Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease characterized by heterogeneous lesions containing CD207(+) Langerhans cells (LCs) and lymphocytes that can arise in almost any tissue and cause significant morbidity and mortality. After decades of research, the cause of LCH remains speculative. A prevailing model suggests that LCH arises from malignant transformation and metastasis of epidermal LCs. In this study, CD207(+) cells and CD3(+) T cells were isolated from LCH lesions to determine cell-specific gene expression. Compared with control epidermal CD207(+) cells, the LCH CD207(+) cells yielded 2113 differentially expressed genes (false discovery rate < 0.01). Surprisingly, the expression of many genes previously associated with LCH, including cell-cycle regulators, proinflammatory cytokines, and chemokines, were not significantly different from control LCs in our study. However, several novel genes whose products activate and recruit T cells to sites of inflammation, including SPP1 (osteopontin), were highly overexpressed in LCH CD207(+) cells. Furthermore, several genes associated with immature myeloid dendritic cells were overexpressed in LCH CD207(+) cells. Compared with the peripheral CD3(+) cells from LCH patients, the LCH lesion CD3(+) cells yielded only 162 differentially regulated genes (false discovery rate < 0.01), and the expression profile of the LCH lesion CD3(+) cells was consistent with an activated regulatory T cell phenotype with increased expression of FOXP3, CTLA4, and SPP1. Results from this study support a model of LCH pathogenesis in which lesions do not arise from epidermal LCs but from accumulation of bone marrow-derived immature myeloid dendritic cells that recruit activated lymphocytes.

The majority of known bacteriophages have long noncontractile tails (Siphoviridae) that serve as a pipeline for genome delivery into the host cytoplasm. The tail extremity distal from the phage head is an adsorption device that recognises the bacterial receptor at the host cell surface. This interaction generates a signal transmitted to the head that leads to DNA release. We have determined structures of the bacteriophage SPP1 tail before and after DNA ejection. The results reveal extensive structural rearrangements in the internal wall of the tail tube. We propose that the adsorption device-receptor interaction triggers a conformational switch that is propagated as a domino-like cascade along the 1600 A-long helical tail structure to reach the head-to-tail connector. This leads to opening of the connector culminating in DNA exit from the head into the host cell through the tail tube.

Increased age, BMI and HbA1c levels are risk factors for several non-communicable diseases. However, the impact of these factors on the genome-wide DNA methylation pattern in human adipose tissue remains unknown. We analyzed the DNA methylation of ∼480 000 sites in human adipose tissue from 96 males and 94 females and related methylation to age, BMI and HbA1c. We also compared epigenetic signatures in adipose tissue and blood. Age was significantly associated with both altered DNA methylation and expression of 1050 genes (e.g. FHL2, NOX4 and PLG). Interestingly, many reported epigenetic biomarkers of aging in blood, including ELOVL2, FHL2, KLF14 and GLRA1, also showed significant correlations between adipose tissue DNA methylation and age in our study. The most significant association between age and adipose tissue DNA methylation was found upstream of ELOVL2. We identified 2825 genes (e.g. FTO, ITIH5, CCL18, MTCH2, IRS1 and SPP1) where both DNA methylation and expression correlated with BMI. Methylation at previously reported HIF3A sites correlated significantly with BMI in females only. HbA1c (range 28-46 mmol/mol) correlated significantly with the methylation of 711 sites, annotated to, for example, RAB37, TICAM1 and HLA-DPB1. Pathway analyses demonstrated that methylation levels associated with age and BMI are overrepresented among genes involved in cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our results highlight the impact of age, BMI and HbA1c on epigenetic variation of candidate genes for obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer in human adipose tissue. Importantly, we demonstrate that epigenetic biomarkers in blood can mirror age-related epigenetic signatures in target tissues for metabolic diseases such as adipose tissue.

The nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR) binds 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D), its high affinity renal endocrine ligand, to signal intestinal calcium and phosphate absorption plus bone remodeling, generating a mineralized skeleton free of rickets/osteomalacia with a reduced risk of osteoporotic fractures. 1,25D/VDR signaling regulates the expression of TRPV6, BGP, SPP1, LRP5, RANKL and OPG, while achieving feedback control of mineral ions to prevent age-related ectopic calcification by governing CYP24A1, PTH, FGF23, PHEX, and klotho transcription. Vitamin D also elicits numerous intracrine actions when circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, the metabolite reflecting vitamin D status, is converted to 1,25D locally by extrarenal CYP27B1, and binds VDR to promote immunoregulation, antimicrobial defense, xenobiotic detoxification, anti-inflammatory/anticancer actions and cardiovascular benefits. VDR also affects Wnt signaling through direct interaction with beta-catenin, ligand-dependently blunting beta-catenin mediated transcription in colon cancer cells to attenuate growth, while potentiating beta-catenin signaling via VDR ligand-independent mechanisms in osteoblasts and keratinocytes to function osteogenically and as a pro-hair cycling receptor, respectively. Finally, VDR also drives the mammalian hair cycle in conjunction with the hairless corepressor by repressing SOSTDC1, S100A8/S100A9, and PTHrP. Hair provides a shield against UV-induced skin damage and cancer in terrestrial mammals, illuminating another function of VDR that facilitates healthful aging.

The b and c variants of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) differ in sequence, binding specificity, and localization. Fgfr2b, expressed in epithelia, is required for limb outgrowth and branching morphogenesis, whereas the mesenchymal Fgfr2c variant is required by the osteocyte lineage for normal skeletogenesis. Gain-of-function mutations in human FGFR2c are associated with craniosynostosis syndromes. To confirm and extend this evidence, we introduced a Cys342Tyr replacement into Fgfr2c to create a gain-of-function mutation equivalent to a mutation in human Crouzon and Pfeiffer syndromes. Fgfr2c(C342Y/)(+) heterozygote mice are viable and fertile with shortened face, protruding eyes, premature fusion of cranial sutures, and enhanced Spp1 expression in the calvaria. Homozygous mutants display multiple joint fusions, cleft palate, and trachea and lung defects, and die shortly after birth. They show enhanced Cbfa1/Runx2 expression without significant change in chondrocyte-specific Ihh, PTHrP, Sox9, Col2a, or Col10a gene expression. Histomorphometric analysis and bone marrow stromal cell culture showed a significant increase of osteoblast progenitors with no change in osteoclastogenic cells. Chondrocyte proliferation was decreased in the skull base at embryonic day 14.5 but not later. These results suggest that long-term aspects of the mutant phenotype, including craniosynostosis, are related to the Fgfr2c regulation of the osteoblast lineage. The effect on early chondrocyte proliferation but not gene expression suggests cooperation of Fgfr2c with Fgfr3 in the formation of the cartilage model for endochondral bone.

BACKGROUND

Caloric restriction (CR) counters deleterious effects of aging and, for most mouse genotypes, increases mean and maximum lifespan. Previous analyses of microarray data have identified gene expression responses to CR that are shared among multiple mouse tissues, including the activation of anti-oxidant, tumor suppressor and anti-inflammatory pathways. These analyses have provided useful research directions, but have been restricted to a limited number of tissues, and have focused on individual genes, rather than whole-genome transcriptional networks. Furthermore, CR is thought to oppose age-associated gene expression patterns, but detailed statistical investigations of this hypothesis have not been carried out.

RESULTS

Systemic effects of CR and aging were identified by examining transcriptional responses to CR in 17 mouse tissue types, as well as responses to aging in 22 tissues. CR broadly induced the expression of genes known to inhibit oxidative stress (e.g., Mt1, Mt2), inflammation (e.g., Nfkbia, Timp3) and tumorigenesis (e.g., Txnip, Zbtb16). Additionally, a network-based investigation revealed that CR regulates a large co-expression module containing genes associated with the metabolism and splicing of mRNA (e.g., Cpsf6, Sfpq, Sfrs18). The effects of aging were, to a considerable degree, similar among groups of co-expressed genes. Age-related gene expression patterns characteristic of most mouse tissues were identified, including up regulation of granulin (Grn) and secreted phosphoprotein 1 (Spp1). The transcriptional association between CR and aging varied at different levels of analysis. With respect to gene subsets associated with certain biological processes (e.g., immunity and inflammation), CR opposed age-associated expression patterns. However, among all genes, global transcriptional effects of CR were only weakly related to those of aging.

