Purification of the yeast Slx5–Slx8 protein complex and characterization of its DNA-binding activity

SLX5 and SLX8 encode RING-finger proteins that were previously identified based on their requirement for viability in yeast cells lacking Sgs1 DNA helicase. Slx5 and Slx8 proteins are known to be required for genome stability and to physically interact in yeast extracts; however, their biochemical functions are unknown. To address this question we purified and characterized recombinant Slx5 and Slx8 proteins. Here we show that Slx5 and Slx8 form a heterodimeric complex with double-stranded DNA (dsDNA)-binding activity. Individually, only the Slx8 subunit displays this activity. Structure–function studies indicate that the DNA-binding activity requires only the N-terminal 160 amino acids of Slx8, but not its C-terminal RING-finger domain. Alleles of SLX8 that express the RING-finger domain alone show almost complete complementation in yeast indicating that this DNA-binding domain is not essential for this in vivo function. Consistent with these findings we show that Slx5 immunolocalizes to the nucleus and that a portion of the Slx8 protein co-fractionates with chromatin. These results suggest that Slx5–Slx8 may act directly on DNA to promote genome stability

A Happy Abundance : Tales, Memoirs and More Past and Present in Wayne, Maine

https://digitalmaine.com/wayne_books/1002/thumbnail.jp

Multicentre prospective validation of a urinary peptidome-based classifier for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetic nephropathy

Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the major late complications of diabetes. Treatment aimed at slowing down the progression of DN is available but methods for early and definitive detection of DN progression are currently lacking. The ‘Proteomic prediction and Renin angiotensin aldosterone system Inhibition prevention Of early diabetic nephRopathy In TYpe 2 diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria trial' (PRIORITY) aims to evaluate the early detection of DN in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) using a urinary proteome-based classifier (CKD273). Methods In this ancillary study of the recently initiated PRIORITY trial we aimed to validate for the first time the CKD273 classifier in a multicentre (9 different institutions providing samples from 165 T2D patients) prospective setting. In addition we also investigated the influence of sample containers, age and gender on the CKD273 classifier. Results We observed a high consistency of the CKD273 classification scores across the different centres with areas under the curves ranging from 0.95 to 1.00. The classifier was independent of age (range tested 16-89 years) and gender. Furthermore, the use of different urine storage containers did not affect the classification scores. Analysis of the distribution of the individual peptides of the classifier over the nine different centres showed that fragments of blood-derived and extracellular matrix proteins were the most consistently found. Conclusion We provide for the first time validation of this urinary proteome-based classifier in a multicentre prospective setting and show the suitability of the CKD273 classifier to be used in the PRIORITY tria

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements