Demystifying Industrial Internet of Things start-ups – A multi-layer taxonomy

Described as a fundamental paradigm shift by researchers, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is credited with massive potential. In the context of emerging technologies, such as the IIoT, start-ups occupy a crucial role, as new technologies are often first commercialized by start-ups. Because of the rising importance of IIoT start-ups as drivers of industrial innovation, IIoT solutions demand deepened theoretical insights. As existing classification schemes in the industrial context do not sufficiently account for the ever more critical role of IIoT start-ups, we present a multi-layer taxonomy of IIoT start-up solutions. Building on state-of-the-art literature and a sample of 78 real-world IIoT start-up solutions, the taxonomy comprises ten dimensions and related characteristics structured along the three layers solution, data, and business model. The taxonomy contributes to the descriptive knowledge on the IIoT and enables researchers and practitioners to better understand IIoT start-up solutions

A Novel Mutation in the Upstream Open Reading Frame of the CDKN1B Gene Causes a MEN4 Phenotype

PubMed ID: 23555276This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Loss-of-function uORF mutations in human malignancies

Ribosome profiling revealed widespread translational activity at upstream open reading frames (uORFs) and validated uORF-mediated translational control as a commonly repressive mechanism of gene expression. Translational activation of proto-oncogenes through loss-of-uORF mutations has been demonstrated, yet a systematic search for cancer-associated genetic alterations in uORFs is lacking. Here, we applied a PCR-based, multiplex identifier-tagged deep sequencing approach to screen 404 uORF translation initiation sites of 83 human tyrosine kinases and 49 other proto-oncogenes in 308 human malignancies. We identified loss-of-function uORF mutations in EPHB1 in two samples derived from breast and colon cancer, and in MAP2K6 in a sample of colon adenocarcinoma. Both mutations were associated with enhanced translation, suggesting that loss-of-uORF-mediated translational induction of the downstream main protein coding sequence may have contributed to carcinogenesis. Computational analysis of whole exome sequencing datasets of 464 colon adenocarcinomas subsequently revealed another 53 non-recurrent somatic mutations functionally deleting 22 uORF initiation and 31 uORF termination codons, respectively. These data provide evidence for somatic mutations affecting uORF initiation and termination codons in human cancer. The insufficient coverage of uORF regions in current whole exome sequencing datasets demands for future genome-wide analyses to ultimately define the contribution of uORF-mediated translational deregulation in oncogenesis

Tracking and coordinating an international curation effort for the CCDS Project

The Consensus Coding Sequence (CCDS) collaboration involves curators at multiple centers with a goal of producing a conservative set of high quality, protein-coding region annotations for the human and mouse reference genome assemblies. The CCDS data set reflects a ‘gold standard’ definition of best supported protein annotations, and corresponding genes, which pass a standard series of quality assurance checks and are supported by manual curation. This data set supports use of genome annotation information by human and mouse researchers for effective experimental design, analysis and interpretation. The CCDS project consists of analysis of automated whole-genome annotation builds to identify identical CDS annotations, quality assurance testing and manual curation support. Identical CDS annotations are tracked with a CCDS identifier (ID) and any future change to the annotated CDS structure must be agreed upon by the collaborating members. CCDS curation guidelines were developed to address some aspects of curation in order to improve initial annotation consistency and to reduce time spent in discussing proposed annotation updates. Here, we present the current status of the CCDS database and details on our procedures to track and coordinate our efforts. We also present the relevant background and reasoning behind the curation standards that we have developed for CCDS database treatment of transcripts that are nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) candidates, for transcripts containing upstream open reading frames, for identifying the most likely translation start codons and for the annotation of readthrough transcripts. Examples are provided to illustrate the application of these guidelines

Synthesis of two SAPAP3 isoforms from a single mRNA is mediated via alternative translational initiation

In mammalian neurons, targeting and translation of specific mRNAs in dendrites contribute to synaptic plasticity. After nuclear export, mRNAs designated for dendritic transport are generally assumed to be translationally dormant and activity of individual synapses may locally trigger their extrasomatic translation. We show that the long, GC-rich 5′-untranslated region of dendritic SAPAP3 mRNA restricts translation initiation via a mechanism that involves an upstream open reading frame (uORF). In addition, the uORF enables the use of an alternative translation start site, permitting synthesis of two SAPAP3 isoforms from a single mRNA. While both isoforms progressively accumulate at postsynaptic densities during early rat brain development, their levels relative to each other vary in different adult rat brain areas. Thus, alternative translation initiation events appear to regulate relative expression of distinct SAPAP3 isoforms in different brain regions, which may function to influence synaptic plasticity

Complement component 3 (C3) expression in the hippocampus after excitotoxic injury: role of C/EBPβ

[Background] The CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) is a transcription factor implicated in the control of proliferation, differentiation, and inflammatory processes mainly in adipose tissue and liver; although more recent results have revealed an important role for this transcription factor in the brain. Previous studies from our laboratory indicated that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β is implicated in inflammatory process and brain injury, since mice lacking this gene were less susceptible to kainic acid-induced injury. More recently, we have shown that the complement component 3 gene (C3) is a downstream target of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and it could be a mediator of the proinflammatory effects of this transcription factor in neural cells.[Methods] Adult male Wistar rats (8–12 weeks old) were used throughout the study. C/EBPβ+/+ and C/EBPβ–/– mice were generated from heterozygous breeding pairs. Animals were injected or not with kainic acid, brains removed, and brain slices containing the hippocampus analyzed for the expression of both CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and C3.[Results] In the present work, we have further extended these studies and show that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and C3 co-express in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus after an excitotoxic injury. Studies using CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β knockout mice demonstrate a marked reduction in C3 expression after kainic acid injection in these animals, suggesting that indeed this protein is regulated by C/EBPβ in the hippocampus in vivo.[Conclusions] Altogether these results suggest that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β could regulate brain disorders, in which excitotoxic and inflammatory processes are involved, at least in part through the direct regulation of C3.This work was supported by MINECO, Grant SAF2014-52940-R and partially financed with FEDER funds. CIBERNED is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. JAM-G was supported by CIBERNED. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe