ALBERT

Description: There is evidence across several species for genetic control of phenotypic variation of complex traits, such that the variance among phenotypes is genotype dependent. Understanding genetic control of variability is important in evolutionary biology, agricultural selection programmes and human medicine, yet for complex traits, no individual genetic variants associated with variance, as opposed to the mean, have been identified. Here we perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of phenotypic variation using approximately 170,000 samples on height and body mass index (BMI) in human populations. We report evidence that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7202116 at the FTO gene locus, which is known to be associated with obesity (as measured by mean BMI for each rs7202116 genotype), is also associated with phenotypic variability. We show that the results are not due to scale effects or other artefacts, and find no other experiment-wise significant evidence for effects on variability, either at loci other than FTO for BMI or at any locus for height. The difference in variance for BMI among individuals with opposite homozygous genotypes at the FTO locus is approximately 7%, corresponding to a difference of approximately 0.5 kilograms in the standard deviation of weight. Our results indicate that genetic variants can be discovered that are associated with variability, and that between-person variability in obesity can partly be explained by the genotype at the FTO locus. The results are consistent with reported FTO by environment interactions for BMI, possibly mediated by DNA methylation. Our BMI results for other SNPs and our height results for all SNPs suggest that most genetic variants, including those that influence mean height or mean BMI, are not associated with phenotypic variance, or that their effects on variability are too small to detect even with samples sizes greater than 100,000.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564953/" 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/PMC3564953/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yang, Jian -- Loos, Ruth J F -- Powell, Joseph E -- Medland, Sarah E -- Speliotes, Elizabeth K -- Chasman, Daniel I -- Rose, Lynda M -- Thorleifsson, Gudmar -- Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur -- Magi, Reedik -- Waite, Lindsay -- Smith, Albert Vernon -- Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M -- Monda, Keri L -- Hadley, David -- Mahajan, Anubha -- Li, Guo -- Kapur, Karen -- Vitart, Veronique -- Huffman, Jennifer E -- Wang, Sophie R -- Palmer, Cameron -- Esko, Tonu -- Fischer, Krista -- Zhao, Jing Hua -- Demirkan, Ayse -- Isaacs, Aaron -- Feitosa, Mary F -- Luan, Jian'an -- Heard-Costa, Nancy L -- White, Charles -- Jackson, Anne U -- Preuss, Michael -- Ziegler, Andreas -- Eriksson, Joel -- Kutalik, Zoltan -- Frau, Francesca -- Nolte, Ilja M -- Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Jana V -- Hottenga, Jouke-Jan -- Jacobs, Kevin B -- Verweij, Niek -- Goel, Anuj -- Medina-Gomez, Carolina -- Estrada, Karol -- Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer Lynn -- Sanna, Serena -- Sidore, Carlo -- Tyrer, Jonathan -- Teumer, Alexander -- Prokopenko, Inga -- Mangino, Massimo -- Lindgren, Cecilia M -- Assimes, Themistocles L -- Shuldiner, Alan R -- Hui, Jennie -- Beilby, John P -- McArdle, Wendy L -- Hall, Per -- Haritunians, Talin -- Zgaga, Lina -- Kolcic, Ivana -- Polasek, Ozren -- Zemunik, Tatijana -- Oostra, Ben A -- Junttila, M Juhani -- Gronberg, Henrik -- Schreiber, Stefan -- Peters, Annette -- Hicks, Andrew A -- Stephens, Jonathan -- Foad, Nicola S -- Laitinen, Jaana -- Pouta, Anneli -- Kaakinen, Marika -- Willemsen, Gonneke -- Vink, Jacqueline M -- Wild, Sarah H -- Navis, Gerjan -- Asselbergs, Folkert W -- Homuth, Georg -- John, Ulrich -- Iribarren, Carlos -- Harris, Tamara -- Launer, Lenore -- Gudnason, Vilmundur -- O'Connell, Jeffrey R -- Boerwinkle, Eric -- Cadby, Gemma -- Palmer, Lyle J -- James, Alan L -- Musk, Arthur W -- Ingelsson, Erik -- Psaty, Bruce M -- Beckmann, Jacques S -- Waeber, Gerard -- Vollenweider, Peter -- Hayward, Caroline -- Wright, Alan F -- Rudan, Igor -- Groop, Leif C -- Metspalu, Andres -- Khaw, Kay Tee -- van Duijn, Cornelia M -- Borecki, Ingrid B -- Province, Michael A -- Wareham, Nicholas J -- Tardif, Jean-Claude -- Huikuri, Heikki V -- Cupples, L Adrienne -- Atwood, Larry D -- Fox, Caroline S -- Boehnke, Michael -- Collins, Francis S -- Mohlke, Karen L -- Erdmann, Jeanette -- Schunkert, Heribert -- Hengstenberg, Christian -- Stark, Klaus -- Lorentzon, Mattias -- Ohlsson, Claes -- Cusi, Daniele -- Staessen, Jan A -- Van der Klauw, Melanie M -- Pramstaller, Peter P -- Kathiresan, Sekar -- Jolley, Jennifer D -- Ripatti, Samuli -- Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta -- de Geus, Eco J C -- Boomsma, Dorret I -- Penninx, Brenda -- Wilson, James F -- Campbell, Harry -- Chanock, Stephen J -- van der Harst, Pim -- Hamsten, Anders -- Watkins, Hugh -- Hofman, Albert -- Witteman, Jacqueline C -- Zillikens, M Carola -- Uitterlinden, Andre G -- Rivadeneira, Fernando -- Kiemeney, Lambertus A -- Vermeulen, Sita H -- Abecasis, Goncalo R -- Schlessinger, David -- Schipf, Sabine -- Stumvoll, Michael -- Tonjes, Anke -- Spector, Tim D -- North, Kari E -- Lettre, Guillaume -- McCarthy, Mark I -- Berndt, Sonja I -- Heath, Andrew