Anomalous Thermoelectric Response in an Orbital-Ordered Oxide Near and Far from Equilibrium

We report the thermoelectric transport properties in the orbital-ordered Mott insulating phase of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$ close to and far from equilibrium. Near equilibrium conditions where the temperature gradient is only applied to the sample, an insulating but non-monotonic temperature variation of the Seebeck coefficient is observed, which is accounted for in terms of a temperature-induced suppression of the orbital order. In non-equilibrium conditions where we have applied high electrical currents, we find that the Seebeck coefficient is anomalously increased in magnitude with increasing external current. The present result clearly demonstrates a non-thermal effect since the heating simply causes a decrease of the Seebeck coefficient, implying a non-trivial non-equilibrium effect such as a modification of the spin and orbital state in currents.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Selected as Editors' Choic

Genome-wide analysis of canonical Wnt target gene regulation in Xenopus tropicalis challenges β-catenin paradigm

We would like to thank Ken Cho, Ira Blitz, Kris Vleminckx and Aaron Zorn for discussion and Adam Lynch for comments on the manuscript. The research of the authors is supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M001695/1).Peer reviewe

Tissue- and stage-specific Wnt target gene expression is controlled subsequent to β-catenin recruitment to cis-regulatory modules

Acknowledgements We thank Saartje Hontelez (Radboud University, Nijmegen), Sylvie Janssens and Kris Vleminckx (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent) and Shelby Blythe (Princeton University) for advice on ChIP experiments; Caroline Hill (CRUK, LRI) for discussion on BMP signalling; Juan Larraín (Pontificia Universitad Católica de Chile) and Susan Fairley (European Bioinformatics Institute) for advice on RNA-seq experiments; Yvonne Turnbull (IMSARU, University of Aberdeen) for technical assistance; Alasdair MacKenzie (University of Aberdeen) for discussion and suggestions on the manuscript; Hajime Ogino (Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology) and Atsushi Suzuki (Hiroshima University) for plasmids; Pierre McCrea (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) for anti-Xenopus β-catenin antibody; The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC, BBSRC, Norwich) for high-throughput sequencing; and Xenbase (http://www.xenbase.org) for reference database access. Funding This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/I003746/1 to S.H., BB/M001695/1 to S.H. and Y.N.]. Deposited in PMC for immediate release.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Temporal and Spatial Expression Patterns of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 3 in Developing Zebrafish

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are important elements in bone biology. We herein report the expression profiles of zebrafish bmp3 (zbmp3) as demonstrated by real-time PCR and in situ hybridization. The expression of zbmp3 was highly detectable by real-time PCR from 1 day post-fertilization (1 dpf) to 2 weeks post-fertilization (2 wpf) and peaked at 1 wpf. For in situ hybridization experiments, zbmp3 was expressed in the otic vesicle at 1 dpf, 2 dpf, 3 dpf, and 5 dpf. It was also expressed in the pharyngeal arches, including the opercle, branchiostegal ray, and pectoral fins, at 2 dpf. Our results suggest that zbmp3 may play an important role in the skeletal biology of developing zebrafish

Creating New β-Globin-Expressing Lentiviral Vectors by High-Resolution Mapping of Locus Control Region Enhancer Sequences.

Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy is a promising approach for treating disorders of the hematopoietic system. Identifying combinations of cis-regulatory elements that do not impede packaging or transduction efficiency when included in lentiviral vectors has proven challenging. In this study, we deploy LV-MPRA (lentiviral vector-based, massively parallel reporter assay), an approach that simultaneously analyzes thousands of synthetic DNA fragments in parallel to identify sequence-intrinsic and lineage-specific enhancer function at near-base-pair resolution. We demonstrate the power of LV-MPRA in elucidating the boundaries of previously unknown intrinsic enhancer sequences of the human β-globin locus control region. Our approach facilitated the rapid assembly of novel therapeutic βAS3-globin lentiviral vectors harboring strong lineage-specific recombinant control elements capable of correcting a mouse model of sickle cell disease. LV-MPRA can be used to map any genomic locus for enhancer activity and facilitates the rapid development of therapeutic vectors for treating disorders of the hematopoietic system or other specific tissues and cell types

Long-term survival of the mouse ES cell-derived mast cell, MEDMC-BRC6, in mast cell-deficient Kit W-sh/W-sh mice

Mast cells (MCs) play pivotal roles in allergic reactions and the host defense against microbial infection through the IgE-dependent and IgE-independent signaling pathways. MC lines that can be analyzed both in vitro and in vivo would be useful for the study of MC-dependent immune responses. Here, we investigated the functional characteristics of a mouse embryonic stem cell-derived MC-like cell line, MEDMC-BRC6. The cell line expressed FcεRI and c-Kit and showed degranulation and production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1, upon cross-linking FcεRI with IgE. These cytokines and chemokines were also produced by the cell line by stimulation of TLR2 and TLR4. MEDMC-BRC6 survived in the peritoneal cavity and the ear skin for at least 6 months after the transfer into genetically compatible MC-deficient KitW-sh/W-sh mice, in which systemic anaphylaxis was successfully induced. Thus, MEDMC-BRC6 cells represent a potent tool for investigating the functions of MCs in vitro and in vivo