SEARCH · bioRxiv Science

Results for “Molecular Biology”

Search indexed bioRxiv preprints in genomics, neuroscience, cell biology and bioinformatics. Read source abstracts and check manuscript versions; preprints are not peer reviewed.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2017

A Feed-forward Relay between Bicoid and Orthodenticle Regulates the Timing ofEmbryonic Patterning in Drosophila

The K50 homeodomain (K50HD) protein Orthodenticle (Otd) is critical for anterior patterning and brain and eye development in most metazoans. In Drosophila melanogaster, another K50HD protein, Bicoid (Bcd), has evolved to replace Otds ancestral function in embryo patterning. Bcd is distributed as a long-range maternal gradient and activates transcription of a large number of target genes including otd. Otd and Bcd bind similar DNA sequences in vitro, but how their transcriptional activities are integrated to pattern anterior regions of the embryo is unknown. Here we define three major classes of enhancers that are differentially sensitive to binding and transcriptional activation by Bcd and Otd. Class 1 enhancers are initially activated by Bcd, and activation is transferred to Otd via a feed-forward relay (FFR) that involves sequential binding of the two proteins to the same DNA motif. Class 2 enhancers are activated by Bcd, and maintained by an Otd-independent mechanism. Class 3 enhancers are never bound by Bcd, but Otd binds and activates them in a second wave of zygotic transcription. The specific activities of enhancers in each class are mediated by DNA motif variants preferentially bound by Bcd or Otd, and the presence or absence of sites for cofactors that interact with these proteins. Our results define specific patterning roles for Bcd and Otd, and provide mechanisms for coordinating the precise timing of gene expression patterns during embryonic development.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Htz1 and Set1 Regulates Ergosterol Levels in Response to Environmental Stress

Ergosterol is an essential isoprenoid for cellular integrity and proper membrane fluidity of fungi. Proper level of ergosterol is crucial for resistance to various stressful conditions, such as hypoxia, hypothermia, and hyperosmolarity. The isoprenoid building blocks of ergosterol are synthesized via the mevalonate pathway, which relies on the availability of many central metabolites, such as acetyl-coA and S-adenosyl methionine (SAM). The metabolic currencies are also the substrates for epigenetic modifications such as histone acetylation and methylation. To have a better understanding of how isoprenoid synthesis and these epigenetic mechanisms affect each other, we re-analyzed the results of our screen on Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene deletion collection for isoprenoid production and found a group of chromatin regulators with significant effects on isoprenoid production. More specifically, the canonical histone Htz1 (H2A.z), the SWR1 complex that loads Htz1 onto chromatin, and the histone demethylase Jhd2 inhibited, whereas the Htz1 unloading INO80 complex and histone methylase Set1 enhanced isoprenoid production. Further analysis of genome-wide expression data revealed that Htz1 and Set1 differentially regulate stress-response genes which presumably affect isoprenoid synthesis. Conversely, changes in isoprenoid production alters the transcription of the same set of genes. Further analysis of ergosterol levels in these gene deletions showed that htz1, set1 double deletion leads to accumulation of ergosterol beyond homeostatic levels and renders cells vulnerable to environmental stress. Our re-analysis of multiple published data and follow-up experiments revealed an epigenetic crosstalk mechanism between ergosterol levels and stress response genes that is essential for maintaining optimum concentration of ergosterol under various conditions.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Codon-Dependent Translational Accuracy Controls Protein Quality in Escherichia coli but not in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In order to generate a functional proteome, gene expression pathways must assemble proteins accurately according to the rules of the genetic code. General gene expression accuracy is known to be high, but errors nevertheless occur with measurable frequencies. Here we develop a mass-spectrometry (MS) based assay for the detection of a particular type of gene expression error, amino acid misincorporation. This assay allows assessing a much broader range of misincorporation events compared to current, very sensitive but also very specific enzyme reporter assays. Our assay uncovers a remarkably rich pool of error products for a model protein expressed in E. coli, which depend quantitatively on codon usage in the expression construct. This codon usage dependence can be explained in part as a function of the composition of the tRNA pool in this organism. We further show that codon-dependent differences in error levels correlate with measurable changes in specific protein activity. In contrast to E. coli, error levels are lower, and appear not to be codon usage dependent, when the same model protein is expressed in S. cerevisiae.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Actin and Src-family kinases regulate nuclear YAP1 and its export

