Peripheral neuronal activation shapes the microbiome and alters gut physiology.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is innervated by intrinsic neurons of the enteric nervous system (ENS) and extrinsic neurons of the central nervous system and peripheral ganglia. The GI tract also harbors a diverse microbiome, but interactions between the ENS and the microbiome remain poorly understood. Here, we activate choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-expressing or tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-expressing gut-associated neurons in mice to determine effects on intestinal microbial communities and their metabolites as well as on host physiology.

Functional glycoproteomics by integrated network assembly and partitioning.

The post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins by O-linked β--acetyl-D-glucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation) is widespread across the proteome during the lifespan of all multicellular organisms. However, nearly all functional studies have focused on individual protein modifications, overlooking the multitude of simultaneous O-GlcNAcylation events that work together to coordinate cellular activities. Here, we describe etworking of nteractors and ubstrats (NISE), a novel, systems-level approach to rapidly and comprehensively monitor O-GlcNAcylation across the proteome.

Quantitative measurement of the requirement of diverse protein degradation pathways in MHC class I peptide presentation.

Peptides from degradation of intracellular proteins are continuously displayed by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I. To better understand origins of these peptides, we performed a comprehensive census of the class I peptide repertoire in the presence and absence of ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) activity upon developing optimized methodology to enrich for and quantify these peptides. Whereas most class I peptides are dependent on the UPS for their generation, a surprising 30%, enriched in peptides of mitochondrial origin, appears independent of the UPS.

Amino Acid Analog Induces Stress Response in Marine .

Characterizing the cell-level metabolic trade-offs that phytoplankton exhibit in response to changing environmental conditions is important for predicting the impact of these changes on marine food web dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. The time-selective proteome-labeling approach, bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT), has potential to provide insight into differential allocation of resources at the cellular level, especially when coupled with proteomics. However, the application of this technique in marine phytoplankton remains limited.

WNK1 is an assembly factor for the human ER membrane protein complex.

The assembly of nascent proteins into multi-subunit complexes is a tightly regulated process that must occur at high fidelity to maintain cellular homeostasis. The ER membrane protein complex (EMC) is an essential insertase that requires seven membrane-spanning and two soluble cytosolic subunits to function. Here, we show that the kinase with no lysine 1 (WNK1), known for its role in hypertension and neuropathy, functions as an assembly factor for the human EMC.