The role of tenascin-C in tissue injury and tumorigenesis

The extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C is highly expressed during embryonic development, tissue repair and in pathological situations such as chronic inflammation and cancer. Tenascin-C interacts with several other extracellular matrix molecules and cell-surface receptors, thus affecting tissue architecture, tissue resilience and cell responses. Tenascin-C modulates cell migration, proliferation and cellular signaling through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oncogenic signaling molecules amongst other mechanisms. Given the causal role of inflammation in cancer progression, common mechanisms might be controlled by tenascin-C during both events. Drugs targeting the expression or function of tenascin-C or the tenascin-C protein itself are currently being developed and some drugs have already reached advanced clinical trials. This generates hope that increased knowledge about tenascin-C will further improve management of diseases with high tenascin-C expression such as chronic inflammation, heart failure, artheriosclerosis and cancer

Brattforsite, Mn19(AsO3)12Cl2, a new arsenite mineral relatedto magnussonite, from Brattforsgruvan, Nordmark,Värmland, Sweden

Brattforsite is an approved mineral (IMA2019-127), with ideal formula Mn19(AsO3)12Cl2. Associated minerals in the type specimen from the Brattfors mine, Nordmark (Värmland, Sweden) include jacobsite, alleghanyite, phlogopite, calcite anddolomite. Brattforsite, forming subhedral, mostly equant crystals up to 0.5 mm across, is orange to reddish-brown with a white streak, and translucent with a resinous to vitreous lustre. The fracture is uneven to subconchoidal, and no cleavage is observed. It is very weakly pleochroic in yellow, optically biaxial (–) with 2V = 44(5)° and has calculated mean refractive index of 1.981. Measured and calculated density values are 4.49(1) and 4.54(1) g·cm−3, respectively. Chemical analyses yields (in wt%): MgO 0.62, CaO 1.26, MnO 48.66, FeO 0.13, As2O3 46.72, Cl 2.61, H2Ocalc 0.07, O ≡ Cl –0.59, sum 99.49, corresponding to the empirical formula (Mn17.67Ca0.58Mg0.40Fe0.05)Σ18.70As12.17O35.90Cl1.90(OH)0.20, based on 38 (O + Cl + OH) atoms per formula unit. The five strongest Bragg peaks in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are [d (Å), I (%), (hkl)]: 2.843,100, (-444)); 2.828, 99,(444); 1.731, 32, (880); 2.448, 28, (800); 1.739, 25, (088). Brattforsite is monoclinic and pseudotetragonal, space group I2/a, with unit-cell parameters a = 19.5806(7), b = 19.5763(7), c = 19.7595(7) Å, β = 90.393(3)°, V = 7573.9(5) Å3 and Z = 8. The crystal structure was solved and refined to an R1 index of 3.4% for 7445 reflections [Fo > 4σ(Fo)]. Brattforsite has the same overall structural topology as magnussonite (i.e., the species can be considered as homeotypic), but with 12 independent tetrahedrally coordinated As sites and 21 Mn sites with varying (4–8) coordination. The Mn-centered polyhedra, bonded through edge- and face-sharing, give rise to a three-dimensional framework. The (AsO3)3− groups are bonded to this framework through corner- and edge-sharing. Spectroscopic measurements (optical absorption, Raman, FTIR) carried out support the interpretation of the compositional and structural data

Measuring and interpreting transposable element expression

International audienceTransposable elements (TEs) are insertional mutagens that contribute greatly to the plasticity of eukaryotic genomes, influencing the evolution and adaptation of species as well as physiology or disease in individuals. Measuring TE expression helps to understand not only when and where TE mobilization can occur, but also how this process alters gene expression, chromatin accessibility or cellular signalling pathways. Although genome-wide gene expression assays such as RNA-sequencing include transposon-derived transcripts, the majority of computational analytical tools discard or misinterpret TE-derived reads. Emerging approaches are improving the identification of expressed TE loci and helping to discriminate TE transcripts that permit TE mobilization from gene-TE chimeric transcripts or pervasive transcription. Here, we review the main challenges associated with the detection of TE expression, including mappability, insertional and internal sequence polymorphisms, and the diversity of the TE transcriptional landscape, as well as the different experimental and computational strategies to solve them