The transcriptional regulator YAP1 is critical for the pathological activation of fibroblasts. In normal fibroblasts YAP1 is predominantly located in the cytoplasm, while in activated cancer-associated fibroblasts it exhibits nuclear localization and promotes the expression of many genes required for pro-tumorigenic functions. Here, we investigate the dynamics of YAP1 shuttling in normal and activated fibroblasts, using EYFP-YAP1, quantitative photo-bleaching methods, and mathematical modeling. We find that both 14-3-3 and TEAD binding modulate YAP1 shuttling, but neither affects nuclear import. Instead, we find that YAP1 serine phosphorylation is required for nuclear export. Furthermore, YAP1 nuclear accumulation in activated fibroblasts results from Src and actomyosin-dependent suppression of phosphorylated YAP1 export. Finally, we show that nuclear constrained YAP1, upon XPO1 depletion, remains sensitive to blockade of actomyosin function. Together, these data place nuclear export at the center of YAP1 regulation and indicate that the cytoskeleton can regulate YAP1 within the nucleus.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Transcriptomic Dynamics of a non-coding trinucleotide repeat expansion disorder SCA12 in iPSC derived neuronal cells: signatures of interferon induced response

Spinocerebellar ataxia type-12 (SCA12) is a neurological disorder that exhibits a unique progressive tremor/ataxia syndrome induced by triplet (CAG) repeat expansion in 5 UTR of PPP2R2B. SCA12 is one of the most prominent SCA-subtype in India and till date no appropriate disease models have been described. Our aim was to establish human iPSC derived neuronal cell lines of SCA12 and study transcriptomic level alterations induced by CAG expansion. For translational application, peripheral blood transcriptomics of SCA12 patients was also performed. Lymphoblastoid cell lines of three SCA12 patients were reprogrammed to iPSCs and then re-differentiated into pan-neuronal lineage. RNA-sequencing based comparative transcriptomics was performed for disease and control cell lineages. Microarray based transcriptomic profiling of peripheral blood of SCA12 patients was performed in a case/control (n=15/9) design. We have successfully created human neuronal cell lines of SCA12 patient as exhibited by their molecular profiling. Differential expression analysis of RNA-Seq data has shown enrichment for type-I interferon signaling and other relevant cellular processes in SCA12-neurons. At the splice-isoform level, we observed an upregulation of expanded CAG containing non-coding transcript of PPP2R2B. Peripheral blood transcriptomics analysis and targeted validation of RNA-Seq data has allowed us to identify inflammatory signatures as potential markers of molecular pathology in SCA12. Our study has allowed us to establish first iPSC based neuronal cell lines of SCA12. We have identified pro-inflammatory signatures in SCA12-neurons suggestive of a dsRNA mediated activation of interferon signaling and that corroborates with the emerging evidence of neuronal atrophy due to neuro-inflammation in common neurodegenerative diseases. This study involved development of an iPSCs derived neuronal cells of SCA12 and look through signatures of neurodegeneration by whole RNA sequencing. This model sheds light upon key role of RNA mediated induced response in Interferon signaling for neurodegeneration.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Mutational analysis of the human Xbp1 translational arrest peptide and construction of arrest-enhanced variants

Xbp1, a protein involved in the unfolded protein response, is a rare example of a mammalian protein that contains a well-defined translational arrest peptide (AP). In order to define the critical residues in the Xbp1u AP, and to search for variants with stronger arrest potency than the wildtype Xbp1u AP, we have carried out a full mutagenesis scan where each residue in the AP was replaced by the other 19 natural amino acids. We find that 10 of the 21 mutagenized positions are optimal already in the wildtype Xbp1 AP, while certain mutations in the remaining residues lead to a strong increase in the arrest potency. Xbp1 has thus evolved to induce an intermediate level of translational arrest, and versions with much stronger arrest efficiency exist. We further show Xbp1-induced translational arrest is reduced in response to increased tension in the nascent chain, making it possible to carry out studies in mammalian systems of cotranslational processes such as membrane protein assembly and protein folding by using suitable Xbp1 AP variants as \"force sensors\", as has been done previously in E. coli using bacterial APs.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

