Medulloblastomas arise from undifferentiated precursor cells in the cerebellum and account for about 20% of all solid brain tumors during childhood; standard therapies include radiation and chemotherapy, which oftentimes come with severe impairment of the cognitive development of the young patients. Here, we show that the posttranscriptional regulator Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1), a DNA- and RNA-binding protein, acts as an oncogene in medulloblastomas by regulating cellular survival and apoptosis. We observed different cellular responses upon YBX1 knockdown in several medulloblastoma cell lines, with significantly altered transcription and subsequent apoptosis rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe RNA-binding protein Musashi 2 (MSI2) has emerged as an important regulator in cancer initiation, progression, and drug resistance. Translocations and deregulation of the gene are diagnostic of certain cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with translocation t(7;17), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with translocation t(10;17), and some cases of B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pB-ALL). To better understand the function of MSI2 in leukemia, the mRNA targets that are bound and regulated by MSI2 and their MSI2-binding motifs need to be identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInnate immune activation is essential to mount an effective antiviral response and to prime adaptive immunity. Although a crucial role of CD169 cells during vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infections is increasingly recognized, factors regulating CD169 cells during viral infections remain unclear. Here, we show that tumor necrosis factor is produced by CD11b Ly6C Ly6G cells following infection with VSV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2015
Genetic translocation of EWSR1 to ETS transcription factor coding region is considered as primary cause for Ewing sarcoma. Previous studies focused on the biology of chimeric transcription factors formed due to this translocation. However, the physiological consequences of heterozygous EWSR1 loss in these tumors have largely remained elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn all three domains of life ribosomal RNAs are extensively modified at functionally important sites of the ribosome. These modifications are believed to fine-tune the ribosome structure for optimal translation. However, the precise mechanistic effect of modifications on ribosome function remains largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFUS, EWSR1 and TAF15, constituting the FET protein family, are abundant, highly conserved RNA-binding proteins with important roles in oncogenesis and neuronal disease, yet their RNA targets and recognition elements are unknown. Using PAR-CLIP, we defined global RNA targets for all human FET proteins and two ALS-causing human FUS mutants. FET members showed similar binding profiles, whereas FUS mutants showed a drastically altered binding pattern, consistent with changes in subcellular localization.
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