Recommodification of the Social Determinants of Health

Background Decommodification is the extent to which living standard is independent of market position. In recent decades, some states have embarked on a process of recommodification, restricting the alternatives to participating in the market. This study has investigated how recommodification of unemployment healthcare and pensions are correlated with health inequalities. Methods Using Health Survey for England and the Swedish Living Conditions Survey, this study computes the magnitude of health inequalities in Sweden and England and correlates the magnitude of inequalities with measures of recommodification. In stage 1, the odds ratio of Not good health/having visited a doctor was computed using logistic regression for each year, using the employed and the high educated as the reference categories. In stage 2, the log (odds ratios) of poor health or doctor visits computed in stage 1 were correlated with the net replacement rate/price of primary care using linear regression. Results Health inequalities between the employed and the unemployed were significantly higher in both England and Sweden in 2011 than in 1991, a period during which unemployment benefit was recommodified in both countries. The association between health inequality and net replacement rate was much stronger in Sweden. Health inequalities increased slightly among English pensioners, while those of the Swedish sample remained steady. This is not what we would expect from the development of recommodification in the two countries: Sweden recommodified while England did not. 3 For groups with similar needs, the higher educated are more likely to seek healthcare. There were no trends in inequality in access to healthcare in Sweden. Conclusion This study has shown that recommodification is associated with health inequalities, especially in Sweden, and that inequalities in replacement rates are associated with health. However, the links between recommodification and health are context-dependent

Remodeling of chromatin structure within the promoter is important for bmp-2-induced fgfr3 expression

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) plays an important role in cartilage development. Although upregulation of FGFR3 expression in response to bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) has been reported, the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we used in vivo approaches to characterize BMP-2-induced alterations in the chromatin organization of the FGFR3 core promoter. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis demonstrated that the binding of Brg1, a component of the SWI/SNF remodeling complex, may selectively remodel a chromatin region (encompassing nucleotide –90 to +35), uncovering the transcription start site and three Sp1-binding sites, as revealed by nuclease digestion hypersensitivity assays. We then showed an increase in the association of Sp1 with the proximal promoter, followed by the recruitment of p300, resulting in a change of the histone ‘code’, such as in phosphorylation and methylation. Collectively, our study results suggest a model for BMP-2-induced FGFR3 expression in which the core promoter architecture is specifically regulated

The Methyltransferase WBSCR22/Merm1 Enhances Glucocorticoid Receptor Function and Is Regulated in Lung Inflammation and Cancer

Glucocorticoids (GC) regulate cell fate and immune function. We identified the metastasis-promoting methyltransferase, metastasis-related methyltransferase 1 (WBSCR22/Merm1) as a novel glucocorticoid receptor (GR) regulator relevant to human disease. Merm1 binds the GR co-activator GRIP1 but not GR. Loss of Merm1 impaired both GR transactivation and transrepression by reducing GR recruitment to its binding sites. This was accompanied by loss of GR-dependent H3K4Me3 at a well characterized promoter. Inflammation promotes GC resistance, in part through the actions of TNFα and IFNγ. These cytokines suppressed Merm1 protein expression by driving ubiquitination of two conserved lysine residues. Restoration of Merm1 expression rescued GR transactivation. Cytokine suppression of Merm1 and of GR function was also seen in human lung explants. In addition, striking loss of Merm1 protein was observed in both inflammatory and neoplastic human lung pathologies. In conclusion, Merm1 is a novel regulator of chromatin structure affecting GR recruitment and function, contributing to loss of GC sensitivity in inflammation, with suppressed expression in pulmonary disease

Allosteric Protein Switches based on Antibody Mimetics

Synthetic protein switches are proteins that can be controlled by an external input, and are useful tools to probe protein function. Antibody fragments and antibody mimetics can be selected to bind, activate, or inhibit several diverse protein targets. Nevertheless, their affinity for the target is often high and the binding non-reversible. Turning antibody fragments and antibody mimetics into synthetic protein switches would provide a useful tool for controlling their affinity with external cues, such as small molecules or light. This thesis explores several methods of controlling protein function. The affinity of antibody fragments and antibody mimetics for their targets could be controlled by fu-sion with a circularly permutated dihydrofolate reductase (cpDHFR). This was used to develop ligand-based affinity modulators of antibody fragments ("LAMAs"), and reversibly release and recruit GFP-fused proteins to different anchored locations in live cells upon the addition of a small molecule. Other attempts to controlling protein function are also described: (i) a covalent steric block was used to block an antibody fragments binding site for GFP on the addition of a small molecule, (ii) and a strate-gy for controlling GFP-fused receptors by delivering photoactivatable small molecules with antibody fragments was also developed. Together, these synthetic protein switches provide tools to probe several biological functions with different spatiotemporal resolutions

SWI/SNF associates with nascent pre-mRNPs and regulates alternative pre-mRNA processing.

The SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes regulate the transcription of many genes by remodeling nucleosomes at promoter regions. In Drosophila, SWI/SNF plays an important role in ecdysone-dependent transcription regulation. Studies in human cells suggest that Brahma (Brm), the ATPase subunit of SWI/SNF, regulates alternative pre-mRNA splicing by modulating transcription elongation rates. We describe, here, experiments that study the association of Brm with transcribed genes in Chironomus tentans and Drosophila melanogaster, the purpose of which was to further elucidate the mechanisms by which Brm regulates pre-mRNA processing. We show that Brm becomes incorporated into nascent Balbiani ring pre-mRNPs co-transcriptionally and that the human Brm and Brg1 proteins are associated with RNPs. We have analyzed the expression profiles of D. melanogaster S2 cells in which the levels of individual SWI/SNF subunits have been reduced by RNA interference, and we show that depletion of SWI/SNF core subunits changes the relative abundance of alternative transcripts from a subset of genes. This observation, and the fact that a fraction of Brm is not associated with chromatin but with nascent pre-mRNPs, suggest that SWI/SNF affects pre-mRNA processing by acting at the RNA level. Ontology enrichment tests indicate that the genes that are regulated post-transcriptionally by SWI/SNF are mostly enzymes and transcription factors that regulate postembryonic developmental processes. In summary, the data suggest that SWI/SNF becomes incorporated into nascent pre-mRNPs and acts post-transcriptionally to regulate not only the amount of mRNA synthesized from a given promoter but also the type of alternative transcript produced

Mechanical loading induces the expression of a Pol I regulon at the onset of skeletal muscle hypertrophy

von Walden F, Casagrande V, Ostlund Farrants AK, Nader GA. Mechanical loading induces the expression of a Pol I regulon at the onset of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 302: C1523-C1530, 2012. First published March 7, 2012; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00460.2011.-The main goal of the present study was to investigate the regulation of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene transcription at the onset of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Mice were subjected to functional overload of the plantaris by bilateral removal of the synergist muscles. Mechanical loading resulted in muscle hypertrophy with an increase in rRNA content. rDNA transcription, as determined by 45S pre-rRNA abundance, paralleled the increase in rRNA content and was consistent with the onset of the hypertrophic response. Increased transcription and protein expression of c-Myc and its downstream polymerase I (Pol I) regulon (POL1RB, TIF-1A, PAF53, TTF1, TAF1C) was also consistent with the increase in rRNA. Similarly, factors involved in rDNA transcription, such as the upstream binding factor and the Williams syndrome transcription factor, were induced by mechanical loading in a corresponding temporal fashion. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that these factors, together with Pol I, were enriched at the rDNA promoter. This, in addition to an increase in histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation, demonstrates that mechanical loading regulates rRNA synthesis by inducing a gene expression program consisting of a Pol I regulon, together with accessory factors involved in transcription and chromatin remodeling at the rDNA promoter. Altogether, these data indicate that transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms take place in the regulation of ribosome production at the onset of muscle hypertrophy.Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council [VRK2008-67X-20797-01-04]Centrum for Idrottsforskning [P2011-01-0133]Centrum for IdrottsforskningKung Gustaf V:s 80 Arsfond [FAI2009-0065]Kung Gustaf V:s 80 ArsfondReumatikerforbundetReumatikerforbundet [R-21211

SWI/SNF regulates half of its targets without the need of ATP-driven nucleosome remodeling by Brahma

Background: Brahma (BRM) is the only catalytic subunit of the SVVI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex of Drosophila melanogaster. The function of SWI/SNF in transcription has long been attributed to its ability to remodel nucleosomes, which requires the ATPase activity of BRM. However, recent studies have provided evidence for a non-catalytic function of BRM in the transcriptional regulation of a few specific genes. Results: Here we have used RNA-seq and ChIP-seq to identify the BRM target genes in 52 cells, and we have used a catalytically inactive BRM mutant (K804R) that is unable to hydrolyze ATP to investigate the magnitude of the non-catalytic function of BRM in transcription regulation. We show that 49% of the BRM target genes in 52 cells are regulated through mechanisms that do not require BRM to have an ATPase activity. We also show that the catalytic and non-catalytic mechanisms of SVVI/SNF regulation operate on two subsets of genes that differ in promoter architecture and are linked to different biological processes. Conclusions: This study shows that the non-catalytic role of SWI/SNF in transcription regulation is far more prevalent than previously anticipated and that the genes that are regulated by SVVI/SNF through ATPase-dependent and ATPase-independent mechanisms have specialized roles in different cellular and developmental processes