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IgA nephropathy, the most common cause of glomerulonephritis, is linked to 6q22-23.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a major public health problem, affecting 1 in 1,000 individuals and with an annual death rate of 20% despite dialysis treatment. IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common form of glomerulonephritis, a principal cause of ESRD worldwide; it affects up to 1.3% of the population and its pathogenesis is unknown. Kidneys of people with IgAN show deposits of IgA-containing immune complexes with proliferation of the glomerular mesangium (Fig. 1). Typical clinical features include onset before age 40 with haematuria and proteinuria (blood and protein in the urine), and episodes of gross haematuria following mucosal infections are common; 30% of patients develop progressive renal failure. Although not generally considered a hereditary disease, striking ethnic variation in prevalence and familial clustering, along with subclinical renal abnormalities among relatives of IgAN cases, have suggested a heretofore undefined genetic component. By genome-wide analysis of linkage in 30 multiplex IgAN kindreds, we demonstrate linkage of IgAN to 6q22-23 under a dominant model of transmission with incomplete penetrance, with a lod score of 5.6 and 60% of kindreds linked. These findings for the first time indicate the existence of a locus with large effect on development of IgAN and identify the chromosomal location of this disease gene.

Chromosome Mapping↗

A special role of the group 17,18 chromosomes in reticuloendothelial neoplasia.

The hypothesis is advanced that abnormalities of the chromosome group 17,18 play a special role in the genesis and/or evolution of some reticuloendothelial neoplasms. Aberrations of the group 17,18 chromosomes in tumour cells exceed in variety the reported anomaliesof any other chromosome. Both the frequency of these aberrations and their nature make them most unlikely to be due to chance. They appear to be non-random, often occurring in every cell of a tumour, and like the Ph(1) anomaly in chronic granulocytic leukaemia, mightpossess aetiological significance. The Ep- and Eqchromosomal anomalies resemble the Ph(1) in being fine structural modifications, which occur as acquired lesions only in neoplasms, often in tumour cells with otherwise normal karyotypes.Aberration of the group 17,18 chromosomes may sometimes be secondary to neoplasia but nevertheless of evolutionary significance for the tumour cells. Changes leading to relative or absolute excess of long-arm material of chromosome 18 may confer survival advantage upon cells, particularly if a normal complement of short-arm material is simultaneously retained. However, specific deletion of the distal part of the long arms of No. 18 may also favour cell survival. The short arms of chromosome 18 may carry genes limiting cell reproduction, while the long arms carry material promoting proliferation. More distally on the long arms, there may be genes which also limit reproduction. Disturbances affecting the balance between these components of the genome may be important in inception of neoplasia or subsequent evolution of tumour cell lines.

Chromosome Aberrations↗

Transposable B2 SINE elements can provide mobile RNA polymerase II promoters.

Short interspersed elements (SINEs) are highly abundant components of mammalian genomes that are propagated by retrotransposition. SINEs are recognized as a causal agent of human disease and must also have had a profound influence in shaping eukaryotic genomes. The B2 SINE family constitutes approximately 0.7% of total mouse genomic DNA (ref. 2) and is also found at low abundance in humans. It resembles the Alu family in several respects, such as its mechanism of propagation. B2 SINEs are derived from tRNA and are transcribed by RNA polymerase (pol) III to generate short transcripts that are not translated. We find here, however, that one B2 SINE also carries an active pol II promoter located outside the tRNA region. Indeed, a B2 element is responsible for the production of a mouse Lama3 transcript. The B2 pol II promoters can be bound and stimulated by the transcription factor USF (for upstream stimulatory factor), as shown by transient transfection experiments. Moreover, this pol II activity does not preclude the pol III transcription necessary for retrotransposition. Dispersal of B2 SINEs by retrotransposition may therefore have provided numerous opportunities for creating regulated pol II transcription at novel genomic sites. This mechanism may have allowed the evolution of new transcription units and new genes.