CONCLUSIONS

The study of aging, and of interventions thought to combat aging, has much to gain from data-driven and unbiased genomic investigations. Expression patterns identified in this analysis characterize a generalized response of mammalian cells to CR and/or aging. These patterns may be of importance in determining effects of CR on overall lifespan, or as factors that underlie age-related disease. The association between CR and aging warrants further study, but most evidence indicates that CR does not induce a genome-wide "reversal" of age-associated gene expression patterns.

Smoking-related lung diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide, underscoring the need to understand their pathogenesis and develop new effective therapies. We have shown that CD1a+ antigen-presenting cells (APCs) from lungs of patients with emphysema can induce autoreactive T helper 1 (T(H)1) and T(H)17 cells. Similarly, the canonical cytokines interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) are specifically linked to lung destruction in smokers, but how smoke activates APCs to mediate emphysema remains unknown. Here, we show that, in addition to increasing IFN-γ expression, cigarette smoke increased the expression of IL-17A in both CD4+ and γδ T cells from mouse lung. IL-17A deficiency resulted in attenuation of, whereas lack of γδ T cells exacerbated, smoke-induced emphysema in mice. Adoptive transfer of lung APCs isolated from mice with emphysema revealed that this cell population was capable of transferring disease even in the absence of active smoke exposure, a process that was dependent on IL-17A expression. Spp1 (the gene for osteopontin) was highly expressed in the pathogenic lung APCs of smoke-exposed mice and was required for the T(H)17 responses and emphysema in vivo, in part through its inhibition of the expression of the transcription factor Irf7. Thus, the Spp1-Irf7 axis is critical for induction of pathological T(H)17 responses, revealing a major mechanism by which smoke activates lung APCs to induce emphysema and identifying a pathway that could be targeted for therapeutic purposes.

Set1 is the catalytic subunit and the central component of the evolutionarily conserved Set1 complex (Set1C) that methylates histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4). Here we have determined protein/protein interactions within the complex and related the substructure to function. The loss of individual Set1C subunits differentially affects Set1 stability, complex integrity, global H3K4 methylation, and distribution of H3K4 methylation along active genes. The complex requires Set1, Swd1, and Swd3 for integrity, and Set1 amount is greatly reduced in the absence of the Swd1-Swd3 heterodimer. Bre2 and Sdc1 also form a heteromeric subunit, which requires the SET domain for interaction with the complex, and Sdc1 strongly interacts with itself. Inactivation of either Bre2 or Sdc1 has very similar effects. Neither is required for complex integrity, and their removal results in an increase of H3K4 mono- and dimethylation and a severe decrease of trimethylation at the 5' end of active coding regions but a decrease of H3K4 dimethylation at the 3' end of coding regions. Cells lacking Spp1 have a reduced amount of Set1 and retain a fraction of trimethylated H3K4, whereas cells lacking Shg1 show slightly elevated levels of both di- and trimethylation. Set1C associates with both serine 5- and serine 2-phosphorylated forms of polymerase II, indicating that the association persists to the 3' end of transcribed genes. Taken together, our results suggest that Set1C subunits stimulate Set1 catalytic activity all along active genes.

In tailed bacteriophages and herpes viruses, the viral DNA is packaged through the portal protein channel. Channel closure is essential to prevent DNA release after packaging. Here we present the connector structure from bacteriophage SPP1 using cryo-electron microscopy and single particle analysis. The multiprotein complex comprises the portal protein gp6 and the head completion proteins gp15 and gp16. Although we show that gp6 in the connector has a fold similar to that of the isolated portal protein, we observe conformational changes in the region of gp6 exposed to the DNA-packaging ATPase and to gp15. This reorganization does not cause closure of the channel. The connector channel traverses the full height of gp6 and gp15, but it is closed by gp16 at the bottom of the complex. Gp16 acts as a valve whose closure prevents DNA leakage, while its opening is required for DNA release upon interaction of the virus with its host.

