The mTOR regulated RNA-binding protein LARP1 requires PABPC1 for guided mRNA interaction.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a critical regulator of cell growth, integrating multiple signalling cues and pathways. Key among the downstream activities of mTOR is the control of the protein synthesis machinery. This is achieved, in part, via the co-ordinated regulation of mRNAs that contain a terminal oligopyrimidine tract (TOP) at their 5'ends, although the mechanisms by which this occurs downstream of mTOR signalling are still unclear. We used RNA-binding protein (RBP) capture to identify changes in the protein-RNA interaction landscape following mTOR inhibition. Upon mTOR inhibition, the binding of LARP1 to a number of mRNAs, including TOP-containing mRNAs, increased. Importantly, non-TOP-containing mRNAs bound by LARP1 are in a translationally-repressed state, even under control conditions. The mRNA interactome of the LARP1-associated protein PABPC1 was found to have a high degree of overlap with that of LARP1 and our data show that PABPC1 is required for the association of LARP1 with its specific mRNA targets. Finally, we demonstrate that mRNAs, including those encoding proteins critical for cell growth and survival, are translationally repressed when bound by both LARP1 and PABPC1

Whole genome linkage scan of recurrent depressive disorder from the depression network study

Genome-wide linkage analysis was carried out in a sample of 497 sib pairs concordant for recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD). There was suggestive evidence for linkage on chromosome 1p36 where the LOD score for female-female pairs exceeded 3 (but reduced to 2.73 when corrected for multiple testing). The region includes a gene, MTHFR, that in previous studies has been associated with depressive symptoms. Two other regions, on chromosomes 12q23.3-q24.11 and 13q31.1-q31.3, showed evidence for linkage with a nominal P<0.01. The 12q peak overlaps with a region previously implicated by linkage studies of unipolar and bipolar disorders and contains a gene, DAO, that has been associated with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The 13q peak lies within a region previously linked strongly to panic disorder. A fourth modest peak with an LOD of greater than 1 on chromosome 15q lies within a region that showed genome-wide significant evidence of a recurrent depression locus in a previous sib-pair study. Both the 12q and the 15q findings remained significant at genome-wide level when the data from the present study and the previous reports were combine

Short course daily prednisolone therapy during an upper respiratory tract infection in children with relapsing steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (PREDNOS 2):protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Relapses of childhood steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) are treated with a 4- to 8-week course of high-dose oral prednisolone, which may be associated with significant adverse effects. There is a clear association between upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and relapse development. Previous studies in developing nations have suggested that introducing a 5- to 7-day course of daily prednisolone during an URTI may prevent a relapse developing and the need for a treatment course of high-dose prednisolone. The aim of PREDNOS 2 is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-day course of daily prednisolone therapy during an URTI in reducing the development of a subsequent relapse in a developed nation.METHODS/DESIGN: The subjects will be 300 children with relapsing SSNS (≥2 relapses in preceding year), who will be randomised to receive either a 6-day course of daily prednisolone or no change to their current therapy (with the use of placebo to double blind) each time they develop an URTI over 12 months. A strict definition for URTI will be used. Subjects will be reviewed at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to capture data regarding relapse history, ongoing therapy and adverse effect profile, including behavioural problems and quality of life. A formal health economic analysis will also be performed. The primary end point of the study will be the incidence of URTI-related relapse (3 days of Albustix +++) following the first infection during the 12-month follow-up period. DNA and RNA samples will be collected to identify a potential genetic cause for the disease. Subjects will be recruited from over 100 UK centres with the assistance of the Medicines for Children Research Network. PREDNOS 2 is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme (11/129/261).DISCUSSION: We propose that PREDNOS 2 will be a pivotal study that will inform the future standard of care for children with SSNS. If it is possible to reduce the disease relapse rate effectively and safely, this will reduce the morbidity and cost associated with drug treatment, notwithstanding hospital admission and parental absence from employment.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials (ISRCTN10900733).</p

Daily low-dose prednisolone to prevent relapse of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome in children with an upper respiratory tract infection:PREDNOS2 RCT

