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In humans, tissue injury and depression can both cause pain hypersensitivity, but whether this involves distinct circuits remains unknown. Here, we identify two discrete glutamatergic neuronal circuits in male mice: a projection from the posterior thalamic nucleus (PO

Sperm proteins play vital roles in fertilization, but little is known about their identities in free-spawning marine invertebrates. Here, 286 sperm proteins are reported from the Hong Kong oyster Crassostrea hongkongensis using label-free and semi-quantitative proteomics. Proteins extracted from three sperm samples are separated by SDS-PAGE, analyzed by LC-MS/MS, and identified using Mascot. Functional classification of the sperm proteome reveals energy metabolism (33%), signaling and binding (23%), and protein synthesis and degradation (12%) as the top functional categories. Comparison of orthologous sperm proteins between C. hongkongensis, Crassostrea gigas, Mytilus edulis, and M. galloprovincialis suggests that energy metabolism (48%) is the most conserved functional group. Sequence alignment of the C. hongkongensis bindin, an acrosomal protein that binds the sperm and the egg, with those of three other Crassostrea species, reveals several conserved motifs. The study has enriched the data of invertebrate sperm proteins and may contribute to studies of mechanisms of fertilization in free-spawning invertebrates. The proteomic data are available in ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD018255.

Summary Three-dimensional chromatin structures undergo dynamic reorganization during mammalian spermatogenesis; however, their impacts on gene regulation remain unclear. Here, we focused on understanding the structure-function regulation of meiotic chromosomes by Hi-C and other omics techniques in mouse spermatogenesis across five stages. Beyond confirming recent reports regarding changes in compartmentalization and reorganization of topologically associating domains (TADs), we further demonstrated that chromatin loops are present prior to and after, but not at, the pachytene stage. By integrating Hi-C and RNA-seq data, we showed that the switching of A/B compartments between spermatogenic stages is tightly associated with meiosis-specific mRNAs and piRNAs expression. Moreover, our ATAC-seq data indicated that chromatin accessibility per se is not responsible for the TAD and loop diminishment at pachytene. Additionally, our ChIP-seq data demonstrated that CTCF and cohesin remain bound at TAD boundary regions throughout meiosis, suggesting that dynamic reorganization of TADs does not require CTCF and cohesin clearance., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Chromatin loops are reorganized during mouse spermatogenesis, being absent in pacSC • CTCF and cohesin remain bound to pacSC chromatin while TADs and loops are lost • Chromatin accessibility per se is not involved in the loss of TADs or loops in pacSC • A/B compartments switching is related to meiosis-specific mRNAs and piRNAs expression, Male Reproductive Endocrinology; Genomics; Transcriptomics

Pancreatic cancer is a major cause of mortality with a poor diagnosis and prognosis that most often occurs in elderly patients. Few studies, however, focus on the interplay of age and pancreatic cancer at the transcriptional level. Here we evaluated the possible roles of age-dependent, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in pancreatic cancer. These DEGs were used to construct a correlation network and clustered in six gene modules, among which two modules were highly correlated with patients’ survival time. Integrating different datasets, including ATAC-Seq and ChIP-Seq, we performed multi-parallel analyses and identified eight age-dependent protein coding genes and two non-coding RNAs as potential candidates. These candidates, together with KLF5, a potent functional transcription factor in pancreatic cancer, are likely to be key elements linking cellular senescence and pancreatic cancer, providing insights on the balance between them, as well as on diagnosis and subsequent prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

Despite menaquinones (MKs)-4 and − 7 being known to have extensive biological activities and applications, less attention has been paid to the other MKs. Thus, to obtain a range of MKs to further explore their pharmacological activities, structure-activity relationships, and applications, a chemical screening method for MK-producing strains was established based on high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) technology. Considering that Bacillus strains have proven to be an important MK-producing bioresource, twenty-nine putative Bacillus isolates previously sought from a fermented soybean sample were used for the validation of the chemical screening method, which ultimately led to the discovery of sixteen MK-producing strains. Among them, Bacillus subtilis DC-1 presented excellent ability to produce MKs. Another, a purchased strain of B. amyloliquefaciens was discovered to be an MK-producing strain. These results indicated this screening method was simple and highly efficient for the discovery of MK-producing strains, especially those producing a range of MK structures.

In this paper, the crystallization and relaxation of NaCl aqueous solutions at low temperatures were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis and dielectric analysis. From DSC analysis, the three-phase composite ice structural model consisting of pure ice, salty ice, and amorphous ice after the liquid-solid phase transition of NaCl aqueous solution under low temperature is established. The conversion rate of pure ice decreases monotonically with the increase of solution concentration. From dielectric analysis, the relaxation time of water molecules in composite ice decreases significantly at first and then increases slightly with increasing concentration, while the relaxation activation energy increases significantly at first and then decreases slightly. This is due to the damaging effect of ions on hydrogen bonds between water molecules and the interaction between anions and cations. This study can provide theoretical support and experimental basis for cryopreservation technology of biomaterials controlled by electromagnetic field.

