Publications by authors named "Villen J"

Dynamic control of signaling events requires swift regulation of receptors at an active state. By focusing on the Arabidopsis ERECTA (ER) receptor kinase, which perceives peptide ligands to control multiple developmental processes, we report a mechanism preventing inappropriate receptor activity. The ER C-terminal tail (ER_CT) functions as an autoinhibitory domain: Its removal confers higher kinase activity and hyperactivity during inflorescence and stomatal development.

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Human-use medicines are introduced into surface water throughout their entire life cycle, from manufacturing and consumption to improper disposal, resulting in negative effects on aquatic flora and fauna. Sustainability approaches have addressed this issue, proposing frameworks like the One Health approach. A revised definition of the rational use of medicines has also been proposed, taking into account their environmental sustainability.

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The plant corepressor TPL is recruited to diverse chromatin contexts, yet its mechanism of repression remains unclear. Previously, we leveraged the fact that TPL retains its function in a synthetic transcriptional circuit in the yeast model Saccharomyces cerevisiae to localize repressive function to two distinct domains. Here, we employed two unbiased whole-genome approaches to map the physical and genetic interactions of TPL at a repressed locus.

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Article Synopsis
  • Human genetics has evolved significantly over the last 30 years, shifting focus from rare Mendelian diseases to the intricate genetic factors influencing common diseases.
  • Researchers highlight the critical role of genetic context—including variants, gene regulation, and environmental interactions—in understanding how these genetic variants impact health.
  • The article calls for unified methods to analyze the complex interplay of molecular and environmental factors, proposing that combining cellular, animal, and epidemiological data can enhance our interpretation of genetic variants and improve disease treatment strategies.
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  • Data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry is gaining popularity in quantitative proteomics due to its effectiveness in data analysis.
  • Creating reliable spectral libraries for DIA is challenging, as most current libraries come from data-dependent acquisition (DDA) data or predictions based on DDA.
  • The study introduces Carafe, a tool that generates specific spectral libraries by using deep learning directly on DIA data, showing better performance in predicting ion intensity and detecting peptides compared to existing DDA models.
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Calcium ions play important roles in nearly every biological process, yet whole-proteome analysis of calcium effectors has been hindered by a lack of high-throughput, unbiased, and quantitative methods to identify protein-calcium engagement. To address this, we adapted protein thermostability assays in budding yeast, human cells, and mouse mitochondria. Based on calcium-dependent thermostability, we identified 2,884 putative calcium-regulated proteins across human, mouse, and yeast proteomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on the Arabidopsis ERECTA (ER) receptor kinase, which regulates various developmental processes through receptor signaling.
  • The C-terminal tail of the ER receptor (ER_CT) acts as an autoinhibitory element that prevents excessive receptor activity, and its removal leads to increased kinase activity during plant growth.
  • Phosphorylation of ER_CT by the co-receptor BAK1 alters its structure, affecting interactions with inhibitors and ligases, thus enabling precise control over receptor activation and ensuring quick deactivation after signaling.
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Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are vital in determining the specificity of translation. Mutations in tRNA genes can result in the misincorporation of amino acids into nascent polypeptides in a process known as mistranslation. Since mistranslation has different impacts, depending on the type of amino acid substitution, our goal here was to compare the impact of different mistranslating tRNASer variants on fly development, lifespan, and behaviour.

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The fidelity of signal transduction requires the binding of regulatory molecules to their cognate targets. However, the crowded cell interior risks off-target interactions between proteins that are functionally unrelated. How such off-target interactions impact fitness is not generally known.

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Mistranslation is the misincorporation of an amino acid into a polypeptide. Mistranslation has diverse effects on multicellular eukaryotes and is implicated in several human diseases. In Drosophila melanogaster, a serine transfer RNA (tRNA) that misincorporates serine at proline codons (P→S) affects male and female flies differently.

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Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are vital in determining the specificity of translation. Mutations in tRNA genes can result in the misincorporation of amino acids into nascent polypeptides in a process known as mistranslation. Since mistranslation has different impacts, depending on the type of amino acid substitution, our goal here was to compare the impact of different mistranslating tRNA variants on fly development, lifespan, and behaviour.

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Mistranslation is the misincorporation of an amino acid into a polypeptide. Mistranslation has diverse effects on multicellular eukaryotes and is implicated in several human diseases. In , a serine transfer RNA (tRNA) that misincorporates serine at proline codons (P→S) affects male and female flies differently.

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The plant corepressor TPL is recruited to diverse chromatin contexts, yet its mechanism of repression remains unclear. Previously, we have leveraged the fact that TPL retains its function in a synthetic transcriptional circuit in the yeast model to localize repressive function to two distinct domains. Here, we employed two unbiased whole genome approaches to map the physical and genetic interactions of TPL at a repressed locus.