Mono-ubiquitylation of histone H2B correlates with transcriptional activation and is required for di- and trimethylation at Lys 4 on the histone H3 tail (H3K4) by the SET1/COMPASS methyltransferase complex through a poorly characterized trans-tail pathway. Here we show that mono-ubiquitylation of histone H2B promotes ubiquitylation at Lys 68 and Lys 69 of Swd2, the essential component of SET1/COMPASS in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that Rad6/Bre1 ubiquitylation enzymes responsible for H2B ubiquitylation also participate directly in Swd2 modification. Preventing Swd2 or H2B ubiquitylation did not affect Set1 stability, interaction of Swd2 with Set1 or the ability of Swd2 to interact with chromatin. However, we found that mutation of Lys 68 and Lys 69 of Swd2 markedly reduced trimethylation, and to a lesser extent dimethylation, of H3K4 at the 5'-end of transcribing genes without affecting monomethylation. This effect results from the ability of Swd2 ubiquitylation to control recruitment of Spp1, a COMPASS subunit necessary for trimethylation. Our results further indicate that Swd2 is a major H3-binding component of COMPASS. Swd2 thus represents a key factor that mediates crosstalk between H2B ubiquitylation and H3K4 trimethylation on chromatin.

Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma (PCNSL) is a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) confined to the CNS. A genome-wide gene expression comparison between PCNSL and non-CNS DLBCL was performed, the latter consisting of both nodal and extranodal DLBCL (nDLBCL and enDLBCL), to identify a "CNS signature." Pathway analysis with the program SigPathway revealed that PCNSL is characterized notably by significant differential expression of multiple extracellular matrix (ECM) and adhesion-related pathways. The most significantly up-regulated gene is the ECM-related osteopontin (SPP1). Expression at the protein level of ECM-related SPP1 and CHI3L1 in PCNSL cells was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. The alterations in gene expression can be interpreted within several biologic contexts with implications for PCNSL, including CNS tropism (ECM and adhesion-related pathways, SPP1, DDR1), B-cell migration (CXCL13, SPP1), activated B-cell subtype (MUM1), lymphoproliferation (SPP1, TCL1A, CHI3L1), aggressive clinical behavior (SPP1, CHI3L1, MUM1), and aggressive metastatic cancer phenotype (SPP1, CHI3L1). The gene expression signature discovered in our study may represent a true "CNS signature" because we contrasted PCNSL with wide-spectrum non-CNS DLBCL on a genomic scale and performed an in-depth bioinformatic analysis.

In many bacterial viruses and in certain animal viruses, the double-stranded DNA genome enters and exits the capsid through a portal gatekeeper. We report a pseudoatomic structure of a complete portal system. The bacteriophage SPP1 gatekeeper is composed of dodecamers of the portal protein gp6, the adaptor gp15, and the stopper gp16. The solution structures of gp15 and gp16 were determined by NMR. They were then docked together with the X-ray structure of gp6 into the electron density of the approximately 1-MDa SPP1 portal complex purified from DNA-filled capsids. The resulting structure reveals that gatekeeper assembly is accompanied by a large rearrangement of the gp15 structure and by folding of a flexible loop of gp16 to form an intersubunit parallel beta-sheet that closes the portal channel. This stopper system prevents release of packaged DNA. Disulfide cross-linking between beta-strands of the stopper blocks the key conformational changes that control genome ejection from the virus at the beginning of host infection.

BACKGROUND

Claudin (CLDN)-1, a key component of tight junction complexes, was down-regulated in human lung adenocarcinomas.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the clinical significance of CLDN1 expression in patients with lung adenocarcinoma and its role in cancer invasion and metastasis.

METHODS

We examined the CLDN1 mRNA expression in tumor specimens from 64 patients with lung adenocarcinoma and protein expression by immunohistochemistry in an independent cohort of 67 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. CLDN1 functions in cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastatic colonization were studied by overexpression and knockdown of CLDN1. Affymetrix microarrays were performed to identify gene expression changes associated with CLDN1 overexpression.

