Ypk1/Ypk2 kinases maintain Rho1 at the plasma membrane by flippase-dependent lipid remodelling after membrane stresses

The plasma membrane (PM) is frequently challenged by mechanical stresses. In budding yeast, TORC2-Ypk1/Ypk2 kinase cascade plays a critical role in PM stress responses by reorganizing the actin cytoskeleton via Rho1 GTPase. However, the molecular mechanism by which TORC2-Ypk1/Ypk2 regulates Rho1 is not well defined. Here, we found that Ypk1/Ypk2 maintain PM localization of Rho1 under PM stress via spatial reorganization of the lipids including phosphatidylserine (PS). Genetic evidence suggests that this process is mediated by the Lem3-containing lipid flippase. We propose that TORC2-Ypk1/Ypk2-Lem3 axis-mediated lipid remodelling is a backup mechanism for PM anchoring of Rho1 after PM stress-induced acute degradation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2), which is responsible for Rho1 localization in a normal condition. Since all the signaling molecules studied here are conserved in higher eukaryotes, our findings may represent a general mechanism to cope with PM stress

Mycobacterium Shinjukuense Pulmonary Disease Progressed to Pleuritis after Iatrogenic Pneumothorax : A Case Report

Mycobacterium shinjukuense is a newly identified nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and its gene sequence of 16S rRNA shows high homology to that of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We present a case of M. shinjukuense pulmonary disease progressed to pleuritis after iatrogenic pneumothorax. The patient was initially diagnosed as tuberculosis based on a positive result for the 16S rRNA of an M. tuberculosis identification kit using scrapings from the cavitary nodule. We need to bear in mind that pneumothorax following bronchoscopy may induce NTM pleuritis and M. shinjukuense infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mycobacterial pulmonary disease with effusion

Violation of the two-time Leggett-Garg inequalities for a harmonic oscillator

We investigate the violation of the Leggett-Garg inequalities for a harmonic oscillator in various quantum states. We focus on the two-time quasi-probability distribution function with a dichotomic variable constructed with the position operator of a harmonic oscillator. First, we developed a new formula to compute the two-time quasi-probability distribution function, whose validity is demonstrated in comparison with the formula developed in the recent paper by Mawby and Halliwell[Phys.Rev.A, 107 032216 (2023)]. Second, we demonstrated the variety of the violation of the two-time Leggett-Garg inequalities assuming various quantum states of a harmonic oscillator including the squeezed coherent state and the thermal squeezed coherent state. Third, we demonstrated that a certain type of extension of the dichotomic variable and the corresponding projection operator can boost violation of the Leggett-Garg inequalities for the ground state and the squeezed state. We also discuss when the Leggett-Garg inequalities are violated in an intuitive manner.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure

Artificial selection reveals the role of transcriptional constraints in the maintenance of life history variation

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe trade‐off between reproduction and self‐maintenance is a cornerstone of life history theory, yet its proximate underpinnings are elusive. Here, we used an artificial selection approach to create replicated lines of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) that differ genetically in their reproductive investment. Whole transcriptome sequencing revealed that females from lines selected for high reproductive output show a consistent upregulation of genes associated with reproduction but a simultaneous downregulation of immune genes. Concordant phenotypic differences in immune function (i.e., specific antibody response against keyhole limpet hemocyanin) were observed between the selection lines, even in males who do not provide parental care. Our findings demonstrate the key role of obligate transcriptional constraints in the maintenance of life history variation. These constraints set fundamental limits to productivity and health in natural and domestic animal populations.Universität ZürichKAKENHISchweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschun

AIRE Functions As an E3 Ubiquitin Ligase

Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene mutation is responsible for the development of autoimmune-polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy, an organ-specific autoimmune disease with monogenic autosomal recessive inheritance. AIRE is predominantly expressed in medullary epithelial cells of the thymus and is considered to play important roles in the establishment of self-tolerance. AIRE contains two plant homeodomain (PHD) domains, and the novel role of PHD as an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase has just emerged. Here we show that the first PHD (PHD1) of AIRE mediates E3 ligase activity. The significance of this finding was underscored by the fact that disease-causing missense mutations in the PHD1 (C311Y and P326Q) abolished its E3 ligase activity. These results add a novel enzymatic function for AIRE and suggest an indispensable role of the Ub proteasome pathway in the establishment of self-tolerance, in which AIRE is involved

Zds1/Zds2-PP2ACdc55 complex specifies signaling output from Rho1 GTPase

Acknowledgments We thank David Pellman, John Pringle, Daniel Lew, Masaki Mizunuma, Kenji Irie, and the Yeast Genome Resource Center for yeast strains and plasmids and members of Yoshida Laboratory and Keiko Kono for their support. Multicopy suppressor screening for gef∆ was initiated in the Pellman Laboratory with the help of Didem Ilter. This research was supported by Sprout grant from Brandeis University (E.M. Jonasson and S. Yoshida), an American-Italian Cancer Foundation Postdoctoral fellowship (V. Rossio), and a Massachusetts Life Sciences Center grant (S. Yoshida).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Characterization of Oseltamivir-Resistant 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Influenza A Viruses

Influenza viruses resistant to antiviral drugs emerge frequently. Not surprisingly, the widespread treatment in many countries of patients infected with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) viruses with the neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir has led to the emergence of pandemic strains resistant to these drugs. Sporadic cases of pandemic influenza have been associated with mutant viruses possessing a histidine-to-tyrosine substitution at position 274 (H274Y) in the NA, a mutation known to be responsible for oseltamivir resistance. Here, we characterized in vitro and in vivo properties of two pairs of oseltaimivir-sensitive and -resistant (possessing the NA H274Y substitution) 2009 H1N1 pandemic viruses isolated in different parts of the world. An in vitro NA inhibition assay confirmed that the NA H274Y substitution confers oseltamivir resistance to 2009 H1N1 pandemic viruses. In mouse lungs, we found no significant difference in replication between oseltamivir-sensitive and -resistant viruses. In the lungs of mice treated with oseltamivir or even zanamivir, 2009 H1N1 pandemic viruses with the NA H274Y substitution replicated efficiently. Pathological analysis revealed that the pathogenicities of the oseltamivir-resistant viruses were comparable to those of their oseltamivir-sensitive counterparts in ferrets. Further, the oseltamivir-resistant viruses transmitted between ferrets as efficiently as their oseltamivir-sensitive counterparts. Collectively, these data indicate that oseltamivir-resistant 2009 H1N1 pandemic viruses with the NA H274Y substitution were comparable to their oseltamivir-sensitive counterparts in their pathogenicity and transmissibility in animal models. Our findings highlight the possibility that NA H274Y-possessing oseltamivir-resistant 2009 H1N1 pandemic viruses could supersede oseltamivir-sensitive viruses, as occurred with seasonal H1N1 viruses