C -- Madden, Pamela A F -- Nyholt, Dale R -- Montgomery, Grant W -- Martin, Nicholas G -- McKnight, Barbara -- Strachan, David P -- Hill, William G -- Snieder, Harold -- Ridker, Paul M -- Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur -- Stefansson, Kari -- Frayling, Timothy M -- Hirschhorn, Joel N -- Goddard, Michael E -- Visscher, Peter M -- 090532/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 14136/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- AA014041/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- AA07535/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- AA10248/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- AA13320/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- AA13321/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- AA13326/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- CZB/4/710/Chief Scientist Office/United Kingdom -- DA12854/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- F32 AR059469/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- F32 DK079466/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- G0601261/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- G1000143/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- GM057091/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100005C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100006C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100007C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100008C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100009C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100010C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100011C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HHSN268201100012C/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- K05 AA017688/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- K23 DK080145/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- MC_PC_U127561128/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MC_U106179471/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MC_U127561128/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- N01 AG012100/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC015103/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC025195/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC035129/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC045133/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC055222/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC075150/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HC085079/HC/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N01 HG065403/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- N01HC85086/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- N02 HL64278/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P30 DK063491/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- P30 DK072488/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 AA007535/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AA013320/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AA013321/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AA013326/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AA014041/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG015928/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG020098/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG023629/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG027058/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 DA012854/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK062370/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK072193/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK073490/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK075681/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK075787/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 HG002651/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL043851/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL059367/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL075366/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL080295/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL086694/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087641/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087647/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087652/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087676/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087679/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL105756/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 LM010098/LM/NLM NIH HHS/ -- R01 MH063706/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- RL1 MH083268/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- U01 DK062418/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- U01 HG004402/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL054527/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL069757/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL072515/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL084729/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL084756/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U54 RR020278/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- UL1 RR033176/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- Z01 HG000024-14/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 