TY - JOUR A1 - Grubisic, Maja A1 - Haim, Abraham A1 - Bhusal, Pramod A1 - Dominoni, Davide M. A1 - Gabriel, Katharina M. A. A1 - Jechow, Andreas A1 - Kupprat, Franziska A1 - Lerner, Amit A1 - Marchant, Paul A1 - Riley, William A1 - Stebelova, Katarina A1 - van Grunsven, Roy H. A. A1 - Zeman, Michal A1 - Zubidat, Abed E. A1 - Hölker, Franz T1 - Light Pollution, Circadian Photoreception, and Melatonin in Vertebrates JF - Sustainability N2 - Artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasing exponentially worldwide, accelerated by the transition to new efficient lighting technologies. However, ALAN and resulting light pollution can cause unintended physiological consequences. In vertebrates, production of melatonin—the “hormone of darkness” and a key player in circadian regulation—can be suppressed by ALAN. In this paper, we provide an overview of research on melatonin and ALAN in vertebrates. We discuss how ALAN disrupts natural photic environments, its effect on melatonin and circadian rhythms, and different photoreceptor systems across vertebrate taxa. We then present the results of a systematic review in which we identified studies on melatonin under typical light-polluted conditions in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans. Melatonin is suppressed by extremely low light intensities in many vertebrates, ranging from 0.01–0.03 lx for fishes and rodents to 6 lx for sensitive humans. Even lower, wavelength-dependent intensities are implied by some studies and require rigorous testing in ecological contexts. In many studies, melatonin suppression occurs at the minimum light levels tested, and, in better-studied groups, melatonin suppression is reported to occur at lower light levels. We identify major research gaps and conclude that, for most groups, crucial information is lacking. No studies were identified for amphibians and reptiles and long-term impacts of low-level ALAN exposure are unknown. Given the high sensitivity of vertebrate melatonin production to ALAN and the paucity of available information, it is crucial to research impacts of ALAN further in order to inform effective mitigation strategies for human health and the wellbeing and fitness of vertebrates in natural ecosystems. KW - ALAN KW - artificial light at night KW - biological rhythm KW - circadian rhythm KW - melatonin Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193095 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 11 IS - 22 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heydarian, Motaharehsadat A1 - Yang, Tao A1 - Schweinlin, Matthias A1 - Steinke, Maria A1 - Walles, Heike A1 - Rudel, Thomas A1 - Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera T1 - Biomimetic human tissue model for long-term study of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and is caused by Gram-negative diplococcus Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Since N. gonorrhoeae is a human-specific pathogen, animal infection models are only of limited use. Therefore, a suitable in vitro cell culture model for studying the complete infection including adhesion, transmigration and transport to deeper tissue layers is required. In the present study, we generated three independent 3D tissue models based on porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) scaffold by co-culturing human dermal fibroblasts with human colorectal carcinoma, endometrial epithelial, and male uroepithelial cells. Functional analyses such as transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and FITC-dextran assay indicated the high barrier integrity of the created monolayer. The histological, immunohistochemical, and ultra-structural analyses showed that the 3D SIS scaffold-based models closely mimic the main characteristics of the site of gonococcal infection in human host including the epithelial monolayer, the underlying connective tissue, mucus production, tight junction, and microvilli formation. We infected the established 3D tissue models with different N. gonorrhoeae strains and derivatives presenting various phenotypes regarding adhesion and invasion. The results indicated that the disruption of tight junctions and increase in interleukin production in response to the infection is strain and cell type-dependent. In addition, the models supported bacterial survival and proved to be better suitable for studying infection over the course of several days in comparison to commonly used Transwell® models. This was primarily due to increased resilience of the SIS scaffold models to infection in terms of changes in permeability, cell destruction and bacterial transmigration. In summary, the SIS scaffold-based 3D tissue models of human mucosal tissues represent promising tools for investigating N. gonorrhoeae infections under close-to-natural conditions. KW - 3D tissue model KW - small intestinal submucosa scaffold KW - co-culture KW - infection KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197912 SN - 1664-302X VL - 10 IS - 1740 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grebinyk, Anna A1 - Prylutska, Svitlana A1 - Chepurna, Oksana A1 - Grebinyk, Sergii A1 - Prylutskyy, Yuriy A1 - Ritter, Uwe A1 - Ohulchanskyy, Tymish Y. A1 - Matyshevska, Olga A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Frohme, Marcus T1 - Synergy of chemo- and photodynamic therapies with C\(_{60}\) Fullerene-Doxorubicin nanocomplex JF - Nanomaterials N2 - A nanosized drug complex was explored to improve the efficiency of cancer chemotherapy, complementing it with nanodelivery and photodynamic therapy. For this, nanomolar amounts of a non-covalent nanocomplex of Doxorubicin (Dox) with carbon nanoparticle C\(_{60}\) fullerene (C\(_{60}\)) were applied in 1:1 and 2:1 molar ratio, exploiting C\(_{60}\) both as a drug-carrier and as a photosensitizer. The fluorescence microscopy analysis of human leukemic CCRF-CEM cells, in vitro cancer model, treated with nanocomplexes showed Dox’s nuclear and C\(_{60}\)'s extranuclear localization. It gave an opportunity to realize a double hit strategy against cancer cells based on Dox's antiproliferative activity and C\(_{60}\)'s photoinduced pro-oxidant activity. When cells were treated with 2:1 C\(_{60}\)-Dox and irradiated at 405 nm the high cytotoxicity of photo-irradiated C\(_{60}\)-Dox enabled a nanomolar concentration of Dox and C\(_{60}\) to efficiently kill cancer cells in vitro. The high pro-oxidant and pro-apoptotic efficiency decreased IC\(_{50}\) 16, 9 and 7 × 10\(^3\)-fold, if compared with the action of Dox, non-irradiated nanocomplex, and C\(_{60}\)'s photodynamic effect, correspondingly. Hereafter, a strong synergy of therapy arising from the combination of C\(_{60}\)-mediated Dox delivery and C\(_{60}\) photoexcitation was revealed. Our data indicate that a combination of chemo- and photodynamic therapies with C\(_{60}\)-Dox nanoformulation provides a promising synergetic approach for cancer treatment. KW - photodynamic chemotherapy KW - synergistic effect KW - C\(_{60}\) fullerene KW - Doxorubicin KW - nanocomplex KW - leukemic cells KW - apoptosis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193140 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 9 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Villalobos, Alvaro S. A1 - Wiese, Jutta A1 - Imhoff, Johannes F. A1 - Dorador, Cristina A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Hentschel, Ute T1 - Systematic affiliation and genome analysis of Subtercola vilae DB165T with particular emphasis on cold adaptation of an isolate from a high-altitude cold volcano lake JF - Microorganisms N2 - Among the Microbacteriaceae the species of Subtercola and Agreia form closely associated clusters. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated three major phylogenetic branches of these species. One of these branches contains the two psychrophilic species Subtercola frigoramans and Subtercola vilae, together with a larger number of isolates from various cold environments. Genomic evidence supports the separation of Agreia and Subtercola species. In order to gain insight into the ability of S. vilae to adapt to life in this extreme environment, we analyzed the genome with a particular focus on properties related to possible adaptation to a cold environment. General properties of the genome are presented, including carbon and energy metabolism, as well as secondary metabolite production. The repertoire of genes in the genome of S. vilae DB165\(^T\) linked to adaptations to the harsh conditions found in Llullaillaco Volcano Lake includes several mechanisms to transcribe proteins under low temperatures, such as a high number of tRNAs and cold shock proteins. In addition, S. vilae DB165\(^T\) is capable of producing a number of proteins to cope with oxidative stress, which is of particular relevance at low temperature environments, in which reactive oxygen species are more abundant. Most important, it obtains capacities to produce cryo-protectants, and to combat against ice crystal formation, it produces ice-binding proteins. Two new ice-binding proteins were identified which are unique to S. vilae DB165\(^T\). These results indicate that S. vilae has the capacity to employ different mechanisms to live under the extreme and cold conditions prevalent in Llullaillaco Volcano Lake. KW - cold adaptation KW - Subtercola vilae KW - genome analysis KW - systematic affiliation KW - Llullaillaco Volcano Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197394 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 7 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Ruiqi A1 - Kinoshita, Masato A1 - Adolfi, Mateus C. A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - Analysis of the role of the Mc4r system in development, growth, and puberty of medaka JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - In mammals the melanocortin 4 receptor (Mc4r) signaling system has been mainly associated with the regulation of appetite and energy homeostasis. In fish of the genus Xiphophorus (platyfish and swordtails) puberty onset is genetically determined by a single locus, which encodes the mc4r. Wild populations of Xiphophorus are polymorphic for early and late-maturing individuals. Copy number variation of different mc4r alleles is responsible for the difference in puberty onset. To answer whether this is a special adaptation of the Mc4r signaling system in the lineage of Xiphophorus or a more widely conserved mechanism in teleosts, we studied the role of Mc4r in reproductive biology of medaka (Oryzias latipes), a close relative to Xiphophorus and a well-established model to study gonadal development. To understand the potential role of Mc4r in medaka, we characterized the major features of the Mc4r signaling system (mc4r, mrap2, pomc, agrp1). In medaka, all these genes are expressed before hatching. In adults, they are mainly expressed in the brain. The transcript of the receptor accessory protein mrap2 co-localizes with mc4r in the hypothalamus in adult brains indicating a conserved function of modulating Mc4r signaling. Comparing growth and puberty between wild-type and mc4r knockout medaka revealed that absence of Mc4r does not change puberty timing but significantly delays hatching. Embryonic development of knockout animals is retarded compared to wild-types. In conclusion, the Mc4r system in medaka is involved in regulation of growth rather than puberty. KW - medaka KW - Mc4r KW - knockout KW - puberty KW - growth Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201472 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krebs, Markus A1 - Behrmann, Christoph A1 - Kalogirou, Charis A1 - Sokolakis, Ioannis A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Kruithof-de Julio, Marianna A1 - Zoni, Eugenio A1 - Rech, Anne A1 - Schilling, Bastian A1 - Kübler, Hubert A1 - Spahn, Martin A1 - Kneitz, Burkhard T1 - miR-221 Augments TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in prostate cancer cells by inducing endogenous TRAIL expression and targeting the functional repressors SOCS3 and PIK3R1 JF - BioMed Research International N2 - miR-221 is regarded as an oncogene in many malignancies, and miR-221-mediated resistance towards TRAIL was one of the first oncogenic roles shown for this small noncoding RNA. In contrast, miR-221 is downregulated in prostate cancer (PCa), thereby implying a tumour suppressive function. By using proliferation and apoptosis assays, we show a novel feature of miR-221 in PCa cells: instead of inducing TRAIL resistance, miR-221 sensitized cells towards TRAIL-induced proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction. Partially responsible for this effect was the interferon-mediated gene signature, which among other things contained an endogenous overexpression of the TRAIL encoding gene TNFSF10. This TRAIL-friendly environment was provoked by downregulation of the established miR-221 target gene SOCS3. Moreover, we introduced PIK3R1 as a target gene of miR-221 in PCa cells. Proliferation assays showed that siRNA-mediated downregulation of SOCS3 and PIK3R1 mimicked the effect of miR-221 on TRAIL sensitivity. Finally, Western blotting experiments confirmed lower amounts of phospho-Akt after siRNA-mediated downregulation of PIK3R1 in PC3 cells. Our results further support the tumour suppressing role of miR-221 in PCa, since it sensitises PCa cells towards TRAIL by regulating the expression of the oncogenes SOCS3 and PIK3R1. Given the TRAIL-inhibiting effect of miR-221 in various cancer entities, our results suggest that the influence of miR-221 on TRAIL-mediated apoptosis is highly context- and entity-dependent. KW - Cancer Cell Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202480 VL - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Molinas-González, Carlos R. A1 - Castro, Jorge A1 - González-Megías, Adela A1 - Leverkus, Alexandro B. T1 - Effects of post-fire deadwood management on soil macroarthropod communities JF - Forests N2 - Dead wood comprises a vast amount of biological legacies that set the scene for ecological regeneration after wildfires, yet its removal is the most frequent management strategy worldwide. Soil-dwelling organisms are conspicuous, and they provide essential ecosystem functions, but their possible affection by different post-fire management strategies has so far been neglected. We analyzed the abundance, richness, and composition of belowground macroarthropod communities under two contrasting dead-wood management regimes after a large wildfire in the Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park (Southeast Spain). Two plots at different elevation were established, each containing three replicates of two experimental treatments: partial cut, where trees were cut and their branches lopped off and left over the ground, and salvage logging, where all the trees were cut, logs were piled, branches were mechanically masticated, and slash was spread on the ground. Ten years after the application of the treatments, soil cores were extracted from two types of microhabitat created by these treatments: bare-soil (in both treatments) and under-logs (in the partial cut treatment only). Soil macroarthropod assemblages were dominated by Hemiptera and Hymenoptera (mostly ants) and were more abundant and richer in the lowest plot. The differences between dead-wood treatments were most evident at the scale of management interventions: abundance and richness were lowest after salvage logging, even under similar microhabitats (bare-soil). However, there were no significant differences between microhabitat types on abundance and richness within the partial cut treatment. Higher abundance and richness in the partial cut treatment likely resulted from higher resource availability and higher plant diversity after natural regeneration. Our results suggest that belowground macroarthropod communities are sensitive to the manipulation of dead-wood legacies and that management through salvage logging could reduce soil macroarthropod recuperation compared to other treatments with less intense management even a decade after application. KW - forest fire KW - burnt-wood KW - species richness KW - soil fauna KW - post-fire management Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193079 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Latifi, Hooman A1 - Valbuena, Ruben T1 - Current trends in forest ecological applications of three-dimensional remote sensing: Transition from experimental to operational solutions? JF - Forests N2 - The alarming increase in the magnitude and spatiotemporal patterns of changes in composition, structure and function of forest ecosystems during recent years calls for enhanced cross-border mitigation and adaption measures, which strongly entail intensified research to understand the underlying processes in the ecosystems as well as their dynamics. Remote sensing data and methods are nowadays the main complementary sources of synoptic, up-to-date and objective information to support field observations in forest ecology. In particular, analysis of three-dimensional (3D) remote sensing data is regarded as an appropriate complement, since they are hypothesized to resemble the 3D character of most forest attributes. Following their use in various small-scale forest structural analyses over the past two decades, these sources of data are now on their way to be integrated in novel applications in fields like citizen science, environmental impact assessment, forest fire analysis, and biodiversity assessment in remote areas. These and a number of other novel applications provide valuable material for the Forests special issue “3D Remote Sensing Applications in Forest Ecology: Composition, Structure and Function”, which shows the promising future of these technologies and improves our understanding of the potentials and challenges of 3D remote sensing in practical forest ecology worldwide. KW - 3D remote sensing KW - composition KW - forest ecology KW - function KW - structure Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193282 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 10 ER - TY - THES A1 - Derakhshani, Shaghayegh T1 - Measles virus infection enhances dendritic cell migration in a 3D environment T1 - Die Masernvirusinfektion verstärkt die Migration dendritischer Zellen in einer 3D-Umgebung N2 - The respiratory system is amongst the most important compartments in the human body. Due to its connection to the external environment, it is one of the most common portals of pathogen entry. Airborne pathogens like measles virus (MV) carried in liquid droplets exhaled from the infected individuals via a cough or sneeze enter the body from the upper respiratory tract and travel down to the lower respiratory tract and reach the alveoli. There, pathogens are captured by the resident dendritic cells (DCs) or macrophages and brought to the lymph node where immune responses or, as in case of MV, dissemination via the hematopoietic cell compartment are initiated. Basic mechanisms governing MV exit from the respiratory tract, especially virus transmission from infected immune cells to the epithelial cells have not been fully addressed before. Considering the importance of these factors in the viral spread, a complex close-to-in-vivo 3D human respiratory tract model was generated. This model was established using de-cellularized porcine intestine tissue as a biological scaffold and H358 cells as targets for infection. The scaffold was embedded with fibroblast cells, and later on, an endothelial cell layer seeded at the basolateral side. This provided an environment resembling the respiratory tract where MV infected DCs had to transmigrate through the collagen scaffold and transmit the virus to epithelial cells in a Nectin-4 dependent manner. For viral transmission, the access of infected DCs to the recipient epithelial cells is an essential prerequisite and therefore, this important factor which is reflected by cell migration was analyzed in this 3D system. The enhanced motility of specifically MV-infected DCs in the 3D models was observed, which occurred independently of factors released from the other cell types in the models. Enhanced motility of infected DCs in 3D collagen matrices suggested infection-induced cytoskeletal remodeling, as also verified by detection of cytoskeletal polarization, uropod formation. This enforced migration was sensitive to ROCK inhibition revealing that MV infection induces an amoeboid migration mode in DCs. In support of this, the formation of podosome structures and filopodia, as well as their activity, were reduced in infected DCs and retained in their uninfected siblings. Differential migration modes of uninfected and infected DCs did not cause differential maturation, which was found to be identical for both populations. As an underlying mechanism driving this enforced migration, the role of sphingosine kinase (SphK) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) was studied in MV-exposed cultures. It was shown in this thesis that MV-infection increased S1P production, and this was identified as a contributing factor as inhibition sphingosine kinase activity abolished enforced migration of MV-infected DCs. These findings revealed that MV infection induces a fast push-and-squeeze amoeboid mode of migration, which is supported by SphK/S1P axis. However, this push-and-squeeze amoeboid migration mode did not prevent the transendothelial migration of MV-infected DCs. Altogether, this 3D system has been proven to be a suitable model to study specific parameters of mechanisms involved in infections in an in vivo-like conditions. N2 - Die respiratorische System ist ein wesentlicher physiologischer Bestandteil. Durch die direkte und konstante Verbindung der Atemwege mit der äußeren Umgebung sind sie einer der häufigsten Pfade für den Eintritt von Krankheitserregern in den Körper. Luftübertragene Krankheitserreger wie das Masern-Virus (MV), das in Flüssigkeitströpfchen mitgeführt und von Patienten durch Husten oder Niesen ausgeatmet wird, können über die oberen Atemwege in den Körper gelangen und sich bis in die unteren Atemwege und bis zu den Alveolen ausbreiten. Dort werden diese Krankheitserreger von den dort residenten dendritischen Zellen (DC) oder Makrophagen erworben und zu sekundären lymphatischen Organen transportiert, in denen sowohl virus-spezifische Immunantworten, aber auch – wie im Falle von MV – die hämatogene Dissemination initiiert wird. Der Austrittsmechanismus des MV aus den Atemwegen, insbesondere dessen Übertragung von infizierten Immunzellen auf die Epithelzellen und die Faktoren, die diesen Ablauf bestimmen, wurden jedoch bisher unzureichend untersucht. In Anbetracht der Bedeutung dieser Faktoren für die Virusausbreitung wurde ein komplexes, realitätsnahes in-vivo 3D-Modell der menschlichen Atemwege erstellt. Dieses Modell wurde unter Verwendung von de-zellularisiertem Schweinedarmgewebe als biologischem Gerüst und H358 Epithelzellen als Empfänger etabliert. Dieses Grundgerüst wurde mit Fibroblastenzellen eingebettet. Später wurde auf der basolateralen Seite der Modelle eine Endothelzellschicht eingebracht, um eine Umgebung zu schaffen, die der der Atemwege ähnelt. Somit mussten die Virus-Donoren, MV-infizierte DC durch das Kollagengerüst wandern und das Virus auf Epithelzellen in einer Nektin-4 abhängigen Weise übertragen. Für die Virusübertragung ist der Zugang infizierter DC zu den Empfänger-Epithelzellen eine wesentliche Voraussetzung, weshalb dieser wichtige Faktor, der sich in der Zellmigration widerspiegelt, in diesem 3D-System analysiert wurde. Eine erhöhte Beweglichkeit spezifisch MV-infizierter DCs wurde in den 3D-Modellen beobachtet. Dies erwies sich als unabhängig von löslichen Faktoren der anderen Zelltypen in den Modellen. Erhöhte Beweglichkeit infizierten DCs wurde auch in 3D-Kollagenmatrizes gesehen, was auf einen infektionsvermittelten zytoskelettalen Umbau hindeutete, der auch anhand von Zytoskelettpolarisation und Uropodbildung bestätigt wurde. Die MV-Infektion induzierte einen schnellen amöboiden Migrationsmodus in den DCs, der sich als sensitiv gegenüber ROCK-Hemmung erwies. Im Gegensatz zu uninfizierten DCs gleichen Reifungsstadiums waren in infizierten DCs Podosomenstrukturen und Filopodien sowie deren Aktivität stark reduziert. Als potentiell zur verstärkten Motilität infizierter DCs beitragender Faktor wurde die Rolle der Sphingosinkinase (SphK) und des Sphingosin-1-phosphats (S1P) in MV-exponierten Kulturen untersucht. In dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass die S1P-Produktion durch eine MV-Infektion erhöht wurde, und in der Tat zur für infizierte DCs beobachteten erhöhten Geschwindigkeit beitrug, da diese sensitiv gegenüber Hemmung der Sphingosinkinase-Aktivität war. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die MV-Infektion einen schnellen amöboid-artigen Migrationsmodus induziert, der von der SphK/S1P-Achse unterstützt wird. Dieser Push-and-Squeeze-Amoeboid-Migrationsmodus verhinderte jedoch nicht die transendotheliale Migration von MV-infizierten DCs. Insgesamt hat sich dieses 3D-System als geeignetes Modell erwiesen, um die spezifische Parameter von Mechanismen von Infektionen in einem in-vivo-ähnlichen Zustand zu untersuchen. KW - Dendritische Zelle KW - Zell Migration KW - Masern-Virus KW - 3D-Modell KW - Sphingosine-1-phosphats KW - Dendritic cell KW - Cell migration KW - Measles virus KW - 3D tissue model KW - Tissue engineering KW - Sphingosine-1-phosphate Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189182 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hovestadt, Thomas A1 - Thomas, Jeremy A. A1 - Mitesser, Oliver A1 - Schönrogge, Karsten T1 - Multiple host use and the dynamics of host-switching in host-parasite systems JF - Insect Conservation and Diversity N2 - The link between multi‐host use and host switching in host–parasite interactions is a continuing area of debate. Lycaenid butterflies in the genus Maculinea, for example, exploit societies of different Myrmica ant species across their ranges, but there is only rare evidence that they simultaneously utilise multiple hosts at a local site, even where alternative hosts are present. We present a simple population‐genetic model accounting for the proportion of two alternative hosts and the fitness of parasite genotypes on each host. In agreement with standard models, we conclude that simultaneous host use is possible whenever fitness of heterozygotes on alternative hosts is not too low. We specifically focus on host‐shifting dynamics when the frequency of hosts changes. We find that (i) host shifting may proceed so rapidly that multiple host use is unlikely to be observed, (ii) back and forth transition in host use can exhibit a hysteresis loop, (iii) the parasites' host use may not be proportional to local host frequencies and be restricted to the rarer host under some conditions, and (iv) that a substantial decline in parasite abundance may typically precede a shift in host use. We conclude that focusing not just on possible equilibrium conditions but also considering the dynamics of host shifting in non‐equilibrium situations may provide added insights into host–parasite systems. KW - Host-parasite interaction KW - Maculinea butterfly KW - Myrmica ant non-equilibrium dynamics KW - population genetics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204747 VL - 12 IS - 6 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wilde, Sabrina T1 - Einsatz von mechanistischen Biomarkern zur Charakterisierung und Bewertung von \(in\) \(vitro\) Genotoxinen T1 - Use of mechanistic biomarkers for the characterization and evaluation of \(in\) \(vitro\) genotoxins N2 - Die verfügbaren in vitro Genotoxizitätstests weisen hinsichtlich ihrer Spezifität und ihres Informationsgehalts zum vorliegenden Wirkmechanismus (Mode of Action, MoA) Einschränkungen auf. Um diese Mängel zu überwinden, wurden in dieser Arbeit zwei Ziele verfolgt, die zu der Entwicklung und Etablierung neuer in vitro Methoden zur Prüfung auf Genotoxizität in der Arzneimittelentwicklung beitragen. 1. Etablierung und Bewertung einer neuen in vitro Genotoxizitätsmethode (MultiFlow Methode) Die MultiFlow Methode basiert auf DNA-schadensassoziierten Proteinantworten von γH2AX (DNA-Doppelstrangbrüche), phosphorylierten H3 (S10) (mitotische Zellen), nukleären Protein p53 (Genotoxizität) und cleaved PARP1 (Apoptose) in TK6-Zellen. Insgesamt wurden 31 Modellsubstanzen mit dem MultiFlow Assay und ergänzend mit dem etablierten Mikrokerntest (MicroFlow MNT), auf ihre Fähigkeit verschiedene MoA-Gruppen (Aneugene/Klastogene/Nicht-Genotoxine) zu differenzieren, untersucht. Die Performance der „neuen“ gegenüber der „alten“ Methode führte zu einer verbesserten Sensitivität von 95% gegenüber 90%, Spezifität von 90% gegenüber 72% und einer MoA-Klassifizierungsrate von 85% gegenüber 45% (Aneugen vs. Klastogen). 2. Identifizierung mechanistischer Biomarker zur Klassifizierung genotoxischer Substanzen Die Analyse 67 ausgewählter DNA-schadensassoziierter Gene in der QuantiGene Plex Methode zeigte, dass mehrere Gene gleichzeitig zur MoA-Klassifizierung beitragen können. Die Kombination der höchstrangierten Marker BIK, KIF20A, TP53I3, DDB2 und OGG1 ermöglichte die beste Identifizierungsrate der Modellsubstanzen. Das synergetische Modell kategorisierte 16 von 16 Substanzen korrekt in Aneugene, Klastogene und Nicht-Genotoxine. Unter Verwendung der Leave-One-Out-Kreuzvalidierung wurde das Modell evaluiert und erreichte eine Sensitivität, Spezifität und Prädiktivität von 86%, 83% und 85%. Ergebnisse der traditionellen qPCR Methode zeigten, dass Genotoxizität mit TP53I3, Klastogenität mit ATR und RAD17 und oxidativer Stress mit NFE2L2 detektiert werden kann. Durch die Untersuchungen von posttranslationalen Modifikationen unter Verwendung der High-Content-Imaging-Technologie wurden mechanistische Assoziationen für BubR1 (S670) und pH3 (S28) mit Aneugenität, 53BP1 (S1778) und FANCD2 (S1404) mit Klastogenität, p53 (K373) mit Genotoxizität und Nrf2 (S40) mit oxidativem Stress identifiziert. Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass (Geno)toxine unterschiedliche Gen- und Proteinveränderungen in TK6-Zellen induzieren, die zur Erfassung mechanistischer Aktivitäten und Einteilung (geno)toxischer MoA-Gruppen (Aneugen/Klastogen/ Reaktive Sauerstoffspezies) eingesetzt werden können und daher eine bessere Risikobewertung von Wirkstoffkandidaten ermöglichen. N2 - Available in vitro genotoxicity tests have limitations regarding their specificity and mode of action (MoA) information. To overcome these shortages, two objectives were pursued in this work to develop and establish new in vitro tools for genotoxicity testing. 1. Establishment and evaluation of a novel in vitro genotoxicity method (MultiFlow method) The MultiFlow method is based on DNA damage-related protein responses of γH2AX (DNA double-strand breaks), phosphorylated H3 (S10) (mitotic cells), nuclear protein p53 (genotoxicity) and cleaved PARP1 (apoptosis) in TK6 cells. In total, 31 model substances were studied flow cytometrically in the MultiFlow assay - and also with the well-established micronucleus test (MicroFlow MNT) - for their ability to classify across MoA groups: aneugens, clastogens and non-genotoxicants. The performance of the new method resulted in an improved sensitivity of 95% to 90%, specificity of 90% to 72% and a MoA classification rate of 85% to 45% (aneugen vs. clastogen). 2. Identification of mechanistic biomarkers for the characterization of genotoxicants The analysis of 67 selected DNA-damage associated genes using the QuantiGene Plex method showed that a combinaten of genes can contribute to MoA classification. The combination of the highest-ranked markers (BIK, KIF20A, TP53I3, DDB2 and OGG1) highlighted the best identification rate of model substances. The synergistic statistic tool correctly categorized 16 of 16 substances into aneugens, clastogens and non-genotoxicants. By using leave-one out cross validation, the model was evaluated and achieved a sensitivity, specificity and predictivity of 86%, 83%, 85% respectively. Follow-up with qPCR was conducted and revealed associations with TP53I3 for genotoxicity, ATR and RAD17 for clastogenicity and NFE2L2 for oxidative stress. By investigating posttranslational modifications using high-content imaging, associations for BubR1 (S670) and pH3 (S28) with aneugenicity, 53BP1 (S1778) and FANCD2 (S1404) with clastogenicity, p53 (K373) with genotoxicity and Nrf2 (S40) with oxidative stress were found to be further useful for MoA identification. This work demonstrates that genotoxicants and non-genotoxicants induce different gene- and protein expression changes in the TK6 cells that can be used to classify the MoA groups (aneugen/clastogen/non-genotoxicant/reactive oxygen species), thus enabling better risk assessment of potential drug candidates. KW - Genotoxizität KW - Genotoxicitiy KW - Klastogene KW - Aneugene KW - Biomarker KW - Klassifizierung KW - clastogens KW - aneugens KW - biomarker KW - classification Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-182782 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vey, Johannes A1 - Kapsner, Lorenz A. A1 - Fuchs, Maximilian A1 - Unberath, Philipp A1 - Veronesi, Giulia A1 - Kunz, Meik T1 - A toolbox for functional analysis and the systematic identification of diagnostic and prognostic gene expression signatures combining meta-analysis and machine learning JF - Cancers N2 - The identification of biomarker signatures is important for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However, the detection of clinical reliable signatures is influenced by limited data availability, which may restrict statistical power. Moreover, methods for integration of large sample cohorts and signature identification are limited. We present a step-by-step computational protocol for functional gene expression analysis and the identification of diagnostic and prognostic signatures by combining meta-analysis with machine learning and survival analysis. The novelty of the toolbox lies in its all-in-one functionality, generic design, and modularity. It is exemplified for lung cancer, including a comprehensive evaluation using different validation strategies. However, the protocol is not restricted to specific disease types and can therefore be used by a broad community. The accompanying R package vignette runs in ~1 h and describes the workflow in detail for use by researchers with limited bioinformatics training. KW - bioinformatics tool KW - R package KW - machine learning KW - meta-analysis KW - biomarker signature KW - gene expression analysis KW - survival analysis KW - functional analysis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193240 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hickl, Oskar A1 - Heintz-Buschart, Anna A1 - Trautwein-Schult, Anke A1 - Hercog, Rajna A1 - Bork, Peer A1 - Wilmes, Paul A1 - Becher, Dörte T1 - Sample preservation and storage significantly impact taxonomic and functional profiles in metaproteomics studies of the human gut microbiome JF - Microorganisms N2 - With the technological advances of the last decade, it is now feasible to analyze microbiome samples, such as human stool specimens, using multi-omic techniques. Given the inherent sample complexity, there exists a need for sample methods which preserve as much information as possible about the biological system at the time of sampling. Here, we analyzed human stool samples preserved and stored using different methods, applying metagenomics as well as metaproteomics. Our results demonstrate that sample preservation and storage have a significant effect on the taxonomic composition of identified proteins. The overall identification rates, as well as the proportion of proteins from Actinobacteria were much higher when samples were flash frozen. Preservation in RNAlater overall led to fewer protein identifications and a considerable increase in the share of Bacteroidetes, as well as Proteobacteria. Additionally, a decrease in the share of metabolism-related proteins and an increase of the relative amount of proteins involved in the processing of genetic information was observed for RNAlater-stored samples. This suggests that great care should be taken in choosing methods for the preservation and storage of microbiome samples, as well as in comparing the results of analyses using different sampling and storage methods. Flash freezing and subsequent storage at −80 °C should be chosen wherever possible. KW - proteomics KW - metaproteomics KW - metagenomics KW - microbiome KW - microbiota KW - flash freezing KW - RNAlater KW - sample storage Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195976 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 7 IS - 9 ER - TY - THES A1 - Beck, Sebastian T1 - Using optogenetics to influence the circadian clock of \(Drosophila\) \(melanogaster\) T1 - Die Verwendung der Optogenetik zur Beeinflussung der circadianen Uhr von \(Drosophila\) \(melanogaster\) N2 - Almost all life forms on earth have adapted to the most impactful and most predictable recurring change in environmental condition, the cycle of day and night, caused by the axial rotation of the planet. As a result many animals have evolved intricate endogenous clocks, which adapt and synchronize the organisms’ physiology, metabolism and behaviour to the daily change in environmental conditions. The scientific field researching these endogenous clocks is called chronobiology and has steadily grown in size, scope and relevance since the works of the earliest pioneers in the 1960s. The number one model organism for the research of circadian clocks is the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, whose clock serves as the entry point to understanding the basic inner workings of such an intricately constructed endogenous timekeeping system. In this thesis it was attempted to combine the research on the circadian clock with the techniques of optogenetics, a fairly new scientific field, launched by the discovery of Channelrhodopsin 2 just over 15 years ago. Channelrhodopsin 2 is a light-gated ion channel found in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In optogenetics, researches use these light-gated ion channels like Channelrhodopsin 2 by heterologously expressing them in cells and tissues of other organisms, which can then be stimulated by the application of light. This is most useful when studying neurons, as these channels provide an almost non-invasive tool to depolarize the neuronal plasma membranes at will. The goal of this thesis was to develop an optogenetic tool, which would be able to influence and phase shift the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster upon illumination. A phase shift is the adaptive response of the circadian clock to an outside stimulus that signals a change in the environmental light cycle. An optogenetic tool, able to influence and phase shift the circadian clock predictably and reliably, would open up many new ways and methods of researching the neuronal network of the clock and which neurons communicate to what extent, ultimately synchronizing the network. The first optogenetic tool to be tested in the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster was ChR2-XXL, a channelrhodopsin variant with dramatically increased expression levels and photocurrents combined with a prolonged open state. The specific expression of ChR2-XXL and of later constructs was facilitated by deploying the three different clock-specific GAL4-driver lines, clk856-gal4, pdf-gal4 and mai179-gal4. Although ChR2-XXL was shown to be highly effective at depolarizing neurons, these stimulations proved to be unable to significantly phase shift the circadian clock of