Ebola Virus Glycoprotein with Increased Infectivity Dominated the 2013-2016 Epidemic.

The magnitude of the 2013-2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic enabled an unprecedented number of viral mutations to occur over successive human-to-human transmission events, increasing the probability that adaptation to the human host occurred during the outbreak. We investigated one nonsynonymous mutation, Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP) mutant A82V, for its effect on viral infectivity. This mutation, located at the NPC1-binding site on EBOV GP, occurred early in the 2013-2016 outbreak and rose to high frequency. We found that GP-A82V had heightened ability to infect primate cells, including human dendritic cells. The increased infectivity was restricted to cells that have primate-specific NPC1 sequences at the EBOV interface, suggesting that this mutation was indeed an adaptation to the human host. GP-A82V was associated with increased mortality, consistent with the hypothesis that the heightened intrinsic infectivity of GP-A82V contributed to disease severity during the EVD epidemic.

Transcriptome-wide Analysis of Roles for tRNA Modifications in Translational Regulation.

Covalent nucleotide modifications in noncoding RNAs affect a plethora of biological processes, and new functions continue to be discovered even for well-known modifying enzymes. To systematically compare the functions of a large set of noncoding RNA modifications in gene regulation, we carried out ribosome profiling in budding yeast to characterize 57 nonessential genes involved in tRNA modification. Deletion mutants exhibited a range of translational phenotypes, with enzymes known to modify anticodons, or non-tRNA substrates such as rRNA, exhibiting the most dramatic translational perturbations. Our data build on prior reports documenting translational upregulation of the nutrient-responsive transcription factor Gcn4 in response to numerous tRNA perturbations, and identify many additional translationally regulated mRNAs throughout the yeast genome. Our data also uncover unexpected roles for tRNA-modifying enzymes in regulation of TY retroelements, and in rRNA 2'-O-methylation. This dataset should provide a rich resource for discovery of additional links between tRNA modifications and gene regulation.

Single cell transcriptomics reveals dysregulated cellular and molecular networks in a fragile X syndrome model.

Despite advances in understanding the pathophysiology of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), its molecular basis is still poorly understood. Whole brain tissue expression profiles have proved surprisingly uninformative, therefore we applied single cell RNA sequencing to profile an FMRP deficient mouse model with higher resolution. We found that the absence of FMRP results in highly cell type specific gene expression changes that are strongest among specific neuronal types, where FMRP-bound mRNAs were prominently downregulated. Metabolic pathways including translation and respiration are significantly upregulated across most cell types with the notable exception of excitatory neurons. These effects point to a potential difference in the activity of mTOR pathways, and together with other dysregulated pathways, suggest an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance in the Fmr1-knock out cortex that is exacerbated by astrocytes. Our data demonstrate that FMRP loss affects abundance of key cellular communication genes that potentially affect neuronal synapses and provide a resource for interrogating the biological basis of this disorder.

Intratracheally administered LNA gapmer antisense oligonucleotides induce robust gene silencing in mouse lung fibroblasts.

The lung is a complex organ with various cell types having distinct roles. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been studied in the lung, but it has been challenging to determine their effectiveness in each cell type due to the lack of appropriate analytical methods. We employed three distinct approaches to study silencing efficacy within different cell types. First, we used lineage markers to identify cell types in flow cytometry, and simultaneously measured ASO-induced silencing of cell-surface proteins CD47 or CD98. Second, we applied single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to measure silencing efficacy in distinct cell types; to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time scRNA-seq has been applied to measure the efficacy of oligonucleotide therapeutics. In both approaches, fibroblasts were the most susceptible to locally delivered ASOs, with significant silencing also in endothelial cells. Third, we confirmed that the robust silencing in fibroblasts is broadly applicable by silencing two targets expressed mainly in fibroblasts, Mfap4 and Adam33. Across independent approaches, we demonstrate that intratracheally administered LNA gapmer ASOs robustly induce gene silencing in lung fibroblasts. ASO-induced gene silencing in fibroblasts was durable, lasting 4-8 weeks after a single dose. Thus, lung fibroblasts are well aligned with ASOs as therapeutics.

