TY - JOUR A1 - Hillaert, Jasmijn A1 - Hovestadt, Thomas A1 - Vandegehuchte, Martijn L. A1 - Bonte, Dries T1 - Size-dependent movement explains why bigger is better in fragmented landscapes JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Body size is a fundamental trait known to allometrically scale with metabolic rate and therefore a key determinant of individual development, life history, and consequently fitness. In spatially structured environments, movement is an equally important driver of fitness. Because movement is tightly coupled with body size, we expect habitat fragmentation to induce a strong selection pressure on size variation across and within species. Changes in body size distributions are then, in turn, expected to alter food web dynamics. However, no consensus has been reached on how spatial isolation and resource growth affect consumer body size distributions. Our aim was to investigate how these two factors shape the body size distribution of consumers under scenarios of size-dependent and size-independent consumer movement by applying a mechanistic, individual-based resource–consumer model. We also assessed the consequences of altered body size distributions for important ecosystem traits such as resource abundance and consumer stability. Finally, we determined those factors that explain most variation in size distributions. We demonstrate that decreasing connectivity and resource growth select for communities (or populations) consisting of larger species (or individuals) due to strong selection for the ability to move over longer distances if the movement is size-dependent. When including size-dependent movement, intermediate levels of connectivity result in increases in local size diversity. Due to this elevated functional diversity, resource uptake is maximized at the metapopulation or metacommunity level. At these intermediate levels of connectivity, size-dependent movement explains most of the observed variation in size distributions. Interestingly, local and spatial stability of consumer biomass is lowest when isolation and resource growth are high. Finally, we highlight that size-dependent movement is of vital importance for the survival of populations or communities within highly fragmented landscapes. Our results demonstrate that considering size-dependent movement is essential to understand how habitat fragmentation and resource growth shape body size distributions—and the resulting metapopulation or metacommunity dynamics—of consumers. KW - allometric scaling KW - body size distributions; KW - eco-evolutionary dynamics KW - habitat fragmentation KW - isolation KW - metabolic theory KW - optimal size KW - size-dependent movement Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-320322 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stein, Katharina A1 - Stenchly, Kathrin A1 - Coulibaly, Drissa A1 - Pauly, Alain A1 - Dimobe, Kangbeni A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Konaté, Souleymane A1 - Goetze, Dethardt A1 - Porembski, Stefan A1 - Linsenmair, K. Eduard T1 - Impact of human disturbance on bee pollinator communities in savanna and agricultural sites in Burkina Faso, West Africa JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - All over the world, pollinators are threatened by land-use change involving degradation of seminatural habitats or conversion into agricultural land. Such disturbance often leads to lowered pollinator abundance and/or diversity, which might reduce crop yield in adjacent agricultural areas. For West Africa, changes in bee communities across disturbance gradients from savanna to agricultural land are mainly unknown. In this study, we monitored for the impact of human disturbance on bee communities in savanna and crop fields. We chose three savanna areas of varying disturbance intensity (low, medium, and high) in the South Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso, based on land-use/land cover data via Landsat images, and selected nearby cotton and sesame fields. During 21 months covering two rainy and two dry seasons in 2014 and 2015, we captured bees using pan traps. Spatial and temporal patterns of bee species abundance, richness, evenness and community structure were assessed. In total, 35,469 bee specimens were caught on 12 savanna sites and 22 fields, comprising 97 species of 32 genera. Bee abundance was highest at intermediate disturbance in the rainy season. Species richness and evenness did not differ significantly. Bee communities at medium and highly disturbed savanna sites comprised only subsets of those at low disturbed sites. An across-habitat spillover of bees (mostly abundant social bee species) from savanna into crop fields was observed during the rainy season when crops are mass-flowering, whereas most savanna plants are not in bloom. Despite disturbance intensification, our findings suggest that wild bee communities can persist in anthropogenic landscapes and that some species even benefitted disproportionally. West African areas of crop production such as for cotton and sesame may serve as important food resources for bee species in times when resources in the savanna are scarce and receive at the same time