The LIM Protein Leupaxin Is Enriched in Smooth Muscle and Functions As an Serum Response Factor Cofactor to Induce Smooth Muscle Cell Gene Transcription

Leupaxin is a LIM-domain containing adapter protein belonging to the paxillin family that has been previously reported to be preferentially expressed in hematopoeitic cells. Herein, we identified leupaxin in a screen for FAK binding partners in aortic smooth muscle, show that leupaxin is enriched in human and mouse vascular smooth muscle, and that leupaxin expression is dynamically regulated during development. In addition, our studies reveal that leupaxin can undergo cytoplasmic/nuclear shuttling and functions as an SRF-cofactor in the nucleus. We found that leupaxin forms a complex with SRF, associates with CArG-containing regions of SM promoters, and that ectopic expression of leupaxin induces SM marker gene expression in both 10T1/2 cells and rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC). Subsequent studies indicated that enhanced FAK activity (induced by fibronectin or expression of constitutively active FAK) attenuates the nuclear accumulation of leupaxin and limits the ability of leupaxin to enhance SRF-dependent gene transcription. Thus, these studies indicate that modulation of the sub-cellular localization of SRF-cofactors is one mechanism by which extracellular matrix-dependent signals might regulate phenotypic switching of SMC

Transient Expression of FRNK Reveals Stage-Specific Requirement for Focal Adhesion Kinase Activity in Cardiac Growth

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is strongly activated by integrins and growth factors and is essential for embryonic development. We previously showed that the C terminus of FAK is expressed as a separate protein termed FAK-related nonkinase (FRNK) in a smooth muscle cell–selective fashion and that FRNK functions to buffer FAK-dependent signals. We now show that FRNK is also transiently expressed in the neonatal myocardium, with peak levels occurring 5 to 7 days postnatal, just before cell cycle withdrawal. Using novel mouse models, we demonstrate that cardiac-selective expression of FRNK (leading to inhibition of FAK) starting at embryonic day 10.5 leads to a severe ventricular noncompaction defect associated with reduced cardiomyocyte proliferation. Remarkably, postnatal expression of nearly identical levels of FRNK is well tolerated and does not affect viability or anabolic cardiac growth. Nonetheless, FRNK expression in the adult heart does attenuate pathological cardiac hypertrophy following aortic banding, confirming and extending our previous data that this compensatory response is blunted in FAK null hearts. Our mechanistic studies in cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes reveal that FRNK expression induces p38/p27kip-dependent cell cycle withdrawal and attenuates extracellular signal-regulated kinase–dependent hypertrophic growth. These findings indicate that dynamic expression of FRNK in the neonatal heart may function to promote cardiomyocyte quiescence in an environment that is particularly rich in growth factors and growth promoting extracellular matrices

Genome-wide association study of chronic sputum production implicates loci involved in mucus production and infection

Background: chronic sputum production impacts on quality of life and is a feature of many respiratory diseases. Identification of the genetic variants associated with chronic sputum production in a disease agnostic sample could improve understanding of its causes and identify new molecular targets for treatment.Methods: we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of chronic sputum production in UK Biobank. Signals meeting genome-wide significance (p<5×10−8) were investigated in additional independent studies, were fine-mapped and putative causal genes identified by gene expression analysis. GWASs of respiratory traits were interrogated to identify whether the signals were driven by existing respiratory disease among the cases and variants were further investigated for wider pleiotropic effects using phenome-wide association studies (PheWASs).Results: from a GWAS of 9714 cases and 48 471 controls, we identified six novel genome-wide significant signals for chronic sputum production including signals in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus, chromosome 11 mucin locus (containing MUC2, MUC5AC and MUC5B) and FUT2 locus. The four common variant associations were supported by independent studies with a combined sample size of up to 2203 cases and 17 627 controls. The mucin locus signal had previously been reported for association with moderate-to-severe asthma. The HLA signal was fine-mapped to an amino acid change of threonine to arginine (frequency 36.8%) in HLA-DRB1 (HLA-DRB1*03:147). The signal near FUT2 was associated with expression of several genes including FUT2, for which the direction of effect was tissue dependent. Our PheWAS identified a wide range of associations including blood cell traits, liver biomarkers, infections, gastrointestinal and thyroid-associated diseases, and respiratory disease.Conclusions: novel signals at the FUT2 and mucin loci suggest that mucin fucosylation may be a driver of chronic sputum production even in the absence of diagnosed respiratory disease and provide genetic support for this pathway as a target for therapeutic intervention

