Ecological diversification of sea catfishes is accompanied by genome-wide signatures of positive selection.

Habitat transitions have shaped the evolutionary trajectory of many clades. Sea catfishes (Ariidae) have repeatedly undergone ecological transitions, including colonizing freshwaters from marine environments, leading to an adaptive radiation in Australia and New Guinea alongside non-radiating freshwater lineages elsewhere. Here, we generate and analyze one long-read reference genome and 66 short-read whole genome assemblies, in conjunction with genomic data for 54 additional species.

Similar Kinetics of Pulmonary SARS-CoV-2 Load in Intensive Care Unit Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia with or Without Autoantibodies Neutralizing Type I Interferons.

Purpose: The pathogenesis of life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia in ICU patients can involve pre-existing auto-antibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs). The impact of these auto-Abs on SARS-CoV-2 clearance in the lower respiratory tract (LRT) is unclear.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study in 99 ICU patients with COVID-19 pneumonia between March and May 2020.

C. elegans PPEF-type phosphatase (Retinal degeneration C ortholog) functions in diverse classes of cilia to regulate nematode behaviors.

Primary (non-motile) cilia represent structurally and functionally diverse organelles whose roles as specialized cellular antenna are central to animal cell signaling pathways, sensory physiology and development. An ever-growing number of ciliary proteins, including those found in vertebrate photoreceptors, have been uncovered and linked to human disorders termed ciliopathies. Here, we demonstrate that an evolutionarily-conserved PPEF-family serine-threonine phosphatase, not functionally linked to cilia in any organism but associated with rhabdomeric (non-ciliary) photoreceptor degeneration in the Drosophila rdgC (retinal degeneration C) mutant, is a bona fide ciliary protein in C.

Exploring the Interplay Between Radioimmunoconjugates and Fcγ Receptors in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of Cancer.

Fcγ receptors (FcγR) are responsible for many of the interactions between immunoglobulins (IgG) and immune cells. In biomedicine, this interplay is critical to the activity of several types of immunotherapeutics; however, relatively little is known about how FcγRs affect the in vivo performance of radiolabeled antibodies. A handful of recent preclinical studies suggest that binding by FcγR-and particularly FcγRI-can affect the pharmacokinetic profiles of Zr-labeled radioimmunoconjugates, but there are no extant studies in immunocompetent or genetically engineered mouse models of cancer.

A potential tool for marine biogeography: eDNA-dominant fish species differ among coastal habitats and by season concordant with gear-based assessments.

Effective ocean management asks for up-to-date knowledge of marine biogeography. Here we compare eDNA and gear-based assessments of marine fish populations using an approach that focuses on the commonest species. The protocol takes advantage of the "hollow curve" of species abundance distributions, with a minority of species comprising the great majority of individuals or biomass.

Aberrant zonal recycling of germinal center B cells impairs appropriate selection in lupus.

Autoimmune diseases such as lupus are characterized by polyclonal B cell activation, leading to the production of autoantibodies. The mechanism leading to B cell dysregulation is unclear; however, the defect may lie in selection within germinal centers (GCs). GC B cells cycle between proliferation and mutation in the dark zone and selection in the light zone (LZ).

The BAF complex enhances transcription through interaction with H3K56ac in the histone globular domain.

Histone post-translational modifications play pivotal roles in eukaryotic gene expression. To date, most studies have focused on modifications in unstructured histone N-terminal tail domains and their binding proteins. However, transcriptional regulation by chromatin-effector proteins that directly recognize modifications in histone globular domains has yet to be clearly demonstrated, despite the richness of their multiple modifications.

Noncanonical Amino Acid Tools and Their Application to Membrane Protein Studies.

Methods rooted in chemical biology have contributed significantly to studies of integral membrane proteins. One recent key approach has been the application of genetic code expansion (GCE), which enables the site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) with defined chemical properties into proteins. Efficient GCE is challenging, especially for membrane proteins, which have specialized biogenesis and cell trafficking machinery and tend to be expressed at low levels in cell membranes.

Mobile brain imaging in butoh dancers: from rehearsals to public performance.

Background: Dissecting the neurobiology of dance would shed light on a complex, yet ubiquitous, form of human communication. In this experiment, we sought to study, via mobile electroencephalography (EEG), the brain activity of five experienced dancers while dancing butoh, a postmodern dance that originated in Japan.

