Genome-wide identification of U-box gene family and expression analysis in response to saline-alkali stress in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L. Beauv).

E3 ubiquitin ligases are central modifiers of plant signaling pathways that regulate protein function, localization, degradation, and other biological processes by linking ubiquitin to target proteins. E3 ubiquitin ligases include proteins with the U-box domain. However, there has been no report about the foxtail millet (Setaria italica L. Beauv) U-box gene family (SiPUB) to date. To explore the function of SiPUBs, this study performed genome-wide identification of SiPUBs and expression analysis of them in response to saline-alkali stress. A total of 70 SiPUBs were identified, which were unevenly distributed on eight chromosomes. Phylogenetic and conserved motif analysis demonstrated that SiPUBs could be clustered into six subfamilies (I-VI), and most SiPUBs were closely related to the homologues in rice. Twenty-eight types of cis-acting elements were identified in SiPUBs, most of which contained many light-responsive elements and plant hormone-responsive elements. Foxtail millet had 19, 78, 85, 18, and 89 collinear U-box gene pairs with Arabidopsis, rice, sorghum, tomato, and maize, respectively. Tissue specific expression analysis revealed great variations in SiPUB expression among different tissues, and most SiPUBs were relatively highly expressed in roots, indicating that SiPUBs may play important roles in root development or other growth and development processes of foxtail millet. Furthermore, the responses of 15 SiPUBs to saline-alkali stress were detected by qRT-PCR. The results showed that saline-alkali stress led to significantly differential expression of these 15 SiPUBs, and SiPUB20/48/70 may play important roles in the response mechanism against saline-alkali stress. Overall, this study provides important information for further exploration of the biological function of U-box genes.

Genome-wide identification of AAAP gene family and expression analysis in response to saline-alkali stress in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.).

Amino acid/auxin permease (AAAP) genes encode a large family of protein transporters that play important roles in various aspects of plant growth and development. Here, we performed genome-wide identification of members in the foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) AAAP family (SiAAAP) and their saline-alkali stress-induced expression patterns, resulting in the identification of 65 SiAAAP genes, which could be divided into eight subfamilies. Except for SiAAAP65, the remaining 64 genes were located on nine chromosomes of foxtail millet. Gene structure and conserved motif analyses indicated that the members in the same subfamily are highly conserved. Gene duplication event analysis suggested that tandem duplication may be the main factor driving the expansion of this gene family, and Ka/Ks analysis indicated that all the duplicated genes have undergone purifying selection. Transcriptome analysis showed differential expression of SiAAAPs in roots, stems, leaves, and tassel inflorescence. Analysis of cis-acting elements in the promoter indicated that SiAAAPs contain stress-responsive cis-acting elements. Under saline-alkali stress, qRT-PCR analysis showed that SiAAP3, SiLHT2, and SiAAP16 were differentially expressed between salt-alkali tolerant millet variety JK3 and salt-alkali sensitive millet variety B175. These results suggest that these genes may be involved in or regulate the response to saline-alkali stress, providing a theoretical basis for further studying the function of SiAAAPs.

Feasibility of perioperative remote monitoring of patient-generated health data in complex surgical oncology.

BACKGROUND: The feasibility of remote perioperative telemonitoring of patient-generated physiologic health data and patient-reported outcomes in a high risk complex general and urologic oncology surgery population is evaluated. METHODS: Complex general surgical/urologic oncology patients wore a pedometer, completed ePROs (electronic patient-reported outcome surveys) and record their vitals (weight, pulse, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, and temperature) via a telehealth app platform. Feasibility (% adherence) was assessed as the primary outcome measure. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients with a median age 58 (32-82) years were included. The readmission rate was 33% and the incidence of ≥Grade 3a morbidity was 24%. Adherence to vital sign and ePRO measurements was 95% before surgery, 91% at discharge, and 82%, 68%, and 64% at postdischarge d2, 7, 14, and 30, respectively. There was significant worsening of mobility, self-care and usual daily activity at postdischarge d2 compared to preoperative baseline (p < 0.05). Median daily preoperative steps taken by patients with