Oct 11;490(7419):267-72. doi: 10.1038/nature11401. Epub 2012 Sep 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22982992" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The tumour suppressor ARF is specifically required for p53 activation under oncogenic stress. Recent studies showed that p53 activation mediated by ARF, but not that induced by DNA damage, acts as a major protection against tumorigenesis in vivo under certain biological settings, suggesting that the ARF-p53 axis has more fundamental functions in tumour suppression than originally thought. Because ARF is a very stable protein in most human cell lines, it has been widely assumed that ARF induction is mediated mainly at the transcriptional level and that activation of the ARF-p53 pathway by oncogenes is a much slower and largely irreversible process by comparison with p53 activation after DNA damage. Here we report that ARF is very unstable in normal human cells but that its degradation is inhibited in cancerous cells. Through biochemical purification, we identified a specific ubiquitin ligase for ARF and named it ULF. ULF interacts with ARF both in vitro and in vivo and promotes the lysine-independent ubiquitylation and degradation of ARF. ULF knockdown stabilizes ARF in normal human cells, triggering ARF-dependent, p53-mediated growth arrest. Moreover, nucleophosmin (NPM) and c-Myc, both of which are commonly overexpressed in cancer cells, are capable of abrogating ULF-mediated ARF ubiquitylation through distinct mechanisms, and thereby promote ARF stabilization in cancer cells. These findings reveal the dynamic feature of the ARF-p53 pathway and suggest that transcription-independent mechanisms are critically involved in ARF regulation during responses to oncogenic stress.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737736/" 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/PMC3737736/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chen, Delin -- Shan, Jing -- Zhu, Wei-Guo -- Qin, Jun -- Gu, Wei -- P01 CA080058/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P01 CA097403/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA085533/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA118561/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA129627/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA131439/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2010 Mar 25;464(7288):624-7. doi: 10.1038/nature08820. Epub 2010 Mar 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute for Cancer Genetics, and Department of Pathology and Cell Biology College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, 1130 St Nicholas Avenue, New York, New York 10032, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20208519" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness worldwide, is as prevalent as cancer in industrialized nations. Most blindness in AMD results from invasion of the retina by choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). Here we show that the eosinophil/mast cell chemokine receptor CCR3 is specifically expressed in choroidal neovascular endothelial cells in humans with AMD, and that despite the expression of its ligands eotaxin-1, -2 and -3, neither eosinophils nor mast cells are present in human CNV. Genetic or pharmacological targeting of CCR3 or eotaxins inhibited injury-induced CNV in mice. CNV suppression by CCR3 blockade was due to direct inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation, and was uncoupled from inflammation because it occurred in mice lacking eosinophils or mast cells, and was independent of macrophage and neutrophil recruitment. CCR3 blockade was more effective at reducing CNV than vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) neutralization, which is in clinical use at present, and, unlike VEGF-A blockade, is not toxic to the mouse retina. In vivo imaging with CCR3-targeting quantum dots located spontaneous CNV invisible to standard fluorescein angiography in mice before retinal invasion. CCR3 targeting might reduce vision loss due to AMD through early detection and therapeutic angioinhibition.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2712122/" 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/PMC2712122/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Takeda, Atsunobu -- Baffi, Judit Z -- Kleinman, Mark E -- Cho, Won Gil -- Nozaki, Miho -- Yamada, Kiyoshi -- Kaneko, Hiroki -- Albuquerque, Romulo J C -- Dridi, Sami -- Saito, Kuniharu -- Raisler, Brian J -- Budd, Steven J -- Geisen, Pete -- Munitz, Ariel -- Ambati, Balamurali K -- Green, Martha G -- Ishibashi, Tatsuro -- Wright, John D -- Humbles, Alison A -- Gerard, Craig J -- Ogura, Yuichiro -- Pan, Yuzhen -- Smith, Justine R -- Grisanti, Salvatore -- Hartnett, M Elizabeth -- Rothenberg, Marc E -- Ambati, Jayakrishna -- AI039759/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI45898/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- DK076893/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- EY010572/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY015130/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY015422/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY017011/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY017182/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY017950/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY018350/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- EY018836/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK076893/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY015422/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY015422-04/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018350/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018350-02/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018836/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018836-02/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2009 Jul 9;460(7252):225-30. doi: 10.1038/nature08151. Epub 2009 Jun 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19525930" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Geographic atrophy (GA), an untreatable advanced form of age-related macular degeneration, results from retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cell degeneration. Here we show that the microRNA (miRNA)-processing enzyme DICER1 is reduced in the RPE of humans with GA, and that conditional ablation of Dicer1, but not seven other miRNA-processing enzymes, induces RPE degeneration in mice. DICER1 knockdown induces accumulation of Alu RNA in human RPE cells and Alu-like B1 and B2 RNAs in mouse RPE. Alu RNA is increased in the RPE of humans with GA, and this pathogenic RNA induces human RPE cytotoxicity and RPE degeneration in mice. Antisense oligonucleotides targeting Alu/B1/B2 RNAs prevent DICER1 depletion-induced RPE degeneration despite global miRNA downregulation. DICER1 degrades Alu RNA, and this digested Alu RNA cannot induce RPE degeneration in mice. These findings reveal a miRNA-independent cell survival function for DICER1 involving retrotransposon transcript degradation, show that Alu RNA can directly cause human pathology, and identify new targets for a major cause of blindness.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3077055/" 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/PMC3077055/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kaneko, Hiroki -- Dridi, Sami -- Tarallo, Valeria -- Gelfand, Bradley D -- Fowler, Benjamin J -- Cho, Won Gil -- Kleinman, Mark E -- Ponicsan, Steven L -- Hauswirth, William W -- Chiodo, Vince A -- Kariko, Katalin -- Yoo, Jae Wook -- Lee, Dong-ki -- Hadziahmetovic, Majda -- Song, Ying -- Misra, Smita -- Chaudhuri, Gautam -- Buaas, Frank W -- Braun, Robert E -- Hinton, David R -- Zhang, Qing -- Grossniklaus, Hans E -- Provis, Jan M -- Madigan, Michele C -- Milam, Ann H -- Justice, Nikki L -- Albuquerque, Romulo J C -- Blandford, Alexander D -- Bogdanovich, Sasha -- Hirano, Yoshio -- Witta, Jassir -- Fuchs, Elaine -- Littman, Dan R -- Ambati, Balamurali K -- Rudin, Charles M -- Chong, Mark M W -- Provost, Patrick -- Kugel, Jennifer F -- Goodrich, James A -- Dunaief, Joshua L -- Baffi, Judit Z -- Ambati, Jayakrishna -- NIHU10EY013729/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30 EY006360/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30 EY014800/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30 EY014800-07/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30 EY021721/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30EY003040/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30EY008571/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- P30EY06360/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018350/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018350-05/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018836/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY018836-04/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY020672/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 EY020672-02/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM068414/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01EY001545/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY011123/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY015240/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY015422/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY017182/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY017950/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY018350/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY018836/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01EY020672/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01GM068414/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01HD027215/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- R21 EY019778/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R21 EY019778-02/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R21AI076757/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R21EY019778/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- RC1 EY020442/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- RC1 EY020442-02/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- RC1EY020442/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- T32HL091812/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2011 Mar 17;471(7338):325-30. doi: 10.1038/nature09830. Epub 2011 Feb 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21297615" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The identification of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), fumarate hydratase (FH) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations in human cancers has rekindled