BACKGROUND: Most children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome have relapses that are triggered by upper respiratory tract infections. Four small trials, mostly in children already taking maintenance corticosteroid in countries of different upper respiratory tract infection epidemiology, showed that giving daily low-dose prednisone/prednisolone for 5-7 days during an upper respiratory tract infection reduces the risk of relapse. OBJECTIVES: To determine if these findings were replicated in a large UK population of children with relapsing steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome on different background medication or none. DESIGN: A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial, including a cost-effectiveness analysis. SETTING: A total of 122 UK paediatric departments, of which 91 recruited patients. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 365 children with relapsing steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (mean age 7.6 ± 3.5 years) were randomised (1 : 1) according to a minimisation algorithm based on background treatment. Eighty children completed 12 months of follow-up without an upper respiratory tract infection. Thirty-two children were withdrawn from the trial (14 prior to an upper respiratory tract infection), leaving a modified intention-to-treat analysis population of 271 children (134 and 137 children in the prednisolone and placebo arms, respectively). INTERVENTIONS: At the start of an upper respiratory tract infection, children received 6 days of prednisolone (15 mg/m2) or an equivalent dose of placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the incidence of first upper respiratory tract infection-related relapse following any upper respiratory tract infection over 12 months. The secondary outcomes were the overall rate of relapse, changes in background treatment, cumulative dose of prednisolone, rates of serious adverse events, incidence of corticosteroid adverse effects, change in Achenbach Child Behaviour Checklist score and quality of life. Analysis was by intention-to-treat principle. The cost-effectiveness analysis used trial data and a decision-analytic model to estimate quality-adjusted life-years and costs at 1 year, which were then extrapolated over 16 years. RESULTS: There were 384 upper respiratory tract infections and 82 upper respiratory tract infection-related relapses in the prednisolone arm, and 407 upper respiratory tract infections and 82 upper respiratory tract infection-related relapses in the placebo arm. The number of patients experiencing an upper respiratory tract infection-related relapse was 56 (42.7%) and 58 (44.3%) in the prednisolone and placebo arms, respectively (adjusted risk difference -0.024, 95% confidence interval -0.14 to 0.09; p = 0.70). There was no evidence that the treatment effect differed when data were analysed according to background treatment. There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes between treatment arms. Giving daily prednisolone at the time of an upper respiratory tract infection was associated with increased quality-adjusted life-years (0.9427 vs. 0.9424) and decreased average costs (£252 vs. £254), when compared with standard care. The cost saving was driven by background therapy and hospitalisations after relapse. The finding was robust to sensitivity analysis. LIMITATIONS: A larger number of children than expected did not have an upper respiratory tract infection and the sample size attrition rate was adjusted accordingly during the trial. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical analysis indicated that giving 6 days of daily low-dose prednisolone at the time of an upper respiratory tract infection does not reduce the risk of relapse of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome in UK children. However, there was an economic benefit from costs associated with background therapy and relapse, and the health-related quality-of-life impact of having a relapse. FUTURE WORK: Further work is needed to investigate the clinical and health economic impact of relapses, interethnic differences in treatment response, the effect of different corticosteroid regimens in treating relapses, and the pathogenesis of individual viral infections and their effect on steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN10900733 and EudraCT 2012-003476-39. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 26, No. 3. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Utility of the pooling approach as applied to whole genome association scans with high-density Affymetrix microarrays

Background: We report an attempt to extend the previously successful approach of combining SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) microarrays and DNA pooling (SNP-MaP) employing high-density microarrays. Whereas earlier studies employed a range of Affymetrix SNP microarrays comprising from 10 K to 500 K SNPs, this most recent investigation used the 6.0 chip which displays 906,600 SNP probes and 946,000 probes for the interrogation of CNVs (copy number variations). The genotyping assay using the Affymetrix SNP 6.0 array is highly demanding on sample quality due to the small feature size, low redundancy, and lack of mismatch probes. Findings: In the first study published so far using this microarray on pooled DNA, we found that pooled cheek swab DNA could not accurately predict real allele frequencies of the samples that comprised the pools. In contrast, the allele frequency estimates using blood DNA pools were reasonable, although inferior compared to those obtained with previously employed Affymetrix microarrays. However, it might be possible to improve performance by developing improved analysis methods. Conclusions: Despite the decreasing costs of genome-wide individual genotyping, the pooling approach may have applications in very large-scale case-control association studies. In such cases, our study suggests that high-quality DNA preparations and lower density platforms should be preferred

eIF4A2 drives repression of translation at initiation by Ccr4-Not through purine-rich motifs in the 5′UTR

BackgroundRegulation of the mRNA life cycle is central to gene expression control and determination of cell fate. miRNAs represent a critical mRNA regulatory mechanism, but despite decades of research, their mode of action is still not fully understood.ResultsHere, we show that eIF4A2 is a major effector of the repressive miRNA pathway functioning via the Ccr4-Not complex. We demonstrate that while DDX6 interacts with Ccr4-Not, its effects in the mechanism are not as pronounced. Through its interaction with the Ccr4-Not complex, eIF4A2 represses mRNAs at translation initiation. We show evidence that native eIF4A2 has similar RNA selectivity to chemically inhibited eIF4A1. eIF4A2 exerts its repressive effect by binding purine-rich motifs which are enriched in the 5′UTR of target mRNAs directly upstream of the AUG start codon.ConclusionsOur data support a model whereby purine motifs towards the 3′ end of the 5′UTR are associated with increased ribosome occupancy and possible uORF activation upon eIF4A2 binding.</p

The administration of chitosan-tripolyphosphate-DNA nanoparticles to express exogenous SREBP1a enhances conversion of dietary carbohydrates into lipids in the liver of Sparus aurata

In addition to being essential for the transcription of genes involved in cellular lipogenesis, increasing evidence associates sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) with the transcriptional control of carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of overexpression SREBP1a, a potent activator of all SREBP-responsive genes, on the intermediary metabolism of Sparus aurata, a glucose-intolerant carnivorous fish. Administration of chitosan-tripolyphosphate nanoparticles complexed with a plasmid driving expression of the N-terminal transactivation domain of SREBP1a significantly increased SREBP1a mRNA and protein in the liver of S. aurata. Overexpression of SREBP1a enhanced the hepatic expression of key genes in glycolysis-gluconeogenesis (glucokinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase), fatty acid synthesis (acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 and acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2), elongation (elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 5) and desaturation (fatty acid desaturase 2) as well as reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate production (glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase) and cholesterol synthesis (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase), leading to increased blood triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Beyond reporting the first study addressing in vivo effects of exogenous SREBP1a in a glucose-intolerant model, our findings support that SREBP1a overexpression caused multigenic effects that favoured hepatic glycolysis and lipogenesis and thus enabled protein sparing by improving dietary carbohydrate conversion into fatty acids and cholesterol