Discovery and characterization of long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNA) module biomarkers in prostate cancer: an integrative analysis of RNA-Seq data.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of cancer-related death of men worldwide. There is an urgent need to develop novel biomarkers for PCa prognosis and diagnosis in the post prostate-specific antigen era. Long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) play essential roles in many physiological processes and can serve as alternative biomarkers for prostate cancer, but there has been no systematic investigation of lincRNAs in PCa yet. RESULTS: Nine lincRNA co-expression modules were identified from PCa RNA-Seq data. The association between the principle component of each module and the PCa phenotype was examined by calculating the Pearson's correlation coefficients. Three modules (M1, M3, and M5) were found associated with PCa. Two modules (M3 and M5) were significantly enriched with lincRNAs, and one of them, M3, may be used as a lincRNA module-biomarker for PCa diagnosis. This module includes seven essential lincRNAs: TCONS_l2_00001418, TCONS_l2_00008237, TCONS_l2_00011130, TCONS_l2_00013175, TCONS_l2_00022611, TCONS_l2_00022670 and linc-PXN-1. The clustering analysis and microRNA enrichment analysis further confirmed our findings. CONCLUSION: The correlation between lincRNAs and protein-coding genes is helpful for further exploration of functional mechanisms of lincRNAs in PCa. This study provides some important insights into the roles of lincRNAs in PCa and suggests a few lincRNAs as candidate biomarkers for PCa diagnosis and prognosis.

Unregistered biological words recognition by Q-learning with transfer learning.

Unregistered biological words recognition is the process of identification of terms that is out of vocabulary. Although many approaches have been developed, the performance approaches are not satisfactory. As the identification process can be viewed as a Markov process, we put forward a Q-learning with transfer learning algorithm to detect unregistered biological words from texts. With the Q-learning, the recognizer can attain the optimal solution of identification during the interaction with the texts and contexts. During the processing, a transfer learning approach is utilized to fully take advantage of the knowledge gained in a source task to speed up learning in a different but related target task. A mapping, required by many transfer learning, which relates features from the source task to the target task, is carried on automatically under the reinforcement learning framework. We examined the performance of three approaches with GENIA corpus and JNLPBA04 data. The proposed approach improved performance in both experiments. The precision, recall rate, and F score results of our approach surpassed those of conventional unregistered word recognizer as well as those of Q-learning approach without transfer learning.

A Sarsa(λ)-based control model for real-time traffic light coordination.

Traffic problems often occur due to the traffic demands by the outnumbered vehicles on road. Maximizing traffic flow and minimizing the average waiting time are the goals of intelligent traffic control. Each junction wants to get larger traffic flow. During the course, junctions form a policy of coordination as well as constraints for adjacent junctions to maximize their own interests. A good traffic signal timing policy is helpful to solve the problem. However, as there are so many factors that can affect the traffic control model, it is difficult to find the optimal solution. The disability of traffic light controllers to learn from past experiences caused them to be unable to adaptively fit dynamic changes of traffic flow. Considering dynamic characteristics of the actual traffic environment, reinforcement learning algorithm based traffic control approach can be applied to get optimal scheduling policy. The proposed Sarsa(λ)-based real-time traffic control optimization model can maintain the traffic signal timing policy more effectively. The Sarsa(λ)-based model gains traffic cost of the vehicle, which considers delay time, the number of waiting vehicles, and the integrated saturation from its experiences to learn and determine the optimal actions. The experiment results show an inspiring improvement in traffic control, indicating the proposed model is capable of facilitating real-time dynamic traffic control.

Structural and mutational studies on the importance of oligosaccharide binding for the activity of yeast PNGase.

Peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase) is an important component of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation pathway in which it de-glycosylates misfolded glycoproteins, thus facilitating their proteasomal degradation. PNGase belongs to the transglutaminase superfamily and features a Cys, His, and Asp catalytic triad, which is essential for its enzymatic activity. An elongated substrate-binding groove centered on the active site Cys191 was visualized in the crystal structure of apo-PNGase, whereas its complex with Z-VAD-fmk, a peptide-based inhibitor of PNGase, revealed that the inhibitor occupied one end of the substrate-binding groove while being covalently linked to the active site Cys. Recently, haloacetamidyl-containing carbohydrate-based inhibitors of PNGase were developed and shown to specifically label the active site Cys. In this study, we describe the crystal structure of yeast PNGase in complex with N,N'-diacetylchitobiose (chitobiose). We found that the chitobiose binds on the side opposite to the peptide binding site with the active site Cys191 being located approximately midway between the carbohydrate and peptide binding sites. Mutagenesis studies confirm the critical role of the chitobiose-interacting residues in substrate binding and suggest that efficient oligosaccharide binding is required for PNGase activity. In addition, the N-terminus of a symmetry-related PNGase was found to bind to the proposed peptide-binding site of PNGase. Together with the bound chitobiose, this enables us to propose a model for glycoprotein binding to PNGase. Finally, deleting the C-terminal residues of yeast PNGase, which are disordered in all structures of this enzyme, results in a significant reduction in enzyme activity, indicating that these residues might be involved in binding of the mannose residues of the glycan chain.

Studies on peptide:N-glycanase-p97 interaction suggest that p97 phosphorylation modulates endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation.

During endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation, the multifunctional AAA ATPase p97 is part of a protein degradation complex. p97 associates via its N-terminal domain with various cofactors to recruit ubiquitinated substrates. It also interacts with alternative substrate-processing cofactors, such as Ufd2, Ufd3, and peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase) in higher eukaryotes. These cofactors determine different fates of the substrates and they all bind outside of the N-terminal domain of p97. Here, we describe a cofactor-binding motif of p97 contained within the last 10 amino acid residues of the C terminus, which is both necessary and sufficient to mediate interactions of p97 with PNGase and Ufd3. The crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of PNGase in complex with this motif provides detailed insight into the interaction between p97 and its substrate-processing cofactors. Phosphorylation of p97's highly conserved penultimate tyrosine residue, which is the main phosphorylation site during T cell receptor stimulation, completely blocks binding of either PNGase or Ufd3 to p97. This observation suggests that phosphorylation of this residue modulates endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation activity by discharging substrate-processing cofactors.

Structural and biochemical studies of the C-terminal domain of mouse peptide-N-glycanase identify it as a mannose-binding module.

The inability of certain N-linked glycoproteins to adopt their native conformation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leads to their retrotranslocation into the cytosol and subsequent degradation by the proteasome. In this pathway the cytosolic peptide-N-glycanase (PNGase) cleaves the N-linked glycan chains off denatured glycoproteins. PNGase is highly conserved in eukaryotes and plays an important role in ER-associated protein degradation. In higher eukaryotes, PNGase has an N-terminal and a C-terminal extension in addition to its central catalytic domain, which is structurally and functionally related to transglutaminases. Although the N-terminal domain of PNGase is involved in protein-protein interactions, the function of the C-terminal domain has not previously been characterized. Here, we describe biophysical, biochemical, and crystallographic studies of the mouse PNGase C-terminal domain, including visualization of a complex between this domain and mannopentaose. These studies demonstrate that the C-terminal domain binds to the mannose moieties of N-linked oligosaccharide chains, and we further show that it enhances the activity of the mouse PNGase core domain, presumably by increasing the affinity of mouse PNGase for the glycan chains of misfolded glycoproteins.

The AAA ATPase p97 links peptide N-glycanase to the endoplasmic reticulum-associated E3 ligase autocrine motility factor receptor.

Mouse peptide N-glycanase (mPNGase) cleaves the N-glycan chain from misfolded glycoproteins and glycopeptides. Previously, several proteins were found to directly interact with mPNGase; among them, both mHR23B and mS4 were found to link mPNGase to the proteasome. In this study, we found that the cytoplasmic protein mp97 participates in the formation of a ternary complex containing mouse autocrine motility factor receptor (mAMFR), mp97, and mPNGase. This assemblage recruits the cytosolic mPNGase close to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane, where the retrotranslocation of misfolded glycoproteins is thought to occur. In addition to the ER membrane-associated E3 ligase mAMFR, a cytosolic protein mY33K, containing both UBA and UBX domains, was found to also directly interact with mp97. Thus, a complex containing five proteins, mAMFR, mY33K, mp97, mPNGase, and mHR23B, is formed in close proximity to the ER membrane and serves to couple the activities of retrotranslocation, ubiquitination, and deglycosylation and, thereby, route misfolded glycoproteins to the proteasome.