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To bridge the gap between bench and bedside, there is a need for more faithful models of human cancers that can recapitulate key features of the human tumor microenvironment (TME) and simultaneously facilitate large-scale drug tests. Our recently developed microdissection method optimizes the yield of large numbers of cuboidal microtissues (″cuboids″, ~(400 µm) ) from a tumor biopsy. Here we demonstrate that cuboids from syngeneic mouse tumor models and human tumors retain a complex TME, making them amenable for drug and immunotherapy evaluation.

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Protein nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy relies on the ability to isotopically label polypeptides, which is achieved through heterologous expression in various host organisms. Most commonly, Escherichia coli is employed by leveraging isotopically substituted ammonium and glucose to uniformly label proteins with N and C, respectively. Moreover, E.

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Calcium ions play important roles in nearly every biological process, yet whole-proteome analysis of calcium effectors has been hindered by lack of high-throughput, unbiased, and quantitative methods to identify proteins-calcium engagement. To address this, we adapted protein thermostability assays in the budding yeast, human cells, and mouse mitochondria. Based on calcium-dependent thermostability, we identified 2884 putative calcium-regulated proteins across human, mouse, and yeast proteomes.

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The fidelity of signal transduction requires the binding of regulatory molecules to their cognate targets. However, the crowded cell interior risks off-target interactions between proteins that are functionally unrelated. How such off-target interactions impact fitness is not generally known, but quantifying this is required to understand the constraints faced by cell systems as they evolve.

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The cellular ability to react to environmental fluctuations depends on signaling networks that are controlled by the dynamic activities of kinases and phosphatases. Here, to gain insight into these stress-responsive phosphorylation networks, we generated a quantitative mass spectrometry-based atlas of early phosphoproteomic responses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae exposed to 101 environmental and chemical perturbations. We report phosphosites on 59% of the yeast proteome, with 18% of the proteome harboring a phosphosite that is regulated within 5 min of stress exposure.

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Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) maintain translation fidelity through accurate charging by their cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and codon:anticodon base pairing with the mRNA at the ribosome. Mistranslation occurs when an amino acid not specified by the genetic message is incorporated into proteins and has applications in biotechnology, therapeutics and is relevant to disease. Since the alanyl-tRNA synthetase uniquely recognizes a G3:U70 base pair in tRNA and the anticodon plays no role in charging, tRNA variants with anticodon mutations have the potential to mis-incorporate alanine.

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Background: Pharmaceuticals treat and prevent diseases but can pose a risk to organisms, predominantly in aquatic environments. The use of pharmaceuticals is predicted to increase due to, among other factors, a growing and aging population and climate change. Therefore, it is important to develop mitigation strategies to prevent pharmaceutical residues from entering the environment.

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Aging muscle experiences functional decline in part mediated by impaired mitochondrial ADP sensitivity. Elamipretide (ELAM) rapidly improves physiological and mitochondrial function in aging and binds directly to the mitochondrial ADP transporter ANT. We hypothesized that ELAM improves ADP sensitivity in aging leading to rescued physiological function.

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Pharmaceuticals can reach the environment at all stages of their lifecycle and accumulate in the ecosystem, potentially reaching toxic levels for animals and plants. In recent years, efforts have been made to map and control this hazard. Assessing country-specific environmental risks could drive regulatory actions towards eco-friendlier drug utilization and disposal practices.

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Phosphotyrosine (pY) enrichment is critical for expanding the fundamental and clinical understanding of cellular signaling by mass spectrometry-based proteomics. However, current pY enrichment methods exhibit a high cost per sample and limited reproducibility due to expensive affinity reagents and manual processing. We present rapid-robotic phosphotyrosine proteomics (R2-pY), which uses a magnetic particle processor and pY superbinders or antibodies.

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Article Synopsis
  • The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is key to cognitive abilities and negative symptoms in schizophrenia, but little is known about its protein networks in this condition.
  • A study analyzed protein changes in the DLPFC of individuals with schizophrenia versus unaffected individuals, identifying 1989 proteins, with 43 significantly altered linked to important biological processes like immune response and intracellular transport.
  • Findings highlight a downregulation in pathways related to MHC class II antigen presentation and vesicle-mediated transport, emphasizing RAB7A as a central player in this network that may be targeted for new schizophrenia treatments to enhance cognitive and negative symptoms.
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Aging muscle experiences functional decline in part mediated by impaired mitochondrial ADP sensitivity. Elamipretide (ELAM) rapidly improves physiological and mitochondrial function in aging and binds directly to the mitochondrial ADP transporter ANT. We hypothesized that ELAM improves ADP sensitivity in aging leading to rescued physiological function.

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