Animals↗

Systematic performance evaluation and application validation of an end-to-end NGS workstation.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation is a core component of precision genomics, but it is commonly constrained by inefficiency, variability, and low throughput of manual protocols. To address these limitations, we developed and systematically evaluated a fully automated NGS workstations and further validated its performance across representative application scenarios. The automated system reduced total processing time from 8 to 10 to 4–6 h. At the same time, it maintained similar performance in pre-library metric, including DNA yield and fragment size, as well as post-capture sequencing metrics (Q30 > 90%, mapping rates > 95%, on-target rates 85–90%). The duplication rate was reduced to 5–8%, compared with 10–15% for manual methods, indicating increased library complexity. Bioinformatic evaluation of inter-species read mapping showed minimal cross-contamination, with a maximum contamination ratio of 0.0003%, indicating effective sample isolation in the automated workflow. High concordance in variant detection was observed between automated and manual workflows. Overall, this automated workstation provides a standardized and reproducible workflow that supports scalable precision genomics applications.

High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing↗

Mutational and biochemical analysis of cytochrome c', a nitric oxide-binding lipoprotein important for adaptation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to oxygen-limited growth.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a prolific source of c-type cytochromes. Five of the constitutively expressed cytochromes are predicted, based on in silico analysis of the N. gonorrhoeae genome, to be components of the cytochrome bc1 complex, cytochrome c oxidase cbb3 or periplasmic cytochromes involved in electron transfer reactions typical of a bacterium with a microaerobic physiology. Cytochrome c peroxidase was previously shown to be a lipoprotein expressed only during oxygen-limited growth. The final c-type cytochrome, cytochrome c', similar to cytochrome c peroxidase, includes a lipobox required for targeting to the outer membrane. Maturation of cytochrome c' was partially inhibited by globomycin, an antibiotic that specifically inhibits signal peptidase II, resulting in the accumulation of the prolipoprotein in the cytoplasmic membrane. Disruption of the gonococcal cycP gene resulted in an extended lag phase during microaerobic growth in the presence but not in the absence of nitrite, suggesting that cytochrome c' protects the bacteria from NO generated by nitrite reduction during adaptation to oxygen-limited growth. The cytochrome c' gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and recombinant cytochrome c' was shown to be targeted to the outer membrane. Spectroscopic evidence is presented showing that gonococcal cytochrome c' is similar to previously characterized cytochrome c' proteins and that it binds NO in vitro. The demonstration that two of the seven gonococcal c-type cytochromes fulfil specialized functions and are outer membrane lipoproteins suggests that the localization of these lipoproteins close to the bacterial surface provides effective protection against external assaults from reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Bacterial resistance evolution by recruitment of super-integron gene cassettes.

The capture and spread of antibiotic resistance determinants by integrons underlies the rapid evolution of multiple antibiotic resistance among diverse Gram-negative clinical isolates. The association of multiple resistance integrons (MRIs) with mobile DNA elements facilitates their transit across phylogenetic boundaries and augments the potential impact of integrons on bacterial evolution. Recently, ancestral chromosomal versions, the super-integrons (SIs), were found to be genuine components of the genomes of diverse bacterial species. SIs possess evolutionary characteristics and stockpiles of adaptive functions, including cassettes related to antibiotic resistance determinants previously characterized in clinical isolates, which suggest that MRIs and their resistance genes were originally recruited from SIs and their pool of amassed genes. However, the recombination activity of integrons has never been demonstrated in a bacterium other than Escherichia coli. We introduced a naturally occurring MRI (TpR, SulR) on a conjugative plasmid into Vibrio cholerae, a species known to harbour a SI. We show that MRIs can randomly recruit genes directly from the cache of SI cassettes. By applying a selective constraint for the development of antibiotic resistance, we demonstrate bacterial resistance evolution through the recruitment a novel, but phenotypically silent, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene from the V. cholerae SI and its precise insertion into the MRI. The resulting resistance profile (CmR, TpR, SulR) could then be disseminated by conjugation to other clinically relevant pathogens at high frequency. These results demonstrate that otherwise phenotypically sensitive strains may still be a genetic source for the evolution of resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics through integron-mediated recombination events.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Lineage specificity of gene expression patterns.

The hematopoietic system offers many advantages as a model for understanding general aspects of lineage choice and specification. Using oligonucleotide microarrays, we compared gene expression patterns of multiple purified hematopoietic cell populations, including neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, resting, centrocytic, and centroblastic B lymphocytes, dendritic cells, and hematopoietic stem cells. Some of these cells were studied under both resting and stimulated conditions. We studied the collective behavior of subsets of genes derived from the Biocarta database of functional pathways, hand-tuned groupings of genes into broad functional categories based on the Gene Ontology database, and the metabolic pathways in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database. Principal component analysis revealed strikingly pervasive differences in relative levels of gene expression among cell lineages that involve most of the subsets examined. These results indicate that many processes in these cells behave differently in different lineages. Much of the variation among lineages was captured by the first few principal components. Principal components biplots were found to provide a convenient visual display of the contributions of the various genes within the subsets in lineage discrimination. Moreover, by applying tree-constructing methodologies borrowed from phylogenetics to the expression data from differentiated cells and stem cells, we reconstructed a tree of relationships that resembled the established hematopoietic program of lineage development. Thus, the mRNA expression data implicitly contained information about developmental relationships among cell types.