Drosophila. The second series of experiments was conducted with the conceptually novel optogenetic tools Olf-bPAC and SthK-bPAC, which respectively combine a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel (Olf and SthK) with the light-activated adenylyl-cyclase bPAC. These tools proved to be quite useful when expressed in the motor neurons of instar-3 larvae of Drosophila, paralyzing the larvae upon illumination, as well as affecting body length. This way, these new tools could be precisely characterized, spawning a successfully published research paper, centered around their electrophysiological characterization and their applicability in model organisms like Drosophila. In the circadian clock however, these tools caused substantial damage, producing severe arrhythmicity and anomalies in neuronal development. Using a temperature-sensitive GAL80-line to delay the expression until after the flies had eclosed, yielded no positive results either. The last series of experiments saw the use of another new series of optogenetic tools, modelled after the Olf-bPAC, with bPAC swapped out for CyclOp, a membrane-bound guanylyl-cyclase, coupled with less potent versions of the Olf. This final attempt however also ended up being unsuccessful. While these tools could efficiently depolarize neuronal membranes upon illumination, they were ultimately unable to stimulate the circadian clock in way that would cause it to phase shift. Taken together, these mostly negative results indicate that an optogenetic manipulation of the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster is an extremely challenging subject. As light already constitutes the most impactful environmental factor on the circadian clock, the combination of chronobiology with optogenetics demands the parameters of the conducted experiments to be tuned with an extremely high degree of precision, if one hopes to receive positive results from these types of experiments at all. N2 - Nahezu alle Lebewesen der Erde haben sich an den Tag-Nacht-Zyklus angepasst, die einflussreichste und verlässlichste wiederkehrende Veränderung der Umwelt-bedingungen, verursacht durch die axiale Rotation des Planeten. Daraus resultierend haben viele Tiere komplizierte innere Uhren entwickelt, welche ihre Physiologie, ihren Stoffwechsel und ihr Verhalten an die tägliche Veränderung der natürlichen Bedingungen anpassen. Das Wissenschaftsfeld, das sich der Erforschung dieser inneren Uhren widmet, wird Chronobiologie genannt und hat seit der Arbeit der ersten Pioniere ab 1960 stetig an Größe und Relevanz gewonnen. Der prominenteste Modellorganismus für die Erforschung der circadianen Uhr ist Drosophila melanogaster, deren Uhr als Ansatzpunkt dient, die grundlegenden Vorgänge eines derart komplexen, endogenen Taktsystems zu verstehen. In dieser Thesis wurde versucht die Forschung an der circadianen Uhr mit den Techniken der Optogenetik zu kombinieren, eines jungen Forschungsfeldes, welches durch die Entdeckung von Channelrhodpsin 2 vor über 15 Jahren eröffnet wurde. Channelrhodopsin 2 ist ein Licht-gesteuerter Ionenkanal, der in der Grünalge Chlamydomonas reinhardtii entdeckt wurde. In der Optogenetik nutzen Forscher diese Licht-gesteuerten Ionenkanäle, indem sie sie in den Zellen anderer Organismen exprimieren, welche dann durch Licht stimuliert werden können. Dies ist besonders nützlich bei der Untersuchung von Neuronen, da diese Kanäle ein nahezu nicht-invasives Werkzeug zur Depolarisation neuronaler Membranen bieten. Das Ziel dieser Thesis war es, ein optogenetisches Werkzeug zu entwickeln, welches die circadiane Uhr von Drosophila melanogaster durch Licht manipulieren und deren Phase verschieben kann. Eine Phasenverschiebung ist die adaptive Antwort der circadianen Uhr auf einen äußeren Reiz, welcher eine Veränderung des natürlichen Lichtzyklus signalisiert. Ein optogenetisches Werkzeug, das die Phase der inneren Uhr verlässlich verschieben kann, würde viele neue Möglichkeiten zur Erforschung des neuronalen Uhrnetzwerks eröffnen und wie die Neuronen miteinander kommunizieren um das Netzwerk zu synchronisieren. Das erste optogenetische Werkzeug das in der circadianen Uhr von Drosophila melanogaster getestet wurde war „ChR2-XXL“, eine Channelrhodopsin-Variante mit erhöhter Expression und Photoströmen, gepaart mit einem verlängerten geöffneten Zustand. Die spezifische Expression von ChR2-XXL und auch die späterer Konstrukte wurde durch die Verwendung der drei Uhr-spezifischen GAL4-Treiberlinien clk856-gal4, pdf-gal4 und mai179-gal4 bewerkstelligt. Obwohl bereits gezeigt wurde, dass ChR2-XXL höchst effektiv die Depolarisierung von Neuronen bewirkt, waren diese Stimulationen jedoch nicht in der Lage die Phase der circadianen Uhr von Drosophila signifikant zu verschieben. Die zweite Serie an Versuchen wurde mit den konzeptionell neuartigen optogenetischen Werkzeugen Olf-bPAC und SthK-bPAC durchgeführt, welche jeweils einen durch zyklische Nukleotide gesteuerten Ionenkanal (Olf und SthK) mit der Licht-gesteuerten Adenylatcyclase bPAC kombinieren. Diese Werkzeuge erwiesen sich als äußert nützlich, solange sie in den Motoneuronen von Drosophila-Larven im dritten Larvenstadium exprimiert wurden, wo sie bei Beleuchtung die Larven sowohl paralysierten, als auch deren Körperlänge beeinflussten. Auf diese Weise konnten diese neuen Werkzeuge präzise charakterisiert werden, was in der erfolgreichen Veröffentlichung eines Forschungsartikels mündete, welcher hauptsächlich von der elektrophysiologischen Charakterisierung der Werkzeuge handelte und von deren Anwendungsmöglichkeiten in Modellorganismen wie Drosophila. In der circadianen Uhr verursachten diese Werkzeuge jedoch substantielle Schäden und produzierten schwere Arrhythmie und Anomalien in der neuronalen Entwicklung. Die Verwendung einer temperatur-sensitiven GAL80-Linie um die Expression zu verzögern, erzeugte ebenfalls keinerlei positive Ergebnisse. Für die letzte Serie an Experimenten wurde eine weitere Reihe neuer optogenetischer Werkzeuge verwendet, orientiert an Olf-bPAC und SthK-bPAC, wobei bPAC durch die membrangebundene Guanylatcyclase „CyclOp“ ausgetauscht wurde, welche wiederrum mit weniger wirkstarken Olf-Varianten kombiniert wurde. Dieser letzte Ansatz scheiterte jedoch ebenfalls. Obwohl diese neuen Werkzeuge in der Lage waren die Neuronenmembran bei Beleuchtung effektiv zu depolarisieren, vermochten sie es letztendlich nicht eine Phasenverschiebung zu bewirken. Zusammengenommen zeigen diese überwiegend negativen Ergebnisse, dass die optogenetische Manipulation der circadianen Uhr von Drosophila melanogaster ein extrem anspruchsvolles Thema ist. Da Licht bereits ohnehin den einflussreichsten Umweltfaktor für die circadiane Uhr darstellt, verlangt die Kombination von Chronobiologie und Optogenetik eine extrem präzise Feinabstimmung der Versuchsparameter, um überhaupt darauf hoffen zu dürfen, positive Ergebnisse mit derlei Versuchen zu erzeugen. KW - Chronobiologie KW - Optogenetik KW - Taufliege KW - Optogenetics KW - Chronobiology KW - Channelrhodopsin KW - Drosophila melanogaster Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-184952 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pütz, Stephanie M. T1 - Mbt/PAK4 together with SRC modulates N-Cadherin adherens junctions in the developing Drosophila eye JF - Biology Open N2 - Tissue morphogenesis is accompanied by changes of adherens junctions (AJ). During Drosophila eye development, AJ reorganization includes the formation of isolated N-Cadherin AJ between photoreceptors R3/R4. Little is known about how these N-Cadherin AJ are established and maintained. This study focuses on the kinases Mbt/PAK4 and SRC, both known to alter E-Cadherin AJ across phyla. Drosophila p21-activated kinase Mbt and the non-receptor tyrosine kinases Src64 and Src42 regulate proper N-Cadherin AJ. N-Cadherin AJ elongation depends on SRC kinase activity. Cell culture experiments demonstrate binding of both Drosophila SRC isoforms to N-Cadherin and its subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation. In contrast, Mbt stabilizes but does not bind N-Cadherin in vitro. Mbt is required in R3/R4 for zipping the N-Cadherin AJ between these cells, independent of its kinase activity and Cdc42-binding. The mbt phenotype can be reverted by mutations in Src64 and Src42. Because Mbt neither directly binds to SRC proteins nor has a reproducible influence on their kinase activity, the conclusion is that Mbt and SRC signaling converge on N-Cadherin. N-Cadherin AJ formation during eye development requires a proper balance between the promoting effects of Mbt and the inhibiting influences of SRC kinases. KW - Drosophila KW - Eye development KW - p21-activated kinase Mbt/PAK4 KW - Adherens junction Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200898 VL - 8 ER - TY - THES A1 - Breitenbach, Tim T1 - A mathematical optimal control based approach to pharmacological modulation with regulatory networks and external stimuli T1 - Ein auf mathematischer Optimalkontrolle basierender Ansatz für pharmakologische Modulation mit regulatorischen Netzwerken und externen Stimuli N2 - In this work models for molecular networks consisting of ordinary differential equations are extended by terms that include the interaction of the corresponding molecular network with the environment that the molecular network is embedded in. These terms model the effects of the external stimuli on the molecular network. The usability of this extension is demonstrated with a model of a circadian clock that is extended with certain terms and reproduces data from several experiments at the same time. Once the model including external stimuli is set up, a framework is developed in order to calculate external stimuli that have a predefined desired effect on the molecular network. For this purpose the task of finding appropriate external stimuli is formulated as a mathematical optimal control problem for which in order to solve it a lot of mathematical methods are available. Several methods are discussed and worked out in order to calculate a solution for the corresponding optimal control problem. The application of the framework to find pharmacological intervention points or effective drug combinations is pointed out and discussed. Furthermore the framework is related to existing network analysis tools and their combination for network analysis in order to find dedicated external stimuli is discussed. The total framework is verified with biological examples by comparing the calculated results with data from literature. For this purpose platelet aggregation is investigated based on a corresponding gene regulatory network and associated receptors are detected. Furthermore a transition from one to another type of T-helper cell is analyzed in a tumor setting where missing agents are calculated to induce the corresponding switch in vitro. Next a gene regulatory network of a myocardiocyte is investigated where it is shown how the presented framework can be used to compare different treatment strategies with respect to their beneficial effects and side effects quantitatively. Moreover a constitutively activated signaling pathway, which thus causes maleficent effects, is modeled and intervention points with corresponding treatment strategies are determined that steer the gene regulatory network from a pathological expression pattern to physiological one again. N2 - In dieser Arbeit werden Modelle für molekulare Netzwerke bestehend aus gewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen durch Terme erweitert, die die Wechselwirkung zwischen dem entsprechenden molekularen Netzwerk und der Umgebung berücksichtigen, in die das molekulare Netzwerk eingebettet ist. Diese Terme modellieren die Effekte von externen Stimuli auf das molekulare Netzwerk. Die Nutzbarkeit dieser Erweiterung wird mit einem Modell der circadianen Uhr demonstriert, das mit gewissen Termen erweitert wird und Daten von mehreren verschiedenen Experimenten zugleich reproduziert. Sobald das Modell einschließlich der externen Stimuli aufgestellt ist, wird eine Grundstruktur entwickelt um externe Stimuli zu berechnen, die einen gewünschten vordefinierte Effekt auf das molekulare Netzwerk haben. Zu diesem Zweck wird die Aufgabe, geeignete externe Stimuli zu finden, als ein mathematisches optimales Steuerungsproblem formuliert, für welches, um es zu lösen, viele mathematische Methoden zur Verfügung stehen. Verschiedene Methoden werden diskutiert und ausgearbeitet um eine Lösung für das entsprechende optimale Steuerungsproblem zu berechnen. Auf die Anwendung dieser Grundstruktur pharmakologische Interventionspunkte oder effektive Wirkstoffkombinationen zu finden, wird hingewiesen und diese diskutiert. Weiterhin wird diese Grundstruktur in Bezug zu existierenden Netzwerkanalysewerkzeugen gesetzt und ihre Kombination für die Netzwerkanalyse diskutiert um zweckbestimmte externe Stimuli zu finden. Die gesamte Grundstruktur wird mit biologischen Beispielen verifiziert, indem man die berechneten Ergebnisse mit Daten aus der Literatur vergleicht. Zu diesem Zweck wird die Blutplättchenaggregation untersucht basierend auf einem entsprechenden genregulatorischen Netzwerk und damit assoziierte Rezeptoren werden detektiert. Weiterhin wird ein Wechsel von einem T-Helfer Zelltyp in einen anderen in einer Tumorumgebung analysiert, wobei fehlende Agenzien berechnet werden um den entsprechenden Wechsel in vitro zu induzieren. Als nächstes wird ein genregulatorisches Netzwerk eines Myokardiozyten untersucht, wobei gezeigt wird wie die präsentierte Grundstruktur genutzt werden kann um verschiedene Behandlungsstrategien in Bezug auf ihre nutzbringenden Wirkungen und Nebenwirkungen quantitativ zu vergleichen. Darüber hinaus wird ein konstitutiv aktivierter Signalweg, der deshalb unerwünschte Effekte verursacht, modelliert und Interventionspunkte mit entsprechenden Behandlungsstrategien werden bestimmt, die das genregulatorische Netzwerk wieder von einem pathologischen Expressionsmuster zu einem physiologischen steuern. KW - Bioinformatik KW - systematic drug targeting KW - optimal drug combination KW - disease modelling KW - external stimuli KW - intervention point analyzing KW - Molekülsystem KW - Reiz Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-174368 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matos, Isa A1 - Machado, Miguel P. A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Coelho, Maria Manuela T1 - Allele-specific expression variation at different ploidy levels in Squalius alburnoides JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Allopolyploid plants are long known to be subject to a homoeolog expression bias of varying degree. The same phenomenon was only much later suspected to occur also in animals based on studies of single selected genes in an allopolyploid vertebrate, the Iberian fish Squalius alburnoides. Consequently, this species became a good model for understanding the evolution of gene expression regulation in polyploid vertebrates. Here, we analyzed for the first time genome-wide allele-specific expression data from diploid and triploid hybrids of S. alburnoides and compared homoeolog expression profiles of adult livers and of juveniles. Co-expression of alleles from both parental genomic types was observed for the majority of genes, but with marked homoeolog expression bias, suggesting homoeolog specific reshaping of expression level patterns in hybrids. Complete silencing of one allele was also observed irrespective of ploidy level, but not transcriptome wide as previously speculated. Instead, it was found only in a restricted number of genes, particularly ones with functions related to mitochondria and ribosomes. This leads us to hypothesize that allelic silencing may be a way to overcome intergenomic gene expression interaction conflicts, and that homoeolog expression bias may be an important mechanism in the achievement of sustainable genomic interactions, mandatory to the success of allopolyploid systems, as in S. alburnoides. KW - Gene expression analysis KW - Transcription KW - Transcriptomic Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200910 VL - 9 ER - TY - THES A1 - Jannasch, Maren Annika T1 - In vitro Fremdkörpermodellsysteme zur Vorhersage von biomaterialinduzierten Immunreaktionen T1 - In vitro foreign body model systems for prediction of immune reactions to biomaterials N2 - Die Implantation eines Medizinprodukts in den menschlichen Körper ruft eine Immunreaktion hervor, die zur fibrösen Einkapselung führen kann. Makrophagen in direktem Kontakt mit der Oberfläche des Implantats erfassen sensorisch den Fremdkörper und übersetzten das Signal in die Freisetzung zahlreicher löslicher Mediatoren. Das generierte Entzündungsmilieu moduliert die Heilungsreaktion und kann zur Anreicherung von Fibroblasten sowie zur Erhöhung der Matrixsyntheserate in der Wundumgebung führen. Eine dichte fibröse Kapsel um ein Medizinprodukt beeinträchtigt den Ersatz von Körperstrukturen, das Unterstützen physiologischer Körperfunktionen sowie die Effizienz einer medizinischen Therapie. Zur Identifizierung potenzieller Biomaterialkandidaten mit optimalen Eigenschaften ist jedoch eine evidenzbasierte Entscheidungsfindung notwendig und diese wiederum muss durch geeignete Testmethoden unterstützt werden. Zur Erfassung lokaler Effekte nach Implantation eines Biomaterials begründet die Komplexi-tät der ablaufenden Fremdkörperreaktion die Anwendung von Tiermodellen als Goldstandard. Die Eingliederung von in vitro Modellsystemen in standardisierte Testverfahren scheitert oft an der Verfügbarkeit validierter, verlässlicher und reproduzierbarer Methoden. Demnach ist kein standardisiertes in vitro Testverfahren beschrieben, das die komplexen dreidimensionalen Gewebsstrukturen während einer Fremdkörperreaktion abbildet und sich zur Testung über längere Kontaktphasen zwischen Blutkomponenten und Biomaterialien eignet. Jedoch können in vitro Testungen kosten- und zeiteffizienter sein und durch die Anwendung humaner Zellen eine höhere Übertragbarkeit auf den Menschen aufweisen. Zusätzlich adressiert die Präferenz zu in vitro Testmethoden den Aspekt „Reduzierung“ der 3R-Prinzipien „Replacement, Reduction, Refinement“ (Ersatz, Reduzierung, Verbesserung) von Russel und Burch (1959) zu einer bewussten und begründeten Anwendung von Tiermodellen in der Wissenschaft. Ziel von diesem Forschungsvorhaben war die Entwicklung von humanen in vitro Modellsystemen, die den Kontakt zu Blutkomponenten sowie die Reaktion des umliegenden Bindegewebes bei lokaler Implantation eines Biomaterials abbilden. Referenzmaterialien, deren Gewebsantwort nach Implantation in Tiere oder den Menschen bekannt ist, dienten als Validierungskriterium für die entwickelten Modellsysteme. Die Anreicherung von Zellen sowie die Bildung extrazellulärer Matrix in der Wundumgebung stellen wichtige Teilprozesse während einer Fremdkörperreaktion dar. Für beide Teilprozesse konnte in einem indirekten zellbasierten Modellsystem der Einfluss einer zellvermittelten Konditionierung wie die Freisetzung von löslichen Mediatoren durch materialadhärente Makrophagen auf die gerichtete Wanderung von Fibroblasten sowie den Umbau eines dreidimensionalen Bindegewebsmodells aufgezeigt werden. Des Weiteren ließ sich das Freisetzungsprofil von Zytokinen durch materialständige Makrophagen unter verschiedenen Testbedingungen wie der Kontamination mit LPS, der Oberflächenbehandlung mit humanem Blutplasma und der Gegenwart von IL-4 bestimmen. Die anschließende vergleichende statistische Modellierung der generierten komplexen multifaktoriellen Datenmatrix ermöglichte die Übersetzung in eine Biomaterialbewertung. Dieses entwickelte Testverfahren eignete sich einerseits zur Validierung von in vitro Testbedingungen sowie andererseits zur Bewertung von Biomaterialien. Darüber hinaus konnte in einem dreidimensionalen Fremdkörpermodell die komplexe dreidimensionale Struktur der extrazellulären Matrix in einer Wunde durch die Kombination unterschiedlicher Zell- und Matrixkomponenten biomimetisch nachgebaut werden. Diese neuartigen dreidimensionalen Fremdkörpermodelle ermöglichten die Testung von Biomaterialien über längere Testphasen und können in anschließenden Studien angewandt werden, um dynamische Prozesse zu untersuchen. Zusammenfassend konnten in dieser Arbeit drei unterschiedliche Teststrategien entwickelt werden, die (I) die Bewertung von Teilprozessen ermöglichen, (II) die Identifizierung verlässlicher Testbedingungen unterstützen und (III) biomimetisch ein Wundgewebe abbilden. Wesentlich ist, dass biomimetisch ein dreidimensionales Gewebemodell entwickelt werden konnte, das eine verlässliche Unterscheidungskapazität zwischen Biomaterialien aufweist. N2 - The implantation of a medical product into the human body induces an immune reaction, which may lead to its fibrous encapsulation. Macrophages in direct contact to the surface sense the foreign body and translate the signal in the secretion of multiple soluble mediators. This generated inflammatory milieu modulates the healing reaction, may induce the accumulation of fibroblasts and lead in the wound microenvironment to an increased matrix synthesis rate. A dense fibrous capsule surrounding a medical product is able to impair the replacement of body structures, the support of physiological body functions as well as the efficiency of a medical therapy. To identify potential biomaterial candidates with optimal characteristics an evidence-based decision making process is necessary and furthermore affords the support by appropriate test procedures. To study local effects after implantation of biomaterials, the complexity of the foreign body reaction justifies the application of animal models as gold standard. The integration of in vitro test procedures into standardized test strategies often fails by the availability of validated, reliable and reproducible methods. According to that there is no standardized test procedure, which resembles the three-dimensional tissue structures during a foreign body reaction and is suited for longer contact phases in between blood components and biomaterials. In vitro tests are often more cost and time efficient and show as well by applying human cells a high transferability on human beings. Additionally the preference to in vitro test procedures addresses the “reduction” aspect of the Russel and Burch’s (1959) 3R-principles “replace-ment, reduction and refinement” to a conscious and reasoned use of animal models in science. Aim of this research project was the development of human in vitro model systems, which resemble the contact to blood components and the reaction of the surrounding soft tissue following implantation of a biomaterial. Reference materials, whose tissue integration after implantation in animals or humans is described, were applied for the developed model systems as validation criterion. The accumulation of cells and the synthesis of extracellular matrix in the surrounding wound are relevant sub processes during a foreign body reaction. In an indirect cell-based model system the influence of the cell-mediated conditioning initiated by the material-induced and macrophage-mediated liberation of soluble mediators was shown on both sub processes the aligned migration of fibroblasts as well as the remodeling of a three-dimensional tissue model. Additionally, the cytokine secretion profile by material-adherent macrophages was characterized under different test conditions such as the contamination with LPS, the surface treatment with human plasma and the presence of IL-4. The following comparative statistical modelling allowed a transformation of the generated complex multi-factorial data matrix to a biomaterial ranking. The here developed test procedure was suitable for the validation of in vitro test conditions as well as the evaluation of the reference biomaterials. Last, by the combination of different cells and matrix structures the complex three-dimensional structure of the extracellular matrix in a wound was biomimetically reconstructed. Those novel three-dimensional foreign body models enabled the testing of biomaterials over longer test phases and might be applied in following studies to investigate dynamic processes. Summarizing in this research project three different test strategies were developed, which (I) enable the evaluation of sub processes, (II) support the identification of reliable test conditions and (III) biomimetically reconstruct a wound tissue. Most important is, that a three-dimensional tissue model was biomimetically developed, which showed a reliable discriminatory capacity in between biomaterials. KW - Biomaterial KW - Zellkultur KW - In vitro KW - Fremdkörpermodell KW - Gewebemodell Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-162893 ER - TY - THES A1 - Yu, Sung-Huan T1 - Development and application of computational tools for RNA-Seq based transcriptome annotations T1 - Entwicklung und Anwendung bioinformatischer Werkzeuge für RNA-Seq-basierte Transkriptom-Annotationen N2 - In order to understand the regulation of gene expression in organisms, precise genome annotation is essential. In recent years, RNA-Seq has become a potent method for generating and improving genome annotations. However, this Approach is time consuming and often inconsistently performed when done manually. In particular, the discovery of non-coding RNAs benefits strongly from the application of RNA-Seq data but requires significant amounts of expert knowledge and is labor-intensive. As a part of my doctoral study, I developed a modular tool called ANNOgesic that can detect numerous transcribed genomic features, including non-coding RNAs, based on RNA-Seq data in a precise and automatic fashion with a focus on bacterial and achaeal species. The software performs numerous analyses and generates several visualizations. It can generate annotations of high-Resolution that are hard to produce using traditional annotation tools that are based only on genome sequences. ANNOgesic can detect numerous novel genomic Features like UTR-derived small non-coding RNAs for which no other tool has been developed before. ANNOgesic is available under an open source license (ISCL) at https://github.com/Sung-Huan/ANNOgesic. My doctoral work not only includes the development of ANNOgesic but also its application to annotate the transcriptome of Staphylococcus aureus HG003 - a strain which has been a insightful model in infection biology. Despite its potential as a model, a complete genome sequence and annotations have been lacking for HG003. In order to fill this gap, the annotations of this strain, including sRNAs and their functions, were generated using ANNOgesic by analyzing differential RNA-Seq data from 14 different samples (two media conditions with seven time points), as well as RNA-Seq data generated after transcript fragmentation. ANNOgesic was also applied to annotate several bacterial and archaeal genomes, and as part of this its high performance was demonstrated. In summary, ANNOgesic is a powerful computational tool for RNA-Seq based annotations and has been successfully applied to several species. N2 - Exakte Genomannotationen sind essentiell für das Verständnis Genexpressionsregulation in verschiedenen Organismen. In den letzten Jahren entwickelte sich RNA-Seq zu einer äußerst wirksamen Methode, um solche Genomannotationen zu erstellen und zu verbessern. Allerdings ist das Erstellen von Genomannotationen bei manueller Durchführung noch immer ein zeitaufwändiger und inkonsistenter Prozess. Die Verwendung von RNA-Seq-Daten begünstigt besonders die Identifizierung von nichtkodierenden RNAs, was allerdings arbeitsintensiv ist und fundiertes Expertenwissen erfordert. Ein Teil meiner Promotion bestand aus der Entwicklung eines modularen Tools namens ANNOgesic, das basierend auf RNA-Seq-Daten in der Lage ist, eine Vielzahl von Genombestandteilen, einschließlich nicht-kodierender RNAs, automatisch und präzise zu ermitteln. Das Hauptaugenmerk lag dabei auf der Anwendbarkeit für bakterielle und archaeale Genome. Die Software führt eine Vielzahl von Analysen durch und stellt die verschiedenen Ergebnisse grafisch dar. Sie generiert hochpräzise Annotationen, die nicht unter Verwendung herkömmlicher Annotations-Tools auf Basis von Genomsequenzen erzeugt werden könnten. Es kann eine Vielzahl neuer Genombestandteile, wie kleine nicht-kodierende RNAs in UTRs, ermitteln, welche von bisherigen Programme nicht vorhergesagt werden können. ANNOgesic ist unter einer Open-Source-Lizenz (ISCL) auf https://github.com/Sung-Huan/ANNOgesic verfügbar. Meine Forschungsarbeit beinhaltet nicht nur die Entwicklung von ANNOgesic, sondern auch dessen Anwendung um das Transkriptom des Staphylococcus aureus-Stamms HG003 zu annotieren. Dieser ist einem Derivat von S. aureus NCTC8325 - ein Stamm, Dear ein bedeutendes Modell in der Infektionsbiologie darstellt. Zum Beispiel wurde er für die Untersuchung von Antibiotikaresistenzen genutzt, da er anfällig für alle bekannten Antibiotika ist. Der Elternstamm NCTC8325 besitzt zwei Mutationen im regulatorischen Genen (rsbU und tcaR), die Veränderungen der Virulenz zur Folge haben und die in Stamm HG003 auf die Wildtypsequenz zurückmutiert wurden. Dadurch besitzt S. aureus HG003 das vollständige, ursprüngliche Regulationsnetzwerk und stellt deshalb ein besseres Modell zur Untersuchung von sowohl Virulenz als auch Antibiotikaresistenz dar. Trotz seines Modellcharakters fehlten für HG003 bisher eine vollständige Genomsequenz und deren Annotationen. Um diese Lücke zu schließen habe ich als Teil meiner Promotion mit Hilfe von ANNOgesic Annotationen für diesen Stamm, einschließlich sRNAs und ihrer Funktionen, generiert. Dafür habe ich Differential RNA-Seq-Daten von 14 verschiedenen Proben (zwei Mediumsbedingungen mit sieben Zeitpunkten) sowie RNA-Seq-Daten, die von fragmentierten Transkripten generiert wurden, analysiert. Neben S. aureus HG003 wurde ANNOgesic auf eine Vielzahl von Bakterien- und Archaeengenome angewendet und dabei wurde eine hohe Performanz demonstriert. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass ANNOgesic ein mächtiges bioinformatisches Werkzeug für die RNA-Seq-basierte Annotationen ist und für verschiedene Spezies erfolgreich angewandt wurde. KW - RNA-Seq KW - Genome Annotation KW - small RNA KW - Genom KW - Annotation KW - Small RNA KW - Bioinformatik Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176468 ER - TY - THES A1 - Memmel, Simon T1 - Automatisierte Algorithmen zur Analyse der Migration und der strahleninduzierten DNA-Schäden humaner Glioblastomzellen nach kombinierter PI3K/mTOR/Hsp90-Inhibierung T1 - Automated algorithms for the analysis of cell migration and radiation induced DNA-damage in human glioblastoma cells after combined PI3K/mTOR/Hsp90 inhibition N2 - Das hohe invasive Potential und die starke Resistenz gegen Radio-/Chemotherapie von Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) Zellen machen sie zu dem tödlichsten Tumor ihrer Art. Es ist deshalb von großem Interesse die Grundlagen, welche der Migrationsfähigkeit und DNA Reparatur zu Grunde liegen, besser zu verstehen. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wurden zwei Algorithmen zur automatischen Analyse der Migration in der Einzelzellverfolgung und im Wundheilungsassay modifiziert. Die Auswertung der Daten konnte automatisch und somit schnell, effektiv und mit geringerem Arbeitsaufwand durchgeführt werden. Mit Hilfe dieser automatischen Algorithmen wurde die Migrationsfähigkeit von zwei GBM-Zelllinien (DK-MG und SNB19) untersucht. Zusätzlich wurde die konfokale Laserscanning- sowie die hochauflösende dSTORM-Fluoreszenzmikroskopie verwendet um die, der Zellbewegung zu Grunde liegende, Struktur des F Aktin und der fokalen Adhäsionskinase (FAK) aufzulösen und darzustellen. Unter Anwendung dieser genannten Methoden sind die Effekte des dualen PI3K/mTOR Inhibitors PI-103 alleine und in Kombination mit dem Hsp90 Inhibitor NVP AUY922 mit und ohne Bestrahlung auf die Bewegung untersucht worden. Es konnte festgestellt werden, dass sich beide Zelllinien deutlich in ihrem migratorischem Potential in vitro unterscheiden und zudem auch markante Unterschiede in ihrer Morphologie aufweisen. Die weniger invasiven DK MG-Zellen besitzen eine polarisierte Zellstruktur, wohingegen SNB19-Zellen sich durch multipolare ungerichtete Bewegung auszeichneten. Zudem wurde die Migration, durch PI3K/mTOR Inhibition mit PI-103 bei den DK-MG-Zellen (p53 wt, PTEN wt), sehr effektiv unterdrückt. Wohingegen sich die SNB19-Zellen (p53 mut, PTEN mut) resistent gegen diesen Inhibitor zeigten. Hsp90 Inhibition offenbarte in beiden Zelllinien einen starken inhibitorischen Effekt auf die Migration der Zellen sowie die Reorganisierung des F Aktinskelettes. In der zweiten Hälfte dieser Arbeit wurde ein Augenmerk auf die DNA-DSB-Reparatur der GBM Zellen nach ionisierender Strahlung gelegt. Zunächst wurde eine automatische Analysesoftware „FocAn-3D“ entwickelt, mit dessen Hilfe die DNA Doppelstrangbruchreparaturkinetik untersucht werden sollte. Diese Software ermöglicht es die gesamten Zellkerne mit ihren γH2AX-Foci in 3D-cLSM-Aufnahmen zu untersuchen. Es konnte somit eine Verbesserung der Genauigkeit in der Auszählung der γH2AX-Foci erreicht werden, welche 2D beschränkter Software verwehrt bleibt. Mit FocAn-3D konnte der gesamte Verlauf der Induktions- und Abbauphase der γH2AX-Foci in DK MG- und SNB19-Zellen mit einem mathematischen Modell ausgewertet und dargestellt werden. Des Weiteren wurde die Nanometerstruktur von γH2AX- und pDNA-PKcs-Foci mittels hochauflösender dSTORM-Mikroskopie untersucht. Konventionelle Mikroskopiemethoden, begrenzt durch das Beugungslimit und einer Auflösung von ~200 nm, konnten die Nanometerstruktur (<100 nm) der Reparaturfoci bisher nicht darstellen. Mit Hilfe der beugungsunbegrenzten dSTORM-Mikroskopie war es möglich in DK MG- und SNB19-Zellen die Nanometerstruktur genannten Reparaturproteine in den Foci mit einer Auflösung von bis zu ~20 nm darzustellen. γH2AX-Foci zeigten sich als eine Verteilung aus einzelnen Untereinheiten („Nanofoci“) mit einem Durchmesser von ~45 nm. Dies lässt die Vermutung zu, dass es sich hier um die elementare Substruktur der Foci und somit der γH2AX enthaltenen Nukleosome handelt. DNA-PK-Foci wiesen hingegen eine diffusere Verteilung auf. Die in dieser Arbeit ermittelten Unterschiede im Migrationsverhalten der Zellen rechtfertigen eine weitere präklinische Untersuchung der verwendeten Inhibitoren als potentielle Zelltherapeutika für die Behandlung von GBM. Zudem konnte sich dSTORM als machtvolles Hilfsmittel, sowohl zur Analyse der Migration zugrundeliegenden Zytoskelettstruktur und der Effekte der Hsp90 Inhibierung, als auch, der Nanostruktur der DNA-DSB-Reparaturfoci herausstellen. Es ist anzunehmen, dass beugungsunbegrenzte Mikroskopiemethoden sich als bedeutende Werkzeuge in der medizinischen und biologischen Erforschung der DNA-Reparaturmechanismen herausstellen werden. Das in dieser Arbeit entwickelte ImageJ Plugin „FocAn-3D“ bewies sich ebenfalls als ein vielversprechendes Werkzeug für die Analyse der Reparaturkinetik. Mit Hilfe von „FocAn-3D“ sollte es somit möglich sein u.a. den Einfluss gezielter Inhibition auf den zeitlichen Verlauf der Induktion und des Abbaus der DNA-Reparaturmaschinerie genauer zu studieren. N2 - The high invasive Potential and increased resistance to radio- and chemotherapy of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor cells make it the most lethal of all primary brain tumors. It is therefore of great interest to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms facilitating the migration and DNA repair. In the first part of this study, two algorithms for single cell tracking and wound healing assays were modified to increase effectiveness and speed of the automatic data analysis. The migratory capacity of the two GBM cell lines, DK MG and SNB19, were analyzed using these automatic algorithms. In addition, employing confocal microscopy and high resolution dSTORM imaging, the underlying F actin/FAK structure was resolved and studied. Together, these automatic algorithms enabled me to elucidate the effects of the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor PI 103 alone and in combination with the Hsp90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 and/or irradiation on the migration, focal adhesions and F-actin cytoskeleton of DK-MG and SNB19 cells. Both cell lines differ markedly in their migratory capacity in vitro and display distinctive differences in their morphology. The less invasive DK-MG cells retained their polarized structure, while SNB19 cells demonstrate multipolar morphology with random migration. The PI3K/mTOR Inhibition using PI-103 suppressed migration of the PTEN wt and p53 wt DK-MG cells but not of the PTEN mut and p53 mut SNB19 cells. In contrast, Hsp90 inhibition using NVP-AUY922 exerted a strong inhibitory effect on the migration in both cell lines as well as massive morphological changes and reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton. The second part of this study was designed to gain further insights in the DNA double strand break (DSB) repair of both GBM cell lines. The DNA DSB repair kinetics were analyzed using the novel software “FocAn-3D”. The software enables the 3D analysis of foci in entire nuclei using cLSM-imaging. This in turn results in increased accuracy of the foci counts, compared to approaches restricted to 2D. Using the new software approach, I was able to determine the whole γH2AX-foci induction and decay process and apply a well described mathematical model for the γH2AX-foci repair kinetics. Additionally, diffraction unlimited microscopy (dSTORM) was applied to resolve the nanometer scale of the foci forming repair proteins γH2AX and DNA-PK. Although conventional microscopy is able to reveal the repair foci as diffuse spots, the underlying protein distribution is well beyond the diffraction limit of ~200 nm. In this study, using the diffraction unlimited dSTORM microscopy with a lateral resolution of ~20 nm, it was possible to resolve the nanometer scale of both γH2AX and DNA-PK. γH2AX foci appeared not as diffuse spots, but rather as a distribution of distinct subunits (“nanofoci”). In contrast DNA-PK mostly showed a more diffuse distribution. The nanofoci diameter was about ~45 nm and it can be concluded that these clusters represent the elementary structural subunits of repair foci, the γH2AX-containing nucleosomes. Using the newly developed or modified algorithms for the analysis of cell migration, I was able to show a cell line specific response of the PI3K/mTOR inhibition on the cell migration. This warrants further preclinical trials for its potential as an anti-migratory agent in the treatment of GBM. In addition, dSTORM emerged as a powerful tool for the analysis of the cytoskeletal structure, underlying the cells migration capacity and the effects of Hsp90 inhibition. Also, dSTORM was able to unravel the elementary nanostructure of the DSB repair foci. This means diffraction unlimited single-molecule localization nanoscopy methods will likely emerge as powerful tools for the analysis of targeted inhibition on the DSB repair mechanisms. In addition, the newly developed software “FocAn-3D” showed promising results in the analysis of Foci kinetics. Consequently, it should enable the future study of targeted inhibition and its effects on foci induction and decay processes of the DNA repair. KW - Glioblastom KW - Zellmigration KW - DNS-Schädigung KW - Algorithmus KW - Automatisierung KW - PI3K/mTOR inhibierung KW - yH2AX-Foci KW - Dnaschaden KW - DNS-Doppelstrangbruch Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-185710 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kaymak, Irem T1 - Identification of metabolic liabilities