Biology subjects

Martinez, M. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Martinez, M. A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A Fine-Tuned Phosphatidylinositol Profile Contributes to Colonocyte Differentiation and Malignization: Evidence From Integrated Omics

Membrane lipid composition changes concomitantly with human colonocyte differentiation, a tightly regulated process occurring along the colon crypt. This process is heavily disrupted in colon cancer. Nonetheless, the regulatory mechanisms driving these changes, especially the replacement of arachidonic acid phosphatidylinositol species with monounsaturated fatty acid species, and how they are altered in cancer, remain unknown. To establish the transcriptional networks underlying this remodeling, we integrated transcriptomic and lipidomic profiles of isolated healthy and tumor human colonocytes using system biology approaches; identifying key gene regulatory networks involved in arachidonic acid and eicosanoid metabolism and phosphatidylinositol cycle as significant regulators during differentiation. Consistently, a distinct impact was found on organoid differentiation depending on colonocyte subtype and specific prostaglandin. Remarkably, the shift and associated transcriptomic programs were lost in tumor that heightened phosphoinositide metabolism. Altogether, these results underscore the importance of lipid remodeling in colonocyte stemness maintenance and proper onset of differentiation programs.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Spatiotemporal dispersion of DENV1 genotype V in western Colombia

Dengue virus (DENV) is a significant public health concern in Colombia, with increased transmission of DENV type 1 (DENV-1) in the departments of Risaralda and Valle del Cauca in the Central-West region of the country following a large outbreak in 2019. However, little is known about the source, genetic diversity, and evolution of circulating viruses. We obtained plasma samples from individuals with acute DENV infection and analyzed DENV-1 genetic diversity, phylodynamics, and phylogeography. We found that most viruses belonged to DENV-1 genotype V, and phylogenetic analysis revealed three distinct clades, each of which was most closely related to viruses from neighboring departments of Colombia sampled over the last 5-10 years. Thus, the 2019 outbreak and subsequent DENV-1 circulation was not due to the introduction of a new lineage but rather reflected local DENV-1V dispersion and evolution. We identified amino acid positions under positive selection in structural proteins and NS1, which may have a role in immune evasion and pathogenesis. Overall, our analysis of DENV1 genotype V diversity, evolution and spread within Colombia highlights the important role of genomic surveillance in understanding virus dynamics during endemic circulation and outbreaks.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Novel xylan degrading enzymes from polysaccharide utilizing loci of Prevotella copri DSM18205

Prevotella copri DSM18205 is a bacterium, classified under Bacteroidetes that can be found in the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The role of P. copri in the GIT is unclear, and elevated numbers of the microbe have been reported both in dietary fiber-induced improvement in glucose metabolism but also in conjunction with certain inflammatory conditions. These findings raised our interest in investigating the possibility of P. copri to grow on xylan, and identify the enzyme systems playing a role in digestion of xylan-based dietary fibers in P. copri, which currently are unexplored. Two xylan degrading polysaccharide utilizing loci (PUL10 and 15) were found in the genome, with three and eight GH-encoding genes, respectively. Three of the eight gene products were successfully produced in Escherichia coli: One monomeric two-domain extracellular enzyme from GH43 (subfamily 12, in PUL10, 60 kDa) and two dimeric single module enzymes from PUL15, one extracellular GH10 (41 kDa), and one intracellular GH43 subfamily 1 enzyme (37 kDa). The GH43_12 enzyme was hydrolysing arabinofuranose residues from different substrates, and a model of the 3D-structure revealed a single arabinose binding pocket. The GH10 (1) and GH43_1 are cleaving the xylan backbone. Hydrolysis products of GH10 (1) were DP2-4, and seven subsites (-3 to +4) were predicted in the 3D-model of the GH10 active site. GH43_1 mainly produced xylose (in line with its intracellular location). Based on our results we propose that in PUL15, GH10 (1) is an extracellular endo-1,4-{beta}-xylanase, that hydrolyses mainly glucuronosylated xylan polymers to xylooligosaccharides (XOS); while, GH43_1 in the same PUL, is an intracellular {beta}-xylosidase, catalysing complete hydrolysis of the XOS to xylose. In PUL10, the characterized GH43_12 is an arabinofuranosidase, with a role in degradation of arabinoxylan, catalysing removal of arabinose-residues on xylan polymers.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2019

