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    Kinetochore-microtubule attachment is sufficient to satisfy the human spindle assembly checkpoint

    Etemad, BanafshehKuijt, Timo E. F.Kops, Geert J. P. L.
    8页
    查看更多>>摘要:The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a genome surveillance mechanism that protects against aneuploidization. Despite profound progress on understanding mechanisms of its activation, it remains unknown what aspect of chromosome-spindle interactions is monitored by the SAC: kinetochore-microtubule attachment or the force generated by dynamic microtubules that signals stable biorientation of chromosomes? To answer this, we uncoupled these two processes by expressing a non-phosphorylatable version of the main microtubule-binding protein at kinetochores (HEC1-9A), causing stabilization of incorrect kinetochore-microtubule attachments despite persistent activity of the error-correction machinery. The SAC is fully functional in HEC1-9A-expressing cells, yet cells in which chromosomes cannot biorient but are stably attached to microtubules satisfy the SAC and exit mitosis. SAC satisfaction requires neither intra-kinetochore stretching nor dynamic microtubules. Our findings support the hypothesis that in human cells the end-on interactions of microtubules with kinetochores are sufficient to satisfy the SAC without the need for microtubule-based pulling forces.

    TAK1 modulates satellite stem cell homeostasis and skeletal muscle repair

    Ogura, YujiHindi, Sajedah M.Sato, ShuichiXiong, Guangyan...
    17页
    查看更多>>摘要:Satellite cells are resident adult stem cells that are required for regeneration of skeletal muscle. However, signalling mechanisms that regulate satellite cell function are less understood. Here we demonstrate that transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is important in satellite stem cell homeostasis and function. Inactivation of TAK1 in satellite cells inhibits muscle regeneration in adult mice. TAK1 is essential for satellite cell proliferation and its inactivation causes precocious differentiation. Moreover, TAK1-deficient satellite cells exhibit increased oxidative stress and undergo spontaneous cell death, primarily through necroptosis. TAK1 is required for the activation of NF-kappa B and JNK in satellite cells. Forced activation of NF-kappa B improves survival and proliferation of TAK1-deficient satellite cells. Furthermore, TAK1-mediated activation of JNK is essential to prevent oxidative stress and precocious differentiation of satellite cells. Collectively, our study suggests that TAK1 is required for maintaining the pool of satellite stem cells and for regenerative myogenesis.

    Rational engineering of a mesohalophilic carbonic anhydrase to an extreme halotolerant biocatalyst

    Warden, Andrew C.Williams, MichellePeat, Thomas S.Seabrook, Shane A....
    10页
    查看更多>>摘要:Enzymes expressed by highly salt-tolerant organisms show many modifications compared with salt-affected counterparts including biased amino acid and lower alpha-helix content, lower solvent accessibility and negative surface charge. Here, we show that halotolerance can be generated in an enzyme solely by modifying surface residues. Rational design of carbonic anhydrase II is undertaken in three stages replacing 18 residues in total, crystal structures confirm changes are confined to surface residues. Catalytic activities and thermal unfolding temperatures of the designed enzymes increase at high salt concentrations demonstrating their shift to halotolerance, whereas the opposite response is found in the wild-type enzyme. Molecular dynamics calculations reveal a key role for sodium ions in increasing halotolerant enzyme stability largely through interactions with the highly ordered first Na+ hydration shell. For the first time, an approach to generate extreme halotolerance, a trait with broad application in industrial biocatalysis, in a wild-type enzyme is demonstrated.

    Topological states on the gold surface

    Yan, BinghaiStadtmueller, BenjaminHaag, NormanJakobs, Sebastian...
    6页
    查看更多>>摘要:Gold surfaces host special electronic states that have been understood as a prototype of Shockley surface states. These surface states are commonly employed to benchmark the capability of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. Here we show that these Shockley surface states can be reinterpreted as topologically derived surface states (TDSSs) of a topological insulator (TI), a recently discovered quantum state. Based on band structure calculations, the Z(2)-type invariants of gold can be well-defined to characterize a TI. Further, our ARPES measurement validates TDSSs by detecting the dispersion of unoccupied surface states. The same TDSSs are also recognized on surfaces of other well-known noble metals (for example, silver, copper, platinum and palladium), which shines a new light on these long-known surface states.

    RSV-specific airway resident memory CD8+T cells and differential disease severity after experimental human infection

    Habibi, Maximillian S.Jozwik, AgnieszkaParas, AllanGuvenel, Aleks...
    15页
    查看更多>>摘要:In animal models, resident memory CD8 + T (Trm) cells assist in respiratory virus elimination but their importance in man has not been determined. Here, using experimental human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, we investigate systemic and local virus-specific CD8 + T-cell responses in adult volunteers. Having defined the immunodominance hierarchy, we analyse phenotype and function longitudinally in blood and by serial bronchoscopy. Despite rapid clinical recovery, we note surprisingly extensive lower airway inflammation with persistent viral antigen and cellular infiltrates. Pulmonary virus-specific CD8 + T cells display a CD69 + CD103 + Trm phenotype and accumulate to strikingly high frequencies into convalescence without continued proliferation. While these have a more highly differentiated phenotype, they express fewer cytotoxicity markers than in blood. Nevertheless, their abundance before infection correlates with reduced symptoms and viral load, implying that CD8 + Trm cells in the human lung can confer protection against severe respiratory viral disease when humoral immunity is overcome.

