Marx - From Hegel and Feuerbach to Adam Smith : a New Sysnthesis

In The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (completed in August 1844) Marx takes two crucial steps in the formation of his worldview. The first relates to his rejection of all 'old' materialism, including Feuerbach's, and the adoption of his own version, which he called 'communist', 'practical'. This view was later presented definitively in the first Thesis on Feuerbach (spring of 1845), and elaborated in The German Ideology (1845-46). The second step relates to Marx's synthesising of the philosophical standpoint that he had developed up to this point (around the spring of 1844) with political economy. Up to this point he had spoken of alienation in largely philosophical terms; now it is rooted in the process of production. On both counts Adam Smith was an important influence. This claim provides the focus of this paper. To make this point successfully I have found it necessary to briefly trace the development of Marx's philosophical standpoint up to the writing of the Manuscripts, and to distinguish between the two methodologically distinct aspects of Adam Smith's thought, the one that Marx accepted and the other that he rejected

Public questions spur the discovery of new bacterial species associated with lignin bioconversion of industrial waste

A citizen science project found that the greenhouse camel cricket (Diestrammena asynamora) is common in North American homes. Public response was to wonder “what good are they anyway?” and ecology and evolution guided the search for potential benefit. We predicted that camel crickets and similar household species would likely host bacteria with the ability to degrade recalcitrant carbon compounds. Lignocellulose is particularly relevant as it is difficult to degrade yet is an important feedstock for pulp and paper, chemical, and biofuel industries. We screened gut bacteria of greenhouse camel crickets and another household insect, a hide beetle (Dermestes maculatus) for the ability to grow on and degrade lignocellulose components as well as the lignocellulose-derived industrial waste product black liquor. From three greenhouse camel crickets and three hide beetles, 14 bacterial strains were identified capable of growth on lignocellulosic components, including lignin. Cedecea lapagei was selected for further study due to growth on most lignocellulose components. The C. lapagei secretome was identified using LC/MS/MS analysis. This work demonstrates a novel source of lignocellulose-degrading bacteria and introduces an effective workflow to identify bacterial enzymes for transforming industrial waste into value-added products. More generally, our research suggests the value of ecologically-guided discovery of novel organisms

Sequential Transphosphorylation of the BRI1/BAK1 Receptor Kinase Complex Impacts Early Events in Brassinosteroid Signaling

SummaryBrassinosteroids (BRs) regulate plant development through a signal transduction pathway involving the BRI1 and BAK1 transmembrane receptor kinases. The detailed molecular mechanisms of phosphorylation, kinase activation, and oligomerization of the BRI1/BAK1 complex in response to BRs are uncertain. We demonstrate that BR-dependent activation of BRI1 precedes association with BAK1 in planta, and that BRI1 positively regulates BAK1 phosphorylation levels in vivo. BRI1 transphosphorylates BAK1 in vitro on specific kinase-domain residues critical for BAK1 function. BAK1 also transphosphorylates BRI1, thereby quantitatively increasing BRI1 kinase activity toward a specific substrate. We propose a sequential transphosphorylation model in which BRI1 controls signaling specificity by direct BR binding followed by substrate phosphorylation. The coreceptor BAK1 is then activated by BRI1-dependent transphosphorylation and subsequently enhances signaling output through reciprocal BRI1 transphosphorylation. This model suggests both conservation and distinct differences between the molecular mechanisms regulating phosphorylation-dependent kinase activation in plant and animal receptor kinases

Development of a tandem affinity phosphoproteomic method with motif selectivity and its application in analysis of signal transduction networks

Phosphorylation is an important post-translational modification that is involved in regulating many signaling pathways. Of particular interest are the growth factor mediated Ras and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathways which, if misregulated, can contribute to the progression of cancer. Phosphoproteomic methods have been developed to study regulation of signaling pathways; however, due to the low stoichiometry of phosphorylation, understanding these pathways is still a challenge. In this study, we have developed a multi-dimensional method incorporating electrostatic repulsion-hydrophilic interaction chromatography (ERLIC) with tandem IMAC-TiO2 enrichment for subsequent phosphopeptide identification by LC/MS/MS. We applied this method to PDGF-stimulated NIH 3T3 cells to provide over 11,000 unique phosphopeptide identifications. Upon motif analysis, IMAC was found to enrich for basophilic kinase substrates while the subsequent TiO2 step enriched for acidophilic kinase substrates, suggesting that both enrichment methods are necessary to capture the full complement of kinase substrates. Biological functions that were over-represented at each PDGF stimulation time point, together with the phosphorylation dynamics of several phosphopeptides containing known kinase phosphorylation sites illustrate the feasibility of this approach in quantitative phosphoproteomic studies

The Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase BIR3 negatively regulates BAK1 receptor complex formation and stabilizes BAK1

