Multiplying messages LRRK beneath Parkinson disease.

Parkinson Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with limited therapeutic options. In this issue of Cell, Martin et al. link PD protein leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) to abnormalities of translational control, a pathogenic mechanism implicated in an increasing number of CNS neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in normal aging.

Probing the stochastic, motor-driven properties of the cytoplasm using force spectrum microscopy.

Molecular motors in cells typically produce highly directed motion; however, the aggregate, incoherent effect of all active processes also creates randomly fluctuating forces, which drive diffusive-like, nonthermal motion. Here, we introduce force-spectrum-microscopy (FSM) to directly quantify random forces within the cytoplasm of cells and thereby probe stochastic motor activity. This technique combines measurements of the random motion of probe particles with independent micromechanical measurements of the cytoplasm to quantify the spectrum of force fluctuations. Using FSM, we show that force fluctuations substantially enhance intracellular movement of small and large components. The fluctuations are three times larger in malignant cells than in their benign counterparts. We further demonstrate that vimentin acts globally to anchor organelles against randomly fluctuating forces in the cytoplasm, with no effect on their magnitude. Thus, FSM has broad applications for understanding the cytoplasm and its intracellular processes in relation to cell physiology in healthy and diseased states.

The SARS-CoV-2 subgenome landscape and its novel regulatory features.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is currently a global pandemic. CoVs are known to generate negative subgenomes (subgenomic RNAs [sgRNAs]) through transcription-regulating sequence (TRS)-dependent template switching, but the global dynamic landscapes of coronaviral subgenomes and regulatory rules remain unclear. Here, using next-generation sequencing (NGS) short-read and Nanopore long-read poly(A) RNA sequencing in two cell types at multiple time points after infection with SARS-CoV-2, we identified hundreds of template switches and constructed the dynamic landscapes of SARS-CoV-2 subgenomes. Interestingly, template switching could occur in a bidirectional manner, with diverse SARS-CoV-2 subgenomes generated from successive template-switching events. The majority of template switches result from RNA-RNA interactions, including seed and compensatory modes, with terminal pairing status as a key determinant. Two TRS-independent template switch modes are also responsible for subgenome biogenesis. Our findings reveal the subgenome landscape of SARS-CoV-2 and its regulatory features, providing a molecular basis for understanding subgenome biogenesis and developing novel anti-viral strategies.

ECM dimensionality tunes actin tension to modulate endoplasmic reticulum function and spheroid phenotypes of mammary epithelial cells.

Patient-derived organoids and cellular spheroids recapitulate tissue physiology with remarkable fidelity. We investigated how engagement with a reconstituted basement membrane in three dimensions (3D) supports the polarized, stress resilient tissue phenotype of mammary epithelial spheroids. Cells interacting with reconstituted basement membrane in 3D had reduced levels of total and actin-associated filamin and decreased cortical actin tension that increased plasma membrane protrusions to promote negative plasma membrane curvature and plasma membrane protein associations linked to protein secretion. By contrast, cells engaging a reconstituted basement membrane in 2D had high cortical actin tension that forced filamin unfolding and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) associations. Enhanced filamin-ER interactions increased levels of PKR-like ER kinase effectors and ER-plasma membrane contact sites that compromised calcium homeostasis and diminished cell viability. Consequently, cells with decreased cortical actin tension had reduced ER stress and survived better. Consistently, cortical actin tension in cellular spheroids regulated polarized basement membrane membrane deposition and sensitivity to exogenous stress. The findings implicate cortical actin tension-mediated filamin unfolding in ER function and underscore the importance of tissue mechanics in organoid homeostasis.

Aerodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in two Wuhan hospitals.

The ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly on a global scale. Although it is clear that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted through human respiratory droplets and direct contact, the potential for aerosol transmission is poorly understood1-3. Here we investigated the aerodynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of two Wuhan hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 in February and March 2020. The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols that was detected in isolation wards and ventilated patient rooms was very low, but it was higher in the toilet areas used by the patients. Levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the most public areas was undetectable, except in two areas that were prone to crowding; this increase was possibly due to individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the crowd. We found that some medical staff areas initially had high concentrations of viral RNA with aerosol size distributions that showed peaks in the submicrometre and/or supermicrometre regions; however, these levels were reduced to undetectable levels after implementation of rigorous sanitization procedures. Although we have not established the infectivity of the virus detected in these hospital areas, we propose that SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to be transmitted through aerosols. Our results indicate that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel, and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols. Future work should explore the infectivity of aerosolized virus.