Structure of the mouse peptide N-glycanase-HR23 complex suggests co-evolution of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation and DNA repair pathways.

Peptide N-glycanase removes N-linked oligosaccharides from misfolded glycoproteins as part of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway. This process involves the formation of a tight complex of peptide N-glycanase with Rad23 in yeast and the orthologous HR23 proteins in mammals. In addition to its function in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation, HR23 is also involved in DNA repair, where it plays an important role in damage recognition in complex with the xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein. To characterize the dual role of HR23, we have determined the high resolution crystal structure of the mouse peptide N-glycanase catalytic core in complex with the xeroderma pigmentosum group C binding domain from HR23B. Peptide N-glycanase features a large cleft between its catalytic cysteine protease core and zinc binding domain. Opposite the zinc binding domain is the HR23B-interacting region, and surprisingly, the complex interface is fundamentally different from the orthologous yeast peptide N-glycanase-Rad23 complex. Different regions on both proteins are involved in complex formation, revealing an amazing degree of divergence in the interaction between two highly homologous proteins. Furthermore, the mouse peptide N-glycanase-HR23B complex mimics the interaction between xeroderma pigmentosum group C and HR23B, thereby providing a first structural model of how the two proteins interact within the nucleotide excision repair cascade in higher eukaryotes. The different interaction interfaces of the xeroderma pigmentosum group C binding domains in yeast and mammals suggest a co-evolution of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation and DNA repair pathways.

Multiple modes of interaction of the deglycosylation enzyme, mouse peptide N-glycanase, with the proteasome.

Peptide N-glycanase (PNGase) is involved in the cleavage of oligosaccharide chains from misfolded glycoproteins that are destined for degradation by the proteasome. Earlier, a number of potential binding partners of mouse PNGase (mPNGase) were detected by using the yeast two-hybrid system. In the current study, an in vitro system was set up to investigate direct interactions between mPNGase and these candidate proteins. Although the yeast two-hybrid system suggested an interaction of six different proteins with mPNGase, only mHR23B and the proteasome subunit mS4 were found to interact with mPNGase. In fact, mS4 competes with mHR23B for binding to mPNGase. These results suggested two possible pathways for the interaction between mPNGase and the proteasome. In one pathway, mHR23B mediates the interaction between mPNGase and the proteasome. In an alternative pathway, mPNGase directly binds to the proteasome subunit, mS4. In either case, it is clear that PNGase is located in close proximity to the proteasome and is available for deglycosylation of glycoproteins destined for degradation. Surprisingly, mPNGase also was found to mediate binding of the cytoplasmic protein, p97, to the proteasome through the formation of a ternary complex made up of mHR23B, mPNGase, and p97. Because p97 is known to bind to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein AMFR (gp78), an E3 ligase, we propose a model in which p97, mPNGase, and mHR23B mediate interaction of the endoplasmic reticulum with the proteasome.

The N-terminus of yeast peptide: N-glycanase interacts with the DNA repair protein Rad23.

Yeast peptide: N-glycanase (PNGase) is involved in the proteasomal degradation of misfolded glycoproteins where it interacts with the DNA repair protein Rad23 as first detected in a yeast two-hybrid assay and subsequently confirmed by biochemical in vivo analyses. Limited proteolysis of PNGase with trypsin led to the removal of both an N-terminal and a C-terminal stretch. Based on these truncations the N-terminal region of yeast PNGase was identified as being responsible for binding to Rad23. Secondary structure predictions of this region suggest that it is composed of a single, solvent-exposed alpha-helix. The interaction between PNGase and Rad23 was studied using surface plasmon resonance revealing an equilibrium binding constant of approximately 2.5 microM. The oligomeric nature of Rad23 was also investigated using sedimentation equilibrium analysis. Although Rad23 exists as a dimer in solution, the monomeric form of Rad23 associates with a PNGase monomer in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio.