Centriolar satellites are acentriolar assemblies of centrosomal proteins

Centrioles are core structural elements of both centrosomes and cilia. Although cytoplasmic granules called centriolar satellites have been observed around these structures, lack of a comprehensive inventory of satellite proteins impedes our understanding of their ancestry. To address this, we performed mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteome profiling of centriolar satellites obtained by affinity purification of their key constituent, PCM1, from sucrose gradient fractions. We defined an interactome consisting of 223 proteins, which showed striking enrichment in centrosome components. The proteome also contained new structural and regulatory factors with roles in ciliogenesis. Quantitative MS on whole-cell and centriolar satellite proteomes of acentriolar cells was performed to reveal dependencies of satellite composition on intact centrosomes. Although, most components remained associated with PCM1 in acentriolar cells, reduced cytoplasmic and satellite levels were observed for a subset of centrosomal proteins. These results demonstrate that centriolar satellites and centrosomes form independently but share a substantial fraction of their proteomes. Dynamic exchange of proteins between these organelles could facilitate their adaptation to changing cellular environments during development, stress response and tissue homeostasis.This work was funded by Cancer Research UK (C14303/A17197 to M.M and C14303/A17043 to F.G). J.T was supported by a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft research fellowship, HA‐8069/1‐1. We acknowledge support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the University of Cambridge and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd

Molecular causes of primary microcephaly and related diseases: a report from the UNIA Workshop

The International University of Andalucía (UNIA) Current Trends in Biomedicine Workshop on Molecular Causes of Primary Microcephaly and Related Diseases took place in Baeza, Spain, November 18–20, 2019. This meeting brought together scientists from Europe, the USA and China to discuss recent advances in our molecular and genetic understanding of a group of rare neurodevelopmental diseases characterised by primary microcephaly, a condition in which head circumference is smaller than normal at birth. Microcephaly can be caused by inherited mutations that affect key cellular processes, or environmental exposure to radiation or other toxins. It can also result from viral infection, as exemplified by the recent Zika virus outbreak in South America. Here we summarise a number of the scientific advances presented and topics discussed at the meeting

A kérdezőbiztosok képzése nemi alapú erőszak tematikájú kvantitatív adatfelvételekkor

A nemi alapú erőszak tematikájú kvantitatív adatfelvételek a téma érzékenysége miatt a kérdezőbiztosok speciális „érzékenyítő” és kérdezéstechnikai képzését igénylik, mivel ezeknek a kérdőíveknek a lekérdezése során olyan érzelmileg terhelt vagy fenyegetetett interperszonális szituációk alakulhatnak ki, melyek diszkomfort- vagy veszélyérzetet okozhatnak a válaszadónak, illetve a kérdezőbiztosnak; rosszabb esetben retraumatizálhatják az erőszakot átélt válaszadót. A kérdezőbiztosok felkészületlensége egyrészről morális problémákat vet fel, másrészről növelheti a válaszmegtagadás és a disszimuláció kockázatát. A tanulmány azt a tudásanyagot foglalja össze, amelyet a nemi alapú erőszak tematikájú adatfelvételek előtti képzési szakaszban meg kell osztani a kérdezőbiztosokkal, illetve azokat a képzési és interjútechnikai módszereket, melyeket a nemi alapú erőszak adatfelvételek igényelnek. = Due to the sensitivity of the topic, gender-based violence-themed quantitative surveys require a special ‘awareness-raising’ and interview methodological training of interviewers, since surveys about gender-based violence using computer-assisted personal interviewing may involve emotionally charged or threatening interpersonal situations. These may result in a feeling of discomfort or danger in both the interview subject and the interviewer, and in a worst-case scenario, may even retraumatize a respondent who had previously been the subject of violence. The unpreparedness of interviewers, on the one hand, raises moral problems, and on the other, may increase the risk of response denial or dissimulation. The study collects the knowledge material that needs to be shared with interviewers during the training phase of gender-based violence-themed surveys, and methods of training and interviewing that gender-based violence-themed surveys require