Structural insights into the HDAC4-MEF2A-DNA complex and its implication in long-range transcriptional regulation.

Class IIa Histone deacetylases (HDACs), including HDAC4, 5, 7 and 9, play key roles in multiple important developmental and differentiation processes. Recent studies have shown that class IIa HDACs exert their transcriptional repressive function by interacting with tissue-specific transcription factors, such as members of the myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) family of transcription factors. However, the molecular mechanism is not well understood. In this study, we determined the crystal structure of an HDAC4-MEF2A-DNA complex. This complex adopts a dumbbell-shaped overall architecture, with a 2:4:2 stoichiometry of HDAC4, MEF2A and DNA molecules. In the complex, two HDAC4 molecules form a dimer through the interaction of their glutamine-rich domain (GRD) to form the stem of the 'dumbbell'; while two MEF2A dimers and their cognate DNA molecules are bridged by the HDAC4 dimer. Our structural observations were then validated using biochemical and mutagenesis assays. Further cell-based luciferase reporter gene assays revealed that the dimerization of HDAC4 is crucial in its ability to repress the transcriptional activities of MEF2 proteins. Taken together, our findings not only provide the structural basis for the assembly of the HDAC4-MEF2A-DNA complex but also shed light on the molecular mechanism of HDAC4-mediated long-range gene regulation.

Polymerization force-regulated actin filament-Arp2/3 complex interaction dominates self-adaptive cell migrations.

Cells migrate by adapting their leading-edge behaviors to heterogeneous extracellular microenvironments (ECMs) during cancer invasions and immune responses. Yet it remains poorly understood how such complicated dynamic behaviors emerge from millisecond-scale assembling activities of protein molecules, which are hard to probe experimentally. To address this gap, we establish a spatiotemporal "resistance-adaptive propulsion" theory based on the interactions between Arp2/3 complexes and polymerizing actin filaments and a multiscale dynamic modeling system spanning from molecular proteins to the cell. We quantitatively find that cells can accurately self-adapt propulsive forces to overcome heterogeneous ECMs via a resistance-triggered positive feedback mechanism, dominated by polymerization-induced actin filament bending and the bending-regulated actin-Arp2/3 binding. However, for high resistance regions, resistance triggers a negative feedback, hindering branched filament assembly, which adapts cellular morphologies to circumnavigate the obstacles. Strikingly, the synergy of the two opposite feedbacks not only empowers the cell with both powerful and flexible migratory capabilities to deal with complex ECMs but also enables efficient utilization of intracellular proteins by the cell. In addition, we identify that the nature of cell migration velocity depending on ECM history stems from the inherent temporal hysteresis of cytoskeleton remodeling. We also show that directional cell migration is dictated by the competition between the local stiffness of ECMs and the local polymerizing rate of actin network caused by chemotactic cues. Our results reveal that it is the polymerization force-regulated actin filament-Arp2/3 complex binding interaction that dominates self-adaptive cell migrations in complex ECMs, and we provide a predictive theory and a spatiotemporal multiscale modeling system at the protein level.

Local response and emerging nonlinear elastic length scale in biopolymer matrices.

Nonlinear stiffening is a ubiquitous property of major types of biopolymers that make up the extracellular matrices (ECM) including collagen, fibrin, and basement membrane. Within the ECM, many types of cells such as fibroblasts and cancer cells have a spindle-like shape that acts like two equal and opposite force monopoles, which anisotropically stretch their surroundings and locally stiffen the matrix. Here, we first use optical tweezers to study the nonlinear force-displacement response to localized monopole forces. We then propose an effective-probe scaling argument that a local point force application can induce a stiffened region in the matrix, which can be characterized by a nonlinear length scale R* that increases with the increasing force magnitude; the local nonlinear force-displacement response is a result of the nonlinear growth of this effective probe that linearly deforms an increasing portion of the surrounding matrix. Furthermore, we show that this emerging nonlinear length scale R* can be observed around living cells and can be perturbed by varying matrix concentration or inhibiting cell contractility.

Novel secreted STPKLRR from Vibrio splendidus AJ01 promotes pathogen internalization via mediating tropomodulin phosphorylation dependent cytoskeleton rearrangement.