RESULTS

We found that low-CLDN1 mRNA expression had shorter overall survival (P = 0.027, log-rank test) in 64 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and we confirmed by immunohistochemistry that low CLDN1 expression had shorter overall survival (P = 0.024, log-rank test) in an independent cohort of 67 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Overexpression of CLDN1 inhibited cancer cell dissociation in time-lapse imaging of wound healing, and suppressed cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Knockdown CLDN1 expression increased cancer cell invasive and metastatic abilities. Affymetrix microarrays identified a panel of genes altered by CLDN1 overexpression. CLDN1 increased expressions of cancer invasion/metastasis suppressors (e.g., connective tissue growth factor [CTGF], thrombospondin 1 [THBS1], deleted in liver cancer 1 [DLC1], occludin [OCLN], zona occludens 1 [ZO-1]) and suppressed expressions of invasion/metastasis enhancers (e.g., secreted phosphoprotein 1 [SPP1], cut-like homeobox 1 [CUTL1], transforming growth factor alpha [TGF-alpha], solute carrier family 2 [faciliated glucose transporter] member 3 [SLC2A3], placental growth factor [PGF]), supporting a role for CLDN1 as an invasion and metastasis suppressor.

CONCLUSIONS

CLDN1 is a cancer invasion/metastasis suppressor. CLDN1 is also a useful prognostic predictor and potential drug treatment target for patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Meiotic chromosomes are organized into arrays of loops that are anchored to the chromosome axis structure. Programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that initiate meiotic recombination, catalyzed by Spo11 and accessory DSB proteins, form in loop sequences in promoters, whereas the DSB proteins are located on chromosome axes. Mechanisms bridging these two chromosomal regions for DSB formation have remained elusive. Here we show that Spp1, a conserved member of the histone H3K4 methyltransferase Set1 complex, is required for normal levels of DSB formation and is associated with chromosome axes during meiosis, where it physically interacts with the Mer2 DSB protein. The PHD finger module of Spp1, which reads H3K4 methylation close to promoters, promotes DSB formation by tethering these regions to chromosome axes and activating cleavage by the DSB proteins. This paper provides the molecular mechanism linking DSB sequences to chromosome axes and explains why H3K4 methylation is important for meiotic recombination.

SPP1 DNA was cleaved by the restriction endonucleases, BglI, BglII, EcoRI, KpnI, SmaI, and SalI. The molecular weights of the DNA fragments obtained by single enzyme digestion or by consecutive digestion with two enzymes were determined by electron microscopic measurements of contour length and by gel electrophoresis. The major fragments from the six digests could be ordered to give a consistent restriction map of SPP1. The electropherograms of several digests indicated that certain fragments occurred in less than stoichiometric amounts or were heterogeneous in size. Such bands carried a major part of radioactivity, when SPP1 DNA was terminally labelled with P32 prior to degradation by restriction enzymes. These results, and studies of the effect of exonuclease III treatment on restriction enzyme patterns define the terminal restriction fragments. All data obtained support the conclusion drawn in the preceding paper (Morelli et al., 1978 b) that the SPP1 genome is terminally redundant and partially circularly permuted.

OBJECTIVE

The molecular mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma have been studied, but little is known of the changes in liver gene expression during the different stages of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, in particular the transition from mild to moderate fibrosis.

METHODS

We used real-time quantitative RT PCR to study the messenger RNA expression of 240 selected genes in 2 pools of liver specimens according to the stages of fibrosis (Metavir score; mild fibrosis = F1 and septal fibrosis = F2). Genes whose expression differed between pools (F2 vs F1) by at least 2-fold were selected. In addition, the expression level of these selected genes then was assessed in each of the 62 individual samples (F4, n = 6; F3, n = 17; F2, n = 21; vs F1, n = 18).

RESULTS

The 22 genes that were up-regulated in the 21 F2 samples relative to the 18 F1 samples mainly encoded genes involved in cytoskeleton (KRT 19 and SCG 10), growth factors/cytokines (CXCL6, interleukin 8 [IL8], IL1A, IL2, and CXCL10), or growth factor receptors (CCR2, CXCR3, and CXCR4), or were involved in extracellular matrix production (COL1A1, CHI3L, and SPP1), in extracellular matrix remodeling (TIMP1, MMP7, and MMP9), and in cell junction (ITGA2 and CLDN 4). When hierarchically clustering the F2 and F1 samples according to the expression of the 11 most discriminatory genes (KRT 19, COL1A1, STMN2, CXCL6, CCR2, TIMP1, IL8, IL1A, ITGA2, CLDN 4, and IL2), the patient population was categorized into 2 subgroups: F1 and F2. Specifically, 15 of 18 F1 (83%) and 19 of 21 F2 (90%) were classified correctly (P < 10(-5)). We also studied the messenger RNA expression of these 240 selected genes in normal liver in comparison with F1. Genes dysregulated in the transition from normal liver to F1 mainly were interferon-inducible genes, and therefore were very different from those dysregulated in the transition from F1 to F2.

