microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-05-07eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001610
Brian A Hyatt, Erin Lundberg, Rachael Eye, Scott A Rankin, Aaron M Zorn
{"title":"Temporal induction of the homeodomain transcription factor Nkx2-1 is sufficient to respecify foregut and hindgut endoderm to a pulmonary fate in <i>Xenopus laevis</i>.","authors":"Brian A Hyatt, Erin Lundberg, Rachael Eye, Scott A Rankin, Aaron M Zorn","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001610","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001610","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ability of transcription factors (TFs) to regulate cell fate decisions is paramount in developmental, homeostatic, and pathogenic contexts. The homeodomain TF NKX2-1 is an essential and evolutionarily conserved master regulator of pulmonary fate in vertebrates. In this study, we tested the spatial-temporal ability of Xenopus and Human NKX2-1 to respecify foregut and hindgut endoderm in developing <i>Xenopus laevis</i> embryos into a pulmonary fate, as indicated by expression of pulmonary surfactant genes <i>sftpc</i> and <i>sftpb</i> . Interestingly, we find that both Human and Xenopus NKX2-1 can induce the ectopic expression of pulmonary surfactant genes in foregut and hindgut endoderm over a wide range of developmental times, as well as suppress the expression of midgut and hindgut specific genes. These results suggest a single pulmonary TF can reprogram developing endoderm and specify pulmonary fate. In addition, our work provides a comparative platform for future studies investigating how mutations in Human <i>NKX2-1</i> may affect its transcriptional activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12096181/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-05-07eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001579
Kyle VanderVen, Conner Butcher, Remi' Fokine, Jianhui Li
{"title":"Pep12 is important for proteasome microautophagy under low glucose conditions.","authors":"Kyle VanderVen, Conner Butcher, Remi' Fokine, Jianhui Li","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001579","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001579","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Autophagic degradation of proteasomes is a highly conserved mechanism for regulating proteasome homeostasis in eukaryotes. Here we show that Pep12, a t-SNARE protein, is important for intralumenal vesicle formation in the vacuole and proteasome microautophagy under low glucose conditions. Deleting <i>PEP12</i> in yeast cells, <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> , blocked proteasome fragmentation, by which the ESCRT-dependent microautophagy selectively degrades aberrant proteasomes. Accumulation of aberrant proteasomes interfered with proteasome condensate formation in <i>pep12∆</i> cells. Autophagic bodies were present, but intralumenal vesicles and proteasome microautophagy were absent in the vacuole of <i>pep12∆</i> cells. Therefore, Pep12 plays an important role in proteasome microautophagy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12096180/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-05-06eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001612
Mia Hakian, Ian Matthews, Constanza J Cortes
{"title":"Skeletal muscle TFEB overexpression does not increase neurogenesis markers in the young female hippocampus.","authors":"Mia Hakian, Ian Matthews, Constanza J Cortes","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001612","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN), the process in which new neurons are formed in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, declines with age and is highly responsive to voluntary wheel running in mice. This exercise-activated increase in AHN is believed to contribute to the cognitive and neurotrophic benefits of exercise on the aging and neurodegenerative disease-afflicted brain. However, our current understanding of the decline in AHN remains male-centric, with very few studies examining the effects of age and/or running on AHN in the female brain. Our lab has recently shown that skeletal muscle-specific overexpression of Transcription Factor E-B (TFEB), a master regulator of lysosomal and mitochondrial function, mimics many of the neuroprotective benefits of exercise during aging and in the context of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathologies, but the effect of muscle-TFEB overexpression on AHN was unknown. Here we report that female AHN declines in a similar timeline as to what has been reported for the male hippocampus, following a precipitous decline at around 3 months of age that culminates at around 8 months of age. Furthermore, we report that muscle-TFEB overexpression does not prevent this age-associated decrease in AHN, suggesting that the neuroprotective benefits observed in our muscle-TFEB model are independent of AHN.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12093156/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144121514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-05-01eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001043
Megan E Lawson, Kelsey Gammage, Calvin Dexel, Betty Duan, Elena M Zerkin, Lindsey J Long, Melinda A Yang, Chinmay P Rele, Laura K Reed
{"title":"Gene model for the ortholog of <i>Roc1a</i> in <i>Drosophila persimilis</i>.","authors":"Megan E Lawson, Kelsey Gammage, Calvin Dexel, Betty Duan, Elena M Zerkin, Lindsey J Long, Melinda A Yang, Chinmay P Rele, Laura K Reed","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001043","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gene model for the ortholog of <i>Regulator of cullins 1a</i> ( <i>Roc1a</i> ) in the May 2011 (Broad dper_caf1/DperCAF1) Genome Assembly (GenBank Accession: GCA_000005195.1 ) of <i>Drosophila persimilis</i> . This ortholog was characterized as part of a developing dataset to study the evolution of the Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) across the genus <i>Drosophila</i> using the Genomics Education Partnership gene annotation protocol for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12082343/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144096068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-29eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001606
Kevin R Cook