considerable pollination service. KW - bee communities KW - cotton KW - sesame KW - species spillover KW - sub-Saharan Africa Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239999 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Minden, Vanessa A1 - Schnetger, Bernhard A1 - Pufal, Gesine A1 - Leonhardt, Sara D. T1 - Antibiotic-induced effects on scaling relationships and on plant element contents in herbs and grasses JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Plant performance is correlated with element concentrations in plant tissue, which may be impacted by adverse chemical soil conditions. Antibiotics of veterinary origin can adversely affect plant performance. They are released to agricultural fields via grazing animals or manure, taken up by plants and may be stored, transformed or sequestered by plant metabolic processes. We studied the potential effects of three antibiotics (penicillin, sulfadiazine, and tetracycline) on plant element contents (macro- and microelements). Plant species included two herb species (Brassica napus and Capsella bursa-pastoris) and two grass species (Triticum aestivum and Apera spica-venti), representing two crop species and two noncrop species commonly found in field margins, respectively. Antibiotic concentrations were chosen as to reflect in vivo situations, that is, relatively low concentrations similar to those detected in soils. In a greenhouse experiment, plants were raised in soil spiked with antibiotics. After harvest, macro- and microelements in plant leaves, stems, and roots were determined (mg/g). Results indicate that antibiotics can affect element contents in plants. Penicillin exerted the greatest effect both on element contents and on scaling relationships of elements between plant organs. Roots responded strongest to antibiotics compared to stems and leaves. We conclude that antibiotics in the soil, even in low concentrations, lead to low-element homeostasis, altering the scaling relationships between roots and other plant organs, which may affect metabolic processes and ultimately the performance of a plant. KW - antibiotics KW - homeostasis KW - scaling relationships KW - standardized major axis regression KW - tissue nutrient contents Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224094 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schubert, Frank K. A1 - Hagedorn, Nicolas A1 - Yoshii, Taishi A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte A1 - Rieger, Dirk T1 - Neuroanatomical details of the lateral neurons of Drosophila melanogaster support their functional role in the circadian system JF - Journal of Comparative Neurology N2 - Drosophila melanogaster is a long-standing model organism in the circadian clock research. A major advantage is the relative small number of about 150 neurons, which built the circadian clock in Drosophila. In our recent work, we focused on the neuroanatomical properties of the lateral neurons of the clock network. By applying the multicolor-labeling technique Flybow we were able to identify the anatomical similarity of the previously described E2 subunit of the evening oscillator of the clock, which is built by the 5th small ventrolateral neuron (5th s-LNv) and one ITP positive dorsolateral neuron (LNd). These two clock neurons share the same spatial and functional properties. We found both neurons innervating the same brain areas with similar pre- and postsynaptic sites in the brain. Here the anatomical findings support their shared function as a main evening oscillator in the clock network like also found in previous studies. A second quite surprising finding addresses the large lateral ventral PDF-neurons (l-LNvs). We could show that the four hardly distinguishable l-LNvs consist of two subgroups with different innervation patterns. While three of the neurons reflect the well-known branching pattern reproduced by PDF immunohistochemistry, one neuron per brain hemisphere has a distinguished innervation profile and is restricted only to the proximal part of the medulla-surface. We named this neuron “extra” l-LNv (l-LNvx). We suggest the anatomical findings reflect different functional properties of the two l-LNv subgroups. KW - circadian clock neurons KW - Drosophila melanogaster KW - flybow KW - morphology KW - RRID: AB_760350 KW - RRID: AB_2315460 KW - RRID: AB_2314242 KW - RRID: AB_2315311 KW - RRID: AB_2314041 KW - RRID: AB_300798 Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234477 VL - 526 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Flunkert, Julia A1 - Maierhofer, Anna A1 - Dittrich, Marcus A1 - Müller, Tobias A1 - Horvath, Steve A1 - Nanda, Indrajit A1 - Haaf, Thomas T1 - Genetic and epigenetic changes in clonal descendants of irradiated human fibroblasts JF - Experimental Cell Research N2 - To study delayed genetic and epigenetic radiation effects, which may trigger radiation-induced carcinogenesis, we have established single-cell clones from irradiated and non-irradiated primary human fibroblasts. Stable clones were endowed with the same karyotype in all analyzed metaphases after 20 population doublings (PDs), whereas unstable clones displayed mosaics of normal and abnormal karyotypes. To