OCaR1 endows exocytic vesicles with autoregulatory competence by preventing uncontrolled Ca2+ release, exocytosis, and pancreatic tissue damage
Regulated exocytosis is initiated by increased Ca2+ concentrations in close spatial proximity to secretory granules, which is effectively prevented when the cell is at rest. Here we showed that exocytosis of zymogen granules in acinar cells was driven by Ca2+ directly released from acidic Ca2+ stores including secretory granules through NAADP-activated two-pore channels (TPCs). We identified OCaR1 (encoded by Tmem63a) as an organellar Ca2+ regulator protein integral to the membrane of secretory granules that controlled Ca2+ release via inhibition of TPC1 and TPC2 currents. Deletion of OCaR1 led to extensive Ca2+ release fr...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Volodymyr Tsvilovskyy, Roger Ottenheijm, Ulrich Kriebs, Aline Schütz, Kalliope Nina Diakopoulos, Archana Jha, Wolfgang Bildl, Angela Wirth, Julia Böck, Dawid Jaślan, Irene Ferro, Francisco J. Taberner, Olga Kalinina, Staffan Hildebrand, Ulrich Wissenba Source Type: research
Surviving without BRCA2: MLH1 gets R-looped in to curtail genomic instability
While breast cancer 2 (BRCA2) loss of heterozygosity (LOH) promotes cancer initiation, it can also induce death in nontransformed cells. In contrast, mismatch repair gene mutL homolog 1 (MLH1) is a tumor-suppressor gene that protects cells from cancer development through repairing mismatched base pairs during DNA mismatch repair (MMR). Sengodan et al., in this issue of the JCI, reveal an interplay between the 2 genes: MLH1 promoted the survival of BRCA2-deficient cells independently of its MMR function. MLH1 protected replication forks from degradation, while also resolving R-loops, thereby reducing genomic instability. Mo...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Neil Johnson Source Type: research
mTORC1 controls murine postprandial hepatic glycogen synthesis via Ppp1r3b
In response to a meal, insulin drives hepatic glycogen synthesis to help regulate systemic glucose homeostasis. The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a well-established insulin target and contributes to the postprandial control of liver lipid metabolism, autophagy, and protein synthesis. However, its role in hepatic glucose metabolism is less understood. Here, we used metabolomics, isotope tracing, and mouse genetics to define a role for liver mTORC1 signaling in the control of postprandial glycolytic intermediates and glycogen deposition. We show that mTORC1 is required for glycogen synthase activity a...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Kahealani Uehara, Won Dong Lee, Megan Stefkovich, Dipsikha Biswas, Dominic Santoleri, Anna Garcia Whitlock, William Quinn III, Talia Coopersmith, Kate Townsend Creasy, Daniel J. Rader, Kei Sakamoto, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Paul M. Titchenell Source Type: research
IL-6–mediated endothelial injury impairs antiviral humoral immunity after bone marrow transplantation
Endothelial function and integrity are compromised after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), but how this affects immune responses broadly remains unknown. Using a preclinical model of CMV reactivation after BMT, we found compromised antiviral humoral responses induced by IL-6 signaling. IL-6 signaling in T cells maintained Th1 cells, resulting in sustained IFN-γ secretion, which promoted endothelial cell (EC) injury, loss of the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) responsible for IgG recycling, and rapid IgG loss. T cell–specific deletion of IL-6R led to persistence of recipient-derived, CMV-specific IgG and inhibite...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Ping Zhang, Peter Fleming, Christopher E. Andoniou, Olivia G. Waltner, Shruti S. Bhise, Jose Paulo Martins, Benjamin A. McEnroe, Valentina Voigt, Sheridan Daly, Rachel D. Kuns, Adaeze P. Ekwe, Andrea S. Henden, Alda Saldan, Stuart Olver, Antiopi Varelias, Source Type: research
The integrated stress response pathway and neuromodulator signaling in the brain: lessons learned from dystonia
