Somatic mosaicism in neuronal precursor cells mediated by L1 retrotransposition

Revealing the mechanisms for neuronal somatic diversification remains a central challenge for understanding individual differences in brain organization and function. Here we show that an engineered human LINE-1 (for long interspersed nuclear element-1; also known as L1) element can retrotranspose in neuronal precursors derived from rat hippocampus neural stem cells. The resulting retrotransposition events can alter the expression of neuronal genes, which, in turn, can influence neuronal cell fate in vitro. We further show that retrotransposition of a human L1 in transgenic mice results in neuronal somatic mosaicism. The molecular mechanism of action is probably mediated through Sox2, because a decrease in Sox2 expression during the early stages of neuronal differentiation is correlated with increases in both L1 transcription and retrotransposition. Our data therefore indicate that neuronal genomes might not be static, but some might be mosaic because of de novo L1 retrotransposition events.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62714/1/nature03663.pd

Transcriptional regulation of hepatic lipogenesis

Fatty acid and fat synthesis in liver is a highly regulated metabolic pathway critical for energy distribution. Having common features at their promoter regions, lipogenic genes are coordinately regulated at the transcription level. Transcription factors, such as USF, SREBP-1c, LXR and ChREBP play critical roles in this process. Recently, insights have been gained into how various signaling pathways regulate these transcription factors. After feeding, high blood glucose and insulin induce lipogenic genes through several pathways, including DNA-PK, aPKC and Akt-mTOR. Various transcription factors and coregulators undergo specific modifications, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, or ubiquitination, which affect their function, stability, or localization. Dysregulation of lipogenesis can contribute to hepatosteatosis, which is associated with obesity and insulin resistance