Dielectric breakdown values were measured in 15-100mm gaps in mineral oil and two types of natural esters. The test included breakdown properties in oils and creeping discharge over pressboard immersed in oils under negative and positive direct current with a boost speed of 2kV/s. The test used point-plane electrode system. It has been found that except the positive breakdown voltage at small gaps under the experimental gap, the insulating properties of mineral oils are superior to the two natural esters. The DC properties of the two natural esters are almost the same, and each has its own advantages.

Various electrochemical separation methods have been investigated for the recovery of lithium to satisfy the global demand for lithium. However, most of them are still greatly limited by high energy consumption and deficient selectivity. To overcome these issues, in this study, an electrically switched ion exchange (ESIX) system for efficient and selective LiCl separation from brine lakes was developed based on a strategy of self-electrical-energy recuperation, in which the electric energy generated in the process of LiCl uptake was proposed to compensate the energy consumed for the desorption of ions as well as the regeneration of electrodes. λ-MnO2 film coated electrode and BiOCl@PPy film coated electrode were fabricated to capture Li+ and Cl- ions in the brine lake, respectively. In the ion uptake process, the inherent potential difference between the two electrodes was balanced due to the embeddedness of Li+ and Cl- ions, which simultaneously triggered the generation of electric energy. This generated electric energy was automatically stored and provided for the desorption of the Li+ and Cl- ions from the electrodes in the ion releasing process. As a result, this ESIX system featured with extremely low energy consumption (1.007 Wh for separating per mole of LiCl) and excellent selectivity with a LiCl recovery capacity of 10.88 mg/g. It is expected that such an ESIX system with self-electrical-energy recuperation could be a promising alternative to those current electrochemical techniques for the recovery of LiCl from brine lakes.

Cellular senescence can be described as a complex stress response that leads to irreversible cell cycle arrest. This process was originally described as an event that primary cells go through after many passages of cells during cell culture. More recently, cellular senescence is viewed as a programmed process by which the cell displays a senescence phenotype when exposed to a variety of stresses. Cellular senescence has been implicated in tumor suppression and aging such that senescence may contribute to both tumor progression and normal tissue repair. Here, we review different forms of cellular senescence, as well as current biomarkers used to identify senescent cells in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we highlight the role of senescence-associated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs).

Precise regulation of gene expression is a prerequisite for cell differentiation, development, and maintenance of normal activity and function. Many studies have shown that activation or inhibition of gene transcription is not only affected by histone modifications, DNA methylation, and other epigenetic modifications but is also highly dependent on chromatin conformation. In addition, in the process of cellular senescence, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) also play a significant role in gene transcriptional regulation. Here, we highlight recent studies of the mechanism of function of lncRNAs in cellular senescence. In particular, we focus on gene transcription regulation mediated by lncRNAs participating in the formation of the three-dimensional conformation of chromatin.

To obtained natural products with remarkable antibacterial activities, three 3-amino substituted (UA) derivatives 2, 3 and 4 were designed and synthesized, and their antibacterial activity were assayed using broth microdilution method. Compared to UA, there three derivatives present higher antimicrobial activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with the minimum inhibitory concentrations of 16 to 32 μg/mL. Furthermore, their cytotoxicities to human hepatoma cell (BEL-7402) were evaluated using MTT method, and the results indicated that their derivatives had no toxicity (IC50 value was larger than 10 μM), while UA presented a certain cytotoxicity.Read Complete Article at ijSciences: V82019082169 AND DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18483/ijSci.2169

Three-dimensional genome organization plays an important role in many biological processes. Yet, how the genome is packaged at the molecular level during mammalian spermatogenesis remains unclear. Here, we performed Hi-C in seven sequential stages during mouse spermatogenesis. We found that topological associating domains (TADs) and chromatin loops underwent highly dynamic reorganization. They displayed clear existence in primitive type A spermatogonia, disappearance at pachytene stage, and reestablishment in spermatozoa. Surprisingly, even in the absence of TADs and chromatin loops at pachytene stage, CTCF remained bound at TAD boundary regions (identified in primitive type A spermatogonia). Additionally, many enhancers and promoters exhibited features of open chromatin and transcription remained active at pachytene stage. A/B compartmentalization and segmentation ratio were conserved in different stages of spermatogenesis in autosomes, although there were A/B compartment switching events correlated with gene activity changes. Intriguingly, A/B compartment structure on the X chromosome disappeared during pacSC, rST and eST stages. Together, our work uncovered a dynamic three-dimensional chromatin organization during mouse spermatogenesis and suggested that transcriptional regulation could be independent of TADs and chromatin loops at specific developmental stages.

SummaryPTPN12 is an important tumor suppressor that plays critical roles in various physiological processes. However, the molecular basis underlying the substrate specificity of PTPN12 remains uncertain. Here, enzymological and crystallographic studies have enabled us to identify two distinct structural features that are crucial determinants of PTPN12 substrate specificity: the pY+1 site binding pocket and specific basic charged residues along its surface loops. Key structurally plastic regions and specific residues in PTPN12 enabled recognition of different HER2 phosphorylation sites and regulated specific PTPN12 functions. In addition, the structure of PTPN12 revealed a CDK2 phosphorylation site in a specific PTPN12 loop. Taken together, our results not only provide the working mechanisms of PTPN12 for desphosphorylation of its substrates but will also help in designing specific inhibitors of PTPN12.