The integrated stress response (ISR) is a highly conserved biochemical pathway involved in maintaining proteostasis and cell health in the face of diverse stressors. In this Review, we discuss a relatively noncanonical role for the ISR in neuromodulatory neurons and its implications for synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Beyond its roles in stress response, the ISR has been extensively studied in the brain, where it potently influences learning and memory, and in the process of synaptic plasticity, which is a substrate for adaptive behavior. Recent findings demonstrate that some neuromodulatory neuron types engage ...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Nicole Calakos, Zachary F. Caffall Source Type: research
Howard Chang receives the 2024 ASCI/Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award
(Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation)
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - April 1, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Lisa R. Conti Source Type: research
Disassembly of the TRIM56-ATR complex promotes cytoDNA/cGAS/STING axis–dependent intervertebral disc inflammatory degeneration
In this study, we reveal a mechanism of IVDD progression in which aberrant genomic DNA damage promoted NP cell inflammatory senescence via activation of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase/stimulator of IFN genes (cGAS/STING) axis but not of absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome assembly. Ataxia-telangiectasia–mutated and Rad3-related protein (ATR) deficiency destroyed genomic integrity and led to cytosolic mislocalization of genomic DNA, which acted as a powerful driver of cGAS/STING axis–dependent inflammatory phenotype acquisition during NP cell senescence. Mechanistically, disassembly of the ATR–tripartite motif–con...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Weifeng Zhang, Gaocai Li, Xingyu Zhou, Huaizhen Liang, Bide Tong, Di Wu, Kevin Yang, Yu Song, Bingjin Wang, Zhiwei Liao, Liang Ma, Wencan Ke, Xiaoguang Zhang, Jie Lei, Chunchi Lei, Xiaobo Feng, Kun Wang, Kangcheng Zhao, Cao Yang Source Type: research
p40 homodimers bridge ischemic tissue inflammation and heterologous alloimmunity in mice via IL-15 transpresentation
Virus-induced memory T cells often express functional cross-reactivity, or heterologous immunity, to other viruses and to allogeneic MHC molecules that is an important component of pathogenic responses to allogeneic transplants. During immune responses, antigen-reactive naive and central memory T cells proliferate in secondary lymphoid organs to achieve sufficient cell numbers to effectively respond, whereas effector memory T cell proliferation occurs directly within the peripheral inflammatory microenvironment. Mechanisms driving heterologous memory T cell proliferation and effector function expression within peripheral t...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Hidetoshi Tsuda, Karen S. Keslar, William M. Baldwin III, Peter S. Heeger, Anna Valujskikh, Robert L. Fairchild Source Type: research
B cells mediate lung ischemia/reperfusion injury by recruiting classical monocytes via synergistic B cell receptor/TLR4 signaling
This study describes a role for B cells as critical orchestrators of lung IRI. As B cells can be depleted with currently available agents, our study provides a rationale for clinical trials investigating B cell–targeting therapies. (Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation)
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Khashayar Farahnak, Yun Zhu Bai, Yuhei Yokoyama, Deniz B. Morkan, Zhiyi Liu, Junedh M. Amrute, Alejandro De Filippis Falcon, Yuriko Terada, Fuyi Liao, Wenjun Li, Hailey M. Shepherd, Ramsey R. Hachem, Varun Puri, Kory J. Lavine, Andrew E. Gelman, Ankit Bha Source Type: research
Comprehensive assessment of immune context and immunotherapy response via noninvasive imaging in gastric cancer
This study involved 2,600 patients with GC from 9 independent cohorts. We developed and validated 2 CT imaging biomarkers (lymphoid radiomics score [LRS] and myeloid radiomics score [MRS]) for evaluating the IHC-derived lymphoid and myeloid immune context respectively, and integrated them into a combined imaging biomarker [LRS/MRS: low(−) or high(+)] with 4 radiomics immune subtypes: 1 (−/−), 2 (+/−), 3 (−/+), and 4 (+/+). We further evaluated the imaging biomarkers’ predictive values on prognosis and immunotherapy response.RESULTS The developed imaging biomarkers (LRS and MRS) had a high accuracy in predicting...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Zepang Sun, Taojun Zhang, M. Usman Ahmad, Zixia Zhou, Liang Qiu, Kangneng Zhou, Wenjun Xiong, Jingjing Xie, Zhicheng Zhang, Chuanli Chen, Qingyu Yuan, Yan Chen, Wanying Feng, Yikai Xu, Lequan Yu, Wei Wang, Jiang Yu, Guoxin Li, Yuming Jiang Source Type: research
