ALBERT

Description: Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (InsP3Rs) are ubiquitous ion channels responsible for cytosolic Ca(2+) signalling and essential for a broad array of cellular processes ranging from contraction to secretion, and from proliferation to cell death. Despite decades of research on InsP3Rs, a mechanistic understanding of their structure-function relationship is lacking. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, near-atomic (4.7 A) resolution electron cryomicroscopy structure of the tetrameric mammalian type 1 InsP3R channel in its apo-state. At this resolution, we are able to trace unambiguously approximately 85% of the protein backbone, allowing us to identify the structural elements involved in gating and modulation of this 1.3-megadalton channel. Although the central Ca(2+)-conduction pathway is similar to other ion channels, including the closely related ryanodine receptor, the cytosolic carboxy termini are uniquely arranged in a left-handed alpha-helical bundle, directly interacting with the amino-terminal domains of adjacent subunits. This configuration suggests a molecular mechanism for allosteric regulation of channel gating by intracellular signals.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Fan, Guizhen -- Baker, Matthew L -- Wang, Zhao -- Baker, Mariah R -- Sinyagovskiy, Pavel A -- Chiu, Wah -- Ludtke, Steven J -- Serysheva, Irina I -- P41 GM103832/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103832/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM072804/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM079429/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM080139/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM072804/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM079429/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM080139/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 AR063255/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 GM100229/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21AR063255/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- R21GM100229/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- S10 OD016279/OD/NIH HHS/ -- S10OD016279/OD/NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 19;527(7578):336-41. doi: 10.1038/nature15249. Epub 2015 Oct 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Structural Biology Imaging Center, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; National Center for Macromolecular Imaging, Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26458101" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Intramembrane proteases catalyse the signal-generating step of various cell signalling pathways, and continue to be implicated in diseases ranging from malaria infection to Parkinsonian neurodegeneration. Despite playing such decisive roles, it remains unclear whether or how these membrane-immersed enzymes might be regulated directly. To address this limitation, here we focus on intramembrane proteases containing domains known to exert regulatory functions in other contexts, and characterize a rhomboid protease that harbours calcium-binding EF-hands. We find calcium potently stimulates proteolysis by endogenous rhomboid-4 in Drosophila cells, and, remarkably, when rhomboid-4 is purified and reconstituted in liposomes. Interestingly, deleting the amino-terminal EF-hands activates proteolysis prematurely, while residues in cytoplasmic loops connecting distal transmembrane segments mediate calcium stimulation. Rhomboid regulation is not orchestrated by either dimerization or substrate interactions. Instead, calcium increases catalytic rate by promoting substrate gating. Substrates with cleavage sites outside the membrane can be cleaved but lose the capacity to be regulated. These observations indicate substrate gating is not an essential step in catalysis, but instead evolved as a mechanism for regulating proteolysis inside the membrane. Moreover, these insights provide new approaches for studying rhomboid functions by investigating upstream inputs that trigger proteolysis.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490020/" 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/PMC4490020/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Baker, Rosanna P -- Urban, Sinisa -- 2R01AI066025/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI066025/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 2;523(7558):101-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14357. Epub 2015 May 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology &Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Room 507 PCTB, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25970241" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Baker, Monya -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 26;527(7579):545-51. doi: 10.1038/527545a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Nature in San Francisco, California.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26607547" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Mitochondrial morphology is shaped by fusion and division of their membranes. Here, we found that adult myocardial function depends on balanced mitochondrial fusion and fission, maintained by processing of the dynamin-like guanosine triphosphatase OPA1 by the mitochondrial peptidases YME1L and OMA1. Cardiac-specific ablation of Yme1l in mice activated OMA1 and accelerated OPA1 proteolysis, which triggered mitochondrial fragmentation and altered cardiac metabolism. This caused dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Cardiac function and mitochondrial morphology were rescued by Oma1 deletion, which prevented OPA1 cleavage. Feeding mice a high-fat diet or ablating Yme1l in skeletal muscle restored cardiac metabolism and preserved heart function without suppressing mitochondrial fragmentation. Thus, unprocessed OPA1 is sufficient to maintain heart function, OMA1 is a critical regulator of cardiomyocyte survival, and mitochondrial morphology and cardiac metabolism are intimately linked.