Introduced species shape insular mutualistic networks [Commentaries]

Our planet’s biosphere, comprising all living beings and their interactions, is experiencing unprecedented changes. Within a few decades, we could face entirely new climates, and radically altered species compositions and distributions, forming novel networks of biotic interactions. To date, however, most studies have focused on ecosystems under low...

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The golden age of social science [Social Sciences]

Social science is entering a golden age, marked by the confluence of explosive growth in new data and analytic methods, interdisciplinary approaches, and a recognition that these ingredients are necessary to solve the more challenging problems facing our world. We discuss how developing a “lingua franca” can encourage more interdisciplinary...

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Conȷugative plasmid-encoded toxin-antitoxin system PrpT/PrpA directly controls plasmid copy number [Microbiology]

Toxin–antitoxin (TA) loci were initially identified on conjugative plasmids, and one function of plasmid-encoded TA systems is to stabilize plasmids or increase plasmid competition via postsegregational killing. Here, we discovered that the type II TA system, Pseudoalteromonas rubra plasmid toxin–antitoxin PrpT/PrpA, on a low-copy-number conjugative...

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Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal multitiered mechanisms through which mTORC1 senses mitochondrial dysfunction [Cell Biology]

In mammalian cells, nutrients and growth factors signal through an array of upstream proteins to regulate the mTORC1 growth control pathway. Because the full complement of these proteins has not been systematically identified, we developed a FACS-based CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screening strategy to pinpoint genes that regulate mTORC1 activity. Along with...

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Large remodeling of the Myc-induced cell surface proteome in B cells and prostate cells creates new opportunities for immunotherapy [Biochemistry]

MYC is a powerful transcription factor overexpressed in many human cancers including B cell and prostate cancers. Antibody therapeutics are exciting opportunities to attack cancers but require knowledge of surface proteins that change due to oncogene expression. To identify how MYC overexpression remodels the cell surface proteome in a cell...

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On the adhesion-velocity relation and length adaptation of motile cells on stepped fibronectin lanes [Biophysics and Computational Biology]

The biphasic adhesion–velocity relation is a universal observation in mesenchymal cell motility. It has been explained by adhesion-promoted forces pushing the front and resisting motion at the rear. Yet, there is little quantitative understanding of how these forces control cell velocity. We study motion of MDA-MB-231 cells on microlanes with...

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The RNA helicase Dhx15 mediates Wnt-induced antimicrobial protein expression in Paneth cells [Immunology and Inflammation]

RNA helicases play roles in various essential biological processes such as RNA splicing and editing. Recent in vitro studies show that RNA helicases are involved in immune responses toward viruses, serving as viral RNA sensors or immune signaling adaptors. However, there is still a lack of in vivo data to...

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Tocopherol controls D1 amino acid oxidation by oxygen radicals in Photosystem II [Plant Biology]

Photosystem II (PSII) is an intrinsic membrane protein complex that functions as a light-driven water:plastoquinone oxidoreductase in oxygenic photosynthesis. Electron transport in PSII is associated with formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for oxidative modifications of PSII proteins. In this study, oxidative modifications of the...

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Runx1 and Runx3 drive progenitor to T-lineage transcriptome conversion in mouse T cell commitment via dynamic genomic site switching [Developmental Biology]

Runt domain-related (Runx) transcription factors are essential for early T cell development in mice from uncommitted to committed stages. Single and double Runx knockouts via Cas9 show that target genes responding to Runx activity are not solely controlled by the dominant factor, Runx1. Instead, Runx1 and Runx3 are coexpressed in...

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The neuropeptide allatostatin C from clock-associated DN1p neurons generates the circadian rhythm for oogenesis [Neuroscience]

The link between the biological clock and reproduction is evident in most metazoans. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a key model organism in the field of chronobiology because of its well-defined networks of molecular clock genes and pacemaker neurons in the brain, shows a pronounced diurnal rhythmicity in oogenesis. Still,...

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