account for variation in radiation sensitivity, all experiments were performed with two different fibroblast strains. After a single X-ray dose of 2 Gy more than half of the irradiated clones exhibited radiation-induced genome instability (RIGI). Irradiated clones displayed an increased rate of loss of chromosome Y (LOY) and copy number variations (CNVs), compared to controls. CNV breakpoints clustered in specific chromosome regions, in particular 3p14.2 and 7q11.21, coinciding with common fragile sites. CNVs affecting the FHIT gene in FRA3B were observed in independent unstable clones and may drive RIGI. Bisulfite pyrosequencing of control clones and the respective primary culture revealed global hypomethylation of ALU, LINE-1, and alpha-satellite repeats as well as rDNA hypermethylation during in vitro ageing. Irradiated clones showed further reduced ALU and alpha-satellite methylation and increased rDNA methylation, compared to controls. Methylation arrays identified several hundred differentially methylated genes and several enriched pathways associated with in vitro ageing. Methylation changes in 259 genes and the MAP kinase signaling pathway were associated with delayed radiation effects (after 20 PDs). Collectively, our results suggest that both genetic (LOY and CNVs) and epigenetic changes occur in the progeny of exposed cells that were not damaged directly by irradiation, likely contributing to radiation-induced carcinogenesis. We did not observe epigenetic differences between stable and unstable irradiated clones. The fact that the DNA methylation (DNAm) age of clones derived from the same primary culture varied greatly suggests that DNAm age of a single cell (represented by a clone) can be quite different from the DNAm age of a tissue. We propose that DNAm age reflects the emergent property of a large number of individual cells whose respective DNAm ages can be highly variable. KW - copy number variation (CNV) KW - delayed radiation effects KW - DNA methylation (DNAm) age KW - global DNA methylation KW - loss of chromosome Y (LOY); KW - methylation array analysis KW - radiation-induced genome instability (RIGI) Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228177 VL - 370 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Göttlich, Claudia A1 - Kunz, Meik A1 - Zapp, Cornelia A1 - Nietzer, Sarah L. A1 - Walles, Heike A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Dandekar, Gudrun T1 - A combined tissue-engineered/in silico signature tool patient stratification in lung cancer JF - Molecular Oncology N2 - Patient-tailored therapy based on tumor drivers is promising for lung cancer treatment. For this, we combined in vitro tissue models with in silico analyses. Using individual cell lines with specific mutations, we demonstrate a generic and rapid stratification pipeline for targeted tumor therapy. We improve in vitro models of tissue conditions by a biological matrix-based three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture that allows in vitro drug testing: It correctly shows a strong drug response upon gefitinib (Gef) treatment in a cell line harboring an EGFR-activating mutation (HCC827), but no clear drug response upon treatment with the HSP90 inhibitor 17AAG in two cell lines with KRAS mutations (H441, A549). In contrast, 2D testing implies wrongly KRAS as a biomarker for HSP90 inhibitor treatment, although this fails in clinical studies. Signaling analysis by phospho-arrays showed similar effects of EGFR inhibition by Gef in HCC827 cells, under both 2D and 3D conditions. Western blot analysis confirmed that for 3D conditions, HSP90 inhibitor treatment implies different p53 regulation and decreased MET inhibition in HCC827 and H441 cells. Using in vitro data (western, phospho-kinase array, proliferation, and apoptosis), we generated cell line-specific in silico topologies and condition-specific (2D, 3D) simulations of signaling correctly mirroring in vitro treatment responses. Networks predict drug targets considering key interactions and individual cell line mutations using the Human Protein Reference Database and the COSMIC database. A signature of potential biomarkers and matching drugs improve stratification and treatment in KRAS-mutated tumors. In silico screening and dynamic simulation of drug actions resulted in individual therapeutic suggestions, that is, targeting HIF1A in H441 and LKB1 in A549 cells. In conclusion, our in vitro tumor tissue model combined with an in silico tool improves drug effect prediction and patient stratification. Our tool is used in our comprehensive cancer center and is made now publicly available for targeted therapy decisions. KW - 3D lung tumor model KW - Boolean signaling network KW - chemoresistance KW - HSP90 inhibitor KW - insilico drug screening too KW - KRAS mutation signature Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233137 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van de Peppel, L. J. J. A1 - Aanen, D. K. A1 - Biedermann, P. H. W. T1 - Low intraspecific genetic diversity indicates asexuality and vertical transmission in the fungal cultivars of ambrosia beetles JF - Fungal Ecology N2 - Ambrosia beetles farm ascomycetous