FMRP links optimal codons to mRNA stability in neurons.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by inactivation of the FMR1 gene and loss of encoded FMRP, an RNA binding protein that represses translation of some of its target transcripts. Here we use ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing to investigate the dysregulation of translation in the mouse brain cortex. We find that most changes in ribosome occupancy on hundreds of mRNAs are largely driven by dysregulation in transcript abundance. Many down-regulated mRNAs, which are mostly responsible for neuronal and synaptic functions, are highly enriched for FMRP binding targets. RNA metabolic labeling demonstrates that, in FMRP-deficient cortical neurons, mRNA down-regulation is caused by elevated degradation and is correlated with codon optimality. Moreover, FMRP preferentially binds mRNAs with optimal codons, suggesting that it stabilizes such transcripts through direct interactions via the translational machinery. Finally, we show that the paradigm of genetic rescue of FXS-like phenotypes in FMRP-deficient mice by deletion of the Cpeb1 gene is mediated by restoration of steady-state RNA levels and consequent rebalancing of translational homeostasis. Our data establish an essential role of FMRP in codon optimality-dependent mRNA stability as an important factor in FXS.

Depletion of Ric-8B leads to reduced mTORC2 activity.

mTOR, a serine/threonine protein kinase that is involved in a series of critical cellular processes, can be found in two functionally distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. In contrast to mTORC1, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate mTORC2. Here we show that mTORC2 activity is reduced in mice with a hypomorphic mutation of the Ric-8B gene. Ric-8B is a highly conserved protein that acts as a non-canonical guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for heterotrimeric Gαs/olf type subunits. We found that Ric-8B hypomorph embryos are smaller than their wild type littermates, fail to close the neural tube in the cephalic region and die during mid-embryogenesis. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed that signaling pathways involving GPCRs and G proteins are dysregulated in the Ric-8B mutant embryos. Interestingly, this analysis also revealed an unexpected impairment of the mTOR signaling pathway. Phosphorylation of Akt at Ser473 is downregulated in the Ric-8B mutant embryos, indicating a decreased activity of mTORC2. Knockdown of the endogenous Ric-8B gene in cultured cell lines leads to reduced phosphorylation levels of Akt (Ser473), further supporting the involvement of Ric-8B in mTORC2 activity. Our results reveal a crucial role for Ric-8B in development and provide novel insights into the signals that regulate mTORC2.

A guide for building biological pathways along with two case studies: hair and breast development.

Genomic information is being underlined in the format of biological pathways. Building these biological pathways is an ongoing demand and benefits from methods for extracting information from biomedical literature with the aid of text-mining tools. Here we hopefully guide you in the attempt of building a customized pathway or chart representation of a system. Our manual is based on a group of software designed to look at biointeractions in a set of abstracts retrieved from PubMed. However, they aim to support the work of someone with biological background, who does not need to be an expert on the subject and will play the role of manual curator while designing the representation of the system, the pathway. We therefore illustrate with two challenging case studies: hair and breast development. They were chosen for focusing on recent acquisitions of human evolution. We produced sub-pathways for each study, representing different phases of development. Differently from most charts present in current databases, we present detailed descriptions, which will additionally guide PESCADOR users along the process. The implementation as a web interface makes PESCADOR a unique tool for guiding the user along the biointeractions, which will constitute a novel pathway.

ICRmax: an optimized approach to detect tumor-specific interchromosomal rearrangements for clinical application.

Somatically acquired chromosomal rearrangements occur at early stages during tumorigenesis and can be used to indirectly detect tumor cells, serving as highly sensitive and tumor-specific biomarkers. Advances in high-throughput sequencing have allowed the genome-wide identification of patient-specific chromosomal rearrangements to be used as personalized biomarkers to efficiently assess response to treatment, detect residual disease and monitor disease recurrence. However, sequencing and data processing costs still represent major obstacles for the widespread application of personalized biomarkers in oncology. We developed a computational pipeline (ICRmax) for the cost-effective identification of a minimal set of tumor-specific interchromosomal rearrangements (ICRs). We examined ICRmax performance on sequencing data from rectal tumors and simulated data achieving an average accuracy of 68% for ICR identification. ICRmax identifies ICRs from low-coverage sequenced tumors, eliminates the need to sequence a matched normal tissue and significantly reduces the costs that limit the utilization of personalized biomarkers in the clinical setting.