Cell Lineage↗

Transposon insertion site profiling chip (TIP-chip).

Mobile elements are important components of our genomes, with diverse and significant effects on phenotype. Not only can transposons inactivate genes by direct disruption and shuffle the genome through recombination, they can also alter gene expression subtly or powerfully. Currently active transposons are highly polymorphic in host populations, including, among hundreds of others, L1 and Alu elements in humans and Ty1 elements in yeast. For this reason, we wished to develop a simple genome-wide method for identifying all transposons in any given sample. We have designed a transposon insertion site profiling chip (TIP-chip), a microarray intended for use as a high-throughput technique for mapping transposon insertions. By selectively amplifying transposon flanking regions and hybridizing them to the array, we can locate all transposons present in a sample. We have tested the TIP-chip extensively to map Ty1 retrotransposon insertions in yeast and have achieved excellent results in two laboratory strains as well as in evolved Ty1 high-copy strains. We are able to identify all of the theoretically detectable transposons in the FY2 lab strain, with essentially no false positives. In addition, we mapped many new transposon copies in the high-copy Ty1 strain and determined its Ty1 insertion pattern.

Animals↗

Retrotransposons in the flanking regions of normal plant genes: a role for copia-like elements in the evolution of gene structure and expression.

The wx-K mutation results from the insertion of a copia-like retrotransposon into exon 12 of the maize waxy gene. This retrotransposon, named Hopscotch, has one long open reading frame encoding all of the domains required for transposition. Computer-assisted database searches using Hopscotch and other plant copia-like retroelements as query sequences have revealed that ancient, degenerate retrotransposon insertions are found in close proximity to 21 previously sequenced plant genes. The data suggest that these elements may be involved in gene duplication and the regulation of gene expression. Similar searches using the Drosophila retrotransposon copia did not reveal any retrotransposon-like sequences in the flanking regions of animal genes. These results, together with the recent finding that reverse-transcriptase sequences characteristic of copia-like elements are ubiquitous and diverse in plants, suggest that copia-like retrotransposons are an ancient component of plant genomes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Defective repression of c-myc in breast cancer cells: A loss at the core of the transforming growth factor beta growth arrest program.

Loss of growth inhibitory responses to the cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in cancer cells may result from mutational inactivation of TGF-beta receptors or their signal transducers, the Smad transcription factors. In breast cancer, however, loss of TGF-beta growth inhibition often occurs without a loss of these signaling components. A genome-wide analysis of rapid TGF-beta gene responses in MCF-10A human mammary epithelial cells and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells shows that c-myc repression, a response that is key to the TGF-beta program of cell cycle arrest, is selectively lost in the cancer cell line. Transformation of MCF-10A cells with c-Ha-ras and c-erbB2 oncogenes also led to a selective loss of c-myc repression and cell cycle arrest response. TGF-beta stimulation of epithelial cells rapidly induces the formation of a Smad complex that specifically recognizes a TGF-beta inhibitory element in the c-myc promoter. Formation of this complex is deficient in the oncogenically transformed breast cells. These results suggest that a Smad complex that specifically mediates c-myc repression is a target of oncogenic signals in breast cancer.

Base Sequence↗

A discordant sib-pair linkage analysis of age-related macular degeneration.