We previously demonstrated that the flagellin of intracellular Vibrio splendidus AJ01 could be specifically identified by tropomodulin (Tmod) and further mediate p53-dependent coelomocyte apoptosis in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. In higher animals, Tmod serves as a regulator in stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton. However, the mechanism on how AJ01 breaks the AjTmod-stabilized cytoskeleton for internalization remains unclear. Here, we identified a novel AJ01 Type III secretion system (T3SS) effector of leucine-rich repeat-containing serine/threonine-protein kinase (STPKLRR) with five LRR domains and a serine/threonine kinase (STYKc) domain, which could specifically interact with tropomodulin domain of AjTmod. Furthermore, we found that STPKLRR directly phosphorylated AjTmod at serine 52 (S52) to reduce the binding stability between AjTmod and actin. After AjTmod dissociated from actin, the F-actin/G-actin ratio decreased to induce cytoskeletal rearrangement, which in turn promoted the internalization of AJ01. The STPKLRR knocked out strain could not phosphorylated AjTmod and displayed lower internalization capacity and pathogenic effect compared to AJ01. Overall, we demonstrated for the first time that the T3SS effector STPKLRR with kinase activity was a novel virulence factor in Vibrio and mediated self-internalization by targeting host AjTmod phosphorylation dependent cytoskeleton rearrangement, which provided a candidate target to control AJ01 infection in practice.

Nuclear lamin isoforms differentially contribute to LINC complex-dependent nucleocytoskeletal coupling and whole-cell mechanics.

The ability of a cell to regulate its mechanical properties is central to its function. Emerging evidence suggests that interactions between the cell nucleus and cytoskeleton influence cell mechanics through poorly understood mechanisms. Here we conduct quantitative confocal imaging to show that the loss of A-type lamins tends to increase nuclear and cellular volume while the loss of B-type lamins behaves in the opposite manner. We use fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, atomic force microscopy, optical tweezer microrheology, and traction force microscopy to demonstrate that A-type lamins engage with both F-actin and vimentin intermediate filaments (VIFs) through the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complexes to modulate cortical and cytoplasmic stiffness as well as cellular contractility in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). In contrast, we show that B-type lamins predominantly interact with VIFs through LINC complexes to regulate cytoplasmic stiffness and contractility. We then propose a physical model mediated by the lamin­LINC complex that explains these distinct mechanical phenotypes (mechanophenotypes). To verify this model, we use dominant negative constructs and RNA interference to disrupt the LINC complexes that facilitate the interaction of the nucleus with the F-actin and VIF cytoskeletons and show that the loss of these elements results in mechanophenotypes like those observed in MEFs that lack A- or B-type lamin isoforms. Finally, we demonstrate that the loss of each lamin isoform softens the cell nucleus and enhances constricted cell migration but in turn increases migration-induced DNA damage. Together, our findings uncover distinctive roles for each of the four major lamin isoforms in maintaining nucleocytoskeletal interactions and cellular mechanics.

Metalation of metal-organic frameworks: fundamentals and applications.

Metalation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been developed as a prominent strategy for materials functionalization for pore chemistry modulation and property optimization. By introducing exotic metal ions/complexes/nanoparticles onto/into the parent framework, many metallized MOFs have exhibited significantly improved performance in a wide range of applications. In this review, we focus on the research progress in the metalation of metal-organic frameworks during the last five years, spanning the design principles, synthetic strategies, and potential applications. Based on the crystal engineering principles, a minor change in the MOF composition through metalation would lead to leveraged variation of properties. This review starts from the general strategies established for the incorporation of metal species within MOFs, followed by the design principles to graft the desired functionality while maintaining the porosity of frameworks. Facile metalation has contributed a great number of bespoke materials with excellent performance, and we summarize their applications in gas adsorption and separation, heterogeneous catalysis, detection and sensing, and energy storage and conversion. The underlying mechanisms are also investigated by state-of-the-art techniques and analyzed for gaining insight into the structure-property relationships, which would in turn facilitate the further development of design principles. Finally, the current challenges and opportunities in MOF metalation have been discussed, and the promising future directions for customizing the next-generation advanced materials have been outlined as well.

Characterization of Soybean Events with Enhanced Expression of the Microtubule-Associated Protein 65-1 (MAP65-1).