the idea that altered cellular metabolism can transform cells. Inactivating SDH and FH mutations cause the accumulation of succinate and fumarate, respectively, which can inhibit 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG)-dependent enzymes, including the EGLN prolyl 4-hydroxylases that mark the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) transcription factor for polyubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation. Inappropriate HIF activation is suspected of contributing to the pathogenesis of SDH-defective and FH-defective tumours but can suppress tumour growth in some other contexts. IDH1 and IDH2, which catalyse the interconversion of isocitrate and 2-OG, are frequently mutated in human brain tumours and leukaemias. The resulting mutants have the neomorphic ability to convert 2-OG to the (R)-enantiomer of 2-hydroxyglutarate ((R)-2HG). Here we show that (R)-2HG, but not (S)-2HG, stimulates EGLN activity, leading to diminished HIF levels, which enhances the proliferation and soft agar growth of human astrocytes. These findings define an enantiomer-specific mechanism by which the (R)-2HG that accumulates in IDH mutant brain tumours promotes transformation and provide a justification for exploring EGLN inhibition as a potential treatment strategy.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3656605/" 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/PMC3656605/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Koivunen, Peppi -- Lee, Sungwoo -- Duncan, Christopher G -- Lopez, Giselle -- Lu, Gang -- Ramkissoon, Shakti -- Losman, Julie A -- Joensuu, Paivi -- Bergmann, Ulrich -- Gross, Stefan -- Travins, Jeremy -- Weiss, Samuel -- Looper, Ryan -- Ligon, Keith L -- Verhaak, Roel G W -- Yan, Hai -- Kaelin, William G Jr -- R01 CA068490/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA140316/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 Feb 15;483(7390):484-8. doi: 10.1038/nature10898.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biocenter Oulu, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oulu Center for Cell-Matrix Research, University of Oulu, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22343896" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hugenholtz, Philip -- Tyson, Gene W -- England -- Nature. 2008 Sep 25;455(7212):481-3. doi: 10.1038/455481a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18818648" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The functional heart is comprised of distinct mesoderm-derived lineages including cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. Studies in the mouse embryo and the mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation model have provided evidence indicating that these three lineages develop from a common Flk-1(+) (kinase insert domain protein receptor, also known as Kdr) cardiovascular progenitor that represents one of the earliest stages in mesoderm specification to the cardiovascular lineages. To determine whether a comparable progenitor is present during human cardiogenesis, we analysed the development of the cardiovascular lineages in human embryonic stem cell differentiation cultures. Here we show that after induction with combinations of activin A, bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, also known as FGF2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, also known as VEGFA) and dickkopf homolog 1 (DKK1) in serum-free media, human embryonic-stem-cell-derived embryoid bodies generate a KDR(low)/C-KIT(CD117)(neg) population that displays cardiac, endothelial and vascular smooth muscle potential in vitro and, after transplantation, in vivo. When plated in monolayer cultures, these KDR(low)/C-KIT(neg) cells differentiate to generate populations consisting of greater than 50% contracting cardiomyocytes. Populations derived from the KDR(low)/C-KIT(neg) fraction give rise to colonies that contain all three lineages when plated in methylcellulose cultures. Results from limiting dilution studies and cell-mixing experiments support the interpretation that these colonies are clones, indicating that they develop from a cardiovascular colony-forming cell. Together, these findings identify a human cardiovascular progenitor that defines one of the earliest stages of human cardiac development.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yang, Lei -- Soonpaa, Mark H -- Adler, Eric D -- Roepke, Torsten K -- Kattman, Steven J -- Kennedy, Marion -- Henckaerts, Els -- Bonham, Kristina -- Abbott, Geoffrey W -- Linden, R Michael -- Field, Loren J -- Keller, Gordon M -- R01 HL079275/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL083126/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL083126-03/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2008 May 22;453(7194):524-8. doi: 10.1038/nature06894. Epub 2008 Apr 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Gene and Cell Medicine, The Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1425 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10029, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18432194" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Long-held ideas regarding the evolutionary relationships among animals have recently been upended by sometimes controversial hypotheses based largely on insights from molecular data. These new hypotheses include a clade of