A water-soluble, synthetic auxin analog for rapid degradation of target proteins during C. elegans development

As developmental biologists in the age of genome editing, we now have access to an ever-increasing array of tools to manipulate endogenous gene expression. The auxin-inducible degradation system, allows for spatial and temporal control of protein degradation, functioning through the activity of a hormone-inducible Arabidopsis F-box protein, transport inhibitor response 1 (TIR1). In the presence of auxin, TIR1 serves as a substrate recognition component of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex SKP1-CUL1-F-box (SCF), ubiquitinating auxin-inducible degron (AID)-tagged proteins for proteasomal degradation. Here, we optimize the Caenorhabditis elegans AID method, utilizing 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), an indole-free synthetic analog of the natural auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). We take advantage of the photostability of NAA to demonstrate via quantitative high-resolution microscopy that rapid degradation of target proteins can be detected in single cells within 30 minutes of exposure. Additionally, we show that NAA works robustly in both standard growth media and physiological buffer. We also demonstrate that K-NAA, the water-soluble, potassium salt of NAA, can be combined with microfluidics for targeted protein degradation in C. elegans larvae. We provide insight into how the AID system functions in C. elegans by determining that TIR1 interacts with C. elegans SKR-1/2, CUL-1, and RBX-1 to degrade target proteins. Finally, we present highly penetrant defects from NAA-mediated degradation of the Ftz-F1 nuclear hormone receptor, NHR-25, during C. elegans uterine-vulval development. Together, this work provides a conceptual improvement to the AID system for dissecting gene function at the single-cell level during C. elegans development.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2018

HIV-1 Protease Evolvability is Affected by Synonymous Nucleotide Recoding

One unexplored aspect of HIV-1 genetic architecture is how codon choice influences population diversity and evolvability. Here we compared the development of HIV-1 resistance to protease inhibitors (PIs) between wild-type (WT) virus and a synthetic virus (MAX) carrying a codon-pair re-engineered protease sequence including 38 (13%) synonymous mutations. WT and MAX viruses showed indistinguishable replication in MT-4 cells or PBMCs. Both viruses were subjected to serial passages in MT-4 cells with selective pressure from the PIs atazanavir (ATV) and darunavir (DRV). After 32 successive passages, both the WT and MAX viruses developed phenotypic resistance to PIs (IC50 14.6 {+/-} 5.3 and 21.2 {+/-} 9 nM for ATV, and 5. 9 {+/-} 1.0 and 9.3 {+/-} 1.9 for DRV, respectively). Ultra-deep sequence clonal analysis revealed that both viruses harbored previously described resistance mutations to ATV and DRV. However, the WT and MAX virus proteases showed different resistance variant repertoires, with the G16E and V77I substitutions observed only in WT, and the L33F, S37P, G48L, Q58E/K, and L89I substitutions detected only in MAX. Remarkably, G48L and L89I are rarely found in vivo in PI-treated patients. The MAX virus showed significantly higher nucleotide and amino acid diversity of the propagated viruses with and without PIs (P < 0.0001), suggesting higher selective pressure for change in this recoded virus. Our results indicate that HIV-1 protease position in sequence space delineates the evolution of its mutant spectra. Nevertheless, the investigated synonymously recoded variant showed mutational robustness and evolvability similar to the WT virus.\n\nIMPORTANCELarge-scale synonymous recoding of virus genomes is a new tool for exploring various aspects of virus biology. Synonymous virus genome recoding can be used to investigate how a viruss position in sequence space defines its mutant spectrum, evolutionary trajectory, and pathogenesis. In this study, we evaluated how synonymous recoding of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease impacts the development of protease inhibitor (PI) resistance. HIV-1 protease is a main target of current antiretroviral therapies. Our present results demonstrate that the wild-type (WT) virus and the virus with the recoded protease exhibited different patterns of resistance mutations after PI treatment. Nevertheless, the developed PI resistance phenotype was indistinguishable between the recoded virus and the WT virus, suggesting that the synonymously recoded protease HIV-1 and the WT protease virus were equally robust and evolvable.

evolutionary biology↗