LIN28 selectively modulates a subclass of let-7 microRNAs

LIN28 is a bipartite RNA-binding protein that post-transcriptionally inhibits let-7 microRNAs to regulate development and influence disease states. However, the mechanisms of let-7 suppression remains poorly understood, because LIN28 recognition depends on coordinated targeting by both the zinc knuckle domain (ZKD)--which binds a GGAG-like element in the precursor--and the cold shock domain (CSD), whose binding sites have not been systematically characterized. By leveraging single-nucleotide-resolution mapping of LIN28 binding sites in vivo, we determined that the CSD recognizes a (U)GAU motif. This motif partitions the let-7 family into Class I precursors with both CSD and ZKD binding sites and Class II precursors with ZKD but no CSD binding sites. LIN28 in vivo recognition--and subsequent 3' uridylation and degradation--of Class I precursors is more efficient, leading to their stronger suppression in LIN28-activated cells and cancers. Thus, CSD binding sites amplify the effects of the LIN28 activation with potential implication in development and cancer.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

High-frequency off-target mutagenesis induced by CRISPR/Cas9 in Arabidopsis and its prevention by improving specificity of the tools

Specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 tools has been a major concern along with the reports of their successful applications. We report unexpected observations of high frequency off-target mutagenesis induced by CRISPR/Cas9 in T1 Arabidopsis mutants although the sgRNA was predicted to have a high specificity score. We also present evidence that the off-target effects were further exacerbated in the T2 progeny. To prevent the off-target effects, we tested and optimized two strategies in Arabidopsis, including introduction of a mCherry cassette for a simple and reliable isolation of Cas9-free mutants and the use of highly specific mutant SpCas9 variants. Optimization of the mCherry vectors and subsequent validation found that fusion of tRNA with the mutant rather than the original sgRNA scaffold significantly improves editing efficiency. We then examined the editing efficiency of eight high-specificity SpCas9 variants in combination with the improved tRNA-sgRNA fusion strategy. Our results suggest that highly specific SpCas9 variants require a higher level of expression than their wild-type counterpart to maintain high editing efficiency. Additionally, we demonstrate that T-DNA can be inserted into the cleavage sites of CRISPR/Cas9 targets with high frequency. Altogether, our results suggest that in plants, continuous attention should be paid to off-target effects induced by CRISPR/Cas9 in current and subsequent generations, and that the tools optimized in this report will be useful in improving genome editing efficiency and specificity in plants and other organisms.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Csde1 binds transcripts involved in protein homeostasis and controls their expression in erythropoiesis

Expression of the RNA-binding protein Csde1 (Cold shock domain protein e1) is strongly upregulated during erythropoiesis compared to other hematopoietic lineages. In the severe congenital anemia Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA), however, Csde1 expression is impaired. Reduced expression of Csde1 in healthy erythroblasts impaired their proliferation and differentiation, which suggests an important role for Csde1 in erythropoiesis. To investigate the cellular pathways controlled by Csde1 in erythropoiesis, we identified the transcripts that physically associate with Csde1 in erythroid cells. These mainly encoded proteins involved in ribogenesis, mRNA translation and protein degradation, but also proteins associated with the mitochondrial respiratory chain and mitosis. Crispr/Cas9-mediated deletion of the first cold shock domain of Csde1 affected RNA expression and/or protein expression of Csde1-bound transcripts. For instance, protein expression of Pabpc1 was enhanced while Pabpc1 mRNA expression was reduced indicating more efficient translation of Pabpc1 followed by negative feedback on mRNA stability. Overall, the effect of reduced Csde1 function on mRNA stability and translation of Csde1-bound transcripts was modest. Clones with complete loss of Csde1, however, could not be generated. We suggest that Csde1 is involved in feed-back control in protein homeostasis and that it dampens stochastic changes in mRNA expression.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Csde1 cooperates with Strap to control translation of erythroid transcripts