Spatial transcriptomic reconstruction of the mouse olfactory glomerular map suggests principles of odor processing.

The olfactory system's ability to detect and discriminate between the vast array of chemicals present in the environment is critical for an animal's survival. In mammals, the first step of this odor processing is executed by olfactory sensory neurons, which project their axons to a stereotyped location in the olfactory bulb (OB) to form glomeruli. The stereotyped positioning of glomeruli in the OB suggests an importance for this organization in odor perception. However, because the location of only a limited subset of glomeruli has been determined, it has been challenging to determine the relationship between glomerular location and odor discrimination. Using a combination of single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and machine learning, we have generated a map of most glomerular positions in the mouse OB. These observations significantly extend earlier studies and suggest an overall organizational principle in the OB that may be used by the brain to assist in odor decoding.

PESCADOR, a web-based tool to assist text-mining of biointeractions extracted from PubMed queries.

BACKGROUND: Biological function is greatly dependent on the interactions of proteins with other proteins and genes. Abstracts from the biomedical literature stored in the NCBI's PubMed database can be used for the derivation of interactions between genes and proteins by identifying the co-occurrences of their terms. Often, the amount of interactions obtained through such an approach is large and may mix processes occurring in different contexts. Current tools do not allow studying these data with a focus on concepts of relevance to a user, for example, interactions related to a disease or to a biological mechanism such as protein aggregation. RESULTS: To help the concept-oriented exploration of such data we developed PESCADOR, a web tool that extracts a network of interactions from a set of PubMed abstracts given by a user, and allows filtering the interaction network according to user-defined concepts. We illustrate its use in exploring protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease and in the expansion of pathways associated to colon cancer. CONCLUSIONS: PESCADOR is a platform independent web resource available at: http://cbdm.mdc-berlin.de/tools/pescador/

Preimplantation development regulatory pathway construction through a text-mining approach.

BACKGROUND: The integration of sequencing and gene interaction data and subsequent generation of pathways and networks contained in databases such as KEGG Pathway is essential for the comprehension of complex biological processes. We noticed the absence of a chart or pathway describing the well-studied preimplantation development stages; furthermore, not all genes involved in the process have entries in KEGG Orthology, important information for knowledge application with relation to other organisms. RESULTS: In this work we sought to develop the regulatory pathway for the preimplantation development stage using text-mining tools such as Medline Ranker and PESCADOR to reveal biointeractions among the genes involved in this process. The genes present in the resulting pathway were also used as seeds for software developed by our group called SeedServer to create clusters of homologous genes. These homologues allowed the determination of the last common ancestor for each gene and revealed that the preimplantation development pathway consists of a conserved ancient core of genes with the addition of modern elements. CONCLUSIONS: The generation of regulatory pathways through text-mining tools allows the integration of data generated by several studies for a more complete visualization of complex biological processes. Using the genes in this pathway as "seeds" for the generation of clusters of homologues, the pathway can be visualized for other organisms. The clustering of homologous genes together with determination of the ancestry leads to a better understanding of the evolution of such process.

An atlas of cell types in the mouse epididymis and vas deferens.

Following testicular spermatogenesis, mammalian sperm continue to mature in a long epithelial tube known as the epididymis, which plays key roles in remodeling sperm protein, lipid, and RNA composition. To understand the roles for the epididymis in reproductive biology, we generated a single-cell atlas of the murine epididymis and vas deferens. We recovered key epithelial cell types including principal cells, clear cells, and basal cells, along with associated support cells that include fibroblasts, smooth muscle, macrophages and other immune cells. Moreover, our data illuminate extensive regional specialization of principal cell populations across the length of the epididymis. In addition to region-specific specialization of principal cells, we find evidence for functionally specialized subpopulations of stromal cells, and, most notably, two distinct populations of clear cells. Our dataset extends on existing knowledge of epididymal biology, and provides a wealth of information on potential regulatory and signaling factors that bear future investigation.

