A repeated IMP-binding motif controls oskar mRNA translation and anchoring independently of Drosophila melanogaster IMP

Zip code–binding protein 1 (ZBP-1) and its Xenopus laevis homologue, Vg1 RNA and endoplasmic reticulum–associated protein (VERA)/Vg1 RNA-binding protein (RBP), bind repeated motifs in the 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) of localized mRNAs. Although these motifs are required for RNA localization, the necessity of ZBP-1/VERA remains unresolved. We address the role of ZBP-1/VERA through analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster homologue insulin growth factor II mRNA–binding protein (IMP). Using systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment, we identified the IMP-binding element (IBE) UUUAY, a motif that occurs 13 times in the oskar 3′UTR. IMP colocalizes with oskar mRNA at the oocyte posterior, and this depends on the IBEs. Furthermore, mutation of all, or subsets of, the IBEs prevents oskar mRNA translation and anchoring at the posterior. However, oocytes lacking IMP localize and translate oskar mRNA normally, illustrating that one cannot necessarily infer the function of an RBP from mutations in its binding sites. Thus, the translational activation of oskar mRNA must depend on the binding of another factor to the IBEs, and IMP may serve a different purpose, such as masking IBEs in RNAs where they occur by chance. Our findings establish a parallel requirement for IBEs in the regulation of localized maternal mRNAs in D. melanogaster and X. laevis

Um breve guia para as Humanidades Digitais

As digital methodologies, tools and skills become increasingly central to working in the humanities, questions concerning the foundations, project outcomes, evaluation and design have become urgent. The specifications provide a set of criteria to guide those actually working in the Digital Humanities, as well as those who are asked to evaluate and fund Digital Humanities researchers, projects, and initiatives

Novel loss-of-function variants in CDC14A are associated with recessive sensorineural hearing loss in Iranian and Pakistani patients

CDC14A encodes the Cell Division Cycle 14A protein and has been associated with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (DFNB32), as well as hearing impairment and infertile male syndrome (HIIMS) since 2016. To date, only nine variants have been associated in patients whose initial symptoms included moderate-to-profound hearing impairment. Exome analysis of Iranian and Pakistani probands who both showed bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss revealed a novel splice site variant (c.1421+2T>C, p.?) that disrupts the splice donor site and a novel frameshift variant (c.1041dup, p.Ser348Glnfs*2) in the gene CDC14A, respectively. To evaluate the pathogenicity of both loss-of-function variants, we analyzed the effects of both variants on the RNA-level. The splice variant was characterized using a minigene assay. Altered expression levels due to the c.1041dup variant were assessed using RT-qPCR. In summary, cDNA analysis confirmed that the c.1421+2T>C variant activates a cryptic splice site, resulting in a truncated transcript (c.1414_1421del, p.Val472Leufs*20) and the c.1041dup variant results in a defective transcript that is likely degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. The present study functionally characterizes two variants and provides further confirmatory evidence that CDC14A is associated with a rare form of hereditary hearing loss

Media language: Video practices

This project explores the blog as a context considering the articulations between the context and content (blog and videos) forming this project. In order to do so, hyperlinks to practitioners’ videos (uploaded to individual Vimeo accounts), are gathered together on a blog page. Contributors are asked to consider the prompt of a glass of water for a video-based active reflection on their practice. A glass of water is an object of the everyday, yet one often present in interviews; this project started as a series of interviews. The water or the glass can be present or not present in the video, for example materiality could be considered, or perhaps the ‘publicness’ connected with the water glass at a site of presentation could be explored. Other ways may be found. This is a collaborative work where practitioners survey their individual use of media through the prescribed method of digital video. The result of the work can be accessed on Seminar Project website ( http://www.kmbosy.com/blog/seminar-project)