Bryophyte Collection of Eszterházy Károly University (EGR): the digital database of peat moss (Sphagnum) species

The Bryophyte Herbarium of the University of Eger (EGR) is considered to be one of the most important collections of this kind in Central Europe. Bryophyte specimens held at EGR count around 200.000 specimens, of which approximately 2700 are the Sphagnum specimens. The first Sphagnum specimens arrived probably by exchange to M. Vrabélyi from prominent botanists, as K. G. Limpricht, A. W. Evans, V. Schiffner and J. E. Zetterstedt. Imortant are the duplicate specimens collected by Á. Boros and L. Vajda (their first specimens are stored in BP). Members of the Department of Botany has also increased this part of the collection during their field research, as by: T. Pócs, J. Suba, I. Bakalár, S. Dulai and A. Vojtkó. Our main aim was to digitalize and publish first information on the cryptogam herbarium in order to provide an easier access to the data. After photographing the pages of the collection, we read the information on the photos and recorded them in an MS Excel spreadsheet. During the record process the following information could be filled: species name (Latin), section where it belongs, place of occurrence (administrative area, geographical area, coordinates), habitat, date of collection (year/month/day), substrate, name of collector and of identifier. We choose to present here our Sphagnum (peat mosses) collection as the digitization process started in 2014, and based on stage from July 2017. There are 2700 Sphagnum samples of our bryophyte collection representing around 1.35 % of the whole bryophyte collection. Among others exsiccata specimens of Sphagnotheca Borealiamericana (Ed. R. E. Andrus and D.H. Vitt). Isotype of Sphagnum amoenum Warnst. (Bryotheca brasiliensis) and isotype of Sphagnum squarrosiforme Dixon and Sherrin (Bryophytorum typorum exsiccata) are also preserved in our Sphagna collection. The most active Hungarian collectors were: Á. Boros, L. Vajda, Á. Károlyi, T. Pócs and J. Suba. In addition to this, many specimens collected by foreigners can also be found: R. E. Andrus, A. M. Cleef, J. Duda, A. Stebel, etc. There are 554 specimens from today's Hungary, most of the Hungarian specimens are from the active years of Á. Boros. The oldest Sphagnum specimen was collected by J. E. Zetterstedt in June 23, 1860 from Sweden. The collection has been growing slowly but steadily during the XIXth century. We have specimens in the collections from more than forty countries. The peat moss collection has a great floristical significance as preserves important probative specimens of bogs from which the Sphagnum species have been extinct due to the decline of the wet habitats in these days. Increasing collection activity was continuous since 2010, with completion of new data enties. It is hoped that the unified inventory of cryptogam collection will be easily searcheable facilitating loans and research

„Pest megér egy testet” : A magyarországi pornóipar a hosszú kilencvenes években mint a világgazdaságba való reintegráció egy patriarchális formája

