The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-10-07DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00263-6
Ya Hui,Yuanmei Zhong,Liuyu Kuang,Jingxi Xu,Yuqi Hao,Jingxue Cao,Tianpeng Zheng
{"title":"O-GlcNAcylation of circadian clock protein Bmal1 impairs cognitive function in diabetic mice.","authors":"Ya Hui,Yuanmei Zhong,Liuyu Kuang,Jingxi Xu,Yuqi Hao,Jingxue Cao,Tianpeng Zheng","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00263-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00263-6","url":null,"abstract":"Neuronal damage in the hippocampus induced by high glucose has been shown to promote the onset and development of cognitive impairment in diabetes, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Guided by single-cell RNA sequencing, we here report that high glucose increases O-GlcNAcylation of Bmal1 in hippocampal neurons. This glycosylation promotes the binding of Clock to Bmal1, resulting in the expression of transcription factor Bhlhe41 and its target Dnajb4. Upregulated Dnajb4 in turn leads to ubiquitination and degradation of the mitochondrial Na + /Ca2+ exchanger NCLX, thereby inducing mitochondrial calcium overload that causes neuronal damage and cognitive impairment in mice. Notably, Bhlhe41 downregulation or treatment with a short peptide that specifically blocks O-GlcNAcylation of Bmal1 on Ser424 mitigated these adverse effects in diabetic mouse models. These data highlight the crucial role of O-GlcNAcylation in circadian clock gene expression and may facilitate the design of targeted therapies for diabetes-associated cognitive impairment.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142385213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-10-07DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00262-7
Namjoon Cho,Seung-Yeon Kim,Sung-Gwon Lee,Chungoo Park,Sunkyung Choi,Eun-Mi Kim,Kee K Kim
{"title":"Alternative splicing of PBRM1 mediates resistance to PD-1 blockade therapy in renal cancer.","authors":"Namjoon Cho,Seung-Yeon Kim,Sung-Gwon Lee,Chungoo Park,Sunkyung Choi,Eun-Mi Kim,Kee K Kim","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00262-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00262-7","url":null,"abstract":"Alternative pre-mRNA splicing (AS) is a biological process that results in proteomic diversity. However, implications of AS alterations in cancer remain poorly understood. Herein, we performed a comprehensive AS analysis in cancer driver gene transcripts across fifteen cancer types and found global alterations in inclusion rates of the PBAF SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex subunit Polybromo 1 (PBRM1) exon 27 (E27) in most types of cancer tissues compared with those in normal tissues. Further analysis confirmed that PBRM1 E27 is excluded by the direct binding of RBFOX2 to intronic UGCAUG elements. In addition, the E27-included PBRM1 isoform upregulated PD-L1 expression via enhanced PBAF complex recruitment to the PD-L1 promoter. PBRM1 wild-type patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma were resistant to PD-1 blockade therapy when they expressed low RBFOX2 mRNA levels. Overall, our study suggests targeting of RBFOX2-mediated AS of PBRM1 as a potential therapeutic strategy for immune checkpoint blockade.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142385417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-09-26DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00253-8
Astrid D Haase,Rene F Ketting,Eric C Lai,Ronald P van Rij,Mikiko Siomi,Petr Svoboda,Josien C van Wolfswinkel,Pei-Hsuan Wu
{"title":"PIWI-interacting RNAs: who, what, when, where, why, and how.","authors":"Astrid D Haase,Rene F Ketting,Eric C Lai,Ronald P van Rij,Mikiko Siomi,Petr Svoboda,Josien C van Wolfswinkel,Pei-Hsuan Wu","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00253-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00253-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142328945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-09-26DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00240-z
James Holder,Jennifer A Miles,Matthew Batchelor,Harrison Popple,Martin Walko,Wayland Yeung,Natarajan Kannan,Andrew J Wilson,Richard Bayliss,Fanni Gergely
{"title":"CEP192 localises mitotic Aurora-A activity by priming its interaction with TPX2.","authors":"James Holder,Jennifer A Miles,Matthew Batchelor,Harrison Popple,Martin Walko,Wayland Yeung,Natarajan Kannan,Andrew J Wilson,Richard Bayliss,Fanni Gergely","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00240-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00240-z","url":null,"abstract":"Aurora-A is an essential cell-cycle kinase with critical roles in mitotic entry and spindle dynamics. These functions require binding partners such as CEP192 and TPX2, which modulate both kinase activity and localisation of Aurora-A. Here we investigate the structure and role of the centrosomal Aurora-A:CEP192 complex in the wider molecular network. We find that CEP192 wraps around Aurora-A, occupies the binding sites for mitotic spindle-associated partners, and thus competes with them. Comparison of two different Aurora-A conformations reveals how CEP192 modifies kinase activity through the site used for TPX2-mediated activation. Deleting the Aurora-A-binding interface in CEP192 prevents centrosomal accumulation of Aurora-A, curtails its activation-loop phosphorylation, and reduces spindle-bound TPX2:Aurora-A complexes, resulting in error-prone mitosis. Thus, by supplying the pool of phosphorylated Aurora-A necessary for TPX2 binding, CEP192:Aurora-A complexes regulate spindle function. We propose an evolutionarily conserved spatial hierarchy, which protects genome integrity through fine-tuning and correctly localising Aurora-A activity.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142328986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"RNA degradation triggered by decapping is largely independent of initial deadenylation.","authors":"Léna Audebert,Frank Feuerbach,Mostafa Zedan,Alexandra P Schürch,Laurence Decourty,Abdelkader Namane,Emmanuelle Permal,Karsten Weis,Gwenaël Badis,Cosmin Saveanu","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00250-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00250-x","url":null,"abstract":"RNA stability, important for eukaryotic gene expression, is thought to depend on deadenylation rates, with shortened poly(A) tails triggering decapping and 5' to 3' degradation. In contrast to this view, recent large-scale studies indicate that the most unstable mRNAs have, on average, long poly(A) tails. To clarify the role of deadenylation in mRNA decay, we first modeled mRNA poly(A) tail kinetics and mRNA stability in yeast. Independent of deadenylation rates, differences in mRNA decapping rates alone were sufficient to explain current large-scale results. To test the hypothesis that deadenylation and decapping are uncoupled, we used rapid depletion of decapping and deadenylation enzymes and measured changes in mRNA levels, poly(A) length and stability, both transcriptome-wide and with individual reporters. These experiments revealed that perturbations in poly(A) tail length did not correlate with variations in mRNA stability. Thus, while deadenylation may be critical for specific regulatory mechanisms, our results suggest that for most yeast mRNAs, it is not critical for mRNA decapping and degradation.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"217 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142325035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-09-25DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00213-2