Meiotic recombination is carried out through a specialized pathway for the formation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) made by the Spo11 protein. The present study shed light on the functional role of cyclin, CYC2, in Tetrahymena thermophila which has transcriptionally high expression level during meiosis process. Knocking out the CYC2 gene results in arrest of meiotic conjugation process at 2.5–3.5 h after conjugation initiation, before the meiosis division starts, and in company with the absence of DSBs. To investigate the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon, a complete transcriptome profile was performed between wild-type strain and CYC2 knock-out strain. Functional analysis of RNA-Seq results identifies related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) including SPO11 and these DEGs are enriched in DNA repair/mismatch repair (MMR) terms in homologous recombination (HR), which indicates that CYC2 could play a crucial role in meiosis by regulating SPO11 and participating in HR.

Slingshot proteins form a small group of dual-specific phosphatases that modulate cytoskeleton dynamics through dephosphorylation of cofilin and Lim kinases (LIMK). Small chemical compounds with Slingshot-inhibiting activities have therapeutic potential against cancers or infectious diseases. However, only a few Slingshot inhibitors have been investigated and reported, and their cellular activities have not been examined. In this study, we identified two rhodanine-scaffold-based para-substituted benzoic acid derivatives as competitive Slingshot inhibitors. The top compound, (Z)-4-((4-((4-oxo-2-thioxo-3-(o-tolyl)thiazolidin-5-ylidene)methyl)phenoxy)methyl)benzoic acid (D3) had an inhibition constant (Ki) of around 4 μm and displayed selectivity over a panel of other phosphatases. Moreover, compound D3 inhibited cell migration and cofilin dephosphorylation after nerve growth factor (NGF) or angiotensin II stimulation. Therefore, our newly identified Slingshot inhibitors provide a starting point for developing Slingshot-targeted therapies.

In recent years, researches focusing on PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have increased rapidly. It has been revealed that piRNAs have strong association with a wide range of diseases; thus, it becomes very important to understand piRNAs’ role(s) in disease diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of treatment response. We searched more than 2500 articles using keywords, such as `PIWI-interacting RNAs’ and `piRNAs’, and further scrutinized the articles to collect piRNAs-disease association data. These data are highly complex and heterogeneous due to various types of piRNA idnetifiers (IDs) and different reference genome versions. We put considerable efforts into removing redundancy and anomalies and thus homogenized the data. Finally, we developed the piRDisease database, which incorporates experimentally supported data for piRNAs’ relationship with wide range of diseases. The piRDisease (piRDisease v1.0) is a novel, comprehensive and exclusive database resource, which provides 7939 manually curated associations of experimentally supported 4796 piRNAs involved in 28 diseases. piRDisease facilitates users by providing detailed information of the piRNA in respective disease, explored by experimental support, brief description, sequence and location information. Considering piRNAs’ role(s) in wide range of diseases, it is anticipated that huge amount of data would be produced in the near future. We thus offer a submitting page, on which users or researches can contribute in to update our piRDisease database.

Azalomycin F

The somatic macronucleus (MAC) and germline micronucleus (MIC) of Tetrahymena thermophila differ in chromosome numbers, sizes, functions, transcriptional activities, and cohesin complex location. However, the higher-order chromatin organization in T. thermophila is still largely unknown. Here, we explored the higher-order chromatin organization in the two distinct nuclei of T. thermophila using the Hi-C and HiChIP methods. We found that the meiotic crescent MIC has a specific chromosome interaction pattern, with all the telomeres or centromeres on the five MIC chromosomes clustering together, respectively, which is also helpful to identify the midpoints of centromeres in the MIC. We revealed that the MAC chromosomes lack A/B compartments, topologically associating domains (TADs), and chromatin loops. The MIC chromosomes have TAD-like structures but not A/B compartments and chromatin loops. The boundaries of the TAD-like structures in the MIC are highly consistent with the chromatin breakage sequence (CBS) sites, suggesting that each TAD-like structure of the MIC chromosomes develops into one MAC chromosome during MAC development, which provides a mechanism of the formation of MAC chromosomes during conjugation. Overall, we demonstrated the distinct higher-order chromatin organization in the two nuclei of the T. thermophila and suggest that the higher-order chromatin structures may play important roles during the development of the MAC chromosomes.

