Body ownership alterations in stroke emerge from reduced proprioceptive precision and damage to the frontoparietal network.

Background: Stroke patients often experience alterations in their subjective feeling of ownership for the affected limb, which can hinder motor function and interfere with rehabilitation. In this study, we aimed at disentangling the complex relationship between sensory impairment, body ownership (BO), and motor control in stroke patients.

Methods: We recruited 20 stroke patients with unilateral upper limb sensory deficits and 35 age-matched controls.

[Method of Inducible Knockdown of Essential Genes in OSC Cell Culture of Drosophila melanogaster].

An RNA interference-based method was proposed to achieve an inducible knockdown of genes essential for cell viability. In the method, a genetic cassette in which a copper ion-dependent inducible metallothionein promoter controls expression of a siRNA precursor is inserted into a genomic pre-integrated transgene by CRIPSR/Cas9 technology. The endogenous siRNA source allows the gene knockdown in cell cultures that are refractory to conventional transfection with exogenous siRNA.

The self and the Bayesian brain: Testing probabilistic models of body ownership through a self-localization task.

Simple multisensory manipulations can induce the illusory misattribution of external objects to one's own body, allowing to experimentally investigate body ownership. In this context, body ownership has been conceptualized as the result of the online Bayesian optimal estimation of the probability that one object belongs to the body from the congruence of multisensory inputs. This idea has been highly influential, as it provided a quantitative basis to bottom-up accounts of self-consciousness.

Fraternity of old-timers: How ubiquitin regulates miRNA functions.

miRNA-mediated gene repression and ubiquitin-dependent processes are among the oldest and most versatile mechanisms that control multiple molecular pathways, rather than just protein turnover. These systems were discovered decades ago and have become among the most studied. All systems within cells are interconnected, and these two are no exception: the plethora of studies have demonstrated that the activity of the miRNAs system depends on players of the ubiquitin-centered universe of processes, and vice versa.

The Phage-Encoded -Acetyltransferase Rac Mediates Inactivation of Transcription by Cleavage of the RNA Polymerase Alpha Subunit.

In this study, we describe the biological function of the phage-encoded protein RNA polymerase alpha subunit cleavage protein (Rac), a predicted Gcn5-related acetyltransferase encoded by phiKMV-like viruses. These phages encode a single-subunit RNA polymerase for transcription of their late (structure- and lysis-associated) genes, whereas the bacterial RNA polymerase is used at the earlier stages of infection. Rac mediates the inactivation of bacterial transcription by introducing a specific cleavage in the α subunit of the bacterial RNA polymerase.

Novel RNA Polymerase Binding Protein Encoded by Bacteriophage T5.

The bacteriophage T5 has three temporal classes of genes (pre-early, early, and late). All three classes are transcribed by host RNA polymerase (RNAP) containing the σ promoter specificity subunit. Molecular mechanisms responsible for the switching of viral transcription from one class to another remain unknown.

Epigenetic Requirements for Triggering Heterochromatinization and Piwi-Interacting RNA Production from Transgenes in the Germline.

Transgenes containing a fragment of the retrotransposon represent a powerful model of piRNA cluster formation in the germline. We revealed that the same transgenes located at different genomic loci form piRNA clusters with various capacity of small RNA production. Transgenic piRNA clusters are not established in piRNA pathway mutants.

Nuclear Ccr4-Not mediates the degradation of telomeric and transposon transcripts at chromatin in the Drosophila germline.

Ccr4-Not is a highly conserved complex involved in cotranscriptional RNA surveillance pathways in yeast. In Drosophila, Ccr4-Not is linked to the translational repression of miRNA targets and the posttranscriptional control of maternal mRNAs during oogenesis and embryonic development. Here, we describe a new role for the Ccr4-Not complex in nuclear RNA metabolism in the Drosophila germline.

Key role of piRNAs in telomeric chromatin maintenance and telomere nuclear positioning in Drosophila germline.

Background: Telomeric small RNAs related to PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have been described in various eukaryotes; however, their role in germline-specific telomere function remains poorly understood. Using a Drosophila model, we performed an in-depth study of the biogenesis of telomeric piRNAs and their function in telomere homeostasis in the germline.

Results: To fully characterize telomeric piRNA clusters, we integrated the data obtained from analysis of endogenous telomeric repeats, as well as transgenes inserted into different telomeric and subtelomeric regions.

Transcriptional and chromatin changes accompanying de novo formation of transgenic piRNA clusters.

Expression of transposable elements in the germline is controlled by Piwi-interacting (pi) RNAs produced by genomic loci termed piRNA clusters and associated with Rhino, a heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) homolog. Previously, we have shown that transgenes containing a fragment of the retrotransposon form de novo piRNA clusters in the germline providing suppression of -element activity. We noted that identical transgenes located in different genomic sites vary considerably in piRNA production and classified them as "strong" and "weak" piRNA clusters.

[Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex as Tissue-Specific Cofactor during Germinal Cell Differentiation in Drosophila Testes].

During the process of spermatogenesis, the proliferation of spermatogonia (stem cell descendants) is replaced by their differentiation in growing spermatocytes responsible for the preparation to meiosis, which is accompanied by a cardinal change in transcriptional programs. We have demonstrated that, in drosophila, this process is accompanied by a splash of the expression of β-subunit of nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) associated by ribosomes. Nascent polypeptide-associated complex is known as a chaperone involved in co-translational protein folding.

Telomeric Retrotransposon HeT-A Contains a Bidirectional Promoter that Initiates Divergent Transcription of piRNA Precursors in Drosophila Germline.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) provide the silencing of transposable elements in the germline. Drosophila telomeres are maintained by transpositions of specialized telomeric retroelements. piRNAs generated from sense and antisense transcripts of telomeric elements provide telomere length control in the germline.

Interaction of Telomeric Retroelement HeT-A Transcripts and Their Protein Product Gag in Early Embryogenesis of Drosophila.

The telomere is a nucleoprotein complex at the ends of linear chromosomes that protects them from fusion and degradation. The telomere consists of telomeric DNA, a protective protein complex and telomeric RNA. Biogenesis of telomeric transcripts in development is still far from being understood.

Telomeric repeat silencing in germ cells is essential for early development in Drosophila.

The germline-specific role of telomeres consists of chromosome end elongation and proper chromosome segregation during early developmental stages. Despite the crucial role of telomeres in germ cells, little is known about telomere biology in the germline. We analyzed telomere homeostasis in the Drosophila female germline and early embryos.

[Dead-box RNA helicases in animal gametogenesis].

This review analyzes and summarizes a current knowledge about a role of RNA helicases in the development and maintenance of gametogenesis of eukaryotic organisms. Here we focused on three representatives of RNA helicase family containing the characteristic motifs in the amino acid sequence (DEAD-box) and carrying substantial and conservative functions in the germinal tissues of various species from drosophila to human. There are such proteins as Vasa/DDX4, BelIe/DDX3 and Spindle-E/TDRD9.

Host RNA polymerase inhibitors encoded by ϕKMV-like phages of Pseudomonas.

Escherichia coli bacteriophage T7 is a founding member of a large clade of podoviruses encoding a single-subunit RNA polymerase (RNAP). Phages of the family rely on host RNAP for transcription of early viral genes; viral RNAP transcribes non-early viral genes. T7 and its close relatives encode an inhibitor of host RNAP, the gp2 protein.

Temporal regulation of gene expression of the Escherichia coli bacteriophage phiEco32.

Escherichia coli phage phiEco32 encodes two proteins that bind to host RNA polymerase (RNAP): gp79, a novel protein, and gp36, a distant homolog of σ(70) family proteins. Here, we investigated the temporal pattern of phiEco32 and host gene expression during infection. Host transcription shutoff and three distinct bacteriophage temporal gene classes (early, middle, and late) were revealed.

Reprint of: inhibition of Escherichia coli RNAp by T7 Gp2 protein: role of negatively charged strip of amino acid residues in Gp2.

Gp2, a 7 kDa protein encoded by T7 bacteriophage, is a potent inhibitor of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAp), the enzyme responsible for transcription of all bacterial genes and early viral genes. A prominent feature in the structure of Gp2 is a contiguous strip of seven negatively charged amino acid residues (negatively charged strip or NCS), located along one side of the molecule. The role of the NCS in Gp2 function is not known.

Inhibition of Escherichia coli RNAp by T7 Gp2 protein: role of negatively charged strip of amino acid residues in Gp2.

Gp2, a 7 kDa protein encoded by T7 bacteriophage, is a potent inhibitor of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAp), the enzyme responsible for transcription of all bacterial genes and early viral genes. A prominent feature in the structure of Gp2 is a contiguous strip of seven negatively charged amino acid residues (negatively charged strip or NCS), located along one side of the molecule. The role of the NCS in Gp2 function is not known.

Genomic and proteomic analysis of phiEco32, a novel Escherichia coli bacteriophage.

A novel bacteriophage infecting Escherichia coli was isolated during a large-scale screen for bacteriophages that may be used for therapy of mastitis in cattle. The 77,554-bp genome of the bacteriophage, named phiEco32, was sequenced and annotated, and its virions were characterized by electron microscopy and proteomics. Two phiEco32-encoded proteins that interact with host RNA polymerase were identified.