Microtubule-associated protein 65-1 (MAP65-1) protein plays an essential role in plant cellular dynamics through impacting stabilization of the cytoskeleton by serving as a crosslinker of microtubules. The role of MAP65-1 in plants has been associated with phenotypic outcomes in response to various environmental stresses. The Arabidopsis MAP65-1 (AtMAP65-1) is a known virulence target of plant bacterial pathogens and is thus a component of plant immunity. Soybean events were generated that carry transgenic alleles for both AtMAP65-1 and GmMAP65-1, the soybean AtMAP65-1 homolog, under control of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Both AtMAP65-1 and GmMAP65-1 transgenic soybeans are more resistant to challenges by the soybean bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea and the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora sojae, but not the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines. Soybean plants expressing AtMAP65-1 and GmMAP65-1 also display a tolerance to the herbicide oryzalin, which has a mode of action to destabilize microtubules. In addition, GmMAP65-1-expressing soybean plants show reduced cytosol ion leakage under freezing conditions, hinting that ectopic expression of GmMAP65-1 may enhance cold tolerance in soybean. Taken together, overexpression of AtMAP65-1 and GmMAP65-1 confers tolerance of soybean plants to various biotic and abiotic stresses. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Size Scaling of Condensates in Multicomponent Phase Separation.

Constant proportionalities between cells and their intracellular organelles have been widely observed in various types of cells, known as intracellular size scaling. However, the mechanism underlying the size scaling and its modulation by environmental factors in multicomponent systems remain poorly understood. Here, we study the size scaling of membrane-less condensates using microdroplet-encapsulated minimalistic condensates formed by droplet microfluidics and mean-field theory. We demonstrate that the size scaling of condensates is an inherent characteristic of liquid-liquid phase separation. This concept is supported by experiments showing the occurrence of size scaling phenomena in various condensate systems and a generic lever rule acquired from mean-field theory. Moreover, it is found that the condensate-to-microdroplet scaling ratio can be affected by the solute and salt concentrations, with good agreement between experiments and predictions by theory. Notably, we identify a noise buffering mechanism whereby condensates composed of large macromolecules effectively maintain constant volumes and counteract concentration fluctuations of small molecules. This mechanism is achieved through the dynamic rearrangement of small molecules in and out of membrane-free interfaces. Our work provides crucial insights into understanding mechanistic principles that govern the size of cells and intracellular organelles as well as associated biological functions.

In Situ Synthesis of Rare-Earth Hybridized Functional Core-Shell Architectures from Microporous Salt Templates and Capacitance-Adsorption Correlation Mechanisms.

Biochar Porous Carbon (BPC) has become a research hotspot in the fields of energy storage, conversion, catalysis, adsorption, and separation engineering. However, the key problem of pore structure liable to collapse has not yet been addressed effectively. Here, an innovative salt ionic coordination modulation technique is reported to synthesize a new core-shell structure of BPC (Dual-doped porous carbonaceous materials, RHPC3@LaYO3) by the asymmetric load of the f orbital ion, which prevents pore structural collapse. The result shows that the novel asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) with an excellent energy density (193.11 Wh·kg-1) and capacitance (267.14 F·g-1) by assembling the prepared porous BPC carrier and RHPC3@LaYO3, which surpass the typical supercapacitor. In order to elucidate the association between adsorption and capacitance, the adsorption coexistence equation (MACE) is constructed with the aim of providing a comprehensive explanation for the mechanism of single-multilayer adsorption. Furthermore, a specific linkage mechanism is discovered using adsorption/ desorption properties to validate the pros/cons of capacitive properties. These results demonstrate the potential of renewable biomass materials as ASCs, which can provide new ideas for the construction of an evaluation approach for the performance of future efficient multi-reaction energy storage devices.

Al8 Cluster-Based Metal Halide Frameworks: Balancing Singlet-Triplet Excited States to Achieve White Light and Multicolor Luminescence.

