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Despite the profound impact of coronary artery disease on human health, the origins of the coronary blood vessels are poorly understood. Wu et al. use imaging and genetic techniques to show that the endocardium contributes to the coronary vessels and that the coronary arteries and veins have multilineage origins.
Signaling pathways are intimately involved in cellular differentiation, allowing cells to respond to their environment by regulating gene expression. Although enhancers are recognized as key elements that regulate selective gene expression, the interplay between signaling pathways and actively used enhancer elements is not clear. Here, we use CD4 + T cells as a model of differentiation, mapping...
Defects in primary cilia lead to devastating disease because of their roles in sensation and developmental signaling but much is unknown about ciliary structure and mechanisms of their formation and maintenance. We used cryo-electron tomography to obtain 3D maps of the connecting cilium and adjacent cellular structures of a modified primary cilium, the rod outer segment, from wild-type and genetically...
The ectopic expression of transcription factors can reprogram cell fate, yet it is unknown how the initial binding of factors to the genome relates functionally to the binding seen in the minority of cells that become reprogrammed. We report a map of Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (O, S, K, and M) on the human genome during the first 48 hr of reprogramming fibroblasts to pluripotency. Three striking...
Eukaryotic genomes are colonized by transposons whose uncontrolled activity causes genomic instability. The piRNA pathway silences transposons in animal gonads, yet how this is achieved molecularly remains controversial. Here, we show that the HMG protein Maelstrom is essential for Piwi-mediated silencing in Drosophila. Genome-wide assays revealed highly correlated changes in RNA polymerase II recruitment,...
As part of their symbiotic association with humans, intestinal bacteria sometimes need and sometimes lend a helping hand. In this Select, we examine how commensal microorganisms or the inflammation they produce cause undesirable outcomes, such as the development of type 2 diabetes or cancer. In addition, we see how commensal bacteria can receive assistance in colonization from resident phages and...
Inhibitors of the ALK and EGF receptor tyrosine kinases provoke dramatic but short-lived responses in lung cancers harboring EML4-ALK translocations or activating mutations of EGFR, respectively. We used a large-scale RNAi screen to identify MED12, a component of the transcriptional MEDIATOR complex that is mutated in cancers, as a determinant of response to ALK and EGFR inhibitors. MED12 is in part...
Internal nutrient sensors play important roles in feeding behavior, yet their molecular structure and mechanism of action are poorly understood. Using Ca 2+ imaging and behavioral assays, we show that the gustatory receptor 43a (Gr43a) functions as a narrowly tuned fructose receptor in taste neurons. Remarkably, Gr43a also functions as a fructose receptor in the brain. Interestingly, hemolymph...
Ring NTPases of the ASCE superfamily perform a variety of cellular functions. An important question about the operation of these molecular machines is how the ring subunits coordinate their chemical and mechanical transitions. Here, we present a comprehensive mechanochemical characterization of a homomeric ring ATPase—the bacteriophage φ29 packaging motor—a homopentamer that translocates double-stranded...
The mammalian brain comprises a diverse variety of cell types. Fine characterization of specific subpopulations of neurons, however, has been a technical challenge. Here, Knight et al. describe an elegant technique for high throughput of molecular profiling of activated hypothalamic neurons.
Phage G1 gp67 is a 23 kDa protein that binds to the Staphylococcus aureus (Sau) RNA polymerase (RNAP) σ A subunit and blocks cell growth by inhibiting transcription. We show that gp67 has little to no effect on transcription from most promoters but is a potent inhibitor of ribosomal RNA transcription. A 2.0-Å-resolution crystal structure of the complex between gp67 and Sau σ A domain...
In this issue and in a recent issue of Cell, Vahedi et al. and Samstein et al. provide new insights into the strategies used to establish an enhancer landscape during development of cell lineages. They report that enhancer landscapes characterizing T cell lineages are pre-established and strongly influenced by environmental stimuli.
An unexpected role for a Mediator subunit, MED12, in resistance to multiple anticancer agents is revealed by Huang et al. Loss of MED12 confers drug resistance by activating transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling. Inhibition of the TGF-β pathway resensitizes cells to therapeutic drugs, suggesting a new combinatorial cancer treatment.
Microcephaly is a neurodevelopmental disorder causing significantly reduced cerebral cortex size. Many known microcephaly gene products localize to centrosomes, regulating cell fate and proliferation. Here, we identify and characterize a nuclear zinc finger protein, ZNF335/NIF-1, as a causative gene for severe microcephaly, small somatic size, and neonatal death. Znf335 null mice are embryonically...
The origins and developmental mechanisms of coronary arteries are incompletely understood. We show here by fate mapping, clonal analysis, and immunohistochemistry that endocardial cells generate the endothelium of coronary arteries. Dye tracking, live imaging, and tissue transplantation also revealed that ventricular endocardial cells are not terminally differentiated; instead, they are angiogenic...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) guide Argonaute proteins to silence mRNA expression. Argonaute binding alters the properties of an RNA guide, creating functional domains. We show that the domains established by Argonaute—the anchor, seed, central, 3′ supplementary, and tail regions—have distinct biochemical properties that explain the differences between how animal miRNAs and...
The inactive X chromosome’s (Xi) physical territory is microscopically devoid of transcriptional hallmarks and enriched in silencing-associated modifications. How these microscopic signatures relate to specific Xi sequences is unknown. Therefore, we profiled Xi gene expression and chromatin states at high resolution via allele-specific sequencing in mouse trophoblast stem cells. Most notably, X-inactivated...
Through in vivo selection of human cancer cell populations, we uncover a convergent and cooperative miRNA network that drives melanoma metastasis. We identify miR-1908, miR-199a-5p, and miR-199a-3p as endogenous promoters of metastatic invasion, angiogenesis, and colonization in melanoma. These miRNAs convergently target apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and the heat shock factor DNAJA4. Cancer-secreted ApoE...
The mammalian brain is composed of thousands of interacting neural cell types. Systematic approaches to establish the molecular identity of functional populations of neurons would advance our understanding of neural mechanisms controlling behavior. Here, we show that ribosomal protein S6, a structural component of the ribosome, becomes phosphorylated in neurons activated by a wide range of stimuli...
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