{"title":"The underappreciated, underrecognized problem of fourth chromosome trisomy in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> stocks and a simple, general method for building diplo-4 stocks from triplo-4 stocks.","authors":"Kevin R Cook","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001606","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Trisomy of the small, fourth chromosome is common in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> stocks. Even though the presence of an extra chromosome can confound the interpretation of experimental crosses, many Drosophila geneticists are unaware of this potential problem. Here I describe a simple method employing a mutation in a haploinsufficient gene to recognize fourth chromosome trisomy and establish disomic stocks from trisomic stocks.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12082342/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144096074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-28eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001549
Nathan Y Rodak, Chieh-Hsiang Tan, Paul W Sternberg
{"title":"A small-scale bacterial-based liquid Culture Method for <i>Steinernema hermaphroditum</i>.","authors":"Nathan Y Rodak, Chieh-Hsiang Tan, Paul W Sternberg","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001549","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001549","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) infect and kill their insect host with the help of symbiotic bacteria. The only known hermaphroditic (androdiecious) EPN, the clade IV <i>Steinernema hermaphroditum</i> , offers opportunities for exploring both parasitic and mutualistic symbiosis, as well as for evolutionary and developmental studies. Experimental and genetic analysis of this animal is now facilitated through the development of forward and reverse genetic tools and improved culturing techniques. Here, we describe a liquid-culture technique adapted for this worm. The method can be a starting point for the development of large-scale cultivation of the worm and provides a method to generate infective juveniles without an insect host and either with or without its native symbiotic bacteria.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12082344/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144095854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-28eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001595
Sarah M Hanna, Alaina H Willet, Kathleen L Gould
{"title":"Characterization of temperature-sensitive alleles of the septation initiation network protein Mob1 in <i>Schizosaccharomyces pombe</i>.","authors":"Sarah M Hanna, Alaina H Willet, Kathleen L Gould","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001595","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001595","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Schizosaccharomyces pombe</i> Mob1 is the regulatory subunit of the protein kinase Sid2 . The Sid2- Mob1 complex is the most downstream acting component of the septation initiation network (SIN). In the absence of functional Mob1 , cells fail cytokinesis and become multinucleate. Here we characterize a set of temperature-sensitive <i>mob1</i> alleles by identifying the mutations within each allele, characterizing the extent of their growth defects, and visualizing the cell defects. Based on structural modeling, we hypothesize that the Mob1 mutations interfere with Mob1 stability and its ability to bind the N-terminal regulatory region of Sid2 .</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12082341/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144095866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-28eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001617
{"title":"Erratum: Corrigendum: The Complete Genome Sequences of Bacteriophages ASegato, DejaVu, Judebell, and RicoCaldo isolated using <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i>.","authors":"","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.001617","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001443.].</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038436/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144055065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-28eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001577
Julia R Torvi, Jonathan Wong, David G Drubin, Georjana Barnes
{"title":"Stu2 is required for plus-end directed chromosome transport along microtubules during metaphase in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>.","authors":"Julia R Torvi, Jonathan Wong, David G Drubin, Georjana Barnes","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001577","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001577","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chromosome alignment on the mitotic spindle, also referred to as congression, is facilitated by translocation of side-bound chromosomes along the microtubule surface, which allows the establishment of end-on attachment of kinetochores to microtubule plus ends. We use a reconstitution assay in lysates prepared from metaphase-arrested budding yeast to show that kinetochore translocation along the lateral surface of microtubules is dependent on Stu2, a homolog of vertebrate XMAP215. Stu2 tracks both growing and shrinking microtubule ends but also colocalizes with moving lattice-bound kinetochores. In cells, we observed that Stu2 depletion impairs chromosome biorientation during metaphase.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12082346/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144096072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-04-25eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001529
Lizbeth Perez-Castro, Busola Alabi, Afshan Nawas, M Carmen Lafita-Navarro, Jerry Shay, Maralice Conacci-Sorrell
{"title":"Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) is required for repopulation of decellularized intestinal colon scaffolds.","authors":"Lizbeth Perez-Castro, Busola Alabi, Afshan Nawas, M Carmen Lafita-Navarro, Jerry Shay, Maralice Conacci-Sorrell","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001529","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001529","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigates the role of the ligand-activated transcription factor AHR in repopulating the intestinal lining. Using organoid-derived cells and decellularized mouse intestinal scaffolds to investigate the importance of AHR in regulating intestinal regeneration, we found that silencing AHR expression hinders the capacity of colonic cells to repopulate decellularized colons. We therefore propose that AHR may play an important role in regulating intestinal regeneration. The ligand-dependent nature of AHR activity may provide an opportunity to interfere with disorders such as cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases which are caused by dysregulation in intestinal tissue renewal.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12062895/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144037954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}