CONCLUSIONS

Genes involved in extracellular matrix turnover and immune response are implicated in the transition from mild to moderate fibrosis. Eleven of the genes could form the basis for the gene expression signature of mild versus moderate fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

MyoD and Myf5 are basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that play key but redundant roles in specifying myogenic progenitors during embryogenesis. However, there are functional differences between the two transcription factors that impact myoblast proliferation and differentiation. Target gene activation could be one such difference. We have used microarray and polymerase chain reaction approaches to measure the induction of muscle gene expression by MyoD and Myf5 in an in vitro model. In proliferating cells, MyoD and Myf5 function very similarly to activate the expression of likely growth phase target genes such as L-myc, m-cadherin, Mcpt8, Runx1, Spp1, Six1, IGFBP5, and Chrnbeta1. MyoD, however, is strikingly more effective than Myf5 at inducing differentiation-phase target genes. This distinction between MyoD and Myf5 results from a novel and unanticipated cooperation between the MyoD NH2- and COOH-terminal regions. Together, these results support the notion that Myf5 functions toward myoblast proliferation, whereas MyoD prepares myoblasts for efficient differentiation.

The three-dimensional structure of the bacteriophage T7 head-to-tail connector has been obtained at 8A resolution using cryo-electron microscopy and single-particle analysis from purified recombinant connectors. The general morphology of the T7 connector is that of a 12-folded toroidal homopolymer with a channel that runs along the longitudinal axis of the particle. The structure of the T7 connector reveals many structural similarities with the connectors from other bacteriophages. Docking of the atomic structure of the varphi29 connector into the three-dimensional reconstruction of T7 connector reveals that the narrow, distal region of the two oligomers are almost identical. This region of the varphi29 connector has been suggested to be involved in DNA translocation, and is composed of an alpha-beta-alpha-beta-beta-alpha motif. A search for alpha-helices in the same region of the T7 three-dimensional map has located three alpha-helices in approximately the same position as those of the varphi29 connector. A comparison of the predicted secondary structure of several bacteriophage connectors, including among others T7, varphi29, P22 and SPP1, reveals that, despite the lack of sequence homology, they seem to contain the same alpha-beta-alpha-beta-beta-alpha motif as that present in the varphi29 connector. These results allow us to suggest a common architecture related to a basic component of the DNA translocating machinery for several viruses.

TREM-1 (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1) is an orphan immunoreceptor expressed on monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils. TREM-1 associates with and signals via the adapter protein DAP12/TYROBP, which contains an ITAM. TREM-1 activation by receptor cross-linking has been shown to be proinflammatory and to amplify some cellular responses to TLR ligands such as bacterial LPS. To investigate the cellular consequences of TREM-1 activation, we have characterized global gene expression changes in human monocytes in response to TREM-1 cross-linking in comparison to and combined with LPS. Both TREM-1 activation and LPS up-regulate chemokines, cytokines, matrix metalloproteases, and PTGS/COX2, consistent with a core inflammatory response. However, other immunomodulatory factors are selectively induced, including SPP1 and CSF1 (i.e., M-CSF) by TREM-1 activation and IL-23 and CSF3 (i.e., G-CSF) by LPS. Additionally, cross-talk between TREM-1 activation and LPS occurs on multiple levels. Although synergy in GM-CSF protein production is reflected in commensurate mRNA abundance, comparable synergy in IL-1beta protein production is not. TREM-1 activation also attenuates the induction of some LPS target genes, including those that encode IL-12 cytokine family subunits. Where tested, positive TREM-1 outputs are greatly reduced by the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin, whereas this attenuation is largely PI3K independent. These experiments provide a detailed analysis of the cellular consequences of TREM-1 activation and highlight the complexity in signal integration between ITAM- and TLR-mediated signaling.

