ALBERT

Description: Sex determination in the mosquito Aedes aegypti is governed by a dominant male-determining factor (M factor) located within a Y chromosome-like region called the M locus. Here, we show that an M-locus gene, Nix, functions as an M factor in A. aegypti. Nix exhibits persistent M linkage and early embryonic expression, two characteristics required of an M factor. Nix knockout with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 resulted in largely feminized genetic males and the production of female isoforms of two key regulators of sexual differentiation: doublesex and fruitless. Ectopic expression of Nix resulted in genetic females with nearly complete male genitalia. Thus, Nix is both required and sufficient to initiate male development. This study provides a foundation for mosquito control strategies that convert female mosquitoes into harmless males.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hall, Andrew Brantley -- Basu, Sanjay -- Jiang, Xiaofang -- Qi, Yumin -- Timoshevskiy, Vladimir A -- Biedler, James K -- Sharakhova, Maria V -- Elahi, Rubayet -- Anderson, Michelle A E -- Chen, Xiao-Guang -- Sharakhov, Igor V -- Adelman, Zach N -- Tu, Zhijian -- AI113643/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 12;348(6240):1268-70. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa2850. Epub 2015 May 21.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA. Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. ; Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. ; School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. ; Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA. Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. ; Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA. Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. jaketu@vt.edu zachadel@vt.edu. ; Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA. Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. jaketu@vt.edu zachadel@vt.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25999371" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Extremophiles, microorganisms thriving in extreme environmental conditions, must have proteins and nucleic acids that are stable at extremes of temperature and pH. The nonenveloped, rod-shaped virus SIRV2 (Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped virus 2) infects the hyperthermophilic acidophile Sulfolobus islandicus, which lives at 80 degrees C and pH 3. We have used cryo-electron microscopy to generate a three-dimensional reconstruction of the SIRV2 virion at ~4 angstrom resolution, which revealed a previously unknown form of virion organization. Although almost half of the capsid protein is unstructured in solution, this unstructured region folds in the virion into a single extended alpha helix that wraps around the DNA. The DNA is entirely in the A-form, which suggests a common mechanism with bacterial spores for protecting DNA in the most adverse environments.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉DiMaio, Frank -- Yu, Xiong -- Rensen, Elena -- Krupovic, Mart -- Prangishvili, David -- Egelman, Edward H -- GM035269/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 22;348(6237):914-7. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa4181.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. ; Institut Pasteur, Department of Microbiology, 25 rue du Dr. Roux, Paris 75015, France. ; Institut Pasteur, Department of Microbiology, 25 rue du Dr. Roux, Paris 75015, France. egelman@virginia.edu david.prangishvili@pasteur.fr. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. egelman@virginia.edu david.prangishvili@pasteur.fr.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25999507" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Strigolactones are naturally occurring signaling molecules that affect plant development, fungi-plant interactions, and parasitic plant infestations. We characterized the function of 11 strigolactone receptors from the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica using chemical and structural biology. We found a clade of polyspecific receptors, including one that is sensitive to picomolar concentrations of strigolactone. A crystal structure of a highly sensitive strigolactone receptor from Striga revealed a larger binding pocket than that of the Arabidopsis receptor, which could explain the increased range of strigolactone sensitivity. Thus, the sensitivity of Striga to strigolactones from host plants is driven by receptor sensitivity. By expressing strigolactone receptors in Arabidopsis, we developed a bioassay that can be used to identify chemicals and crops with altered strigolactone levels.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Toh, Shigeo -- Holbrook-Smith, Duncan -- Stogios, Peter J -- Onopriyenko, Olena -- Lumba, Shelley -- Tsuchiya, Yuichiro -- Savchenko, Alexei -- McCourt, Peter -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 9;350(6257):203-7. doi: 10.1126/science.aac9476.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto M5S 3B2, Canada. ; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto M5S 3E5, Canada. Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases, contracted by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. ; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto M5S 3E5, Canada. ; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, Japan, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan. ; Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto M5S 3B2, Canada. peter.mccourt@utoronto.ca.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26450211" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: TREK-2 (KCNK10/K2P10), a two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channel, is gated by multiple stimuli such as stretch, fatty acids, and pH and by several drugs. However, the mechanisms that control channel gating are unclear. Here we present crystal structures of the human TREK-2 channel (up to 3.4 angstrom resolution) in two conformations and in complex with norfluoxetine, the active metabolite of fluoxetine (Prozac) and a state-dependent blocker of TREK channels. Norfluoxetine binds within intramembrane fenestrations found in only one of these two conformations. Channel activation by arachidonic acid and mechanical stretch involves conversion between these states through movement of the pore-lining helices. These results provide an explanation for TREK channel mechanosensitivity, regulation by diverse stimuli, and possible off-target effects of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor Prozac.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Dong, Yin Yao -- Pike, Ashley C W -- Mackenzie, Alexandra -- McClenaghan, Conor -- Aryal, Prafulla -- Dong, Liang -- Quigley, Andrew -- Grieben, Mariana -- Goubin, Solenne -- Mukhopadhyay, Shubhashish -- Ruda, Gian Filippo -- Clausen, Michael V -- Cao, Lishuang -- Brennan, Paul E -- Burgess-Brown, Nicola A -- Sansom, Mark S P -- Tucker, Stephen J -- Carpenter, Elisabeth P -- 084655/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 092809/Z/10/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Mar 13;347(6227):1256-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1261512.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK. ; Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK. Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. ; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PN, UK. ; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PN, UK. Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. ; Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK. Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7FZ, UK. ; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. ; Pfizer Neusentis, Granta Park, Cambridge CB21 6GS, UK. ; OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PN, UK. Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. ; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PN, UK. liz.carpenter@sgc.ox.ac.uk stephen.tucker@physics.ox.ac.uk. ; Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK. OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PN, UK. liz.carpenter@sgc.ox.ac.uk stephen.tucker@physics.ox.ac.uk.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25766236" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Understanding the evolution of sex determination in plants requires identifying the mechanisms underlying the transition from monoecious plants, where male and female flowers coexist, to unisexual individuals found in dioecious species. We show that in melon and cucumber, the androecy gene controls female flower development and encodes a limiting enzyme of ethylene biosynthesis, ACS11. ACS11 is expressed in phloem cells connected to flowers programmed to become female, and ACS11 loss-of-function mutants lead to male plants (androecy). CmACS11 represses the expression of the male promoting gene CmWIP1 to control the development and the coexistence of male and female flowers in monoecious species. Because monoecy can lead to dioecy, we show how a combination of alleles of CmACS11 and CmWIP1 can create artificial dioecy.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Boualem, Adnane -- Troadec, Christelle -- Camps, Celine -- Lemhemdi, Afef -- Morin, Halima -- Sari, Marie-Agnes -- Fraenkel-Zagouri, Rina -- Kovalski, Irina -- Dogimont, Catherine -- Perl-Treves, Rafael -- Bendahmane, Abdelhafid -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Nov 6;350(6261):688-91. doi: 10.1126/science.aac8370.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Universite Paris-Sud, Universite d'Evry, Universite Paris-Diderot, Batiment 630, 91405, Orsay, France. ; Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques, CNRS, UMR 8601, Universite Rene Descartes, Paris, France. ; The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. ; INRA, UR 1052, Unite de Genetique et d'Amelioration des Fruits et Legumes, BP 94, F-84143 Montfavet, France. ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Universite Paris-Sud, Universite d'Evry, Universite Paris-Diderot, Batiment 630, 91405, Orsay, France. bendahm@evry.inra.fr.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26542573" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Elucidating the signaling mechanism of strigolactones has been the key to controlling the devastating problem caused by the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica. To overcome the genetic intractability that has previously interfered with identification of the strigolactone receptor, we developed a fluorescence turn-on probe, Yoshimulactone Green (YLG), which activates strigolactone signaling and illuminates signal perception by the strigolactone receptors. Here we describe how strigolactones bind to and act via ShHTLs, the diverged family of alpha/beta hydrolase-fold proteins in Striga. Live imaging using YLGs revealed that a dynamic wavelike propagation of strigolactone perception wakes up Striga seeds. We conclude that ShHTLs function as the strigolactone receptors mediating seed germination in Striga. Our findings enable access to strigolactone receptors and observation of the regulatory dynamics for strigolactone signal transduction in Striga.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Tsuchiya, Yuichiro -- Yoshimura, Masahiko -- Sato, Yoshikatsu -- Kuwata, Keiko -- Toh, Shigeo -- Holbrook-Smith, Duncan -- Zhang, Hua -- McCourt, Peter -- Itami, Kenichiro -- Kinoshita, Toshinori -- Hagihara, Shinya -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Aug 21;349(6250):864-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aab3831.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada. yuichiro@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp hagi@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp. ; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. ; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. ; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada. ; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Japan Science and Technology Agency-Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology, Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. ; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. yuichiro@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp hagi@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26293962" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase (cGAS) detects intracellular DNA and signals through the adapter protein STING to initiate the antiviral response to DNA viruses. Whether DNA viruses can prevent activation of the cGAS-STING pathway remains largely unknown. Here, we identify the oncogenes of the DNA tumor viruses, including E7 from human papillomavirus (HPV) and E1A from adenovirus, as potent and specific inhibitors of the cGAS-STING pathway. We show that the LXCXE motif of these oncoproteins, which is essential for blockade of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor, is also important for antagonizing DNA sensing. E1A and E7 bind to STING, and silencing of these oncogenes in human tumor cells restores the cGAS-STING pathway. Our findings reveal a host-virus conflict that may have shaped the evolution of viral oncogenes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lau, Laura -- Gray, Elizabeth E -- Brunette, Rebecca L -- Stetson, Daniel B -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 30;350(6260):568-71. doi: 10.1126/science.aab3291. Epub 2015 Sep 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. ; Department of Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. stetson@uw.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26405230" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Podophyllotoxin is the natural product precursor of the chemotherapeutic etoposide, yet only part of its biosynthetic pathway is known. We used transcriptome mining in Podophyllum hexandrum (mayapple) to identify biosynthetic genes in the podophyllotoxin pathway. We selected 29 candidate genes to combinatorially express in Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco) and identified six pathway enzymes, including an oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase that closes the core cyclohexane ring of the aryltetralin scaffold. By coexpressing 10 genes in tobacco-these 6 plus 4 previously discovered-we reconstitute the pathway to (-)-4'-desmethylepipodophyllotoxin (the etoposide aglycone), a naturally occurring lignan that is the immediate precursor of etoposide and, unlike podophyllotoxin, a potent topoisomerase inhibitor. Our results enable production of the etoposide aglycone in tobacco and circumvent the need for cultivation of mayapple and semisynthetic epimerization and demethylation of podophyllotoxin.