Loci on Chromosomes 2, 4, 9, and 16 for body weight,body length,and adiposity identified in a genome scan of an F<Subscript>2</Subscript> intercross between the 129P3/J and C57BL/6ByJ mouse strains

Mice have proved to be a powerful model organism for understanding obesity in humans. Single gene mutants and genetically modified mice have been used to identify obesity genes, and the discovery of loci for polygenic forms of obesity in the mouse is an important next step. To pursue this goal, the inbred mouse strains 129P3/J (129) and C57BL/6ByJ (B6), which differ in body weight, body length, and adiposity, were used in an F₂ cross to identify loci affecting these phenotypes. Linkages were determined in a two-phase process. In the first phase, 169 randomly selected F₂ mice were genotyped for 134 markers that covered all autosomes and the X Chromosome (Chr). Significant linkages were found for body weight and body length on Chr 2. In addition, we detected several suggestive linkages on Chr 2 (adiposity), 9 (body weight, body length, and adiposity), and 16 (adiposity), as well as two suggestive sex-dependent linkages for body length on Chrs 4 and 9. In the second phase, 288 additional F₂ mice were genotyped for markers near these regions of linkage. In the combined set of 457 F₂ mice, six significant linkages were found: Chr 2 (Bwq5, body weight and Bdln3, body length), Chr 4 (Bdln6, body length, males only), Chr 9 (Bwq6, body weight and Adip5, adiposity), and Chr 16 (Adip9, adiposity), as well as several suggestive linkages (Adip2, adiposity on Chr 2; Bdln4 and Bdln5, body length on Chr 9). In addition, there was a suggestive linkage to body length in males on Chr 9 (Bdln4). For adiposity, there was evidence for epistatic interactions between loci on Chr 9 (Adip5) and 16 (Adip9). These results reinforce the concept that obesity is a complex trait. Genetic loci and their interactions, in conjunction with sex, age, and diet, determine body size and adiposity in mice.     

A conserved role for the MEK signalling pathway in neural tissue specification and posteriorisation in the invertebrate chordate,the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Ascidians are invertebrate chordates with a larval body plan similar to that of vertebrates. The ascidian larval CNS is divided along the anteroposterior axis into sensory vesicle, neck, visceral ganglion and tail nerve cord. The anterior part of the sensory vesicle comes from the a-line animal blastomeres, whereas the remaining CNS is largely derived from the A-line vegetal blastomeres. We have analysed the role of the Ras/MEK/ERK signalling pathway in the formation of the larval CNS in the ascidian, Ciona intestinalis. We show evidence that this pathway is required, during the cleavage stages, for the acquisition of: (1) neural fates in otherwise epidermal cells (in a-line cells); and (2) the posterior identity of tail nerve cord precursors that otherwise adopt a more anterior neural character (in A-line cells). Altogether, the MEK signalling pathway appears to play evolutionary conserved roles in these processes in ascidians and vertebrates, suggesting that this may represent an ancestral chordate strategy.     

Androgen treatment of male hypogonadism in older males

The treatment of primary and secondary hypogonadism with testosterone is well established. Recently, there has been increased awareness that low testosterone levels also occur in chronically ill persons and aging males. Because of sex hormone binding globulin changes, it is more appropriate to make the diagnosis using either free or bioavailable testosterone. A small number of controlled studies have suggested that testosterone replacement in older men improves libido, quality of erections, some aspects of cognition, muscle mass, muscles strength, and bone mineral density. It also decreases fat mass and leptin levels. A number of screening questionnaires for the andropause have been developed. Insufficient numbers of older men have been treated with testosterone to characterize the true incidence of side effects. There is a desperate need for well designed, large controlled trials to establish the value or otherwise of testosterone treatment in older males.     

Effect of chronic stress on the cardiac baroreflex in the post-weanling rat

There is increasing evidence that early life stressors may program blood pressure control mechanisms such that the risk for cardiovascular disease in later life is increased. In the present investigation, the effect of repeated restraint/heat stress during the two-week period immediately after weaning on baroreflex function was determined and the contribution of brain angiotensin II (ANG II) to the changes was assessed in young, conscious, freely moving Sprague Dawley rats. In rats two weeks post weaning, basal MAP was significantly higher and basal HR significantly lower than rats tested immediately after weaning. This change in the operating point of HR was not accompanied by any changes in baroreflex function. Treatment with chronic icv infusion of losartan, an AT1 receptor antagonist, during the two-week period prevented the changes in basal MAP and HR. Chronic stress during the two weeks post weaning, whether due to surgical implantation of icv cannulae or due to restraint/heat stress, significantly shifted the set-point of the baroreflex function to a higher pressure. Chronic icv infusion of losartan during the period prevented these effects (at least in the case of stress due to the presence of icv cannulae) suggesting a role for brain ANG II in the change. Changes in the expression of CRH mRNA in the paraventricular nucleus could not explain the stress-related change in baroreflex function. If the rightward shift in the baroreflex persists into adulthood, it could increase the susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension.     