BAK1 is a co-receptor and positive regulator of multiple ligand-binding leucine-rich-repeat receptor kinases (LRR-RKs) and is involved in brassinosteroid (BR)-dependent growth and development, innate immunity and cell death control. The BAK1-interacting LRR-RKs BIR2 and BIR3 were previously identified by proteomics analyses of in vivo BAK1 complexes. Here we show that BAK1-related pathways such as innate immunity and cell death control are affected by BIR3 in Arabidopsis thaliana. BIR3 also has a strong negative impact on BR signaling. BIR3 directly interacts with the BR receptor BRI1 and other ligand-binding receptors and negatively regulates BR signaling by competitive inhibition of BRI1. BIR3 is released from BAK1 and BRI1 after ligand exposure and directly affects the formation of BAK1 complexes with BRI1 or FLAGELLIN SENSING2. Double mutants of bak1 and bir3 show spontaneous cell death and constitutive activation of defense responses. BAK1 and its closest homolog BKK1 interact with and are stabilized by BIR3, suggesting that bak1 bir3 double mutants mimic the spontaneous cell death phenotype observed in bak1 bkk1 mutants via destabilization of BIR3 target proteins. Our results provide evidence for a negative regulatory mechanism for BAK1 receptor complexes in which BIR3 interacts with BAK1 and inhibits ligand-binding receptors to prevent BAK1 receptor complex formation

Autophosphorylation-based calcium (Ca2+) sensitivity priming and Ca2+/Calmodulin inhibition of Arabidopsis thaliana Ca2+-dependent protein kinase 28 (CPK28)

Plant calcium (Ca2+) dependent protein kinases (CPKs) are composed of a dual specificity (Ser/Thr and Tyr) kinase domain tethered to a Calmodulin-like domain (CLD) via an autoinhibitory junction (J) and represent the primary Ca2+-dependent protein kinase activities in plant systems. While regulation of CPKs by Ca2+ has been extensively studied, the contribution of autophosphorylation in the control of CPK activity is less well understood. Furthermore, whether Calmodulin (CaM) contributes to CPK regulation, as is the case for Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinases (CaMKs) outside the plant lineage, remains an open question. We screened a subset of plant CPKs for CaM-binding and found that CPK28 is a high-affinity Ca2+/CaM-binding protein. Using synthetic peptides and native gel electrophoresis, we coarsely mapped the CaM-binding domain to a site within the CPK28 J domain that overlaps with the known site of intramolecular interaction between the J domain and CLD. Peptide kinase activity of fully dephosphorylated CPK28 was Ca2+-responsive and inhibited by Ca2+/CaM. Using in situ autophosphorylated protein, we expand on the known set of CPK28 autophosphorylation sites, and demonstrate that, unexpectedly, autophosphorylated CPK28 had enhanced activity at physiological concentrations of Ca2+ compared to dephosphorylated protein, suggesting that autophosphorylation functions to prime CPK28 for Ca2+-activation. Furthermore, CPK28 autophosphorylation substantially reduced sensitivity of the kinase to Ca2+/CaM inhibition. Overall, our analyses uncover new complexities in the control of CPK28 and provide mechanistic support for Ca2+ signaling specificity through Ca2+ sensor priming

A role for hydrophobicity in a Diels–Alder reaction catalyzed by pyridyl-modified RNA

New classes of RNA enzymes or ribozymes have been obtained by in vitro evolution and selection of RNA molecules. Incorporation of modified nucleotides into the RNA sequence has been proposed to enhance function. DA22 is a modified RNA containing 5-(4-pyridylmethyl) carboxamide uridines, which has been selected for its ability to promote a Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction. Here, we show that DA_TR96, the most active member of the DA22 RNA sequence family, which was selected with pyridyl-modified nucleotides, accelerates a cycloaddition reaction between anthracene and maleimide derivatives with high turnover. These widely used reactants were not used in the original selection for DA22 and yet here they provide the first demonstration of DA_TR96 as a true multiple-turnover catalyst. In addition, the absence of a structural or essential kinetic role for Cu2+, as initially postulated, and nonsequence-specific hydrophobic interactions with the anthracene substrate have led to a reevaluation of the pyridine modification's role. These findings broaden the catalytic repertoire of the DA22 family of pyridyl-modified RNAs and suggest a key role for the hydrophobic effect in the catalytic mechanism

A Functional Proteomic Method for Biomarker Discovery

The sequencing of the human genome holds out the hope for personalized medicine, but it is clear that analysis of DNA or RNA content alone is not sufficient to understand most disease processes. Proteomic strategies that allow unbiased identification of proteins and their post-transcriptional and -translation modifications are an essential complement to genomic strategies. However, the enormity of the proteome and limitations in proteomic methods make it difficult to determine the targets that are particularly relevant to human disease. Methods are therefore needed that allow rational identification of targets based on function and relevance to disease. Screening methodologies such as phage display, SELEX, and small-molecule combinatorial chemistry have been widely used to discover specific ligands for cells or tissues of interest, such as tumors. Those ligands can be used in turn as affinity probes to identify their cognate molecular targets when they are not known in advance. Here we report an easy, robust and generally applicable approach in which phage particles bearing cell- or tissue-specific peptides serve directly as the affinity probes for their molecular targets. For proof of principle, the method successfully identified molecular binding partners, three of them novel, for 15 peptides specific for pancreatic cancer