2,708 research outputs found
A role for the histone deacetylase HDAC4 in the life-cycle of HIV-1-based vectors
HIV-1 integration is mediated by the HIV-1 integrase protein, which joins 3'-ends of viral DNA to host cell DNA. To complete the integration process, HIV-1 DNA has to be joined to host cell DNA also at the 5'-ends. This process is called post-integration repair (PIR). Integration and PIR involve a number of cellular co-factors. These proteins exhibit different degrees of involvement in integration and/or PIR. Some are required for efficient integration or PIR. On the other hand, some reduce the efficiency of integration. Finally, some are involved in integration site selection. We have studied the role of the histone deacetylase HDAC4 in these processes. HDAC4 was demonstrated to play a role in both cellular double-strand DNA break repair and transcriptional regulation. We observed that HDAC4 associates with viral DNA in an integrase-dependent manner. Moreover, infection with HIV-1-based vectors induces foci of the HDAC4 protein. The related histone deacetylases, HDAC2 and HDAC6, failed to associate with viral DNA after infection. These data suggest that HDAC4 accumulates at integration sites. Finally, overexpression studies with HDAC4 mutants suggest that HDAC4 may be required for efficient transduction by HIV-1-based vectors in cells that are deficient in other DNA repair proteins. We conclude that HDAC4 is likely involved in PIR
Gamma radiation increases endonuclease-dependent L1 retrotransposition in a cultured cell assay
Long Interspersed Elements (LINE-1s, L1s) are the most active mobile elements in the human genome and account for a significant fraction of its mass. The propagation of L1 in the human genome requires disruption and repair of DNA at the site of integration. As Barbara McClintock first hypothesized, genotoxic stress may contribute to the mobilization of transposable elements, and conversely, element mobility may contribute to genotoxic stress. We tested the ability of genotoxic agents to increase L1 retrotransposition in a cultured cell assay. We observed that cells exposed to gamma radiation exhibited increased levels of L1 retrotransposition. The L1 retrotransposition frequency was proportional to the number of phosphorylated H2AX foci, an indicator of genotoxic stress. To explore the role of the L1 endonuclease in this context, endonuclease-deficient tagged L1 constructs were produced and tested for their activity in irradiated cells. The activity of the endonuclease-deficient L1 was very low in irradiated cells, suggesting that most L1 insertions in irradiated cells still use the L1 endonuclease. Consistent with this interpretation, DNA sequences that flank L1 insertions in irradiated cells harbored target site duplications. These results suggest that increased L1 retrotransposition in irradiated cells is endonuclease dependent. The mobilization of L1 in irradiated cells potentially contributes to genomic instability and could be a driving force for secondary mutations in patients undergoing radiation therapy
Histone deacetylase 4 interacts with 53BP1 to mediate the DNA damage response
Anumber of proteins are recruited to nuclear foci upon exposure to double-strand DNA damage, including 53BP1 and Rad51, but the precise role of these DNA damageâinduced foci remain unclear. Here we show in a variety of human cell lines that histone deacetylase (HDAC) 4 is recruited to foci with kinetics similar to, and colocalizes with, 53BP1 after exposure to agents causing double-stranded DNA breaks. HDAC4 foci gradually disappeared in repair-proficient cells but persisted in repair-deficient cell lines or cells irradiated with a lethal dose, suggesting that resolution of HDAC4 foci is linked to repair. Silencing of HDAC4 via RNA interference surprisingly also decreased levels of 53BP1 protein, abrogated the DNA damageâinduced G2 delay, and radiosensitized HeLa cells. Our combined results suggest that HDAC4 is a critical component of the DNA damage response pathway that acts through 53BP1 and perhaps contributes in maintaining the G2 cell cycle checkpoint
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Phenotypic and functional characterization of corneal endothelial cells during in vitro expansion.