Luminescent metal clusters have attracted great interest in current research; however, the design synthesis of Al clusters with color-tunable luminescence remains challenging. Herein, an [Al8 (OH)8 (NA)16 ] (Al8 , HNA = nicotinic acid) molecular cluster with dual luminescence properties of fluorescence and room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is synthesized by choosing HNA ligand as phosphor. Its prompt photoluminescence (PL) spectrum exhibits approximately white light emission at room temperature. Considering that halogen atoms can be used to regulate the RTP property by balancing the singlet and triplet excitons, different CdX2 (X- = Cl- , Br- , I- ) are introduced into the reactive system of the Al8 cluster, and three new Al8 cluster-based metal-organic frameworks, {[Al8 Cd3 Cl5 (OH)8 (NA)17 H2 O]·2HNA}n (CdCl2 -Al8 ), {[Al8 Cd4 Br7 (OH)8 (NA)16 CH3 CN]·NA·HNA}n (CdBr2 -Al8 ) and {[Al8 Cd8 I16 (OH)8 (NA)16 ]}n (CdI2 -Al8 ) are successfully obtained. They realize the color tunability from blue to yellow at room temperature. The origination of fluorescence and phosphorescence has also been illustrated by structure-property analysis and theoretical calculation. This work provides new insights into the design of multicolor luminescent metal cluster-based materials and develops advanced photo-functional materials for multicolor display, anti-counterfeiting, and encryption applications.

A Noncentrosymmetric Metal-Free Borophosphate: Achieving a Large Birefringence and Excellent Stability by Covalent-Linkage.

Organic-inorganic hybrid linear and nonlinear optical (NLO) materials have received increasingly wide spread attention in recent years. Herein, the first hybrid noncentrosymmetric (NCS) borophosphate, (C5H6N)2B2O(HPO4)2 (4PBP), is rationally designed and synthesized by a covalent-linkage strategy. 4-pyridyl-boronic acid (4 PB) is considered as a bifunctional unit, which may effectively improve the optical properties and stability of the resultant material. On the one hand, 4 PB units are covalently linked with PO3(OH) groups via strong B-O-P connections, which significantly enhances the thermal stability of 4PBP (decomposition at 321, vs lower 200 °C of most of hybrid materials). On the other hand, the planar π-conjugated C5H6N units and their uniform layered arrangements represent large structural anisotropy and hyperpolarizability, achieving the largest birefringence (0.156 @ 546 nm) in the reported borophosphates and a second-harmonic generation response (0.7 × KDP). 4PBP also exhibits a wide transparency range (0.27-1.50 µm). This work not only provides a promising birefringent material, but also offers a practical covalent-attachment strategy for the rational design of new high-performance optical materials.

YTHDF2 promotes DNA damage repair by positively regulating the histone methyltransferase SETDB1 in spermatogonia†.

Genomic integrity is critical for sexual reproduction, ensuring correct transmission of parental genetic information to the descendant. To preserve genomic integrity, germ cells have evolved multiple DNA repair mechanisms, together termed as DNA damage response. The RNA N6-methyladenosine is the most abundant mRNA modification in eukaryotic cells, which plays important roles in DNA damage response, and YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2) is a well-acknowledged N6-methyladenosine reader protein regulating the mRNA decay and stress response. Despite this, the correlation between YTHDF2 and DNA damage response in germ cells, if any, remains enigmatic. Here, by employing a Ythdf2-conditional knockout mouse model as well as a Ythdf2-null GC-1 mouse spermatogonial cell line, we explored the role and the underlying mechanism for YTHDF2 in spermatogonial DNA damage response. We identified that, despite no evident testicular morphological abnormalities under the normal circumstance, conditional mutation of Ythdf2 in adult male mice sensitized germ cells, including spermatogonia, to etoposide-induced DNA damage. Consistently, Ythdf2-KO GC-1 cells displayed increased sensitivity and apoptosis in response to DNA damage, accompanied by the decreased SET domain bifurcated 1 (SETDB1, a histone methyltransferase) and H3K9me3 levels. The Setdb1 knockdown in GC-1 cells generated a similar phenotype, but its overexpression in Ythdf2-null GC-1 cells alleviated the sensitivity and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the N6-methyladenosine reader YTHDF2 promotes DNA damage repair by positively regulating the histone methyltransferase SETDB1 in spermatogonia, which provides novel insights into the mechanisms underlying spermatogonial genome integrity maintenance and therefore contributes to safe reproduction.