Erythropoiesis is regulated at many levels, including control of mRNA translation. Changing environmental conditions, such as hypoxia, or the availability of nutrients and growth factors, require a rapid response enacted by the enhanced or repressed translation of existing transcripts. Csde1 is an RNA-binding protein required for erythropoiesis and strongly upregulated in erythroblasts relative to other hematopoietic progenitors. The aim of this study is to identify the Csde1-containing protein complexes, and investigate their role in regulating the translation of Csde1-bound transcripts. We show that Strap, also called Unrip, was the protein most strongly associated with Csde1 in erythroblasts. Strap is a WD40 protein involved in signaling and RNA splicing, but its role is unknown when associated with Csde1. Reduced expression of Strap did not alter the pool of transcripts bound by Csde1. Instead, it reduced the mRNA and/or protein expression of several Csde1-bound transcript, that encode for proteins essential for translational regulation during hypoxia, such as Hmbs, eIF4g3 and Pabpc4. Also affected by Strap knockdown were Vim, a Gata-1 target crucial for erythrocyte enucleation, and Elavl1, which stabilizes Gata-1 mRNA. Thus, we found that the Csde1/Strap complex is at the crossroad of multiple pathways governing translation in erythroblasts.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

From Cohorts to Molecules: Adverse Impacts of Endocrine Disrupting Mixtures

Convergent evidence associates endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with major, increasingly-prevalent human disorders. Regulation requires elucidation of EDC-triggered molecular events causally linked to adverse health outcomes, but two factors limit their identification. First, experiments frequently use individual chemicals, whereas real life entails simultaneous exposure to multiple EDCs. Second, population-based and experimental studies are seldom integrated. This drawback was exacerbated until recently by lack of physiopathologically meaningful human experimental systems that link epidemiological data with results from model organisms.\n\nWe developed a novel approach, integrating epidemiological with experimental evidence. Starting from 1,874 mother-child pairs we identified mixtures of chemicals, measured during early pregnancy, associated with language delay or low-birth weight in offspring. These mixtures were then tested on multiple complementary in vitro and in vivo models. We demonstrate that each EDC mixture, at levels found in pregnant women, disrupts hormone-regulated and disease-relevant gene regulatory networks at both the cellular and organismal scale.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Clinically-guided mutation screening of two families with hereditary retinal disease

Hereditary retinal disease (HRD) is a series of Mendelian diseases affecting the retina in the eye. The genetic basis of HRD is very complicated, with more than 100 disease-causing genes being identified. Though NGS has allowed rapid and large-scale mutation screening of Mendelian disease, the cost of NGS still prevents its universal application all over the world, for an accurate molecular diagnosis. Here, by clinical guidance from patient phenotypes, we performed targeted molecular diagnosis by direct Sanger sequencing of the most likely candidate gene in two families diagnosed with HRD. Then we identified two novel protein-truncating variants in the gene CRB1. Our results demonstrated the notion that molecular diagnosis and clinical diagnosis can be mutually supplemented and clinically guided direct sequencing is a cost-effective approach for molecular diagnosis and subsequent genetic counseling.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Darwin Assembly: fast, efficient, multi-site bespoke mutagenesis.

Engineering proteins for designer functions and biotechnological applications almost invariably requires (or at least benefits from) multiple mutations to non-contiguous residues. Several methods for multiple site-directed mutagenesis exist, but there remains a need for fast and simple methods to efficiently introduce such mutations - particularly for generating large, high quality libraries for directed evolution. Here, we present Darwin Assembly, which can deliver high quality libraries of over 108 transformants, targeting multiple (> 10) distal sites with minimal wild-type contamination (lower than 0.25% of total population) and which takes a single working day from purified plasmid to library transformation. Darwin Assembly uses commercially available enzymes, can be readily automated, and offers a cost-effective route to highly complex and customizable library generation.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Systematic Dissection of Sequence Elements Controlling σ70 Promoters Using a Genomically-Encoded Multiplexed Reporter Assay in E. coli

Promoters are the key drivers of gene expression and are largely responsible for the regulation of cellular responses to time and environment. In E. coli, decades of studies have revealed most, if not all, of the sequence elements necessary to encode promoter function. Despite our knowledge of these motifs, it is still not possible to predict the strength and regulation of a promoter from primary sequence alone. Here we develop a novel multiplexed assay to study promoter function in E. coli by building a site-specific genomic recombination-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) system that allows for the facile construction and testing of large libraries of genetic designs integrated into precise genomic locations. We build and test a library of 10,898 {sigma}70 promoter variants consisting of all combinations of a set of eight -35 elements, eight -10 elements, three UP elements, eight spacers, and eight backgrounds. We find that the -35 and -10 sequence elements can explain approximately 74% of the variance in promoter strength within our dataset using a simple log-linear statistical model. Simple neural network models explain greater than 95% of the variance in our dataset by capturing nonlinear interactions with the spacer, background, and UP elements.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Molecular Identification of some Indian Muscid flies (Diptera: Muscidae) based on mitochondrial gene COII