in 3D models of cancer T1 - Identifikation metabolischer Abhängigkeiten in 3D Tumormodellen N2 - Inefficient vascularisation of solid tumours leads to the formation of oxygen and nutrient gradients. In order to mimic this specific feature of the tumour microenvironment, a multicellular tumour spheroid (SPH) culture system was used. These experiments were implemented in p53 isogenic colon cancer cell lines (HCT116 p53 +/+ and HCT116 p53-/-) since Tp53 has important regulatory functions in tumour metabolism. First, the characteristics of the cells cultured as monolayers and as spheroids were investigated by using RNA sequencing and metabolomics to compare gene expression and metabolic features of cells grown in different conditions. This analysis showed that certain features of gene expression found in tumours are also present in spheroids but not in monolayer cultures, including reduced proliferation and induction of hypoxia related genes. Moreover, comparison between the different genotypes revealed that the expression of genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis is induced in p53 deficient cells compared to p53 wild type cells and this difference was only detected in spheroids and tumour samples but not in monolayer cultures. In addition, it was established that loss of p53 leads to the induction of enzymes of the mevalonate pathway via activation of the transcription factor SREBP2, resulting in a metabolic rewiring that supports the generation of ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10). An adequate supply of ubiquinone was essential to support mitochondrial electron transport and pyrimidine biosynthesis in p53 deficient cancer cells under conditions of metabolic stress. Moreover, inhibition of the mevalonate pathway using statins selectively induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in p53 deficient colon cancer cells exposed to oxygen and nutrient deprivation. This was caused by ubiquinone being required for electron transfer by dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, an essential enzyme of the pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis pathway. Supplementation with exogenous nucleosides relieved the demand for electron transfer and restored viability of p53 deficient cancer cells under metabolic stress. Moreover, the mevalonate pathway was also essential for the synthesis of ubiquinone for nucleotide biosynthesis to support growth of intestinal tumour organoids. Together, these findings highlight the importance of the mevalonate pathway in cancer cells and provide molecular evidence for an enhanced sensitivity towards the inhibition of mitochondrial electron transfer in tumour-like metabolic environments. N2 - In soliden Tumoren führt die ineffiziente Bildung von Blutgefäßen (Vaskularisierung) zu einem Nährstoff- und Sauerstoffgradienten im gesamten Tumor, welches eine spezifische Tumormikroumgebung schafft. Um diese Tumorumgebung nachzuahmen, wurde ein spezielles multi-zelluläres Tumorsphäroid (SPH) Zellkultursystem verwendet. Da Tp53 wichtige regulatorische Funktionen im Tumormetabolismus hat, wurde zur Generierung von Sphäroiden p53 isogene Darmkrebs-Zelllinen HCT116 (p53 +/+ und p53 -/-) verwendet. Zunächst wurden die Sphäroide mittels RNA Sequenzierung und Metabolomik charakterisiert, um die Genexpression und metabolischen Eigenschaften in verschiedenen Zellkulturbedingungen zu vergleichen. Diese Analyse hat gezeigt, dass gewisse Genexpressionsmuster in Tumoren wie beispielsweise Proliferations- und Hypoxia verwandte Gene in Sphäroiden übereinstimmen, nicht jedoch in Monolayer-Kulturen. Vergleicht man die zwei unterschiedlichen Genotypen miteinander, so sind Gene, die in der Cholesterinhomöostase involviert sind, in p53 defizienten Zellen induziert, nicht jedoch in p53 wildtypischen Zellen. Dieser Unterschied ist in Sphäroiden vorhanden, nicht jedoch in Monolayer-Kulturen. Verlust von p53 führt über die Aktivierung des Transkriptionsfaktors SREBP2 zur Induktion von Enzymen des Mevalonat-Synthesewegs und zudem zu einer neuen metabolischen Vernetzung, die die Generierung von Ubichinon (Coenzym Q10) unterstützt. Eine ausreichende Ubichinon-Versorgung ist wichtig, um den mitochondrialen Elektronentransport und die Pyrimidin-Biosynthese in p53-defizienten Krebszellen unter metabolischen Stressbedingungen zu unterstützen. Darüber hinaus induziert die Inhibition des Mevalonat-Synthesewegs durch Statine in p53-defizienten Darmkrebszellen, die Sauerstoff und Nährstoffmangel ausgesetzt sind, selektiv oxidativen Stress und Apoptose. Verursacht wird dies durch einen Mangel an Ubichinon, welches für den Elektronentransfer der Dihydroorotatdehydrogenase, einem essentiellen Enzym der Pyrimidinnukleotid-Biosynthese, notwendig ist. Gabe von exogenen Nukleosiden entlastete die Nachfrage an Elektronentransfer und stellte die Lebensfähigkeit von p53-defizienten Krebszellen unter metabolischem Stress wieder her. Darüber hinaus konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Mevalonat-Syntheseweg auch für die Synthese von Ubichinon für die Pyrimidinnukleotid-Biosynthese unerlässlich ist, um das Wachstum von Darmtumor-Organoiden zu unterstützen. Zusammengenommen interstreichen diese Ergebnisse die Bedeutung des Mevalonat-Syntheseweg in Krebszellen und liefern den molekularen Mechanismus für die erhöhte Empfindlichkeit von Tumorzellen gegenüber der Hemmung des mitochondrialen Elektronentransfers in einer Tumor-ähnlichen Stoffwechselumgebung. KW - p53 KW - cancer KW - CoQ10 KW - Tumor KW - Modell KW - Stoffwechsel Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181544 ER - TY - THES A1 - Gorelashvili, Maximilian Georg T1 - Investigation of megakaryopoiesis and the acute phase of ischemic stroke by advanced fluorescence microscopy T1 - Untersuchungen der Megakaryopoese und der akuten Phase des ischämischen Schlaganfalls mit Hilfe von hochentwickelter Fluoreszenzmikroskopie N2 - In mammals, anucleate platelets circulate in the blood flow and are primarily responsible for maintaining functional hemostasis. Platelets are generated in the bone marrow (BM) by megakaryocytes (MKs), which mainly reside directly next to the BM sinusoids to release proplatelets into the blood. MKs originate from hematopoietic stem cells and are thought to migrate from the endosteal to the vascular niche during their maturation, a process, which is, despite being intensively investigated, still not fully understood. Long-term intravital two photon microscopy (2PM) of MKs and vasculature in murine bone marrow was performed and mean squared displacement analysis of cell migration was performed. The MKs exhibited no migration, but wobbling-like movement on time scales of 3 h. Directed cell migration always results in non-random spatial distribution. Thus, a computational modelling algorithm simulating random MK distribution using real 3D light-sheet fluorescence microscopy data sets was developed. Direct comparison of real and simulated random MK distributions showed, that MKs exhibit a strong bias to vessel-contact. However, this bias is not caused by cell migration, as non-vessel-associated MKs were randomly distributed in the intervascular space. Furthermore, simulation studies revealed that MKs strongly impair migration of other cells in the bone marrow by acting as large-sized obstacles. MKs are thought to migrate from the regions close to the endosteum towards the vasculature during their maturation process. MK distribution as a function of their localization relative to the endosteal regions of the bones was investigated by light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM). The results show no bone-region dependent distribution of MKs. Taken together, the newly established methods and obtained results refute the model of MK migration during their maturation. Ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is a frequent complication of cerebral ischemic stroke, where brain tissue damage occurs despite successful recanalization. Platelets, endothelial cells and immune cells have been demonstrated to affect the progression of I/R injury in experimental mouse models 24 h after recanalization. However, the underlying Pathomechanisms, especially in the first hours after recanalization, are poorly understood. Here, LSFM, 2PM and complemental advanced image analysis workflows were established for investigation of platelets, the vasculature and neutrophils in ischemic brains. Quantitative analysis of thrombus formation in the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres at different time points revealed that platelet aggregate formation is minimal during the first 8 h after recanalization and occurs in both hemispheres. Considering that maximal tissue damage already is present at this time point, it can be concluded that infarct progression and neurological damage do not result from platelet aggregated formation. Furthermore, LSFM allowed to confirm neutrophil infiltration into the infarcted hemisphere and, here, the levels of endothelial cell marker PECAM1 were strongly reduced. However, further investigations must be carried out to clearly identify the role of neutrophils and the endothelial cells in I/R injury. N2 - In Säugetieren zirkulieren kernlose Thrombozyten im Blutstrom und sind primär für die Aufrechterhaltung der funktionellen Hämostase verantwortlich. Thrombozyten werden im Knochenmark durch Megakaryozyten gebildet, die sich hauptsächlich in direkter Nähe zu Knochenmarkssinusoiden befinden, um Proplättchen in das Blut freizusetzen. Megakaryo-zyten stammen von hämatopoetischen Stammzellen ab und man glaubt, dass sie während ihres Reifungspro¬zesses von der endostalen in die vaskuläre Nische wandern – ein Prozess, der trotz intensiver Forschung noch nicht vollständig verstanden ist. Langzeit-Zwei-Photonen-Mikroskopie von Megakaryozyten und des Gefäßbaums wurde in murinem Knochenmark von lebenden Tieren in Kombination mit der Analyse der mittleren quadratischen Verschiebung der Zellmigration durchgeführt. Die Megakaryozyten zeigten keine Migration, sondern eine wackelartige Bewegung auf Zeitskalen von 3 Stunden. Die gerichtete Zellmigration führt stets zu einer nicht zufälligen räumlichen Verteilung der Zellen. Daher wurde ein Computermodellierungsalgorithmus entwickelt, der eine zufällige Megakaryo¬zytenverteilung unter Verwendung von realen 3D-Lichtblatt-Fluoreszenzmikroskopie-Datensätzen simuliert. Der direkte Vergleich realer und simuliert zufälliger Megakaryozyten¬verteilungen zeigte, dass MKs stark mit Knochenmarksgefäßen assoziiert sind. Dieses wird jedoch nicht durch Zellmigration verursacht, da nicht-Gefäß-assoziierte MKs zufällig im intervaskulären Raum verteilt waren. Darüber hinaus zeigten Simulationsstudien, dass Megakaryozyten die Migration anderer Zellen im Knochenmark stark beeinträchtigen, da sie als sterische Hindernisse wirken. Es wird angenommen, dass MKs während ihres Reife¬prozesses von den Regionen in der Nähe des Endosteums in Richtung des Gefäßsystems wandern. Die Megakaryozytenverteilung als Funktion ihrer Lokalisierung relativ zu den endo¬stalen Regionen des Knochens wurde durch Lichtblattmikroskopie untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen keine knochenregionabhängige Verteilung von Megakaryozyten. Zusammenge¬nommen widerlegen die neu etablierten Methoden und erzielten Ergebnisse das Modell der Megakaryozyten¬migration während ihrer Reifung. Ischämie-Reperfusionsschaden (I/R) ist eine häufige Komplikation des zerebralen ischämischen Schlaganfalls, bei dem trotz erfolgreicher Rekanalisierung eine Schädigung des Hirngewebes auftritt. Es wurde gezeigt, dass Thrombozyten, Endothelzellen und Immunzellen das Fortschreiten der I/R-Verletzung in experimentellen Mausmodellen 24 Stunden nach der Rekanalisierung beeinflussen. Die zugrundeliegenden Pathomechanismen, insbesondere in den ersten Stunden nach der Rekanalisierung, sind jedoch kaum verstanden. Hier wurden Lichtblattmikroskopie, Zwei-Photonen-Mikroskopie und ergänzende hochkom-plexe Bildanalyse-Workflows zur Untersuchung von Thrombozyten, der Gefäße und Neutro-philen in ischämischen Gehirnen etabliert. Die quantitative Analyse der Thrombusbildung in der ipsilateralen und kontralateralen Hemisphäre zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten zeigte, dass die Thrombozytenaggregationsbildung während der ersten 8 Stunden nach der Rekanalisierung minimal ist und in beiden Hemisphären auftritt. In Anbetracht dessen, dass zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits eine maximale Gewebeschädigung vorliegt, kann geschlossen werden, dass die Infarkt¬progression und der neurologische Schaden nicht aus der Bildung von Thrombozytenaggre¬gaten resultieren. Darüber hinaus erlaubte Lichtblattmikroskopie die Neutrophileninfiltration in die infarzierte Hemisphäre zu bestätigen und hier waren die Spiegel des Endothelzellmarkers PECAM1 stark reduziert. Es müssen jedoch weitere Untersuchungen durchgeführt werden, um die Rolle von Neutrophilen und Endothelzellen bei I/R-Verletzungen klar zu identifizieren. KW - Fluoreszenzmikroskopie KW - Schlaganfall KW - Megakaryozyt KW - Computersimulation KW - Light sheet microscopy KW - ischemic stroke KW - megakaryopoiesis KW - multi-photon microscopy Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-186002 ER - TY - THES A1 - Füllsack, Simone Alexandra T1 - Die Bedeutung von Todesdomäne Adapterproteinen für die Signaltransduktion des TNFR1 und der TRAIL Todesrezeptoren T1 - The meaning of death domain adaptor proteins in the signal transduction of TNFR1 and TRAIL death receptors N2 - Die NFκB-Signalwege, Apoptose und Nekroptose sind essentielle Prozesse in der Immunantwort. Außerdem sind diese Signalwege Teil der Regulation von Zelldifferenzierung, -proliferation, -tod und Entzündungsreaktionen. Dabei wird zuerst der Rezeptor (TNFR1 oder TRAILR 1/2) aktiviert, die rekrutierten DD-Adapterproteine TRADD, FADD und RIPK1 leiten dann die entsprechende Signalkaskade weiter und bestimmen durch ihre Zusammenwirkung, ob der NFκB-Signalweg, Apoptose oder Nekroptose induziert wird. TNFR1 und TRAILR 1/2 benötigen die DD-Adapterproteine TRADD, FADD und RIPK1 für die Zelltodinduktion, deren konkrete Bedeutung in Bezug auf Rezeptor-Spezifität, Zusammenwirken und Relevanz allerdings noch unklar ist. Um das Zusammenspiel dieser Proteine besser zu verstehen, wurden in dieser Arbeit Nekroptose-kompetente RIPK3-exprimierende HeLa-Zellen verwendet, bei denen die DD-Adapterproteine FADD, TRADD und RIPK1 einzeln oder in Kombination von zweien ausgeknockt wurden. Es stellte sich heraus, dass RIPK1 essentiell für die TNFR1- und TRAILR 1/2-vermittelte Nekroptose-Induktion ist, doch RIPK1 alleine, d.h. ohne FADD- oder TRADD-Mitbeteiligung, nur bei der TNFR1-Nekroptose-Induktion ausreicht. Wiederum inhibiert TRADD die TNFR1- und TRAILR 1/2-induzierte Nekroptose. RIPK1 und TRADD sind aber unverzichtbar für die NFκB-Aktivierung durch TNFR1 oder TRAILR 1/2 und spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei TNFR1-induzierter Apoptose. Andererseits ist FADD alleine ausreichend für die TRAILR 1/2-bezogene Caspase-8 Aktivierung. Zudem ist FADD notwendig für die TRAIL-induzierte NFκB-Signalaktivierung. In Abwesenheit von FADD und TRADD vermittelt RIPK1 die TNF-induzierte Caspase-8 Aktivierung. FADD wird für die TRAIL-induzierte Nekroptose benötigt, aber gegenläufig wirkt die TNF-induzierte Nektroptose in einer Caspase-8 abhängigen und unabhängigen Weise. Zudem sensitiviert TWEAK die TNF- und TRAIL-induzierte Nekroptose. Zusammenfassend wurde in dieser Arbeit die Auswirkung von TNFR1 und TRAILR 1/2 auf die Aktivierung der unterschiedlichen Signalkaskaden untersucht. Des Weiteren wurde gezeigt, in welcher Weise sich das Zusammenspiel von TRADD, FADD und RIPK1 auf die Induktion von NFκB, Apoptose und Nekroptose auswirkt. N2 - The NFκB-pathways, apoptosis and necroptosis are basic components of the immune response. Furthermore, they are involved in the regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation, cell death and inflammation. After the receptor (TNFR1 or TRAILR1/2) is activated, the recruited DD-adapter proteins TRADD, FADD and RIPK1 transmit the signal thereby determining whether NFκB-pathways, apoptosis and necroptosis are induced. TNFR1 and TRAIL 1/2 depend on the DD-adapter proteins TRADD, FADD and RIPK1 for cell death induction and inflammatory signaling. However, the precise role of these molecules is poorly understood, especially with respect to receptor-specific, cooperative and redundant activities. In order to elucidate the interdependencies of these proteins, variants of the necroptosis competent RIPK3-expressing HeLa transfectant lacking expression of TRADD, RIPK1 and FADD or any combination of two of these molecules were generated and evaluated with respect to TNF- and TRAIL-induced signaling. It turned out that RIPK1 is essential for necroptosis induction by TNFR1 and TRAILR 1/2, RIPK1 alone, in the absence of FADD and TRADD, is only sufficient for the induction of TNFR1 dependent necroptosis. Otherwise, TRADD inhibits TNFR1- and TRAILR 1/2-induced necroptosis. RIPK1 and TRADD are indispensable for TNFR1- and TRAILR 1/2-induced NFκB activation and play a decisive role in TNFR1-induced apoptosis. On the contrary, FADD alone is enough for TRAILR 1/2-induced caspase-8 activation. Furthermore, FADD is required for TRAIL-induced NFκB activation. In absence of FADD and TRADD, RIPK1 alone mediates TNF-induced caspase-8 activation. FADD is necessary for TRAIL-induced necroptosis, but antagonizes TNF-induced necroptosis in a caspase-8 dependent and independent manner. Besides TWEAK sensitizes for both a TNF- and TRAIL-induced necroptosis. To summarize, in the scope of this work, we were able to analyze the effects of TNFR1 and TRAIL 1/2 on the activation of the respective signaling cascades. Moreover, we showed how the interaction of TRADD, FADD and RIPK1 influence the activation of NFκB, apoptosis and necroptosis. KW - Signaltransduktion KW - TNFR1 KW - adapterprotein KW - TRAIL KW - Todesdomäne KW - Rezeptoren Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-184518 ER - TY - THES A1 - König, Eva-Maria T1 - Pathogenese von Kraniosynostosen T1 - Pathogenesis of Craniosynostoses N2 - Das humane Schädeldach besteht aus fünf Schädelplatten, die durch intramembranöse Ossifikation entstehen. Wenn diese in der Embryonalentwicklung aufeinandertreffen, bilden sich Schädelnähte aus, die eine Fusion der Schädelplatten verhindern und damit ein Schädelwachstum parallel zu Gehirnentwicklung ermöglichen. Für diesen Prozess ist eine Balance aus Zellproliferation und Differenzierung nötig, deren Aufrechterhaltung wiederum durch eine komplexe Regulation von verschiedenen Signalwegen gewährleistet wird. Störungen in diesem regulatorischen System können zu einer vorzeitigen Fusion der Schädelplatten, Kraniosynostose genannt, führen. Die Kraniosynostose ist eine der häufigsten kraniofazialen Fehlbildungen beim Menschen. Durch kompensatorisches Wachstum an den nicht fusionierten Suturen entstehen charakteristische Schädeldeformationen, die sekundär einen erhöhten intrakranialen Druck zur Folge haben können. Eine vorzeitige Fusion der Suturen kann sowohl isoliert als auch syndromal zusammen mit weiteren klinischen Auffälligkeiten vorliegen. Bisher sind über 150 verschiedene Kraniosynostose Syndrome beschrieben und insgesamt 25-30% aller Kraniosynostose Patienten sind von einer syndromalen Form betroffen. Da die klinischen Merkmale der Kraniosynostose Syndrome variabel sind und zum Teil überlappen, ist eine klare klinische Diagnose häufig erschwert. Sowohl Umwelteinflüsse als auch genetische Veränderungen können die Ursache für Kraniosynostosen sein. Vor allem bei syndromalen Kraniosynostosen wurden genetische Veränderungen, wie beispielsweise Mutationen in den Genen FGFR2, FGFR3, TWIST1 und EFNB1, identifiziert. Darüber hinaus wurden chromosomale Veränderungen wie partielle Monosomien von 7p, 9p oder 11p sowie partielle Trisomien von 5q, 13q oder 15q mit Kraniosynostose assoziiert. Trotzdem ist in über 50% der Fälle die genetische Ursache unbekannt und die Pathogenese von Kraniosynostosen noch nicht vollständig geklärt. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es neue genetische Ursachen bei Kraniosynostose Patienten zu identifizieren und so zur Aufklärung der Pathogenese beizutragen. Es wurde die genomische DNA von 83 Patienten molekulargenetisch durch Mikroarray basierte vergleichende Genomhybridisierung (Array-CGH) oder durch ein speziell entworfenes Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Genpanel untersucht. Bei 30% der Patienten konnte eine potentiell pathogene Veränderung identifiziert werden. Davon waren 23% chromosomale Aberrationen wie unbalancierte Translokationen, isolierte interstitielle Verluste und ein Zugewinn an genomischen Material. Bei zwei Patienten wurden unbalancierte Translokationen mit partieller 5q Trisomie nachgewiesen. Das Gen MSX2 liegt innerhalb des duplizierten Bereichs, sodass möglicherweise eine MSX2 Überexpression vorliegt. Für ein normales Schädelwachstum ist jedoch die richtige Menge an MSX2 kritisch. Des Weiteren wurde eine partielle Deletion von TCF12 detektiert, die in einer Haploinsuffizienz von TCF12 resultiert. TCF12 Mutationen sind mit Koronarnahtsynosten assoziiert. In einem anderen Fall lag das Gen FGF10 innerhalb der duplizierten 5p15.1-p12 Region. Das Gen kodiert für einen Liganden des FGF Signalwegs und wurde bisher noch nicht mit Kraniosynostose assoziiert. Aufgrund dessen wurden Analysen im Tiermodell Danio rerio durchgeführt. Eine simulierte Überexpression durch Injektion der fgf10a mRNA in das 1-Zell Stadium führte zu schweren Gehirn-, Herz- und Augendefekten. Mittels NGS wurden 77% der potentiell pathogenen genetischen Veränderungen identifiziert. Hierfür wurde in dieser Arbeit ein Genpanel erstellt, das 68 Gene umfasst. Es wurden sowohl bekannte Kraniosynostose- als auch Kandidaten-Gene sowie Gene, die mit der Ossifikation assoziiert sind, in die Analyse eingeschlossen. Das Genpanel wurde durch die Sequenzierung von fünf Kontrollproben mit bekannten Mutationen erfolgreich validiert. Anschließend wurde die genomische DNA von 66 Patienten analysiert. Es konnten 20 (potentiell) pathogene Varianten identifiziert werden. Neben bereits bekannten Mutationen in den Genen FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3 und TWIST1, konnten zusätzlich 8 neue, potentiell pathogene Varianten in den Genen ERF, MEGF8, MSX2, PTCH1 und TCF12 identifiziert werden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit tragen dazu bei das Mutationsspektrum dieser Gene zu erweitern. Bei zwei der Varianten handelte es sich um potentielle Spleißvarianten. Für diese konnte in einem in vitro Spleißsystem gezeigt werden, dass sie eine Änderung des Spleißmusters bewirken. Der Nachweis von zwei seltenen Varianten in den Genen FGFR2 und HUWE1 hat außerdem dazu beigetragen die Pathogenität dieser spezifischen Varianten zu bekräftigen. Eine Variante in POR, die aufgrund bioinformatischer Analysen als potentiell pathogen bewertet wurde, wurde nach der Segregationsanalyse als wahrscheinlich benigne eingestuft. Zusammenfassend konnten bei etwa einem Drittel der Patienten, die mit dem NGS Genpanel analysiert wurden, eine genetische Ursache identifiziert werden. Dieses Genpanel stellt somit ein effizientes diagnostisches Tool dar, das zukünftig in der genetischen Routine-Diagnostik von Kraniosynostose-Patienten eingesetzt werden kann. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen, dass sowohl eine Untersuchung auf CNVs als auch auf Sequenzänderungen bei Kraniosynostose Patienten sinnvoll ist. N2 - Cranial bones are formed by intramembranous ossification. During development, the cranial bones are separated by fibrous sutures, which function as bone growth sites and therefore, the cranial sutures need to remain patent to allow the expansion of the skull during brain development. Thus, there must be a balance of cell proliferation and differentiation within the suture. This complex process requires a tight regulation of gene expression and interacting signal pathways. Imbalances or dysfunction of the involved factors can result in abnormal skull growth. One of the most common congenital craniofacial disorders by affecting approximately one in 2500 newborns is craniosynostosis. It is defined as the premature ossification of one or more calvarial sutures. Compensatory growth of the skull leads to a characteristic dysmorphic cranial vault and facial asymmetry. Premature ossification of the cranial sutures can occur either as isolated malformation or as part of a syndrome. Isolated craniosynostoses are more frequent, nevertheless, 25-30% of all cases are syndromic craniosynostoses with more than 150 syndromes reported. There is a high intra- and interfamilial variability and clinical overlap of the different syndromes. Environmental influences as well as genetic defects like mutations and chromosomal aberrations are known to cause craniosynostosis. So far genetic causes have been identified mainly for syndromic craniosynostoses, i.e. mutations in FGFR2, FGFR3, TWIST1, and EFNB1. Furthermore, chromosomal rearrangements like i.e. partial monosomy of 7p, 9p, and 11p as well as partial trisomy of 5q, 13q, and 15q, have been reported in 11-15% of the syndromic craniosynostosis cases. However, in more than 50% of the cases the underlying genetic cause remains unknown. Furthermore, the pathogenesis of craniosynostoses is still not fully understood. In this project 83 craniosynostosis patients were analysed either by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridisation (array-CGH) or gene panel based next generation sequencing (NGS) to further investigate the pathogenesis of craniosynostosis. In a total of 30% of the patients a potential genetic cause was identified. Among those 23% had chromosomal rearrangements which are likely to cause the observed phenotypes, i.e. unbalanced translocations affecting several genes as well as interstitial deletions and an isolated duplication have been detected. Two patients had unbalanced translocations with partial 5q trisomies encompassing MSX2. MSX2 gene dosage is critical for normal growth of the cranial bone plates as loss-of-function mutations lead to delayed and incomplete ossification of the parietal bones. Furthermore, we identified a partial TCF12 deletion which is likely to result in TCF12 haploinsufficiency. TCF12 mutations frequently lead to premature fusion of the coronal sutures, although its pathogenesis is still not fully understood. In another case isolated duplication of 5p15.1-p12 includes FGF10 which is a known ligand of the FGF signalling pathway. So far, no association of FGF10 with craniosynostosis has been made. To investigate its potential role during development and in the pathogenesis of craniosynostosis functional experiments were performed in Danio rerio, an animal model for craniosynostosis. Simulation of fgf10a overexpression by injection of fgf10a RNA at 1-cell stage resulted in severe anomalies of the brain, heart and eyes. In addition, 77% of the identified genetic causes were detected by NGS. For this study a gene panel was designed comprising 68 genes of known and candidate craniosynostosis genes as well as genes associated with bone development. Performance of the NGS gene panel was validated by sequencing five control patients with known mutations. Subsequently, genomic DNA of 66 patients was analysed by the designed craniosynostosis panel. 20 (potential) pathogenic variants were detected. Although, in most of the cases hot spot sequencing of one or more common craniosynostosis genes was performed prior to including the patients in the study, we determined 9 known mutations in the genes FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, and TWIST1. In addition, 8 novel, potentially disease-causing variants in the genes ERF, MEGF8, MSX2, PTCH1, and TCF12 were identified. This work contributed to extend the mutational spectrum within those genes. Two of those variants were predicted to affect splice sites. Analysis by an in vitro splice assay revealed that those variants result in aberrant splicing. Furthermore, the detection of two rare variants of FGFR2 and HUWE1 adds support to their pathogenicity. An additional variant within POR had to be classified as likely benign after segregation analysis. Overall, in nearly one third of the analysed cases an underlying genetic cause could be identified by the designed gene panel. Thus, the NGS panel presents as an efficient tool for genetic diagnostics of craniosynostoses. The data of this work clearly show both copy number variant and single nucleotide variant analysis should be considered in genetic diagnostics of craniosynostosis patients. KW - Kraniosynostose KW - Genetik KW - Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) KW - Mikroarray basierte vergleichende Genomhybridisierung (Array-CGH) Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175181 ER - TY - THES A1 - Tiwarekar, Vishakha Rakesh T1 - The APOBEC3G-regulated host factors REDD1 and KDELR2 restrict measles virus replication T1 - Die durch APOBEC3G-regulierten Wirtsfaktoren REDD1 und KDELR2 restringieren die Masernvirus Replikation N2 - Measles is an extremely contagious vaccine-preventable disease responsible for more than 90000 deaths worldwide annually. The number of deaths has declined from 8 million in the pre-vaccination era to few thousands every year due to the highly efficacious vaccine. However, this effective vaccine is still unreachable in many developing countries due to lack of infrastructure, while in developed countries too many people refuse vaccination. Specific antiviral compounds are not yet available. In the current situation, only an extensive vaccination approach along with effective antivirals could help to have a measles-free future. To develop an effective antiviral, detailed knowledge of viral-host interaction is required. This study was undertaken to understand the interaction between MV and the innate host restriction factor APOBEC3G (A3G), which is well-known for its activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Restriction of MV replication was not attributed to the cytidine deaminase function of A3G, instead, we identified a novel role of A3G in regulating cellular gene functions. Among two of the A3G regulated host factors, we found that REDD1 reduced MV replication, whereas, KDELR2 hampered MV haemagglutinin (H) surface transport thereby affecting viral release. REDD1, a negative regulator of mTORC1 signalling impaired MV replication by inhibiting mTORC1. A3G regulated REDD1 expression was demonstrated to inversely correlate with MV replication. siRNA mediated silencing of A3G in primary human blood lymphocytes (PBL) reduced REDD1 levels and simultaneously increased MV titres. Also, direct depletion of REDD1 improved MV replication in PBL, indicating its role in A3G mediated restriction of MV. Based on these finding, a new role of rapamycin, a pharmacological inhibitor of mTORC1, was uncovered in successfully diminishing MV replication in Vero as well as in human PBL. The ER and Golgi resident receptor KDELR2 indirectly affected MV by competing with MV-H for cellular chaperones. Due to the sequestering of chaperones by KDELR2, they can no longer assist in MV-H folding and subsequent surface expression. Taken together, the two A3G-regulated host factors REDD1 and KDELR2 are mainly responsible for mediating its antiviral activity against MV. N2 - Masern ist eine extrem ansteckende, durch Impfung verhinderbare Infektionskrankheit, die für mehr als 90000 Todesfälle jährlich weltweit verantwortlich ist. Die Zahl der Todesfälle nahm von ca. 8 Millionen in der Prä- Impf-Ära auf wenige Tausend pro Jahr aufgrund dieses effizienten Impfstoffs ab. Dieser ist jedoch aufgrund mangelnder Infrastruktur in vielen Entwicklungsländern nicht ausreichend verfügbar, oder die Impfung wird – vor allem in entwickelten Ländern – verweigert. Spezifische antivirale Substanzen sind noch nicht verfügbar. So könnte nur eine extensive Impfkampagne zu einer Masern-freien Zukunft führen. Um antivirale Substanzen zu generieren wird detailiertes Wissen über Virus-Wirt-Interaktionen benötigt. Diese Studie wurde unternommen um Interaktionen zwischen Masernviren (MV) und dem zellulären Restriktionsfaktor APOBEC3G (A3G), der allgemein bekannt für seine antivirale Wirkung gegen das humane Immundefizienzvirus (HIV) ist, zu charakterisieren. A3G hemmt die MV-Replikation nicht aufgrund seiner Cytidin-Desaminase-Funktion, sondern wir entdeckten eine neue Funktion des A3G, nämlich dass es die Expression zellulärer Faktoren reguliert. Wir fanden, dass unter den A3G-regulierten Wirtszellfaktoren REDD1 die MV-Replikation reduzierte, während KDELR2 den Transport des MV-Hämagglutinins (H) zur Zelloberfläche, und somit die Virusfreisetzung, inhibierte. REDD1, ein negativer Regulator des mTORC1-Signalübertragungswegs, reduzierte die MV-Replikation indem es mTORC1 inhibiert. Die Expression des durch A3G regulierten REDD1 korrelierte umgekehrt mit der MV Replikation. SiRNA-vermittelte Reduktion des A3G in primären humanen Lymphozyten des Bluts (PBL) führte zu einer Abnahme des REDD1 und gleichzeitig zu einer Zunahme des MV-Titers. Ebenso führte direktes Silencing des REDD1 zu einer verstärkten MV-Replikation in PBL, was seine Rolle bei der A3G-vermittelten Restriktion der MV-Replikation unterstreicht. Aufgrund dieser Befunde wurde auch eine neue Funktion des mTORC1-Inhibitors Rapamycin als Inhibitor der MV-Replikation in Vero-Zellen und primären PBL aufgedeckt. Der ER- und Golgi-residente Rezeptor KDELR2 wirkte sich indirekt auf die MV-Replikation aus, indem er mit dem MV-H um die Interaktion mit Chaperonen kompetiert. KDELR2 bindet Chaperone und verhindert so deren Interaktion mit MV-H und den Transport zur Zelloberfläche. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die beiden A3G-regulierten Wirtszellfaktoren REDD1 und KDELR2 hauptsächlich für die antivirale Aktivität des A3G gegen MV verantwortlich sind. KW - measles virus KW - restriction factors KW - APOBEC3G KW - REDD1 KW - KDELR2 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-179526 ER - TY - THES A1 - Anany, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed T1 - Enhancement of Toll-like receptor3 (TLR3)-induced death signaling by TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) T1 - Verstärkung der Toll-like receptor3 (TLR3)-induzierten Todessignalisierung durch TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) N2 - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a member of the TNF superfamily (TNFSF) and is as such initially expressed as type II class transmembrane glycoprotein from which a soluble ligand form can be released by proteolytic processing. While the expression of TWEAK has been detected at the mRNA level in various cell lines and cell types, its cell surface expression has so far only been documented for dendritic cells, monocytes and interferon-γ stimulated NK cells. The fibroblast growth factor-inducible-14 (Fn14) is a TRAF2-interacting receptor of the TNF receptor superfamily (TNFRSF) and is the only receptor for TWEAK. The expression of Fn14 is strongly induced in a variety of non-hematopoietic cell types after tissue injury. The TWEAK/Fn14 system induces pleiotropic cellular activities such as induction of proinflammatory genes, stimulation of cellular angiogenesis, proliferation, differentiation, migration and in rare cases induction of apoptosis. On the other side, Toll-like receptor3 (TLR3) is one of DNA- and RNA-sensing pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), plays a crucial role in the first line of defense against virus and invading foreign pathogens and cancer cells. Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid poly(I:C) is a synthetic analog of dsRNA, binds to TLR3 which acts through the adapter TRIF/TICAM1, leading to cytokine secretion, NF-B activation, IRF3 nuclear translocation, inflammatory response and may also elicit the cell death. TWEAK sensitizes cells for TNFR1-induced apoptosis and necroptosis by limiting the availability of protective TRAF2-cIAP1 and TRAF2-cIAP2 complexes, which interact with the TNFR1-binding proteins TRADD and RIPK1. In accordance with the fact that poly(I:C)-induced signaling also involves these proteins, we found enhanced necroptosis-induction in HaCaT and HeLa-RIPK3 by poly(I:C) in the presence of TWEAK (Figure 24). Analysis of a panel of TRADD, FADD, RIPK1 and caspase-8 knockout cells revealed furthermore similarities and differences in the way how these molecules act in cell death signaling by poly(I:C)/TWEAK and TNF and TRAIL. RIPK1 turned out to be essential for poly(I:C)/TWEAK-induced caspase-8-mediated apoptosis but was dispensable for these responses in TNF and TRAIL signaling. Lack of FADD protein abrogated TRAIL- but not TNF- and poly(I:C)-induced necroptosis. Moreover, we observed that both long and short FLIP rescued HaCaT and HeLa-RIPK3 cells from poly(I:C)-induced apoptosis or necroptosis. To sum up, our results demonstrate that TWEAK, which is produced by interferon stimulated myeloid cells, controls the induction of apoptosis and necroptosis by the TLR3 ligand poly(I:C) and may thus contribute to cancer or anti-viral immunity treatment. N2 - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) ist ein Mitglied der TNF-Superfamilie (TNFSF) und wird als solches anfänglich als Transmembranglykoprotein der Klasse II exprimiert, aus dem eine lösliche Ligandenform durch proteolytische Prozessierung freigesetzt werden kann. Während die Expression von TWEAK auf mRNA-Ebene in verschiedenen Zelllinien und Zelltypen nachgewiesen wurde, konnte ihre Zelloberflächenexpression bisher nur für dendritische Zellen, Monozyten und Interferon-γ-stimulierte NK-Zellen dokumentiert werden. Fibroblast growth factor-inducible-14 (Fn14) ist ein TRAF2-wechselwirkender Rezeptor der TNF-Rezeptor-Superfamilie (TNFRSF) und der einzige Rezeptor für TWEAK. Die Expression von Fn14 wird nach Gewebeverletzung in einer Vielzahl von nicht hämatopoetischen Zelltypen stark induziert. Das TWEAK / Fn14-System induziert pleiotrope zelluläre Aktivitäten, die von der proinflammatorischen Geninduktion über die Stimulierung der Angiogenese, Proliferation und Zelldifferenzierung bis hin zur Zellmigration und in seltenen Fällen zur Induktion von Apoptose reichen. Auf der anderen Seite spielt der Toll-like Rezeptor3 (TLR3), einer der DNA- and RNA-sensing pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), eine entscheidende Rolle in der ersten Verteidigungslinie gegen Viren und eindringende fremde Krankheitserreger und Krebszellen. Polyinosin-Polycytidylsäure-Poly (I: C) ist ein synthetisches Analogon von dsRNA, das an TLR3 bindet, das über den Adapter TRIF / TICAM1 wirkt und zu Zytokinsekretion, NF-B-Aktivierung, IRF3-Kerntranslokation und Entzündungsreaktion führt der Zelltod. TWEAK sensibilisiert Zellen für TNFR1-induzierte Apoptose und Nekroptose, indem es die Verfügbarkeit von schützenden TRAF2-cIAP1- und TRAF2-cIAP2-Komplexen begrenzt, die mit den TNFR1-bindenden Proteinen TRADD und RIPK1 interagieren. Entsprechend der Tatsache, dass diese Proteine auch von Poly (I: C) induziert werden, fanden wir eine verstärkte Nekroptose-Induktion in HaCaT und HeLa-RIPK3 durch Poly (I: C) in Gegenwart von TWEAK (Figure 24). Die Analyse eines Panels von TRADD-, FADD-, RIPK1- und Caspase-8-Knockout-Zellen ergab außerdem Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede in der Art und Weise, wie diese Moleküle bei der Zelltodsignalisierung durch Poly (I: C) / TWEAK und TNF und TRAIL wirken. RIPK1 erwies sich als essentiell für die Poly (I: C) / TWEAK-induzierte Caspase-8-vermittelte Apoptose, war jedoch für diese Reaktionen bei TNF- und TRAIL-Signalen entbehrlich. Das Fehlen von FADD-Protein hob TRAIL-, aber nicht TNF- und Poly (I: C) -induzierte Nekroptose auf. Darüber hinaus beobachteten wir, dass sowohl langes als auch kurzes FLIP HaCaT- und HeLa-RIPK3-Zellen vor Poly (I: C) -induzierter Apoptose oder Nekroptose retteten. Zusammenfassend zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass TWEAK, das von Interferon-stimulierten myeloischen Zellen produziert wird, die Induktion von Apoptose und Nekroptose durch den TLR3-Liganden Poly(I: C) steuert und somit zur Krebsbehandlung oder antiviralen Immunität beitragen kann. KW - Immunologe KW - TLR3 KW - TWEAK KW - Krebs Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189757 ER - TY - THES A1 - Turakhiya, Ankit T1 - Functional characterization of the role of ZFAND1 in stress granule turnover T1 - Funktionelle Charakterisierung der Rolle von ZFAND1 im Umsatz von Stressgranula N2 - Protein quality control systems are critical for cellular proteostasis and survival under stress conditions. The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) plays a pivotal role in proteostasis by eliminating misfolded and damaged proteins. However, exposure to the environmental toxin arsenite results in the accumulation of polyubiquitylated proteins, indicating an overload of the UPS. Arsenite stress induces the rapid formation of stress granules (SGs), which are cytoplasmic assemblies of mRNPs stalled in translation initiation. The mammalian proteins ZFAND2A/B (also known as AIRAP and AIRAPL, respectively) bind to the 26S proteasome, and ZFAND2A has been shown to adapt proteasome activity to arsenite stress. They belong to a small subfamily of AN1 type zinc finger containing proteins that also comprises the unexplored mammalian member ZFAND1 and its yeast homolog Cuz1. In this thesis, the cellular function of Cuz1 and ZFAND1 was investigated. Cuz1/ZFAND1 was found to interact with the ubiquitin-selective, chaperone-like ATPase Cdc48/p97 and with the 26S proteasome. The interaction between Cuz1/ZFAND1 and Cdc48/p97 requires a predicted ubiquitin-like domain of Cuz1/ZFAND1. In vivo, this interaction was strongly dependent on acute arsenite stress, suggesting that it is a part of the cellular arsenite stress response. Lack of Cuz1/ZFAND1 caused a defect in the clearance of arsenite induced SG clearance. ZFAND1 recruits both, the 26S proteasome and p97, to arsenite-induced SGs for their normal clearance. In the absence of ZFAND1, SGs lack the 26S proteasome and p97, accumulate defective ribosomal products and become aberrant. These aberrant SGs persist after arsenite removal and undergo degradation via autophagy. ZFAND1 depletion is epistatic to the expression of pathogenic mutant p97 with respect to SG clearance, suggesting that ZFAND1 function is relevant to the multisystem degenerative disorder, inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget’s disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (IBMPFD/ALS). N2 - Systeme zur Sicherung der Proteinqualität sind von essentieller Bedeutung für die zelluläre Proteostase und das Überleben unter Stressbedingungen. Dabei spielt das Ubiquitin-Proteasom-System (UPS) eine entscheidende Rolle: Es beseitigt fehlgefaltete und beschädigte Proteine. Sind Zellen dem Umweltgift Arsenit ausgesetzt, kommt es zu einer Akkumulation von polyubiquitinierten Proteinen, was auf eine Überlastung des UPS hinweist. Dieser durch Arsenit verursachte Stress bewirkt eine schnelle Bildung von Stressgranula (SGs), einer cytoplasmatischen Ansammlung von mRNPs, die in der Initiation der Translation blockiert sind. Die Säuger Proteine ZFAND2A/B (auch bekannt als AIRAP und AIRAPL) binden an das 26S Proteasom. Zusätzlich wurde gezeigt, dass ZFAND2A die Aktivität des Proteasoms an durch Arsenit verursachten Stress, anpasst. Diese Proteine gehören zu einer kleinen Unterfamilie von Zinkfinger von AN1-type enthaltenden Proteinen, zu der auch das bislang nicht erforschte Säuge Protein ZFAND1 und sein Hefehomolog Cuz1 gehören. In dieser Arbeit wurde die zelluläre Funktion von Cuz1 und ZFAND1 untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass Cuz1/ZFAND1 mit dem 26S Proteasom und der Ubiquitin-selektiven, Chaperon-ähnlichen ATPase Cdc48/p97 interagiert. Die Interaktion zwischen Cuz1/ZFAND1 und Cdc48/p97 benötigt eine vorhergesagte Ubiquitin-ähnliche Domäne von Cuz1/ZFAND1. Diese Interaktion ist in vivo stark von akutem Arsenitstress abhängig, was darauf hindeutet, dass sie Teil der zellulären Stressantwort gegen Arsenit ist. Fehlt Cuz1/ZFAND1, so kommt es zu einer Störung bei der Beseitigung der von Arsenit verursachten SGs. Normalerweise rekrutiert ZFAND1 sowohl das 26S Proteasom als auch p97 zu diesen SGs, um sie zu entfernen. Wenn ZFAND1 jedoch fehlt, sind auch p97 und das 26S Proteasom nicht an den SGs lokalisiert. Dadurch sammeln sich dort defekte ribosomale Produkte an, und die SGs werden abnormal. Auch nach Entfernung des Arsenitstresses bestehen diese abnormalen SGs fort und werden schließlich über Autophagie abgebaut. Bei der Beseitigung der SGs ist das Fehlen von ZFAND1 epistatisch zu der Expression einer pathogenen p97-Mutante, was darauf hinweirt, dass ZFAND1 bei der degenerativen Multisystemerkrankung Einschlusskörper-Myopathie assoziiert mit Pagets Erkrankung der Knochen und frontotemporaler Demenz und Amyotrophe Lateralsklerose (IBMPFD/ALS) eine Rolle spielt. KW - ubiquitin KW - ZFAND1 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-163751 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kaltdorf [geb. Schuch], Kristin Verena T1 - Mikroskopie, Bildverarbeitung und Automatisierung der Analyse von Vesikeln in \(C.\) \(elegans\) und anderen biologischen Strukturen T1 - Microscopy, Image Processing and Automization of Analysis of Vesicles in \(C.\) \(elegans\) and other biological Structures N2 - Thema dieser Thesis ist die Analyse sekretorischer Vesikelpools auf Ultrastrukturebene in unterschiedlichen biologischen Systemen. Der erste und zweite Teil dieser Arbeit fokussiert sich auf die Analyse synaptischer Vesikelpools in neuromuskulären Endplatten (NME) im Modellorganismus Caenorhabditis elegans. Dazu wurde Hochdruckgefrierung und Gefriersubstitution angewandt, um eine unverzügliche Immobilisation der Nematoden und somit eine Fixierung im nahezu nativen Zustand zu gewährleisten. Anschließend wurden dreidimensionale Aufnahmen der NME mittels Elektronentomographie erstellt. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wurden junge adulte, wildtypische C. elegans Hermaphroditen mit Septin-Mutanten verglichen. Um eine umfassende Analyse mit hoher Stichprobenzahl zu ermöglichen und eine automatisierte Lösung für ähnliche Untersuchungen von Vesikelpools bereit zu stellen wurde eine Software namens 3D ART VeSElecT zur automatisierten Vesikelpoolanalyse entwickelt. Die Software besteht aus zwei Makros für ImageJ, eines für die Registrierung der Vesikel und eines zur Charakterisierung. Diese Trennung in zwei separate Schritte ermöglicht einen manuellen Verbesserungsschritt zum Entfernen falsch positiver Vesikel. Durch einen Vergleich mit manuell ausgewerteten Daten neuromuskulärer Endplatten von larvalen Stadien des Modellorganismus Zebrafisch (Danio rerio) konnte erfolgreich die Funktionalität der Software bewiesen werden. Die Analyse der neuromuskulären Endplatten in C. elegans ergab kleinere synaptische Vesikel und dichtere Vesikelpools in den Septin-Mutanten verglichen mit Wildtypen. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurden neuromuskulärer Endplatten junger adulter C. elegans Hermaphroditen mit Dauerlarven verglichen. Das Dauerlarvenstadium ist ein spezielles Stadium, welches durch widrige Umweltbedingungen induziert wird und in dem C. elegans über mehrere Monate ohne Nahrungsaufnahme überleben kann. Da hier der Vergleich der Abundanz zweier Vesikelarten, der „clear-core“-Vesikel (CCV) und der „dense-core“-Vesikel (DCV), im Fokus stand wurde eine Erweiterung von 3D ART VeSElecT entwickelt, die einen „Machine-Learning“-Algorithmus zur automatisierten Klassifikation der Vesikel integriert. Durch die Analyse konnten kleinere Vesikel, eine erhöhte Anzahl von „dense-core“-Vesikeln, sowie eine veränderte Lokalisation der DCV in Dauerlarven festgestellt werden. Im dritten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde untersucht ob die für synaptische Vesikelpools konzipierte Software auch zur Analyse sekretorischer Vesikel in Thrombozyten geeignet ist. Dazu wurden zweidimensionale und dreidimensionale Aufnahmen am Transmissionselektronenmikroskop erstellt und verglichen. Die Untersuchung ergab, dass hierfür eine neue Methodik entwickelt werden muss, die zwar auf den vorherigen Arbeiten prinzipiell aufbauen kann, aber den besonderen Herausforderungen der Bilderkennung sekretorischer Vesikel aus Thrombozyten gerecht werden muss. N2 - Subject of this thesis was the analysis of the ultrastructure of vesicle pools in various biological systems. The first and second part of this thesis is focused on the analysis of synaptic vesicle pools in neuromuscular junctions in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. In order to get access of synaptic vesicle pools in their near-to native state high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution was performed. Subsequently three-dimensional imaging of neuromuscular junctions using electron tomography was performed. In the first part young adult wild-type C. elegans hermaphrodites and septin mutants were compared. To enable extensive analysis and to provide an automated solution for comparable studies, a software called 3D ART VeSElecT for automated vesicle pool analysis, was developed. The software is designed as two macros for ImageJ, one for registration of vesicles and one for characterization. This separation allows for a manual revision step in between to erase false positive particles. Through comparison with manually evaluated data of neuromuscular junctions of larval stages of the model organism zebrafish (Danio rerio), functionality of the software was successfully proved. As a result, analysis of C. elegans neuromuscular junctions revealed smaller synaptic vesicles and more densely packed vesicle pools in septin mutants compared to wild-types. In the second part of this thesis NMJs of young adult C. elegans hermaphrodites were compared with dauer larvae. The dauer larva is a special state that is induced by adverse environmental conditions and enables C. elegans to survive several months without any foot uptake. Aiming for an automated analysis of the ratio of two vesicle types, clear core vesicles (CCVs) and dense core vesicles (DCVs), an extension for 3D ART VeSElecT was developed, integrating a machine-learning classifier. As a result, smaller vesicles and an increased amount of dense core vesicles in dauer larvae were found. In the third part of this thesis the developed software, designed for the analysis of synaptic vesicle pools, was checked for its suitability to recognize secretory vesicles in thrombocytes. Therefore, two-dimensional and three-dimensional transmission electron microscopic images were prepared and compared. The investigation has shown that a new methodology has to be developed which, although able to build on the previous work in principle, must meet the special challenges of image recognition of secretory vesicles from platelets. KW - Mikroskopie KW - Bildverarbeitung KW - Registrierung KW - Synaptische Vesikel KW - Bildanalyse KW - Automatisierung der Analyse KW - Automated Image Analysis KW - Caenorhabditis elegans KW - Electron Microscopy KW - Elektronenmikroskopie KW - Caenorhabditis elegans KW - automatisierte Bildanalyse Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-160621 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bach, Matthias T1 - Massenspektrometrische Analyse der Interaktionen von Protein mit Proteinen und Proteinen mit niedermolekularen Verbindungen T1 - Protein-protein and small molecule-protein interaction analyzed by mass spectrometry N2 - Proteine können aufgrund ihrer biochemischen Vielfalt eine Vielzahl von Interaktionen mit anderen Proteinen oder chemischen Verbindungen eingehen. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wurden Protein-Protein Interaktionen mittels chemischen Quervernetzens untersucht. Das Ziel war, neue und verbesserte Methoden zu entwickeln, um Interaktionsnetzwerke zu erstellen. Im zweiten Teil wurden die Interaktionen von Proteinen mit niedermolekularen Verbindungen untersucht, um Drug Targets zu identifizieren und zu validieren. Die Untersuchung von Protein-Protein Interaktionen mittels Massenspektrometrie (MS) ist eine leistungsfähige Methode, um alle potentiellen Interaktionen eines Proteins nach einer Anreicherung (Co-IP) aus einem Zelllysat zu detektieren. Durch das zusätzliche Quervernetzen dieser Proteine und anschließender MS kann ein Interaktionsnetzwerk erstellt werden, um direkte von indirekten Interaktionen unterscheiden zu können (Topology Mapping). Zur Methodenetablierung wurden kommerzielle Crosslinker und rekombinante Proteine von bekannten Interaktionspartnern mit niedriger Komplexität verwendet. Die beiden Interaktionspartner NPL4 und UFD1 konnten mit dem Crosslinker BS3 erfolgreich quervernetzt und anhand der vernetzten Peptide identifiziert werden. Im nächsten Schritt wurde dieser Arbeitsablauf auf eine Co-IP des Mediatorkomplexes aus Hefe angewendet. Die Probenkomplexität ist hierbei 500 - 1000-fach höher als bei der Verwendung von rekombinanten Proteinen. Nach der erfolgreichen Quervernetzung konnte innerhalb des Komplexes ein Interaktionsnetzwerk erstellt werden. Diese Daten passen zu dem bereits bekannten Modell des Mediatorkomplexes. Interaktionen zu bekannten Interaktionspartnern, wie der RNA-Pol II, konnten aufgrund deren substöchiometrischen Anreicherung nicht identifiziert werden. Aufgrund der genannten Limitationen beim Quervernetzen von Proteinen wurden folgende neue und verbesserte Methoden entwickelt: 1. Verwendung des spaltbaren Crosslinkers (DSSO), der während der Messung selektiv durch niedrige Kollisionsenergie gespalten werden kann, um die Datenbanksuche zu vereinfachen. Die Funktionalität der DSSO-Strategie konnte erfolgreich am Protein Cytochrom C getestet werden. Bei der ersten Fragmentierung wird der Linker gespalten, anschließend können die getrennten Peptide separat fragmentiert werden. Die erzeugten Daten sind mit einer Standarddatenbanksuche kompatibel, was bei gemischten Spektren von zwei Peptiden nicht der Fall wäre. Beim Quervernetzen der rekombinanten Interaktionspartner UBX und p97N mit DSSO konnte der zu bestätigende Crosslink zwischen zwei Lysinen nicht identifziert werden. Grund hierfür könnte eine zu kurze Linkerlänge von DSSO sein. Diese Versuche brachten jedoch einige Limitationen des Ansatzes zum Vorschein, wie die Beschränkung auf die Protease Trypsin, aufgrund der positiven Ladung am C-Terminus und die Notwendigkeit von großen Proteinmengen, da das Spalten des Linkers einen zusätzlichen Intensitätsverlust für die folgende Identifizierung der Peptide mit sich bringt. 2. Da die niedrige Abundanz von quervernetzten Peptiden das Hauptproblem bei deren Identifizierung ist, wurde eine Methode entwickelt, um während der Messung direkt nach diesen niedrig abundanten Spezies zu suchen. Entscheidendes Kriterium hierfür war, dass quervernetzte Peptide zwei C-Termini haben. Diese wurden zur Hälfte enzymatisch mit 18O bzw. 16O markiert und wieder vereinigt. Der resultierende Massenunterschied von 8 Da (4 x 18O) kommt ausschließlich bei zwei quervernetzten Peptiden vor und kann während der Messung direkt gesucht werden. Die vollständige Markierung von Peptiden mit 18O wurde zunächst am Protein Beta-Galaktosidase getestet. Bereits hier stellte sich heraus, dass der enzymatische Rücktausch von 18O zu 16O ein Problem darstellt und die Markierungseffizienz von Aminosäuren beeinflusst wird, die sich C-terminal nach der Spaltstelle befinden. Mit dieser Strategie ließ sich somit keine vollständige Markierung für alle Peptide erreichen, was für diese Strategie essentiell gewesen wäre. 3. Um alle Probleme zu umgehen, die bei der Identifizierung von quervernetzten Peptiden auftreten, wurde eine Methode entwickelt, um quervernetzte Proteine anhand von Profilen nach einer Auftrennung im Polyacrylamidgel (SDS-PAGE) zu identifizieren. Durch das Quervernetzen von Proteinen entstehen zusätzliche Proteinbanden nach einer SDSPAGE, die im Gel nach oben verschoben sind. Alle Proteine in diesen neu erzeugten Bereichen stellen somit potentielle Interaktionspartner dar. Als Modellsystem wurde der Mediatorkomplex verwendet. Er wurde aus einem Zelllysat mittels Co-IP angereichert und anschließend quervernetzt. Aus den mittels LC-MS/MS gemessenen Gelfraktionen wurden Proteinprofile erstellt und miteinander verglichen. Die Intensitätsmaxima der Proteine des Mediatorkomplexes konnten in bestimmten zusätzlichen Fraktionen gefunden werden, was den indirekten Nachweis für eine Interaktion darstellt. Die Funktionalität der Strategie konnte somit bestätigt werden. Ein verbleibender Nachteil ist jedoch die zu geringe Trennleistung von Polyacrylamidgelen. Befinden sich mehr als 50 Proteine in einer Fraktion, können potentielle Interaktionspartner nicht eindeutig zu einer Untereinheit eines Komplexes zugeordnet werden. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurde im Rahmen der Klinischen Forschergruppe 216 (CRU216) Interaktionen von Proteinen mit verschiedenen niedermolekularen Verbindungen massenspektrometrisch untersucht, um potentielle Drug Targets zu identifizieren. Diese Versuche sind vergleichbar mit Co-IP Experimenten, da sich der Arbeitsablauf nur durch die Anreicherung mittels chemischer Verbindung unterscheidet. Hierzu wurden biotinylierte Verbindungen immobilisiert und potentielle Drug Targets aus einem komplexen Zelllysat angereichert. Die Identifzierung der echten Bindungspartner wurde über quantitive Massenspektrometrie erreicht. Dabei wurden die angereicherten Proteine, die an die niedermolekularen Substanzen binden mit einer geeigneten Kontrollanreicherung verglichen. Mit den getesteten α-acyl Aminocarboxamiden konnten verschiedene Proteinkomplexe und interagierende Proteine spezifisch angereichert werden. Hierbei waren die vier Kinasen DNA-PK, ATM, ATR und mTOR besonders interessant, da sie mit onkogenem Signalling und Überlebensmechanismen wie der Hitzeschockantwort in Zellen des Multiplen Myeloms (MM) in Verbidnung stehen. Die Inhibition der DNA-PK, ATM, ATR und mTOR mit α- acyl Aminocarboxamiden stellt somit einen möglichen Therapieansatz dar, wenn er zusammen mit hitzestressauslösenden Inhibitoren verwendet wird. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Armadillodomäne innerhalb der potentiellen Drug targets signifkant angereichert wurde. Sie stellt damit eine potentielle Bindestelle der α-acyl Aminocarboxamide dar. Abschließend wurden Proteine mit biotinylierten Naphtylisochinolinen aus einem MMZelllysat angereichert, deren Vorläufersubstanzen eine Wirkung auf Tumorzellen und den Malariaparasit Plasmodium falciparum gezeigt hatten. Hierbei konnten vor allem RNAbindende- und mRNA-Splicing Proteine identifiziert werden, die zum Teil essentiell für das Spleißen in-vivo sind. Hierzu gehören mehrere Untereinheiten der Splicing Factoren 3A und 3B. Die Veränderung der transkriptionellen Regulation und der resultierende Effekt auf Krebszellen konnte bereits in anderen Studien mit dem Inhibitor Spliceostatin A gezeigt werden, der das Spleißen beeinflusst. N2 - Based on the huge biochemical variety of proteins they can interact in many different ways with other proteins or small molecules. The first part of this work is about protein-Protein interactions which were investigated with chemical crosslinking. The aim of this work was the development of new and improved methods for the construction of interaction networks. The second part is about protein-small molecule interactions to identify new drug targets with subsequent validation. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful tool to investigate all protein-protein interactions after enrichment from a cell lysate (Co-IP). By adding crosslinking to Co-IP experiments it is possible to create a topology map which is important to differenciate between direct and indirect interactions. To validate the crosslinking procedure, a commercial available crosslinker and recombinant proteins of known interaction partners with low sample complexity were used. The interaction partners NPL4 and UFD1 were successfully crosslinked with BS3 and crosslinked peptides were identified with MS. Next step was to apply this workflow on the Co-IP of the yeast mediator complex. Here the sample complexity is 500 to 1000 times higher than with recombinant proteins. After successfully crosslinking, a topology map of the subunits of the mediator complex was created. The result matches the latest model of the complex. Crosslinks to known interation partners, like the RNA-Pol II, were not identified because of their substoichiometric enrichment. Because of the known limitations of protein crosslinking, new and improved methods were developed: 1. Application of the MS-cleavable crosslinker DSSO, which could be cleaved with low collision energy, to improve the database search of crosslinked peptides. Proof of concept was done by crosslinking Cytochrom C. In the first fragmentation step only DSSO is cleaved. Fragmentation of the separated peptides is done in the next step with higher energy. Peptid fragments are compatible with a standard database search. The application of this method on the interacting proteins UBX and p97N failed because the predicted crosslink could not be identified. This could be due to the lack of linker length of DSSO. But more important, this experiment revealed the drawbacks of the DSSO approach. Trypsin is needed because this leads to a positive charge on the C-Terminus. Furthermore large amounts of protein are required to reach the needed intensity for all fragmentation steps. 2. Since the low abundancy of crosslinked peptides is the main issue for their identification, a new method was developed to directly search for them during the MS measurement. The defining criterion for this search was the occurrence of two C-termini in crosslinked peptides. Samples were splitted, labeled with 18O or 16O, and mixed again to generate a mass shift of 8 Da which is unique for crosslinked peptides. This mass shift can be used to directly search for these peptides during the measurement. Proof of concept was tested by labeling beta-galactosidase. Complete labeling could not be reached because of enzymatic back-exchange from 18O with 16O. Furthermore the neighbouring amino acids at the C-termini influence the labeling efficiency. Due to the incomplete labeling, the method could not be used for identifying crosslinked peptides. 3. To circumvent all problems which occur with the identification of crosslinked peptides, another method was developed to identifiy crosslinked proteins by their mass shift after separation on a polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE). By crosslinking proteins additional protein bands are generated which appear in the upper part of the gel. All proteins in this region are potential interation partners. Proof of concept was done by enrichment (Co-IP) of the yeast mediator complex from a cell lysate with subsequent crosslinking. From the LC-MS/MS data, profiles for every protein of the complex were generated. The additionally generated crosslink intensity peaks of interacting subunits overlapped with each other, which is the indirect proof of the functionality of this approach. The main problem with this strategy is the low separation performance. When about 50 proteins are located in one fraction, it is not possible to unambiguously match a protein to a specific subunit of the protein complex. In the second part of this work, the interactions of proteins with small molecules were investigated by mass spectrometry, to identify potential drug targets. Biotinylated versions of active compounds were immobilized to magnetic streptavidin beads and incubated with INA6 cell lysate. By quantitiative analysis of proteins, which bind to the control beads and proteins, which bind to the inhibitor beads, potential drug targets were identified. With the used α-acyl aminocarboxamides several protein complexes and interacting proteins were specifically enriched. These included the four kinases DNA-PK, ATM, ATR and mTOR, which are involved in oncogenic signaling and survival mechanisms. Moreover it is known, that the DNA-PK interacts with HSF1 and therefore regulates the HSF1-mediated heat shock response. The inhibition of DNA-PK, ATM, ATR and mTOR with α-acyl aminocarboxamides is a new therapeutic opportunity when it is combined with other substances which trigger the heat shock response. A potential binding site of the α-acyl aminocarboxamides is the armadillo domain, because it was significantly enriched among the potential drug targets. Several naphtylisochinolines were also biotinylated, immobilized and incubated with INA6 cell lysate. Precursors of these substances showed activity against multiple myeloma cells and the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum. Here we could enrich proteins which are associated with RNA-binding and mRNA splicing, including several subunits of the splicing factors 3A and 3B, which are essential for splicing. The change of the transcriptional regulation and the resulting effect on cancer cells by influencing mRNA splicing is already known and was shown by other inhibitors like Spliceostatin A. KW - Massenspektrometrie KW - Proteininteraktionen KW - Molekulare Zielstrukturen KW - Proteinquervernetzungen KW - Methodenentwicklung KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Protein interactions KW - Drug targets KW - Protein crosslinking KW - Method development Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-160462 ER - TY - THES A1 - Gulve, Nitish T1 - Subversion of Host Genome Integrity by Human Herpesvirus 6 and \(Chlamydia\) \(trachomatis\) T1 - Störung der Integrität des Wirts Genoms durch das Human Herpesvirus 6 und \(Chlamydia\) \(trachomatis\) N2 - Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies in the world. The prevalence of a microbial signature in ovarian cancer has been reported by several studies till date. In these microorganisms, Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and Chlamydia trachomatis (C.tr) are especially important as they have significantly high prevalence rate. Moreover, these pathogens are directly involved in causing DNA damage and thereby disrupting the integrity of host genome which is the underlying cause of any cancer. This study focuses on how the two pathogens, HHV-6 and C. trachomatis can affect the genome integrity in their individual capacities and thereby may drive ovarian epithelial cells towards transformation. HHV-6 has unique tendency to integrate its genome into the host genome at subtelomeric regions and achieve a state of latency. This latent virus may get reactivated during the course of life by stress, drugs such as steroids, during transplantation, pregnancy etc. The study presented here began with an interesting observation wherein the direct repeat (DR) sequences flanking the ends of double stranded viral genome were found in unusually high numbers in human blood samples as opposed to normal ratio of two DR copies per viral genome. This study was corroborated with in vitro data where cell lines were generated to mimic the HHV-6 status in human samples. The same observation of unusually high DR copies was found in these cell lines as well. Interestingly, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and inverse polymerase chain reaction followed by southern blotting showed that DR sequences were found to be integrated in nontelomeric regions as opposed to the usual sub-telomeric integration sites in both human samples and in cell lines. Sanger sequencing confirmed the non-telomeric integration of viral DR sequences in the host genome. Several studies have shown that C. trachomatis causes DNA damage and inhibits the signaling cascade of DNA damage response. However, the effect of C. trachomatis infection on process of DNA repair itself was not addressed. In this study, the effect of C. trachomatis infection on host base excision repair (BER) has been addressed. Base excision repair is a pathway which is responsible for replacing the oxidized bases with new undamaged ones. Interestingly, it was found that C. trachomatis infection downregulated polymerase β expression and attenuated polymerase β- mediated BER in vitro. The mechanism of the polymerase β downregulation was found to be associated with the changes in the host microRNAs and downregulation of tumor suppressor, p53. MicroRNA-499 which has a binding site in the polymerase β 3’UTR was shown to be upregulated during C. trachomatis infection. Inhibition of miR-499 using synthetic miR-499 inhibitor indeed improved the repair efficiency during C. trachomatis infection in the in vitro repair assay. Moreover, p53 transcriptionally regulates polymerase β and stabilizing p53 during C. trachomatis infection enhanced the repair efficiency. Previous studies have shown that C. trachomatis can reactivate latent HHV-6. Therefore, genomic instability due to insertions of unstable ‘transposon-like’ HHV-6 DR followed by compromised BER during C. trachomatis infection cumulatively support the hypothesis of pathogenic infections as a probable cause of ovarian cancer N2 - Diese Studie fokussiert sich darauf, wie die beiden Pathogene HHV-6 und C. trachomatis die Genom Integrität beeinflussen und dadurch die Transformation ovarialer Epithelzellen zu Tumorzellen antreiben können. Das latente Virus HHV-6 kann sich in Subtelomer-Regionen des Genoms integrieren und zu jeder Lebensphase (z.B. durch Stress oder Pharmaka) reaktiviert werden. Zu Beginn dieser Studie wurde die Beobachtung gemacht, dass in menschlichen Blutproben eine ungewöhnlich hohe Anzahl an sogenannten direct repeat Sequnzen, die die Enden des doppelsträngigen Virus Genoms flankieren, aufwiesen. Bestätigt wurde diese Beobachtung durch in vitro Daten, wofür Zelllinien generiert wurden, um den HHV-6 Wert in menschlichen Proben zu imitieren. Außerdem konnte durch Sanger Sequenzierung die Integration der viralen DR Sequenzen außerhalb von Telomer Regionen in das Genom nachgewiesen werden. Verschiedene Studien konnten zeigen, dass C. trachomatis DNA Schäden verursacht und die Signal Kaskade von Antworten auf DNA-Schäden inhibiert. Bisher wurde die Auswirkung einer C. trachomatis Infektion auf den Prozess der DNA Reparatur selbst noch nicht behandelt. In dieser Studie wird die Auswirkung einer C. trachomatis Infektion auf Basen-Exzisionsreparatur (BER) thematisiert. Interessanterweise wurde herausgefunden, dass während einer C. trachomatis Infektion die Expression von Polymerase β herunterreguliert ist und dadurch die Polymerase β-vermittelte Basen-Exzisionsreparatur in vitro gestoppt wird. Diese Herunterregulierung konnte mit einer verminderten Expression des Tumorsuppressor p53 assoziiert werden. Darüber hinaus reguliert p53 auf transkriptioneller Ebene Polymerase β und eine Stabilisierung von p53 während einer C. trachomatis Infektion verbesserte die Reparatur-Effizienz. Vorangegangene Studien haben außerdem gezeigt, dass C. trachomatis die latente Form von HHV-6 reaktivieren kann. Deshalb unterstützt die genomische Instabilität aufgrund einer Insertion von HHV-6 DR, gefolgt von komprimierter BER während einer C. trachomatis Infektion, zunehmend die Hypothese, dass eine pathogene Infektion ein vermutlicher Auslöser von Eierstockkrebs sein könnte. KW - Chlamydia trachomatis KW - Host Genome Integrity KW - Chlamydia trachomatis KW - Human Herpesvirus 6 KW - Humanes Herpesvirus 6 KW - Eierstockkrebs KW - Molekulargenetik Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-162026 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pauls, Dennis A1 - Hamarat, Yasmin A1 - Trufasu, Luisa A1 - Schendzielorz, Tim M. A1 - Gramlich, Gertrud A1 - Kahnt, Jörg A1 - Vanselow, Jens A1 - Schlosser, Andreas A1 - Wegener, Christian T1 - Drosophila carboxypeptidase D (SILVER) is a key enzyme in neuropeptide processing required to maintain locomotor activity levels and survival rate JF - European Journal of Neuroscience N2 - Neuropeptides are processed from larger preproproteins by a dedicated set of enzymes. The molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying preproprotein processing and the functional importance of processing enzymes are well‐characterised in mammals, but little studied outside this group. In contrast to mammals, Drosophila melanogaster lacks a gene for carboxypeptidase E (CPE ), a key enzyme for mammalian peptide processing. By combining peptidomics and neurogenetics, we addressed the role of carboxypeptidase D (dCPD ) in global neuropeptide processing and selected peptide‐regulated behaviours in Drosophila . We found that a deficiency in dCPD results in C‐terminally extended peptides across the peptidome, suggesting that dCPD took over CPE function in the fruit fly. dCPD is widely expressed throughout the nervous system, including peptidergic neurons in the mushroom body and neuroendocrine cells expressing adipokinetic hormone. Conditional hypomorphic mutation in the dCPD ‐encoding gene silver in the larva causes lethality, and leads to deficits in starvation‐induced hyperactivity and appetitive gustatory preference, as well as to reduced viability and activity levels in adults. A phylogenomic analysis suggests that loss of CPE is not common to insects, but only occurred in Hymenoptera and Diptera. Our results show that dCPD is a key enzyme for neuropeptide processing and peptide‐regulated behaviour in Drosophila . dCPD thus appears as a suitable target to genetically shut down total neuropeptide production in peptidergic neurons. The persistent occurrence of CPD in insect genomes may point to important further CPD functions beyond neuropeptide processing which cannot be fulfilled by CPE. KW - direct muss spectrometric profiling KW - friut fly behaviour KW - M14 carboxypeptidasses KW - peptidomoics KW - protein processing Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204863 VL - 50 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dechaud, Corentin A1 - Volff, Jean-Nicolas A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Naville, Magali T1 - Sex and the TEs: transposable elements in sexual development and function in animals JF - Mobile DNA N2 - Transposable elements are endogenous DNA sequences able to integrate into and multiply within genomes. They constitute a major source of genetic innovations, as they can not only rearrange genomes but also spread ready-to-use regulatory sequences able to modify host gene expression, and even can give birth to new host genes. As their evolutionary success depends on their vertical transmission, transposable elements are intrinsically linked to reproduction. In organisms with sexual reproduction, this implies that transposable elements have to manifest their transpositional activity in germ cells or their progenitors. The control of sexual development and function can be very versatile, and several studies have demonstrated the implication of transposable elements in the evolution of sex. In this review, we report the functional and evolutionary relationships between transposable elements and sexual reproduction in animals. In particular, we highlight how transposable elements can influence expression of sexual development genes, and how, reciprocally, they are tightly controlled in gonads. We also review how transposable elements contribute to the organization, expression and evolution of sexual development genes and sex chromosomes. This underscores the intricate co-evolution between host functions and transposable elements, which regularly shift from a parasitic to a domesticated status useful to the host. KW - Transposable element KW - Sex determination KW - Sexual development and function KW - Germline KW - piRNA KW - Sex chromosome Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202510 VL - 10 ER - TY - THES A1 - Sauer, Markus T1 - DHX36 function in RNA G-quadruplex-mediated posttranscriptional gene regulation T1 - Funktion von DHX36 in RNA G-Quadruplex-vermittelter posttranskriptioneller Genregulierung N2 - The expression of genetic information into proteins is a key aspect of life. The efficient and exact regulation of this process is essential for the cell to produce the correct amounts of these effector molecules to a given situation. For this purpose, eukaryotic cells have developed many different levels of transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene regulation. These mechanisms themselves heavily rely on interactions of proteins with associated nucleic acids. In the case of posttranscriptional gene regulation an orchestrated interplay between RNA-binding proteins, messenger RNAs (mRNA), and non-coding RNAs is compulsory to achieve this important function. A pivotal factor hereby are RNA secondary structures. One of the most stable and diverse representatives is the G-quadruplex structure (G4) implicated in many cellular mechanisms, such as mRNA processing and translation. In protein biosynthesis, G4s often act as obstacles but can also assist in this process. However, their presence has to be tightly regulated, a task which is often fulfilled by helicases. One of the best characterized G4-resolving factors is the DEAH-box protein DHX36. The in vitro function of this helicase is extensively described and individual reports aimed to address diverse cellular functions as well. Nevertheless, a comprehensive and systems-wide study on the function of this specific helicase was missing, so far. The here-presented doctoral thesis provides a detailed view on the global cellular function of DHX36. The binding sites of this helicase were defined in a transcriptome-wide manner, a consensus binding motif was deviated, and RNA targets as well as the effect this helicase exerts on them were examined. In human embryonic kidney cells, DHX36 is a mainly cytoplasmic protein preferentially binding to G-rich and G4-forming sequence motifs on more than 4,500 mRNAs. Loss of DHX36 leads to increased target mRNA levels whereas ribosome occupancy on and protein output of these transcripts are reduced. Furthermore, DHX36 knockout leads to higher RNA G4 levels and concomitant stress reactions in the cell. I hypothesize that, upon loss of this helicase, translationally-incompetent structured DHX36 target mRNAs, prone to localize in stress granules, accumulate in the cell. The cell reacts with basal stress to avoid cytotoxic effects produced by these mis-regulated and structured transcripts. N2 - Die Umsetzung genetischer Information in Proteine stellt einen Schlüsselaspekt des Lebens dar. Dabei ist die effiziente und exakte Regulierung dieses Prozesses für die Zelle essentiell, um die korrekte Menge dieser Effektormoleküle in einer gegebenen Situation zu produzieren. Zu diesem Zweck haben eukaryotische Zellen viele verschiedene Ebenen der transkriptionellen und posttranskriptionellen Genregulation entwickelt. Diese Mechanismen wiederum beruhen insbesondere auf den Interaktionen von Proteinen mit assoziierten Nukleinsäuren. Im Fall der posttranskriptionellen Genregulation ist ein abgestimmtes Wechselspiel zwischen RNA-bindenden Proteinen, Boten-RNAs und nicht-kodierenden RNAs zwingend erforderlich um diese wichtige Funktion zu erfüllen. Ein zentrales Element hierbei bilden RNA-Sekundärstrukturen. Einer der stabilsten und variantenreichsten Vertreter dieser Strukturen ist die G-Quadruplexstruktur (G4), die in vielen zellulären Mechanismen, wie zum Beispiel Prozessierung und Translation der Boten-RNA, involviert ist. Während der Proteinbiosynthese agieren G4s häufig als Hindernisse, können diesen Prozess allerdings auch unterstützen. In beiden Fällen muss deren Präsenz genau reguliert werden, was häufig durch Helikasen erfolgt. Einer der bestcharakterisiertesten, G4-entwindenden Faktoren ist das DEAH-Box Protein DHX36. Die in vitro Funktion dieser Helikase wurde bereits ausführlich beschrieben und einzelne Berichte haben darüber hinaus versucht, ihr verschiedene Funktionen in der Zelle zuzuweisen. Nichtsdestotrotz fehlt bislang eine umfassende und systemweite Studie zur Funktion dieser speziellen Helikase. Die hier präsentierte Doktorarbeit liefert einen detaillierten Blick auf die globale Funktion von DHX36 in der Zelle. Bindestellen dieser Helikase im Transkriptom wurden definiert, ein allgemeines Bindemotiv abgeleitet und RNA-Bindeziele sowie der Effekt, den diese Helikase auf jene ausübt, untersucht. In humanen embryonalen Nierenzellen ist DHX36 ein vorwiegend zytoplasmatisches Protein, das bevorzugt G-reiche und G4-bildende Sequenzmotive auf über 4.500 Boten-RNAs bindet. Verlust von DHX36 führt zu einem erhöhten Level dieser Boten-RNAs in der Zelle, wobei deren Besetzung mit Ribosomen und die damit verbundene Proteinproduktion reduziert ist. Weiterhin führt der Verlust von DHX36 zu einem höheren RNA G4 Level und zu gleichzeitigen Stressreaktionen in der Zelle. Meine Vermutung ist, dass sich bei einem Verlust von DHX36 translationsinkompetente, strukturierte und leicht akkumulierende Ziel-Boten-RNAs in der Zelle anreichern. Die Zelle reagiert darauf mit basalem Stress um zytotoxische Effekte dieser miss-regulierten und strukturierten Transkripte zu vermeiden. KW - RNS KW - Helicasen KW - Genexpression KW - RNA secondary structures KW - G-quadruplex KW - RNA protein interactions Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-183954 ER - TY - THES A1 - Röser [geb. Aßmus], Benjamin T1 - SPRED2 (Sprouty-related EVH1 domain containing 2) reguliert die Autophagie in Kardiomyozyten T1 - SPRED2 (Sprouty-related EVH1 domain containing 2) regulates autophagy in cardiomyocytes N2 - Das Sprouty-related, EVH1 domain containing protein 2 (SPRED2) ist ein inhibitorisches, downstream von Ras wirkendes Protein des MAP-Kinase Signalwegs, welches entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Regulation von Proliferation, Expression von Proteinen und der zellulären Homöostase hat. Der kardiale Phänotyp von SPRED2- defizienten Mäusen zeigt nicht nur eine deutliche linksventrikuläre Hypertrophie, sondern auch eine erhöhte Fibrosierung des Herzgewebes. Zellulär wird die SPRED2- Defizienz durch die Akkumulation von vesikulären Strukturen innerhalb der Zelle, sowie eine markant erhöhte Anzahl von Vesikeln entlang der longitudinalen Reihen der Mitochondrien gekennzeichnet. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, den Charakter dieser vesikulären Strukturen näher zu beleuchten und festzustellen, in welchem Zusammenhang die subzellulär veränderte Architektur mit der Hypertrophie der SPRED2-defizienten Tiere steht. Um diese Fragestellung zu beantworten, wurde zunächst nach einem vesikulären Degradationsmechanismus gesucht, der in SPRED2-/--Cardiomyocyten betroffen sein könnte. Die Macroautophagie, im folgenden Autophagie bezeichnet, ist ein solcher Degradationsmechanismus, bei dem selektiv langlebige Proteine und Zellorganellen abgebaut werden. Es konnten signifikante Veränderung der Protein-Level an Schlüsselpositionen der Autophagie identifiziert werden. Das Ubiquitin-aktivierende (E1) Enzym Homolog Atg7 sowie die Cystein-Protease Atg4B zeigen sich im SPRED2- KO deutlich reduziert. Ebenso Atg16L, das als essentieller Bestandteil des Atg5- Atg12-Atg16-Konjugationssystems bei der Konjugation von MAPLC3-II an das Phospholipid Phosphatidylethanolamin beteiligt ist. Die Autophagie-Rate als Verhältnis von konjugiertem zu unkonjugiertem MAPLC3 ist ebenfalls reduziert. Die Akkumulation der autophagischen Vesikel zeigt sich kongruent zu dem erhöhten Protein-Level der autophagischen Cargo-Rezeptoren SQSTM1 und NBR1, sowie des lysosomalen Markers CathepsinD. Außer der verringerten Autophagie-Rate zeigt sich in Einklang mit der Fibrosierung des Herzgewebes eine erhöht aktive Caspase-3 als Marker für Apoptose. Um die mitochondriale Integrität näher zu beleuchten, wurde die Menge an reaktiven Sauerstoffspezies (ROS) in Wildtyp und SPRED2-KO untersucht. Hierbei zeigte sich eine erhöhte Menge an ROS im KO, was ein Hinweis auf eine Beeinträchtigung der Mitochondrien darstellt. Letztlich wurde die Hypothese überprüft, ob ein gestörter Transport der Vesikel durch eine Beeinträchtigung der Motorproteine Dynein und Kinesin vorliegt. In der Tat zeigte sich die Aktivität der Dynein-ATPase verringert in der Abwesenheit von SPRED2. Diese Beobachtung wird durch die erhöhten Mengen des vSNARE-Proteins VTI1b unterstützt, was letztlich die Akkumulation der autophagischen Vesikel mit einer verringerten Fähigkeit zur Membranfusion und dem ineffizienteren Transport der Vesikel in Einklang bringt. Da die gesamten Experimente in einem globalen SPRED2-KO System durchgeführt wurden, können eventuelle Auswirkungen der beeinflussten hormonellen Situation der SPRED2-KO Tiere auf den Herzphänotyp nicht final ausgeschlossen werden. Um die genaue Wirkung einer SPRED2-Defizienz auf das Herzgewebe und das Herz als Organ zu untersuchen, wurde im Rahmen dieser Arbeit eine SPRED2- defiziente knockout Mauslinie mit konditionalem Potential generiert, die eine gesteuerte Deletion von SPRED2 im Herzgewebe erlaubt. N2 - The Sprouty-related, EVH1 domain containing protein 2 (SPRED2) is a MAP kinase signaling inhibitor working downstream of Ras. It has a critical influence on regulating proliferation, differentiation, expression of proteins and cellular hemostasis. The cardiac phenotype of SPRED2 deficient mice not only shows a significant left ventricular hypertrophy but also a hightened fibrosis of the heart tissue. On the cellular level the SPRED2 deficiency is marked by an accumulation of ventricular structures within the cell, as well as a decisive number of vesicles along the longitudinal rows of mitochondria. The aim of this work was to elucidate the properties of these vesicular structures and to determine in which context the subcellularly modified architecture and the hypertrophy of the SPRED2 deficient animals stand to each other. To answer this question, a protein degradation mechanism that could be changed within the SPRED2 deficient cardiomyocytes was identified. Macroautophagy, further called autophagy, is such a degradation mechanism, which degrades long-lived proteins and cell organelles. This work identified significant changes made to the protein level of key regulators of autophagy. The ubiquitin-activating (E1) enzyme homolog Atg7 as well as the cystein protease Atg4B are reduced in the SPRED2 KO. Similarly, Atg16L, which acts as an essential part of the Atg5-Atg12-Atg16 conjugation system in the process of conjugating MAPLC3 to the phospholipid phosphatidylethanolamine. The autophagic flux, as the relation between conjugated and unconjugated MAPLC3, is reduced in the knockout as well. The accumulation of autophagic vesicles is in accordance with the elevated protein levels of the cargo receptors SQSTM1 and NBR1 as well as the lysosomal marker CathepsinD. Besides the reduced autophagic flux there is an elevated protein level of activated caspase-3 as a marker of apoptosis. To further elucidate the mitochondrial integrity, the endogenous levels of reactive oxygen species were determined in wildtype and knockout individuals. It was shown that the SPRED2 knockout contains an elevated level of ROS which could be a sign of reduced mitochondrial survival. Finally, it was investigated whether the disturbed transport of vesicles was due to impaired motor protein efficiency. It was shown that the activity of the dynein ATPase was reduced when SPRED2 was absent. This observation is supported by the elevated levels of the vSNARE protein VTI1b, which connects the accumulation of autophagic vesicles with the reduced ability to membrane fusion and a less efficient transport of vesicles. The experiments of this work were conducted in a global SPRED2-KO system. Possible effects of the changed hormonal situation of the SPRED2 deficient animals to the heart phenotype cannot be excluded. For that reason a conditional SPRED2 knockout mouse line with conditional potential was created capable of further elucidating the effect of a SPRED2 deficiency to the heart. KW - Spred-Proteine KW - Autophagie KW - Herzmuskelzelle KW - Autophagozytose KW - Autophagosom KW - autophagocytosis KW - autophagosome KW - Kardiomyozyt KW - Vesikel KW - Lysosom Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-182700 ER - TY - THES A1 - Mendes Pereira, Lenon T1 - Morphological and Functional Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Human Lung T1 - Morphologische und funktionelle Magnetresonanztomographie der menschlichen Lunge mit ultrakurzen Echozeiten (UTE) N2 - In this thesis, a 3D Ultrashort echo time (3D-UTE) sequence was introduced in the Self-gated Non-Contrast-Enhanced Functional Lung Imaging (SENCEFUL) framework. The sequence was developed and implemented on a 3 Tesla MR scanner. The 3D-UTE technique consisted of a nonselective RF pulse followed by a koosh ball quasi-random sampling order of the k-space. Measurements in free-breathing and without contrast agent were performed in healthy subjects and a patient with lung cancer. A gating technique, using a combination of different coils with high signal correlation, was evaluated in-vivo and compared with a manual approach of coil selection. The gating signal offered an estimation of the breathing motion during measurement and was used as a reference to segment the acquired data into different breathing phases. Gradient delays and trajectory errors were corrected during post-processing using the Gradient Impulse Response Function. Iterative SENSE was then applied to determine the fully sampled data. In order to eliminate signal changes caused by motion, a 3D image registration was employed, and the results were compared to a 2D image registration method. Ventilation was assessed in 3D and regionally quantified by monitoring the signal changes in the lung parenchyma. Finally, image quality and quantitative ventilation values were compared to the standard 2D-SENCEFUL technique. 3D-UTE, combined with an automatic gating technique and SENCEFUL MRI, offered ventilation maps with high spatial resolution and SNR. Compared to the 2D method, UTE-SENCEFUL greatly improved the clinical quality of the structural images and the visualization of the lung parenchyma. Through‐plane motion, partial volume effects and ventilation artifacts were also reduced with a three-dimensional method for image registration. UTE-SENCEFUL was also able to quantify regional ventilation and presented similar results to previous studies. N2 - In dieser Arbeit wurde eine 3D-UTE (ultrashort echo time) Sequenz mit SENCEFUL-MRI kombiniert. Die Sequenz wurde für einen 3 T MR-Scanner entwickelt und implementiert. Die 3D-UTE-Technik bestand aus einem nichtselektiven HF- Impuls, gefolgt von einer quasi-zufälligen Abtastung des k-Raums. Messungen in freier Atmung und ohne Kontrastmittel wurden bei gesunden Probanden und einem Patienten mit Lungenkrebs durchgeführt. Zur Zuordnung der Daten zu verschiedene Atemphasen wurde eine Technik verwendet, die verschiedene Spulen mit hoher Signalkorrelation kombiniert. Die Ergebnisse wurden in einer in-vivo Messung bewertet und mit einem manuellen Ansatz der Spulenselektion verglichen. Die Technik ermöglichte eine Visualisierung der Atembewegung und wurde als Referenz verwendet, um die erfassten Daten in mehrere Atemphasen zu segmentieren. Gradientenverzögerungen und Trajektorienfehler wurden mit der "Gradient Impulse Response Function - GIRF" korrigiert. Bei der Bildrekonstruktion kam Iteratives SENSE zum Einsatz. Eine 3D-Bildregistrierung erlaubte es, Signaländerungen durch Bewegung zu eliminieren. Es erfolgte ein Vergleich der Ergebnisse mit einem 2D- Bildregistrierungsverfahren. Die Lungenventilation wurde in 3D gemessen und anhand der Signaländerungen im Lungenparenchym quantifiziert. Schließlich, wurden die Werte für die Bildqualität und Lungenventilation mit der Standard-2D-SENCEFUL-Technik verglichen. Die 3D-UTE-Sequenz in Kombination mit einer automatischen Gating-Technik und SENCEFUL-MRI, ermöglichte die Akquise von Ventilationskarten mit hoher räumlicher Auflösung und SNR. Im Vergleich zur 2D-Methode, verbesserte UTE- SENCEFUL die klinische Qualität der Morphologischen Bilder. Bewegung, Partialvolumeneffekte und Ventilationsartefakte wurden ebenfalls mit einer dreidimensionalen Methode zur Bildregistrierung reduziert. Insgesamt konnten mit der 3D-UTE Technik die Ergebnisse vorangegangener Studien reproduziert und die Bildqualität verbessert werden. KW - Kernspintomografie KW - Lunge KW - MRI KW - Ultrashort echo time - UTE KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging KW - Lung Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-183176 ER - TY - THES A1 - del Olmo Toledo, Valentina T1 - Evolution of DNA binding preferences in a family of eukaryotic transcription regulators T1 - Evolutionäre Entwicklung der Bindeaffinität an bestimmte DNA Sequenzen in einer Familie von eukaryotischen Transkriptionsfaktoren N2 - Regulation of gene expression by the control of transcription is essential for any cell to adapt to the environment and survive. Transcription regulators, i.e. sequence-specific DNA binding proteins that regulate gene expression, are central elements within the gene networks of most organisms. Transcription regulators are grouped into distinct families based on structural features that determine, to a large extent, the DNA sequence(s) that they can recognise and bind. Less is known, however, about how the DNA binding preferences can diversify within transcription regulator families during evolutionary timescales, and how such diversification can affect the biology of the organism. In this dissertation I study the SREBP (sterol regulatory element binding protein) family of transcriptional regulators in yeasts, and in Candida albicans in particular, as an experimental system to address these questions. The SREBPs are conserved from fungi to humans and represent a subgroup of basic helix-loop-helix DNA binding proteins. Early chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments with SREBPs from humans and yeasts showed that these proteins bound in vivo to the canonical DNA sequence, termed E-box, most basic helix-loop-helix proteins bind to. By contrast, most recent analysis carried out with less-studied fungal SREBPs revealed a non-canonical DNA motif to be the most overrepresented sequence in the bound regions. This study aims to establish the intrinsic DNA binding preferences of key branches of this family and to determine how the divergence in DNA binding affinities originated. To this end, I combined phylogenetic and ancestral reconstruction with extensive biochemical characterisation of key SREBP proteins. The results indicated that while the most-studied SREBPs (in mammals) indeed show preference for the E-box, a second branch of the family preferentially binds the non-E-box, and a third one is able to bind both sequences with similar affinity. The preference for one or the other DNA sequence is an intrinsic property of each protein because their purified DNA binding domain was sufficient to recapitulate their in vivo binding preference. The ancestor that gave rise to these two different types of SREBPs (the branch that binds E-box and the one that binds non-E-box DNA) appears to be a protein with a broader DNA binding capability that had a slight preference for the non-canonical motif. Thus, the results imply these two branches originated by either enhancing the original ancestral preference for non-E-box or tilting it towards the E-box DNA and flipping the preference for this sequence. The main function associated with members of the SREBP family in most eukaryotes is the control of lipid biosynthesis. I have further studied the function of these proteins in the lineage that encompasses the human associated yeast C. albicans. Strikingly, the three SREBPs present in the fungus’ genome contribute to the colonisation of the mammalian gut by regulating cellular processes unrelated to lipid metabolism. Here I describe that two of the three C. albicans SREBPs form a regulatory cascade that regulates morphology and cell wall modifications under anaerobic conditions, whereas the third SREBP has been shown to be involved in the regulation of glycolysis genes. Therefore, I posit that the described diversification in DNA binding specificity in these proteins and the concomitant expansion of targets of regulation were key in enabling this fungal lineage to associate with animals. N2 - Für jede Zelle ist es essenziell die Transkription über die Genexpression zu regulieren, um sich an unterschiedliche Lebensbedingungen anzupassen. Regulatoren der Transkription, zum Beispiel sequenzspezifische DNA-binde Proteine, sind ein zentrales Element des Genregulationsnetzwerks in den meisten Organismen. Auf Grund ihres Aufbaus sowie der daraus resultierenden spezifischen Eigenschaften DNA zu binden, werden diese Regulatoren in unterschiedliche Familien unterteilt. Bisher ist wenig darüber bekannt, wie unterschiedlich die DNA Sequenzen sein können, welche von einer Familie von Transkriptionsregulatoren gebunden werden, wie sich diese Diversität der Bindung in der Evolution über die Zeit verändert hat und ob diese unterschiedlichen Bindeaffinitäten die Biologie eines Organismus beeinflussen. In dieser Dissertation befasse ich mich mit der Transkriptionsregulator Familie der SREBPs (sterol regulatory element binding protein) in Hefen, als Modelorganismus diente dabei Candida albicans. Die Familie der SREBPs ist vom Pilz zu den Menschen genetisch weitestgehend konserviert und repräsentiert eine Unterfamilie der Helix-loop-helix DNA-binde Proteine. Erste Chromatin-Immunpräzipitation Experimente der SREBPs in Menschen und Hefen zeigen in vivo eine Bindung an eine kanonische DNA Sequenz genannt E-box, welche von den meisten der Helix-loop-helix Proteine gebunden wird. Im Gegensatz zeigen neuere Analysen, welche mit weniger bekannten SREBPs aus Pilzen durchgeführt wurden, dass hauptsächlich nicht-kanonische DNA Sequenzen gebunden werden. Diese Arbeit versucht die Präferenzen, mit welchen einige der wichtigsten Mitglieder der Familie der SREBPs an bestimmte DNA Sequenzen binden aufzudecken und heraus zu finden wie es innerhalb dieser Gruppe zu unterschiedlichen Bindungsaffinitäten kam. Dafür wurden phylogenetische Rekonstruktionsanalysen und aufwändige biochemische Charakterisierungen einiger der Proteine der SREBP Familie durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die meisten der bisher charakterisierten SREBPs (in Säugetieren) es vorziehen an die E-box Sequenz zu binden, ein anderer Zweig des SREBP Familienstammbaums bevorzugt hingegen die non-E-box Sequenz, ein dritter Zweig des Stammbaums ist in der Lage beide Sequenzen mit gleicher Affinität zu binden. Das Bevorzugen einer der beiden DNA Sequenzen ist eine natürliche Eigenschaft des jeweiligen Proteins, da in Experimenten die isolierte DNA-binde Domäne der Proteine ausreichend war, um die in vivo Bindepräferenzen zu replizieren. Der Ursprung dieser beiden Gruppen (der E-box bindenden Gruppe und der Gruppe die non-E-box Sequenzen bindet) liegt wahrscheinlich in einem Protein, welches beide Sequenzen binden konnte, mit einem Vorzug für die nicht-kanonische Sequenz. Dies impliziert, dass die Gruppen entstanden sind indem sich entweder eine Präferenz des Vorgängerproteins für die nicht-kanonische Sequenz durchgesetzt hat oder, dass sich eine Präferenz für die E-box bindende Sequenz durchgesetzt hat und somit die Affinität dahingehend verschoben wurde. Die Hauptfunktion der meisten Proteine der SREBP Familie in Eukaryoten ist die Kontrolle der Lipid Biosynthese. In meiner Arbeit habe ich mich auf die Erforschung der SREBPs in einer Gruppe von Organismen zugewandt, die auch den mit dem Menschen assoziierten Hefepilz Candida albicans umfasst. Erstaunlicherweise beeinflussen die drei SREBPs die im Candida albicans Genom zu finden sind, die Kolonisierung des Säugetierdarms, jedoch nicht durch die Kontrolle der Lipid Biosynthese. Im Folgenden werde ich beschreiben wie zwei der drei SREBPs aus Candida albicans eine regulatorische Kaskade bilden, welche Einfluss auf die Regulierung der Morphologie und der Zellwandzusammensetzung des Pilzes unter anaeroben Bedingungen hat, wohingegen das dritte Protein der SREBP Familie für die Regulierung der Glykolyse von Bedeutung ist. Ich habe festgestellt, dass die beschriebene Vielfalt mit der diese Proteine an bestimmte DNA Sequenzen binden und die damit einhergehende Expansion der regulierbaren Ziele ein wesentlicher Grund dafür ist, dass Organismen dieses Stammbaums erfolgreich Säugetiere kolonisieren können. KW - Candida albicans KW - SREBP KW - evolution Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187890 ER - TY - THES A1 - Soares Machado, Jéssica T1 - Dosimetry-based Assessment of Radiation-associated Cancer risk for \(^9\)\(^9\)\(^m\)Tc-MAG3 Scans in Infants and Optimization of Administered Activities for \(^6\)\(^8\)Ga-labelled Peptides in Children and Adolescents T1 - Dosimetrie-basierte Abschätzung des strahlungsassoziierten Krebsrisikos für \(^9\)\(^9\)\(^m\)Tc-MAG3-Scans bei Säuglingen und Optimierung der verabreichten Aktivitäten für \(^6\)\(^8\)Ga-markierte Peptide bei Kindern und Jugendlichen N2 - In 2006, 0.18 Mio pediatric nuclear medicine diagnostic exams were performed worldwide. However, for most of the radiopharmaceuticals used data on biokinetics and, as a consequence on dosimetry, are missing or have not been made publicly available. Therefore, most of the dosimetry assessments presented today for diagnostic agents in children and adolescents rely on the biokinetics data of adults. Even for one of the most common nuclear medicine exams for this patient group, renal scintigraphy with 99mTc-MAG3 for assessing renal function measured data on biokinetics is available only from a study performed on four children of different ages. In particular, renal scans are among the most frequent exams performed on infants and toddlers. Due to the young age, this patient group can be classified as a risk group with a higher probability of developing stochastic radiation effects compared to adults. As there are only limited data on biokinetics and dosimetry in this patient group, the aim of this study is to reassess the dosimetry and the associated radiation risk for a larger number of infants undergoing 99mTc-MAG3 renal scans based on a retrospective analysis of existing patient data. Data were collected retrospectively from 34 patients younger than 20 months with normal (20 patients) and abnormal renal function (14 patients) undergoing 99mTc-MAG3 scans. The patient-specific organ activity was estimated based on a retrospective calibration which was performed based on a set of two 3D-printed infant kidneys (newborns: 8.6 ml; 1-year-old: 23.4 ml) filled with known activities. Both phantoms were scanned at different positions along the anteroposterior axis inside a water phantom, providing depth- and size-dependent attenuation correction factors for planar imaging. Time-activity curves were determined by drawing kidney, bladder, and whole body regions-of-interest for each patient, and subsequently applying the calibration factor for conversion of counts to activity. Patient-specific time-integrated activity coefficients were obtained by integrating the organ-specific time-activity curves. Absorbed and effective dose coefficients for each patient were assessed with OLINDA/EXM for the provided newborn and 1-year-old phantom. Based on absorbed dose values, the radiation risk estimation was performed individually for each of the 34 patients with the National Cancer Institute’s Radiation Risk Assessment Tool. The patients’ organ-specific mean absorbed dose coefficients for the patients with normal renal function were 0.04±0.03 mGy/MBq for the kidneys and 0.27±0.24 mGy/MBq for the bladder. This resulted in a mean effective dose coefficient of 0.02±0.02 mSv/MBq. Based on the dosimetry results, the evaluation of the excess lifetime risk (ELR) for the development of radiation-induced cancer showed that the group of newborns has an ELR of 16.8 per 100,000 persons, which is higher in comparison with the 1-year-old group with an ELR of 14.7 per 100,000 persons. With regard to the 14 patients with abnormal renal function, the mean values for the organ absorbed dose coefficients for the patients were: 0.40±0.34 mGy/MBq for the kidneys and 0.46±0.37 mGy/MBq for the bladder. The corresponding effective dose coefficients (mSv/MBq) was: 0.05±0.02 mSv/MBq. The mean ELR (per 100,000 persons) for developing cancer from radiation exposure for patients with abnormal renal function was 29.2±18.7 per 100,000 persons. As a result, the radiation-associated stochastic risk increases with the organ doses, taking age- and gender-specific influences into account. Overall, the lifetime radiation risk associated with the 99mTc-MAG3 scans is very low in comparison to the general population risk for developing cancer. Furthermore, due to the increasing demand for PET-scans in children and adolescents with 68Ga-labelled peptides, in this work published data sets for those compounds were analyzed to derive recommendations for the administered activities in children and adolescents. The recommendation for the activities to be administered were based on the weight-independent effective dose model, proposed by the EANM Pediatric Dosage Card for application in pediatric nuclear medicine. The aim was to derive recommendations on administered activities for obtaining age-independent effective doses. Consequently, the corresponding weight-dependent effective dose coefficients were rescaled according to the formalism of the EANM dosage card, to determine the radiopharmaceutical class of 68Ga-labeled peptides (“multiples”), and to calculate the baseline activities based on the biokinetics of these compounds and an upper limit of the administered activity of 185 MBq for an adult. Analogous to 18F-fluoride, a minimum activity of 14 MBq is recommended. As a result, for those pediatric nuclear medicine applications involving 68Ga-labeled peptides, new values for the EANM dosage card were proposed and implemented based on the results derived in this work. Overall, despite the low additional radiation-related cancer risk, all efforts should be undertaken to optimize administered activities in children and adolescents for obtaining sufficient diagnostic information with minimal associated radiation risk. N2 - Im Jahr 2006 wurden weltweit 0,18 Mio. nuklearmedizinische Diagnostikuntersuchungen bei Kindern durchgeführt. Für die meisten Radiopharmazeutika fehlen jedoch Daten zur Biokinetik und damit zur Dosimetrie oder diese wurden nicht öffentlich zugänglich gemacht. Daher basieren die meisten der heute vorgestellten Dosimetriedaten für Diagnostika bei Kindern und Jugendlichen auf den biokinetischen Daten von Erwachsenen. Selbst für eine der häufigsten nuklearmedizinischen Untersuchungen für diese Patientengruppe, die Nierenszintigraphie mit 99mTc-MAG3 für Bestimmung der Nierenfunktion, wurden Daten zur Biokinetik bisher nur für vier Kinder unterschiedlichen Alters erhoben. Insbesondere Nierenuntersuchungen gehören zu den häufigsten Untersuchungen bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern. Aufgrund des jungen Alters kann diese Patientengruppe als Hochrisikogruppe mit einer höheren Wahrscheinlichkeit für das Eintreten stochastischer Strahlenwirkungen im Vergleich zu Erwachsenen eingestuft werden. Da es in dieser Patientengruppe nur begrenzte Daten zur Biokinetik und Dosimetrie gibt, ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit, die Dosimetrie und das damit verbundene Strahlenrisiko für eine größere Anzahl von Kleinkindern, die sich 99mTc-MAG3-Nierenscans unterziehen, auf der Grundlage einer retrospektiven Analyse bestehender Patientendaten neu zu bewerten. Die Daten wurden retrospektiv von 34 Patienten unter 20 Monaten mit normaler (20 Patienten) und eingeschränkter Nierenfunktion (14 Patienten) erhoben, bei denen 99mTc-MAG3-Scans durchgeführt wurden. Die patientenspezifische Organaktivität wurde basierend auf einer retrospektiven Kalibrierung abgeschätzt. Diese Kalibrierung basiert auf einem Satz von zwei 3D-gedruckten Säuglingsnieren, die mit bekannten Aktivitäten gefüllt wurden. Beide Phantome wurden an verschiedenen Positionen entlang der anteroposterioren Achse innerhalb eines Wasserphantoms gescannt und lieferten tiefen- und größenabhängige Schwächungskorrekturfaktoren für die planare Bildgebung. Die Zeit-Aktivitäts-Kurven wurden bestimmt, indem für jeden Patienten Nieren-, Blasen- und Ganzkörperregionen eingezeichnet und anschließend der entsprechende Kalibrierfaktor für die Umwandlung der Zählraten in Aktivität angewendet wurde. Patientenspezifische zeitintegrierte Aktivitätskoeffizienten wurden durch Integration der organspezifischen Zeit-Aktivitätskurven ermittelt. Die Energie- und effektiven Dosiskoeffizienten für jeden Patienten wurden mit OLINDA/EXM für das bereitgestellte Neugeborenen- und 1-Jahres-Phantom ermittelt. Basierend auf diesen Werten für die Energiedosen wurde eine individuelle Abschätzung des Strahlenrisikos für jeden der 34 Patienten mit dem Radiation Risk Assessment Tool des National Cancer Institute durchgeführt. Die organspezifischen mittleren Energiedosiskoeffizienten der Patienten mit normaler Nierenfunktion lagen bei 0,04±0,03 mGy/MBq für die Nieren und 0,27±0,24 mGy/MBq für die Blase, was in einem mittleren effektiven Dosiskoeffizienten von 0,02±0,02 mSv/MBq resultiert. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen der Dosimetrie, zeigte die Auswertung des zusätzlichen Lebenszeitrisikos ("excess lifetime risk", ELR) für die Entwicklung von strahleninduziertem Krebs, dass die Gruppe der Neugeborenen ein ELR von 16,8 pro 100.000 Personen aufweist, was höher ist als das der Gruppe der 1-jährigen mit 14,7 pro 100.000 Personen. Bei den 14 Patienten mit abnormaler Nierenfunktion waren die Mittelwerte für die Koeffizienten der organspezifischen Energiedosen für die Patienten: 0,40±0,34 mGy/MBq für die Nieren; 0,46±0,37 mGy/MBq für die Blase. Der effektivendosiskoeffizienten (mSv/MBq) waren: 0,05±0,02 mSv/MBq. Der mittlere ELR (pro 100.000 Personen) für die Entstehung von Krebs durch die Strahlenexposition von Patienten mit abnormaler Nierenfunktion betrug 29,2±18,7 pro 100.000 Personen. Das mit der Strahlung verbundene stochastische Risiko steigt mit den Organdosen unter Berücksichtigung alters- und geschlechtsspezifischer Einflüsse. Im Allgemeinen ist das mit den 99mTc-MAG3-Scans verbundene lebenslange Strahlenrisiko im Vergleich zum allgemeinen Bevölkerungsrisiko für die Entstehung von Krebs sehr gering. Aufgrund der steigenden Nachfrage nach PET-Scans bei Kindern und Jugendlichen mit 68Ga-markierten Peptiden wurden zusätzlich publizierte Datensätze für diese Verbindungen analysiert, um Empfehlungen für zu verabreichende Aktivitäten bei Kindern und Jugendlichen abzuleiten. Die Dosisberechnungen dazu basierten auf dem Modell einer gewichtsunabhängigen effektiven Dosis, das von der EANM Pediatric Dosage Card für den Einsatz in der pädiatrischen Nuklearmedizin vorgeschlagen wurde. Ziel war es, Empfehlungen zu verabreichenden Aktivitäten so aufzuteilen, dass sich altersunabhängige effektive Dosen ergeben. Dazu wurden die entsprechenden gewichtsabhängigen effektiven Dosiskoeffizienten gemäß dem Formalismus der EANM-Dosierungsempfehlung neu berechnet, um die radiopharmazeutische Klasse der 68Ga-markierten Peptide ("Multiples") zu bestimmen und die Werte für Basisaktivität zu berechnen. Diese basierend auf den Biokinetiken dieser Verbindungen und einer Obergrenze der verabreichten Aktivität von 185 MBq für einen Erwachsenen. Analog zu 18F-Fluorid, wird eine Mindestaktivität von 14 MBq empfohlen. Darauf basierend wurden für die pädiatrischen nuklearmedizinischen Anwendungen mit 68Ga-markierten Peptiden neue Werte für die EANM-Dosierungsempfehlung vorgeschlagen. Insgesamt sollten, trotz des geringen zusätzlichen strahlenbedingten Krebsrisikos, alle Anstrengungen unternommen werden, um die verabreichten Aktivitäten bei Kindern und Jugendlichen zu optimieren, um ausreichende diagnostische Informationen bei minimalem zusätzlichem Strahlenrisiko zu erhalten. KW - Biokinetics KW - Absorbed Doses KW - Risk Assessment KW - Pediatric Patients KW - Dosimetry KW - Nuclear Medicine KW - Pediatric Nuclear Medicine KW - Diagnostic Imaging Exams KW - Radiation Protection KW - Administered Activities KW - Radiation-associated Cancer Risk KW - Ga-68-labelled Peptides KW - Tc-99m-MAG3 Scans Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-192640 ER - TY - THES A1 - Romanov, Natalie T1 - Characterizing Variation of Protein Complexes and Functional Modules on a Temporal Scale and across Individuals T1 - Charakterisierung der Variation von Proteinkomplexen und funktionellen Modulen im zeitlichen Kontext und zwischen Individuen N2 - A fundamental question in current biology concerns the translational mechanisms leading from genetic variability to phenotypes. Technologies have evolved to the extent that they can efficiently and economically determine an individual’s genomic composition, while at the same time big data on clinical profiles and diagnostics have substantially accumulated. Genome-wide association studies linking genomic loci to certain traits, however, remain limited in their capacity to explain the cellular mechanisms that underlie the given association. For most associations, gene expression has been blamed; yet given that transcript and protein abundance oftentimes do not correlate, that finding does not necessarily decrypt the underlying mechanism. Thus, the integration of further information is crucial to establish a model that could prove more accurate in predicting genotypic effects on the human organism. In this work we describe the so-called proteotype as a feature of the cell that could provide a substantial link between genotype and phenotype. Rather than looking at the proteome as a set of independent molecules, we demonstrate a consistent modular architecture of the proteome that is driven by molecular cooperativity. Functional modules, especially protein complexes, can be further interrogated for differences between individuals and tackled as imprints of genetic and environmental variability. We also show that subtle stoichiometric changes of protein modules could have broader effects on the cellular system, such as the transport of specific molecular cargos. The presented work also delineates to what extent temporal events and processes influence the stoichiometry of protein complexes and functional modules. The re-wiring of the glycolytic pathway for example is illustrated as a potential cause for an increased Warburg effect during the ageing of the human bone marrow. On top of analyzing protein abundances we also interrogate proteome dynamics in terms of stability and solubility transitions during the short temporal progression of the cell cycle. One of our main observations in the thesis encompass the delineation of protein complexes into respective sub-complexes according to distinct stability patterns during the cell cycle. This has never been demonstrated before, and is functionally relevant for our understanding of the dis- and assembly of large protein modules. The insights presented in this work imply that the proteome is more than the sum of its parts, and primarily driven by variability in entire protein ensembles and their cooperative nature. Analyzing protein complexes and functional modules as molecular reflections of genetic and environmental variations could indeed prove to be a stepping stone in closing the gap between genotype and phenotype and customizing clinical treatments in the future. N2 - Eine fundamentale Frage in der heutigen biologischen Forschung ist durch welche Mechanismen eine gebenene genetische Variation sich in einem Phänotyp äußert. Etliche Technologien können heutzutage effizient und ökonomisch die genomische Komposition eines Individuals mit beispielloser Genaugikeit aufschlüsseln. Gleichzeitig gibt es wesentliche Erfolge und Bemühungen, große Datenmengen von Patienten zu sammeln, sowohl klinische Profile, als auch Diagnosen. Es gibt bereits mehrere genomweite Assoziationsstudien, die auf spezifische genomische Loci hinweisen, die womöglich einem bestimmenten phänotypischen Merkmalen zugrunde liegen. Obwohl für die meisten genetischen Assoziationen, eine veränderte Genexpression oftmals als Ursache diskutiert wird, ist dies wahrscheinlich nur ein Teil des zugrundeliegenden Mechanismus. Wir können dies annehmen, da RNA-Transkripte nicht unbedingt mit ihrem Protein-Produkt korrelieren aufgrund von post-transkriptioneller und translationeller Regulation. Um dementsprechend ein Modell zu etablieren, das die genotypischen Effekte auf den human Organismus akkurat vorhersagen kann, ist eine Integration von mehreren zellulären Informationsschichten notwendig. In der folgenden Arbeit beschreiben wir den sogenannten Proteotyp als ein zelluläres Merkmal, das eine substanzielle Verknüpfung zwischen dem Genotyp und dem Phänotyp eines Individuums schaffen könnte. Statt das Proteom als ein Set unabhängiger Moleküle zu betrachten, zeigen wir eine konsistent moduläre Architektur des Proteoms auf, das durch die molekulare Kooperativität zustande kommt. Funktionelle Module, v.a. Proteinkomplexe, können weiters auf Unterschiede zwischen Individuen untersucht werden, sowie deren Variabilität aufgrund genetischer oder umweltbedingter Ursachen. Wir demonstrieren u.a. auch, dass leichte stöchiometrische Veränderungen in solchen Modulen zu weitläufigen Effekten im zellulären Haushalt führen können, z.B. im Transport von spezifischen Molekülen. Die vorgestellte Arbeit beschreibt allerdings auch inwieweit temporäre Ereignisse und Prozesse die Stöchiometrie von Proteinkomplexen und funktionellen Modulen beeinflussen. Wir zeigen z.B. auf, dass eine Veränderung in der glycolytischen Enzym-Stöchiometrie die Ursache für den Warburgeffekt in gealterten Zellen des humanen Knochenmarks darstellen könnte. Neben der Analyse von Protein-Abundanzen untersucht die vorliegende Arbeit Proteomdynamik auch in Hinblick auf Stabilitäts- und Löslichkeitsveränderungen von Proteine in kürzeren Zeitabläufen wie den Zellzyklus. Wir können dabei feststellen, dass Untereinheiten von größeren Proteinkomplexen verschiedene Stabilitätsmuster aufweisen. Dies ist durchaus eine neue Erkennis, die weittragende Folgen für unser Verständnis des Ab- und Aufbauprozesses von Proteinkomplexen haben könnte. Die Einblicke, die aus dieser Arbeit gewonnen werden können, implizieren in jedem Falle, dass das Proteom mehr als die Summe der Einzelteile darstellt, und hauptsächlich durch die Variabilität von gesamten Proteinensembls und deren Kooperativität bestimmt wird. Proteinkomplexe und funktionelle Module sollten daher als molekulare Reflektionen von genetisch- und umweltbedingter Variation betrachtet werden. Solch ein Perspektivenwechsel könnte damit die Möglichkeit bieten eine mechanistische Verknüpfung von Genotyp und Phänotyp zu gewährleisten, und ein Fundament für zukünftige individuell angepasste klinische Behandlungen darstellen. KW - Proteotype KW - Proteomics Analysis of Complexes Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-168139 ER - TY - THES A1 - AL-Hijailan, Reem Saud T1 - Establishment of endothelialized cardiac tissue using human induced pluripotent stem cells generated cardiomyocytes T1 - Etablierung eines endothelialisierten kardialen Gewebes mittels Kardiomyozyten, differenziert aus induzierten pluripotenten Stammzellen N2 - Cardiovascular diseases are considered the leading cause of death worldwide according to the World Health Organization. Heart failure is the last stage of most of these diseases, where loss of myocardium leads to architectural and functional decline. The definitive treatment option for patients with CVDs is organ or tissue transplantation, which relies on donor availability. Therefore, generating an autologous bioengineered myocardium or heart could overcome this limitation. In addition, generating cardiac patches will provide ventricular wall support and enable reparative stem cells delivery to damaged areas. Although many hurdles still exist, a good number of researches have attempted to create an engineered cardiac tissue which can induce endogenous cardiac repair by replacing damaged myocardium. The present study provided cardiac patches in two models, one by a detergent coronary perfusion decellularization protocol that was optimized, and the other that resulted in a 3D cell-free extracellular matrix with intact architecture and preserved s-glycosaminoglycan and vasculature conduits. Perfusion with 1% Sodium dodecyle sulfate (SDS) under constant pressure resulted in cell-free porcine scaffold within two and cell-free rat scaffold in 7 days, whereas scaffold perfused with 4% sodium deoxycholate (SDO) was not able to remove cells completely. Re-reendothelialization of tissue vasculature was obtained by injecting human microvascular endothelial cell and human fibroblast in 2:1 ratio in a dynamic culture. One-week later, CD31 positive cells and endothelium markers were observed, indicating new blood lining. Moreover, functionality test of re-endothelialized tissue revealed improvement in clotting seen in decellularized tissues. When the tissue was ready to be repopulated, porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (PiPSc) were generated by transfected reprogramming of porcine skin fibroblast and then differentiated to cardiac cells following a robust protocol, for an autologous cardiac tissue model. However, due to the limitation in the PiPSc cell number, alternatively, human induced pluripotent stem cells generated cardiac cells were used. For reseeding a coculture of human iPSc generated cardiac cells, human mesenchymal stem cells and human fibroblast in 2:1:1 ratio respectively were used in a dynamic culture for 6-8 weeks. Contractions at different areas of the tissue were recorded at an average beating rate of 67 beats/min. In addition, positive cardiac markers (Troponin T), Fibroblast (vemintin), and mesenchymal stem cells (CD90) were detected. Not only that, but by week 3, MSC started differentiating to cardiac cells progressively until few CD90 positive cells were very few by week 6 with increasing troponin t positive cells in parallel. Electrophysiological and drug studies were difficult to obtain due to tissue thickness and limited assessment sources. However, the same construct was established using small intestine submucosa (SISer) scaffold, which recorded a spontaneous beating rate between 0.88 and 1.2 Hz, a conduction velocity of 23.9 ± 0.74 cm s−1, and a maximal contraction force of 0.453 ± 0.015 mN. Moreover, electrophysiological studies demonstrated a drug-dependent response on beating rate; a higher adrenalin frequency was revealed in comparison to the untreated tissue and isoproterenol administration, whereas a decrease in beating rate was observed with propranolol and untreated tissue. The present study demonstrated the establishment of vascularized cardiac tissue, which can be used for human clinical application. N2 - Etablierung eines endothelialisierten kardialen Gewebes mittels Kardiomyozyten, differenziert aus induzierten pluripotenten Stammzellen KW - cardiac tissue KW - biological scaffolds KW - decellularization KW - induced pluripotent stem cells Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173979 ER - TY - THES A1 - Nelke, Lena T1 - Establishment and optimization of 3-dimensional mamma carcinoma models for therapy simulation and drug testing T1 - Etablierung und Optimierung 3-dimensionaler Mammakarzinommodelle für die Therapiesimulation und die Wirkstofftestung N2 - Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and the second most common cause of cancer death in the developed countries. As the current state of the art in first-line drug screenings is highly ineffective, there is an urgent need for novel test systems that allow for reliable predictions of drug sensitivity. In this study, a tissue engineering approach was used to successfully establish and standardize a 3-dimensional (3D) mamma carcinoma test system that was optimized for the testing of anti-tumour therapies as well as for the investigation of tumour biological issues. This 3D test system is based on the decellularised scaffold of a porcine small intestinal segment and represents the three molecular subsets of oestrogen receptor-positive, HER2/Neu-overexpressing and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The characterization of the test system with respect to morphology as well as the expression of markers for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and differentiation indicate that the 3D tumour models cultured under static and dynamic conditions reflect tumour relevant features and have a good correlation with in vivo tumour tissue from the corresponding xenograft models. In this respect, the dynamic culture in a flow bioreactor resulted in the generation of tumour models that exhibited best reflection of the morphology of the xenograft material. Furthermore, the proliferation indices of 3D models were significantly reduced compared to 2-dimensional (2D) cell culture and therefore better reflect the in vivo situation. As this more physiological proliferation index prevents an overestimation of the therapeutic effect of cytostatic compounds, this is a crucial advantage of the test system compared to 2D culture. Moreover, it could be shown that the 3D models can recapitulate different tumour stages with respect to tumour cell invasion. The scaffold SISmuc with the preserved basement membrane structure allowed the investigation of invasion over this barrier which tumour cells of epithelial origin have to cross in in vivo conditions during the process of metastasis formation. Additionally, the data obtained from ultrastructural analysis and in situ zymography indicate that the invasion observed is connected to a tumour cell-associated change in the basement membrane in which matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are also involved. This features of the model in combination with the mentioned methods of analysis could be used in the future to mechanistically investigate invasive processes and to test anti-metastatic therapy strategies. The validation of the 3D models as a test system with respect to the predictability of therapeutic effects was achieved by the clinically relevant targeted therapy with the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab which induces therapeutic response only in patients with HER2/Neu-overexpressing mamma carcinomas due to its specificity for HER2. While neither in 2D nor in 3D models of all molecular subsets a clear reduction of cell viability or an increase in apoptosis could be observed, a distinct increase in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) was detected only in the HER2/NEU-overexpressing 3D model with the help of an ADCC reporter gene assay that had been adapted for the application in the 3D model in the here presented work. This correlates with the clinical observations and underlines the relevance of ADCC as a mechanism of action (MOA) of trastuzumab. In order to measure the effects of ADCC on the tumour cells in a direct way without the indirect measurement via a reporter gene, the introduction of an immunological component into the models was required. This was achieved by the integration of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), thereby allowing the measurement of the induction of tumour cell apoptosis in the HER2/Neu-overexpressing model. Hence, in this study an immunocompetent model could be established that holds the potential for further testing of therapies from the emergent field of cancer immunotherapies. Subsequently, the established test system was used for the investigation of scientific issues from different areas of application. By the comparison of the sensitivity of the 2D and 3D model of TNBC towards the water-insoluble compound curcumin that was applied in a novel nanoformulation or in a DMSO-based formulation, the 3D test system was successfully applied for the evaluation of an innovative formulation strategy for poorly soluble drugs in order to achieve cancer therapy-relevant concentrations. Moreover, due to the lack of targeted therapies for TNBC, the TNBC model was applied for testing novel treatment strategies. On the one hand, therapy with the WEE1 kinase inhibitor MK 1775 was evaluated as a single agent as well as in combination with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. This therapy approach did not reveal any distinct benefits in the 3D test system in contrast to testing in 2D culture. On the other hand, a novel therapy approach from the field of cellular immunotherapies was successfully applied in the TNBC 3D model. The treatment with T cells that express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) against ROR1 revealed in the static as well as in the dynamic model a migration of T cells into the tumour tissue, an enhanced proliferation of T cells as well as an efficient lysis of the tumour cells via apoptosis and therefore a specific anti-cancer effect of CAR-transduced T cells compared to control T cells. These results illustrate that the therapeutic application of CAR T cells is a promising strategy for the treatment of solid tumours like TNBC and that the here presented 3D models are suitable for the evaluation and optimization of cellular immunotherapies. In the last part of this work, the 3D models were expanded by components of the tumour stroma for future applications. By coculture with fibroblasts, the natural structures of the intestinal scaffold comprising crypts and villi were remodelled and the tumour cells formed tumour-like structures together with the fibroblasts. This tissue model displayed a strong correlation with xenograft models with respect to morphology, marker expression as well as the activation of dermal fibroblasts towards a cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype. For the integration of adipocytes which are an essential component of the breast stroma, a coculture with human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (hASCs) which could be successfully differentiated along the adipose lineage in 3D static as well as dynamic models was established. These models are suitable especially for the mechanistic analysis of the reciprocal interaction between tumour cells and adipocytes due to the complex differentiation process. Taken together, in this study a human 3D mamma carcinoma test system for application in the preclinical development and testing of anti-tumour therapies as well as in basic research in the field of tumour biology was successfully established. With the help of this modular test system, relevant data can be obtained concerning the efficacy of therapies in tumours of different molecular subsets and different tumour stages as well as for the optimization of novel therapy strategies like immunotherapies. In the future this can contribute to improve the preclinical screening and thereby to reduce the high attrition rates in pharmaceutical industry as well as the amount of animal experiments. N2 - Brustkrebs ist die häufigste Krebsart bei Frauen und die zweithäufigste Todesursache bei Krebserkrankungen in den Industrienationen. Aufgrund der Ineffizienz der derzeit verwendeten Modelle für die Identifizierung neuer Therapeutika herrscht ein hoher Bedarf an neuartigen Testsystemen, welche aussagekräftige Vorhersagen über die Wirksamkeit ermöglichen. In dieser Arbeit wurde mit Hilfe des Tissue Engineerings erfolgreich ein 3-dimensionales (3D) Mammakarzinom-Testsystem etabliert, standardisiert und für die Testung von anti-tumoralen Therapien sowie weitere tumorbiologische Fragestellungen optimiert. Dieses 3D Testsystem basiert auf der dezellularisierten Gerüststruktur eines porcinen Dünndarmsegments und repräsentiert die drei molekularen Subtypen des Östrogen-Rezeptor-positiven, HER2/Neu-überexprimierenden sowie des tripel-negativen Brustkrebses (TNBC). Die Charakterisierung des Testsystems anhand der Morphologie sowie der Expression von Markern zur Bestimmung der epithelialen-mesenchymalen Transition (EMT) und der Differenzierung zeigte, dass die statisch und dynamisch kultivierten 3D Modelle Tumor-relevante Charakteristika widerspiegeln und eine deutliche Ähnlichkeit zu in vivo Tumormaterial aus entsprechenden Xenograft-Modellen aufweisen, wobei die dynamische Kultivierung in einem Flussreaktor zur Generierung von Tumormodellen führte, welche die Morphologie des Tumorgewebes aus Xenograft-Modellen am besten repräsentierten. Des Weiteren war die Proliferationsrate in den 3D Modellen im Vergleich zu 2-dimensionalen (2D) Zellkulturen signifikant reduziert und entspricht daher eher der Situation in vivo. Dies ist ein entscheidender Vorteil des Testsystems gegenüber der 2D Zellkultur, da durch die physiologischere Proliferationsrate eine Überschätzung des Therapieeffekts zytostatischer Medikamente vermieden wird. Zudem konnte gezeigt werden, dass mit Hilfe der 3D Modelle unterschiedliche Tumorstadien in Bezug auf die Tumorzellinvasion abgebildet werden können. Die Gerüststruktur SISmuc mit erhaltener Basalmembranstruktur ermöglichte eine Untersuchung der Invasion über diese Barriere, welche Tumorzellen epithelialen Ursprungs unter in vivo-Bedingungen beim Prozess der Metastasierung überwinden müssen. Zudem deuten die durch ultrastrukturelle Analysen und in situ Zymographie gewonnenen Daten darauf hin, dass die beobachtete Invasion mit einer Tumorzell-assoziierten Veränderung der Basalmembran, an der auch Matrix-Metalloproteinasen (MMPs) beteiligt sind, einhergeht. Diese Eigenschaften des Modells in Kombination mit den erwähnten Untersuchungsmethoden könnten in Zukunft dazu eingesetzt werden, Invasionsprozesse mechanistisch zu untersuchen sowie neue anti-metastatisch wirkende Therapiestrategien zu testen. Die Validierung der 3D Modelle als Testsystem bezüglich der Vorhersagbarkeit von Therapieeffekten erfolgte mit Hilfe der klinisch relevanten, zielgerichteten Therapie mit dem monoklonalen Antikörper Trastuzumab, welcher aufgrund seiner Spezifität für HER2/Neu nur in Patienten mit HER2/Neu-überexprimierendem Mammakarzinom einen Therapieerfolg erzielt. Während weder in 2D noch in den 3D Modellen aller molekularer Subtypen eine eindeutige Reduktion der Zellviabilität oder ein Anstieg der Apoptose gemessen werden konnte, zeigte sich mit Hilfe eines ADCC-Reportergenassays, der in dieser Arbeit für die Anwendung im 3D Modell angepasst wurde, ein deutlicher Anstieg der Antikörper-abhängigen zellvermittelten Zytotoxizität (ADCC) lediglich für das HER2/Neu-überexprimierende Modell. Dies entspricht den klinischen Beobachtungen und unterstreicht die Relevanz der ADCC als Wirkmechanismus des Antikörpers. Um die direkten Effekte einer ADCC auf die Tumorzellen im 3D Testsystem direkt – ohne den Umweg über ein Reportergen – messbar zu machen, war die Einführung einer immunologischen Komponente notwendig. Dies gelang mit Hilfe der Integration von mononukleären Zellen des peripheren Blutes (PBMCs), wodurch die Induktion der Apoptose im HER2/Neu-überexprimierenden Modell messbar war. Somit konnte im Rahmen dieser Arbeit ein immunkompetentes Modell etabliert werden, welche das Potenzial für weitere Testungen aus dem aufstrebenden Bereich der Krebsimmuntherapien bietet. Anschließend wurde das etablierte Testsystem zur Untersuchung von Fragestellungen aus unterschiedlichen Anwendungsbereichen eingesetzt. Durch den Vergleich der Sensitivität von Tumorzellen in 2D und im 3D Modell des TNBC gegenüber des wasserunlöslichen Wirkstoffs Curcumin, welcher in einer neuartigen Nanoformulierung bzw. in einer DMSO-basierten Formulierung appliziert wurde, konnte das 3D Testsystem für die Evaluation einer innovativen Formulierungsstrategie für unlösliche Wirkstoffe angewendet werden, um für die Krebstherapie relevante Dosierungen zu erreichen. Weiterhin wurden aufgrund des Mangels an zielgerichteten Therapien für das tripel-negative Mammakarzinom neuartige Therapiestrategien anhand des 3D Modells getestet. Zum einen wurde die Therapie mit dem WEE1-Kinase Inhibitor MK 1775 als Monotherapie sowie in Kombination mit dem Chemotherapeutikum Doxorubicin evaluiert. Diese zeigte im Gegensatz zu Testungen in 2D Kultur keinen eindeutigen Therapieeffekt im 3D Testsystem. Zum anderen wurde eine neuartige Behandlung aus dem Bereich der zellulären Immuntherapie erfolgreich im TNBC 3D Modell angewendet. Die Behandlung mit T-Zellen, welche einen chimären Antigen-Rezeptor (CAR) gegen ROR1 tragen, zeigte sowohl im statischen als auch im dynamischen Modell eine Migration der T-Zellen in das Tumorgewebe, eine erhöhte Proliferation der T-Zellen sowie eine effiziente Lyse der Tumorzellen mittels Apoptose und damit eine spezifische anti-tumorale Wirkung der CAR-transduzierten T-Zellen im Vergleich zu Kontroll-T-Zellen. Diese Ergebnisse verdeutlichen einerseits, dass die therapeutische Anwendung von CAR-T-Zellen eine vielversprechende Strategie für die Behandlung von soliden Tumoren wie des TNBC ist, zum anderen, dass die hier vorgestellten 3D Modelle als Testsystem für die Evaluierung und Optimierung von zellulären Immuntherapien geeignet sind. Im letzten Teil der Arbeit wurde das 3D Modell für die zukünftige Anwendung um Komponenten des Tumorstromas erweitert. Durch die Kokultur mit Fibroblasten wurden die natürlichen Strukturen der Darmmatrix, bestehend aus Krypten und Villi, umgebaut und die Krebszellen bildeten zusammen mit den Fibroblasten tumorartige Strukturen aus. Das so erzeugte Gewebemodell zeigte sowohl in morphologischer Hinsicht als auch bezogen auf die Markerexpression und die Aktivierung der dermalen Fibroblasten hin zu Krebs-assoziierten Fibroblasten (CAFs) starke Ähnlichkeit mit Xenograft-Modellen. Für die Integration von Adipozyten, welche ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Stromas in der Brust sind, wurde eine Kokultur mit humanen, aus dem Fettgewebe stammenden Stroma-/Stammzellen (hASCs) etabliert, welche sowohl im statischen als auch im dynamischen 3D Modell erfolgreich adipogen differenziert werden konnten. Diese Modelle eignen sich aufgrund des komplexen Differenzierungsprozesses vor allem für die mechanistische Untersuchung der Interaktionen zwischen Tumorzellen und Adipozyten. Zusammenfassend ist es in dieser Arbeit gelungen, ein humanes 3D Mammakarzinom-Testsystem zur Anwendung in der präklinischen Entwicklung und Testung anti-tumoraler Therapien sowie der Grundlagenforschung im Bereich der Tumorbiologie zu etablieren. Mit Hilfe dieses modularen Testsystems können relevante Daten zur Wirksamkeit von Therapien in Tumoren unterschiedlicher molekularer Subtypen sowie unterschiedlich fortgeschrittener Tumorstadien und zur Optimierung neuartiger Therapiestrategien wie Immuntherapien gewonnen werden. Dies kann in Zukunft dazu beitragen das präklinische Screening zu verbessern und somit die hohen klinischen Ausfallraten in der pharmazeutischen Industrie und die Zahl von Tierversuchen zu reduzieren. KW - Brustkrebs KW - Mamma carcinoma KW - Tissue Engineering KW - Drug testing KW - 3D model KW - therapy simulation KW - Mammakarzinom KW - Wirkstofftestung KW - 3D Modell KW - Therapiesimulation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-172280 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Yi A1 - Maierhofer, Tobias A1 - Rybak, Katarzyna A1 - Sklenar, Jan A1 - Breakspear, Andy A1 - Johnston, Matthew G. A1 - Fliegmann, Judith A1 - Huang, Shouguang A1 - Roelfsema, M. Rob G. A1 - Felix, Georg A1 - Faulkner, Christine A1 - Menke, Frank L.H. A1 - Geiger, Dietmar A1 - Hedrich, Rainer A1 - Robatzek, Silke T1 - Anion channel SLAH3 is a regulatory target of chitin receptor-associated kinase PBL27 in microbial stomatal closure JF - eLife N2 - In plants, antimicrobial immune responses involve the cellular release of anions and are responsible for the closure of stomatal pores. Detection of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) induces currents mediated via slow-type (S-type) anion channels by a yet not understood mechanism. Here, we show that stomatal closure to fungal chitin is conferred by the major PRRs for chitin recognition, LYK5 and CERK1, the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase PBL27, and the SLAH3 anion channel. PBL27 has the capacity to phosphorylate SLAH3, of which S127 and S189 are required to activate SLAH3. Full activation of the channel entails CERK1, depending on PBL27. Importantly, both S127 and S189 residues of SLAH3 are required for chitin-induced stomatal closure and anti-fungal immunity at the whole leaf level. Our results demonstrate a short signal transduction module from MAMP recognition to anion channel activation, and independent of ABA-induced SLAH3 activation. KW - plants Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202631 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mammadova-Bach, Elmina A1 - Braun, Attila T1 - Zinc homeostasis in platelet-related diseases JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Zn\(^{2+}\) deficiency in the human population is frequent in underdeveloped countries. Worldwide, approximatively 2 billion people consume Zn\(^{2+}\)-deficient diets, accounting for 1–4% of deaths each year, mainly in infants with a compromised immune system. Depending on the severity of Zn\(^{2+}\) deficiency, clinical symptoms are associated with impaired wound healing, alopecia, diarrhea, poor growth, dysfunction of the immune and nervous system with congenital abnormalities and bleeding disorders. Poor nutritional Zn\(^{2+}\) status in patients with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma or with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was accompanied by cutaneous bleeding and platelet dysfunction. Forcing Zn\(^{2+}\) uptake in the gut using different nutritional supplementation of Zn\(^{2+}\) could ameliorate many of these pathological symptoms in humans. Feeding adult rodents with a low Zn\(^{2+}\) diet caused poor platelet aggregation and increased bleeding tendency, thereby attracting great scientific interest in investigating the role of Zn\(^{2+}\) in hemostasis. Storage protein metallothionein maintains or releases Zn\(^{2+}\) in the cytoplasm, and the dynamic change of this cytoplasmic Zn\(^{2+}\) pool is regulated by the redox status of the cell. An increase of labile Zn\(^{2+}\) pool can be toxic for the cells, and therefore cytoplasmic Zn\(^{2+}\) levels are tightly regulated by several Zn\(^{2+}\) transporters located on the cell surface and also on the intracellular membrane of Zn\(^{2+}\) storage organelles, such as secretory vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi apparatus. Although Zn\(^{2+}\) is a critical cofactor for more than 2000 transcription factors and 300 enzymes, regulating cell differentiation, proliferation, and basic metabolic functions of the cells, the molecular mechanisms of Zn\(^{2+}\) transport and the physiological role of Zn\(^{2+}\) store in megakaryocyte and platelet function remain elusive. In this review, we summarize the contribution of extracellular or intracellular Zn\(^{2+}\) to megakaryocyte and platelet function and discuss the consequences of dysregulated Zn\(^{2+}\) homeostasis in platelet-related diseases by focusing on thrombosis, ischemic stroke and storage pool diseases. KW - Zinc KW - platelets KW - hemostasis KW - thrombosis KW - ischemic stroke KW - storage-pool diseases Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285554 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 20 IS - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herz, Michaela A1 - Brehm, Klaus T1 - Evidence for densovirus integrations into tapeworm genomes JF - Parasites & Vectors N2 - Background Tapeworms lack a canonical piRNA-pathway, raising the question of how they can silence existing mobile genetic elements (MGE). Investigation towards the underlying mechanisms requires information on tapeworm transposons which is, however, presently scarce. Methods The presence of densovirus-related sequences in tapeworm genomes was studied by bioinformatic approaches. Available RNA-Seq datasets were mapped against the Echinococcus multilocularis genome to calculate expression levels of densovirus-related genes. Transcription of densovirus loci was further analyzed by sequencing and RT-qPCR. Results We herein provide evidence for the presence of densovirus-related elements in a variety of tapeworm genomes. In the high-quality genome of E. multilocularis we identified more than 20 individual densovirus integration loci which contain the information for non-structural and structural virus proteins. The majority of densovirus loci are present as head-to-tail concatemers in isolated repeat containing regions of the genome. In some cases, unique densovirus loci have integrated close to histone gene clusters. We show that some of the densovirus loci of E. multilocularis are actively transcribed, whereas the majority are transcriptionally silent. RT-qPCR data further indicate that densovirus expression mainly occurs in the E. multilocularis stem cell population, which probably forms the germline of this organism. Sequences similar to the non-structural densovirus genes present in E. multilocularis were also identified in the genomes of E. canadensis, E. granulosus, Hydatigera taeniaeformis, Hymenolepis diminuta, Hymenolepis microstoma, Hymenolepis nana, Taenia asiatica, Taenia multiceps, Taenia saginata and Taenia solium. Conclusions Our data indicate that densovirus integration has occurred in many tapeworm species. This is the first report on widespread integration of DNA viruses into cestode genomes. Since only few densovirus integration sites were transcriptionally active in E. multilocularis, our data are relevant for future studies into gene silencing mechanisms in tapeworms. Furthermore, they indicate that densovirus-based vectors might be suitable tools for genetic manipulation of cestodes. KW - Echinococcus KW - Echinococcosis KW - Densovirus KW - Parvovirus KW - Mobile genetic element KW - Gene silencing KW - Stem cell KW - Epigenetic Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202478 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paponov, Ivan A. A1 - Dindas , Julian A1 - Król , Elżbieta A1 - Friz, Tatyana A1 - Budnyk, Vadym A1 - Teale, William A1 - Paponov, Martina A1 - Hedrich , Rainer A1 - Palme, Klaus T1 - Auxin-Induced plasma membrane depolarization is regulated by Auxin transport and not by AUXIN BINDING PROTEIN1 JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Auxin is a molecule, which controls many aspects of plant development through both transcriptional and non-transcriptional signaling responses. AUXIN BINDING PROTEIN1 (ABP1) is a putative receptor for rapid non-transcriptional auxin-induced changes in plasma membrane depolarization and endocytosis rates. However, the mechanism of ABP1-mediated signaling is poorly understood. Here we show that membrane depolarization and endocytosis inhibition are ABP1-independent responses and that auxin-induced plasma membrane depolarization is instead dependent on the auxin influx carrier AUX1. AUX1 was itself not involved in the regulation of endocytosis. Auxin-dependent depolarization of the plasma membrane was also modulated by the auxin efflux carrier PIN2. These data establish a new connection between auxin transport and non-transcriptional auxin signaling. KW - auxin KW - ABP1 KW - plasma membrane depolarization KW - AUX1 KW - endocytosis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195914 SN - 1664-462X VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roth, Nicolas A1 - Doerfler, Inken A1 - Bässler, Claus A1 - Blaschke, Markus A1 - Bussler, Heinz A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Heideroth, Antje A1 - Thorn, Simon A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Müller, Jörg T1 - Decadal effects of landscape-wide enrichment of dead wood on saproxylic organisms in beech forests of different historic management intensity JF - Diversity and Distributions N2 - Aim: European temperate forests have lost dead wood and the associated biodiversity owing to intensive management over centuries. Nowadays, some of these forests are being restored by enrichment with dead wood, but mostly only at stand scales. Here, we investigated effects of a seminal dead-wood enrichment strategy on saproxylic organisms at the landscape scale. Location: Temperate European beech forest in southern Germany. Methods: In a before-after control-impact design, we compared assemblages and gamma diversities of saproxylic organisms in strictly protected old-growth forest areas (reserves) and historically moderately and intensively managed forest areas before and a decade after starting a landscape-wide strategy of dead-wood enrichment. Results: Before enrichment with dead wood, the gamma diversity of saproxylic organisms in historically intensively managed forest stands was significantly lower than in reserves and historically moderately managed forest stands; this difference disappeared after 10 years of dead-wood enrichment. The species composition of beetles in forest stands of the three historical management intensities differed before the enrichment strategy, but a decade thereafter, the species compositions of previously intensively logged and forest reserve plots were similar. However, the differences in fungal species composition between historical management categories before and after 10 years of enrichment persisted. Main conclusions: Our results demonstrate that intentional enrichment of dead wood at the landscape scale is a powerful tool for rapidly restoring saproxylic beetle communities and for restoring wood-inhabiting fungal communities, which need longer than a decade for complete restoration. We propose that a strategy of area-wide active restoration combined with some permanent strict refuges is a promising means of promoting the biodiversity of age-long intensively managed Central European beech forests. KW - dead-wood enrichment KW - integrative management strategy KW - land sharing KW - lowland beech forests KW - saproxylic organisms Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227061 VL - 25 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blümel, Rabea A1 - Zink, Miriam A1 - Klopocki, Eva A1 - Liedtke, Daniel T1 - On the traces of tcf12: Investigation of the gene expression pattern during development and cranial suture patterning in zebrafish (Danio rerio) JF - PLoS ONE N2 - The transcription factor 12 (tcf12) is a basic Helix-Loop-Helix protein (bHLH) of the E-protein family, proven to play an important role in developmental processes like neurogenesis, mesoderm formation, and cranial vault development. In humans, mutations in TCF12 lead to craniosynostosis, a congenital birth disorder characterized by the premature fusion of one or several of the cranial sutures. Current research has been primarily focused on functional studies of TCF12, hence the cellular expression profile of this gene during embryonic development and early stages of ossification remains poorly understood. Here we present the establishment and detailed analysis of two transgenic tcf12:EGFP fluorescent zebrafish (Danio rerio) reporter lines. Using these transgenic lines, we analyzed the general spatiotemporal expression pattern of tcf12 during different developmental stages and put emphasis on skeletal development and cranial suture patterning. We identified robust tcf12 promoter-driven EGFP expression in the central nervous system (CNS), the heart, the pronephros, and the somites of zebrafish embryos. Additionally, expression was observed inside the muscles and bones of the viscerocranium in juvenile and adult fish. During cranial vault development, the transgenic fish show a high amount of tcf12 expressing cells at the growth fronts of the ossifying frontal and parietal bones and inside the emerging cranial sutures. Subsequently, we tested the transcriptional activity of three evolutionary conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) located in the tcf12 locus by transient transgenic assays and compared their in vivo activity to the expression pattern determined in the transgenic tcf12:EGFP lines. We could validate two of them as tcf12 enhancer elements driving specific gene expression in the CNS during embryogenesis. Our newly established transgenic lines enhance the understanding of tcf12 gene regulation and open up the possibilities for further functional investigation of these novel tcf12 enhancer elements in zebrafish. KW - Zebrafish KW - Neurons KW - Skull KW - Enhancer elements KW - Hindbrain KW - Cranial sutures KW - Embryos KW - Somites Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201428 VL - 14 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liedtke, Daniel A1 - Orth, Melanie A1 - Meissler, Michelle A1 - Geuer, Sinje A1 - Knaup, Sabine A1 - Köblitz, Isabell A1 - Klopocki, Eva T1 - ECM alterations in fndc3a (fibronectin domain containing protein 3A) deficient zebrafish cause temporal fin development and regeneration defects JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Fin development and regeneration are complex biological processes that are highly relevant in teleost fish. They share genetic factors, signaling pathways and cellular properties to coordinate formation of regularly shaped extremities. Especially correct tissue structure defined by extracellular matrix (ECM) formation is essential. Gene expression and protein localization studies demonstrated expression of fndc3a (fibronectin domain containing protein 3a) in both developing and regenerating caudal fins of zebrafish (Danio rerio). We established a hypomorphic fndc3a mutant line (fndc3a\(^{wue1/wue1}\)) via CRISPR/Cas9, exhibiting phenotypic malformations and changed gene expression patterns during early stages of median fin fold development. These developmental effects are mostly temporary, but result in a fraction of adults with permanent tail fin deformations. In addition, caudal fin regeneration in adult fndc3a\(^{wue1/wue1}\) mutants is hampered by interference with actinotrichia formation and epidermal cell organization. Investigation of the ECM implies that loss of epidermal tissue structure is a common cause for both of the observed defects. Our results thereby provide a molecular link between these developmental processes and foreshadow Fndc3a as a novel temporal regulator of epidermal cell properties during extremity development and regeneration in zebrafish. KW - Extracellular matrix KW - Limb development KW - Self-renewal Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202141 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kim, Brandon J. A1 - Shusta, Eric V. A1 - Doran, Kelly S. T1 - Past and current perspectives in modeling bacteria and blood–brain barrier interactions JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - The central nervous system (CNS) barriers are highly specialized cellular barriers that promote brain homeostasis while restricting pathogen and toxin entry. The primary cellular constituent regulating pathogen entry in most of these brain barriers is the brain endothelial cell (BEC) that exhibits properties that allow for tight regulation of CNS entry. Bacterial meningoencephalitis is a serious infection of the CNS and occurs when bacteria can cross specialized brain barriers and cause inflammation. Models have been developed to understand the bacterial – BEC interaction that lead to pathogen crossing into the CNS, however, these have been met with challenges due to these highly specialized BEC phenotypes. This perspective provides a brief overview and outlook of the in vivo and in vitro models currently being used to study bacterial brain penetration, and opinion on improved models for the future. KW - bacteria KW - blood–brain barrier KW - meningitis KW - stem cells KW - brain endothelial cell Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201766 VL - 10 IS - 1336 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Streinzer, Martin A1 - Chakravorty, Jharna A1 - Neumayer, Johann A1 - Megu, Karsing A1 - Narah, Jaya A1 - Schmitt, Thomas A1 - Bharti, Himender A1 - Spaethe, Johannes A1 - Brockmann, Axel T1 - Species composition and elevational distribution of bumble bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombus Latreille) in the East Himalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, India JF - ZooKeys N2 - The East Himalaya is one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. However, very little is known about the abundance and distribution of many plant and animal taxa in this region. Bumble bees are a group of cold-adapted and high elevation insects that fulfil an important ecological and economical function as pollinators of wild and agricultural flowering plants and crops. The Himalayan mountain range provides ample suitable habitats for bumble bees. Systematic study of Himalayan bumble bees began a few decades ago and the main focus has centred on the western region, while the eastern part of the mountain range has received little attention and only a few species have been verified. During a three-year survey, more than 700 bumble bee specimens of 21 species were collected in Arunachal Pradesh, the largest of the north-eastern states of India. The material included a range of species that were previously known from a limited number of collected specimens, which highlights the unique character of the East Himalayan ecosystem. Our results are an important first step towards a future assessment of species distribution, threat, and conservation. Clear elevation patterns of species diversity were observed, which raise important questions about the functional adaptations that allow bumble bees to thrive in this particularly moist region in the East Himalaya. KW - Alpine habitats KW - Apidae KW - conservation KW - global change KW - insect collection KW - pollination Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201937 VL - 851 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Panzer, Sabine A1 - Brych, Annika A1 - Batschauer, Alfred A1 - Terpitz, Ulrich T1 - Opsin 1 and Opsin 2 of the corn smut fungus ustilago maydis are green light-driven proton pumps JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - In fungi, green light is absorbed by rhodopsins, opsin proteins carrying a retinal molecule as chromophore. The basidiomycete Ustilago maydis, a fungal pathogen that infects corn plants, encodes three putative photoactive opsins, called ops1 (UMAG_02629), ops2 (UMAG_00371), and ops3 (UMAG_04125). UmOps1 and UmOps2 are expressed during the whole life cycle, in axenic cultures as well as in planta, whereas UmOps3 was recently shown to be absent in axenic cultures but highly expressed during plant infection. Here we show