Regulating the Topologies and Photoresponsive Properties of Lanthanum-organic Frameworks.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show potential application in many domains, in which photochromic MOFs (PMOFs) have received enormous attention. Researchers mainly utilize photoactive ligands to build PMOFs. Recently, the mixed electron donating and accepting ligands strategies have also been used to construct PMOFs driven by the electron transfer between nonphotochromic moieties. However, the potential interligand competition inhibits the formation of PMOFs. Therefore, the exploration of single-ligand-guided assembly is conductive for building PMOFs. Considering the existing electron accepting and donating role of pyridyl and carboxyl, the pyridinecarboxyate derived from the fusion of pyridyl and carboxyl units may serve as single ligand to yield PMOFs. In this work, the coordination assembly of bipyridinedicarboxylate (2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, H2bpdc; 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid, H2pda) and LaCl3 generate two PMOFs, [La(bpdc)(H2O)Cl] (1) and [La(pda)(H2O)2Cl]·2H2O (2). Both complexes feature dinuclear lanthanum as building blocks with differences in the connecting number of likers, in which 1 has (4,8)-connected topology and 2 exhibits sql topology. Their structural differences result in the diversities of photoresponsive functionalities. Compared with reported PMOFs built from photoactive ligands and mixed ligands, this study provides new available categories of single ligand for generating PMOFs and tuning the structure and photoresponsive properties via ligand substitution and external photostimulus.

Increased intrinsic and synaptic excitability of hypothalamic POMC neurons underlies chronic stress-induced behavioral deficits.

Chronic stress exposure induces maladaptive behavioral responses and increases susceptibility to neuropsychiatric conditions. However, specific neuronal populations and circuits that are highly sensitive to stress and trigger maladaptive behavioral responses remain to be identified. Here we investigate the patterns of spontaneous activity of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus following exposure to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) for 10 days, a stress paradigm used to induce behavioral deficits such as anhedonia and behavioral despair [1, 2]. CUS exposure increased spontaneous firing of POMC neurons in both male and female mice, attributable to reduced GABA-mediated synaptic inhibition and increased intrinsic neuronal excitability. While acute activation of POMC neurons failed to induce behavioral changes in non-stressed mice of both sexes, subacute (3 days) and chronic (10 days) repeated activation of POMC neurons was sufficient to induce anhedonia and behavioral despair in males but not females under non-stress conditions. Acute activation of POMC neurons promoted susceptibility to subthreshold unpredictable stress in both male and female mice. Conversely, acute inhibition of POMC neurons was sufficient to reverse CUS-induced anhedonia and behavioral despair in both sexes. Collectively, these results indicate that chronic stress induces both synaptic and intrinsic plasticity of POMC neurons, leading to neuronal hyperactivity. Our findings suggest that POMC neuron dysfunction drives chronic stress-related behavioral deficits.

Characterization of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) gene reveals involvement of immune defense against Vibrio splendidus infection in Apostichopus japonicus.

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) constitutes an evolutionarily conserved family of serine/threonine protein kinases, pivotal in regulating various physiological processes in vertebrates, encompassing apoptosis and antibacterial immunity. Nevertheless, the involvement of JNK in the innate immune response remains largely unexplored in pathogen-induced echinoderms. We isolated and characterized the JNK gene from Apostichopus japonicus (AjJNK) in our investigation. The full-length cDNA sequences of AjJNK spanned 1806 bp, comprising a 1299 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 432 amino acids, a 274 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), and a 233 bp 3'-UTR. Structural analysis revealed the presence of a classical S_TKc domain (37-335 amino acids) within AjJNK and contains several putative immune-related transcription factor-binding sites, including Elk-1, NF-κB, AP-1, and STAT5. Spatial expression analysis indicated ubiquitous expression of AjJNK across all examined tissues, with the highest expression noted in coelomocytes. The mRNA, protein, and phosphorylation levels of AjJNK were obviously induced in coelomocytes upon V. splendidus challenge and lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated predominant cytoplasmic localization of AjJNK in coelomocytes with subsequent nuclear translocation following the V. splendidus challenge in vivo. Moreover, siRNA-mediated knockdown of AjJNK led to a significant increase in intracellular bacterial load, as well as elevated levels of Ajcaspase 3 and coelomocyte apoptosis post V. splendidus infection. Furthermore, the phosphorylation levels of AjJNK inhibited by its specific inhibitor SP600125 and also significantly suppressed the expression of Ajcaspase 3 and coelomocyte apoptosis during pathogen infection. Collectively, these data underscored the pivotal role of AjJNK in immune defense, specifically in the regulation of coelomocyte apoptosis in V. splendidus-challenged A. japonicus.