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lau, Warren -- Sattely, Elizabeth S -- DP2 AT008321/AT/NCCIH NIH HHS/ -- R00 GM089985/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Sep 11;349(6253):1224-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aac7202.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. sattely@stanford.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26359402" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The occurrence of Ebola virus (EBOV) in West Africa during 2013-2015 is unprecedented. Early reports suggested that in this outbreak EBOV is mutating twice as fast as previously observed, which indicates the potential for changes in transmissibility and virulence and could render current molecular diagnostics and countermeasures ineffective. We have determined additional full-length sequences from two clusters of imported EBOV infections into Mali, and we show that the nucleotide substitution rate (9.6 x 10(-4) substitutions per site per year) is consistent with rates observed in Central African outbreaks. In addition, overall variation among all genotypes observed remains low. Thus, our data indicate that EBOV is not undergoing rapid evolution in humans during the current outbreak. This finding has important implications for outbreak response and public health decisions and should alleviate several previously raised concerns.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hoenen, T -- Safronetz, D -- Groseth, A -- Wollenberg, K R -- Koita, O A -- Diarra, B -- Fall, I S -- Haidara, F C -- Diallo, F -- Sanogo, M -- Sarro, Y S -- Kone, A -- Togo, A C G -- Traore, A -- Kodio, M -- Dosseh, A -- Rosenke, K -- de Wit, E -- Feldmann, F -- Ebihara, H -- Munster, V J -- Zoon, K C -- Feldmann, H -- Sow, S -- Intramural NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Apr 3;348(6230):117-9. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa5646. Epub 2015 Mar 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, MT 59840, USA. ; Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. ; Center of Research and Training for HIV and Tuberculosis, University of Science, Technique and Technologies of Bamako, Mali. ; World Health Organization Office, Bamako, Mali. ; Centre des Operations d'Urgence, Centre pour le Developpement des Vaccins (CVD-Mali), Centre National d'Appui a la lutte contre la Maladie, Ministere de la Sante et de l'Hygiene Publique, Bamako, Mali. ; World Health Organization Inter-Country Support Team, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. ; Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Division of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA. ; Office of the Scientific Director, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20895, USA. ; Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, MT 59840, USA. feldmannh@niaid.nih.gov ssow@medicine.umaryland.edu. ; Centre des Operations d'Urgence, Centre pour le Developpement des Vaccins (CVD-Mali), Centre National d'Appui a la lutte contre la Maladie, Ministere de la Sante et de l'Hygiene Publique, Bamako, Mali. feldmannh@niaid.nih.gov ssow@medicine.umaryland.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25814067" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: DNA strand exchange plays a central role in genetic recombination across all kingdoms of life, but the physical basis for these reactions remains poorly defined. Using single-molecule imaging, we found that bacterial RecA and eukaryotic Rad51 and Dmc1 all stabilize strand exchange intermediates in precise three-nucleotide steps. Each step coincides with an energetic signature (0.3 kBT) that is conserved from bacteria to humans. Triplet recognition is strictly dependent on correct Watson-Crick pairing. Rad51, RecA, and Dmc1 can all step over mismatches, but only Dmc1 can stabilize mismatched triplets. This finding provides insight into why eukaryotes have evolved a meiosis-specific recombinase. We propose that canonical Watson-Crick base triplets serve as the fundamental unit of pairing interactions during DNA recombination.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4580133/" 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/PMC4580133/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lee, Ja Yil -- Terakawa, Tsuyoshi -- Qi, Zhi -- Steinfeld, Justin B -- Redding, Sy -- Kwon, YoungHo -- Gaines, William A -- Zhao, Weixing -- Sung, Patrick -- Greene, Eric C -- CA146940/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- GM074739/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA146940/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 ES015252/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM074739/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01ES015252/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007367/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Aug 28;349(6251):977-81. doi: 10.1126/science.aab2666.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Department of Biophysics, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, Japan. ; Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. ecg2108@cumc.columbia.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26315438" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Variation in vectorial capacity for human malaria among Anopheles mosquito species is determined by many factors, including behavior, immunity, and life history. To investigate the genomic basis of vectorial capacity and explore new avenues for vector control, we sequenced the genomes of 16 anopheline mosquito species from diverse locations spanning ~100 million years of evolution. Comparative analyses show faster rates of gene gain and loss, elevated gene shuffling on the X chromosome, and more intron losses, relative to Drosophila. Some determinants of vectorial capacity, such as chemosensory genes, do not show elevated turnover but instead diversify through protein-sequence changes. This dynamism of anopheline genes and genomes may contribute to their flexible capacity to take advantage of new ecological niches, including adapting to humans as primary hosts.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4380271/" 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/PMC4380271/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Neafsey, Daniel E -- Waterhouse, Robert M -- Abai, Mohammad R -- Aganezov, Sergey S -- Alekseyev, Max A -- Allen, James E -- Amon, James -- Arca, Bruno -- Arensburger, Peter -- Artemov, Gleb -- Assour, Lauren A -- Basseri, Hamidreza -- Berlin, Aaron -- Birren, Bruce W -- Blandin, Stephanie A -- Brockman, Andrew I -- Burkot, Thomas R -- Burt, Austin -- Chan, Clara S -- Chauve, Cedric -- Chiu, Joanna C -- Christensen, Mikkel -- Costantini, Carlo -- Davidson, Victoria L M -- Deligianni, Elena -- Dottorini, Tania -- Dritsou, Vicky -- Gabriel, Stacey B -- Guelbeogo, Wamdaogo M -- Hall, Andrew B -- Han, Mira V -- Hlaing, Thaung -- Hughes, Daniel S T -- Jenkins, Adam M -- Jiang, Xiaofang -- Jungreis, Irwin -- Kakani, Evdoxia G -- Kamali, Maryam -- Kemppainen, Petri -- Kennedy, Ryan C -- Kirmitzoglou, Ioannis K -- Koekemoer, Lizette L -- Laban, Njoroge -- Langridge, Nicholas -- Lawniczak, Mara K N -- Lirakis, Manolis -- Lobo, Neil F -- Lowy, Ernesto -- MacCallum, Robert M -- Mao, Chunhong -- Maslen, Gareth -- Mbogo, Charles -- McCarthy, Jenny -- Michel, Kristin -- Mitchell, Sara N -- Moore, Wendy -- Murphy, Katherine A -- Naumenko, Anastasia N -- Nolan, Tony -- Novoa, Eva M -- O'Loughlin, Samantha -- Oringanje, Chioma -- Oshaghi, Mohammad A -- Pakpour, Nazzy -- Papathanos, Philippos A -- Peery, Ashley N -- Povelones, Michael -- Prakash, Anil -- Price, David P -- Rajaraman, Ashok -- Reimer, Lisa J -- Rinker, David C -- Rokas, Antonis -- Russell, Tanya L -- Sagnon, N'Fale -- Sharakhova, Maria V -- Shea, Terrance -- Simao, Felipe A -- Simard, Frederic -- Slotman, Michel A -- Somboon, Pradya -- Stegniy, Vladimir -- Struchiner, Claudio J -- Thomas, Gregg W C -- Tojo, Marta -- Topalis, Pantelis -- Tubio, Jose M C -- Unger, Maria F -- Vontas, John -- Walton, Catherine -- Wilding, Craig S -- Willis, Judith H -- Wu, Yi-Chieh -- Yan, Guiyun -- Zdobnov, Evgeny M -- Zhou, Xiaofan -- Catteruccia, Flaminia -- Christophides, George K -- Collins, Frank H -- Cornman, Robert S -- Crisanti, Andrea -- Donnelly, Martin J -- Emrich, Scott J -- Fontaine, Michael C -- Gelbart, William -- Hahn, Matthew W -- Hansen, Immo A -- Howell, Paul I -- Kafatos, Fotis C -- Kellis, Manolis -- Lawson, Daniel -- Louis, Christos -- Luckhart, Shirley -- Muskavitch, Marc A T -- Ribeiro, Jose M -- Riehle, Michael A -- Sharakhov, Igor V -- Tu, Zhijian -- Zwiebel, Laurence J -- Besansky, Nora J -- 092654/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- R01 AI050243/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI063508/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI073745/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI076584/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI080799/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI104956/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R21 AI101459/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R56 AI107263/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- SC1 AI109055/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U19 AI089686/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U19 AI110818/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U41 HG007234/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U54 HG003067/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jan 2;347(6217):1258522. doi: 10.1126/science.1258522. Epub 2014 Nov 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. neafsey@broadinstitute.org nbesansk@nd.edu. ; Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. The Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. ; Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health and Institute of Health Researches, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ; George Washington University, Department of Mathematics and Computational Biology Institute, 45085 University Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA. ; European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK. ; National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Ministry of Health, Tafea Province, Vanuatu. ; Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Division of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. ; Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic-Pomona, 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona, CA 91768, USA. ; Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Avenue, Tomsk, Russia. ; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Eck Institute for Global Health, 211B Cushing Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. ; Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Inserm, U963, F-67084 Strasbourg, France. CNRS, UPR9022, IBMC, F-67084 Strasbourg, France. ; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK. ; Faculty of Medicine, Health and Molecular Science, Australian Institute of Tropical Health Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns 4870, Australia. ; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK. ; Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. The Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada. ; Department of Entomology and Nematology, One Shields Avenue, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. ; Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Unites Mixtes de Recherche Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs Ecologie, Genetique, Evolution et Controle, 911, Avenue Agropolis, BP 64501 Montpellier, France. ; Division of Biology, Kansas State University, 271 Chalmers Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ; Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas, Nikolaou Plastira 100 GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. ; Centre of Functional Genomics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. ; Genomics Platform, Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou 01 BP 2208, Burkina Faso. ; Program of Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA. ; Department of Medical Research, No. 5 Ziwaka Road, Dagon Township, Yangon 11191, Myanmar. ; European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK. Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Program of Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Scienze Biochimiche, Universita degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy. ; Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; Computational Evolutionary Biology Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. ; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. ; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK. Bioinformatics Research Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, New Campus, University of Cyprus, CY 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus. ; Wits Research Institute for Malaria, Faculty of Health Sciences, and Vector Control Reference Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham 2131, Johannesburg, South Africa. ; National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya. ; Department of Biology, University of Crete, 700 13 Heraklion, Greece. ; Eck Institute for Global Health and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 317 Galvin Life Sciences Building, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. ; Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, 1015 Life Science Circle, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; Kenya Medical Research Institute-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research - Coast, P.O. Box 230-80108, Kilifi, Kenya. ; Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Entomology, 1140 East South Campus Drive, Forbes 410, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. ; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK. Centre of Functional Genomics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. ; Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, 3800 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ; Regional Medical Research Centre NE, Indian Council of Medical Research, P.O. Box 105, Dibrugarh-786 001, Assam, India. ; Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. ; Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK. ; Center for Human Genetics Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. ; Center for Human Genetics Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. ; Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. ; Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77807, USA. ; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. ; Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, RJ Brazil. Instituto de Medicina Social, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ; School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. ; Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruna, Spain. ; Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1SA, UK. ; School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK. ; Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. ; Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. The Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Department of Computer Science, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. ; Program in Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Hewitt Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. ; Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. ; Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK. Malaria Programme, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SJ, UK. ; Eck Institute for Global Health and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 317 Galvin Life Sciences Building, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. Centre of Evolutionary and Ecological Studies (Marine Evolution and Conservation group), University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, NL-9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ; Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE MSG49, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Crete, 700 13 Heraklion, Greece. Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas, Nikolaou Plastira 100 GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Centre of Functional Genomics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. ; Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. Biogen Idec, 14 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 12735 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. ; Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Program of Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; Program of Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ; Departments of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology, Institutes for Chemical Biology, Genetics and Global Health, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. ; Eck Institute for Global Health and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 317 Galvin Life Sciences Building, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. neafsey@broadinstitute.org nbesansk@nd.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25554792" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Transcriptional enhancers direct precise on-off patterns of gene expression during development. To explore the basis for this precision, we conducted a high-throughput analysis of the Otx-a enhancer, which mediates expression in the neural plate of Ciona embryos in response to fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling and a localized GATA determinant. We provide evidence that enhancer specificity depends on submaximal recognition motifs having reduced binding affinities ("suboptimization"). Native GATA and ETS (FGF) binding sites contain imperfect matches to consensus motifs. Perfect matches mediate robust but ectopic patterns of gene expression. The native sites are not arranged at optimal intervals, and subtle changes in their spacing alter enhancer activity. Multiple tiers of enhancer suboptimization produce specific, but weak, patterns of expression, and we suggest that clusters of weak enhancers, including certain "superenhancers," circumvent this trade-off in specificity and activity.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Farley, Emma K -- Olson, Katrina M -- Zhang, Wei -- Brandt, Alexander J -- Rokhsar, Daniel S -- Levine, Michael S -- GM46638/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- NS076542/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 16;350(6258):325-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aac6948.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. msl2@princeton.edu ekfarley@princeton.edu. ; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. ; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0688, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26472909" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: NADPH/NADP(+) (the reduced form of NADP(+)/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) homeostasis is critical for countering oxidative stress in cells. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (TH), a membrane enzyme present in both bacteria and mitochondria, couples the proton motive force to the generation of NADPH. We present the 2.8 A crystal structure of the transmembrane proton channel domain of TH from Thermus thermophilus and the 6.9 A crystal structure of the entire enzyme (holo-TH). The membrane domain crystallized as a symmetric dimer, with each protomer containing a putative proton channel. The holo-TH is a highly asymmetric dimer with the NADP(H)-binding domain (dIII) in two different orientations. This unusual arrangement suggests a catalytic mechanism in which the two copies of dIII alternatively function in proton translocation and hydride transfer.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4479213/" 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/PMC4479213/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Leung, Josephine H -- Schurig-Briccio, Lici A -- Yamaguchi, Mutsuo -- Moeller, Arne -- Speir, Jeffrey A -- Gennis, Robert B -- Stout, Charles D -- 1R01GM103838-01A1/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- 5R01GM061545/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM073197/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM095600/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41 GM103310/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103310/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM061545/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM095600/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM103838/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jan 9;347(6218):178-81. doi: 10.1126/science.1260451.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. ; National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. ; Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. dave@scripps.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25574024" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The carnivoran giant panda has a specialized bamboo diet, to which its alimentary tract is poorly adapted. Measurements of daily energy expenditure across five captive and three wild pandas averaged 5.2 megajoules (MJ)/day, only 37.7% of the predicted value (13.8 MJ/day). For the wild pandas, the mean was 6.2 MJ/day, or 45% of the mammalian expectation. Pandas achieve this exceptionally low expenditure in part by reduced sizes of several vital organs and low physical activity. In addition, circulating levels of thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) averaged 46.9 and 64%, respectively, of the levels expected for a eutherian mammal of comparable size. A giant panda-unique mutation in the DUOX2 gene, critical for thyroid hormone synthesis, might explain these low thyroid hormone levels. A combination of morphological, behavioral, physiological, and genetic adaptations, leading to low energy expenditure, likely enables giant pandas to survive on a bamboo diet.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Nie, Yonggang -- Speakman, John R -- Wu, Qi -- Zhang, Chenglin -- Hu, Yibo -- Xia, Maohua -- Yan, Li -- Hambly, Catherine -- Wang, Lu -- Wei, Wei -- Zhang, Jinguo -- Wei, Fuwen -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 10;349(6244):171-4. doi: 10.1126/science.aab2413.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. ; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. ; Beijing Key Laboratory of Captive Wildlife Technologies, Beijing Zoo, Beijing, China. ; Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. ; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. ; Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. weifw@ioz.ac.cn.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26160943" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The 18-kilodalton translocator protein (TSPO), proposed to be a key player in cholesterol transport into mitochondria, is highly expressed in steroidogenic tissues, metastatic cancer, and inflammatory and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. TSPO ligands, including benzodiazepine drugs, are implicated in regulating apoptosis and are extensively used in diagnostic imaging. We report crystal structures (at 1.8, 2.4, and 2.5 angstrom resolution) of TSPO from Rhodobacter sphaeroides and a mutant that mimics the human Ala(147)--〉Thr(147) polymorphism associated with psychiatric disorders and reduced pregnenolone production. Crystals obtained in the lipidic cubic phase reveal the binding site of an endogenous porphyrin ligand and conformational effects of the mutation. The three crystal structures show the same tightly interacting dimer and provide insights into the controversial physiological role of TSPO and how the mutation affects cholesterol binding.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Li, Fei -- Liu, Jian -- Zheng, Yi -- Garavito, R Michael -- Ferguson-Miller, Shelagh -- ACB-12002/PHS HHS/ -- AGM-12006/PHS HHS/ -- GM094625/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM26916/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jan 30;347(6221):555-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1260590.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. fergus20@msu.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25635101" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Retroviruses depend on self-assembly of their capsid proteins (core particle) to yield infectious mature virions. Despite the essential role of the retroviral core, its high polymorphism has hindered high-resolution structural analyses. Here, we report the x-ray structure of the native capsid (CA) protein from bovine leukemia virus. CA is organized as hexamers that deviate substantially from sixfold symmetry, yet adjust to make two-dimensional pseudohexagonal arrays that mimic mature retroviral cores. Intra- and interhexameric quasi-equivalent contacts are uncovered, with flexible trimeric lateral contacts among hexamers, yet preserving very similar dimeric interfaces making the lattice. The conformation of each capsid subunit in the hexamer is therefore dictated by long-range interactions, revealing how the hexamers can also assemble into closed core particles, a relevant feature of retrovirus biology.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Obal, G -- Trajtenberg, F -- Carrion, F -- Tome, L -- Larrieux, N -- Zhang, X -- Pritsch, O -- Buschiazzo, A -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 3;349(6243):95-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa5182. Epub 2015 Jun 4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unit of Protein Biophysics, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay. Departamento de Inmunobiologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Republica, Avenida General Flores 2125, 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay. ; Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unit of Protein Crystallography, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay. ; Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unit of Protein Biophysics, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay. ; Institut Pasteur, Unite de Virologie Structurale, Departement de Virologie and CNRS Unite Mixte de Recherche 3569, 28, Rue du Docteur Roux, 75015, Paris, France. ; Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unit of Protein Biophysics, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay. Departamento de Inmunobiologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Republica, Avenida General Flores 2125, 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay. pritsch@pasteur.edu.uy alebus@pasteur.edu.uy. ; Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unit of Protein Crystallography, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay. Institut Pasteur, Department of Structural Biology and Chemistry, 25, Rue du Dr Roux, 75015, Paris, France. pritsch@pasteur.edu.uy alebus@pasteur.edu.uy.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26044299" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cytoplasmic aggregation of TDP-43, accompanied by its nuclear clearance, is a key common pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD). However, a limited understanding of this RNA-binding protein (RBP) impedes the clarification of pathogenic mechanisms underlying TDP-43 proteinopathy. In contrast to RBPs that regulate splicing of conserved exons, we found that TDP-43 repressed the splicing of nonconserved cryptic exons, maintaining intron integrity. When TDP-43 was depleted from mouse embryonic stem cells, these cryptic exons were spliced into messenger RNAs, often disrupting their translation and promoting nonsense-mediated decay. Moreover, enforced repression of cryptic exons prevented cell death in TDP-43-deficient cells. Furthermore, repression of cryptic exons was impaired in ALS-FTD cases, suggesting that this splicing defect could potentially underlie TDP-43 proteinopathy.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ling, Jonathan P -- Pletnikova, Olga -- Troncoso, Juan C -- Wong, Philip C -- P50AG05146/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Aug 7;349(6248):650-5. doi: 10.1126/science.aab0983.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. wong@jhmi.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26250685" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Protective CD8(+) T cell-mediated immunity requires a massive expansion in cell number and the development of long-lived memory cells. Using forward genetics in mice, we identified an orphan protein named lymphocyte expansion molecule (LEM) that promoted antigen-dependent CD8(+) T cell proliferation, effector function, and memory cell generation in response to infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Generation of LEM-deficient mice confirmed these results. Through interaction with CR6 interacting factor (CRIF1), LEM controlled the levels of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes and respiration, resulting in the production of pro-proliferative mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS). LEM provides a link between immune activation and the expansion of protective CD8(+) T cells driven by OXPHOS and represents a pathway for the restoration of long-term protective immunity based on metabolically modified cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Okoye, Isobel -- Wang, Lihui -- Pallmer, Katharina -- Richter, Kirsten -- Ichimura, Takahuru -- Haas, Robert -- Crouse, Josh -- Choi, Onjee -- Heathcote, Dean -- Lovo, Elena -- Mauro, Claudio -- Abdi, Reza -- Oxenius, Annette -- Rutschmann, Sophie -- Ashton-Rickardt, Philip G -- A9995/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- AI091930/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI45108/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- FS/12/38/29640/British Heart Foundation/United Kingdom -- G0700795/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 29;348(6238):995-1001. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa7516. Epub 2015 Apr 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Section of Immunobiology, Division of Inflammation and Immunology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK. ; Institute of Microbiology, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETHZ), Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1-5/10, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. ; Transplantation Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. ; William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK. ; Section of Immunobiology, Division of Inflammation and Immunology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK. Transplantation Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. p.ashton-rickardt@imperial.ac.uk.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25883318" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cardiac progenitor cells are multipotent and give rise to cardiac endothelium, smooth muscle, and cardiomyocytes. Here, we define and characterize the cardiomyoblast intermediate that is committed to the cardiomyocyte fate, and we characterize the niche signals that regulate commitment. Cardiomyoblasts express Hopx, which functions to coordinate local Bmp signals to inhibit the Wnt pathway, thus promoting cardiomyogenesis. Hopx integrates Bmp and Wnt signaling by physically interacting with activated Smads and repressing Wnt genes. The identification of the committed cardiomyoblast that retains proliferative potential will inform cardiac regenerative therapeutics. In addition, Bmp signals characterize adult stem cell niches in other tissues where Hopx-mediated inhibition of Wnt is likely to contribute to stem cell quiescence and to explain the role of Hopx as a tumor suppressor.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jain, Rajan -- Li, Deqiang -- Gupta, Mudit -- Manderfield, Lauren J -- Ifkovits, Jamie L -- Wang, Qiaohong -- Liu, Feiyan -- Liu, Ying -- Poleshko, Andrey -- Padmanabhan, Arun -- Raum, Jeffrey C -- Li, Li -- Morrisey, Edward E -- Lu, Min Min -- Won, Kyoung-Jae -- Epstein, Jonathan A -- 5-T32-GM-007170/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- K08 HL119553/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- K08 HL119553-02/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL071546/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL100405/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 26;348(6242):aaa6071. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa6071.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Penn Cardiovascular Institute, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Penn Cardiovascular Institute, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. epsteinj@upenn.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113728" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) protein kinase is a master growth regulator that responds to multiple environmental cues. Amino acids stimulate, in a Rag-, Ragulator-, and vacuolar adenosine triphosphatase-dependent fashion, the translocation of mTORC1 to the lysosomal surface, where it interacts with its activator Rheb. Here, we identify SLC38A9, an uncharacterized protein with sequence similarity to amino acid transporters, as a lysosomal transmembrane protein that interacts with the Rag guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) and Ragulator in an amino acid-sensitive fashion. SLC38A9 transports arginine with a high Michaelis constant, and loss of SLC38A9 represses mTORC1 activation by amino acids, particularly arginine. Overexpression of SLC38A9 or just its Ragulator-binding domain makes mTORC1 signaling insensitive to amino acid starvation but not to Rag activity. Thus, SLC38A9 functions upstream of the Rag GTPases and is an excellent candidate for being an arginine sensor for the mTORC1 pathway.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295826/" 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/PMC4295826/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wang, Shuyu -- Tsun, Zhi-Yang -- Wolfson, Rachel L -- Shen, Kuang -- Wyant, Gregory A -- Plovanich, Molly E -- Yuan, Elizabeth D -- Jones, Tony D -- Chantranupong, Lynne -- Comb, William -- Wang, Tim -- Bar-Peled, Liron -- Zoncu, Roberto -- Straub, Christoph -- Kim, Choah -- Park, Jiwon -- Sabatini, Bernardo L -- Sabatini, David M -- AI47389/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- F30 CA180754/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- F31 AG044064/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- F31 CA180271/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA103866/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R37 AI047389/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007287/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007753/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jan 9;347(6218):188-94. doi: 10.1126/science.1257132. Epub 2015 Jan 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Harvard Medical School, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. sabatini@wi.mit.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25567906" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: During virus infection, the adaptor proteins MAVS and STING transduce signals from the cytosolic nucleic acid sensors RIG-I and cGAS, respectively, to induce type I interferons (IFNs) and other antiviral molecules. Here we show that MAVS and STING harbor two conserved serine and threonine clusters that are phosphorylated by the kinases IKK and/or TBK1 in response to stimulation. Phosphorylated MAVS and STING then bind to a positively charged surface of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and thereby recruit IRF3 for its phosphorylation and activation by TBK1. We further show that TRIF, an adaptor protein in Toll-like receptor signaling, activates IRF3 through a similar phosphorylation-dependent mechanism. These results reveal that phosphorylation of innate adaptor proteins is an essential and conserved mechanism that selectively recruits IRF3 to activate the type I IFN pathway.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Liu, Siqi -- Cai, Xin -- Wu, Jiaxi -- Cong, Qian -- Chen, Xiang -- Li, Tuo -- Du, Fenghe -- Ren, Junyao -- Wu, You-Tong -- Grishin, Nick V -- Chen, Zhijian J -- AI-93967/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- GM-094575/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM-63692/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Mar 13;347(6227):aaa2630. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa2630. Epub 2015 Jan 29.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. ; Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. ; Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. ; Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. ; Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. zhijian.chen@utsouthwestern.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25636800" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels propagate action potentials in excitable cells. Accordingly, Nav channels are therapeutic targets for many cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Selective inhibitors have been challenging to design because the nine mammalian Nav channel isoforms share high sequence identity and remain recalcitrant to high-resolution structural studies. Targeting the human Nav1.7 channel involved in pain perception, we present a protein-engineering strategy that has allowed us to determine crystal structures of a novel receptor site in complex with isoform-selective antagonists. GX-936 and related inhibitors bind to the activated state of voltage-sensor domain IV (VSD4), where their anionic aryl sulfonamide warhead engages the fourth arginine gating charge on the S4 helix. By opposing VSD4 deactivation, these compounds inhibit Nav1.7 through a voltage-sensor trapping mechanism, likely by stabilizing inactivated states of the channel. Residues from the S2 and S3 helices are key determinants of isoform selectivity, and bound phospholipids implicate the membrane as a modulator of channel function and pharmacology. Our results help to elucidate the molecular basis of voltage sensing and establish structural blueprints to design selective Nav channel antagonists.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ahuja, Shivani -- Mukund, Susmith -- Deng, Lunbin -- Khakh, Kuldip -- Chang, Elaine -- Ho, Hoangdung -- Shriver, Stephanie -- Young, Clint -- Lin, Sophia -- Johnson, J P Jr -- Wu, Ping -- Li, Jun -- Coons, Mary -- Tam, Christine -- Brillantes, Bobby -- Sampang, Honorio -- Mortara, Kyle -- Bowman, Krista K -- Clark, Kevin R -- Estevez, Alberto -- Xie, Zhiwei -- Verschoof, Henry -- Grimwood, Michael -- Dehnhardt, Christoph -- Andrez, Jean-Christophe -- Focken, Thilo -- Sutherlin, Daniel P -- Safina, Brian S -- Starovasnik, Melissa A -- Ortwine, Daniel F -- Franke, Yvonne -- Cohen, Charles J -- Hackos, David H -- Koth, Christopher M -- Payandeh, Jian -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Dec 18;350(6267):aac5464. doi: 10.1126/science.aac5464.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Structural Biology, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. ; Department of Neuroscience, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. ; Department of Biology, Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Burnaby, British Columbia, V5G 4W8, Canada. ; Department of Discovery Chemistry, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. ; Department of Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Burnaby, British Columbia, V5G 4W8, Canada. ; Department of Neuroscience, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. hackos.david@gene.com koth.christopher@gene.com payandeh.jian@gene.com. ; Department of Structural Biology, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. hackos.david@gene.com koth.christopher@gene.com payandeh.jian@gene.com.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26680203" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The spindle checkpoint of the cell division cycle senses kinetochores that are not attached to microtubules and prevents precocious onset of anaphase, which can lead to aneuploidy. The nuclear division cycle 80 complex (Ndc80C) is a major microtubule receptor at the kinetochore. Ndc80C also mediates the kinetochore recruitment of checkpoint proteins. We found that the checkpoint protein kinase monopolar spindle 1 (Mps1) directly bound to Ndc80C through two independent interactions. Both interactions involved the microtubule-binding surfaces of Ndc80C and were directly inhibited in the presence of microtubules. Elimination of one such interaction in human cells caused checkpoint defects expected from a failure to detect unattached kinetochores. Competition between Mps1 and microtubules for Ndc80C binding thus constitutes a direct mechanism for the detection of unattached kinetochores.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ji, Zhejian -- Gao, Haishan -- Yu, Hongtao -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 12;348(6240):1260-4. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa4029.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6001 Forest Park Road, Dallas, TX 74390, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6001 Forest Park Road, Dallas, TX 74390, USA. hongtao.yu@utsouthwestern.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26068854" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Lipid transfer between cell membrane bilayers at contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and other membranes help to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis. We found that two similar ER integral membrane proteins, oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP)-related protein 5 (ORP5) and ORP8, tethered the ER to the plasma membrane (PM) via the interaction of their pleckstrin homology domains with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) in this membrane. Their OSBP-related domains (ORDs) harbored either PI4P or phosphatidylserine (PS) and exchanged these lipids between bilayers. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that ORP5 and ORP8 could mediate PI4P/PS countertransport between the ER and the PM, thus delivering PI4P to the ER-localized PI4P phosphatase Sac1 for degradation and PS from the ER to the PM. This exchange helps to control plasma membrane PI4P levels and selectively enrich PS in the PM.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4638224/" 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/PMC4638224/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chung, Jeeyun -- Torta, Federico -- Masai, Kaori -- Lucast, Louise -- Czapla, Heather -- Tanner, Lukas B -- Narayanaswamy, Pradeep -- Wenk, Markus R -- Nakatsu, Fubito -- De Camilli, Pietro -- DA018343/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- DK082700/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- DK45735/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- P30 DA018343/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- P30 DK045735/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK082700/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R37 NS036251/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R37NS036251/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007223/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 24;349(6246):428-32. doi: 10.1126/science.aab1370.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, and Program for Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, and Repair, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117456 Singapore. ; Department of Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, and Program for Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, and Repair, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. pietro.decamilli@yale.edu nakatsu@med.niigata-u.ac.jp.