Single-cell DNA sequencing reveals a high incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in human blastocysts
In conclusion, our findings indicated that mosaicism was prevalent in good-quality blastocysts, whereas these blastocysts would likely be identified as normal with current bulk DNA-Seq techniques used for preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy. (Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation)
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Effrosyni A. Chavli, Sjoerd J. Klaasen, Diane Van Opstal, Joop S.E. Laven, Geert J.P.L. Kops, Esther B. Baart Source Type: research
Bisphosphonates for osteoporosis: from bench to clinic
(Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation)
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Teresita Bellido Source Type: research
Tumor-educated Gr1+CD11b+ cells drive breast cancer metastasis via OSM/IL-6/JAK–induced cancer cell plasticity
Cancer cell plasticity contributes to therapy resistance and metastasis, which represent the main causes of cancer-related death, including in breast cancer. The tumor microenvironment drives cancer cell plasticity and metastasis, and unraveling the underlying cues may provide novel strategies for managing metastatic disease. Using breast cancer experimental models and transcriptomic analyses, we show that stem cell antigen-1 positive (SCA1+) murine breast cancer cells enriched during tumor progression and metastasis had higher in vitro cancer stem cell–like properties, enhanced in vivo metastatic ability, and generated ...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Sanam Peyvandi, Manon Bulliard, Alev Yilmaz, Annamaria Kauzlaric, Rachel Marcone, Lisa Haerri, Oriana Coquoz, Yu-Ting Huang, Nathalie Duffey, Laetitia Gafner, Girieca Lorusso, Nadine Fournier, Qiang Lan, Curzio Rüegg Source Type: research
METTL14-mediated m6A epitranscriptomic modification contributes to chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain by stabilizing GluN2A expression via IGF2BP2
Epigenetics is a biological process that modifies and regulates gene expression, affects neuronal function, and contributes to pain. However, the mechanism by which epigenetics facilitates and maintains chronic pain is poorly understood. We aimed to determine whether N6-methyladenosine (m6A) specifically modified by methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14) alters neuronal activity and governs pain by sensitizing the GluN2A subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in a model of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP). Using dot blotting, immunofluorescence, gain/loss-of-...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Weicheng Lu, Xiaohua Yang, Weiqiang Zhong, Guojun Chen, Xinqi Guo, Qingqing Ye, Yixin Xu, Zhenhua Qi, Yaqi Ye, Jingyun Zhang, Yuge Wang, Xintong Wang, Shu Wang, Qiyue Zhao, Weian Zeng, Junting Huang, Huijie Ma, Jingdun Xie Source Type: research
Cytoplasmic retention of the DNA/RNA-binding protein FUS ameliorates organ fibrosis in mice
Uncontrolled accumulation of extracellular matrix leads to tissue fibrosis and loss of organ function. We previously demonstrated in vitro that the DNA/RNA-binding protein fused in sarcoma (FUS) promotes fibrotic responses by translocating to the nucleus, where it initiates collagen gene transcription. However, it is still not known whether FUS is profibrotic in vivo and whether preventing its nuclear translocation might inhibit development of fibrosis following injury. We now demonstrate that levels of nuclear FUS are significantly increased in mouse models of kidney and liver fibrosis. To evaluate the direct role of FUS ...
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - March 16, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Manuel Chiusa, Youngmin A. Lee, Ming-Zhi Zhang, Raymond C. Harris, Taylor Sherrill, Volkhard Lindner, Craig R. Brooks, Gang Yu, Agnes B. Fogo, Charles R. Flynn, Jozef Zienkiewicz, Jacek Hawiger, Roy Zent, Ambra Pozzi Source Type: research