Cancer-associated genes can affect somatic intrachromosomal recombination early in carcinogenesis

The pKZ1 recombination mutagenesis model has provided a sensitive assay where we study somatic intrachromosomal recombination (SICR) as a mutation end-point. SICR is associated with non-homologous end-joining repair of double-strand breaks and can result in chromosomal inversions and deletions, both of which are common chromosomal aberrations identified in cancers. It has been difficult to study the effect of cancer-associated genes on chromosomal changes prior to tumour formation in vivo because of a lack of appropriate test systems. We hypothesised that cancer-associated genes play a role in formation of chromosomal aberrations and that the pKZ1 model would provide a system in which such a role could be studied in the initial steps of carcinogenesis. Transgenic tumour model mice were bred to pKZ1 mice to produce double transgenic animals. SICR inversion events were scored in mouse tissues at an early time, prior to evident tumour formation, and compared with endogenous pKZ1 SICR levels. Over-expression of the c-myc proto-oncogene resulted in a significant 2.1-fold increase in SICR in spleen. Loss of Msh2 and expression of the SV40 T antigen resulted in a significantly reduced SICR frequency (0.3 of the endogenous frequency in pKZ1 mice) in spleen and prostate respectively. Therefore SICR was affected in the case of all three cancer-associated genes studied. We hypothesise that the increase and decrease in SICR in the presence of cancer-associated genes results from incorrect repairing of double-strand breaks. The data presented here suggest that the pKZ1 model may provide a powerful tool for studying the effect of cancer-associated genes on chromosomal changes in the early stages of carcinogenesis.     

Interaction between wall deposition and cell elongation in dark-grown hypocotyl cells in Arabidopsis

A central problem in plant biology is how cell expansion is coordinated with wall synthesis. We have studied growth and wall deposition in epidermal cells of dark-grown Arabidopsis hypocotyls. Cells elongated in a biphasic pattern, slowly first and rapidly thereafter. The growth acceleration was initiated at the hypocotyl base and propagated acropetally. Using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, we analyzed walls in slowly and rapidly growing cells in 4-d-old dark-grown seedlings. We observed thick walls in slowly growing cells and thin walls in rapidly growing cells, which indicates that the rate of cell wall synthesis was not coupled to the cell elongation rate. The thick walls showed a polylamellated architecture, whereas polysaccharides in thin walls were axially oriented. Interestingly, innermost cellulose microfibrils were transversely oriented in both slowly and rapidly growing cells. This suggested that transversely deposited microfibrils reoriented in deeper layers of the expanding wall. No growth acceleration, only slow growth, was observed in the cellulose synthase mutant cesA6(prc1-1) or in seedlings, which had been treated with the cellulose synthesis inhibitor isoxaben. In these seedlings, innermost microfibrils were transversely oriented and not randomized as has been reported for other cellulose-deficient mutants or following treatment with dichlorobenzonitrile. Interestingly, isoxaben treatment after the initiation of the growth acceleration in the hypocotyl did not affect subsequent cell elongation. Together, these results show that rapid cell elongation, which involves extensive remodeling of the cell wall polymer network, depends on normal cellulose deposition during the slow growth phase.     

Streptomyces yatensis sp. nov., a novel bioactive streptomycete isolated from a New-Caledonian ultramafic soil

The taxonomic position of an actinomycete isolated from an ultramafic soil in New Caledonia was examined using a polyphasic approach. The organism, which was designated SFOCin 76, was found to have chemical and morphological properties typical of streptomycetes and formed a distinct phyletic line in the Streptomyces violaceusniger clade of the 16S rDNA tree. It also showed a unique pattern of phenotypic properties that distinguished it from representatives of all of the validly described species classified in this clade. It is, therefore, proposed that strain SFOCin 76 be classified in the genus Streptomyces as Streptomyces yatensis sp. nov. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ligand specificity in the CRAL-TRIO protein family