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26206935" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Bacterial adaptive immunity uses CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-associated (Cas) proteins together with CRISPR transcripts for foreign DNA degradation. In type II CRISPR-Cas systems, activation of Cas9 endonuclease for DNA recognition upon guide RNA binding occurs by an unknown mechanism. Crystal structures of Cas9 bound to single-guide RNA reveal a conformation distinct from both the apo and DNA-bound states, in which the 10-nucleotide RNA "seed" sequence required for initial DNA interrogation is preordered in an A-form conformation. This segment of the guide RNA is essential for Cas9 to form a DNA recognition-competent structure that is poised to engage double-stranded DNA target sequences. We construe this as convergent evolution of a "seed" mechanism reminiscent of that used by Argonaute proteins during RNA interference in eukaryotes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jiang, Fuguo -- Zhou, Kaihong -- Ma, Linlin -- Gressel, Saskia -- Doudna, Jennifer A -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 26;348(6242):1477-81. doi: 10.1126/science.aab1452.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Innovative Genomics Initiative, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. doudna@berkeley.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113724" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) catalyzes histone H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), a hallmark of gene silencing. Here we report the crystal structures of an active PRC2 complex of 170 kilodaltons from the yeast Chaetomium thermophilum in both basal and stimulated states, which contain Ezh2, Eed, and the VEFS domain of Suz12 and are bound to a cancer-associated inhibiting H3K27M peptide and a S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine cofactor. The stimulated complex also contains an additional stimulating H3K27me3 peptide. Eed is engulfed by a belt-like structure of Ezh2, and Suz12(VEFS) contacts both of these two subunits to confer an unusual split active SET domain for catalysis. Comparison of PRC2 in the basal and stimulated states reveals a mobile Ezh2 motif that responds to stimulation to allosterically regulate the active site.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jiao, Lianying -- Liu, Xin -- GM114576/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 16;350(6258):aac4383. doi: 10.1126/science.aac4383. Epub 2015 Oct 15.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences and Division of Basic Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Department of Biophysics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. ; Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences and Division of Basic Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Department of Biophysics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. xin.liu@utsouthwestern.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26472914" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Algal blooms produce large amounts of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a volatile with a diverse signaling role in marine food webs that is emitted to the atmosphere, where it can affect cloud formation. The algal enzymes responsible for forming DMS from dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) remain unidentified despite their critical role in the global sulfur cycle. We identified and characterized Alma1, a DMSP lyase from the bloom-forming algae Emiliania huxleyi. Alma1 is a tetrameric, redox-sensitive enzyme of the aspartate racemase superfamily. Recombinant Alma1 exhibits biochemical features identical to the DMSP lyase in E. huxleyi, and DMS released by various E. huxleyi isolates correlates with their Alma1 levels. Sequence homology searches suggest that Alma1 represents a gene family present in major, globally distributed phytoplankton taxa and in other marine organisms.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Alcolombri, Uria -- Ben-Dor, Shifra -- Feldmesser, Ester -- Levin, Yishai -- Tawfik, Dan S -- Vardi, Assaf -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 26;348(6242):1466-9. doi: 10.1126/science.aab1586.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ; Bioinformatics and Biological Computing Unit, Biological Services, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ; Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ; Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. assaf.vardi@weizmann.ac.il dan.tawfik@weizmann.ac.il. ; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. assaf.vardi@weizmann.ac.il dan.tawfik@weizmann.ac.il.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113722" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Mitochondria fulfill central functions in cellular energetics, metabolism, and signaling. The outer membrane translocator complex (the TOM complex) imports most mitochondrial proteins, but its architecture is unknown. Using a cross-linking approach, we mapped the active translocator down to single amino acid residues, revealing different transport paths for preproteins through the Tom40 channel. An N-terminal segment of Tom40 passes from the cytosol through the channel to recruit chaperones from the intermembrane space that guide the transfer of hydrophobic preproteins. The translocator contains three Tom40 beta-barrel channels sandwiched between a central alpha-helical Tom22 receptor cluster and external regulatory Tom proteins. The preprotein-translocating trimeric complex exchanges with a dimeric isoform to assemble new TOM complexes. Dynamic coupling of alpha-helical receptors, beta-barrel channels, and chaperones generates a versatile machinery that transports about 1000 different proteins.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Shiota, Takuya -- Imai, Kenichiro -- Qiu, Jian -- Hewitt, Victoria L -- Tan, Khershing -- Shen, Hsin-Hui -- Sakiyama, Noriyuki -- Fukasawa, Yoshinori -- Hayat, Sikander -- Kamiya, Megumi -- Elofsson, Arne -- Tomii, Kentaro -- Horton, Paul -- Wiedemann, Nils -- Pfanner, Nikolaus -- Lithgow, Trevor -- Endo, Toshiya -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Sep 25;349(6255):1544-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aac6428.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia. Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. ; Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-4-7 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan. ; Institut fur Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Universitat Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. ; Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia. ; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, Box 1031, 17121 Solna, Sweden. ; Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. ; Institut fur Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Universitat Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, Universitat Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. ; Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Faculty of Life Sciences, Kyoto Sangyo University, Kamigamo-motoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555, Japan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26404837" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Notch receptors guide mammalian cell fate decisions by engaging the proteins Jagged and Delta-like (DLL). The 2.3 angstrom resolution crystal structure of the interacting regions of the Notch1-DLL4 complex reveals a two-site, antiparallel binding orientation assisted by Notch1 O-linked glycosylation. Notch1 epidermal growth factor-like repeats 11 and 12 interact with the DLL4 Delta/Serrate/Lag-2 (DSL) domain and module at the N-terminus of Notch ligands (MNNL) domains, respectively. Threonine and serine residues on Notch1 are functionalized with O-fucose and O-glucose, which act as surrogate amino acids by making specific, and essential, contacts to residues on DLL4. The elucidation of a direct chemical role for O-glycans in Notch1 ligand engagement demonstrates how, by relying on posttranslational modifications of their ligand binding sites, Notch proteins have linked their functional capacity to developmentally regulated biosynthetic pathways.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445638/" 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/PMC4445638/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Luca, Vincent C -- Jude, Kevin M -- Pierce, Nathan W -- Nachury, Maxence V -- Fischer, Suzanne -- Garcia, K Christopher -- 1R01-GM097015/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM097015/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Feb 20;347(6224):847-53. doi: 10.1126/science.1261093.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. kcgarcia@stanford.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25700513" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Morphinan alkaloids from the opium poppy are used for pain relief. The direction of metabolites to morphinan biosynthesis requires isomerization of (S)- to (R)-reticuline. Characterization of high-reticuline poppy mutants revealed a genetic locus, designated STORR [(S)- to (R)-reticuline] that encodes both cytochrome P450 and oxidoreductase modules, the latter belonging to the aldo-keto reductase family. Metabolite analysis of mutant alleles and heterologous expression demonstrate that the P450 module is responsible for the conversion of (S)-reticuline to 1,2-dehydroreticuline, whereas the oxidoreductase module converts 1,2-dehydroreticuline to (R)-reticuline rather than functioning as a P450 redox partner. Proteomic analysis confirmed that these two modules are contained on a single polypeptide in vivo. This modular assembly implies a selection pressure favoring substrate channeling. The fusion protein STORR may enable microbial-based morphinan production.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Winzer, Thilo -- Kern, Marcelo -- King, Andrew J -- Larson, Tony R -- Teodor, Roxana I -- Donninger, Samantha L -- Li, Yi -- Dowle, Adam A -- Cartwright, Jared -- Bates, Rachel -- Ashford, David -- Thomas, Jerry -- Walker, Carol -- Bowser, Tim A -- Graham, Ian A -- BB/K018809/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 17;349(6245):309-12. doi: 10.1126/science.aab1852. Epub 2015 Jun 25.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; Bioscience Technology Facility, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; GlaxoSmithKline, 1061 Mountain Highway, Post Office Box 168, Boronia, Victoria 3155, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113639" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Nucleotide analog inhibitors have shown clinical success in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, despite an incomplete mechanistic understanding of NS5B, the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Here we study the details of HCV RNA replication by determining crystal structures of stalled polymerase ternary complexes with enzymes, RNA templates, RNA primers, incoming nucleotides, and catalytic metal ions during both primed initiation and elongation of RNA synthesis. Our analysis revealed that highly conserved active-site residues in NS5B position the primer for in-line attack on the incoming nucleotide. A beta loop and a C-terminal membrane-anchoring linker occlude the active-site cavity in the apo state, retract in the primed initiation assembly to enforce replication of the HCV genome from the 3' terminus, and vacate the active-site cavity during elongation. We investigated the incorporation of nucleotide analog inhibitors, including the clinically active metabolite formed by sofosbuvir, to elucidate key molecular interactions in the active site.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Appleby, Todd C -- Perry, Jason K -- Murakami, Eisuke -- Barauskas, Ona -- Feng, Joy -- Cho, Aesop -- Fox, David 3rd -- Wetmore, Diana R -- McGrath, Mary E -- Ray, Adrian S -- Sofia, Michael J -- Swaminathan, S -- Edwards, Thomas E -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Feb 13;347(6223):771-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1259210.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Gilead Sciences, 333 Lakeside Drive, Foster City, CA 94404, USA. todd.appleby@gilead.com tedwards@be4.com. ; Gilead Sciences, 333 Lakeside Drive, Foster City, CA 94404, USA. ; Beryllium, 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA. ; Beryllium, 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA. todd.appleby@gilead.com tedwards@be4.com.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25678663" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The scent of roses (Rosa x hybrida) is composed of hundreds of volatile molecules. Monoterpenes represent up to 70% percent of the scent content in some cultivars, such as the Papa Meilland rose. Monoterpene biosynthesis in plants relies on plastid-localized terpene synthases. Combining transcriptomic and genetic approaches, we show that the Nudix hydrolase RhNUDX1, localized in the cytoplasm, is part of a pathway for the biosynthesis of free monoterpene alcohols that contribute to fragrance in roses. The RhNUDX1 protein shows geranyl diphosphate diphosphohydrolase activity in vitro and supports geraniol biosynthesis in planta.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Magnard, Jean-Louis -- Roccia, Aymeric -- Caissard, Jean-Claude -- Vergne, Philippe -- Sun, Pulu -- Hecquet, Romain -- Dubois, Annick -- Hibrand-Saint Oyant, Laurence -- Jullien, Frederic -- Nicole, Florence -- Raymond, Olivier -- Huguet, Stephanie -- Baltenweck, Raymonde -- Meyer, Sophie -- Claudel, Patricia -- Jeauffre, Julien -- Rohmer, Michel -- Foucher, Fabrice -- Hugueney, Philippe -- Bendahmane, Mohammed -- Baudino, Sylvie -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 3;349(6243):81-3. doi: 10.1126/science.aab0696.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratoire BVpam, EA3061, Universite de Lyon/Saint-Etienne, 23 Rue du Dr Michelon, F-42000, Saint-Etienne, France. ; Laboratoire BVpam, EA3061, Universite de Lyon/Saint-Etienne, 23 Rue du Dr Michelon, F-42000, Saint-Etienne, France. Laboratoire Reproduction et Developpement des Plantes UMR Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-CNRS, Universite Lyon 1-ENSL, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 46 Allee d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. ; Laboratoire Reproduction et Developpement des Plantes UMR Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-CNRS, Universite Lyon 1-ENSL, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 46 Allee d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. ; INRA, Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (INRA, AGROCAMPUS-OUEST, Universite d'Angers), SFR 4207 QUASAV, BP 60057, 49071 Beaucouze Cedex, France. ; Genomiques Fonctionnelles d'Arabidopsis, Unite de Recherche en Genomique Vegetale, UMR INRA 1165-Universite d'Evry Val d'Essonne-ERL CNRS 8196, Evry, France. ; INRA, Universite de Strasbourg, UMR 1131 Sante de la Vigne et Qualite du Vin, 28 Rue de Herrlisheim, F-68000 Colmar, France. ; Universite de Strasbourg-CNRS, UMR 7177, Institut Le Bel, 4 Rue Blaise Pascal, 67070 Strasbourg Cedex, France. ; INRA, Universite de Strasbourg, UMR 1131 Sante de la Vigne et Qualite du Vin, 28 Rue de Herrlisheim, F-68000 Colmar, France. sylvie.baudino@univ-st-etienne.fr philippe.hugueney@colmar.inra.fr mohammed.bendahmane@ens-lyon.fr. ; Laboratoire Reproduction et Developpement des Plantes UMR Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-CNRS, Universite Lyon 1-ENSL, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 46 Allee d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. sylvie.baudino@univ-st-etienne.fr philippe.hugueney@colmar.inra.fr mohammed.bendahmane@ens-lyon.fr. ; Laboratoire BVpam, EA3061, Universite de Lyon/Saint-Etienne, 23 Rue du Dr Michelon, F-42000, Saint-Etienne, France. sylvie.baudino@univ-st-etienne.fr philippe.hugueney@colmar.inra.fr mohammed.bendahmane@ens-lyon.fr.