BACKGROUND: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness among older adults in the United States and throughout the developed world. Etiological research implicates both genetic and environmental components. Our prior genome scan in 511 affected sib-pairs and other relative pairs identified significant or suggestive linkage signals on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 22. PURPOSE: To search for genetic loci for AMD using the extremely discordant sib-pair (EDSP) method of linkage analysis, which until now has never been applied to the study of AMD. METHODS: The EDSP method is a more powerful approach than standard methods which rely on relative pairs selected at random or pairs concordant for the phenotype. The EDSP approach has also been characterized as the only design that is uniformly powerful in nearly all genetic situations. Thus, substantial reductions in sample size can be achieved. STUDY POPULATION: The study sample for analysis included 110 EDSPs from 40 families that comprise a subset of the 158 families studied in a prior genome-wide scan using affected relative pairs. RESULTS: Evidence for linkage was found on chromosomes 1q, 2q, 6q, 19p, and 20q. The regions identified on chromosomes 1q and 2q were the same regions identified in our prior analysis, whereas the identified region on 6q was approximately 80 cM distal to our previous signal. DISCUSSION: Within this study population, we have narrowed the focus to chromosomes 1q, 2q, 6q, 19p, and 20q in our search for AMD loci. However, given the fact that a gene was recently identified on chromosome 1q, future family- and population-based analyses should concentrate on testing for associations with candidate gene variants in the other identified chromosomal regions in searches for additional AMD loci.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Direct transcriptional control of the chloroplast genes psbA and psaAB adjusts photosynthesis to light energy distribution in plants.

Two photosystems, I and II, absorb and convert light energy in photosynthesis in chloroplasts of green plants. The genes psbA and psaAB of the cytoplasmic chloroplast genome encode core components of photosystem II and photosystem I, respectively. Here we show that the absolute amounts of photosystem I and photosystem II respond, in a complementary manner, to changes in light quality that preferentially excite each photosystem in mustard seedlings. We also show that the initial response to altered energy distribution is a change in the rates of transcription of psbA and psaAB. Changes in chlorophyll fluorescence emission in vivo suggest that the signal initiating this change is the oxidation-reduction state of plastoquinone, a component of the photosynthetic electron transport chain that connects photosystem I and photosystem II. The results are consistent with transcriptional effects observed previously with chloroplasts isolated in vitro and demonstrate that redox control of chloroplast transcription initiates long-term adjustments that compensate for imbalance in energy distribution and adapt the whole plant to altered light environments.

Chloroplasts↗

Dynamic assembly and sustained retention of 53BP1 at the sites of DNA damage are controlled by Mdc1/NFBD1.

53BP1 is a key component of the genome surveillance network activated by DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Despite its known accumulation at the DSB sites, the spatiotemporal aspects of 53BP1 interaction with DSBs and the role of other DSB regulators in this process remain unclear. Here, we used real-time microscopy to study the DSB-induced redistribution of 53BP1 in living cells. We show that within minutes after DNA damage, 53BP1 becomes progressively, yet transiently, immobilized around the DSB-flanking chromatin. Quantitative imaging of single cells revealed that the assembly of 53BP1 at DSBs significantly lagged behind Mdc1/NFBD1, another DSB-interacting checkpoint mediator. Furthermore, short interfering RNA-mediated ablation of Mdc1/NFBD1 drastically impaired 53BP1 redistribution to DSBs and triggered premature dissociation of 53BP1 from these regions. Collectively, these in vivo measurements identify Mdc1/NFBD1 as a key upstream determinant of 53BP1's interaction with DSBs from its dynamic assembly at the DSB sites through sustained retention within the DSB-flanking chromatin up to the recovery from the checkpoint.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Properties of cell lines derived from tumors induced by Friend virus in BALB/c and BALB/c-H-2b mice.

Cell lines have been established in culture from Friend virus-induced tumors of BALB/c (H-2d) and congenic BALB/c-H-2b (BALB.B) origin. Spleens from virus-infected hosts in the terminal stages of erythroleukemic disease provided tissues for the establishment of subcutaneously transplantable tumors of both strains. Subsequently cells of these tumors were introduced into culture and passed serially. Complete, infectious Friend virus (FV) has been routinely recovered from culture supernates of BALB.B tumor cells (HFL/b) throughout its 2-yr passage history. However, after only a few transfer generations in culture BALB/c tumor cells (HFL/d) became nonproducers of virus detectable in either the spleen focus assay in vivo or the XC assay in vitro. Nonproducer HFL/d cells possessed the complete genomes of the components of the FV complex, since FV could be recovered from them either by cocultivation with helper virus-infected syngeneic embryo fibroblasts or by serial passage in the ascitic form in normal, syngeneic adult hosts.

Animals↗

An essential gene pair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a potential role in mating.