The Care Work of Access

Current approaches to AI and Assistive Technology (AT) often foreground task completion over other encounters such as expressions of care. Our paper challenges and complements such task-completion approaches by attending to the care work of access—the continual affective and emotional adjustments that people make by noticing and attending to one another. We explore how this work impacts encounters among people with and without vision impairments who complete tasks together. We find that bound up in attempts to get things done are concerns for one another and how well people are doing together. Reading this work through emerging disability studies and feminist STS scholarship, we account for two important forms of work that give rise to access: (1) mundane attunements and (2) noninnocent authorizations. Together these processes work as sensitizing concepts to help HCI scholars account for the ways that intelligent ATs both produce access while sometimes subverting people with disabilities

Structure-functional changes in eNAMPT at high concentrations mediate mouse and human beta- cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis Progressive decline in functional beta cell mass is central to the development of type 2 diabetes. Elevated serum levels of extracellular nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (eNAMPT) are associated with beta cell failure in type 2 diabetes and eNAMPT immuno-neutralisation improves glucose tolerance in mouse models of diabetes. Despite this, the effects of eNAMPT on functional beta cell mass are poorly elucidated, with some studies having separately reported beta cell-protective effects of eNAMPT. eNAMPT exists in structurally and functionally distinct monomeric and dimeric forms. Dimerisation is essential for the NAD-biosynthetic capacity of NAMPT. Monomeric eNAMPT does not possess NAD-biosynthetic capacity and may exert distinct NAD-independent effects. This study aimed to fully characterise the structure-functional effects of eNAMPT on pancreatic beta cell functional mass and to relate these to beta cell failure in type 2 diabetes. Methods CD-1 mice and serum from obese humans who were without diabetes, with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or with type 2 diabetes (from the Body Fat, Surgery and Hormone [BodyFatS&H] study) or with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes (from the VaSera trial) were used in this study. We generated recombinant wild-type and monomeric eNAMPT to explore the effects of eNAMPT on functional beta cell mass in isolated mouse and human islets. Beta cell function was determined by static and dynamic insulin secretion and intracellular calcium microfluorimetry. NAD-biosynthetic capacity of eNAMPT was assessed by colorimetric and fluorescent assays and by native mass spectrometry. Islet cell number was determined by immunohistochemical staining for insulin, glucagon and somatostatin, with islet apoptosis determined by caspase 3/7 activity. Markers of inflammation and beta cell identity were determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Total, monomeric and dimeric eNAMPT and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) were evaluated by ELISA, western blot and fluorometric assay using serum from non-diabetic, glucose intolerant and type 2 diabetic individuals. Results eNAMPT exerts bimodal and concentration- and structure-functional-dependent effects on beta cell functional mass. At low physiological concentrations (~1 ng/ml), as seen in serum from humans without diabetes, eNAMPT enhances beta cell function through NAD-dependent mechanisms, consistent with eNAMPT being present as a dimer. However, as eNAMPT concentrations rise to ~5 ng/ml, as in type 2 diabetes, eNAMPT begins to adopt a monomeric form and mediates beta cell dysfunction, reduced beta cell identity and number, increased alpha cell number and increased apoptosis, through NAD-independent proinflammatory mechanisms. Conclusions/interpretation We have characterised a novel mechanism of beta cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. At low physiological levels, eNAMPT exists in dimer form and maintains beta cell function and identity through NAD-dependent mechanisms. However, as eNAMPT levels rise, as in type 2 diabetes, structure-functional changes occur resulting in marked elevation of monomeric eNAMPT, which induces a diabetic phenotype in pancreatic islets. Strategies to selectively target monomeric eNAMPT could represent promising therapeutic strategies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence following the first pandemic wave in UK healthcare workers in a large NHS Foundation Trust