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26138978" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The voltage-gated calcium channel Ca(v)1.1 is engaged in the excitation-contraction coupling of skeletal muscles. The Ca(v)1.1 complex consists of the pore-forming subunit alpha1 and auxiliary subunits alpha2delta, beta, and gamma. We report the structure of the rabbit Ca(v)1.1 complex determined by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. The four homologous repeats of the alpha1 subunit are arranged clockwise in the extracellular view. The gamma subunit, whose structure resembles claudins, interacts with the voltage-sensing domain of repeat IV (VSD(IV)), whereas the cytosolic beta subunit is located adjacent to VSD(II) of alpha1. The alpha2 subunit interacts with the extracellular loops of repeats I to III through its VWA and Cache1 domains. The structure reveals the architecture of a prototypical eukaryotic Ca(v) channel and provides a framework for understanding the function and disease mechanisms of Ca(v) and Na(v) channels.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wu, Jianping -- Yan, Zhen -- Li, Zhangqiang -- Yan, Chuangye -- Lu, Shan -- Dong, Mengqiu -- Yan, Nieng -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Dec 18;350(6267):aad2395. doi: 10.1126/science.aad2395.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences and School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing 102206, China. ; State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences and School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. nyan@tsinghua.edu.cn.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26680202" 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: Mapping protein sequence space is a difficult problem that necessitates the analysis of 20(N) combinations for sequences of length N. We systematically mapped the sequence space of four key residues in the Escherichia coli protein kinase PhoQ that drive recognition of its substrate PhoP. We generated a library containing all 160,000 variants of PhoQ at these positions and used a two-step selection coupled to next-generation sequencing to identify 1659 functional variants. Our results reveal extensive degeneracy in the PhoQ-PhoP interface and epistasis, with the effect of individual substitutions often highly dependent on context. Together, epistasis and the genetic code create a pattern of connectivity of functional variants in sequence space that likely constrains PhoQ evolution. Consequently, the diversity of PhoQ orthologs is substantially lower than that of functional PhoQ variants.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Podgornaia, Anna I -- Laub, Michael T -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Feb 6;347(6222):673-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1257360.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Computational & Systems Biology Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. laub@mit.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25657251" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The 5' leader of the HIV-1 genome contains conserved elements that direct selective packaging of the unspliced, dimeric viral RNA into assembling particles. By using a (2)H-edited nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approach, we determined the structure of a 155-nucleotide region of the leader that is independently capable of directing packaging (core encapsidation signal; Psi(CES)). The RNA adopts an unexpected tandem three-way junction structure, in which residues of the major splice donor and translation initiation sites are sequestered by long-range base pairing and guanosines essential for both packaging and high-affinity binding to the cognate Gag protein are exposed in helical junctions. The structure reveals how translation is attenuated, Gag binding promoted, and unspliced dimeric genomes selected, by the RNA conformer that directs packaging.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4492308/" 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/PMC4492308/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Keane, Sarah C -- Heng, Xiao -- Lu, Kun -- Kharytonchyk, Siarhei -- Ramakrishnan, Venkateswaran -- Carter, Gregory -- Barton, Shawn -- Hosic, Azra -- Florwick, Alyssa -- Santos, Justin -- Bolden, Nicholas C -- McCowin, Sayo -- Case, David A -- Johnson, Bruce A -- Salemi, Marco -- Telesnitsky, Alice -- Summers, Michael F -- 2T34 GM008663/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P50 GM 103297/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P50 GM103297/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM042561/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM42561/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 22;348(6237):917-21. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa9266.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5620, USA. ; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. ; One Moon Scientific, Incorporated, 839 Grant Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090, USA, and City University of New York (CUNY) Advanced Science Research Center, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY 10031, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, and Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5620, USA. summers@hhmi.umbc.edu ateles@umich.edu. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. summers@hhmi.umbc.edu ateles@umich.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25999508" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Light-gated rhodopsin cation channels from chlorophyte algae have transformed neuroscience research through their use as membrane-depolarizing optogenetic tools for targeted photoactivation of neuron firing. Photosuppression of neuronal action potentials has been limited by the lack of equally efficient tools for membrane hyperpolarization. We describe anion channel rhodopsins (ACRs), a family of light-gated anion channels from cryptophyte algae that provide highly sensitive and efficient membrane hyperpolarization and neuronal silencing through light-gated chloride conduction. ACRs strictly conducted anions, completely excluding protons and larger cations, and hyperpolarized the membrane of cultured animal cells with much faster kinetics at less than one-thousandth of the light intensity required by the most efficient currently available optogenetic proteins. Natural ACRs provide optogenetic inhibition tools with unprecedented light sensitivity and temporal precision.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4764398/" 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/PMC4764398/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Govorunova, Elena G -- Sineshchekov, Oleg A -- Janz, Roger -- Liu, Xiaoqin -- Spudich, John L -- R01 GM027750/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM027750/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21MH098288/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- S10RR022531/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Aug 7;349(6248):647-50. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa7484. Epub 2015 Jun 25.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Membrane Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113638" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The shortage of organs for transplantation is a major barrier to the treatment of organ failure. Although porcine organs are considered promising, their use has been checked by concerns about the transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) to humans. Here we describe the eradication of all PERVs in a porcine kidney epithelial cell line (PK15). We first determined the PK15 PERV copy number to be 62. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we disrupted all copies of the PERV pol gene and demonstrated a 〉1000-fold reduction in PERV transmission to human cells, using our engineered cells. Our study shows that CRISPR-Cas9 multiplexability can be as high as 62 and demonstrates the possibility that PERVs can be inactivated for clinical application of porcine-to-human xenotransplantation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yang, Luhan -- Guell, Marc -- Niu, Dong -- George, Haydy -- Lesha, Emal -- Grishin, Dennis -- Aach, John -- Shrock, Ellen -- Xu, Weihong -- Poci, Jurgen -- Cortazio, Rebeca -- Wilkinson, Robert A -- Fishman, Jay A -- Church, George -- P50 HG005550/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Nov 27;350(6264):1101-4. doi: 10.1126/science.aad1191. Epub 2015 Oct 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. eGenesis Biosciences, Boston, MA 02115, USA. gchurch@genetics.med.harvard.edu luhan.yang@egenesisbio.com. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. eGenesis Biosciences, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. ; Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. ; Transplant Infectious Disease and Compromised Host Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26456528" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Most spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) result from replication-fork breakage. Break-induced replication (BIR), a genome rearrangement-prone repair mechanism that requires the Pol32/POLD3 subunit of eukaryotic DNA Poldelta, was proposed to repair broken forks, but how genome destabilization is avoided was unknown. We show that broken fork repair initially uses error-prone Pol32-dependent synthesis, but that mutagenic synthesis is limited to within a few kilobases from the break by Mus81 endonuclease and a converging fork. Mus81 suppresses template switches between both homologous sequences and diverged human Alu repetitive elements, highlighting its importance for stability of highly repetitive genomes. We propose that lack of a timely converging fork or Mus81 may propel genome instability observed in cancer.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mayle, Ryan -- Campbell, Ian M -- Beck, Christine R -- Yu, Yang -- Wilson, Marenda -- Shaw, Chad A -- Bjergbaek, Lotte -- Lupski, James R -- Ira, Grzegorz -- F31 NS083159/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- GM080600/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- HG006542/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- NS058529/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS083159/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM080600/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS058529/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- U54 HG006542/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Aug 14;349(6249):742-7. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa8391.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Aarhus 8000, Denmark. ; Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Department of Pediatrics, and Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. gira@bcm.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26273056" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The detailed molecular interactions between native HIV-1 capsid protein (CA) hexamers that shield the viral genome and proteins have been elusive. We report crystal structures describing interactions between CA monomers related by sixfold symmetry within hexamers (intrahexamer) and threefold and twofold symmetry between neighboring hexamers (interhexamer). The structures describe how CA builds hexagonal lattices, the foundation of mature capsids. Lattice structure depends on an adaptable hydration layer modulating interactions among CA molecules. Disruption of this layer alters interhexamer interfaces, highlighting an inherent structural variability. A CA-targeting antiviral affects capsid stability by binding across CA molecules and subtly altering interhexamer interfaces remote to the ligand-binding site. Inherent structural plasticity, hydration layer rearrangement, and effector binding affect capsid stability and have functional implications for the retroviral life cycle.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4584149/" 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/PMC4584149/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gres, Anna T -- Kirby, Karen A -- KewalRamani, Vineet N -- Tanner, John J -- Pornillos, Owen -- Sarafianos, Stefan G -- AI076119/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI099284/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI100890/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI112417/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- AI120860/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- GM066087/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM103368/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P50 GM103368/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI076119/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI099284/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI100890/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI120860/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM066087/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 AI112417/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 3;349(6243):99-103. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa5936. Epub 2015 Jun 4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. ; Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. ; Basic Research Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. ; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. ; Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. sarafianoss@missouri.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26044298" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In cells, biosynthetic machinery coordinates protein synthesis and folding to optimize efficiency and minimize off-pathway outcomes. However, it has been difficult to delineate experimentally the mechanisms responsible. Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer, we studied cotranslational folding of the first nucleotide-binding domain from the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. During synthesis, folding occurred discretely via sequential compaction of N-terminal, alpha-helical, and alpha/beta-core subdomains. Moreover, the timing of these events was critical; premature alpha-subdomain folding prevented subsequent core formation. This process was facilitated by modulating intrinsic folding propensity in three distinct ways: delaying alpha-subdomain compaction, facilitating beta-strand intercalation, and optimizing translation kinetics via codon usage. Thus, de novo folding is translationally tuned by an integrated cellular response that shapes the cotranslational folding landscape at critical stages of synthesis.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kim, Soo Jung -- Yoon, Jae Seok -- Shishido, Hideki -- Yang, Zhongying -- Rooney, LeeAnn A -- Barral, Jose M -- Skach, William R -- P30CA069533/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P30EYE010572/PHS HHS/ -- R01DK51818/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01GM53457/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- S10OD012246/OD/NIH HHS/ -- S10RR025571/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Apr 24;348(6233):444-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa3974.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR 97239, USA. ; Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77550-0620, USA. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77550-0620, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR 97239, USA. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. skachw@ohsu.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25908822" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Chemokines and their receptors control cell migration during development, immune system responses, and in numerous diseases, including inflammation and cancer. The structural basis of receptor:chemokine recognition has been a long-standing unanswered question due to the challenges of structure determination for membrane protein complexes. Here, we report the crystal structure of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in complex with the viral chemokine antagonist vMIP-II at 3.1 angstrom resolution. The structure revealed a 1:1 stoichiometry and a more extensive binding interface than anticipated from the paradigmatic two-site model. The structure helped rationalize a large body of mutagenesis data and together with modeling provided insights into CXCR4 interactions with its endogenous ligand CXCL12, its ability to recognize diverse ligands, and the specificity of CC and CXC receptors for their respective chemokines.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362693/" 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/PMC4362693/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Qin, Ling -- Kufareva, Irina -- Holden, Lauren G -- Wang, Chong -- Zheng, Yi -- Zhao, Chunxia -- Fenalti, Gustavo -- Wu, Huixian -- Han, Gye Won -- Cherezov, Vadim -- Abagyan, Ruben -- Stevens, Raymond C -- Handel, Tracy M -- ACB-12002/PHS HHS/ -- AGM-12006/PHS HHS/ -- R01 GM071872/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM081763/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 AI101687/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U01 GM094612/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54 GM094618/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Mar 6;347(6226):1117-22. doi: 10.1126/science.1261064. Epub 2015 Jan 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of California, San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. ; University of California, San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. thandel@ucsd.edu stevens@usc.edu ikufareva@ucsd.edu. ; Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, Bridge Institute. Department of Biological Sciences, Bridge Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, Bridge Institute. ; Department of Chemistry, Bridge Institute. Department of Biological Sciences, Bridge Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. thandel@ucsd.edu stevens@usc.edu ikufareva@ucsd.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25612609" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The inefficient clearance of dying cells can lead to abnormal immune responses, such as unresolved inflammation and autoimmune conditions. We show that tumor suppressor p53 controls signaling-mediated phagocytosis of apoptotic cells through its target, Death Domain1alpha (DD1alpha), which suggests that p53 promotes both the proapoptotic pathway and postapoptotic events. DD1alpha appears to function as an engulfment ligand or receptor that engages in homophilic intermolecular interaction at intercellular junctions of apoptotic cells and macrophages, unlike other typical scavenger receptors that recognize phosphatidylserine on the surface of dead cells. DD1alpha-deficient mice showed in vivo defects in clearing dying cells, which led to multiple organ damage indicative of immune dysfunction. p53-induced expression of DD1alpha thus prevents persistence of cell corpses and ensures efficient generation of precise immune responses.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Yoon, Kyoung Wan -- Byun, Sanguine -- Kwon, Eunjeong -- Hwang, So-Young -- Chu, Kiki -- Hiraki, Masatsugu -- Jo, Seung-Hee -- Weins, Astrid -- Hakroush, Samy -- Cebulla, Angelika -- Sykes, David B -- Greka, Anna -- Mundel, Peter -- Fisher, David E -- Mandinova, Anna -- Lee, Sam W -- CA142805/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- CA149477/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- CA80058/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- DK062472/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- DK091218/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- DK093378/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- DK57683/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- S10RR027673/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 31;349(6247):1261669. doi: 10.1126/science.1261669.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. ; Center for Regenerative Medicine and Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. ; Department of Medicine, Glom-NExT Center for Glomerular Kidney Disease and Novel Experimental Therapeutics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. swlee@mgh.harvard.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26228159" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The Protoaurignacian culture is pivotal to the debate about the timing of the arrival of modern humans in western Europe and the demise of Neandertals. However, which group is responsible for this culture remains uncertain. We investigated dental remains associated with the Protoaurignacian. The lower deciduous incisor from Riparo Bombrini is modern human, based on its morphology. The upper deciduous incisor from Grotta di Fumane contains ancient mitochondrial DNA of a modern human type. These teeth are the oldest human remains in an Aurignacian-related archaeological context, confirming that by 41,000 calendar years before the present, modern humans bearing Protoaurignacian culture spread into southern Europe. Because the last Neandertals date to 41,030 to 39,260 calendar years before the present, we suggest that the Protoaurignacian triggered the demise of Neandertals in this area.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Benazzi, S -- Slon, V -- Talamo, S -- Negrino, F -- Peresani, M -- Bailey, S E -- Sawyer, S -- Panetta, D -- Vicino, G -- Starnini, E -- Mannino, M A -- Salvadori, P A -- Meyer, M -- Paabo, S -- Hublin, J-J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 15;348(6236):793-6. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa2773. Epub 2015 Apr 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. stefano.benazzi@unibo.it. ; Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ; Dipartimento di Antichita, Filosofia, Storia e Geografia, Universita di Genova, Via Balbi 2, 16126 Genova, Italy. ; Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Universita di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy. ; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA. ; CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy. ; Museo Archeologico del Finale, Chiostri di Santa Caterina, 17024 Finale Ligure Borgo, Italy. ; Scuola di Scienze Umanistiche, Dipartimento di Studi Storici, Universita di Torino, via S. Ottavio 20, 10124 Torino, Italy. Museo Preistorico Nazionale dei Balzi Rossi, Via Balzi Rossi 9, 18039 Ventimiglia, Italy.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25908660" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The nuclear pore complex (NPC) constitutes the sole gateway for bidirectional nucleocytoplasmic transport. We present the reconstitution and interdisciplinary analyses of the ~425-kilodalton inner ring complex (IRC), which forms the central transport channel and diffusion barrier of the NPC, revealing its interaction network and equimolar stoichiometry. The Nsp1*Nup49*Nup57 channel nucleoporin heterotrimer (CNT) attaches to the IRC solely through the adaptor nucleoporin Nic96. The CNT*Nic96 structure reveals that Nic96 functions as an assembly sensor that recognizes the three-dimensional architecture of the CNT, thereby mediating the incorporation of a defined CNT state into the NPC. We propose that the IRC adopts a relatively rigid scaffold that recruits the CNT to primarily form the diffusion barrier of the NPC, rather than enabling channel dilation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Stuwe, Tobias -- Bley, Christopher J -- Thierbach, Karsten -- Petrovic, Stefan -- Schilbach, Sandra -- Mayo, Daniel J -- Perriches, Thibaud -- Rundlet, Emily J -- Jeon, Young E -- Collins, Leslie N -- Huber, Ferdinand M -- Lin, Daniel H -- Paduch, Marcin -- Koide, Akiko -- Lu, Vincent -- Fischer, Jessica -- Hurt, Ed -- Koide, Shohei -- Kossiakoff, Anthony A -- Hoelz, Andre -- ACB-12002/PHS HHS/ -- AGM-12006/PHS HHS/ -- P30-CA014599/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01-GM090324/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01-GM111461/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U01-GM094588/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54-GM087519/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 2;350(6256):56-64. doi: 10.1126/science.aac9176. Epub 2015 Aug 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ; Biochemistry Center of Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. ; California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. hoelz@caltech.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26316600" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A wide variety of RNAs encode small open-reading-frame (smORF/sORF) peptides, but their functions are largely unknown. Here, we show that Drosophila polished-rice (pri) sORF peptides trigger proteasome-mediated protein processing, converting the Shavenbaby (Svb) transcription repressor into a shorter activator. A genome-wide RNA interference screen identifies an E2-E3 ubiquitin-conjugating complex, UbcD6-Ubr3, which targets Svb to the proteasome in a pri-dependent manner. Upon interaction with Ubr3, Pri peptides promote the binding of Ubr3 to Svb. Ubr3 can then ubiquitinate the Svb N terminus, which is degraded by the proteasome. The C-terminal domains protect Svb from complete degradation and ensure appropriate processing. Our data show that Pri peptides control selectivity of Ubr3 binding, which suggests that the family of sORF peptides may contain an extended repertoire of protein regulators.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zanet, J -- Benrabah, E -- Li, T -- Pelissier-Monier, A -- Chanut-Delalande, H -- Ronsin, B -- Bellen, H J -- Payre, F -- Plaza, S -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Sep 18;349(6254):1356-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aac5677.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre de Biologie du Developpement, Universite de Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, Batiment 4R3, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France. CNRS, UMR5547, Centre de Biologie du Developpement, F-31062 Toulouse, France. ; Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Neurological Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. ; Centre de Biologie du Developpement, Universite de Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, Batiment 4R3, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France. CNRS, UMR5547, Centre de Biologie du Developpement, F-31062 Toulouse, France. francois.payre@univ-tlse3.fr serge.plaza@univ-tlse3.f.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26383956" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Translocator proteins (TSPOs) bind steroids and porphyrins, and they are implicated in many human diseases, for which they serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. TSPOs have tryptophan-rich sequences that are highly conserved from bacteria to mammals. Here we report crystal structures for Bacillus cereus TSPO (BcTSPO) down to 1.7 A resolution, including a complex with the benzodiazepine-like inhibitor PK11195. We also describe BcTSPO-mediated protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) reactions, including catalytic degradation to a previously undescribed heme derivative. We used structure-inspired mutations to investigate reaction mechanisms, and we showed that TSPOs from Xenopus and man have similar PpIX-directed activities. Although TSPOs have been regarded as transporters, the catalytic activity in PpIX degradation suggests physiological importance for TSPOs in protection against oxidative stress.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4341906/" 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/PMC4341906/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Guo, Youzhong -- Kalathur, Ravi C -- Liu, Qun -- Kloss, Brian -- Bruni, Renato -- Ginter, Christopher -- Kloppmann, Edda -- Rost, Burkhard -- Hendrickson, Wayne A -- GM095315/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM107462/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM107462/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54 GM075026/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jan 30;347(6221):551-5. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa1534.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. ; The New York Consortium on Membrane Protein Structure (NYCOMPS), New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA. ; The New York Consortium on Membrane Protein Structure (NYCOMPS), New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA. New York Structural Biology Center, Synchrotron Beamlines, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA. ; The New York Consortium on Membrane Protein Structure (NYCOMPS), New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA. Department of Informatics, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Technische Universitat Munchen, Garching 85748, Germany. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. The New York Consortium on Membrane Protein Structure (NYCOMPS), New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA. New York Structural Biology Center, Synchrotron Beamlines, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA. Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. wayne@xtl.cumc.columbia.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25635100" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In the fruit fly Drosophila, head formation is driven by a single gene, bicoid, which generates head-to-tail polarity of the main embryonic axis. Bicoid deficiency results in embryos with tail-to-tail polarity and no head. However, most insects lack bicoid, and the molecular mechanism for establishing head-to-tail polarity is poorly understood. We have identified a gene that establishes head-to-tail polarity of the mosquito-like midge, Chironomus riparius. This gene, named panish, encodes a cysteine-clamp DNA binding domain and operates through a different mechanism than bicoid. This finding, combined with the observation that the phylogenetic distributions of panish and bicoid are limited to specific families of flies, reveals frequent evolutionary changes of body axis determinants and a remarkable opportunity to study gene regulatory network evolution.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4449817/" 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/PMC4449817/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Klomp, Jeff -- Athy, Derek -- Kwan, Chun Wai -- Bloch, Natasha I -- Sandmann, Thomas -- Lemke, Steffen -- Schmidt-Ott, Urs -- 1R03HD67700-01A1/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- R03 HD067700/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 29;348(6238):1040-2. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa7105. Epub 2015 May 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ; Division of Signaling and Functional Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. ; Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. uschmid@uchicago.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25953821" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Measles is a highly contagious human disease. We used cryo-electron microscopy and single particle-based helical image analysis to determine the structure of the helical nucleocapsid formed by the folded domain of the measles virus nucleoprotein encapsidating an RNA at a resolution of 4.3 angstroms. The resulting pseudoatomic model of the measles virus nucleocapsid offers important insights into the mechanism of the helical polymerization of nucleocapsids of negative-strand RNA viruses, in particular via the exchange subdomains of the nucleoprotein. The structure reveals the mode of the nucleoprotein-RNA interaction and explains why each nucleoprotein of measles virus binds six nucleotides, whereas the respiratory syncytial virus nucleoprotein binds seven. It provides a rational basis for further analysis of measles virus replication and transcription, and reveals potential targets for drug design.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gutsche, Irina -- Desfosses, Ambroise -- Effantin, Gregory -- Ling, Wai Li -- Haupt, Melina -- Ruigrok, Rob W H -- Sachse, Carsten -- Schoehn, Guy -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 May 8;348(6235):704-7. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa5137. Epub 2015 Apr 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉CNRS, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. Universite Grenoble Alpes, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. gutsche@embl.fr. ; Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69917 Heidelberg, Germany. ; CNRS, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. Universite Grenoble Alpes, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. ; Universite Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France. CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France. CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France. ; Institut Laue-Langevin, 38000 Grenoble, France. ; CNRS, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. Universite Grenoble Alpes, Unit for Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 38042 Grenoble, France. Universite Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France. CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France. CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25883315" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The discovery of Streptomyces-produced streptomycin founded the age of tuberculosis therapy. Despite the subsequent development of a curative regimen for this disease, tuberculosis remains a worldwide problem, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis has prioritized the need for new drugs. Here we show that new optimized derivatives from Streptomyces-derived griselimycin are highly active against M. tuberculosis, both in vitro and in vivo, by inhibiting the DNA polymerase sliding clamp DnaN. We discovered that resistance to griselimycins, occurring at very low frequency, is associated with amplification of a chromosomal segment containing dnaN, as well as the ori site. Our results demonstrate that griselimycins have high translational potential for tuberculosis treatment, validate DnaN as an antimicrobial target, and capture the process of antibiotic pressure-induced gene amplification.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kling, Angela -- Lukat, Peer -- Almeida, Deepak V -- Bauer, Armin -- Fontaine, Evelyne -- Sordello, Sylvie -- Zaburannyi, Nestor -- Herrmann, Jennifer -- Wenzel, Silke C -- Konig, Claudia -- Ammerman, Nicole C -- Barrio, Maria Belen -- Borchers, Kai -- Bordon-Pallier, Florence -- Bronstrup, Mark -- Courtemanche, Gilles -- Gerlitz, Martin -- Geslin, Michel -- Hammann, Peter -- Heinz, Dirk W -- Hoffmann, Holger -- Klieber, Sylvie -- Kohlmann, Markus -- Kurz, Michael -- Lair, Christine -- Matter, Hans -- Nuermberger, Eric -- Tyagi, Sandeep -- Fraisse, Laurent -- Grosset, Jacques H -- Lagrange, Sophie -- Muller, Rolf -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jun 5;348(6239):1106-12. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa4690.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Microbial Natural Products, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrucken, Germany. German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany. ; Department of Microbial Natural Products, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrucken, Germany. German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany. Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), 38124 Braunschweig, Germany. ; Center for Tuberculosis Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA. KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH), Durban 4001, South Africa. ; Sanofi-Aventis R&D, LGCR/Chemistry, Industriepark Hochst, 65926 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. ; Sanofi-Aventis R&D, Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Strategic Unit, 31036 Toulouse, France. ; Sanofi-Aventis R&D, Strategy, Science Policy & External Innovation (S&I), 75008 Paris, France. ; Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), 38124 Braunschweig, Germany. Sanofi-Aventis R&D, LGCR/Chemistry, Industriepark Hochst, 65926 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. ; Sanofi-Aventis R&D, Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Strategic Unit, 65926 Frankfurt, Germany. ; German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany. Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), 38124 Braunschweig, Germany. ; Sanofi-Aventis R&D, Disposition Safety and Animal Research, 34184 Montpellier, France. ; Center for Tuberculosis Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA. ; Department of Microbial Natural Products, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrucken, Germany. German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany. rolf.mueller@helmholtz-hzi.de.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26045430" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Outbreaks of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) raise questions about the prevalence and evolution of the MERS coronavirus (CoV) in its animal reservoir. Our surveillance in Saudi Arabia in 2014 and 2015 showed that viruses of the MERS-CoV species and a human CoV 229E-related lineage co-circulated at high prevalence, with frequent co-infections in the upper respiratory tract of dromedary camels. viruses of the betacoronavirus 1 species, we found that dromedary camels share three CoV species with humans. Several MERS-CoV lineages were present in camels, including a recombinant lineage that has been dominant since December 2014 and that subsequently led to the human outbreaks in 2015. Camels therefore serve as an important reservoir for the maintenance and diversification of the MERS-CoVs and are the source of human infections with this virus.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sabir, Jamal S M -- Lam, Tommy T-Y -- Ahmed, Mohamed M M -- Li, Lifeng -- Shen, Yongyi -- Abo-Aba, Salah E M -- Qureshi, Muhammd I -- Abu-Zeid, Mohamed -- Zhang, Yu -- Khiyami, Mohammad A -- Alharbi, Njud S -- Hajrah, Nahid H -- Sabir, Meshaal J -- Mutwakil, Mohammed H Z -- Kabli, Saleh A -- Alsulaimany, Faten A S -- Obaid, Abdullah Y -- Zhou, Boping -- Smith, David K -- Holmes, Edward C -- Zhu, Huachen -- Guan, Yi -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Jan 1;351(6268):81-4. doi: 10.1126/science.aac8608. Epub 2015 Dec 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. ; State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases (The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Branch), Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China. Shantou University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Institute of Virology, Shantou University, Shantou, China. Centre of Influenza Research and State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. ; Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. Department of Nucleic Acids Research, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications, Borg El-Arab, Post Office Box 21934, Alexandria, Egypt. ; Shantou University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Institute of Virology, Shantou University, Shantou, China. Centre of Influenza Research and State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. ; Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. Microbial Genetics Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Division, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. ; King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia. ; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. ; State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases (The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Branch), Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China. ; Centre of Influenza Research and State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. ; Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Biological Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. ; State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases (The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Branch), Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China. Shantou University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Institute of Virology, Shantou University, Shantou, China. Centre of Influenza Research and State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. zhuhch@hku.hk yguan@hku.hk. ; Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases (The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Branch), Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China. Shantou University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Institute of Virology, Shantou University, Shantou, China. Centre of Influenza Research and State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. zhuhch@hku.hk yguan@hku.hk.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26678874" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Eukaryotic cells coordinate growth with the availability of nutrients through the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a master growth regulator. Leucine is of particular importance and activates mTORC1 via the Rag guanosine triphosphatases and their regulators GATOR1 and GATOR2. Sestrin2 interacts with GATOR2 and is a leucine sensor. Here we present the 2.7 angstrom crystal structure of Sestrin2 in complex with leucine. Leucine binds through a single pocket that coordinates its charged functional groups and confers specificity for the hydrophobic side chain. A loop encloses leucine and forms a lid-latch mechanism required for binding. A structure-guided mutation in Sestrin2 that decreases its affinity for leucine leads to a concomitant increase in the leucine concentration required for mTORC1 activation in cells. These results provide a structural mechanism of amino acid sensing by the mTORC1 pathway.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4698039/" 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/PMC4698039/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Saxton, Robert A -- Knockenhauer, Kevin E -- Wolfson, Rachel L -- Chantranupong, Lynne -- Pacold, Michael E -- Wang, Tim -- Schwartz, Thomas U -- Sabatini, David M -- AI47389/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- F30 CA189333/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- F31 CA180271/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- F31 CA189437/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P41 GM103403/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI047389/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA103866/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA103866/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- S10 RR029205/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007753/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- T32GM007287/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Jan 1;351(6268):53-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aad2087. Epub 2015 Nov 19.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. ; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. sabatini@wi.mit.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26586190" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