Background Excessive nerve growth factor (NGF) is commonly found in the follicular fluid of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Furthermore, oocytes from PCOS patients exhibit lower developmental competence. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between excessive NGF and low oocyte competence in vitro. Methods Excessive NGF was added to mouse cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) cultured in vitro to investigate meiotic maturation of the oocyte. After culture, mRNA expression levels of Pfkp and Ldha genes in cumulus cells (CCs) and Gdf9, Bmp15 and Fgf8 genes in oocytes, were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). We also investigated the mRNA content of Pfkp and Ldha in CCs from PCOS and non-PCOS patients. Results Excessive NGF significantly inhibited oocyte meiotic maturation. The inhibitory effect was mediated by the NGF high-affinity receptor, NTRK1. mRNA content of Pfkp and Ldha genes in CCs was significantly reduced by excessive NGF stimulation. Moreover, the expression levels of Gdf9, Bmp15 and Fgf8 were also decreased in oocytes, and was induced by excessive NGF-stimulated CCs. In addition, lower expression levels of Pfkp and Ldha in CCs were identified in Chinese PCOS patients with excessive NGF (PCOS, 22 ± 2.63 ng/ml, n = 13; non-PCOS, 7.18 ± 2.42 ng/ml, n = 9; p

The recent identification of “Side Population” (SP) cells in a number of unrelated human cancers has renewed interests in the hypothesis of cancer stem cells. Here we isolated SP cells from HepG2 cells and 18 of the 21 fresh hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue samples. These SP cells have higher abilities of forming spheroids, invasion and migration. Tumors could generate only from SP, not non-SP (NSP), cells in a low dose of subcutaneous injection to the NOD/SCID mice (5 × 102 cells/mouse). The mRNA microarray analysis of the SP vs. NSP cells isolated from HepG2 cells revealed that the SP cells express higher levels of pluripotency- and stem cell-associated transcription factors including Klf4, NF-Ya, SALL4 and HMGA2. Some of the known hepatobiliary progenitor/stem cell markers, such as Sox9 was also up-regulated. RT-qPCR analysis of the gene expression between SP cells and NSP cells isolated from both HepG2 cells and HCC tissue samples showed that most of the tested mRNAs’ changes were in consistent with the microarray data, including the general progenitor/stem cells markers such as Klf4, NF-Ya, SALL4 and HMGA2, which were up-regulated in SP cells. Our data indicates that HCC cancer stem cells exist in HepG2 and HCC fresh tissue samples and can be isolated by SP assay.

H2A.Y is an essential, divergent Tetrahymena thermophila histone variant. It has a long nonhistone N terminus that contains leucine-rich repeats (LRR) and an LRR cap domain with similarity to Sds22p, a regulator of yeast protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) activity in the nucleus. In growing cells, H2A.Y is incorporated into micronuclei only during S phase, which occurs immediately after micronuclear mitosis. Depletion of H2A.Y causes prolonged retention of mitosis-associated histone H3-S10 phosphorylation and mitotic abnormalities that mimic S10E mutation. In cells where H2A.Y is depleted, an inducible chimeric gene, in which the H2A.Y N terminus is attached to H2A.X, is shown to regulate micronuclear H3-S10 phosphorylation. H2A.Y can also be specifically coimmunoprecipitated with a Tetrahymena PP1 ortholog (Ppo1p). Taken together, these results argue that the N terminus of H2A.Y functions to regulate H3-S10 dephosphorylation. This striking in vivo case of “cross-talk” between a H2A variant and a specific post-translational modification of another histone demonstrates a novel function for a histone variant.

Genome-wide association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 9p21 gene desert associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes. Despite evidence for a role of the associated interval in neighbouring gene regulation, the biological underpinnings of these genetic associations with CAD or type 2 diabetes have not yet been explained. Here we identify 33 enhancers in 9p21; the interval is the second densest gene desert for predicted enhancers and six times denser than the whole genome (P < 6.55 × 10(-33)). The CAD risk alleles of SNPs rs10811656 and rs10757278 are located in one of these enhancers and disrupt a binding site for STAT1. Lymphoblastoid cell lines homozygous for the CAD risk haplotype show no binding of STAT1, and in lymphoblastoid cell lines homozygous for the CAD non-risk haplotype, binding of STAT1 inhibits CDKN2BAS (also known as CDKN2B-AS1) expression, which is reversed by short interfering RNA knockdown of STAT1. Using a new, open-ended approach to detect long-distance interactions, we find that in human vascular endothelial cells the enhancer interval containing the CAD locus physically interacts with the CDKN2A/B locus, the MTAP gene and an interval downstream of IFNA21. In human vascular endothelial cells, interferon-γ activation strongly affects the structure of the chromatin and the transcriptional regulation in the 9p21 locus, including STAT1-binding, long-range enhancer interactions and altered expression of neighbouring genes. Our findings establish a link between CAD genetic susceptibility and the response to inflammatory signalling in a vascular cell type and thus demonstrate the utility of genome-wide association study findings in directing studies to novel genomic loci and biological processes important for disease aetiology.

Sunlight exposure is known to affect mood, learning, and cognition. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that moderate UV exposure elevated blood urocanic acid (UCA), which then crossed the blood-brain barrier. Single-cell mass spectrometry and isotopic labeling revealed a novel intra-neuronal metabolic pathway converting UCA to glutamate (GLU) after UV exposure. This UV-triggered GLU synthesis promoted its packaging into synaptic vesicles and its release at glutamatergic terminals in the motor cortex and hippocampus. Related behaviors, like rotarod learning and object recognition memory, were enhanced after UV exposure. All UV-induced metabolic, electrophysiological, and behavioral effects could be reproduced by the intravenous injection of UCA and diminished by the application of inhibitor or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against urocanase, an enzyme critical for the conversion of UCA to GLU. These findings reveal a new GLU biosynthetic pathway, which could contribute to some of the sunlight-induced neurobehavioral changes.