Background: We aimed to measure SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a cohort of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the first UK wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, explore risk factors associated with infection, and investigate the impact of antibody titres on assay sensitivity. Methods: HCWs at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were prospectively enrolled and sampled at two time points. We developed an in-house ELISA for testing participant serum for SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA reactivity against Spike and Nucleoprotein. Data were analysed using three statistical models: a seroprevalence model, an antibody kinetics model, and a heterogeneous sensitivity model. Results: Our in-house assay had a sensitivity of 99·47% and specificity of 99·56%. We found that 24·4% (n=311/1275) of HCWs were seropositive as of 12th June 2020. Of these, 39·2% (n=122/311) were asymptomatic. The highest adjusted seroprevalence was measured in HCWs on the Acute Medical Unit (41·1%, 95% CrI 30·0–52·9) and in Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists (39·2%, 95% CrI 24·4–56·5). Older age groups showed overall higher median antibody titres. Further modelling suggests that, for a serological assay with an overall sensitivity of 80%, antibody titres may be markedly affected by differences in age, with sensitivity estimates of 89% in those over 60 years but 61% in those ≤30 years. Conclusions: HCWs in acute medical units and those working closely with COVID-19 patients were at highest risk of infection, though whether these are infections acquired from patients or other staff is unknown. Current serological assays may underestimate seroprevalence in younger age groups if validated using sera from older and/or more severe COVID-19 cases

Genome-Wide Association Study of Susceptibility to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complex lung disease characterised by scarring of the lung that is believed to result from an atypical response to injury of the epithelium. Genome-wide association studies have reported signals of association implicating multiple pathways including host defence, telomere maintenance, signalling and cell-cell adhesion. Objectives: To improve our understanding of factors that increase IPF susceptibility by identifying previously unreported genetic associations. Methods and measurements: We conducted genome-wide analyses across three independent studies and meta-analysed these results to generate the largest genome-wide association study of IPF to date (2,668 IPF cases and 8,591 controls). We performed replication in two independent studies (1,456 IPF cases and 11,874 controls) and functional analyses (including statistical fine-mapping, investigations into gene expression and testing for enrichment of IPF susceptibility signals in regulatory regions) to determine putatively causal genes. Polygenic risk scores were used to assess the collective effect of variants not reported as associated with IPF. Main results: We identified and replicated three new genome-wide significant (P<5×10−8) signals of association with IPF susceptibility (associated with altered gene expression of KIF15, MAD1L1 and DEPTOR) and confirmed associations at 11 previously reported loci. Polygenic risk score analyses showed that the combined effect of many thousands of as-yet unreported IPF susceptibility variants contribute to IPF susceptibility. Conclusions: The observation that decreased DEPTOR expression associates with increased susceptibility to IPF, supports recent studies demonstrating the importance of mTOR signalling in lung fibrosis. New signals of association implicating KIF15 and MAD1L1 suggest a possible role of mitotic spindle-assembly genes in IPF susceptibility

Pathogenetics of alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV) is a lethal lung developmental disorder caused by heterozygous point mutations or genomic deletion copy-number variants (CNVs) of FOXF1 or its upstream enhancer involving fetal lung-expressed long noncoding RNA genes LINC01081 and LINC01082. Using custom-designed array comparative genomic hybridization, Sanger sequencing, whole exome sequencing (WES), and bioinformatic analyses, we studied 22 new unrelated families (20 postnatal and two prenatal) with clinically diagnosed ACDMPV. We describe novel deletion CNVs at the FOXF1 locus in 13 unrelated ACDMPV patients. Together with the previously reported cases, all 31 genomic deletions in 16q24.1, pathogenic for ACDMPV, for which parental origin was determined, arose de novo with 30 of them occurring on the maternally inherited chromosome 16, strongly implicating genomic imprinting of the FOXF1 locus in human lungs. Surprisingly, we have also identified four ACDMPV families with the pathogenic variants in the FOXF1 locus that arose on paternal chromosome 16. Interestingly, a combination of the severe cardiac defects, including hypoplastic left heart, and single umbilical artery were observed only in children with deletion CNVs involving FOXF1 and its upstream enhancer. Our data demonstrate that genomic imprinting at 16q24.1 plays an important role in variable ACDMPV manifestation likely through long-range regulation of FOXF1 expression, and may be also responsible for key phenotypic features of maternal uniparental disomy 16. Moreover, in one family, WES revealed a de novo missense variant in ESRP1, potentially implicating FGF signaling in the etiology of ACDMPV

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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