{"title":"Non-gonadal expression of piRNAs is widespread across Arthropoda.","authors":"Takahisa Yamashita, Krystian Komenda, Rafał Miłodrowski, Dominik Robak, Szymon Szrajer, Tomasz Gaczorek, Guillem Ylla","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) were discovered in the early 2000s and became known for their role in protecting the germline genome against mobile genetic elements. Successively, piRNAs were also detected in the somatic cells of gonads in multiple animal species. In recent years, piRNAs have been reported in non-gonadal tissues in various arthropods, contrary to the initial assumptions of piRNAs being exclusive to gonads. Here, we performed an extensive literature review, which revealed that reports on non-gonadal somatic piRNA expression are not limited to a few specific species. Instead, when multiple studies are considered collectively, it appears to be a widespread phenomenon across arthropods. Furthermore, we systematically analyzed 168 publicly available small RNA-seq datasets from diverse tissues in 17 species, which further supported the bibliographic reports that piRNAs are expressed across tissues and species in Arthropoda.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142364944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-27DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15028
{"title":"RETRACTION: Selection for TRAIL Resistance Results in Melanoma Cells with High Proliferative Potential","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15028","DOIUrl":"10.1002/1873-3468.15028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><b>RETRACTION</b>: J. J. Wu, X. D. Zhang, S. Gillespie, and P. Hersey, “Selection for TRAIL Resistance Results in Melanoma Cells with High Proliferative Potential,” <i>FEBS Letters</i> 579, no. 9 (2005): 1940–1944, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.041.</p><p>The above article, published online on February 25, 2005, in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Michael Brunner; FEBS Press; and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed upon following an investigation into concerns raised by a third party, which revealed inappropriate duplications of image sections within the article (Fig. 2A, 3A-C, 4A-B) depicting different experimental conditions. The authors were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation and due to the elapsed time the raw data was not available. Given the extent of the identified issues, the editors have lost confidence in the data presented and the article's conclusions can no longer be considered reliable.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1873-3468.15028","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142344323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-27DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15024
Stefania Modafferi, Francesca Esposito, Sara Tavella, Ubaldo Gioia, Sofia Francia
{"title":"Traffic light at DSB-transit regulation between gene transcription and DNA repair.","authors":"Stefania Modafferi, Francesca Esposito, Sara Tavella, Ubaldo Gioia, Sofia Francia","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transcription of actively expressed genes is dampened for kilobases around DNA lesions via chromatin modifications. This is believed to favour repair and prevent genome instability. Nonetheless, mounting evidence suggests that transcription may be induced by DNA breakage, resulting in the local de novo synthesis of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Such transcripts have been proposed to play important functions in both DNA damage signalling and repair. Here, we review the recently identified mechanistic details of transcriptional silencing at damaged chromatin, highlighting how post-translational histone modifications can also be modulated by the local synthesis of DNA damage-induced ncRNAs. Finally, we envision that these entangled transcriptional events at DNA breakages can be targeted to modulate DNA repair, with potential implications for locus-specific therapeutic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142344324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-26DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15025
Zehui Liu, Wenxia Zhang, Haili Wang, Pingping Shangguan, Tong Pan, Yimu Yang, Yi Zhang, Xi Mao, Yingle Liu, Qi Zhang
{"title":"Engineered CRISPR RNA improves the RNA cleavage efficiency of hfCas13X","authors":"Zehui Liu, Wenxia Zhang, Haili Wang, Pingping Shangguan, Tong Pan, Yimu Yang, Yi Zhang, Xi Mao, Yingle Liu, Qi Zhang","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15025","DOIUrl":"10.1002/1873-3468.15025","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As the most compact variant in the Cas13 family, CRISPR-Cas13X holds considerable promise for gene therapy applications. The development of high-fidelity Cas13X (hfCas13X) mutants has enhanced the safety profile for <i>in vivo</i> applications. However, a notable reduction in on-target cleavage efficiency accompanies the diminished collateral cleavage activity in hfCas13X. In this study, we obtained two engineered crRNA mutants that notably enhance the on-target cleavage efficiency of hfCas13X. Furthermore, we have identified a novel crRNA structure that consistently augments the on-target cleavage efficiency of hfCas13X across various cellular environments, without significant enhancement of its collateral activity. These findings collectively enrich the gene-editing toolkit, presenting a more effective hfCas13X system for future research and application.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1873-3468.15025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142344321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-26DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15015
Amber Öztop, Agathe Chaigne
{"title":"Molecular and mechanical mechanisms of animal cell abscission.","authors":"Amber Öztop, Agathe Chaigne","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cytokinesis leads to the distribution of segregated chromosomes, membrane, and cytoplasmic material in the two daughter cells, and ultimately concludes with abscission, their physical separation. In this Graphical Review, we outline the key events that lead to abscission and discuss mechanisms of delayed abscisison.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142344322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"EVL is not essential for cuticular plate and stereocilia development in mouse auditory hair cells.","authors":"Keji Yan, Haoqing Zhang, Chengli Qu, Yixiao Sun, Xiaoyang Sun, Zhigang Xu","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In inner ear hair cells, the stereocilia are inserted into a dense F-actin-enriched meshwork named the cuticular plate, which provides support to the stereocilia. Enah/Vasp-like (EVL) was shown to localize at the cuticular plate, and evl knockdown leads to disrupted cuticular plate and disorganized stereocilia in Xenopus hair cells. In the present work, we show that Evl transcripts are specifically expressed in mouse hair cells, and EVL is localized to the cuticular plate. However, the cuticular plate and stereocilia are unaffected by Evl knockout, and auditory function is largely normal in Evl knockout mice. In conclusion, our present data suggest that EVL is not essential for cuticular plate and stereocilia development in mouse auditory hair cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15022
