The vaccinia chondroitin sulfate binding protein drives host membrane curvature to facilitate fusion.

Cellular attachment of viruses determines their cell tropism and species specificity. For entry, vaccinia, the prototypic poxvirus, relies on four binding proteins and an eleven-protein entry fusion complex. The contribution of the individual virus binding proteins to virion binding orientation and membrane fusion is unclear. Here, we show that virus binding proteins guide side-on virion binding and promote curvature of the host membrane towards the virus fusion machinery to facilitate fusion. Using a membrane-bleb model system together with super-resolution and electron microscopy we find that side-bound vaccinia virions induce membrane invagination in the presence of low pH. Repression or deletion of individual binding proteins reveals that three of four contribute to binding orientation, amongst which the chondroitin sulfate binding protein, D8, is required for host membrane bending. Consistent with low-pH dependent macropinocytic entry of vaccinia, loss of D8 prevents virion-associated macropinosome membrane bending, disrupts fusion pore formation and infection. Our results show that viral binding proteins are active participants in successful virus membrane fusion and illustrate the importance of virus protein architecture for successful infection.

Bilateral adrenal-renal fusion: A radiological diagnosis.

In normal anatomy, the kidneys and adrenal glands are contained within the renal fascia and separated by a connective tissue capsule derived from mesenchymal tissue. Incomplete encapsulation can occur during embryonic development, resulting in adrenal-renal fusion. The true incidence of this developmental anomaly is unknown, as it has primarily been described in the literature following incidental detection on surgical or histological examination. We report the first documented case of bilateral adrenal-renal fusion, diagnosed radiologically.

Dynein light chain regulates adaptive and innate B cell development by distinctive genetic mechanisms.

Mechanistic differences in the development and function of adaptive, high-affinity antibody-producing B-2 cells and innate-like, "natural" antibody-producing B-1a cells remain poorly understood. Here we show that the multi-functional dynein light chain (DYNLL1/LC8) plays important roles in the establishment of B-1a cells in the peritoneal cavity and in the ongoing development of B-2 lymphoid cells in the bone marrow of mice. Epistasis analyses indicate that Dynll1 regulates B-1a and early B-2 cell development in a single, linear pathway with its direct transcriptional activator ASCIZ (ATMIN/ZNF822), and that the two genes also have complementary functions during late B-2 cell development. The B-2 cell defects caused by loss of DYNLL1 were associated with lower levels of the anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2, and could be supressed by deletion of pro-apoptotic BIM which is negatively regulated by both DYNLL1 and BCL-2. Defects in B cell development caused by loss of DYNLL1 could also be partially suppressed by a pre-arranged SWHEL Igm-B cell receptor transgene. In contrast to the rescue of B-2 cell numbers, the B-1a cell deficiency in Dynll1-deleted mice could not be suppressed by the loss of Bim, and was further compounded by the SWHEL transgene. Conversely, oncogenic MYC expression, which is synthetic lethal with Dynll1 deletion in B-2 cells, did not further reduce B-1a cell numbers in Dynll1-defcient mice. Finally, we found that the ASCIZ-DYNLL1 axis was also required for the early-juvenile development of aggressive MYC-driven and p53-deficient B cell lymphomas. These results identify ASCIZ and DYNLL1 as the core of a transcriptional circuit that differentially regulates the development of the B-1a and B-2 B lymphoid cell lineages and plays a critical role in lymphomagenesis.

The Transcription Factor ASCIZ and Its Target DYNLL1 Are Essential for the Development and Expansion of MYC-Driven B Cell Lymphoma.

How MYC promotes the development of cancer remains to be fully understood. Here, we report that the Zn(2+)-finger transcription factor ASCIZ (ATMIN, ZNF822) synergizes with MYC to activate the expression of dynein light chain (DYNLL1, LC8) in the murine Eµ-Myc model of lymphoma. Deletion of Asciz or Dynll1 prevented the abnormal expansion of pre-B cells in pre-cancerous Eµ-Myc mice and potentiated the pro-apoptotic activity of MYC in pre-leukemic immature B cells. Constitutive loss of Asciz or Dynll1 delayed lymphoma development in Eµ-Myc mice, and induced deletion of Asciz in established lymphomas extended the survival of tumor-bearing mice. We propose that ASCIZ-dependent upregulation of DYNLL1 levels is essential for the development and expansion of MYC-driven lymphomas by enabling the survival of pre-neoplastic and malignant cells.

Unrequited: neurochemical enhancement of love.

I raise several concerns with Earp and colleagues' analysis of enhancement through neurochemical modulation of love as a key issue in contemporary neuroethics. These include: (i) strengthening their deflation of medicalization concerns by showing how the objection that love should be left outside of the scope of medicine would directly undermine the goal of medicine; (ii) developing stronger analysis of the social and political concerns relevant to neurochemical modulation of love, by exploring and suggesting possible counters to ways in which 'wellbeing' may be used as a tool of oppression; (iii) providing reasons to support a broad need for ecological investigation of, and indeed ecological education concerning, neurotechnology; (iv) suggesting ways in which philosophy, and the humanities more broadly, remain directly relevant to responding effectively to issues in contemporary neuroethics.