JAZF1-SUZ12 dysregulates PRC2 function and gene expression during cell differentiation

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) methylates histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) to maintain gene repression and is essential for cell differentiation. In low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS), the PRC2 subunit SUZ12 is often fused with the NuA4/TIP60 subunit JAZF1. We show that JAZF1-SUZ12 dysregulates PRC2 composition, genome occupancy, histone modification, gene expression, and cell differentiation. Loss of the SUZ12 N terminus in the fusion protein abrogates interaction with specific PRC2 accessory factors, reduces occupancy at PRC2 target genes, and diminishes H3K27me3. Fusion to JAZF1 increases H4Kac at PRC2 target genes and triggers recruitment to JAZF1 binding sites during cell differentiation. In human endometrial stromal cells, JAZF1-SUZ12 upregulated PRC2 target genes normally activated during decidualization while repressing genes associated with immune clearance, and JAZF1-SUZ12-induced genes were also overexpressed in LG-ESS. These results reveal defects in chromatin regulation, gene expression, and cell differentiation caused by JAZF1-SUZ12 that may underlie its role in oncogenesis

Filamentous Fungi and Yeasts Associated with Mites Phoretic on Ips typographus in Eastern Finland

The European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) has become a major forest pest in Finland in recent years. The beetle is a well-known vector of mainly ophiostomatoid fungi causing blue-stain of timber and pathogens that have the ability to amplify the insect damage. It also vectors other associated organisms, such as phoretic mites. The ecology of these mites remains poorly understood, including their associations with fungi. In this study, we considered filamentous fungi and yeasts associated with mites phoretic on I. typographus. Fungal identifications were based on DNA sequences and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS and/or partial β-tubulin gene regions. Fifteen fungal species were detected, including eight yeasts and seven filamentous fungi. Eleven percent of the beetles carried mites and of these 74% carried at least one fungal species. An average of two fungal species were carried per mite. The most commonly found filamentous fungi were Grosmannia penicillata (25%), Ophiostoma bicolor (19%), O. ainoae (12%) and O. brunneolum (12%). Of the yeast species, the most commonly found was Wickerhamomyces bisporus (47%). This study is the first to report yeasts associated with I. typographus and its phoretic mites in Finland. Majority of the filamentous fungal species found are those previously reported in association with I. typographus. The results also confirmed that many of the fungal species commonly found on I. typographus are also associated with its phoretic mites. However, the nature of the symbiosis between the mites, beetles and fungal associates remains to be understood

Filamentous Fungi and Yeasts Associated with Mites Phoretic on Ips typographus in Eastern Finland

The European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) has become a major forest pest in Finland in recent years. The beetle is a well-known vector of mainly ophiostomatoid fungi causing blue-stain of timber and pathogens that have the ability to amplify the insect damage. It also vectors other associated organisms, such as phoretic mites. The ecology of these mites remains poorly understood, including their associations with fungi. In this study, we considered filamentous fungi and yeasts associated with mites phoretic on I. typographus. Fungal identifications were based on DNA sequences and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS and/or partial β-tubulin gene regions. Fifteen fungal species were detected, including eight yeasts and seven filamentous fungi. Eleven percent of the beetles carried mites and of these 74% carried at least one fungal species. An average of two fungal species were carried per mite. The most commonly found filamentous fungi were Grosmannia penicillata (25%), Ophiostoma bicolor (19%), O. ainoae (12%) and O. brunneolum (12%). Of the yeast species, the most commonly found was Wickerhamomyces bisporus (47%). This study is the first to report yeasts associated with I. typographus and its phoretic mites in Finland. Majority of the filamentous fungal species found are those previously reported in association with I. typographus. The results also confirmed that many of the fungal species commonly found on I. typographus are also associated with its phoretic mites. However, the nature of the symbiosis between the mites, beetles and fungal associates remains to be understood

Informal formative assessment in inquiry-based science lessons

This paper is focused on the characterization of informal formative assessment conversations (i.e., interactions on-the-fly) from a methodological perspective. Interactions on-the-fly are unexpected teachable moments in which the teacher tries to probe students’ understanding and use that information to support their inquiry process. One of the coding systems used (ESRU framework) was adopted from the research literature (Ruiz-Primo & Furtak, 2007). Two other systems described here were developed and previously reported in two papers written by the authors (Correia, Nieminen, Serret, Hähkiöniemi, Viiri, & Harrison, in press; Nieminen, Hähkiöniemi, Leskinen, & Viiri, 2016). This paper presents these three coding systems together and discusses their features to characterize interactions on-the-fly. Examples for coding interactions on-the-fly from Finnish and English physics lessons are presented. For example, on the one hand, on-the-fly discussion proceeds as follows: The teacher initiates an on-the-fly episode by eliciting information using an open-ended (divergent) question, as the discussion progresses the teacher starts narrowing down the discussion using a closed-ended question (convergent), and closes the discussion by giving a short mini lecture. On the other hand, when guiding students’ inquiry, the teacher can collect information rapidly (quick interpretation) or he/she can use series of probing questions (further probing). In the former, the guidance is more authoritative as it is based on correspondence of the students’ and the teacher’s ideas. In the latter, guidance is based more on the student’s ideas representing more dialogic way to support learning

Smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerosis: proteomic profiling reveals differences in expression of Annexin A1 and mitochondrial proteins in carotid disease.