Meiotic recombination is carried out through a specialized pathway for the formation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) made by the Spo11 protein. The present study shed light on the functional role of cyclin, CYC2, in Tetrahymena thermophila which has transcriptionally high expression level during meiosis process. Knocking out the CYC2 gene results in arrest of meiotic conjugation process at 2.5–3.5 h after conjugation initiation, before the meiosis division starts, and in company with the absence of DSBs. To investigate the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon, a complete transcriptome profile was performed between wild-type strain and CYC2 knock-out strain. Functional analysis of RNA-Seq results identifies related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) including SPO11 and these DEGs are enriched in DNA repair/mismatch repair (MMR) terms in homologous recombination (HR), which indicates that CYC2 could play a crucial role in meiosis by regulating SPO11 and participating in HR. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13238-016-0254-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

With the recent recognition of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) flanking many genes, a central issue is to obtain a full understanding of their potential roles in regulated gene transcription programmes, possibly through different mechanisms. Here we show that an RNA-binding protein, TLS (for translocated in liposarcoma), serves as a key transcriptional regulatory sensor of DNA damage signals that, on the basis of its allosteric modulation by RNA, specifically binds to and inhibits CREB-binding protein (CBP) and p300 histone acetyltransferase activities on a repressed gene target, cyclin D1 (CCND1) in human cell lines. Recruitment of TLS to the CCND1 promoter to cause gene-specific repression is directed by single-stranded, low-copy-number ncRNA transcripts tethered to the 5' regulatory regions of CCND1 that are induced in response to DNA damage signals. Our data suggest that signal-induced ncRNAs localized to regulatory regions of transcription units can act cooperatively as selective ligands, recruiting and modulating the activities of distinct classes of RNA-binding co-regulators in response to specific signals, providing an unexpected ncRNA/RNA-binding protein-based strategy to integrate transcriptional programmes.

Enhancers instruct spatio-temporally specific gene expression in a manner tightly linked to higher-order chromatin architecture. Critical chromatin architectural regulators condensin I and condensin II play non-redundant roles controlling mitotic chromosomes. But the chromosomal locations of condensins and their functional roles in interphase are poorly understood. Here we report that both condensin complexes exhibit an unexpected, dramatic estrogen-induced recruitment to estrogen receptor α (ER-α)-bound eRNA(+) active enhancers in interphase breast cancer cells, exhibiting non-canonical interaction with ER-α via its DNA-binding domain (DBD). Condensins positively regulate ligand-dependent enhancer activation at least in part by recruiting an E3 ubiquitin ligase, HECTD1, to modulate the binding of enhancer-associated coactivators/corepressors, including p300 and RIP140, permitting full eRNA transcription, formation of enhancer:promoter looping, and the resultant coding gene activation. Collectively, our results reveal an important, unanticipated transcriptional role of interphase condensins in modulating estrogen-regulated enhancer activation and coding gene transcriptional program.

With the increasing recognition of threat of electromagnetic radiation to human health and environment, the study of electromagnetic biological effect has received wide attention. And the studies on dielectric properties of biological tissues play a key role on the electromagnetic biological effect to bio-dielectrics. In this work, the muscle tissues of SD rat have been studied by using the broadband dielectric spectrum in-vitro between the temperatures of 9°C–42°C at the frequency range of 1MHz–2GHz. We also do the dehydration rate experiment of muscle tissue in vitro, in order to explain the activity during testing time. The results indicate that all the measured muscle tissues show a single dielectric relaxation in the testing frequency range; as increasing the temperature for muscle tissues, the values of dielectric constant (real part) increase, and the peaks of dielectric constant (imaginary part) shift to higher frequency. According the Arrhenius formula and using piecewise fitting, we can obtain the activation energy for muscle tissue at multiple temperature ranges, and the relationship between the dielectric properties and biological activity is discussed. Meanwhile, it is shown that the results of dielectric constant at different frequencies and temperatures can provide necessary database for the study on the biological electromagnetic radiation effect.

Substantial evidence supports the hypothesis that enhancers are critical regulators of cell-type determination, orchestrating both positive and negative transcriptional programs; however, the basic mechanisms by which enhancers orchestrate interactions with cognate promoters during activation and repression events remain incompletely understood. Here we report the required actions of LIM domain-binding protein 1 (LDB1)/cofactor of LIM homeodomain protein 2/nuclear LIM interactor, interacting with the enhancer-binding protein achaete-scute complex homolog 1, to mediate looping to target gene promoters and target gene regulation in corticotrope cells. LDB1-mediated enhancer:promoter looping appears to be required for both activation and repression of these target genes. Although LDB1-dependent activated genes are regulated at the level of transcriptional initiation, the LDB1-dependent repressed transcription units appear to be regulated primarily at the level of promoter pausing, with LDB1 regulating recruitment of metastasis-associated 1 family, member 2, a component of the nucleosome remodeling deacetylase complex, on these negative enhancers, required for the repressive enhancer function. These results indicate that LDB1-dependent looping events can deliver repressive cargo to cognate promoters to mediate promoter pausing events in a pituitary cell type.

