Identification of miRNAs linked with the drought response of tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter].

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter], a staple food crop in the Horn of Africa and particularly in Ethiopia, has several beneficial agronomical and nutritional properties, including waterlogging and drought tolerance. In this study, we performed microRNA profiling of tef using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform, analyzing both shoots and roots of two tef genotypes, one drought-tolerant (Tsedey) and one drought-susceptible (Alba).

Picornavirus and enterovirus diversity with associated human diseases.

Members of the Picornaviridae family are non-enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses with a 30nm icosahedral capsid. This virus family exhibits a considerable amount of genetic variability driven both by mutation and recombination. Recently, three previously unknown human picornaviruses, namely the human Saffold cardiovirus, cosavirus and salivirus, have been identified in stools or respiratory samples from subjects presenting symptoms ranging from gastroenteritis to acute flaccid paralysis.

Interferon-alpha induces reversible DNA demethylation of the interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 core promoter in human melanoma cells.

The interferon (IFN)-α response gene interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) has antiproliferative properties in a number of biological systems. In the human melanoma cell line D10, IFITM3 is constitutively expressed and we show that the core promoter is significantly hypomethylated compared to ME15 cells, where IFITM3 is tightly controlled. We demonstrate that treatment of ME15 cells with the demethylating agent 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine enhances IFITM3 expression after IFN-α treatment.

Embryonic lethal phenotype reveals a function of TDG in maintaining epigenetic stability.

Thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) is a member of the uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) superfamily of DNA repair enzymes. Owing to its ability to excise thymine when mispaired with guanine, it was proposed to act against the mutability of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) deamination in mammalian DNA. However, TDG was also found to interact with transcription factors, histone acetyltransferases and de novo DNA methyltransferases, and it has been associated with DNA demethylation in gene promoters following activation of transcription, altogether implicating an engagement in gene regulation rather than DNA repair.

The small interferon-induced transmembrane genes and proteins.

Interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) genes are transcribed in most tissues and are with the exception of IFITM5 interferon inducible. They are involved in early development, cell adhesion, and control of cell growth. Most IFITM genes are activated in response to bacterial and viral infections, and the exact host immune defense mechanisms are still unknown.

MicroRNA Expression Profiling by Bead Array Technology in Human Tumor Cell Lines Treated with Interferon-Alpha-2a.

MicroRNAs are positive and negative regulators of eukaryotic gene expression that modulate transcript abundance by specific binding to sequence motifs located prevalently in the 3' untranslated regions of target messenger RNAs (mRNA). Interferon-alpha-2a (IFNα) induces a large set of protein coding genes mediating antiproliferative and antiviral responses. Here we use a global microarray-based microRNA detection platform to identify genes that are induced by IFNα in hepatoma- or melanoma-derived human tumor cell lines.