Mineralized tissue is vital to many characteristic adaptive phenotypes in vertebrates. Three primary tissues, enamel (enameloid), dentin, and bone, are found in the body armor of ancient agnathans and mammalian teeth, suggesting that these two organs are homologous. Mammalian enamel forms on enamel-specific proteins such as amelogenin, whereas dentin and bone form on collagen and many acidic proteins, such as SPP1, coordinately regulate their mineralization. We previously reported that genes for three major enamel matrix proteins, five proteins necessary for dentin and bone formation, and milk caseins and salivary proteins arose from a single ancestor by tandem gene duplications and form the secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein (SCPP) family. Gene structure and protein characteristics show that SCPP genes arose from the 5' region of ancestral sparcl1 (SPARC-like 1). Phylogenetic analysis on SPARC and SPARCL1 suggests that the SCPP genes arose after the divergence of cartilaginous fish and bony fish, implying that early vertebrate mineralization did not use SCPPs and that SPARC may be critical for initial mineralization. Consistent with this inference, we identified SPP1 in a teleost genome but failed to find any genes orthologous to mammalian enamel proteins. Based on these observations, we suggest a scenario for the evolution of vertebrate tissue mineralization, in which body armor initially formed on dermal collagen, which acted as a reinforcement of dermis. We also suggest that mammalian enamel is distinct from fish enameloid. Their similar nature as a hard structural overlay on exoskeleton and teeth is because of convergent evolution.

All Bacillus subtilis R-type strains showing the phenomena of restriction and modification contain an endonuclease that inactivates in vitro the biological activity of a variety of DNAs lacking R-specific modification, such as transfecting SPPI, SPO2 and phi105 DNA, and transforming B. subtilis 168-type DNA. The corresponding DNAs carrying R-specific modification are resistant to the enzyme. The enzyme has been purified approximately 400-fold and is essentially free from contaminating double strand-directed unspecific exo- or endonuclease activity. Only Mg2+ is required as cofactor. The substrate DNAs are cleaved at specific sites. The double-stranded fragments produced from SPP1 DNA (molecular weight 2.5 x 10(7)) have an average molecular weight of about 3 x 10(5).

During meiosis, combinatorial associations of genetic traits arise from homologous recombination between parental chromosomes. Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation marks meiotic recombination hotspots in yeast and mammals, but how this ubiquitous chromatin modification relates to the initiation of double-strand breaks (DSBs) dependent on Spo11 remains unknown. Here, we show that the tethering of a PHD-containing protein, Spp1 (a component of the COMPASS complex), to recombinationally cold regions is sufficient to induce DSB formation. Furthermore, we found that Spp1 physically interacts with Mer2, a key protein of the differentiated chromosomal axis required for DSB formation. Thus, by interacting with H3K4me3 and Mer2, Spp1 promotes recruitment of potential meiotic DSB sites to the chromosomal axis, allowing Spo11 cleavage at nearby nucleosome-depleted regions.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid molecule that acts as both an extracellular signaling mediator and an intracellular second messenger. S1P is synthesized from sphingosine by sphingosine kinase and is degraded either by S1P lyase or by S1P phosphohydrolase. Recently, mammalian S1P phosphohydrolase (SPP1) was identified and shown to constitute a novel lipid phosphohydrolase family, the SPP family. In this study we have identified a second human S1P phosphohydrolase, SPP2, based on sequence homology to human SPP1. SPP2 exhibited high phosphohydrolase activity against S1P and dihydrosphingosine 1-phosphate. The dihydrosphingosine-1-phosphate phosphohydrolase activity was efficiently inhibited by excess S1P but not by lysophosphatidic acid, phosphatidic acid, or glycerol 3-phosphate, indicating that SPP2 is highly specific to sphingoid base 1-phosphates. Immunofluorescence microscopic analysis demonstrated that SPP2 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. Although the enzymatic properties and localization of SPP2 were similar to those of SPP1, the tissue-specific expression pattern of SPP2 was different from that of SPP1. Thus, SPP2 is another member of the SPP family that may play a role in attenuating intracellular S1P signaling.