TY  - JOUR
A1  - Koziol, Uriel
A1  - Radio, Santiago
A1  - Smircich, Pablo
A1  - Zarowiecki, Magdalena
A1  - Fernández, Cecilia
A1  - Brehm, Klaus
T1  - A novel terminal-repeat retrotransposon in miniature (TRIM) is massively expressed in Echinococcus multilocularis stem cells
JF  - Genome Biology and Evolution
N2  - Taeniid cestodes (including the human parasites Echinococcus spp. and Taenia solium) have very few mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in their genome, despite lacking a canonical PIWI pathway. The MGEs of these parasites are virtually unexplored, and nothing is known about their expression and silencing. In this work, we report the discovery of a novel family of small nonautonomous long terminal repeat retrotransposons (also known as terminal-repeat retrotransposons in miniature, TRIMs) which we have named ta-TRIM (taeniid TRIM). ta-TRIMs are only the second family of TRIM elements discovered in animals, and are likely the result of convergent reductive evolution in different taxonomic groups. These elements originated at the base of the taeniid tree and have expanded during taeniid diversification, including after the divergence of closely related species such as Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus granulosus. They are massively expressed in larval stages, from a small proportion of full-length copies and from isolated terminal repeats that show transcriptional read-through into downstream regions, generating novel noncoding RNAs and transcriptional fusions to coding genes. In E. multilocularis, ta-TRIMs are specifically expressed in the germinative cells (the somatic stem cells) during asexual reproduction of metacestode larvae. This would provide a developmental mechanism for insertion of ta-TRIMs into cells that will eventually generate the adult germ line. Future studies of active and inactive ta-TRIM elements could give the first clues on MGE silencing mechanisms in cestodes.
KW  - Schistosoma mansoni
KW  - molecular characterization
KW  - gene conversion
KW  - nonautonomous
KW  - neoblast
KW  - pluripotency
KW  - retrotransposition
KW  - long noncoding RNA
KW  - epidermal growth factor
KW  - transposable elements
KW  - LTR retrotransposons
KW  - blood fluke
KW  - homologous recombination
KW  - Cestoda Taeniidae
Y1  - 2015
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148306
VL  - 7
IS  - 8
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Müller-Deubert, Sigrid
A1  - Seefried, Lothar
A1  - Krug, Melanie
A1  - Jakob, Franz
A1  - Ebert, Regina
T1  - Epidermal growth factor as a mechanosensitizer in human bone marrow stromal cells
JF  - Stem Cell Research
N2  - Epidermal growth factors (EGFs) e.g. EGF, heparin-binding EGF and transforming growth factor alpha and their receptors e.g. EGFR and ErbB2 control proinflammatory signaling and modulate proliferation in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). Interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 are EGF targets and participate in the inflammatory phase of bone regeneration via non-canonical wnt signaling. BMSC differentiation is also influenced by mechanical strain-related activation of ERK1/2 and AP-1, but the role of EGFR signaling in mechanotransduction is unclear. We investigated the effects of EGFR signaling in telomerase-immortalized BMSC, transfected with a luciferase reporter, comprising a mechanoresponsive AP1 element, using ligands, neutralizing antibodies and EGFR inhibitors on mechanotransduction and we found that EGF via EGFR increased the response to mechanical strain. Results were confirmed by qPCR analysis of mechanoresponsive genes. EGF-responsive interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 were synergistically enhanced by EGF stimulation and mechanical strain. We show here in immortalized and primary BMSC that EGFR signaling enhances mechanotransduction, indicating that the EGF system is a mechanosensitizer in BMSC. Alterations in mechanosensitivity and -adaptation are contributors to age-related diseases like osteoporosis and the identification of a suitable mechanosensitizer could be beneficial. The role of the synergism of these signaling cascades in physiology and disease remains to be unraveled.
KW  - mechanotransduction
KW  - bone marrow stromal cells
KW  - epidermal growth factor
KW  - signaling
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170247
VL  - 24
ER  -