In the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila , approximately 15% of the germ line micronuclear DNA sequences are eliminated during formation of the somatic macronucleus. The vast majority of the internal eliminated sequences (IESs) are repeated in the micronuclear genome, and several of them resemble transposable elements. Thus, it has been suggested that DNA elimination evolved as a means for removing invading DNAs. In the present study, bacterial neo genes introduced into the germ line micronuclei were eliminated from the somatic genome. The efficiency of elimination from two different loci increased dramatically with the copy number of the neo genes in the micronuclei. The timing of neo elimination is similar to that of endogenous IESs, and they both produce bidirectional transcripts of the eliminated element, suggesting that the deletion of neo occurred by the same mechanism as elimination of endogenous IESs. These results indicate that repetition of an element in the micronucleus enhances the efficiency of its elimination from the newly formed somatic genome of Tetrahymena thermophila . The implications of these data in relation to the function and mechanism of IES elimination are discussed.

The Cd 2+ -inducible metallothionein ( MTT1 ) gene was cloned from Tetrahymena thermophila . Northern blot analysis showed that MTT1 mRNA is not detectable in the absence of Cd 2+ , is induced within 10 min of its addition, is expressed in proportion to its concentration, and rapidly disappears upon its withdrawal. Similarly, when the neo1 gene coding region flanked by the MTT1 gene noncoding sequences was used to disrupt the MTT1 locus, no transformants were observed in the absence of Cd 2+ , and the number of transformants was proportional to increased Cd 2+ concentration. The neo3 cassette, in which the MTT1 promoter replaced the histone gene HHF1 promoter of the previously used neo2 cassette , transformed cells at much higher frequencies than neo2 and produced germ-line knockouts where neo2 had failed. Rescuing the progeny of a mating of γ-tubulin gene, GTU1, knockout heterokaryons with a GTU1 gene inserted into the MTT1 locus yielded >75 times more transformants than rescuing with the wild-type GTU1 gene itself. When cells rescued with the MTT1-GTU1 chimeric gene were transferred to medium lacking Cd 2+ , they stopped growing and had phenotypic changes indistinguishable from cells containing only disrupted GTU1 genes. Thus, it is now possible to create conditional lethal mutants and study the terminal phenotypes of null mutations for essential genes by replacing the endogenous gene with one under the control of the MTT1 promoter. The MTT1 promoter also resulted in ≈30 times more overexpression of the IAG48[G1] surface antigen gene of the ciliate fish parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis than the highly expressed BTU1 promoter, accounting for ≈1% of the total cell protein. Thus, the MTT1 promoter should enable routine over-expression of endogenous and foreign genes in Tetrahymena .

This paper described a research project conducted to recognize to finding the relationship between EEG signals and Human emotions. EEG signals are used to classify three kinds of emotions, positive, neuter and negative. Firstly, literature research has been performed to establish a suitable approach for emotion recognition. Secondly, we extracted features from original EEG data using 4-order wavelet and put them in SVM classifier with different kernel functions. The result shows that an SVM with linear kernel has higher average test accuracy than other kernel function.

A EEG signal-based emotion recognition system was designed. The system was developed to operate as a user-independent system, based on MAPL (minority affective picture library), EEG-signal database obtained from multiple ethnic objections. The system consisted of preprocessing, feature extraction and pattern classification stages. Preprocessing and feature extraction methods were devised so that emotion-specific characteristics could be extracted. a simple experiment was carried out, and the classification result is about 56.4%, which indicated that minorities emotion problems can be studied based MPAL emotion recognition system.

SummaryEnhancers provide critical information directing cell-type-specific transcriptional programs, regulated by binding of signal-dependent transcription factors and their associated cofactors. Here, we report that the most strongly activated estrogen (E2)-responsive enhancers are characterized by trans-recruitment and in situ assembly of a large 1–2 MDa complex of diverse DNA-binding transcription factors by ERα at ERE-containing enhancers. We refer to enhancers recruiting these factors as mega transcription factor-bound in trans (MegaTrans) enhancers. The MegaTrans complex is a signature of the most potent functional enhancers and is required for activation of enhancer RNA transcription and recruitment of coactivators, including p300 and Med1. The MegaTrans complex functions, in part, by recruiting specific enzymatic machinery, exemplified by DNA-dependent protein kinase. Thus, MegaTrans-containing enhancers represent a cohort of functional enhancers that mediate a broad and important transcriptional program and provide a molecular explanation for transcription factor clustering and hotspots noted in the genome.