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wai, Timothy -- Garcia-Prieto, Jaime -- Baker, Michael J -- Merkwirth, Carsten -- Benit, Paule -- Rustin, Pierre -- Ruperez, Francisco Javier -- Barbas, Coral -- Ibanez, Borja -- Langer, Thomas -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Dec 4;350(6265):aad0116. doi: 10.1126/science.aad0116.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany. Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Aging, Cologne, Germany. ; Myocardial Pathophysiology Area, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid, Spain. ; Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany. ; INSERM UMR 1141, Hopital Robert Debre, Paris, France. Universite Paris 7, Faculte de Medecine Denis Diderot, Paris, France. ; Centre for Metabolomics and Bioanalysis (CEMBIO), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad San Pablo CEU, Campus Monteprincipe, Boadilla del Monte, 28668 Madrid, Spain. ; Myocardial Pathophysiology Area, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid, Spain. Department of Cardiology, Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria (IIS), Fundacion Jimenez Diaz Hospital, Madrid, Spain. thomas.langer@uni-koeln.de bibanez@cnic.es. ; Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany. Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Aging, Cologne, Germany. Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Center for Molecular Medicine (CMMC), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. thomas.langer@uni-koeln.de bibanez@cnic.es.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26785494" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Speciation, the process by which new biological species arise, involves the evolution of reproductive barriers, such as hybrid sterility or inviability between populations. However, identifying hybrid incompatibility genes remains a key obstacle in understanding the molecular basis of reproductive isolation. We devised a genomic screen, which identified a cell cycle-regulation gene as the cause of male inviability in hybrids resulting from a cross between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. Ablation of the D. simulans allele of this gene is sufficient to rescue the adult viability of hybrid males. This dominantly acting cell cycle regulator causes mitotic arrest and, thereby, inviability of male hybrid larvae. Our genomic method provides a facile means to accelerate the identification of hybrid incompatibility genes in other model and nonmodel systems.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4703311/" 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/PMC4703311/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Phadnis, Nitin -- Baker, EmilyClare P -- Cooper, Jacob C -- Frizzell, Kimberly A -- Hsieh, Emily -- de la Cruz, Aida Flor A -- Shendure, Jay -- Kitzman, Jacob O -- Malik, Harmit S -- 5T32 HD0741/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- HG006283/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM074108/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM115914/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Dec 18;350(6267):1552-5. doi: 10.1126/science.aac7504.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. nitin.phadnis@utah.edu hsmalik@fhcrc.org. ; Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ; Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. ; Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. nitin.phadnis@utah.edu hsmalik@fhcrc.org.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26680200" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In order to explore the diversity and selective signatures of duplication and deletion human copy-number variants (CNVs), we sequenced 236 individuals from 125 distinct human populations. We observed that duplications exhibit fundamentally different population genetic and selective signatures than deletions and are more likely to be stratified between human populations. Through reconstruction of the ancestral human genome, we identify megabases of DNA lost in different human lineages and pinpoint large duplications that introgressed from the extinct Denisova lineage now found at high frequency exclusively in Oceanic populations. We find that the proportion of CNV base pairs to single-nucleotide-variant base pairs is greater among non-Africans than it is among African populations, but we conclude that this difference is likely due to unique aspects of non-African population history as opposed to differences in CNV load.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4568308/" 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/PMC4568308/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sudmant, Peter H -- Mallick, Swapan -- Nelson, Bradley J -- Hormozdiari, Fereydoun -- Krumm, Niklas -- Huddleston, John -- Coe, Bradley P -- Baker, Carl -- Nordenfelt, Susanne -- Bamshad, Michael -- Jorde, Lynn B -- Posukh, Olga L -- Sahakyan, Hovhannes -- Watkins, W Scott -- Yepiskoposyan, Levon -- Abdullah, M Syafiq -- Bravi, Claudio M -- Capelli, Cristian -- Hervig, Tor -- Wee, Joseph T S -- Tyler-Smith, Chris -- van Driem, George -- Romero, Irene Gallego -- Jha, Aashish R -- Karachanak-Yankova, Sena -- Toncheva, Draga -- Comas, David -- Henn, Brenna -- Kivisild, Toomas -- Ruiz-Linares, Andres -- Sajantila, Antti -- Metspalu, Ene -- Parik, Juri -- Villems, Richard -- Starikovskaya, Elena B -- Ayodo, George -- Beall, Cynthia M -- Di Rienzo, Anna -- Hammer, Michael F -- Khusainova, Rita -- Khusnutdinova, Elza -- Klitz, William -- Winkler, Cheryl -- Labuda, Damian -- Metspalu, Mait -- Tishkoff, Sarah A -- Dryomov, Stanislav -- Sukernik, Rem -- Patterson, Nick -- Reich, David -- Eichler, Evan E -- 098051/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 1R01DK104339-01/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- 1R01GM113657-01/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- 261213/European Research Council/International -- 2R01HG002385/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- 5DP1ES022577 05/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/ -- HHSN26120080001E/PHS HHS/ -- P30 ES013508/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK104339/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM113657/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 HG002385/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007266/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- Intramural NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Sep 11;349(6253):aab3761. doi: 10.1126/science.aab3761. Epub 2015 Aug 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98119, USA. ; Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ; Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. ; Estonian Biocentre, Evolutionary Biology Group, Tartu 51010, Estonia. Laboratory of Ethnogenomics, Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan 0014, Armenia. ; Department of Human Genetics, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ; Laboratory of Ethnogenomics, Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan 0014, Armenia. ; Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. ; Laboratorio de Genetica Molecular Poblacional, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biologia Celular (IMBICE), Centro Cientifico y Tecnologico-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CCT-CONICET) and Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CICPBA), La Plata B1906APO, Argentina. ; Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. ; Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen 5021, Norway. ; National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore. ; Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK. ; Institute of Linguistics, University of Bern, Bern CH-3012, Switzerland. ; Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ; Department of Medical Genetics, National Human Genome Center, Medical University Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria. ; Institut de Biologia Evolutiva [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas-Universitat Pompeu Fabra (CSIC-UPF)], Departament de Ciencies Experimentals i de la Salut, UPF, Barcelona 08003, Spain. ; Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. ; Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK. ; Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK. ; University of Helsinki, Department of Forensic Medicine, Helsinki 00014, Finland. ; Estonian Biocentre, Evolutionary Biology Group, Tartu 51010, Estonia. University of Tartu, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Tartu 5101, Estonia. ; Estonian Biocentre, Evolutionary Biology Group, Tartu 51010, Estonia. ; Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. ; Center for Global Health and Child Development, Kisumu 40100, Kenya. ; Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7125, USA. ; Arizona Research Laboratories Division of Biotechnology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Ufa Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa 450054, Russia. Department of Genetics and Fundamental Medicine, Bashkir State University, Ufa 450074, Russia. ; Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA. ; Basic Research Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Leidos Biomedical Research, Incorporated, Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine, Departement de Pediatrie, Universite de Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada. ; Departments of Biology and Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ; Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. Department of Paleolithic Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. ; Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia. Altai State University, Barnaul 656000, Russia. ; Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. eee@gs.washington.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26249230" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: T cell-mediated destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas causes type 1 diabetes (T1D). CD4 T cell responses play a central role in beta cell destruction, but the identity of the epitopes recognized by pathogenic CD4 T cells remains unknown. We found that diabetes-inducing CD4 T cell clones isolated from nonobese diabetic mice recognize epitopes formed by covalent cross-linking of proinsulin peptides to other peptides present in beta cell secretory granules. These hybrid insulin peptides (HIPs) are antigenic for CD4 T cells and can be detected by mass spectrometry in beta cells. CD4 T cells from the residual pancreatic islets of two organ donors who had T1D also recognize HIPs. Autoreactive T cells targeting hybrid peptides may explain how immune tolerance is broken in T1D.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Delong, Thomas -- Wiles, Timothy A -- Baker, Rocky L -- Bradley, Brenda -- Barbour, Gene -- Reisdorph, Richard -- Armstrong, Michael -- Powell, Roger L -- Reisdorph, Nichole -- Kumar, Nitesh -- Elso, Colleen M -- DeNicola, Megan -- Bottino, Rita -- Powers, Alvin C -- Harlan, David M -- Kent, Sally C -- Mannering, Stuart I -- Haskins, Kathryn -- 1K01DK094941/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- 1R01DK081166/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- 5U01DK89572/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- DK104211/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Feb 12;351(6274):711-4. doi: 10.1126/science.aad2791.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. thomas.delong@ucdenver.edu katie.haskins@ucdenver.edu. ; Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. ; Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. ; Immunology and Diabetes Unit, St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia. ; Department of Medicine, Diabetes Division, Diabetes Center of Excellence, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. ; Institute of Cellular Therapeutics, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. ; Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, and Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA. ; Immunology and Diabetes Unit, St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia. University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26912858" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Accurate sequence and assembly of genomes is a critical first step for studies of genetic variation. We generated a high-quality assembly of the gorilla genome using single-molecule, real-time sequence technology and a string graph de novo assembly algorithm. The new assembly improves contiguity by two to three orders of magnitude with respect to previously released assemblies, recovering 87% of missing reference exons and incomplete gene models. Although regions of large, high-identity segmental duplications remain largely unresolved, this comprehensive assembly provides new biological insight into genetic diversity, structural variation, gene loss, and representation of repeat structures within the gorilla genome. The approach provides a path forward for the routine assembly of mammalian genomes at a level approaching that of the current quality of the human genome.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gordon, David -- Huddleston, John -- Chaisson, Mark J P -- Hill, Christopher M -- Kronenberg, Zev N -- Munson, Katherine M -- Malig, Maika -- Raja, Archana -- Fiddes, Ian -- Hillier, LaDeana W -- Dunn, Christopher -- Baker, Carl -- Armstrong, Joel -- Diekhans, Mark -- Paten, Benedict -- Shendure, Jay -- Wilson, Richard K -- Haussler, David -- Chin, Chen-Shan -- Eichler, Evan E -- HG002385/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- HG003079/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- HG007234/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- HG007635/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- HG007990/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HG002385/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U41 HG007635/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Apr 1;352(6281):aae0344. doi: 10.1126/science.aae0344.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Genomics Institute, University of California Santa Cruz and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ; McDonnell Genome Institute, Department of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA. ; Pacific Biosciences of California, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. eee@gs.washington.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27034376" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Baker, Monya -- England -- Nature. 2016 Jan 28;529(7587):456-8. doi: 10.1038/529456a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26819028" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cellular senescence, a stress-induced irreversible growth arrest often characterized by expression of p16(Ink4a) (encoded by the Ink4a/Arf locus, also known as Cdkn2a) and a distinctive secretory phenotype, prevents the proliferation of preneoplastic cells and has beneficial roles in tissue remodelling during embryogenesis and wound healing. Senescent cells accumulate in various tissues and organs over time, and have been speculated to have a role in ageing. To explore the physiological relevance and consequences of naturally occurring senescent cells, here we use a previously established transgene, INK-ATTAC, to induce apoptosis in p16(Ink4a)-expressing cells of wild-type mice by injection of AP20187 twice a week starting at one year of age. We show that compared to vehicle alone, AP20187 treatment extended median lifespan in both male and female mice of two distinct genetic backgrounds. The clearance of p16(Ink4a)-positive cells delayed tumorigenesis and attenuated age-related deterioration of several organs without apparent side effects, including kidney, heart and fat, where clearance preserved the functionality of glomeruli, cardio-protective KATP channels and adipocytes, respectively. Thus, p16(Ink4a)-positive cells that accumulate during adulthood negatively influence lifespan and promote age-dependent changes in several organs, and their therapeutic removal may be an attractive approach to extend healthy lifespan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Baker, Darren J -- Childs, Bennett G -- Durik, Matej -- Wijers, Melinde E -- Sieben, Cynthia J -- Zhong, Jian -- Saltness, Rachel A -- Jeganathan, Karthik B -- Verzosa, Grace Casaclang -- Pezeshki, Abdulmohammad -- Khazaie, Khashayarsha -- Miller, Jordan D -- van Deursen, Jan M -- AG041122/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- HL111121/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P01 AG041122/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA096985/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA96985/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2016 Feb 11;530(7589):184-9. doi: 10.1038/nature16932. Epub 2016 Feb 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. ; Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. ; Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26840489" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