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hiPSC-derived hepatocytes closely mimic the lipid profile of primary hepatocytes: A future personalised cell model for studying the lipid metabolism of the liver

Peer reviewe

Filamentous fungi and yeasts associated with mites phoretic on Ips typographus in Eastern Finland

The European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) has become a major forest pest in Finland in recent years. The beetle is a well-known vector of mainly ophiostomatoid fungi causing bluestain of timber and pathogens that have the ability to amplify the insect damage. It also vectors other associated organisms, such as phoretic mites. The ecology of these mites remains poorly understood, including their associations with fungi. In this study, we considered filamentous fungi and yeasts associated with mites phoretic on I. typographus. Fungal identifications were based on DNA sequences and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS and/or partial -tubulin gene regions. Fifteen fungal species were detected, including eight yeasts and seven filamentous fungi. Eleven percent of the beetles carried mites and of these 74% carried at least one fungal species. An average of two fungal species were carried per mite. The most commonly found filamentous fungi were Grosmannia penicillata (25%), Ophiostoma bicolor (19%), O. ainoae (12%) and O. brunneolum (12%). Of the yeast species, the most commonly found was Wickerhamomyces bisporus (47%). This study is the first to report yeasts associated with I. typographus and its phoretic mites in Finland. Majority of the filamentous fungal species found are those previously reported in association with I. typographus. The results also confirmed that many of the fungal species commonly found on I. typographus are also associated with its phoretic mites. However, the nature of the symbiosis between the mites, beetles and fungal associates remains to be understood.The members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and the THRIP initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa; the YeastsGoWild!—project and Developing monitoring and control of forest insect damage increasing with warming climate, particularly those caused by spruce bark beetles, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forestsam2022BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Targeted deletion of keratin 8 in intestinal epithelial cells disrupts tissue integrity and predisposes to tumorigenesis in the colon

Keratin 8 (K8) is the main intestinal epithelial intermediate filament protein with proposed roles for colonic epithelial cell integrity. Here, we used mice lacking K8 in intestinal epithelial cells (floxed K8 and Villin-Cre1000 and Villin-CreERt2) to investigate the cell-specific roles of intestinal epithelial K8 for colonocyte function and pathologies. Intestinal epithelial K8 deletion decreased K8 partner proteins, K18-K20, 75-95%, and the remaining keratin filaments were located at the colonocyte apical regions with type II K7, which decreased 30%. 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoroglucose positron emission tomography in vivo imaging identified a metabolic phenotype in the lower gut of the conditional K8 knockouts. These mice developed intestinal barrier leakiness, mild diarrhea, and epithelial damage, especially in the proximal colon. Mice exhibited shifted differentiation from enterocytes to goblet cells, displayed longer crypts and an increased number of Ki67 + transit-amplifying cells in the colon. Significant proproliferative and regenerative signaling occurred in the IL-22, STAT3, and pRb pathways, with minor effects on inflammatory parameters, which, however, increased in aging mice. Importantly, colonocyte K8 deletion induced a dramatically increased sensitivity to azoxymethane-induced tumorigenesis. In conclusion, intestinal epithelial K8 plays a significant role in colonocyte epithelial integrity maintenance, proliferation regulation and tumor suppression.</p

Interleukin-6 and microRNA profiles induced by oral bacteria in human atheroma derived and healthy smooth muscle cells

Background Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with possible contributions from bacterial antigens. We aimed to investigate the role of oral bacteria as inducers of inflammatory cascades in smooth muscle cells from carotid endarterectomy patients (AthSMCs) and healthy controls (HSMCs). Findings Inactivated Streptococcus mitis, S. sanguinis, S. gorgonii, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis were used to stimulate inflammation in HSMCs and AthSMCs. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) was used as a positive control in all stimulations. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were determined from cell culture supernatants and microRNA expression profiles from cells after 24 h of bacterial stimulation. Genome wide expression (GWE) analyses were performed after 5 h stimulation. All studied bacteria induced pro inflammatory IL-6 production in both SMCs. The most powerful inducer of IL-6 was A. actinomycetemcomitans (p < 0.001). Of the 84 studied miRNAs, expression of 9 miRNAs differed significantly (p ≤ 0.001) between HSMCs and AthSMCs stimulated with inactivated bacteria or TNFα. The data was divided into two groups: high IL-6 producers (A. actinomytectemcomititans and TNFα) and low IL-6 producers (streptococcal strains and P. gingivalis). The expression of 4 miRNAs (miR-181-5p, −186-5p, −28-5p and −155-5p) differed statistically significantly (p < 0.001) between healthy HSMCs and AthSMCs in the low IL-6 producer group. According to multidimensional scaling, two gene expression clusters were seen: one in HSMCs and one AthSMCs. Conclusions Our results suggest that inactivated oral bacteria induce inflammation that is differently regulated in healthy and atherosclerotic SMCs.BioMed Central/SpringerOpen Journa