Sevim Kahraman,Dario F De Jesus,Jiangbo Wei,Natalie K Brown,Zhongyu Zou,Jiang Hu,Mehdi Pirouz,Richard I Gregory,Chuan He,Rohit N Kulkarni
{"title":"m6A mRNA methylation by METTL14 regulates early pancreatic cell differentiation.","authors":"Sevim Kahraman,Dario F De Jesus,Jiangbo Wei,Natalie K Brown,Zhongyu Zou,Jiang Hu,Mehdi Pirouz,Richard I Gregory,Chuan He,Rohit N Kulkarni","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00213-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00213-2","url":null,"abstract":"N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant chemical modification in mRNA and plays important roles in human and mouse embryonic stem cell pluripotency, maintenance, and differentiation. We have recently reported that m6A is involved in the postnatal control of β-cell function in physiological states and in type 1 and 2 diabetes. However, the precise mechanisms by which m6A acts to regulate the development of human and mouse pancreas are unexplored. Here, we show that the m6A landscape is dynamic during human pancreas development, and that METTL14, one of the m6A writer complex proteins, is essential for the early differentiation of both human and mouse pancreatic cells.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"201 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142325036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-09-25DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00248-5
Isabella Santi,Raphael Dias Teixeira,Pablo Manfredi,Hector Hernandez Gonzalez,Daniel C Spiess,Guillaume Mas,Alexander Klotz,Andreas Kaczmarczyk,Nicola Zamboni,Sebastian Hiller,Urs Jenal
{"title":"Toxin-mediated depletion of NAD and NADP drives persister formation in a human pathogen.","authors":"Isabella Santi,Raphael Dias Teixeira,Pablo Manfredi,Hector Hernandez Gonzalez,Daniel C Spiess,Guillaume Mas,Alexander Klotz,Andreas Kaczmarczyk,Nicola Zamboni,Sebastian Hiller,Urs Jenal","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00248-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00248-5","url":null,"abstract":"Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are widespread in bacteria and implicated in genome stability, virulence, phage defense, and persistence. TA systems have diverse activities and cellular targets, but their physiological roles and regulatory mechanisms are often unclear. Here, we show that the NatR-NatT TA system, which is part of the core genome of the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, generates drug-tolerant persisters by specifically depleting nicotinamide dinucleotides. While actively growing P. aeruginosa cells compensate for NatT-mediated NAD+ deficiency by inducing the NAD+ salvage pathway, NAD depletion generates drug-tolerant persisters under nutrient-limited conditions. Our structural and biochemical analyses propose a model for NatT toxin activation and autoregulation and indicate that NatT activity is subject to powerful metabolic feedback control by the NAD+ precursor nicotinamide. Based on the identification of natT gain-of-function alleles in patient isolates and on the observation that NatT increases P. aeruginosa virulence, we postulate that NatT modulates pathogen fitness during infections. These findings pave the way for detailed investigations into how a toxin-antitoxin system can promote pathogen persistence by disrupting essential metabolic pathways.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142325034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The EMBO JournalPub Date : 2024-09-25DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00239-6
Renata O Pereira,E Dale Abel
{"title":"BATokines in metabolic liver disease: good cops or bad cops?","authors":"Renata O Pereira,E Dale Abel","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00239-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00239-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142325037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"miRNA-mediated gene silencing in Drosophila larval development involves GW182-dependent and independent mechanisms.","authors":"Eriko Matsuura-Suzuki,Kaori Kiyokawa,Shintaro Iwasaki,Yukihide Tomari","doi":"10.1038/s44318-024-00249-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00249-4","url":null,"abstract":"MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate a wide variety of biological processes by silencing their target genes. Argonaute (AGO) proteins load miRNAs to form an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), which mediates translational repression and/or mRNA decay of the targets. A scaffold protein called GW182 directly binds AGO and the CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex, initiating the mRNA decay reaction. Although previous studies have demonstrated the critical role of GW182 in cultured cells as well as in cell-free systems, its biological significance in living organisms remains poorly explored, especially in Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we generated gw182-null flies using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and found that, unexpectedly, they can survive until an early second-instar larval stage. Moreover, in vivo miRNA reporters can be effectively repressed in gw182-null first-instar larvae. Nevertheless, gw182-null flies have defects in the expression of chitin-related genes and the formation of the larval trachea system, preventing them from completing larval development. Our results highlight the importance of both GW182-dependent and -independent silencing mechanisms in vivo.","PeriodicalId":501009,"journal":{"name":"The EMBO Journal","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142325123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}