The LRRK2 G2019S mutation alters astrocyte-to-neuron communication via extracellular vesicles and induces neuron atrophy in a human iPSC-derived model of Parkinson's disease.

Astrocytes are essential cells of the central nervous system, characterized by dynamic relationships with neurons that range from functional metabolic interactions and regulation of neuronal firing activities, to the release of neurotrophic and neuroprotective factors. In Parkinson's disease (PD), dopaminergic neurons are progressively lost during the course of the disease, but the effects of PD on astrocytes and astrocyte-to-neuron communication remain largely unknown. This study focuses on the effects of the PD-related mutation LRRK2 G2019S in astrocytes generated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells.

A proposal for the future of scientific publishing in the life sciences.

Science advances through rich, scholarly discussion. More than ever before, digital tools allow us to take that dialogue online. To chart a new future for open publishing, we must consider alternatives to the core features of the legacy print publishing system, such as an access paywall and editorial selection before publication.

Looking back and looking forward at Janelia.

Starting a new research campus is a leap of faith. Only later, in the full measure of time, is it possible to take stock of what has worked and what could have been done better or differently. The Janelia Research Campus opened its doors 12 years ago.

An RpaA-Dependent Sigma Factor Cascade Sets the Timing of Circadian Transcriptional Rhythms in Synechococcus elongatus.

The circadian clock of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 drives oscillations in global mRNA abundances with 24-hr periodicity under constant light conditions. The circadian clock-regulated transcription factor RpaA controls the timing of circadian gene expression, but the mechanisms underlying this control are not well understood. Here, we show that four RpaA-dependent sigma factors-RpoD2, RpoD6, RpoD5, and SigF2-are sequentially activated downstream of active RpaA and are required for proper expression of circadian mRNAs.

Translational Control through Differential Ribosome Pausing during Amino Acid Limitation in Mammalian Cells.

Limitation for amino acids is thought to regulate translation in mammalian cells primarily by signaling through the kinases mTORC1 and GCN2. We find that a selective loss of arginine tRNA charging during limitation for arginine regulates translation through ribosome pausing at two of six arginine codons. Surprisingly, limitation for leucine, an essential and abundant amino acid in protein, results in little or no ribosome pausing.

Identification of a transporter complex responsible for the cytosolic entry of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates.

Nitrogen-containing-bisphosphonates (N-BPs) are a class of drugs widely prescribed to treat osteoporosis and other bone-related diseases. Although previous studies have established that N-BPs function by inhibiting the mevalonate pathway in osteoclasts, the mechanism by which N-BPs enter the cytosol from the extracellular space to reach their molecular target is not understood. Here, we implemented a CRISPRi-mediated genome-wide screen and identified (solute carrier family 37 member A3) as a gene required for the action of N-BPs in mammalian cells.

Dynamical localization of a thylakoid membrane binding protein is required for acquisition of photosynthetic competency.

Vipp1 is highly conserved and essential for photosynthesis, but its function is unclear as it does not participate directly in light-dependent reactions. We analyzed Vipp1 localization in live cyanobacterial cells and show that Vipp1 is highly dynamic, continuously exchanging between a diffuse fraction that is uniformly distributed throughout the cell and a punctate fraction that is concentrated at high curvature regions of the thylakoid located at the cell periphery. Experimentally perturbing the spatial distribution of Vipp1 by relocalizing it to the nucleoid causes a severe growth defect during the transition from non-photosynthetic (dark) to photosynthetic (light) growth.

ppGpp Controls Global Gene Expression in Light and in Darkness in S. elongatus.

The bacterial and plant stringent response involves production of the signaling molecules guanosine tetraphosphate and guanosine pentaphosphate ((p)ppGpp), leading to global reorganization of gene expression. The function of the stringent response has been well characterized in stress conditions, but its regulatory role during unstressed growth is less studied. Here, we demonstrate that (p)ppGpp-deficient strains of S.

Natural changes in light interact with circadian regulation at promoters to control gene expression in cyanobacteria.

The circadian clock interacts with other regulatory pathways to tune physiology to predictable daily changes and unexpected environmental fluctuations. However, the complexity of circadian clocks in higher organisms has prevented a clear understanding of how natural environmental conditions affect circadian clocks and their physiological outputs. Here, we dissect the interaction between circadian regulation and responses to fluctuating light in the cyanobacterium .

An Unstable Singularity Underlies Stochastic Phasing of the Circadian Clock in Individual Cyanobacterial Cells.

The endogenous circadian clock synchronizes with environmental time by appropriately resetting its phase in response to external cues. Of note, some resetting stimuli induce attenuated oscillations of clock output, which has been observed at the population-level in several organisms and in studies of individual humans. To investigate what is happening in individual cellular clocks, we studied the unicellular cyanobacterium S.

Inference and Evolutionary Analysis of Genome-Scale Regulatory Networks in Large Phylogenies.