fungi in tunnels within wood. These ambrosia fungi are regarded asexual, although population genetic proof is missing. Here we explored the intraspecific genetic diversity of Ambrosiella grosmanniae and Ambrosiella hartigii (Ascomycota: Microascales), the mutualists of the beetles Xylosandrus germanus and Anisandrus dispar. By sequencing five markers (ITS, LSU, TEF1α, RPB2, β-tubulin) from several fungal strains, we show that X. germanus cultivates the same two clones of A. grosmanniae in the USA and in Europe, whereas A. dispar is associated with a single A. hartigii clone across Europe. This low genetic diversity is consistent with predominantly asexual vertical transmission of Ambrosiella cultivars between beetle generations. This clonal agriculture is a remarkable case of convergence with fungus-farming ants, given that both groups have a completely different ecology and evolutionary history. KW - clonal fungiculture KW - ambrosia fungus KW - Ambrosiella KW - vertical transmission KW - symbiosis KW - Xylosandrus KW - Anisandrus KW - asexuality KW - genetic diversity Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232161 VL - 32 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grebinyk, Anna A1 - Grebinyk, Sergii A1 - Prylutska, Svitlana A1 - Ritter, Uwe A1 - Matyshevska, Olga A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Frohme, Marcus T1 - C60 fullerene accumulation in human leukemic cells and perspectives of LED-mediated photodynamic therapy JF - Free Radical Biology and Medicine N2 - Recent progress in nanobiotechnology has attracted interest to a biomedical application of the carbon nanostructure C60 fullerene since it possesses a unique structure and versatile biological activity. C60 fullerene potential application in the frame of cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT) relies on rapid development of new light sources as well as on better understanding of the fullerene interaction with cells. The aim of this study was to analyze C60 fullerene effects on human leukemic cells (CCRF-CEM) in combination with high power single chip light-emitting diodes (LEDs) light irradiation of different wavelengths: ultraviolet (UV, 365 nm), violet (405 nm), green (515 nm) and red (632 nm). The time-dependent accumulation of fullerene C60 in CCRF-CEM cells up to 250 ng/106 cells at 24 h with predominant localization within mitochondria was demonstrated with immunocytochemical staining and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. In a cell viability assay we studied photoexcitation of the accumulated C60 nanostructures with ultraviolet or violet LEDs and could prove that significant phototoxic effects did arise. A less pronounced C60 fullerene phototoxic effect was observed after irradiation with green, and no effect was detected with red light. A C60 fullerene photoactivation with violet light induced substantial ROS generation and apoptotic cell death, confirmed by caspase3/7 activation and plasma membrane phosphatidylserine externalization. Our work proved C60 fullerene ability to induce apoptosis of leukemic cells after photoexcitation with high power single chip 405 nm LED as a light source. This underlined the potential for application of C60 nanostructure as a photosensitizer for anticancer therapy. KW - C-60 fullerene KW - photodanamic therapy KW - LEDs KW - leukemic cells KW - immunocytochemistry KW - HPLC-ESI-MS KW - apoptosis Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228245 VL - 124 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Link, Jana A1 - Paouneskou, Dimitra A1 - Velkova, Maria A1 - Daryabeigi, Anahita A1 - Laos, Triin A1 - Labella, Sara A1 - Barroso, Consuelo A1 - Pacheco Piñol, Sarai A1 - Montoya, Alex A1 - Kramer, Holger A1 - Woglar, Alexander A1 - Baudrimont, Antoine A1 - Markert, Sebastian Mathias A1 - Stigloher, Christian A1 - Martinez-Perez, Enrique A1 - Dammermann, Alexander A1 - Alsheimer, Manfred A1 - Zetka, Monique A1 - Jantsch, Verena T1 - Transient and Partial Nuclear Lamina Disruption Promotes Chromosome Movement in Early Meiotic Prophase JF - Developmental Cell N2 - Meiotic chromosome movement is important for the pairwise alignment of homologous chromosomes, which is required for correct chromosome segregation. Movement is driven by cytoplasmic forces, transmitted to chromosome ends by nuclear membrane-spanning proteins. In animal cells, lamins form a prominent scaffold at the nuclear periphery, yet the role lamins play in meiotic chromosome movement is unclear. We show that chromosome movement correlates with reduced lamin association with the nuclear rim, which requires lamin phosphorylation at sites analogous to those that open lamina network crosslinks in mitosis. Failure to remodel the lamina results in delayed meiotic entry, altered chromatin organization, unpaired or interlocked chromosomes, and slowed chromosome movement. The remodeling kinases are delivered to lamins via chromosome ends coupled to the nuclear envelope, potentially enabling crosstalk between the lamina and chromosomal events. Thus, opening the lamina network plays a role in modulating contacts between chromosomes and the nuclear periphery during meiosis. KW - meiosis KW - C. elegans KW - chromosome movement KW - chromosome pairing KW - nuclear envelope KW - lamin Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236901 VL - 45 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becher, Isabelle A1 - Andrés-Pons, Amparo A1 - Romanov, Natalie A1 - Stein, Frank A1 - Schramm, Maike A1 - Baudin, Florence A1 - Helm, Dominic A1 - Kurzawa, Nils A1 - Mateus, André A1 - Mackmull, Marie-Therese A1 - Typas, Athanasios A1 - Müller, Christoph W. A1 - Bork, Peer A1 - Beck, Martin A1 - Savitski, Mikhail M. T1 - Pervasive Protein Thermal Stability Variation during the Cell Cycle JF - Cell N2 - Quantitative mass spectrometry has established proteome-wide regulation of protein abundance and post-translational modifications in various biological processes. Here, we used quantitative mass spectrometry to systematically analyze the thermal stability and solubility of proteins on a proteome-wide scale during the eukaryotic cell cycle. We demonstrate pervasive variation of these biophysical parameters with most changes occurring in mitosis and G1. Various cellular pathways and components vary in thermal stability, such as cell-cycle factors, polymerases, and chromatin remodelers. We demonstrate that protein thermal stability serves as a proxy for enzyme activity, DNA binding, and complex formation in situ. Strikingly, a large cohort of intrinsically disordered and mitotically phosphorylated proteins is stabilized and solubilized in mitosis, suggesting a fundamental remodeling of the biophysical environment of the mitotic cell. Our data represent a rich resource for cell, structural, and systems biologists interested in proteome regulation during biological transitions. KW - thermal proteome profiling KW - cell cycle KW - proteomics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221565 VL - 173 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Too, Chin Chin A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Sickel, Wiebke A1 - Lee, Sui Mae A1 - Yule, Catherine M. T1 - Microbial Community Structure in a Malaysian Tropical Peat Swamp Forest: The Influence of Tree Species and Depth JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Tropical peat swamp forests sequester globally significant stores of carbon in deep layers of waterlogged, anoxic, acidic and nutrient-depleted peat. The roles of microbes in supporting these forests through the formation of peat, carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling are virtually unknown. This study investigated physicochemical peat properties and microbial diversity between three dominant tree species: Shorea uliginosa (Dipterocarpaceae), Koompassia malaccensis (legumes associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria), Eleiodoxa conferta (palm) and depths (surface, 45 and 90 cm) using microbial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Water pH, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, total phenolic contents and C/N ratio differed significantly between depths, but not tree species. Depth also strongly influenced microbial diversity and composition, while both depth and tree species exhibited significant impact on the archaeal communities. Microbial diversity was highest at the surface, where fresh leaf litter accumulates, and nutrient supply is guaranteed. Nitrogen was the core parameter correlating to microbial communities, but the interactive effects from various environmental variables displayed significant correlation to relative abundance of major microbial groups. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum and the most abundant genus, Rhodoplanes, might be involved in nitrogen fixation. The most abundant methanogens and methanotrophs affiliated, respectively, to families Methanomassiliicoccaceae and Methylocystaceae. Our results demonstrated diverse microbial communities and provide valuable insights on microbial ecology in these extreme ecosystems. KW - tropical peat swamp forest KW - metabarcoding KW - microbial diversity and composition KW - tree species KW - depth KW - methanogens Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229000 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prusty, Bhupesh K. A1 - Gulve, Nitish A1 - Govind, Sheila A1 - Krueger, Gerhard R. F. A1 - Feichtinger, Julia A1 - Larcombe, Lee A1 - Aspinall, Richard A1 - Ablashi, Dharam V. A1 - Toro, Carla T. T1 - Active HHV-6 Infection of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells in Mood Disorders JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Early-life infections and associated neuroinflammation is incriminated in the pathogenesis of various mood disorders. Infection with human roseoloviruses, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, allows viral latency in the central nervous system and other tissues, which can later be activated causing cognitive and behavioral disturbances. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate possible association of HHV-6A and HHV-6B activation with three different groups of psychiatric patients. DNA qPCR, immunofluorescence and FISH studies were carried out in post-mortem posterior cerebellum from 50 cases each of bipolar disorder (BPD), schizophrenia, 15 major depressive disorder (MDD) and 50 appropriate control samples obtained from two well-known brain collections (Stanley Medical Research Institute). HHV-6A and HHV-6B late proteins (indicating active infection) and viral DNA were detected more frequently (p < 0.001 for each virus) in human cerebellum in MDD and BPD relative to controls. These roseolovirus proteins and DNA were found less frequently in schizophrenia cases. Active HHV-6A and HHV-6B infection in cerebellar Purkinje cells were detected frequently in BPD and MDD cases. Furthermore, we found a significant association of HHV-6A infection with reduced Purkinje cell size, suggesting virus-mediated abnormal Purkinje cell function in these disorders. Finally, gene expression analysis of cerebellar tissue revealed changes in pathways reflecting an inflammatory response possibly to HHV-6A infection. Our results provide molecular evidence to support a role for active HHV-6A and HHV-6B infection in BPD and MDD. KW - HHV-6 KW - bipolar disorder KW - schizophrenia KW - major depressive disorder KW - Purkinje cells Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-369222 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wegert, Jenny A1 - Vokuhl, Christian A1 - Collord, Grace A1 - Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, Martin A1 - Farndon, Sarah J. A1 - Guzzo, Charlotte A1 - Jorgensen, Mette A1 - Anderson, John A1 - Slater, Olga A1 - Duncan, Catriona A1 - Bausenwein, Sabrina A1 - Streitenberger, Heike A1 - Ziegler, Barbara A1 - Furtwängler, Rhoikos A1 - Graf, Norbert A1 - Stratton, Michael R. A1 - Campbell, Peter J. A1 - Jones, David TW A1 - Koelsche, Christian A1 - Pfister, Stefan M. A1 - Mifsud, William A1 - Sebire, Neil A1 - Sparber-Sauer, Monika A1 - Koscielniak, Ewa A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Behjati, Sam T1 - Recurrent intragenic rearrangements of EGFR and BRAF in soft tissue tumors of infants JF - Nature Communications N2 - Soft tissue tumors of infancy encompass an overlapping spectrum of diseases that pose unique diagnostic and clinical challenges. We studied genomes and transcriptomes of cryptogenic congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN), and extended our findings to five anatomically or histologically related soft tissue tumors: infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS), nephroblastomatosis, Wilms tumor, malignant rhabdoid tumor, and clear cell sarcoma of the kidney. A key finding is recurrent mutation of EGFR in CMN by internal tandem duplication of the kinase domain, thus delineating CMN from other childhood renal tumors. Furthermore, we identify BRAF intragenic rearrangements in CMN and IFS. Collectively these findings reveal novel diagnostic markers and therapeutic strategies and highlight a prominent role of isolated intragenic rearrangements as drivers of infant tumors. KW - cancer KW - genetics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233446 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vujanić, Gordan M. A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Ooms, Ariadne H. A. G. A1 - Collini, Paola A1 - Coulomb-l'Hermine, Aurore A1 - D'Hooghe, Ellen A1 - de Krijger, Ronald R. A1 - Perotti, Daniela A1 - Pritchard-Jones, Kathy A1 - Vokuhl, Christian A1 - van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M. A1 - Graf, Norbert T1 - The UMBRELLA SIOP–RTSG 2016 Wilms tumour pathology and molecular biology protocol JF - Nature Reviews Urology N2 - On the basis of the results of previous national and international trials and studies, the Renal Tumour Study Group of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP–RTSG) has developed a new study protocol for paediatric renal tumours: the UMBRELLA SIOP–RTSG 2016 protocol (the UMBRELLA protocol). Currently, the overall outcomes of patients with Wilms tumour are excellent, but subgroups with poor prognosis and increased relapse rates still exist. The identification of these subgroups is of utmost importance to improve treatment stratification, which might lead to reduction of the direct and late effects of chemotherapy. The UMBRELLA protocol aims to validate new prognostic factors, such as blastemal tumour volume and molecular markers, to further improve outcome. To achieve this aim, large, international, high-quality databases are needed, which dictate optimization and international harmonization of specimen handling and comprehensive sampling of biological material, refine definitions and improve logistics for expert review. To promote broad implementation of the UMBRELLA protocol, the updated SIOP–RTSG pathology and molecular biology protocol for Wilms tumours has been outlined, which is a consensus from the SIOP–RTSG pathology panel. KW - molecular biology KW - paediatric cancer KW - pathology KW - renal cancer Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233265 VL - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sommerfeld, Andreas A1 - Senf, Cornelius A1 - Buma, Brian A1 - D'Amato, Anthony W. A1 - Després, Tiphaine A1 - Díaz-Hormazábal, Ignacio A1 - Fraver, Shawn A1 - Frelich, Lee E. A1 - Gutiérrez, Álvaro G. A1 - Hart, Sarah J. A1 - Harvey, Brian J. A1 - He, Hong S. A1 - Hlásny, Tomáš