moulting animals (Ecdysozoa) and the close relationship of the lophophorates to molluscs and annelids (Lophotrochozoa). Many relationships remain disputed, including those that are required to polarize key features of character evolution, and support for deep nodes is often low. Phylogenomic approaches, which use data from many genes, have shown promise for resolving deep animal relationships, but are hindered by a lack of data from many important groups. Here we report a total of 39.9 Mb of expressed sequence tags from 29 animals belonging to 21 phyla, including 11 phyla previously lacking genomic or expressed-sequence-tag data. Analysed in combination with existing sequences, our data reinforce several previously identified clades that split deeply in the animal tree (including Protostomia, Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa), unambiguously resolve multiple long-standing issues for which there was strong conflicting support in earlier studies with less data (such as velvet worms rather than tardigrades as the sister group of arthropods), and provide molecular support for the monophyly of molluscs, a group long recognized by morphologists. In addition, we find strong support for several new hypotheses. These include a clade that unites annelids (including sipunculans and echiurans) with nemerteans, phoronids and brachiopods, molluscs as sister to that assemblage, and the placement of ctenophores as the earliest diverging extant multicellular animals. A single origin of spiral cleavage (with subsequent losses) is inferred from well-supported nodes. Many relationships between a stable subset of taxa find strong support, and a diminishing number of lineages remain recalcitrant to placement on the tree.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Dunn, Casey W -- Hejnol, Andreas -- Matus, David Q -- Pang, Kevin -- Browne, William E -- Smith, Stephen A -- Seaver, Elaine -- Rouse, Greg W -- Obst, Matthias -- Edgecombe, Gregory D -- Sorensen, Martin V -- Haddock, Steven H D -- Schmidt-Rhaesa, Andreas -- Okusu, Akiko -- Kristensen, Reinhardt Mobjerg -- Wheeler, Ward C -- Martindale, Mark Q -- Giribet, Gonzalo -- England -- Nature. 2008 Apr 10;452(7188):745-9. doi: 10.1038/nature06614. Epub 2008 Mar 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Kewalo Marine Laboratory, PBRC, University of Hawaii, 41 Ahui Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USA. casey_dunn@brown.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18322464" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689211/" 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/PMC3689211/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Litman, Gary W -- Cannon, John P -- R01 AI023338/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI023338-24/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI057559/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI057559-05/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2009 Jun 11;459(7248):784-6. doi: 10.1038/459784a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19516328" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1 or L1) retrotransposons have markedly affected the human genome. L1s must retrotranspose in the germ line or during early development to ensure their evolutionary success, yet the extent to which this process affects somatic cells is poorly understood. We previously demonstrated that engineered human L1s can retrotranspose in adult rat hippocampus progenitor cells in vitro and in the mouse brain in vivo. Here we demonstrate that neural progenitor cells isolated from human fetal brain and derived from human embryonic stem cells support the retrotransposition of engineered human L1s in vitro. Furthermore, we developed a quantitative multiplex polymerase chain reaction that detected an increase in the copy number of endogenous L1s in the hippocampus, and in several regions of adult human brains, when compared to the copy number of endogenous L1s in heart or liver genomic DNAs from the same donor. These data suggest that de novo L1 retrotransposition events may occur in the human brain and, in principle, have the potential to contribute to individual somatic mosaicism.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2909034/" 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/PMC2909034/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Coufal, Nicole G -- Garcia-Perez, Jose L -- Peng, Grace E -- Yeo, Gene W -- Mu, Yangling -- Lovci, Michael T -- Morell, Maria -- O'Shea, K Sue -- Moran, John V -- Gage, Fred H -- GM069985/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM082970/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- MH082070/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- NS048187/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- P20 GM069985/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P20 GM069985-010001/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM060518/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM082970/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM082970-03/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2009 Aug 27;460(7259):1127-31. doi: 10.1038/nature08248. Epub 2009 Aug 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory of Genetics, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19657334" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