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the signal generated by extracellular pheromone is transmitted through the beta and gamma subunits of a trimeric G-protein to downstream signaling molecules that mediate the cellular responses associated with mating. To isolate potential downstream signaling components, a yeast genomic library on a multicopy plasmid was screened for genes that increased the mating efficiency of a strain containing a temperature-sensitive G beta subunit mutation. Overexpression of STE5, STE18 (which encodes the G gamma subunit), and a previously unidentified gene, termed SSF1, partially suppressed the mating defect of a G beta mutant. Hybridization of yeast genomic DNA with an SSF1 probe revealed a closely related homolog, termed SSF2, which was isolated and also found to test positively in the assay for suppression. Null mutations in either SSF1 or SSF2 had no obvious phenotype, but disruption of both genes was lethal. Depletion of SSF gene products from growing cultures caused both an arrest of cell division and a significant decrease in the ability of cells to mate. Because mating efficiency was increased by extra copies of the SSF genes and decreased by elimination of the gene products, it is likely that these genes play a role in mating as well as in an essential function.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Development of joint application strategies for two microbial gene finders.

MOTIVATION: As a starting point in annotation of bacterial genomes, gene finding programs are used for the prediction of functional elements in the DNA sequence. Due to the faster pace and increasing number of genome projects currently underway, it is becoming especially important to have performant methods for this task. RESULTS: This study describes the development of joint application strategies that combine the strengths of two microbial gene finders to improve the overall gene finding performance. Critica is very specific in the detection of similarity-supported genes as it uses a comparative sequence analysis-based approach. Glimmer employs a very sophisticated model of genomic sequence properties and is sensitive also in the detection of organism-specific genes. Based on a data set of 113 microbial genome sequences, we optimized a combined application approach using different parameters with relevance to the gene finding problem. This results in a significant improvement in specificity while there is similarity in sensitivity to Glimmer. The improvement is especially pronounced for GC rich genomes. The method is currently being applied for the annotation of several microbial genomes. AVAILABILITY: The methods described have been implemented within the gene prediction component of the GenDB genome annotation system.

Algorithms↗

Using mRNAs lengths to accurately predict the alternatively spliced gene products in Caenorhabditis elegans.

MOTIVATION: Computational gene prediction methods are an important component of whole genome analyses. While ab initio gene finders have demonstrated major improvements in accuracy, the most reliable methods are evidence-based gene predictors. These algorithms can rely on several different sources of evidence including predictions from multiple ab initio gene finders, matches to known proteins, sequence conservation and partial cDNAs to predict the final product. Despite the success of these algorithms, prediction of complete gene structures, especially for alternatively spliced products, remains a difficult task. RESULTS: LOCUS (Length Optimized Characterization of Unknown Spliceforms) is a new evidence-based gene finding algorithm which integrates a length-constraint into a dynamic programming-based framework for prediction of gene products. On a Caenorhabditis elegans test set of alternatively spliced internal exons, its performance exceeds that of current ab initio gene finders and in most cases can accurately predict the correct form of all the alternative products. As the length information used by the algorithm can be obtained in a high-throughput fashion, we propose that integration of such information into a gene-prediction pipeline is feasible and doing so may improve our ability to fully characterize the complete set of mRNAs for a genome. AVAILABILITY: LOCUS is available from http://ural.wustl.edu/software.html

Algorithms↗

Nuclear genetic defects of oxidative phosphorylation.

ATP generated by oxidative phosphorylation is necessary for the normal function of most cells in the body. Partial deficiencies in this system are an important cause of a large and diverse group of multisystem disorders. As both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes encode structural components of the enzyme complexes of the oxidative phosphorylation system, the disorders can be transmitted either in a Mendelian fashion or maternally, or can occur as sporadic cases. Over the last 12 years more than 100 mutations have been uncovered in mtDNA, mostly associated with disease in the adult population. Recently, much attention has turned to the investigation of the nuclear oxidative phosphorylation gene defects. The majority of these are inherited as autosomal recessive traits, producing severe, and usually fatal disease in infants. Adult-onset Mendelian oxidative phosphorylation diseases, which can be inherited as autosomal recessive or dominant traits, have a milder phenotype, and most are associated with multiple mtDNA deletions. Approximately 20 different nuclear gene defects have now been identified in genes coding for structural components of the complexes, assembly/maintenance factors and factors necessary for the maintenance of mtDNA integrity. Some clear genotype-phenotype associations have emerged, and there is an unexpected link between some structural gene mutations and rare cancers, implicating mitochondria as oxygen sensors in the hypoxia response.

Cell Nucleus↗