The functional importance of gene enhancers in regulated gene expression is well established. In addition to widespread transcription of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in mammalian cells, bidirectional ncRNAs are transcribed on enhancers, and are thus referred to as enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). However, it has remained unclear whether these eRNAs are functional or merely a reflection of enhancer activation. Here we report that in human breast cancer cells 17β-oestradiol (E2)-bound oestrogen receptor α (ER-α) causes a global increase in eRNA transcription on enhancers adjacent to E2-upregulated coding genes. These induced eRNAs, as functional transcripts, seem to exert important roles for the observed ligand-dependent induction of target coding genes, increasing the strength of specific enhancer-promoter looping initiated by ER-α binding. Cohesin, present on many ER-α-regulated enhancers even before ligand treatment, apparently contributes to E2-dependent gene activation, at least in part by stabilizing E2/ER-α/eRNA-induced enhancer-promoter looping. Our data indicate that eRNAs are likely to have important functions in many regulated programs of gene transcription.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are extensively transcribed from the genome, have been proposed to be key regulators of diverse biological processes. However, little is known about the role of lncRNAs in regulating spermatogenesis in human males. Here, using microarray technology, we show altered expression of lncRNAs in the testes of infertile men with maturation arrest (MA) or hypospermatogenesis (Hypo), with 757 and 2370 differentially down-regulated and 475 and 163 up-regulated lncRNAs in MA and Hypo, respectively. These findings were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays on select lncRNAs, including HOTTIP, imsrna320, imsrna292 and NLC1-C (narcolepsy candidate-region 1 genes). Interestingly, NLC1-C, also known as long intergenic non-protein-coding RNA162 (LINC00162), was down-regulated in the cytoplasm and accumulated in the nucleus of spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in the testes of infertile men with mixed patterns of MA compared with normal control. The accumulation of NLC1-C in the nucleus repressed miR-320a and miR-383 transcript and promoted testicular embryonal carcinoma cell proliferation by binding to Nucleolin. Here, we define a novel mechanism by which lncRNAs modulate miRNA expression at the transcriptional level by binding to RNA-binding proteins to regulate human spermatogenesis.

More than 90% of the human genome have been found to be transcribed and most of the transcripts are noncoding (nc) RNAs (Willingham et al., Science 309:1570-1573, 2005; ENCODE-consortium, Science 306:636-640, 2004; Carninci et al., Science 309:1559-1563, 2005; Bertone et al., Science 306:2242-2246, 2004). Studies on ncRNAs have been radically progressed mainly regarding microRNAs, piRNAs, siRNAs, and related small ncRNAs of which length are relatively short nucleotides (Fire et al., Nature 391:806-811, 1998; Filipowicz et al., Nat Rev Genet 9:102-114, 2008; Lau et al., Science 313:363-367, 2006; Brennecke et al., Science 322:1387-1392, 2008; Siomi and Siomi, Nature 457:396-404, 2009). These small RNAs play roles in regulation of translation and gene silencing while long ncRNAs with length more than 200 nucleotides have been emerging and turn out to be involved in regulation of transcription (Kapranov et al., Science 316:1484-1488, 2007; Ponting et al., Cell 136:629-641, 2009; Kurokawa et al., RNA Biol 6:233-236, 2009). Recently, we have identified novel, long ncRNAs bearing capability of repression of transcription (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008).RNA-binding protein, translocated in liposarcoma (TLS), binds CREB-binding protein CBP/adenovirus p300 and inhibits their histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activities (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008). The HAT inhibitory activity of TLS requires specific binding of RNA. The systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment experiments with randomized sequences revealed that TLS specifically recognizes RNA oligonucleotides containing GGUG as a consensus sequence although the GGUG sequence is not an absolute requirement for the TLS binding (Lerga et al., J Biol Chem 276:6807-6816, 2001). TLS is specifically recruited to the CBP/p300-associated binding sites of the cyclin D1 gene (CCND1) and the cyclin E1 gene (CCNE1) promoters (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008; Impey et al., Cell 119:1041-1054, 2004). Our extensive exploration for naturally occurring RNA molecule that binds TLS has indicated that long ncRNAs (promoter-associated ncRNAs: pncRNAs) transcribed from the CCND1 promoter bind TLS and inhibit the HAT activities on the sites to repress the transcription of the CCND1 gene (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008). We have optimized RT-PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, and RNA gel-shift assay in order to detect these pncRNAs. The methods that we have developed successfully identified these low-abundant, long ncRNAs and provide the data showing that the CCND1 pncRNAs bind TLS and induce its HAT inhibitory activity to repress the transcription of CCND1 gene upon genotoxic stress.

