The PSF.p54nrb complex is a novel Mnk substrate that binds the mRNA for tumor necrosis factor alpha

To identify new potential substrates for the MAP kinase signal-integrating kinases (Mnks), we employed a proteomic approach. The Mnks are targeted to the translational machinery through their interaction with the cap-binding initiation factor complex. We tested whether proteins retained on cap resin were substrates for the Mnks in vitro, and identified one such protein as PSF (the PTB (polypyrimidine tract-binding protein)-associated splicing factor). Mnks phosphorylate PSF at two sites in vitro, and our data show that PSF is an Mnk substrate in vivo. We also demonstrate that PSF, together with its partner, p54nrb, binds RNAs that contain AU-rich elements (AREs), such as those for proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. tumor necrosis factor ? (TNF?)). Indeed, PSF associates specifically with the TNF? mRNA in living cells. PSF is phosphorylated at two sites by the Mnks. Our data show that Mnk-mediated phosphorylation increases the binding of PSF to the TNF? mRNA in living cells. These findings identify a novel Mnk substrate. They also suggest that the Mnk-catalyzed phosphorylation of PSF may regulate the fate of specific mRNAs by modulating their binding to PSF·p54nrb

Dispersal of Adult Culex Mosquitoes in an Urban West Nile Virus Hotspot: A Mark-Capture Study Incorporating Stable Isotope Enrichment of Natural Larval Habitats

Dispersal is a critical life history behavior for mosquitoes and is important for the spread of mosquito-borne disease. We implemented the first stable isotope mark-capture study to measure mosquito dispersal, focusing on Culex pipiens in southwest suburban Chicago, Illinois, a hotspot of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission. We enriched nine catch basins in 2010 and 2011 with 15N-potassium nitrate and detected dispersal of enriched adult females emerging from these catch basins using CDC light and gravid traps to distances as far as 3 km. We detected 12 isotopically enriched pools of mosquitoes out of 2,442 tested during the two years and calculated a mean dispersal distance of 1.15 km and maximum flight range of 2.48 km. According to a logistic distribution function, 90% of the female Culex mosquitoes stayed within 3 km of their larval habitat, which corresponds with the distance-limited genetic variation of WNV observed in this study region. This study provides new insights on the dispersal of the most important vector of WNV in the eastern United States and demonstrates the utility of stable isotope enrichment for studying the biology of mosquitoes in other disease systems.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Lactation and neonatal nutrition: defining and refining the critical questions.

This paper resulted from a conference entitled "Lactation and Milk: Defining and refining the critical questions" held at the University of Colorado School of Medicine from January 18-20, 2012. The mission of the conference was to identify unresolved questions and set future goals for research into human milk composition, mammary development and lactation. We first outline the unanswered questions regarding the composition of human milk (Section I) and the mechanisms by which milk components affect neonatal development, growth and health and recommend models for future research. Emerging questions about how milk components affect cognitive development and behavioral phenotype of the offspring are presented in Section II. In Section III we outline the important unanswered questions about regulation of mammary gland development, the heritability of defects, the effects of maternal nutrition, disease, metabolic status, and therapeutic drugs upon the subsequent lactation. Questions surrounding breastfeeding practice are also highlighted. In Section IV we describe the specific nutritional challenges faced by three different populations, namely preterm infants, infants born to obese mothers who may or may not have gestational diabetes, and infants born to undernourished mothers. The recognition that multidisciplinary training is critical to advancing the field led us to formulate specific training recommendations in Section V. Our recommendations for research emphasis are summarized in Section VI. In sum, we present a roadmap for multidisciplinary research into all aspects of human lactation, milk and its role in infant nutrition for the next decade and beyond

Addressing climate change with behavioral science: a global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions’ effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior—several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people’s initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors

Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60-80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Retroviral-mediated gene transfer into the WEHI-231 B cell line

B lymphocytes play an important role in the immune response against pathogens. Our laboratory is interested in the biochemistry of how antigen engagement of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) regulates B cell activation and survival. The WEHI-231 murine B cell lymphoma is extensively used as a model system to study this process. WEHI-231 cells undergo growth arrest and apoptosis in response to BCR crosslinking and can be rescued from apoptosis by engagement of CD40. To investigate the signaling pathways that mediate these responses, a common approach is to express altered signaling proteins that may block or activate signaling pathways. We and others have previously used electroporation to express genes of interest in WEHI-231 cells. However, electroporation is an inefficient and timeconsuming method to express genes in these cells. An alternative method to express genes in WEHI-231 cells involves the use of retroviruses as a vehicle for gene transfer. One aim of this thesis was to set up retroviral-mediated gene transfer in our laboratory and optimize retroviral-mediated gene transfer into WEHI-231 cells. By testing different retroviral vectors and methods of infecting WEHI-231 cells, we have optimized this method such that 75% of the cells express the gene of interest after two days. In addition, the remaining non-infected cells can be killed with two additional days of puromycin selection. Thus, using this procedure, one can obtain a pure population of WEHI-231 cells expressing an exogenous gene in four days. In addition, we found that the optimized method of retroviral-mediated gene transfer could be used to express genes in the BAL17 B cell line but not the A20 B cell line. Since sufficient cells for biochemical experiments can now be obtained in four days as opposed to 4-6 weeks for electroporation, the retroviral-mediated gene transfer procedure reported here may expedite the study of signal transduction in B cells. A second aim of this thesis was apply the method of retroviral-mediated gene transfer to manipulate the signal transduction pathway regulated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) in WEHI-231 cells. The phospholipid products produced by PI3K regulate many downstream targets. In turn, these targets regulate diverse biological responses such as the prevention of apoptosis, cytoskeletal rearrangements and cell differentiation. PI3K is activated in response to BCR crosslinking, however the downstream targets and biological responses regulated by BCR-activated PI3K remain poorly characterized.Science, Faculty ofMicrobiology and Immunology, Department ofGraduat

C3G regulates the size of the cerebral cortex neural precursor population

The mechanisms regulating the size of the cerebral cortex are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the Rap1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor, C3G (Grf2, Rapgef1), controls the size of the cerebral precursor population. Mice lacking C3G show overproliferation of the cortical neuroepithelium. C3G-deficient neuroepithelial cells accumulate nuclear β-catenin and fail to exit the cell cycle in vivo. C3G mutant neural precursor cells fail to activate Rap1, exhibit activation of Akt/PKB, inhibition of the β-catenin-degrading enzyme, Gsk3β and accumulation of cytosolic and nuclear β-catenin when exposed to growth factors, in vitro. Our results show that the size of the cortical neural precursor population is controlled by C3G-mediated inhibition of the Ras signalling pathway