that expression of UmOps1 and UmOps2 is induced by blue light under control of white collar 1 (Wco1). UmOps1 is mainly localized in the plasma membrane, both when expressed in HEK cells and U. maydis sporidia. In contrast, UmOps2 was mostly found intracellularly in the membranes of vacuoles. Patch-clamp studies demonstrated that both rhodopsins are green light-driven outward rectifying proton pumps. UmOps1 revealed an extraordinary pH dependency with increased activity in more acidic environment. Also, UmOps1 showed a pronounced, concentration-dependent enhancement of pump current caused by weak organic acids (WOAs), especially by acetic acid and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). In contrast, UmOps2 showed the typical behavior of light-driven, outwardly directed proton pumps, whereas UmOps3 did not exhibit any electrogenity. With this work, insights were gained into the localization and molecular function of two U. maydis rhodopsins, paving the way for further studies on the biological role of these rhodopsins in the life cycle of U. maydis. KW - Ustilago maydis KW - patch-clamp KW - fungal rhodopsins KW - microbial rhodopsins KW - acetate KW - indole-3-acetic acid KW - structured illumination microscopy KW - sporidia Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201453 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Volkoff, Helene A1 - Adolfi, Mateus A1 - Schmidt, Cornelia A1 - Fischer, Petra A1 - Minx, Patrick A1 - Tomlinson, Chad A1 - Meyer, Axel A1 - Warren, Wesley C. T1 - The piranha genome provides molecular insight associated to its unique feeding behavior JF - Genome Biology and Evolution N2 - The piranha enjoys notoriety due to its infamous predatory behavior but much is still not understood about its evolutionary origins and the underlying molecular mechanisms for its unusual feeding biology. We sequenced and assembled the red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) genome to aid future phenotypic and genetic investigations. The assembled draft genome is similar to other related fishes in repeat composition and gene count. Our evaluation of genes under positive selection suggests candidates for adaptations of piranhas’ feeding behavior in neural functions, behavior, and regulation of energy metabolism. In the fasted brain, we find genes differentially expressed that are involved in lipid metabolism and appetite regulation as well as genes that may control the aggression/boldness behavior of hungry piranhas. Our first analysis of the piranha genome offers new insight and resources for the study of piranha biology and for feeding motivation and starvation in other organisms. KW - whole-genome sequencing KW - genome annotation KW - comparative genomics KW - RNA-seq transcriptome KW - energy homeostasis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202218 VL - 11 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Popp, Christina A1 - Ramírez-Zavala, Bernardo A1 - Schwanfelder, Sonja A1 - Krüger, Ines A1 - Morschhäuser, Joachim T1 - Evolution of fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans strains by drug-induced mating competence and parasexual recombination JF - mBio N2 - The clonal population structure of Candida albicans suggests that (para)sexual recombination does not play an important role in the lifestyle of this opportunistic fungal pathogen, an assumption that is strengthened by the fact that most C. albicans strains are heterozygous at the mating type locus (MTL) and therefore mating-incompetent. On the other hand, mating might occur within clonal populations and allow the combination of advantageous traits that were acquired by individual cells to adapt to adverse conditions. We have investigated if parasexual recombination may be involved in the evolution of highly drug-resistant strains exhibiting multiple resistance mechanisms against fluconazole, an antifungal drug that is commonly used to treat infections by C. albicans. Growth of strains that were heterozygous for MTL and different fluconazole resistance mutations in the presence of the drug resulted in the emergence of derivatives that had become homozygous for the mutated allele and the mating type locus and exhibited increased drug resistance. When MTLa/a and MTLα/α cells of these strains were mixed in all possible combinations, we could isolate mating products containing the genetic material from both parents. The initial mating products did not exhibit higher drug resistance than their parental strains, but further propagation under selective pressure resulted in the loss of the wild-type alleles and increased fluconazole resistance. Therefore, fluconazole treatment not only selects for resistance mutations but also promotes genomic alterations that confer mating competence, which allows cells in an originally clonal population to exchange individually acquired resistance mechanisms and generate highly drug-resistant progeny. KW - Candida albicans KW - drug resistance evolution KW - mating KW - parasexual recombination Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200901 VL - 10 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Thomas S. B. A1 - Hayward, Matthew R. A1 - Coelho, Luiis P. A1 - Li, Simone S. A1 - Costea, Paul I. A1 - Voigt, Anita Y. A1 - Wirbel, Jakob A1 - Maistrenko, Oleksandr M. A1 - Alves, Renato J. C. A1 - Bergsten, Emma A1 - de Beaufort, Carine A1 - Sobhani, Iradj A1 - Heintz-Buschart, Anna A1 - Sunagawa, Shinichi A1 - Zeller, Georg A1 - Wilmes, Paul A1 - Bork, Peer T1 - Extensive transmission of microbes along the gastrointestinal tract JF - eLife N2 - The gastrointestinal tract is abundantly colonized by microbes, yet the translocation of oral species to the intestine is considered a rare aberrant event, and a hallmark of disease. By studying salivary and fecal microbial strain populations of 310 species in 470 individuals from five countries, we found that transmission to, and subsequent colonization of, the large intestine by oral microbes is common and extensive among healthy individuals. We found evidence for a vast majority of oral species to be transferable, with increased levels of transmission in colorectal cancer and rheumatoid arthritis patients and, more generally, for species described as opportunistic pathogens. This establishes the oral cavity as an endogenous reservoir for gut microbial strains, and oral-fecal transmission as an important process that shapes the gastrointestinal microbiome in health and disease. KW - Colonization KW - Annotation KW - Dynamics KW - Accurate KW - Strains KW - Barrier KW - Health KW - Acids KW - Research Article KW - Computational and Systems Biology KW - Microbiology and Infectious Disease KW - microbiome KW - gastrointestinal tract KW - colorectal cancer KW - rheumatoid arthritis KW - metagenomics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228954 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Srivastava, Mugdha A1 - Bencurova, Elena A1 - Gupta, Shishir K. A1 - Weiss, Esther A1 - Löffler, Jürgen A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - Aspergillus fumigatus challenged by human dendritic cells: metabolic and regulatory pathway responses testify a tight battle JF - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology N2 - Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen presenting cells which serve as a passage between the innate and the acquired immunity. Aspergillosis is a major lethal condition in immunocompromised patients caused by the adaptable saprophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The healthy human immune system is capable to ward off A. fumigatus infections however immune-deficient patients are highly vulnerable to invasive aspergillosis. A. fumigatus can persist during infection due to its ability to survive the immune response of human DCs. Therefore, the study of the metabolism specific to the context of infection may allow us to gain insight into the adaptation strategies of both the pathogen and the immune cells. We established a metabolic model of A. fumigatus central metabolism during infection of DCs and calculated the metabolic pathway (elementary modes; EMs). Transcriptome data were used to identify pathways activated when A. fumigatus is challenged with DCs. In particular, amino acid metabolic pathways, alternative carbon metabolic pathways and stress regulating enzymes were found to be active. Metabolic flux modeling identified further active enzymes such as alcohol dehydrogenase, inositol oxygenase and GTP cyclohydrolase participating in different stress responses in A. fumigatus. These were further validated by qRT-PCR from RNA extracted under these different conditions. For DCs, we outlined the activation of metabolic pathways in response to the confrontation with A. fumigatus. We found the fatty acid metabolism plays a crucial role, along with other metabolic changes. The gene expression data and their analysis illuminate additional regulatory pathways activated in the DCs apart from interleukin regulation. In particular, Toll-like receptor signaling, NOD-like receptor signaling and RIG-I-like receptor signaling were active pathways. Moreover, we identified subnetworks and several novel key regulators such as UBC, EGFR, and CUL3 of DCs to be activated in response to A. fumigatus. In conclusion, we analyze the metabolic and regulatory responses of A. fumigatus and DCs when confronted with each other. KW - infection KW - dendritic cells KW - Aspergillus fumigalus KW - metabolic modelling KW - signalling Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201368 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heiby, Julia C. A1 - Goretzki, Benedikt A1 - Johnson, Christopher M. A1 - Hellmich, Ute A. A1 - Neuweiler, Hannes T1 - Methionine in a protein hydrophobic core drives tight interactions required for assembly of spider silk JF - Nature Communications N2 - Web spiders connect silk proteins, so-called spidroins, into fibers of extraordinary toughness. The spidroin N-terminal domain (NTD) plays a pivotal role in this process: it polymerizes spidroins through a complex mechanism of dimerization. Here we analyze sequences of spidroin NTDs and find an unusually high content of the amino acid methionine. We simultaneously mutate all methionines present in the hydrophobic core of a spidroin NTD from a nursery web spider’s dragline silk to leucine. The mutated NTD is strongly stabilized and folds at the theoretical speed limit. The structure of the mutant is preserved, yet its ability to dimerize is substantially impaired. We find that side chains of core methionines serve to mobilize the fold, which can thereby access various conformations and adapt the association interface for tight binding. Methionine in a hydrophobic core equips a protein with the capacity to dynamically change shape and thus to optimize its function. KW - Circular dichroism KW - Fluorescence spectroscopy KW - Protein folding KW - Solution-state NMR Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202539 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kehrberger, Sandra A1 - Holzschuh, Andrea T1 - How does timing of flowering affect competition for pollinators, flower visitation and seed set in an early spring grassland plant? JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Knowledge on how the timing of flowering is related to plant fitness and species interactions is crucial to understand consequences of phenological shifts as they occur under climate change. Early flowering plants may face advantages of low competition for pollinators and disadvantages of low pollinator abundances and unfavourable weather conditions. However, it is unknown how this trade-off changes over the season and how the timing affects reproductive success. On eight grasslands we recorded intra-seasonal changes in pollinators, co-flowering plants, weather conditions, flower visitation rates, floral longevity and seed set of Pulsatilla vulgaris. Although bee abundances and the number of pollinator-suitable hours were low at the beginning of the season, early flowers of P. vulgaris received higher flower visitation rates and estimated total number of bee visits than later flowers, which was positively related to seed set. Flower visitation rates decreased over time and with increasing number of co-flowering plants, which competed with P. vulgaris for pollinators. Low interspecific competition for pollinators seems to be a major driver for early flowering dates. Thus, non-synchronous temporal shifts of co-flowering plants as they may occur under climate warming can be expected to strongly affect plant-pollinator interactions and the fitness of the involved plants. KW - ecology Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202549 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Horn, Melanie A1 - Mitesser, Oliver A1 - Hovestadt, Thomas A1 - Yoshii, Taishi A1 - Rieger, Dirk A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte T1 - The circadian clock improves fitness in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster JF - Frontiers in Physiology N2 - It is assumed that a properly timed circadian clock enhances fitness, but only few studies have truly demonstrated this in animals. We raised each of the three classical Drosophila period mutants for >50 generations in the laboratory in competition with wildtype flies. The populations were either kept under a conventional 24-h day or under cycles that matched the mutant’s natural cycle, i.e., a 19-h day in the case of pers mutants and a 29-h day for perl mutants. The arrhythmic per0 mutants were grown together with wildtype flies under constant light that renders wildtype flies similar arrhythmic as the mutants. In addition, the mutants had to compete with wildtype flies for two summers in two consecutive years under outdoor conditions. We found that wildtype flies quickly outcompeted the mutant flies under the 24-h laboratory day and under outdoor conditions, but perl mutants persisted and even outnumbered the wildtype flies under the 29-h day in the laboratory. In contrast, pers and per0 mutants did not win against wildtype flies under the 19-h day and constant light, respectively. Our results demonstrate that wildtype flies have a clear fitness advantage in terms of fertility and offspring survival over the period mutants and – as revealed for perl mutants – this advantage appears maximal when the endogenous period resonates with the period of the environment. However, the experiments indicate that perl and pers persist at low frequencies in the population even under the 24-h day. This may be a consequence of a certain mating preference of wildtype and heterozygous females for mutant males and time differences in activity patterns between wildtype and mutants. KW - competition KW - mutants KW - resonance theory KW - mating preference KW - fertility Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195738 SN - 1664-042X VL - 10 IS - 1374 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duque, Laura A1 - Poelman, Erik H. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Plant-mediated effects of ozone on herbivores depend on exposure duration and temperature JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Abiotic stress by elevated tropospheric ozone and temperature can alter plants’ metabolism, growth, and nutritional value and modify the life cycle of their herbivores. We investigated how the duration of exposure of Sinapis arvensis plants to high ozone and temperature levels affect the life cycle of the large cabbage white, Pieris brassicae. Plants were exposed to ozone-clean (control) or ozone-enriched conditions (120 ppb) for either 1 or 5 days and were afterwards kept in a greenhouse with variable temperature conditions. When given the choice, P. brassicae butterflies laid 49% fewer eggs on ozone-exposed than on control plants when the exposure lasted for 5 days, but showed no preference when exposure lasted for 1 day. The caterpillars took longer to hatch on ozone-exposed plants and at lower ambient temperatures. The ozone treatment had a positive effect on the survival of the eggs. Ozone decreased the growth of caterpillars reared at higher temperatures on plants exposed for 5 days, but not on plants exposed for 1 day. Overall, longer exposure of the plants to ozone and higher temperatures affected the life cycle of the herbivore more strongly. With global warming, the indirect impacts of ozone on herbivores are likely to become more common. KW - Ecology KW - Environmental impact Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202805 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Westermann, Alexander J. A1 - Venturini, Elisa A1 - Sellin, Mikael E. A1 - Förstner, Konrad U. A1 - Hardt, Wolf-Dietrich A1 - Vogel, Jörg T1 - The major RNA-binding protein ProQ impacts virulence gene expression in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium JF - mBio N2 - FinO domain proteins such as ProQ of the model pathogen Salmonella enterica have emerged as a new class of major RNA-binding proteins in bacteria. ProQ has been shown to target hundreds of transcripts, including mRNAs from many virulence regions, but its role, if any, in bacterial pathogenesis has not been studied. Here, using a Dual RNA-seq approach to profile ProQ-dependent gene expression changes as Salmonella infects human cells, we reveal dysregulation of bacterial motility, chemotaxis, and virulence genes which is accompanied by altered MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling in the host. Comparison with the other major RNA chaperone in Salmonella, Hfq, reinforces the notion that these two global RNA-binding proteins work in parallel to ensure full virulence. Of newly discovered infection-associated ProQ-bound small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs), we show that the 3′UTR-derived sRNA STnc540 is capable of repressing an infection-induced magnesium transporter mRNA in a ProQ-dependent manner. Together, this comprehensive study uncovers the relevance of ProQ for Salmonella pathogenesis and highlights the importance of RNA-binding proteins in regulating bacterial virulence programs. IMPORTANCE The protein ProQ has recently been discovered as the centerpiece of a previously overlooked “third domain” of small RNA-mediated control of gene expression in bacteria. As in vitro work continues to reveal molecular mechanisms, it is also important to understand how ProQ affects the life cycle of bacterial pathogens as these pathogens infect eukaryotic cells. Here, we have determined how ProQ shapes Salmonella virulence and how the activities of this RNA-binding protein compare with those of Hfq, another central protein in RNA-based gene regulation in this and other bacteria. To this end, we apply global transcriptomics of pathogen and host cells during infection. In doing so, we reveal ProQ-dependent transcript changes in key virulence and host immune pathways. Moreover, we differentiate the roles of ProQ from those of Hfq during infection, for both coding and noncoding transcripts, and provide an important resource for those interested in ProQ-dependent small RNAs in enteric bacteria. KW - Hfq KW - noncoding RNA KW - ProQ KW - RNA-seq KW - bacterial pathogen KW - posttranscriptional control Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177722 VL - 10 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jaślan, Dawid A1 - Dreyer, Ingo A1 - Lu, Jinping A1 - O'Malley, Ronan A1 - Dindas, Julian A1 - Marten, Irene A1 - Hedrich, Rainer T1 - Voltage-dependent gating of SV channel TPC1 confers vacuole excitability JF - Nature Communications N2 - In contrast to the plasma membrane, the vacuole membrane has not yet been associated with electrical excitation of plants. Here, we show that mesophyll vacuoles from Arabidopsis sense and control the membrane potential essentially via the K\(^+\)-permeable TPC1 and TPK channels. Electrical stimuli elicit transient depolarization of the vacuole membrane that can last for seconds. Electrical excitability is suppressed by increased vacuolar Ca\(^{2+}\) levels. In comparison to wild type, vacuoles from the fou2 mutant, harboring TPC1 channels insensitive to luminal Ca\(^{2+}\), can be excited fully by even weak electrical stimuli. The TPC1-loss-of-function mutant tpc1-2 does not respond to electrical stimulation at all, and the loss of TPK1/TPK3-mediated K\(^{+}\) transport affects the duration of TPC1-dependent membrane depolarization. In combination with mathematical modeling, these results show that the vacuolar K\(^+\)-conducting TPC1 and TPK1/TPK3 channels act in concert to provide for Ca\(^{2+}\)- and voltage-induced electrical excitability to the central organelle of plant cells. KW - Biophysics KW - Plant signalling Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202029 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boetzl, Fabian A. A1 - Konle, Antonia A1 - Krauss, Jochen T1 - Aphid cards – useful model for assessing predation rates or bias prone nonsense? JF - Journal of Applied Entomology N2 - Predation on pest organisms is an essential ecosystem function supporting yields in modern agriculture. However, assessing predation rates is intricate, and they can rarely be linked directly to predator densities or functions. We tested whether sentinel prey aphid cards are useful tools to assess predation rates in the field. Therefore, we looked at aphid cards of different sizes on the ground level as well as within the vegetation. Additionally, by trapping ground‐dwelling predators, we examined whether obtained predation rates could be linked to predator densities and traits. Predation rates recorded with aphid cards were independent of aphid card size. However, predation rates on the ground level were three times higher than within the vegetation. We found both predatory carabid activity densities as well as community weighted mean body size to be good predictors for predation rates. Predation rates obtained from aphid cards are stable over card type and related to predator assemblages. Aphid cards, therefore, are a useful, efficient method for rapidly assessing the ecosystem function predation. Their use might especially be recommended for assessments on the ground level and when time and resource limitations rule out more elaborate sentinel prey methods using exclosures with living prey animals. KW - carabid beetles KW - ecosystem service KW - ground-dwelling predators KW - methods KW - natural pest control KW - sentinel prey Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204798 VL - 144 IS - 1-2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Juranek, Stefan A. A1 - Marks, James A1 - De Magis, Alessio A1 - Kazemier, Hinke G A1 - Hilbig, Daniel A1 - Benhalevy, Daniel A1 - Wang, Xiantao A1 - Hafner, Markus A1 - Paeschke, Katrin T1 - DHX36 prevents the accumulation of translationally inactive mRNAs with G4-structures in untranslated regions JF - Nature Communications N2 - Translation efficiency can be affected by mRNA stability and secondary structures, including G-quadruplex structures (G4s). The highly conserved DEAH-box helicase DHX36/RHAU resolves G4s on DNA and RNA in vitro, however a systems-wide analysis of DHX36 targets and function is lacking. We map globally DHX36 binding to RNA in human cell lines and find it preferentially interacting with G-rich and G4-forming sequences on more than 4500 mRNAs. While DHX36 knockout (KO) results in a significant increase in target mRNA abundance, ribosome occupancy and protein output from these targets decrease, suggesting that they were rendered translationally incompetent. Considering that DHX36 targets, harboring G4s, preferentially localize in stress granules, and that DHX36 KO results in increased SG formation and protein kinase R (PKR/EIF2AK2) phosphorylation, we speculate that DHX36 is involved in resolution of rG4 induced cellular stress. KW - RNA metabolism KW - Translation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227486 VL - 10 IS - 2421 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner, Fabienne A1 - Kunz, Tobias C. A1 - Chowdhury, Suvagata R. A1 - Thiede, Bernd A1 - Fraunholz, Martin A1 - Eger, Debora A1 - Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera T1 - Armadillo repeat-containing protein 1 is a dual localization protein associated with mitochondrial intermembrane space bridging complex JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Cristae architecture is important for the function of mitochondria, the organelles that play the central role in many cellular processes. The mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS) together with the sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) forms the mitochondrial intermembrane space bridging complex (MIB), a large protein complex present in mammalian mitochondria that partakes in the formation and maintenance of cristae. We report here a new subunit of the mammalian MICOS/MIB complex, an armadillo repeat-containing protein 1 (ArmC1). ArmC1 localizes both to cytosol and mitochondria, where it associates with the outer mitochondrial membrane through its carboxy-terminus. ArmC1 interacts with other constituents of the MICOS/MIB complex and its amounts are reduced upon MICOS/MIB complex depletion. Mitochondria lacking ArmC1 do not show defects in cristae structure, respiration or protein content, but appear fragmented and with reduced motility. ArmC1 represents therefore a peripheral MICOS/MIB component that appears to play a role in mitochondrial distribution in the cell. KW - Mitochondria KW - Outer membrane proteins KW - HeLa cells KW - Immunoprecipitation KW - Cytosol KW - Small interfering RNAs KW - Confocal microscopy KW - Cell stainin Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202670 VL - 14 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wörsdörfer, Philipp A1 - Dalda, Nahide A1 - Kern, Anna A1 - Krüger, Sarah A1 - Wagner, Nicole A1 - Kwok, Chee Keong A1 - Henke, Erik A1 - Ergün, Süleyman T1 - Generation of complex human organoid models including vascular networks by incorporation of mesodermal progenitor cells JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells are interesting models to study mechanisms of morphogenesis and promising platforms for disease modeling and drug screening. However, they mostly remain incomplete as they lack stroma, tissue resident immune cells and in particular vasculature, which create important niches during development and disease. We propose, that the directed incorporation of mesodermal progenitor cells (MPCs) into organoids will overcome the aforementioned limitations. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the method, we generated complex human tumor as well as neural organoids. We show that the formed blood vessels display a hierarchic organization and mural cells are assembled into the vessel wall. Moreover, we demonstrate a typical blood vessel ultrastructure including endothelial cell-cell junctions, a basement membrane as well as luminal caveolae and microvesicles. We observe a high plasticity in the endothelial network, which expands, while the organoids grow and is responsive to anti-angiogenic compounds and pro-angiogenic conditions such as hypoxia. We show that vessels within tumor organoids connect to host vessels following transplantation. Remarkably, MPCs also deliver Iba1\(^+\) cells that infiltrate the neural tissue in a microglia-like manner. KW - Developmental biology KW - Stem cells Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202681 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mottola, Austin A1 - Morschhäuser, Joachim T1 - An intragenic recombination event generates a Snf4-independent form of the essential protein kinase SNF1 in Candida albicans JF - mSphere N2 - The heterotrimeric protein kinase SNF1 plays a key role in the metabolic adaptation of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. It consists of the essential catalytic α-subunit Snf1, the γ-subunit Snf4, and one of the two β-subunits Kis1 and Kis2. Snf4 is required to release the N-terminal catalytic domain of Snf1 from autoinhibition by the C-terminal regulatory domain, and snf4Δ mutants cannot grow on carbon sources other than glucose. In a screen for suppressor mutations that restore growth of a snf4Δ mutant on alternative carbon sources, we isolated a mutant in which six amino acids between the N-terminal kinase domain and the C-terminal regulatory domain of Snf1 were deleted. The deletion was caused by an intragenic recombination event between two 8-bp direct repeats flanking six intervening codons. In contrast to truncated forms of Snf1 that contain only the kinase domain, the Snf4-independent Snf1\(^{Δ311 − 316}\) was fully functional and could replace wild-type Snf1 for normal growth, because it retained the ability to interact with the Kis1 and Kis2 β-subunits via its C-terminal domain. Indeed, the Snf4-independent Snf1\(^{Δ311 − 316}\) still required the β-subunits of the SNF1 complex to perform its functions and did not rescue the growth defects of kis1Δ mutants. Our results demonstrate that a preprogrammed in-frame deletion event within the SNF1 coding region can generate a mutated form of this essential kinase which abolishes autoinhibition and thereby overcomes growth deficiencies caused by a defect in the γ-subunit Snf4. KW - AMP-activated kinases KW - Candida albicans KW - genetic recombination KW - metabolic adaptation KW - suppressor mutation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202170 VL - 4 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kehrberger, Sandra A1 - Holzschuh, Andrea T1 - Warmer temperatures advance flowering in a spring plant more strongly than emergence of two solitary spring bee species JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Climate warming has the potential to disrupt plant-pollinator interactions or to increase competition of co-flowering plants for pollinators, due to species-specific phenological responses to temperature. However, studies focusing on the effect of temperature on solitary bee emergence and the flowering onset of their food plants under natural conditions are still rare. We studied the effect of temperature on the phenology of the two spring bees Osmia cornuta and Osmia bicornis, by placing bee cocoons on eleven grasslands differing in mean site temperature. On seven grasslands, we additionally studied the effect of temperature on the phenology of the red-list plant Pulsatilla vulgaris, which was the first flowering plant, and of co-flowering plants with later flowering. With a warming of 0.1°C, the abundance-weighted mean emergence of O. cornuta males advanced by 0.4 days. Females of both species did not shift their emergence. Warmer temperatures advanced the abundance-weighted mean flowering of P. vulgaris by 1.3 days per 0.1°C increase, but did not shift flowering onset of co-flowering plants. Competition for pollinators between P. vulgaris and co-flowering plants does not increase within the studied temperature range. We demonstrate that temperature advances plant flowering more strongly than bee emergence suggesting an increased risk of pollinator limitation for the first flowers of P. vulgaris. KW - Flowering plants KW - Bees KW - Proteus vulgaris KW - Evolutionary emergence KW - Plants KW - Species delimitation KW - Flowers KW - Insect flight Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201165 VL - 14 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - El-Hawary, Seham S. A1 - Sayed, Ahmed M. A1 - Mohammed, Rabab A1 - Hassan, Hossam M. A1 - Rateb, Mostafa E. A1 - Amin, Elham A1 - Mohammed, Tarek A. A1 - El-Mesery, Mohamed A1 - Bin Muhsinah, Abdullatif A1 - Alsayari, Abdulrhman A1 - Wajant, Harald A1 - Anany, Mohamed A. A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan T1 - Bioactive brominated oxindole alkaloids from the Red Sea sponge Callyspongia siphonella JF - Marine Drugs N2 - In the present study, LC-HRESIMS-assisted dereplication along with bioactivity-guided isolation led to targeting two brominated oxindole alkaloids (compounds 1 and 2) which probably play a key role in the previously reported antibacterial, antibiofilm, and cytotoxicity of Callyspongia siphonella crude extracts. Both metabolites showed potent antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 8 and 4 µg/mL) and Bacillus subtilis (MIC = 16 and 4 µg/mL), respectively. Furthermore, they displayed moderate biofilm inhibitory activity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (49.32% and 41.76% inhibition, respectively), and moderate in vitro antitrypanosomal activity (13.47 and 10.27 µM, respectively). In addition, they revealed a strong cytotoxic effect toward different human cancer cell lines, supposedly through induction of necrosis. This study sheds light on the possible role of these metabolites (compounds 1 and 2) in keeping fouling organisms away from the sponge outer surface, and the possible applications of these defensive molecules in the development of new anti-infective agents. KW - Callyspongia siphonella KW - LC-HRESIMS KW - metabolomic profiling KW - oxindole alkaloids KW - tisindoline KW - antibacterial KW - antibiofilm KW - antitrypanosomal KW - anticancer Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201485 VL - 17 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Akhoon, Bashir A. A1 - Gupta, Shishir K. A1 - Tiwari, Sudeep A1 - Rathor, Laxmi A1 - Pant, Aakanksha A1 - Singh, Nivedita A1 - Gupta, Shailendra K. A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Pandey, Rakesh T1 - C. elegans protein interaction network analysis probes RNAi validated pro-longevity effect of nhr-6, a human homolog of tumor suppressor Nr4a1 JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Protein-protein interaction (PPI) studies are gaining momentum these days due to the plethora of various high-throughput experimental methods available for detecting PPIs. Proteins create complexes and networks by functioning in harmony with other proteins and here in silico network biology hold the promise to reveal new functionality of genes as it is very difficult and laborious to carry out experimental high-throughput genetic screens in living organisms. We demonstrate this approach by computationally screening C. elegans conserved homologs of already reported human tumor suppressor and aging associated genes. We select by this nhr-6, vab-3 and gst-23 as predicted longevity genes for RNAi screen. The RNAi results demonstrated the pro-longevity effect of these genes. Nuclear hormone receptor nhr-6 RNAi inhibition resulted in a C. elegans phenotype of 23.46% lifespan reduction. Moreover, we show that nhr-6 regulates oxidative stress resistance in worms and does not affect the feeding behavior of worms. These findings imply the potential of nhr-6 as a common therapeutic target for aging and cancer ailments, stressing the power of in silico PPI network analysis coupled with RNAi screens to describe gene function. KW - Computer modelling KW - Embryonic induction KW - RNAi Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202666 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reuter, Isabel A1 - Jäckels, Jana A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Kuper, Jochen A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter A1 - Lillesaar, Christina T1 - Fgf3 is crucial for the generation of monoaminergic cerebrospinal fluid contacting cells in zebrafish JF - Biology Open N2 - In most vertebrates, including zebrafish, the hypothalamic serotonergic cerebrospinal fluid-contacting (CSF-c) cells constitute a prominent population. In contrast to the hindbrain serotonergic neurons, little is known about the development and function of these cells. Here, we identify fibroblast growth factor (Fgf)3 as the main Fgf ligand controlling the ontogeny of serotonergic CSF-c cells. We show that fgf3 positively regulates the number of serotonergic CSF-c cells, as well as a subset of dopaminergic and neuroendocrine cells in the posterior hypothalamus via control of proliferation and cell survival. Further, expression of the ETS-domain transcription factor etv5b is downregulated after fgf3 impairment. Previous findings identified etv5b as critical for the proliferation of serotonergic progenitors in the hypothalamus, and therefore we now suggest that Fgf3 acts via etv5b during early development to ultimately control the number of mature serotonergic CSF-c cells. Moreover, our analysis of the developing hypothalamic transcriptome shows that the expression of fgf3 is upregulated upon fgf3 loss-of-function, suggesting activation of a self-compensatory mechanism. Together, these results highlight Fgf3 in a novel context as part of a signalling pathway of critical importance for hypothalamic development. KW - Fgf-signalling KW - Serotonin KW - Dopamine KW - Hypothalamus KW - Central nervous system Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200749 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Collenberg, Cora R. A1 - Schmitt, Dominique A1 - Rülicke, Thomas A1 - Sendtner, Michael A1 - Blum, Robert A1 - Buchner, Erich T1 - An essential role of the mouse synapse-associated protein Syap1 in circuits for spontaneous motor activity and rotarod balance JF - Biology Open N2 - Synapse-associated protein 1 (Syap1) is the mammalian homologue of synapse-associated protein of 47 kDa (Sap47) in Drosophila. Genetic deletion of Sap47 leads to deficiencies in short-term plasticity and associative memory processing in flies. In mice, Syap1 is prominently expressed in the nervous system, but its function is still unclear. We have generated Syap1 knockout mice and tested motor behaviour and memory. These mice are viable and fertile but display distinct deficiencies in motor behaviour. Locomotor activity specifically appears to be reduced in early phases when voluntary movement is initiated. On the rotarod, a more demanding motor test involving control by sensory feedback, Syap1-deficient mice dramatically fail to adapt to accelerated speed or to a change in rotation direction. Syap1 is highly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells and cerebellar nuclei. Thus, this distinct motor phenotype could be due to a so-far unknown function of Syap1 in cerebellar sensorimotor control. The observed motor defects are highly specific since other tests in the modified SHIRPA exam, as well as cognitive tasks like novel object recognition, Pavlovian fear conditioning, anxiety-like behaviour in open field dark-light transition and elevated plus maze do not appear to be affected in Syap1 knockout mice. KW - Syap1 knockout KW - Motor behaviour KW - Associative learning KW - Fear conditioning KW - Object recognition Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201986 N1 - PDF includes: Correction: An essential role of the mouse synapse-associated protein Syap1 in circuits for spontaneous motor activity and rotarod balance - February 15, 2020. Biology Open (2020) 9, bio048942. doi:10.1242/bio.048942 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunz, Tobias C. A1 - Götz, Ralph A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Rudel, Thomas T1 - Detection of chlamydia developmental forms and secreted effectors by expansion microscopy JF - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology N2 - Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a novel tool to improve the resolution of fluorescence-based microscopy that has not yet been used to visualize intracellular pathogens. Here we show the expansion of the intracellular pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, enabling to differentiate its two distinct forms, catabolic active reticulate bodies (RB) and infectious elementary bodies (EB), on a conventional confocal