More than 90% of the human genome have been found to be transcribed and most of the transcripts are noncoding (nc) RNAs (Willingham et al., Science 309:1570-1573, 2005; ENCODE-consortium, Science 306:636-640, 2004; Carninci et al., Science 309:1559-1563, 2005; Bertone et al., Science 306:2242-2246, 2004). Studies on ncRNAs have been radically progressed mainly regarding microRNAs, piRNAs, siRNAs, and related small ncRNAs of which length are relatively short nucleotides (Fire et al., Nature 391:806-811, 1998; Filipowicz et al., Nat Rev Genet 9:102-114, 2008; Lau et al., Science 313:363-367, 2006; Brennecke et al., Science 322:1387-1392, 2008; Siomi and Siomi, Nature 457:396-404, 2009). These small RNAs play roles in regulation of translation and gene silencing while long ncRNAs with length more than 200 nucleotides have been emerging and turn out to be involved in regulation of transcription (Kapranov et al., Science 316:1484-1488, 2007; Ponting et al., Cell 136:629-641, 2009; Kurokawa et al., RNA Biol 6:233-236, 2009). Recently, we have identified novel, long ncRNAs bearing capability of repression of transcription (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008).RNA-binding protein, translocated in liposarcoma (TLS), binds CREB-binding protein CBP/adenovirus p300 and inhibits their histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activities (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008). The HAT inhibitory activity of TLS requires specific binding of RNA. The systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment experiments with randomized sequences revealed that TLS specifically recognizes RNA oligonucleotides containing GGUG as a consensus sequence although the GGUG sequence is not an absolute requirement for the TLS binding (Lerga et al., J Biol Chem 276:6807-6816, 2001). TLS is specifically recruited to the CBP/p300-associated binding sites of the cyclin D1 gene (CCND1) and the cyclin E1 gene (CCNE1) promoters (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008; Impey et al., Cell 119:1041-1054, 2004). Our extensive exploration for naturally occurring RNA molecule that binds TLS has indicated that long ncRNAs (promoter-associated ncRNAs: pncRNAs) transcribed from the CCND1 promoter bind TLS and inhibit the HAT activities on the sites to repress the transcription of the CCND1 gene (Wang et al., Nature 454:126-130, 2008). We have optimized RT-PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, and RNA gel-shift assay in order to detect these pncRNAs. The methods that we have developed successfully identified these low-abundant, long ncRNAs and provide the data showing that the CCND1 pncRNAs bind TLS and induce its HAT inhibitory activity to repress the transcription of CCND1 gene upon genotoxic stress.

A major surprise arising from genome-wide analyses has been the observation that the majority of the genome is transcribed, generating noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). It is still an open question whether some or all of these ncRNAs constitute functional networks regulating gene transcriptional programs. However, in light of recent discoveries and given the diversity and flexibility of long ncRNAs and their abilities to nucleate molecular complexes and to form spatially compact arrays of complexes, it becomes likely that many or most ncRNAs act as sensors and integrators of a wide variety of regulated transcriptional responses and probably epigenetic events. Because many RNA-binding proteins, on binding RNAs, show distinct allosteric conformational alterations, we suggest that a ncRNA/RNA-binding protein-based strategy, perhaps in concert with several other mechanistic strategies, serves to integrate transcriptional, as well as RNA processing, regulatory programs.

Tetrahymena thermophila macronuclear histone H1 is phosphorylated by a cdc2 kinase, and H1 phosphorylation regulates CDC2 expression by a positive feedback mechanism. In starved wild-type cells, decreased expression of the CDC2 gene is correlated with a global reduction in the phosphorylation of H1 and reduced phosphorylation of H1 in the region upstream of the CDC2 gene. To determine whether the reduced H1 phosphorylation upstream of the CDC2 gene is merely a reflection of global dephosphorylation or is due to specific targeting of dephosphorylation of H1 to the CDC2 promoter during starvation, the CDC2 promoter was mapped, and the distributions of phosphorylated and unphosphorylated H1 across the CDC2 gene were determined using chromatin immunoprecipitation. Unphosphorylated H1 is specifically enriched in a region of the CDC2 promoter when the gene's expression is reduced during starvation but not when CDC2 is highly active in growing cells. The region of unphosphorylated H1 coincides with a region that is essential for CDC2 expression. These studies are the first in vivo demonstration that the phosphorylation of H1 is being regulated at a fine level and that unphosphorylated H1 can be specifically targeted to a promoter, where it likely regulates transcription in a gene-specific manner.

In Tetrahymena thermophila, highly phosphorylated histone H1 of growing cells becomes partially dephosphorylated when cells are starved in preparation for conjugation. To determine the effects of H1 phosphorylation on gene expression, PCR-based subtractive hybridization was used to clone cDNAs that were differentially expressed during starvation in two otherwise-isogenic strains differing only in their H1s. H1 in A5 mutant cells lacked phosphorylation, and H1 in E5 cells mimicked constitutive H1 phosphorylation. Sequences enriched in A5 cells included genes encoding proteases. Sequences enriched in E5 cells included genes encoding cdc2 kinase and a Ser/Thr kinase. These results indicate that H1 phosphorylation plays an important role in regulating the pattern of gene expression during the starvation response and that its role in transcription regulation can be either positive or negative. Treatment of starved cells with a phosphatase inhibitor caused CDC2 gene overexpression. Expression of the E5 version of H1 in starved cells containing endogenous, wild-type H1 caused the wild-type H1 to remain highly phosphorylated. These results argue that Cdc2p is the kinase that phosphorylates Tetrahymena H1, establish a positive feedback mechanism between H1 phosphorylation and CDC2 expression, and indicate that CDC2 gene expression is regulated by an H1 phosphatase.