Biology subjects

Mooney, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Mooney, N..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The human ciliopathy protein RSG1 links the CPLANE complex to transition zone architecture

Cilia are essential organelles and variants in genes governing ciliary function result in ciliopathic diseases. The Ciliogenesis and PLANar polarity Effectors (CPLANE) protein complex is essential for ciliogenesis in animals models but remains poorly defined. Notably, all but one subunit of the CPLANE complex have been implicated in human ciliopathy. Here, we identify three families in which variants in the remaining CPLANE subunit CPLANE2/RSG1 also cause ciliopathy. These patients display cleft palate, tongue lobulations and polydactyly, phenotypes characteristic of Oral-Facial-Digital Syndrome. We further show that these alleles disrupt two vital steps of ciliogenesis, basal body docking and recruitment of intraflagellar transport proteins. Moreover, APMS reveals that Rsg1 binds the CPLANE and also the transition zone protein Fam92 in a GTP-dependent manner. Finally, we show that CPLANE is generally required for normal transition zone architecture. Our work demonstrates that CPLANE2/RSG1 is a causative gene for human ciliopathy and also sheds new light on the mechanisms of ciliary transition zone assembly.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Tissue-resident uterine regulatory T cells support fetal growth

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are known to contribute to successful allogeneic pregnancy by promoting maternal-fetal tolerance. Here, phenotypic studies and parabionts identified a population of uterine tissue-resident Tregs (uTregs) with trophic functions in the non-pregnant mouse endometrium. Phenotypically, uTregs are CD25-/lo and they present characteristic phenotypic attributes of tissue-resident memory T cells with effector functions. Transcriptionally, uTregs are distinguishable from other peripheral or tissue-resident Tregs by their expression of genes related to extracellular matrix remodeling and vasculogenesis, and they express a polyclonal T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. Pregnancy triggers the expansion of uTregs, which remain CD25-/lo, retain their polyclonal TCR repertoire, and increase the expression of genes involved in regulation of hypoxia and vasculogenesis. Functionally, we show that uTregs support the proliferation of primary uterine microvascular endothelial cells in vitro and that a specific depletion of uTregs in pregnant mice leads to fetal intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). Thus, a previously unidentified population of CD25-/lo uTregs promotes uterine tissue remodeling before and during pregnancy, and contributes to fetal growth.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

Combined Proteomic and Genetic Interaction Mapping Reveals New RAS Effector Pathways and Susceptibilities

Activating mutations in RAS GTPases drive one fifth of cancers, but poor understanding of many RAS effectors and regulators, and of the roles of their different paralogs, continues to impede drug development. We developed a multi-stage discovery and screening process to understand RAS function and identify RAS-related susceptibilities in lung adenocarcinoma. Using affinity purification mass spectrometry (AP/MS), we generated a protein-protein interaction map of the RAS pathway containing thousands of interactions. From this network we constructed a CRISPR dual knockout library targeting 119 RAS-related genes that we screened for genetic interactions (GIs). We found important new effectors of RAS-driven cellular functions, RADIL and the GEF RIN1, and over 250 synthetic lethal GIs, including a potent KRAS-dependent interaction between RAP1GDS1 and RHOA. Many GIs link specific paralogs within and between gene families. These findings illustrate the power of the multiomic approach to identify synthetic lethal combinations for hitherto undruggable cancers. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEWe present a thorough survey of protein-protein and genetic interactions in the Ras pathway. These interactions suggested new discoveries that we validate here, and demonstrate important new paralog specificities and redundancies. By comparing synthetic lethal interactions across KRAS-dependent and -independent tumors, we identify new combination therapy targets against Ras-driven cancers.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Sex-specific impact of prenatal androgens on intrinsic functional connectivity between social brain default mode subsystems

Many early-onset neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism affect males more frequently than females and affect corresponding domains such as social cognition, social-communication, language, emotion, and reward. Testosterone is well-known for its role as a sex-related biological mechanism and affects these conditions and domains of functioning. Developmentally, testosterone may sex-differentially impact early fetal brain development by influencing early neuronal development and synaptic mechanisms behind cortical circuit formation, particularly for circuits that later develop specialized roles in such cognitive domains. Here we find that variation in fetal testosterone (FT) exerts sex-specific effects on later adolescent functional connectivity between social brain default mode network (DMN) subsystems. Increased FT is associated with dampening of functional connectivity between DMN subsystems in adolescent males, but has no effect in females. To isolate specific prenatal neurobiological mechanisms behind this effect, we examined changes in gene expression identified following a treatment with a potent androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in an in-vitro model of human neural stem cell (hNSC). We previously showed that DHT-dysregulates genes enriched with known syndromic causes for autism and intellectual disability. DHT dysregulates genes in hNSCs involved in early neurodevelopmental processes such as neurogenesis, cell differentiation, regionalization, and pattern specification. A significant number of these DHT-dysregulated genes shows spatial expression patterns in the adult brain that highly correspond to the spatial layout of the cortical midline DMN subsystem. These DMN-related and DHT-affected genes (e.g., MEF2C) are involved in a number of synaptic processes, many of which impact excitation/inhibition imbalance. Focusing on MEF2C, we find replicable upregulation of expression after DHT treatment as well as dysregulated expression in induced pluripotent stem cells and neurons of individuals with autism. This work highlights sex-specific prenatal androgen influence on social brain DMN circuitry and autism-related mechanisms and suggests that such influence may impact early neurodevelopmental processes (e.g., neurogenesis, cell differentiation) and later developing synaptic processes.

neuroscience↗