    RCAN1 links impaired neurotrophin trafficking to aberrant development of the sympathetic nervous system in Down syndrome

    Patel, AmiYamashita, NaoyaAscano, MariaBoehm, Erica...
    17页
    查看更多>>摘要:Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder affecting the nervous system in humans. To date, investigations of neural anomalies in Down syndrome have focused on the central nervous system, although dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system is a common manifestation. The molecular and cellular bases underlying peripheral abnormalities have remained undefined. Here, we report the developmental loss of sympathetic innervation in human Down syndrome organs and in a mouse model. We show that excess regulator of calcineurin 1 (RCAN1), an endogenous inhibitor of the calcineurin phosphatase that is triplicated in Down syndrome, impairs neurotrophic support of sympathetic neurons by inhibiting endocytosis of the nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor, TrkA. Genetically correcting RCAN1 levels in Down syndrome mice markedly improves NGF-dependent receptor trafficking, neuronal survival and innervation. These results uncover a critical link between calcineurin signalling, impaired neurotrophin trafficking and neurodevelopmental deficits in the peripheral nervous system in Down syndrome.

    Chronic acidosis in the tumour microenvironment selects for overexpression of LAMP2 in the plasma membrane

    Wojtkowiak, Jonathan W.Morse, David L.Koomen, John M.Bui, Marilyn M....
    13页
    查看更多>>摘要:Early cancers are avascular and hence, profoundly acidic. Pre-malignant cells must adapt to acidosis to thrive in this hostile microenvironment. Here, we investigate MCF-7 cells that are adapted to grow in acidic conditions using SILAC proteomics and we reveal a significant upregulation of lysosomal proteins. Prominent among these is LAMP2 that functions to protect lysosomal membranes from acid proteolysis. LAMP2 upregulation by acidosis is confirmed both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we show that the depletion of LAMP2 is sufficient to increase acidosis-mediated toxicity. In breast cancer patient samples, there is a high correlation of LAMP2 mRNA and protein expression with progression. We also observe that LAMP2 is located at the plasma membrane in clinical samples and this redistribution is acid-induced in vitro. Our findings suggest a potential adaptive mechanism, wherein cells chronically exposed to an acidic environment translocate lysosomal proteins to their surface, thus protecting the plasmalemma from acid-induced hydrolysis.

    Effect of localization on the stability of mutualistic ecological networks

    Suweis, SamirGrilli, JacopoBanavar, Jayanth R.Allesina, Stefano...
    7页
    查看更多>>摘要:The relationships between the core-periphery architecture of the species interaction network and the mechanisms ensuring the stability in mutualistic ecological communities are still unclear. In particular, most studies have focused their attention on asymptotic resilience or persistence, neglecting how perturbations propagate through the system. Here we develop a theoretical framework to evaluate the relationship between the architecture of the interaction networks and the impact of perturbations by studying localization, a measure describing the ability of the perturbation to propagate through the network. We show that mutualistic ecological communities are localized, and localization reduces perturbation propagation and attenuates its impact on species abundance. Localization depends on the topology of the interaction networks, and it positively correlates with the variance of the weighted degree distribution, a signature of the network topological heterogeneity. Our results provide a different perspective on the interplay between the architecture of interaction networks in mutualistic communities and their stability.

    A novel Fanconi anaemia subtype associated with a dominant-negative mutation in RAD51

    Ameziane, NajimMay, PatrickHaitjema, Annekevan de Vrugt, Henri J....
    11页
    查看更多>>摘要:Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a hereditary disease featuring hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linker-induced chromosomal instability in association with developmental abnormalities, bone marrow failure and a strong predisposition to cancer. A total of 17 FA disease genes have been reported, all of which act in a recessive mode of inheritance. Here we report on a de novo g.41022153G>A; p.Ala293Thr (NM_002875) missense mutation in one allele of the homologous recombination DNA repair gene RAD51 in an FA-like patient. This heterozygous mutation causes a novel FA subtype, 'FA-R', which appears to be the first subtype of FA caused by a dominant-negative mutation. The patient, who features microcephaly and mental retardation, has reached adulthood without the typical bone marrow failure and paediatric cancers. Together with the recent reports on RAD51-associated congenital mirror movement disorders, our results point to an important role for RAD51-mediated homologous recombination in neurodevelopment, in addition to DNA repair and cancer susceptibility.

    Identification of an allosteric binding site for ROR gamma t inhibition

    Scheepstra, MarcelLeysen, Seppevan Almen, Geert C.Miller, J. Richard...
    10页
    查看更多>>摘要:ROR gamma t is critical for the differentiation and proliferation of Th17 cells associated with several chronic autoimmune diseases. We report the discovery of a novel allosteric binding site on the nuclear receptor ROR gamma t. Co-crystallization of the ligand binding domain (LBD) of ROR gamma t with a series of small-molecule antagonists demonstrates occupancy of a previously unreported allosteric binding pocket. Binding at this non-canonical site induces an unprecedented conformational reorientation of helix 12 in the ROR gamma t LBD, which blocks cofactor binding. The functional consequence of this allosteric ligand-mediated conformation is inhibition of function as evidenced by both biochemical and cellular studies. ROR gamma t function is thus antagonized in a manner molecularly distinct from that of previously described orthosteric ROR gamma t ligands. This brings forward an approach to target ROR gamma t for the treatment of Th17-mediated autoimmune diseases. The elucidation of an unprecedented modality of pharmacological antagonism establishes a mechanism for modulation of nuclear receptors.