Changes in transcriptional regulatory networks can significantly contribute to species evolution and adaptation. However, identification of genome-scale regulatory networks is an open challenge, especially in non-model organisms. Here, we introduce multi-species regulatory network learning (MRTLE), a computational approach that uses phylogenetic structure, sequence-specific motifs, and transcriptomic data, to infer the regulatory networks in different species.

A systematic genetic screen for genes involved in sensing inorganic phosphate availability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae responds to changes in extracellular inorganic phosphate (Pi) availability by regulating the activity of the phosphate-responsive (PHO) signaling pathway, enabling cells to maintain intracellular levels of the essential nutrient Pi. Pi-limitation induces upregulation of inositol heptakisphosphate (IP7) synthesized by the inositol hexakisphosphate kinase Vip1, triggering inhibition of the Pho80/Pho85 cyclin-cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) complex by the CDK inhibitor Pho81, which upregulates the PHO regulon through the CDK target and transcription factor Pho4. To identify genes that are involved in signaling upstream of the Pho80/Pho85/Pho81 complex and how they interact with each other to regulate the PHO pathway, we performed genome-wide screens with the synthetic genetic array method.

Switching of metabolic programs in response to light availability is an essential function of the cyanobacterial circadian output pathway.

The transcription factor RpaA is the master regulator of circadian transcription in cyanobacteria, driving genome-wide oscillations in mRNA abundance. Deletion of has no effect on viability in constant light conditions, but renders cells inviable in cycling conditions when light and dark periods alternate. We investigated the mechanisms underlying this viability defect, and demonstrate that the strain cannot maintain appropriate energy status at night, does not accumulate carbon reserves during the day, and is defective in transcription of genes crucial for utilization of carbohydrate stores at night.

Cyanobacteria Maintain Constant Protein Concentration despite Genome Copy-Number Variation.

The cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 has multiple copies of its single chromosome, and the copy number varies in individual cells, providing an ideal system to study the effect of genome copy-number variation on cell size and gene expression. Using single-cell fluorescence imaging, we found that protein concentration remained constant across individual cells regardless of genome copy number. Cell volume and the total protein amount from a single gene were both positively, linearly correlated with genome copy number, suggesting that changes in cell volume play an important role in buffering genome copy-number variance.

A computational approach to map nucleosome positions and alternative chromatin states with base pair resolution.

Understanding chromatin function requires knowing the precise location of nucleosomes. MNase-seq methods have been widely applied to characterize nucleosome organization in vivo, but generally lack the accuracy to determine the precise nucleosome positions. Here we develop a computational approach leveraging digestion variability to determine nucleosome positions at a base-pair resolution from MNase-seq data.

The anticancer natural product ophiobolin A induces cytotoxicity by covalent modification of phosphatidylethanolamine.

Phenotypic screens allow the identification of small molecules with promising anticancer activity, but the difficulty in characterizing the mechanism of action of these compounds in human cells often undermines their value as drug leads. Here, we used a loss-of-function genetic screen in human haploid KBM7 cells to discover the mechanism of action of the anticancer natural product ophiobolin A (OPA). We found that genetic inactivation of de novo synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) mitigates OPA cytotoxicity by reducing cellular PE levels.

Encoding four gene expression programs in the activation dynamics of a single transcription factor.

Cellular signaling response pathways often exhibit a bow-tie topology [1,2]: multiple upstream stress signals converge on a single shared transcription factor, which is thought to induce different downstream gene expression programs (Figure 1A). However, if several different signals activate the same transcription factor, can each signal then induce a specific gene expression response? A growing body of literature supports a temporal coding theory where information about environmental signals can be encoded, at least partially, in the temporal dynamics of the shared transcription factor [1,2]. For example, in the case of the budding yeast transcription factor Msn2, different stresses induce distinct Msn2 activation dynamics: Msn2 shows pulsatile nuclear activation with dose-dependent frequency under glucose limitation, but sustained nuclear activation with dose-dependent amplitude under oxidative stress [3].

cis Determinants of Promoter Threshold and Activation Timescale.

Although the relationship between DNA cis-regulatory sequences and gene expression has been extensively studied at steady state, how cis-regulatory sequences affect the dynamics of gene induction is not known. The dynamics of gene induction can be described by the promoter activation timescale (AcTime) and amplitude threshold (AmpThr). Combining high-throughput microfluidics with quantitative time-lapse microscopy, we control the activation dynamics of the budding yeast transcription factor, Msn2, and reveal how cis-regulatory motifs in 20 promoter variants of the Msn2-target-gene SIP18 affect AcTime and AmpThr.

High-throughput microfluidics to control and measure signaling dynamics in single yeast cells.

Microfluidics coupled to quantitative time-lapse fluorescence microscopy is transforming our ability to control, measure and understand signaling dynamics in single living cells. Here we describe a pipeline that incorporates multiplexed microfluidic cell culture, automated programmable fluid handling for cell perturbation, quantitative time-lapse microscopy and computational analysis of time-lapse movies. We illustrate how this setup can be used to control the nuclear localization of the budding yeast transcription factor Msn2.