A1 - Holz, Andrés A1 - Kitzberger, Thomas A1 - Kulakowski, Dominik A1 - Lindenmayer, David A1 - Mori, Akira S. A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Paritsis, Juan A1 - Perry, George L. W. A1 - Stephens, Scott L. A1 - Svoboda, Miroslav A1 - Turner, Monica G. A1 - Veblen, Thomas T. A1 - Seidl, Rupert T1 - Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome JF - Nature Communications N2 - Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001–2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions across the globe. Disturbances in protected areas are smaller and more complex in shape compared to their surroundings affected by human land use. This signal disappears in areas with high recent natural disturbance activity, underlining the potential of climate-mediated disturbance to transform forest landscapes. KW - forest ecology KW - forestry Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239157 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Snaebjornsson, Marteinn T A1 - Schulze, Almut T1 - Non-canonical functions of enzymes facilitate cross-talk between cell metabolic and regulatory pathways JF - Experimental & Molecular Medicine N2 - The metabolic rewiring that occurs during cell transformation is a hallmark of cancer. It is diverse in different cancers as it reflects different combinations of oncogenic drivers, tumor suppressors, and the microenvironment. Metabolic rewiring is essential to cancer as it enables uncontrolled proliferation and adaptation to the fluctuating availability of nutrients and oxygen caused by poor access to the vasculature due to tumor growth and a foreign microenvironment encountered during metastasis. Increasing evidence now indicates that the metabolic state in cancer cells also plays a causal role in tumor growth and metastasis, for example through the action of oncometabolites, which modulate cell signaling and epigenetic pathways to promote malignancy. In addition to altering the metabolic state in cancer cells, some multifunctional enzymes possess non-metabolic functions that also contribute to cell transformation. Some multifunctional enzymes that are highly expressed in cancer, such as pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), have non-canonical functions that are co-opted by oncogenic signaling to drive proliferation and inhibit apoptosis. Other multifunctional enzymes that are frequently downregulated in cancer, such as fructose-bisphosphatase 1 (FBP1), are tumor suppressors, directly opposing mitogenic signaling via their non-canonical functions. In some cases, the enzymatic and non-canonical roles of these enzymes are functionally linked, making the modulation of non-metabolic cellular processes dependent on the metabolic state of the cell. KW - cancer metabolism Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238763 VL - 50 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Selkrig, Joel A1 - Mohammad, Farhan A1 - Ng, Soon Hwee A1 - Chua, Jia Yi A1 - Tumkaya, Tayfun A1 - Ho, Joses A1 - Chiang, Yin Ning A1 - Rieger, Dirk A1 - Pettersson, Sven A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte A1 - Yew, Joanne Y. A1 - Claridge-Chang, Adam T1 - The Drosophila microbiome has a limited influence on sleep, activity, and courtship behaviors JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In animals, commensal microbes modulate various physiological functions, including behavior. While microbiota exposure is required for normal behavior in mammals, it is not known how widely this dependency is present in other animal species. We proposed the hypothesis that the microbiome has a major influence on the behavior of the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster), a major invertebrate model organism. Several assays were used to test the contribution of the microbiome on some well-characterized behaviors: defensive behavior, sleep, locomotion, and courtship in microbe-bearing, control flies and two generations of germ-free animals. None of the behaviors were largely influenced by the absence of a microbiome, and the small or moderate effects were not generalizable between replicates and/or generations. These results refute the hypothesis, indicating that the Drosophila microbiome does not have a major influence over several behaviors fundamental to the animal’s survival and reproduction. The impact of commensal microbes on animal behaviour may not be broadly conserved. KW - behavioural ecology KW - sleep Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235891 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Laura S. M. A1 - Cosentino, Raúl O. A1 - Förstner, Konrad U. A1 - Guizetti, Julien A1 - Wedel, Carolin A1 - Kaplan, Noam A1 - Janzen, Christian J. A1 - Arampatzi, Panagiota A1 - Vogel, Jörg A1 - Steinbiss, Sascha A1 - Otto, Thomas D. A1 - Saliba, Antoine-Emmanuel A1 - Sebra, Robert P. A1 - Siegel, T. Nicolai T1 - Genome organization and DNA accessibility control antigenic variation in trypanosomes JF - Nature N2 - Many evolutionarily distant pathogenic organisms have evolved similar survival strategies to evade the immune responses of their hosts. These include antigenic variation, through which an infecting