Taxonomic identification of flies having medical and veterinary importance is often complicated due to the lookalike morphological characters. Molecular identification of five Indian muscid flies (Musca domestica, Musca sorbens, Musca crassirostris, Stomoxys calcitrans and Haematobia irritans) has been attempted on the basis of mitochondrial COII gene. Sequences of 500-520 bp were analysed and found to be A+T rich. Rate of transitions was higher than transversions. The average haplotype diversity was 0.833 and nucleotide diversity was 0.02547 within the different species, which were calculated with the DnaSP Version 5.0. The genetic distances calculated by K2P model, showed the interspecific distances range more than 8.2%, while the intraspecific distance range had not exceed 0.8%. The 1000 bootstrapped Neighbour-joining tree and Maximum likelihood tree were constructed to establish the phylogenetic relationship between the different muscid species. The results show the robustness of COII gene as a diagnostic marker. The data obtained from this study would be worthy for medical and veterinary entomologists for precise identification of imperative muscid species.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Rapid high-resolution measurement of DNA replication timing by droplet digital PCR

Genomes are replicated in a reproducible temporal pattern. Current methods for assaying allele replication timing are time consuming and/or expensive. These include high-throughput sequencing which can be used to measure DNA copy number as a proxy for allele replication timing. Here, we use droplet digital PCR to study DNA replication timing at multiple loci in budding yeast and human cells. We establish that the method has temporal and spatial resolutions comparable to the high-throughput sequencing approaches, while being faster than alternative locus-specific methods. Furthermore, the approach is capable of allele discrimination. We apply this method to determine relative replication timing across timing transition zones in cultured human cells. Finally, multiple samples can be analysed in parallel, allowing us to rapidly screen kinetochore mutants for perturbation to centromere replication timing. Therefore, this approach is well suited to the study of locus-specific replication and the screening of cis- and trans-acting mutants to identify mechanisms that regulate local genome replication timing.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

DNA lesions proximity modulates damage tolerance pathways

The genome of all organisms is constantly threatened by numerous agents that cause DNA damages. When the replication fork encounters an unrepaired DNA lesion, two DNA damage tolerance pathways are possible: error-prone translesion synthesis (TLS) that requires specialized DNA polymerases, and error-free Damage Avoidance (DA) that relies on homologous recombination. The balance between these two mechanisms is essential since it defines the level of mutagenesis during lesion bypass, allowing genetic variability and adaptation to the environment, but also introducing the risk of generating genome instability. Here we report that the mere proximity of replication-blocking lesions that arise in Escherichia colis genome during a genotoxic stress, leads to a strong increase in the use of the error-prone TLS. We show that this increase is caused by the local inhibition of homologous recombination due to the overlapping of single-stranded DNA regions generated downstream the lesions. This increase in TLS is independent of SOS activation, but its mutagenic effect is additive with the one of SOS. Hence, the combination of SOS induction and lesions proximity leads to a strong increase in TLS that becomes the main lesion tolerance pathway used by the cell during a genotoxic stress.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

A 20S proteasome receptor for degradation of intrinsically disordered proteins

Degradation of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) by the 20S proteasome, unlike ubiquitin-dependent 26S proteasomal degradation, does not require proteasomal targeting by polyubiquitin. However, how these proteins are recognized by the proteasome was unknown. We report here on a mechanism of 20S proteasome targeting. Analysis of protein interactome datasets revealed that the proteasome subunit PSMA3 interacts with many IDPs. By employing in vivo and cell-free experiments we demonstrated that the PSMA3 C-terminus binds p21, c-Fos and p53, all IDPs and 20S proteasome substrates. A 69 amino-acids long fragment is autonomously functional in interacting with IDP substrates. Remarkably, this fragment in isolation blocks the degradation of a large number of IDPs in vitro and increases the half-life of proteins in vivo. We propose a model whereby the PSMA3 C-terminal region plays a role of substrate receptor in the process of proteasomal degradation of many IDPs.

molecular biology↗