Uncovering the mouse olfactory long non-coding transcriptome with a novel machine-learning model.

Very little is known about long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the mammalian olfactory sensory epithelia. Deciphering the non-coding transcriptome in olfaction is relevant because these RNAs have been shown to play a role in chromatin modification and nuclear architecture reorganization, processes that accompany olfactory differentiation and olfactory receptor gene choice, one of the most poorly understood gene regulatory processes in mammals. In this study, we used a combination of in silico and ex vivo approaches to uncover a comprehensive catalogue of olfactory lncRNAs and to investigate their expression in the mouse olfactory organs. Initially, we used a novel machine-learning lncRNA classifier to discover hundreds of annotated and unannotated lncRNAs, some of which were predicted to be preferentially expressed in the main olfactory epithelium and the vomeronasal organ, the most important olfactory structures in the mouse. Moreover, we used whole-tissue and single-cell RNA sequencing data to discover lncRNAs expressed in mature sensory neurons of the main epithelium. Candidate lncRNAs were further validated by in situ hybridization and RT-PCR, leading to the identification of lncRNAs found throughout the olfactory epithelia, as well as others exquisitely expressed in subsets of mature olfactory neurons or progenitor cells.

The Effects of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer-The Impact in Intratumoral Heterogeneity.

Purpose: Intratumoral genetic heterogeneity (ITGH) is a common feature of solid tumors. However, little is known about the effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) in ITGH of rectal tumors that exhibit poor response to nCRT. Here, we examined the impact of nCRT in the mutational profile and ITGH of rectal tumors and its adjacent irradiated normal mucosa in the setting of incomplete response to nCRT. Methods and Materials: To evaluate ITGH in rectal tumors, we analyzed whole-exome sequencing (WES) data from 79 tumors obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We also compared matched peripheral blood cells, irradiated normal rectal mucosa and pre and post-treatment tumor samples (PRE-T and POS-T) from one individual to examine the iatrogenic effects of nCRT. Finally, we performed WES of 7 PRE-T/POST-T matched samples to examine how nCRT affects ITGH. ITGH was assessed by quantifying subclonal mutations within individual tumors using the Mutant-Allele Tumor Heterogeneity score (MATH score). Results: Rectal tumors exhibit remarkable ITGH that is ultimately associated with disease stage (MATH score stage I/II 35.54 vs. stage III/IV 44.39, p = 0.047) and lymph node metastasis (MATH score N0 35.87 vs. N+ 45.79, p = 0.026). We also showed that nCRT does not seem to introduce detectable somatic mutations in the irradiated mucosa. Comparison of PRE-T and POST-T matched samples revealed a significant increase in ITGH in 5 out 7 patients and MATH scores were significantly higher after nCRT (median 41.7 vs. 28.8, p = 0.04). Finally, we were able to identify a subset of "enriched mutations" with significant changes in MAFs between PRE-T and POST-T samples. These "enriched mutations" were significantly more frequent in POST-T compared to PRE-T samples (92.9% vs. 7.1% p < 0.00001) and include mutations in genes associated with genetic instability and drug resistance in colorectal cancer, indicating the expansion of tumor cell subpopulations more prone to resist to nCRT. Conclusions: nCRT increases ITGH and may result in the expansion of resistant tumor cell populations in residual tumors. The risk of introducing relevant somatic mutations in the adjacent mucosa is minimal but non-responsive tumors may have potentially worse biological behavior when compared to their untreated counterparts. This was an exploratory study, and due to the limited number of samples analyzed, our results need to be validated in larger cohorts.

Comparative Analysis of Immune Cells Reveals a Conserved Regulatory Lexicon.

Most well-characterized enhancers are deeply conserved. In contrast, genome-wide comparative studies of steady-state systems showed that only a small fraction of active enhancers are conserved. To better understand conservation of enhancer activity, we used a comparative genomics approach that integrates temporal expression and epigenetic profiles in an innate immune system. We found that gene expression programs diverge among mildly induced genes, while being highly conserved for strongly induced genes. The fraction of conserved enhancers varies greatly across gene expression programs, with induced genes and early-response genes, in particular, being regulated by a higher fraction of conserved enhancers. Clustering of conserved accessible DNA sequences within enhancers resulted in over 60 sequence motifs including motifs for known factors, as well as many with unknown function. We further show that the number of instances of these motifs is a strong predictor of the responsiveness of a gene to pathogen detection.