organism prevents clearance by periodically altering the identity of proteins that are visible to the immune system of the host1. Antigenic variation requires large reservoirs of immunologically diverse antigen genes, which are often generated through homologous recombination, as well as mechanisms to ensure the expression of one or very few antigens at any given time. Both homologous recombination and gene expression are affected by three-dimensional genome architecture and local DNA accessibility2,3. Factors that link three-dimensional genome architecture, local chromatin conformation and antigenic variation have, to our knowledge, not yet been identified in any organism. One of the major obstacles to studying the role of genome architecture in antigenic variation has been the highly repetitive nature and heterozygosity of antigen-gene arrays, which has precluded complete genome assembly in many pathogens. Here we report the de novo haplotype-specific assembly and scaffolding of the long antigen-gene arrays of the model protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, using long-read sequencing technology and conserved features of chromosome folding4. Genome-wide chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) reveals a distinct partitioning of the genome, with antigen-encoding subtelomeric regions that are folded into distinct, highly compact compartments. In addition, we performed a range of analyses—Hi-C, fluorescence in situ hybridization, assays for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing and single-cell RNA sequencing—that showed that deletion of the histone variants H3.V and H4.V increases antigen-gene clustering, DNA accessibility across sites of antigen expression and switching of the expressed antigen isoform, via homologous recombination. Our analyses identify histone variants as a molecular link between global genome architecture, local chromatin conformation and antigenic variation. KW - histone variants KW - genome architecture KW - single molecule real time (SMRT) KW - brucei genome KW - distance-dependent decay Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224265 VL - 563 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kraus, Michael A1 - Grimm, Clemens A1 - Seibel, Jürgen T1 - Reversibility of a Point Mutation Induced Domain Shift: Expanding the Conformational Space of a Sucrose Phosphorylase JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Despite their popularity as enzyme engineering targets structural information about Sucrose Phosphorylases remains scarce. We recently clarified that the Q345F variant of Bifidobacterium adolescentis Sucrose Phosphorylase is able to accept large polyphenolic substrates like resveratrol via a domain shift. Here we present a crystal structure of this variant in a conformation suitable for the accommodation of the donor substrate sucrose in excellent agreement with the wild type structure. Remarkably, this conformation does not feature the previously observed domain shift which is therefore reversible and part of a dynamic process rather than a static phenomenon. This crystallographic snapshot completes our understanding of the catalytic cycle of this useful variant and will allow for a more rational design of further generations of Sucrose Phosphorylase variants. KW - biocatalysis KW - X-ray crystallography Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224845 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hines, Rochelle M. A1 - Maric, Hans Michael A1 - Hines, Dustin J. A1 - Modgil, Amit A1 - Panzanelli, Patrizia A1 - Nakamura, Yasuko A1 - Nathanson, Anna J. A1 - Cross, Alan A1 - Deeb, Tarek A1 - Brandon, Nicholas J. A1 - Davies, Paul A1 - Fritschy, Jean-Marc A1 - Schindelin, Hermann A1 - Moss, Stephen J. T1 - Developmental seizures and mortality result from reducing GABAA receptor α2-subunit interaction with collybistin JF - Nature Communications N2 - Fast inhibitory synaptic transmission is mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs) that are enriched at functionally diverse synapses via mechanisms that remain unclear. Using isothermal titration calorimetry and complementary methods we demonstrate an exclusive low micromolar binding of collybistin to the α2-subunit of GABAARs. To explore the biological relevance of collybistin-α2-subunit selectivity, we generate mice with a mutation in the α2-subunit-collybistin binding region (Gabra2-1). The mutation results in loss of a distinct subset of inhibitory synapses and decreased amplitude of inhibitory synaptic currents. Gabra2–1 mice have a striking phenotype characterized by increased susceptibility to seizures and early mortality. Surviving Gabra2-1 mice show anxiety and elevations in electroencephalogram δ power, which are ameliorated by treatment with the α2/α3-selective positive modulator, AZD7325. Taken together, our results demonstrate an α2-subunit selective binding of collybistin, which plays a key role in patterned brain activity, particularly during development. KW - cellular neuroscience KW - ion channels in the nervous system KW - neurotransmitters KW - synaptic development Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-320719 VL - 9 ER -