Results: We report the experimental design, methods, and practical execution of a highly interdisciplinary project that required the collaboration of dancers, engineers, neuroscientists, musicians, and multimedia artists, among others.

Cellular ATP demand creates metabolically distinct subpopulations of mitochondria.

Mitochondria serve a crucial role in cell growth and proliferation by supporting both ATP synthesis and the production of macromolecular precursors. Whereas oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) depends mainly on the oxidation of intermediates from the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the mitochondrial production of proline and ornithine relies on reductive synthesis. How these competing metabolic pathways take place in the same organelle is not clear.

The structures of protein kinase A in complex with CFTR: Mechanisms of phosphorylation and noncatalytic activation.

Protein kinase A (PKA) is a key regulator of cellular functions by selectively phosphorylating numerous substrates, including ion channels, enzymes, and transcription factors. It has long served as a model system for understanding the eukaryotic kinases. Using cryoelectron microscopy, we present complex structures of the PKA catalytic subunit (PKA-C) bound to a full-length protein substrate, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)-an ion channel vital to human health.

Search for the Z Boson Decay to ττμμ in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV.

The first search for the Z boson decay to ττμμ at the CERN LHC is presented, based on data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138  fb^{-1}. The data are compatible with the predicted background. For the first time, an upper limit at the 95% confidence level of 6.

Auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in patients with severe Powassan, Usutu, or Ross River virus disease.

Arboviral diseases are a growing global health concern. Pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) can underlie encephalitis due to West Nile virus (WNV) (∼40% of patients) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE, due to TBE virus [TBEV]) (∼10%). We report here that these auto-Abs can also underlie severe forms of rarer arboviral infections.

The Lipid Droplet Protein DHRS3 Is a Regulator of Melanoma Cell State.

Lipid droplets are fat storage organelles composed of a protein envelope and lipid-rich core. Regulation of this protein envelope underlies differential lipid droplet formation and function. In melanoma, lipid droplet formation has been linked to tumor progression and metastasis, but it is unknown whether lipid droplet proteins play a role.

Leptin-activated hypothalamic BNC2 neurons acutely suppress food intake.

Leptin is an adipose tissue hormone that maintains homeostatic control of adipose tissue mass by regulating the activity of specific neural populations controlling appetite and metabolism. Leptin regulates food intake by inhibiting orexigenic agouti-related protein (AGRP) neurons and activating anorexigenic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons. However, whereas AGRP neurons regulate food intake on a rapid time scale, acute activation of POMC neurons has only a minimal effect.

The Critical Thing about the Ear's Sensory Hair Cells.

The capabilities of the human ear are remarkable. We can normally detect acoustic stimuli down to a threshold sound-pressure level of 0 dB (decibels) at the entrance to the external ear, which elicits eardrum vibrations in the picometer range. From this threshold up to the onset of pain, 120 dB, our ears can encompass sounds that differ in power by a trillionfold.

Stem cell activity-coupled suppression of endogenous retrovirus governs adult tissue regeneration.

Mammalian retrotransposons constitute 40% of the genome. During tissue regeneration, adult stem cells coordinately repress retrotransposons and activate lineage genes, but how this coordination is controlled is poorly understood. Here, we observed that dynamic expression of histone methyltransferase SETDB1 (a retrotransposon repressor) closely mirrors stem cell activities in murine skin.

The CRISPR-associated adenosine deaminase Cad1 converts ATP to ITP to provide antiviral immunity.

Type III CRISPR systems provide immunity against genetic invaders through the production of cyclic oligo-adenylate (cA) molecules that activate effector proteins that contain CRISPR-associated Rossman fold (CARF) domains. Here, we characterized the function and structure of an effector in which the CARF domain is fused to an adenosine deaminase domain, CRISPR-associated adenosine deaminase 1 (Cad1). We show that upon binding of cA or cA to its CARF domain, Cad1 converts ATP to ITP, both in vivo and in vitro.

Delineating the functional activity of antibodies with cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and related sarbecoviruses.

The recurring spillover of pathogenic coronaviruses and demonstrated capacity of sarbecoviruses, such SARS-CoV-2, to rapidly evolve in humans underscores the need to better understand immune responses to this virus family. For this purpose, we characterized the functional breadth and potency of antibodies targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike glycoprotein that exhibited cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, SARS-CoV-1 and sarbecoviruses from diverse clades and animal origins with spillover potential. One neutralizing antibody, C68.