{"title":"RETRACTION: Antisense inhibition of Bcr-Abl/c-Abl synthesis promotes telomerase activity and upregulates tankyrase in human leukemia cells","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15022","DOIUrl":"10.1002/1873-3468.15022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><b>RETRACTION</b>: R. Bakalova, H. Ohba, Z. Zhelev, T. Kubo, M. Fujii, M. Ishikawa, Y. Shinohara, and Y. Baba, ‘Antisense inhibition of Bcr-Abl/c-Abl synthesis promotes telomerase activity and upregulates tankyrase in human leukemia cells,' <i>FEBS Letters</i> 564, no. 1–2 (2004): 73–84, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0014-5793(04)00318-7.</p><p>The above article, published online on 9 April 2004 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the authors; the journal Editor-in-Chief, Michael Brunner; FEBS Press; the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); and John Wiley and Sons Ltd.</p><p>Following publication, concerns were raised by a third-party regarding several figures in the article. The subsequent institutional investigation conducted by the AIST revealed:\u0000 </p><p>Therefore, the conclusions of the paper are substantially compromised and the institute has recommended the paper to be retracted. The editors of the journal agree with the retraction based on the institutional investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1873-3468.15022","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142250009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two new oligomers of E. coli small heat‐shock protein IbpB identified under heat stress exhibit maximum holding chaperone activity","authors":"Md Azaharuddin, Rakhi Dasgupta, Abhijit Das, Susmita Nandi, Anabadya Pal, Soumajit Chakrabarty, Pathikrit Bandopadhyay, Sourav Ghosh, Sanchita Nandy, Upasana Sett, Tarakdas Basu","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15019","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:italic>Escherichia coli</jats:italic> small heat‐shock protein IbpB (MW: 16 KDa) has holding chaperone activity and is present in cells at 30 °C as two large oligomers of MW 2.0–3.0 MDa and 600–700 KDa. We report here about the presence of two additional oligomers of MW around 400 and 130 KDa in cells under heat‐stress at 50 °C. These two smaller oligomers possess the most chaperone activity, as observed from the extent of inhibition of inactivation and aggregation separately, of L‐Lactate dehydrogenase in the presence of the individual oligomers at 52 and 60 °C, respectively. It is suggested here that the two larger oligomers act as poorly active storage forms, which under heat stress dissociate partially into smaller oligomers with high holdase activity.","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142250010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
FEBS LettersPub Date : 2024-09-16DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.15018
Duncan E. Wright
{"title":"Five problems plaguing publishing in the life sciences—and one common cause","authors":"Duncan E. Wright","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15018","DOIUrl":"10.1002/1873-3468.15018","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although publication in scholarly peer-reviewed journals remains the gold standard for communication of findings in the life sciences, the gold has been debased in the digital age by various impurities, including (a) reviewer fatigue, (b) fraud, paper mills, and the perils of artificial intelligence, (c) predatory journals, (d) the ongoing use of journal impact factor as a proxy for individual article quality, and (e) salami-slicing and other unethical practices. In this article, I present a detailed overview of these problems, as well as solutions proposed and implemented to counter them. Finally, I suggest that these are all symptomatic of a wider problem, namely the culture of ‘publish or perish’ and ongoing issues with how researcher performance is evaluated for grant, hiring, and promotion decisions. Only by working towards a global shift in the way scientists view the purpose of publication can we finally remove the impurities and refine the gold.</p>","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1873-3468.15018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Identification of novel anti‐leishmanials targeting glutathione synthetase of the parasite: a drug repurposing approach","authors":"Manash Sarma, Kushal Bora, Preeti Ranjan, Vikash Kumar Dubey","doi":"10.1002/1873-3468.15016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.15016","url":null,"abstract":"Drug repurposing has emerged as an effective strategy against infectious diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis. Here, we evaluated four FDA‐approved drugs–valrubicin, ciclesonide, deflazacort, and telithromycin—for their anti‐leishmanial activity on <jats:italic>Leishmania donovani</jats:italic> parasites, especially their ability to target the enzyme glutathione synthetase (<jats:italic>Ld</jats:italic>GS), which enables parasite survival under oxidative stress in host macrophages. Valrubicin and ciclesonide exhibited superior inhibitory effects compared to deflazacort and telithromycin, inhibiting the promastigotes at very low concentrations, with IC<jats:sub>50</jats:sub> values of 1.09 ± 0.09 μ<jats:sc>m</jats:sc> and 2.09 ± 0.09 μ<jats:sc>m</jats:sc>, respectively. Subsequent testing on amastigotes revealed the IC<jats:sub>50</jats:sub> values of 1.74 ± 0.05 μ<jats:sc>m</jats:sc> and 3.32 ± 0.21 μ<jats:sc>m</jats:sc> for valrubicin and ciclesonide, respectively. Molecular and cellular level analysis further elucidated the mechanisms underlying the anti‐leishmanial activity of valrubicin and ciclesonide.","PeriodicalId":12142,"journal":{"name":"FEBS Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142250014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}