Intracellular trafficking of hydrophobic ligands is often mediated by specific binding proteins. The CRAL-TRIO motif is common to several lipid binding proteins including the cellular retinaldehyde binding protein (CRALBP), the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (alpha-TTP), yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p), and supernatant protein factor (SPF). To examine the ligand specificity of these proteins, we measured their affinity toward a variety of hydrophobic ligands using a competitive [(3)H]-RRR-alpha-tocopherol binding assay. Alpha-TTP preferentially bound RRR-alpha-tocopherol over all other tocols assayed, exhibiting a K(d) of 25 nM. Binding affinities of other tocols for alphaTTP closely paralleled their ability to inhibit in vitro intermembrane transfer and their potency in biological assays. All other homologous proteins studied bound alpha-tocopherol but with pronouncedly weaker (> 10-fold) affinities than alpha-TTP. Sec14p demonstrated a K(d) of 373 nM for alpha-tocopherol, similar to that for its native ligand, phosphatidylinositol (381 nM). Human SPF had the highest affinity for phosphatidylinositol (216 nM) and gamma-tocopherol (268 nM) and significantly weaker affinity for alpha-tocopherol (K(d) 615 nM). SPF bound [(3)H]-squalene more weakly (879 nM) than the other ligands. Our data suggest that of all known CRAL-TRIO proteins, only alphaTTP is likely to serve as the physiological mediator of alpha-tocopherol's biological activity. Further, ligand promiscuity observed within this family suggests that caution should be exercised when suggesting protein function(s) from measurements utilizing a single ligand.     

Identification of proteases involved in the proteolysis of vascular endothelium cadherin during neutrophil transmigration

Transmigration of neutrophils across the endothelium occurs at the cell-cell junctions where the vascular endothelium cadherin (VE cadherin) is expressed. This adhesive receptor was previously demonstrated to be involved in the maintenance of endothelium integrity. We propose that neutrophil transmigration across the vascular endothelium goes in parallel with cleavage of VE cadherin by elastase and cathepsin G present on the surface of neutrophils. This hypothesis is supported by the following lines of evidence. 1) Proteolytic fragments of VE cadherin are released into the culture medium upon adhesion of neutrophils to endothelial cell monolayers; 2) conditioned culture medium, obtained after neutrophil adhesion to endothelial monolayers, cleaves the recombinantly expressed VE cadherin extracellular domain; 3) these cleavages are inhibited by inhibitors of elastase; 4) VE cadherin fragments produced by conditioned culture medium or by exogenously added elastase are identical as shown by N-terminal sequencing and mass spectrometry analysis; 5) both elastase- and cathepsin G-specific VE cadherin cleavage patterns are produced upon incubation with tumor necrosis factor alpha-stimulated and fixed neutrophils; 6) transendothelial permeability increases in vitro upon addition of either elastase or cathepsin G; and 7) neutrophil transmigration is reduced in vitro in the presence of elastase and cathepsin G inhibitors. Our results suggest that cleavage of VE cadherin by neutrophil surface-bound proteases induces formation of gaps through which neutrophils transmigrate.     

A Cortactin-CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) complex provides a novel link between epidermal growth factor receptor endocytosis and the actin cytoskeleton

Growth factor regulation of the cortical actin cytoskeleton is fundamental to a wide variety of cellular processes. The cortical actin-associated protein, cortactin, regulates the formation of dynamic actin networks via the actin-related protein (Arp)2/3 complex and hence is a key mediator of such responses. In order to reveal novel roles for this versatile protein, we used a proteomics-based approach to isolate cortactin-interacting proteins. This identified several proteins, including CD2-associated protein (CD2AP), as targets for the cortactin Src homology 3 domain. Co-immunoprecipitation of CD2AP with cortactin occurred at endogenous expression levels, was transiently induced by epidermal growth factor (EGF) treatment, and required the cortactin Src homology 3 domain. The CD2AP-binding site for cortactin mapped to the second of three proline-rich regions. Because CD2AP is closely related to Cbl-interacting protein of 85 kDa (CIN85), which regulates growth factor receptor down-regulation via complex formation with Cbl and endophilin, we investigated whether the CD2AP-cortactin complex performs a similar function. EGF treatment of cells led to transient association of Cbl and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with a constitutive CD2AP-endophilin complex. Cortactin was recruited into this complex with slightly delayed kinetics compared with Cbl and the EGFR. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that the EGFR, CD2AP, and cortactin co-localized in regions of EGF-induced membrane ruffles. Therefore, by binding both CD2AP and the Arp2/3 complex, cortactin links receptor endocytosis to actin polymerization, which may facilitate the trafficking of internalized growth factor receptors.