microscope. We show that ExM enables the possibility to precisely locate chlamydial effector proteins, such as CPAF or Cdu1, within and outside of the chlamydial inclusion. Thus, we claim that ExM offers the possibility to address a broad range of questions and may be useful for further research on various intracellular pathogens. KW - expansion microscopy KW - chlamydia KW - secreted effectors KW - developmental forms KW - superresolution KW - imaging Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195716 SN - 2235-2988 VL - 9 IS - 276 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Goos, Carina A1 - Dejung, Mario A1 - Wehman, Ann M. A1 - M-Natus, Elisabeth A1 - Schmidt, Johannes A1 - Sunter, Jack A1 - Engstler, Markus A1 - Butter, Falk A1 - Kramer, Susanne T1 - Trypanosomes can initiate nuclear export co-transcriptionally JF - Nucleic Acids Research N2 - The nuclear envelope serves as important messenger RNA (mRNA) surveillance system. In yeast and human, several control systems act in parallel to prevent nuclear export of unprocessed mRNAs. Trypanosomes lack homologues to most of the involved proteins and their nuclear mRNA metabolism is non-conventional exemplified by polycistronic transcription and mRNA processing by trans-splicing. We here visualized nuclear export in trypanosomes by intra- and intermolecular multi-colour single molecule FISH. We found that, in striking contrast to other eukaryotes, the initiation of nuclear export requires neither the completion of transcription nor splicing. Nevertheless, we show that unspliced mRNAs are mostly prevented from reaching the nucleus-distant cytoplasm and instead accumulate at the nuclear periphery in cytoplasmic nuclear periphery granules (NPGs). Further characterization of NPGs by electron microscopy and proteomics revealed that the granules are located at the cytoplasmic site of the nuclear pores and contain most cytoplasmic RNA-binding proteins but none of the major translation initiation factors, consistent with a function in preventing faulty mRNAs from reaching translation. Our data indicate that trypanosomes regulate the completion of nuclear export, rather than the initiation. Nuclear export control remains poorly understood, in any organism, and the described way of control may not be restricted to trypanosomes. KW - molecular biology KW - nuclear export KW - trypanosomes KW - mRNA KW - nuclear envelope Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177709 VL - 47 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gebert, Friederike A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Moretto, Philippe A1 - Peters, Marcell K. T1 - Climate rather than dung resources predict dung beetle abundance and diversity along elevational and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro JF - Journal of Biogeography N2 - Aim: While elevational gradients in species richness constitute some of the best depicted patterns in ecology, there is a large uncertainty concerning the role of food resource availability for the establishment of diversity gradients in insects. Here, we analysed the importance of climate, area, land use and food resources for determining diversity gradients of dung beetles along extensive elevation and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Location: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Taxon: Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera). Methods: Dung beetles were recorded with baited pitfall traps at 66 study plots along a 3.6 km elevational gradient. In order to quantify food resources for the dung beetle community in form of mammal defecation rates, we assessed mammalian diversity and biomass with camera traps. Using a multi‐model inference framework and path analysis, we tested the direct and indirect links between climate, area, land use and mammal defecation rates on the species richness and abundance of dung beetles. Results: We found that the species richness of dung beetles declined exponentially with increasing elevation. Human land use diminished the species richness of functional groups exhibiting complex behaviour but did not have a significant influence on total species richness. Path analysis suggested that climate, in particular temperature and to a lesser degree precipitation, were the most important predictors of dung beetle species richness while mammal defecation rate was not supported as a predictor variable. Main conclusions: Along broad climatic gradients, dung beetle diversity is mainly limited by climatic factors rather than by food resources. Our study points to a predominant role of temperature‐driven processes for the maintenance and origination of species diversity of ectothermic organisms, which will consequently be subject to ongoing climatic changes. KW - altitudinal gradients KW - diversity gradients KW - enercy-richness hypothesis KW - food resources KW - insect abundance KW - land use KW - Scarabaeidae KW - temperature‐richness hypothesis KW - temperature‐mediated resource exploitation hypothesis KW - species‐area hypothesis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204701 VL - 47 IS - 2 SP - 371 EP - 381 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Requier, Fabrice A1 - Paillet, Yoan A1 - Laroche, Fabienne A1 - Rutschmann, Benjamin A1 - Zhang, Jie A1 - Lombardi, Fabio A1 - Svoboda, Miroslav A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Contribution of European forests to safeguard wild honeybee populations JF - Conservation Letters N2 - Abstract Recent studies reveal the use of tree cavities by wild honeybee colonies in European forests. This highlights the conservation potential of forests for a highly threatened component of the native entomofauna in Europe, but currently no estimate of potential wild honeybee population sizes exists. Here, we analyzed the tree cavity densities of 106 forest areas across Europe and inferred an expected population size of wild honeybees. Both forest and management types affected the density of tree cavities. Accordingly, we estimated that more than 80,000 wild honeybee colonies could be sustained in European forests. As expected, potential conservation hotspots were identified in unmanaged forests, and, surprisingly, also in other large forest areas across Europe. Our results contribute to the EU policy strategy to halt pollinator declines and reveal the potential of forest areas for the conservation of so far neglected wild honeybee populations in Europe. KW - Apis mellifera KW - Conservation KW - forest management KW - honeybees KW - native populations KW - protected forests KW - tree cavities KW - unmanaged broadleaved forests Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204407 VL - 13 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pattschull, Grit A1 - Walz, Susanne A1 - Gründl, Marco A1 - Schwab, Melissa A1 - Rühl, Eva A1 - Baluapuri, Apoorva A1 - Cindric-Vranesic, Anita A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Wolf, Elmar A1 - Ade, Carsten P. A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - von Eyss, Björn A1 - Gaubatz, Stefan T1 - The Myb-MuvB complex is required for YAP-dependent transcription of mitotic genes JF - Cell Reports N2 - YAP and TAZ, downstream effectors of the Hippo pathway, are important regulators of proliferation. Here, we show that the ability of YAP to activate mitotic gene expression is dependent on the Myb-MuvB (MMB) complex, a master regulator of genes expressed in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. By carrying out genome-wide expression and binding analyses, we found that YAP promotes binding of the MMB subunit B-MYB to the promoters of mitotic target genes. YAP binds to B-MYB and stimulates B-MYB chromatin association through distal enhancer elements that interact with MMB-regulated promoters through chromatin looping. The cooperation between YAP and B-MYB is critical for YAP-mediated entry into mitosis. Furthermore, the expression of genes coactivated by YAP and B-MYB is associated with poor survival of cancer patients. Our findings provide a molecular mechanism by which YAP and MMB regulate mitotic gene expression and suggest a link between two cancer-relevant signaling pathways. KW - YAP KW - B-MYB KW - Myb-MuvB KW - mitotic genes KW - enhancer KW - transcription Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202039 VL - 27 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raheem, Dotsha J. A1 - Tawfike, Ahmed F. A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama R. A1 - Edrada-Ebel, RuAngelie A1 - Fitzsimmons-Thoss, Vera T1 - Application of metabolomics and molecular networking in investigating the chemical profile and antitrypanosomal activity of British bluebells (\(Hyacinthoides\) \(non-scripta\)) JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Bulb, leaf, scape and flower samples of British bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) were collected regularly for one growth period. Methanolic extracts of freeze-dried and ground samples showed antitrypanosomal activity, giving more than 50% inhibition, for 20 out of 41 samples. High-resolution mass spectrometry was used in the dereplication of the methanolic extracts of the different plant parts. The results revealed differences in the chemical profile with bulb samples being distinctly different from all aerial parts. High molecular weight metabolites were more abundant in the flowers, shoots and leaves compared to smaller molecular weight ones in the bulbs. The anti-trypanosomal activity of the extracts was linked to the accumulation of high molecular weight compounds, which were matched with saponin glycosides, while triterpenoids and steroids occurred in the inactive extracts. Dereplication studies were employed to identify the significant metabolites via chemotaxonomic filtration and considering their previously reported bioactivities. Molecular networking was implemented to look for similarities in fragmentation patterns between the isolated saponin glycoside at m/z 1445.64 [M + formic-H](-) equivalent to C64H104O33 and the putatively found active metabolite at m/z 1283.58 [M + formic-H](-) corresponding to scillanoside L-1. A combination of metabolomics and bioactivity-guided approaches resulted in the isolation of a norlanostane-type saponin glycoside with antitrypanosoma I activity of 98.9% inhibition at 20 mu M. KW - Drug discovery KW - Metabolomics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224935 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ries, Lena K. A1 - Sander, Bodo A1 - Deol, Kirandeep K. A1 - Letzelter, Marie-Annick A1 - Strieter, Eric Robert A1 - Lorenz, Sonja T1 - Analysis of ubiquitin recognition by the HECT ligase E6AP provides insight into its linkage specificity JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry N2 - Deregulation of the HECT-type ubiquitin ligase E6AP (UBE3A) is implicated in human papilloma virus-induced cervical tumorigenesis and several neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet the structural underpinnings of activity and specificity in this crucial ligase are incompletely understood. Here, we unravel the determinants of ubiquitin recognition by the catalytic domain of E6AP and assign them to particular steps in the catalytic cycle. We identify a functionally critical interface that is specifically required during the initial formation of a thioester-linked intermediate between the C terminus of ubiquitin and the ligase-active site. This interface resembles the one utilized by NEDD4-type enzymes, indicating that it is widely conserved across HECT ligases, independent of their linkage specificities. Moreover, we uncover surface regions in ubiquitin and E6AP, both in the N- and C-terminal portions of the catalytic domain, that are important for the subsequent reaction step of isopeptide bond formation between two ubiquitin molecules. We decipher key elements of linkage specificity, including the C-terminal tail of E6AP and a hydrophilic surface region of ubiquitin in proximity to the acceptor site Lys-48. Intriguingly, mutation of Glu-51, a single residue within this region, permits formation of alternative chain types, thus pointing to a key role of ubiquitin in conferring linkage specificity to E6AP. We speculate that substrate-assisted catalysis, as described previously for certain RING-associated ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, constitutes a common principle during linkage-specific ubiquitin chain assembly by diverse classes of ubiquitination enzymes, including HECT ligases. KW - ubiquitin KW - ubiquitin ligase KW - ubiquitylation (ubiquitination) KW - post-translational modification KW - enzyme mechanism Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226207 VL - 294 IS - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yang, Manli A1 - Rajeeve, Karthika A1 - Rudel, Thomas A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - Comprehensive Flux Modeling of Chlamydia trachomatis Proteome and qRT-PCR Data Indicate Biphasic Metabolic Differences Between Elementary Bodies and Reticulate Bodies During Infection JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Metabolic adaptation to the host cell is important for obligate intracellular pathogens such as Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). Here we infer the flux differences for Ct from proteome and qRT-PCR data by comprehensive pathway modeling. We compare the comparatively inert infectious elementary body (EB) and the active replicative reticulate body (RB) systematically using a genome-scale metabolic model with 321 metabolites and 277 reactions. This did yield 84 extreme pathways based on a published proteomics dataset at three different time points of infection. Validation of predictions was done by quantitative RT-PCR of enzyme mRNA expression at three time points. Ct’s major active pathways are glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, glycerol-phospholipid (GPL) biosynthesis (support from host acetyl-CoA) and pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), while its incomplete TCA and fatty acid biosynthesis are less active. The modeled metabolic pathways are much more active in RB than in EB. Our in silico model suggests that EB and RB utilize folate to generate NAD(P)H using independent pathways. The only low metabolic flux inferred for EB involves mainly carbohydrate metabolism. RB utilizes energy -rich compounds to generate ATP in nucleic acid metabolism. Validation data for the modeling include proteomics experiments (model basis) as well as qRT-PCR confirmation of selected metabolic enzyme mRNA expression differences. The metabolic modeling is made fully available here. Its detailed insights and models on Ct metabolic adaptations during infection are a useful modeling basis for future studies. KW - metabolic modeling KW - metabolic flux KW - infection biology KW - elementary body KW - reticulate body KW - Chlamydia trachomatis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189434 SN - 1664-302X VL - 10 IS - 2350 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hupp, Sabrina A1 - Rosenkranz, Maaria A1 - Bonfig, Katharina A1 - Pandey, Chandana A1 - Roitsch, Thomas T1 - Noninvasive Phenotyping of Plant–Pathogen Interaction: Consecutive In Situ Imaging of Fluorescing Pseudomonas syringae, Plant Phenolic Fluorescence, and Chlorophyll Fluorescence in Arabidopsis Leaves JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Plant–pathogen interactions have been widely studied, but mostly from the site of the plant secondary defense. Less is known about the effects of pathogen infection on plant primary metabolism. The possibility to transform a fluorescing protein into prokaryotes is a promising phenotyping tool to follow a bacterial infection in plants in a noninvasive manner. In the present study, virulent and avirulent Pseudomonas syringae strains were transformed with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to follow the spread of bacteria in vivo by imaging Pulse-Amplitude-Modulation (PAM) fluorescence and conventional binocular microscopy. The combination of various wavelengths and filters allowed simultaneous detection of GFP-transformed bacteria, PAM chlorophyll fluorescence, and phenolic fluorescence from pathogen-infected plant leaves. The results show that fluorescence imaging allows spatiotemporal monitoring of pathogen spread as well as phenolic and chlorophyll fluorescence in situ, thus providing a novel means to study complex plant–pathogen interactions and relate the responses of primary and secondary metabolism to pathogen spread and multiplication. The study establishes a deeper understanding of imaging data and their implementation into disease screening. KW - green fluorescence protein (GFP) KW - plant–pathogen interaction KW - imaging PAM KW - chlorophyll fluorescence imaging KW - phenolic compounds Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189425 SN - 1664-462X VL - 10 IS - 1239 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Coelho, Luis Pedro A1 - Alves, Renato A1 - Monteiro, Paulo A1 - Huerta-Cepas, Jaime A1 - Freitas, Ana Teresa A1 - Bork, Peer T1 - NG-meta-profiler: fast processing of metagenomes using NGLess, a domain-specific language JF - Microbiome N2 - Background Shotgun metagenomes contain a sample of all the genomic material in an environment, allowing for the characterization of a microbial community. In order to understand these communities, bioinformatics methods are crucial. A common first step in processing metagenomes is to compute abundance estimates of different taxonomic or functional groups from the raw sequencing data. Given the breadth of the field, computational solutions need to be flexible and extensible, enabling the combination of different tools into a larger pipeline. Results We present NGLess and NG-meta-profiler. NGLess is a domain specific language for describing next-generation sequence processing pipelines. It was developed with the goal of enabling user-friendly computational reproducibility. It provides built-in support for many common operations on sequencing data and is extensible with external tools with configuration files. Using this framework, we developed NG-meta-profiler, a fast profiler for metagenomes which performs sequence preprocessing, mapping to bundled databases, filtering of the mapping results, and profiling (taxonomic and functional). It is significantly faster than either MOCAT2 or htseq-count and (as it builds on NGLess) its results are perfectly reproducible. Conclusions NG-meta-profiler is a high-performance solution for metagenomics processing built on NGLess. It can be used as-is to execute standard analyses or serve as the starting point for customization in a perfectly reproducible fashion. NGLess and NG-meta-profiler are open source software (under the liberal MIT license) and can be downloaded from https://ngless.embl.de or installed through bioconda. KW - metagenomics KW - next-generation sequencing KW - domain-specific language Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223161 VL - 7 IS - 84 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Annunziata, Ida A1 - van de Vlekkert, Diantha A1 - Wolf, Elmar A1 - Finkelstein, David A1 - Neale, Geoffrey A1 - Machado, Eda A1 - Mosca, Rosario A1 - Campos, Yvan A1 - Tillman, Heather A1 - Roussel, Martine F. A1 - Weesner, Jason Andrew A1 - Fremuth, Leigh Ellen A1 - Qiu, Xiaohui A1 - Han, Min-Joon A1 - Grosveld, Gerard C. A1 - d'Azzo, Alessandra T1 - MYC competes with MiT/TFE in regulating lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy through an epigenetic rheostat JF - Nature Communications N2 - Coordinated regulation of the lysosomal and autophagic systems ensures basal catabolism and normal cell physiology, and failure of either system causes disease. Here we describe an epigenetic rheostat orchestrated by c-MYC and histone deacetylases that inhibits lysosomal and autophagic biogenesis by concomitantly repressing the expression of the transcription factors MiT/TFE and FOXH1, and that of lysosomal and autophagy genes. Inhibition of histone deacetylases abates c-MYC binding to the promoters of lysosomal and autophagy genes, granting promoter occupancy to the MiT/TFE members, TFEB and TFE3, and/or the autophagy regulator FOXH1. In pluripotent stem cells and cancer, suppression of lysosomal and autophagic function is directly downstream of c-MYC overexpression and may represent a hallmark of malignant transformation. We propose that, by determining the fate of these catabolic systems, this hierarchical switch regulates the adaptive response of cells to pathological and physiological cues that could be exploited therapeutically. KW - autophagy KW - cancer KW - cancer metabolism KW - cell biology KW - mechanisms of disease Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221189 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dammert, Marcel A. A1 - Brägelmann, Johannes A1 - Olsen, Rachelle R. A1 - Böhm, Stefanie A1 - Monhasery, Niloufar A1 - Whitney, Christopher P. A1 - Chalishazar, Milind D. A1 - Tumbrink, Hannah L. A1 - Guthrie, Matthew R. A1 - Klein, Sebastian A1 - Ireland, Abbie S. A1 - Ryan, Jeremy A1 - Schmitt, Anna A1 - Marx, Annika A1 - Ozretić, Luka A1 - Castiglione, Roberta A1 - Lorenz, Carina A1 - Jachimowicz, Ron D. A1 - Wolf, Elmar A1 - Thomas, Roman K. A1 - Poirier, John T. A1 - Büttner, Reinhard A1 - Sen, Triparna A1 - Byers, Lauren A. A1 - Reinhardt, H. Christian A1 - Letai, Anthony A1 - Oliver, Trudy G. A1 - Sos, Martin L. T1 - MYC paralog-dependent apoptotic priming orchestrates a spectrum of vulnerabilities in small cell lung cancer JF - Nature Communications N2 - MYC paralogs are frequently activated in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) but represent poor drug targets. Thus, a detailed mapping of MYC-paralog-specific vulnerabilities may help to develop effective therapies for SCLC patients. Using a unique cellular CRISPR activation model, we uncover that, in contrast to MYCN and MYCL, MYC represses BCL2 transcription via interaction with MIZ1 and DNMT3a. The resulting lack of BCL2 expression promotes sensitivity to cell cycle control inhibition and dependency on MCL1. Furthermore, MYC activation leads to heightened apoptotic priming, intrinsic genotoxic stress and susceptibility to DNA damage checkpoint inhibitors. Finally, combined AURK and CHK1 inhibition substantially prolongs the survival of mice bearing MYC-driven SCLC beyond that of combination chemotherapy. These analyses uncover MYC-paralog-specific regulation of the apoptotic machinery with implications for genotype-based selection of targeted therapeutics in SCLC patients. KW - genetic engineering KW - oncogenes KW - small-cell lung cancer KW - targeted therapies Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223569 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dörk, Thilo A1 - Peterlongo, Peter A1 - Mannermaa, Arto A1 - Bolla, Manjeet K. A1 - Wang, Qin A1 - Dennis, Joe A1 - Ahearn, Thomas A1 - Andrulis, Irene L. A1 - Anton-Culver, Hoda A1 - Arndt, Volker A1 - Aronson, Kristan J. A1 - Augustinsson, Annelie A1 - Beane Freeman, Laura E. A1 - Beckmann, Matthias W. A1 - Beeghly-Fadiel, Alicia A1 - Behrens, Sabine A1 - Bermisheva, Marina A1 - Blomqvist, Carl A1 - Bogdanova, Natalia V. A1 - Bojesen, Stig E. A1 - Brauch, Hiltrud A1 - Brenner, Hermann A1 - Burwinkel, Barbara A1 - Canzian, Federico A1 - Chan, Tsun L. A1 - Chang-Claude, Jenny A1 - Chanock, Stephen J. A1 - Choi, Ji-Yeob A1 - Christiansen, Hans A1 - Clarke, Christine L. A1 - Couch, Fergus J. A1 - Czene, Kamila A1 - Daly, Mary B. A1 - dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel A1 - Dwek, Miriam A1 - Eccles, Diana M. A1 - Ekici, Arif B. A1 - Eriksson, Mikael A1 - Evans, D. Gareth A1 - Fasching, Peter A. A1 - Figueroa, Jonine A1 - Flyger, Henrik A1 - Fritschi, Lin A1 - Gabrielson, Marike A1 - Gago-Dominguez, Manuela A1 - Gao, Chi A1 - Gapstur, Susan M. A1 - García-Closas, Montserrat A1 - García-Sáenz, José A. A1 - Gaudet, Mia M. A1 - Giles, Graham G. A1 - Goldberg, Mark S. A1 - Goldgar, David E. A1 - Guenél, Pascal A1 - Haeberle, Lothar A1 - Haimann, Christopher A. A1 - Håkansson, Niclas A1 - Hall, Per A1 - Hamann, Ute A1 - Hartman, Mikael A1 - Hauke, Jan A1 - Hein, Alexander A1 - Hillemanns, Peter A1 - Hogervorst, Frans B. L. A1 - Hooning, Maartje J. A1 - Hopper, John L. A1 - Howell, Tony A1 - Huo, Dezheng A1 - Ito, Hidemi A1 - Iwasaki, Motoki A1 - Jakubowska, Anna A1 - Janni, Wolfgang A1 - John, Esther M. A1 - Jung, Audrey A1 - Kaaks, Rudolf A1 - Kang, Daehee A1 - Kapoor, Pooja Middha A1 - Khusnutdinova, Elza A1 - Kim, Sung-Won A1 - Kitahara, Cari M. A1 - Koutros, Stella A1 - Kraft, Peter A1 - Kristensen, Vessela N. A1 - Kwong, Ava A1 - Lambrechts, Diether A1 - Le Marchand, Loic A1 - Li, Jingmei A1 - Lindström, Sara A1 - Linet, Martha A1 - Lo, Wing-Yee A1 - Long, Jirong A1 - Lophatananon, Artitaya A1 - Lubiński, Jan A1 - Manoochehri, Mehdi A1 - Manoukian, Siranoush A1 - Margolin, Sara A1 - Martinez, Elena A1 - Matsuo, Keitaro A1 - Mavroudis, Dimitris A1 - Meindl, Alfons A1 - Menon, Usha A1 - Milne, Roger L. A1 - Mohd Taib, Nur Aishah A1 - Muir, Kenneth A1 - Mulligan, Anna Marie A1 - Neuhausen, Susan L. A1 - Nevanlinna, Heli A1 - Neven, Patrick A1 - Newman, William G. A1 - Offit, Kenneth A1 - Olopade, Olufunmilayo I. A1 - Olshan, Andrew F. A1 - Olson, Janet E. A1 - Olsson, Håkan A1 - Park, Sue K. A1 - Park-Simon, Tjoung-Won A1 - Peto, Julian A1 - Plaseska-Karanfilska, Dijana A1 - Pohl-Rescigno, Esther A1 - Presneau, Nadege A1 - Rack, Brigitte A1 - Radice, Paolo A1 - Rashid, Muhammad U. A1 - Rennert, Gad A1 - Rennert, Hedy S. A1 - Romero, Atocha A1 - Ruebner, Matthias A1 - Saloustros, Emmanouil A1 - Schmidt, Marjanka K. A1 - Schmutzler, Rita K. A1 - Schneider, Michael O. A1 - Schoemaker, Minouk J. A1 - Scott, Christopher A1 - Shen, Chen-Yang A1 - Shu, Xiao-Ou A1 - Simard, Jaques A1 - Slager, Susan A1 - Smichkoska, Snezhana A1 - Southey, Melissa C. A1 - Spinelli, John J. A1 - Stone, Jennifer A1 - Surowy, Harald A1 - Swerdlow, Anthony J. A1 - Tamimi, Rulla M. A1 - Tapper, William J. A1 - Teo, Soo H. A1 - Terry, Mary Beth A1 - Toland, Amanda E. A1 - Tollenaar, Rob A. E. M. A1 - Torres, Diana A1 - Torres-Mejía, Gabriela A1 - Troester, Melissa A. A1 - Truong, Thérèse A1 - Tsugane, Shoichiro A1 - Untch, Michael A1 - Vachon, Celine M. A1 - van den Ouweland, Ans M. W. A1 - van Veen, Elke M. A1 - Vijai, Joseph A1 - Wendt, Camilla A1 - Wolk, Alicja A1 - Yu, Jyh-Cherng A1 - Zheng, Wei A1 - Ziogas, Argyrios A1 - Ziv, Elad A1 - Dunnig, Alison A1 - Pharaoh, Paul D. P. A1 - Schindler, Detlev A1 - Devilee, Peter A1 - Easton, Douglas F. T1 - Two truncating variants in FANCC and breast cancer risk JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder with 22 disease-causing genes reported to date. In some FA genes, monoallelic mutations have been found to be associated with breast cancer risk, while the risk associations of others remain unknown. The gene for FA type C, FANCC, has been proposed as a breast cancer susceptibility gene based on epidemiological and sequencing studies. We used the Oncoarray project to genotype two truncating FANCC variants (p.R185X and p.R548X) in 64,760 breast cancer cases and 49,793 controls of European descent. FANCC mutations were observed in 25 cases (14 with p.R185X, 11 with p.R548X) and 26 controls (18 with p.R185X, 8 with p.R548X). There was no evidence of an association with the risk of breast cancer, neither overall (odds ratio 0.77, 95%CI 0.44–1.33, p = 0.4) nor by histology, hormone receptor status, age or family history. We conclude that the breast cancer risk association of these two FANCC variants, if any, is much smaller than for BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 mutations. If this applies to all truncating variants in FANCC it would suggest there are differences between FA genes in their roles on breast cancer risk and demonstrates the merit of large consortia for clarifying risk associations of rare variants. KW - oncology KW - risk factors Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-222838 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steuer Costa, Wagner A1 - Van der Auwera, Petrus A1 - Glock, Caspar A1 - Liewald, Jana F. A1 - Bach, Maximilian A1 - Schüler, Christina A1 - Wabnig, Sebastian A1 - Oranth, Alexandra A1 - Masurat, Florentin A1 - Bringmann, Henrik A1 - Schoofs, Liliane A1 - Stelzer, Ernst H. K. A1 - Fischer, Sabine C. A1 - Gottschalk, Alexander T1 - A GABAergic and peptidergic sleep neuron as a locomotion stop neuron with compartmentalized Ca2+ dynamics JF - Nature Communications N2 - Animals must slow or halt locomotion to integrate sensory inputs or to change direction. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the GABAergic and peptidergic neuron RIS mediates developmentally timed quiescence. Here, we show RIS functions additionally as a locomotion stop neuron. RIS optogenetic stimulation caused acute and persistent inhibition of locomotion and pharyngeal pumping, phenotypes requiring FLP-11 neuropeptides and GABA. RIS photoactivation allows the animal to maintain its body posture by sustaining muscle tone, yet inactivating motor neuron oscillatory activity. During locomotion, RIS axonal Ca2+ signals revealed functional compartmentalization: Activity in the nerve ring process correlated with locomotion stop, while activity in a branch correlated with induced reversals. GABA was required to induce, and FLP-11 neuropeptides were required to sustain locomotion stop. RIS attenuates neuronal activity and inhibits movement, possibly enabling sensory integration and decision making, and exemplifies dual use of one cell across development in a compact nervous system. KW - Cellular neuroscience KW - Neural circuits Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223273 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - El-Mesery, Mohamed A1 - Rosenthal, Tina A1 - Rauert-Wunderlich, Hilka A1 - Schreder, Martin A1 - Stühmer, Thorsten A1 - Leich, Ellen A1 - Schlosser, Andreas A1 - Ehrenschwender, Martin A1 - Wajant, Harald A1 - Siegmund, Daniela T1 - The NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor MLN4924 sensitizes a TNFR1+ subgroup of multiple myeloma cells for TNF-induced cell death JF - Cell Death & Disease N2 - The NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE) inhibitor MLN4924 inhibits cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase complexes including the SKP1-cullin-F-box E3 ligase βTrCP. MLN4924 therefore inhibits also the βTrCP-dependent activation of the classical and the alternative NFĸB pathway. In this work, we found that a subgroup of multiple myeloma cell lines (e.g., RPMI-8226, MM.1S, KMS-12BM) and about half of the primary myeloma samples tested are sensitized to TNF-induced cell death by MLN4924. This correlated with MLN4924-mediated inhibition of TNF-induced activation of the classical NFκB pathway and reduced the efficacy of TNF-induced TNFR1 signaling complex formation. Interestingly, binding studies revealed a straightforward correlation between cell surface TNFR1 expression in multiple myeloma cell lines and their sensitivity for MLN4924/TNF-induced cell death. The cell surface expression levels of TNFR1 in the investigated MM cell lines largely correlated with TNFR1 mRNA expression. This suggests that the variable levels of cell surface expression of TNFR1 in myeloma cell lines are decisive for TNF/MLN4924 sensitivity. Indeed, introduction of TNFR1 into TNFR1-negative TNF/MLN4924-resistant KMS-11BM cells, was sufficient to sensitize this cell line for TNF/MLN4924-induced cell death. Thus, MLN4924 might be especially effective in myeloma patients with TNFR1+ myeloma cells and a TNFhigh tumor microenvironment. KW - cancer therapy KW - tumour-necrosis factors Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226666 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gotru, Sanjeev Kiran A1 - van Geffen, Johanna P. A1 - Nagy, Magdolna A1 - Mammadova-Bach, Elmina A1 - Eilenberger, Julia A1 - Volz, Julia A1 - Manukjan, Georgi A1 - Schulze, Harald A1 - Wagner, Leonard A1 - Eber, Stefan A1 - Schambeck, Christian A1 - Deppermann, Carsten A1 - Brouns, Sanne A1 - Nurden, Paquita A1 - Greinacher, Andreas A1 - Sachs, Ulrich A1 - Nieswandt, Bernhard A1 - Hermanns, Heike M. A1 - Heemskerk, Johan W. M. A1 - Braun, Attila T1 - Defective Zn2+ homeostasis in mouse and human platelets with α- and δ-storage pool diseases JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Zinc (Zn2+) can modulate platelet and coagulation activation pathways, including fibrin formation. Here, we studied the (patho)physiological consequences of abnormal platelet Zn2+ storage and release. To visualize Zn2+ storage in human and mouse platelets, the Zn2+ specific fluorescent dye FluoZin3 was used. In resting platelets, the dye transiently accumulated into distinct cytosolic puncta, which were lost upon platelet activation. Platelets isolated from Unc13d−/− mice, characterized by combined defects of α/δ granular release, showed a markedly impaired Zn2+ release upon activation. Platelets from Nbeal2−/− mice mimicking Gray platelet syndrome (GPS), characterized by primarily loss of the α-granule content, had strongly reduced Zn2+ levels, which was also confirmed in primary megakaryocytes. In human platelets isolated from patients with GPS, Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS) and Storage Pool Disease (SPD) altered Zn2+ homeostasis was detected. In turbidity and flow based assays, platelet-dependent fibrin formation was impaired in both Nbeal2−/− and Unc13d−/− mice, and the impairment could be partially restored by extracellular Zn2+. Altogether, we conclude that the release of ionic Zn2+ store from secretory granules upon platelet activation contributes to the procoagulant role of Zn2+ in platelet-dependent fibrin formation. KW - coagulation system KW - metals Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227455 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Harnoš, Jakub A1 - Cañizal, Maria Consuelo Alonso A1 - Jurásek, Miroslav A1 - Kumar, Jitender A1 - Holler, Cornelia A1 - Schambony, Alexandra A1 - Hanáková, Kateřina A1 - Bernatík, Ondřej A1 - Zdráhal, Zbynêk A1 - Gömöryová, Kristína A1 - Gybeľ, Tomáš A1 - Radaszkiewicz, Tomasz Witold A1 - Kravec, Marek A1 - Trantírek, Lukáš A1 - Ryneš, Jan A1 - Dave, Zankruti A1 - Fernández-Llamazares, Ana Iris A1 - Vácha, Robert A1 - Tripsianes, Konstantinos A1 - Hoffmann, Carsten A1 - Bryja, Vítězslav T1 - Dishevelled-3 conformation dynamics analyzed by FRET-based biosensors reveals a key role of casein kinase 1 JF - Nature Communications N2 - Dishevelled (DVL) is the key component of the Wnt signaling pathway. Currently, DVL conformational dynamics under native conditions is unknown. To overcome this limitation, we develop the Fluorescein Arsenical Hairpin Binder- (FlAsH-) based FRET in vivo approach to study DVL conformation in living cells. Using this single-cell FRET approach, we demonstrate that (i) Wnt ligands induce open DVL conformation, (ii) DVL variants that are predominantly open, show more even subcellular localization and more efficient membrane recruitment by Frizzled (FZD) and (iii) Casein kinase 1 ɛ (CK1ɛ) has a key regulatory function in DVL conformational dynamics. In silico modeling and in vitro biophysical methods explain how CK1ɛ-specific phosphorylation events control DVL conformations via modulation of the PDZ domain and its interaction with DVL C-terminus. In summary, our study describes an experimental tool for DVL conformational sampling in living cells and elucidates the essential regulatory role of CK1ɛ in DVL conformational dynamics. KW - biological techniques KW - cell signalling KW - phosphorylation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227837 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kraus, Amelie J. A1 - Brink, Benedikt G. A1 - Siegel, T. Nicolai T1 - Efficient and specific oligo-based depletion of rRNA JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In most organisms, ribosomal RNA (rRNA) contributes to >85% of total RNA. Thus, to obtain useful information from RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses at reasonable sequencing depth, typically, mature polyadenylated transcripts are enriched or rRNA molecules are depleted. Targeted depletion of rRNA is particularly useful when studying transcripts lacking a poly(A) tail, such as some non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), most bacterial RNAs and partially degraded or immature transcripts. While several commercially available kits allow effective rRNA depletion, their efficiency relies on a high degree of sequence homology between oligonucleotide probes and the target RNA. This restricts the use of such kits to a limited number of organisms with conserved rRNA sequences. In this study we describe the use of biotinylated oligos and streptavidin-coated paramagnetic beads for the efficient and specific depletion of trypanosomal rRNA. Our approach reduces the levels of the most abundant rRNA transcripts to less than 5% with minimal off-target effects. By adjusting the sequence of the oligonucleotide probes, our approach can be used to deplete rRNAs or other abundant transcripts independent of species. Thus, our protocol provides a useful alternative for rRNA removal where enrichment of polyadenylated transcripts is not an option and commercial kits for rRNA are not available. KW - parasite biology KW - RNA sequencing KW - transcriptomics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224829 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kim, Bo-Mi A1 - Amores, Angel A1 - Kang, Seunghyun A1 - Ahn, Do-Hwan A1 - Kim, Jin-Hyoung A1 - Kim, Il-Chan A1 - Lee, Jun Hyuck A1 - Lee, Sung Gu A1 - Lee, Hyoungseok A1 - Lee, Jungeun A1 - Kim, Han-Woo A1 - Desvignes, Thomas A1 - Batzel, Peter A1 - Sydes, Jason A1 - Titus, Tom A1 - Wilson, Catherine A. A1 - Catchen, Julian M. A1 - Warren, Wesley C. A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Detrich, H. William III A1 - Postlethwait, John H. A1 - Park, Hyun T1 - Antarctic blackfin icefish genome reveals adaptations to extreme environments JF - Nature Ecology & Evolution N2 - Icefishes (suborder Notothenioidei; family Channichthyidae) are the only vertebrates that lack functional haemoglobin genes and red blood cells. Here, we report a high-quality genome assembly and linkage map for the Antarctic blackfin icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus, highlighting evolved genomic features for its unique physiology. Phylogenomic analysis revealed that Antarctic fish of the teleost suborder Notothenioidei, including icefishes, diverged from the stickleback lineage about 77 million years ago and subsequently evolved cold-adapted phenotypes as the Southern Ocean cooled to sub-zero temperatures. Our results show that genes involved in protection from ice damage, including genes encoding antifreeze glycoprotein and zona pellucida proteins, are highly expanded in the icefish genome. Furthermore, genes that encode enzymes that help to control cellular redox state, including members of the sod3 and nqo1 gene families, are expanded, probably as evolutionary adaptations to the relatively high concentration of oxygen dissolved in cold Antarctic waters. In contrast, some crucial regulators of circadian homeostasis (cry and per genes) are absent from the icefish genome, suggesting compromised control of biological rhythms in the polar light environment. The availability of the icefish genome sequence will accelerate our understanding of adaptation to extreme Antarctic environments. KW - animal physiology KW - evolutionary genetics KW - genomics KW - ichthyology Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-325811 VL - 3 ER -