Growth Arrest‐Specific 6 (GAS6) Promotes Prostate Cancer Survival by G1 Arrest/S Phase Delay and Inhibition of Apoptosis During Chemotherapy in Bone Marrow

Prostate cancer (PCa) is known to develop resistance to chemotherapy. Growth arrest‐specific 6 (GAS6), plays a role in tumor progression by regulating growth in many cancers. Here, we explored how GAS6 regulates the cell cycle and apoptosis of PCa cells in response to chemotherapy. We found that GAS6 is sufficient to significantly increase the fraction of cells in G1 and the duration of phase in PCa cells. Importantly, the effect of GAS6 on G1 is potentiated during docetaxel chemotherapy. GAS6 altered the levels of several key cell cycle regulators, including the downregulation of Cyclin B1 (G2/M phase), CDC25A, Cyclin E1, and CDK2 (S phase entry), while the upregulation of cell cycle inhibitors p27 and p21, Cyclin D1, and CDK4. Importantly, these changes became further accentuated during docetaxel treatment in the presence of GAS6. Moreover, GAS6 alters the apoptotic response of PCa cells during docetaxel chemotherapy. Docetaxel induced PCa cell apoptosis is efficiently suppressed in PCa cell culture in the presence of GAS6 or GAS6 secreted from co‐cultured osteoblasts. Similarly, the GAS6‐expressing bone environment protects PCa cells from apoptosis within primary tumors in vivo studies. Docetaxel induced significant levels of Caspase‐3 and PARP cleavage in PCa cells, while GAS6 protected PCa cells from docetaxel‐induced apoptotic signaling. Together, these data suggest that GAS6, expressed by osteoblasts in the bone marrow, plays a significant role in the regulation of PCa cell survival during chemotherapy, which will have important implications for targeting metastatic disease. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2815–2824, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.We explored how GAS6, expressed by osteoblasts, regulates the cell cycle and apoptosis in PCa cells during chemotherapy in the bone marrow. We demonstrate that GAS6 significantly increases the number of G1 arrested cells by altering signaling networks associated with G1 arrest and S phase delay. Our results suggest that GAS6 contributes to the regulation of PCa cell survival during chemotherapy in the bone marrow microenvironment.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134410/1/jcb25582_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134410/2/jcb25582.pd

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Kinetics of Photosynthetic Response to Ultraviolet and Photosynthetically Active Radiation in Synechococcus WH8102 (CYANOBACTERIA)

The picoplanktonic cyanobacteria, Synechococcus spp., (Nägeli) are important contributors to global ocean primary production that can be stressed by solar radiation, both in the photosynthetically active (PAR) and ultraviolet (UV) range. We studied the responses of PSII quantum yield (active fluorescence), carbon fixation (14C assimilation) and oxygen evolution (membrane inlet mass spectrometry) in Synechococcus WH8102 under moderate UV and PAR. PSII quantum yield decreased during exposure to moderate UV and UV+PAR, with response to the latter being faster (6.4 versus 2.8 min, respectively). Repair processes were also faster when UV+PAR exposure was followed by moderate PAR (1.68 min response time) than when UV was followed by very low PAR (10.5 min response time). For the UV+PAR treatment, the initial decrease in quantum yield was followed by a 50% increase (“rebound”) after 7 min exposure, showing an apparent photoprotection induction. While oxygen uptake increased with PAR, it did not change under UV, suggesting that this oxygen-dependent mechanism of photoprotection, which may be acting as an electron sink, is not an important strategy against UV. We used propyl gallate, an antioxidant, to test for plastid terminal oxidase (ptox) or ptox-like enzymes activity, but it caused nonspecific and toxic effects on Synechococcus WH8102

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) population of the Matamek River, Quebec : 1967-1984 data report

From 1967 to 1984 the Matamek Research Station, located near Sept-Iles, Quebec, was the focus of a research program on salmonid production in boreal river ecosystems. Research was conducted under the auspices of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and in cooperation with the Ministere du Loisir, de la Chasse et de la Peche du Quebec and representatives of several universities in Canada and the United States. One of the central activities throughout the history of the Station was monitoring of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the Matamek River. All salmon life history stages were involved, although the greatest effort was spent in estimates of parr population size at select sites and in estimates of population size, age and sex ratios of sea-run adults entering the river to spawn. Effort and methods were not consistent from year to year due to changes in program focus and improvements in techniques. Nonetheless, we believe the data represent the only long-term record for an Atlantic salmon population on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence. Heretofore, information on Atlantic salmon from the Matamek River was available only in published works or in the Matamek Annual Reports published by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Because of the potential value for analyses of salmon population dynamics and life history, we have assembled the raw data, with neither analysis nor interpretation, in this report. During the period of 1980-1984, considerable effort was exerted in collecting data from original sources (field notebooks, scale envelopes, etc.) and in correcting errors in the data. We cannot, of course, guarantee complete accuracy. Nonetheless, this collection of information is the most complete and accurate compilation possible at this time. The data are presented as records for individual fish, and are ordered by date and by life history stage. We include a key to the designations of columns and to conventions used in coding data. All entries are raw data as initially recorded and coded; no analyses are available beyond those used by various individual authors in their preparation of reports or publications. While these data are made available for general use through this compilation, we request that proper acknowledgment be given the Matamek Research Program of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, under whose directorship this compilation was accomplished.Funding was provided by the Department of Commerce, NOAA National Sea Grant College Program under contract Number NABO-AA-D-00077