The use of personalized biomarkers and liquid biopsies to monitor treatment response and disease recurrence in locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by surgery is the mainstay treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. Variable degrees of tumor regression are observed after nCRT and alternative treatment strategies, including close surveillance without immediate surgery, have been investigated to spare patients with complete tumor regression from potentially adverse outcomes of radical surgery. However, clinical and radiological assessment of response does not allow accurate identification of patients with complete response. In addition, surveillance for recurrence is similarly important for these patients, as early detection of recurrence allows salvage resections and adjuvant interventions. We report the use of liquid biopsies and personalized biomarkers for monitoring treatment response to nCRT and detecting residual disease and recurrence in patients with rectal cancer. We sequenced the whole-genome of four rectal tumors to identify patient-specific chromosomal rearrangements that were used to monitor circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in liquid biopsies collected at diagnosis and during nCRT and follow-up. We compared ctDNA levels to clinical, radiological and pathological response to nCRT. Our results indicate that personalized biomarkers and liquid biopsies may not be sensitive for the detection of microscopic residual disease. However, it can be efficiently used to monitor treatment response to nCRT and detect disease recurrence, preceding increases in CEA levels and radiological diagnosis. Similar good results were observed when assessing tumor response to systemic therapy and disease progression. Our study supports the use of personalized biomarkers and liquid biopsies to tailor the management of rectal cancer patients, however, replication in a larger cohort is necessary to introduce this strategy into clinical practice.

Yeast two-hybrid liquid screening.

Yeast two-hybrid (YTH) method consists of a genetic trap that selects for "prey" cDNA products within a library that interact with a "bait" protein of interest. Here, we provide a protocol for YTH screening using a liquid medium screening method, which improves the sensitivity of this technique and streamlines the laborious classic screening in solid medium plates. The method uses a simple series of dilutions with established yeast strains transformed with diverse baits and complex cDNA libraries. This allows for prompt detection of positive clones revealed by liquid growth, due to activation of HIS3 reporter gene. Activation of a second reporter gene and reconstruction of the YTH interaction is highly reproducible using this system. This approach can either be performed using culture flasks or deep-well 96-well plates and the number of interactions obtained is similar, when compared to the classic method. In addition, the liquid screening method is faster and more economical for YTH screening and has the added benefit of automation if 96-well plates are used.

Mutational analysis of genes coding for cell surface proteins in colorectal cancer cell lines reveal novel altered pathways, druggable mutations and mutated epitopes for targeted therapy.

We carried out a mutational analysis of 3,594 genes coding for cell surface proteins (Surfaceome) in 23 colorectal cancer cell lines, searching for new altered pathways, druggable mutations and mutated epitopes for targeted therapy in colorectal cancer. A total of 3,944 somatic non-synonymous substitutions and 595 InDels, occurring in 2,061 (57%) Surfaceome genes were catalogued. We identified 48 genes not previously described as mutated in colorectal tumors in the TCGA database, including genes that are mutated and expressed in >10% of the cell lines (SEMA4C, FGFRL1, PKD1, FAM38A, WDR81, TMEM136, SLC36A1, SLC26A6, IGFLR1). Analysis of these genes uncovered important roles for FGF and SEMA4 signaling in colorectal cancer with possible therapeutic implications. We also found that cell lines express on average 11 druggable mutations, including frequent mutations (>20%) in the receptor tyrosine kinases AXL and EPHA2, which have not been previously considered as potential targets for colorectal cancer. Finally, we identified 82 cell surface mutated epitopes, however expression of only 30% of these epitopes was detected in our cell lines. Notwithstanding, 92% of these epitopes were expressed in cell lines with the mutator phenotype, opening new venues for the use of "general" immune checkpoint drugs in this subset of patients.