reprogramming stage. Furthermore, we provide evidence supporting the role of Tet1 in the erasure of paternal imprints in the female germ line. Thus, our study establishes a critical function of Tet1 in the erasure of genomic imprinting.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957231/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957231/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yamaguchi, Shinpei -- Shen, Li -- Liu, Yuting -- Sendler, Damian -- Zhang, Yi -- U01 DK089565/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- U01DK089565/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2013 Dec 19;504(7480):460-4. doi: 10.1038/nature12805. Epub 2013 Dec 1.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2] Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [3] Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; 1] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2] Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [3] Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [4] Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [5] Harvard Stem Cell Institute, WAB-149G, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24291790" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: China is experiencing intense air pollution caused in large part by anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen. These emissions result in the deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (N) in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with implications for human and ecosystem health, greenhouse gas balances and biological diversity. However, information on the magnitude and environmental impact of N deposition in China is limited. Here we use nationwide data sets on bulk N deposition, plant foliar N and crop N uptake (from long-term unfertilized soils) to evaluate N deposition dynamics and their effect on ecosystems across China between 1980 and 2010. We find that the average annual bulk deposition of N increased by approximately 8 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare (P 〈 0.001) between the 1980s (13.2 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare) and the 2000s (21.1 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare). Nitrogen deposition rates in the industrialized and agriculturally intensified regions of China are as high as the peak levels of deposition in northwestern Europe in the 1980s, before the introduction of mitigation measures. Nitrogen from ammonium (NH4(+)) is the dominant form of N in bulk deposition, but the rate of increase is largest for deposition of N from nitrate (NO3(-)), in agreement with decreased ratios of NH3 to NOx emissions since 1980. We also find that the impact of N deposition on Chinese ecosystems includes significantly increased plant foliar N concentrations in natural and semi-natural (that is, non-agricultural) ecosystems and increased crop N uptake from long-term-unfertilized croplands. China and other economies are facing a continuing challenge to reduce emissions of reactive nitrogen, N deposition and their negative effects on human health and the environment.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Liu, Xuejun -- Zhang, Ying -- Han, Wenxuan -- Tang, Aohan -- Shen, Jianlin -- Cui, Zhenling -- Vitousek, Peter -- Erisman, Jan Willem -- Goulding, Keith -- Christie, Peter -- Fangmeier, Andreas -- Zhang, Fusuo -- England -- Nature. 2013 Feb 28;494(7438):459-62. doi: 10.1038/nature11917. Epub 2013 Feb 20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23426264" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