The advent of cell culture-based methods for the establishment and expansion of human corneal endothelial cells (CEnC) has provided a source of transplantable corneal endothelium, with a significant potential to challenge the one donor-one recipient paradigm. However, concerns over cell identity remain, and a comprehensive characterization of the cultured CEnC across serial passages has not been performed. To this end, we compared two established CEnC culture methods by assessing the transcriptomic changes that occur during in vitro expansion. In confluent monolayers, low mitogenic culture conditions preserved corneal endothelial cell state identity better than culture in high mitogenic conditions. Expansion by continuous passaging induced replicative cell senescence. Transcriptomic analysis of the senescent phenotype identified a cell senescence signature distinct for CEnC. We identified activation of both classic and new cell signaling pathways that may be targeted to prevent senescence, a significant barrier to realizing the potential clinical utility of in vitro expansion
Nucleation of -Branes and Fundamental Strings
We construct a solution to the low-energy string equations of motion in five
dimensions that describes a circular loop of fundamental string exponentially
expanding in a background electric -field. Euclideanising this gives an
instanton for the creation of a loop of fundamental string in a background
-field, and we calculate the rate of nucleation. Solutions describing
magnetically charged strings and -branes, where the gauge field comes from
Kaluza-Klein reduction on a circle, are also constructed. It is known that a
magnetic flux tube in four (reduced) spacetime dimensions is unstable to the
pair creation of Kaluza-Klein monopoles. We show that in dimensions,
magnetic ``fluxbranes" are unstable to the nucleation of a magnetically
charged spherical -brane. In ten dimensions the instanton describes the
nucleation of a Ramond-Ramond magnetically charged six-brane in type IIA string
theory. We also find static solutions describing spherical charged -branes
or fundamental strings held in unstable equilibrium in appropriate background
fields. Instabilities of intersecting magnetic fluxbranes are also discussed.Comment: 28 pages, harvmac (b), reference added, typos correcte
The HDAC inhibitor panobinostat (LBH589) inhibits mesothelioma and lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo with particular efficacy for small cell lung cancer
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the
United States. Current therapies are inadequate. Histone
deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are a recently developed
class of anticancer agents that cause increased acetylation
of core histones and nonhistone proteins leading to
modulation of gene expression and protein activityin -
volved in cancer cell growth and survival pathways.
We examined the efficacyof the HDACi panobinostat
(LBH589) in a wide range of lung cancers and mesotheliomas.
Panobinostat was cytotoxic in almost all 37 cancer
cell lines tested. IC50 and LD50 values were in the
low nmol/L range (4â470 nmol/L; median, 20 nmol/L).
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines were among
the most sensitive lines, with LD50 values consistently
<25 nmol/L. In lung cancer and mesothelioma animal
models, panobinostat significantlyde creased tumor
growth byan average of 62% when compared with vehicle
control. Panobinostat was equallye ffective in
immunocompetent and severe combined immunodeficiencymic
e, indicating that the inhibition of tumor growth by
panobinostat was not due to direct immunologic effects.Panobinostat was, however, particularlyeffective in SCLC
xenografts, and the addition of the chemotherapyag ent
etoposide augmented antitumor effects. Protein analysis
of treated tumor biopsies revealed elevated amounts of cell
cycle regulators such as p21 and proapoptosis factors,
such as caspase 3 and 7 and cleaved poly[ADP-ribose] polymerase,
coupled with decreased levels of antiapoptotic
factors such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. These studies together
suggest that panobinostat maybe a useful adjunct in the
treatment of thoracic malignancies, especiallySCLC
Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least
three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data
sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns
collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector
at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model
backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are
presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard
model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new
particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay
channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7
TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector,
and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No
significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper
limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the
standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at
95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE
X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources
We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the
bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival
Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit
of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30
kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler
et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS
observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray
binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for
both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the
GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for
elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected
X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at
fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a
faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent
findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other
hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field
LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101
sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be
interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows
the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic
AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray
surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high
in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is
present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres
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