Tanulmányunkban két fő kérdésre keressük a választ. Egyrészt arra, hogy mely előzmények és körülmények befolyásolták a magyarországi pornóipar kiépülését a „hosszú kilencvenes években”. Másrészt arra, hogy e folyamat hogyan képezte részét gazdaságilag és kulturálisan Magyarország 1970-es évektől kezdődő világgazdasági reintegrációjának. A kutatás korabeli sajtóbeszámolók, iparági vagy az iparágra rálátó szereplőkkel folytatott félig strukturált interjúk, egykori iparági szereplők önéletrajzi könyvei alapján, valamint a fellelhető szociológiai, történeti és politikai gazdaságtani szakirodalom integratív újraolvasásával világrendszer-elméleti keretben vizsgálja a szexlapkiadásból és pornófilmgyártásból álló pornóipar mechanizmusait. Magyarország a régió országai közül már az államszocializmus alatt is az egyik legliberálisabb társadalom- és gazdaságpolitikát folytatva, valamint infrastrukturális ellátottságát és a fellelhető technikai szakértelmet tekintve megkönnyítette a nemzetközi tőke beáramlását. A reklámipari szabályozások lazulása révén a szexualizált női testtel való reklámozás bevett volt és a Kádár-kor vizuális kultúrájában a szexualizált női test látványa egyre megszokottabbá vált, a szexuálisan kizsákmányolt nő figurája pedig leválasztásra került a felemás női emancipáció témájáról. A rendszerváltás idején kialakuló egzisztenciális válság és az átörökített, társadalmi osztálypozíciókba sűrűsödő hátrányok nők tömegeit tették kiszolgáltatottá a felfutó pornóipar számára. Ezzel párhuzamosan a pornóról szóló mainstream diskurzusok a pornó jelenlétét a liberális demokrácia indikátoraként, valamint legitim üzleti vállalkozásként tartották számon, jelentősebb ellendiskurzus hiányában pedig ezzel igazolását adták az iparszerű működésnek

Triparental care in the collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis ): Cooperation of two females with a cuckolded male in rearing a brood

Certain predominant forms of mating and parental care systems are assumed in several model species among birds, but the opportunistic and apparently infrequent variations of “family structures” may often remain hidden due to methodological limitations with regard to genetic or behavioral observations. One of the intensively studied model species, the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), is usually characterized by social monogamy with polyterritorial, facultative social polygyny, and frequent extrapair mating and extrapair paternity. During a brood-size manipulation experiment, we observed two females and a male delivering food at an enlarged brood. A combination of breeding phenology data (egg laying and hatching date), behavioral data (feeding rates) from video recordings at 10 days of nestling age, and microsatellite genotyping for maternity and paternity suggests a situation of an unrelated female helping a pair in chick rearing. Such observations highlight the relevance of using traditional techniques and genetic analyses together to assess the parental roles within a population, which becomes more important where individuals may dynamically switch from their main and presupposed roles according to the actual environmental conditions

Heterologous expression of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase from Plasmodium falciparum rescues Chinese Hamster Ovary cells deficient in the Kennedy phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis pathway

The plasmodial CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (PfCCT) is a promising antimalarial target, which can be inhibited to exploit the need for increased lipid biosynthesis during the erythrocytic life stage of Plasmodium falciparum. Notable structural and regulatory differences of plasmodial and mammalian CCTs offer the possibility to develop species-specific inhibitors. The aim of this study was to use CHO-MT58 cells expressing a temperature-sensitive mutant CCT for the functional characterization of PfCCT. We show that heterologous expression of wild type PfCCT restores the viability of CHO-MT58 cells at non-permissive (40 degrees C) temperatures, whereas catalytically perturbed or structurally destabilized PfCCT variants fail to provide rescue. Detailed in vitro characterization indicates that the H630N mutation diminishes the catalytic rate constant of PfCCT. The flow cytometry-based rescue assay provides a quantitative readout of the PfCCT function opening the possibility for the functional analysis of PfCCT and the high throughput screening of antimalarial compounds targeting plasmodial CCT

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET that targets cancer cells with supernumerary centrosomes

Centrosomes associate with spindle poles; thus, the presence of two centrosomes promotes bipolar spindle assembly in normal cells. Cancer cells often contain supernumerary centrosomes, and to avoid multipolar mitosis and cell death, these are clustered into two poles by the microtubule motor protein HSET. We report the discovery of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET, CW069, which we designed using a methodology on an interface of chemistry and biology. Using this approach, we explored millions of compounds in silico and utilized convergent syntheses. Only compound CW069 showed marked activity against HSET in vitro. The inhibitor induced multipolar mitoses only in cells containing supernumerary centrosomes. CW069 therefore constitutes a valuable tool for probing HSET function and, by reducing the growth of cells containing supernumerary centrosomes, paves the way for new cancer therapeutics