The relationship between transformational leadership and teacher autonomy: A latent moderation analysis.

In Chinese kindergartens under a collectivist culture, leadership has a profound and complex impact on both the organization and teacher autonomy. This study explores the link between transformational leadership and teacher autonomy and the roles played by organizational climate and teacher empowerment in this relationship. Kindergartens teachers (n = 1593) were randomly selected in China to complete the transformational leadership scale, teacher autonomy scale, teacher empowerment scale and organizational climate scale, with a cross-sectional design and moderated mediation model using latent variables. The results were as follows: (1) transformational leadership can predict the level of teacher autonomy; (2) organizational climate plays a part of mediating role between transformational leadership and teacher autonomy; (3) as levels of teacher empowerment increase, the positive association between transformational leadership and organizational climate becomes stronger, while the positive association between organizational climate on teacher autonomy weakens.

miR-2013 negatively regulates phylogenetically conserved PIP5K involved in TLR4 mediated immune responses of amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri Tsingtaunese).

Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase (PIP5K) is a catalytic kinase that performs multiple functions in organisms. Recent studies have shown that PIP5Kα in mammals can directly participate in the TLR-mediated innate immune regulation by controlling the production of PIP2. However, the PIP5K homologous gene has not been identified in Cephalochordata to date. In this study, we firstly identify and characterize a new PIP5K family member (designed as AmphiPIP5K) from Cephalochordata amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtaunese), particularly AmphiPIP5K is orthologous with vertebrate PIP5Kα and paralogous with PIP5Kß and PIP5Kγ. Secondly, we find that the AmphiPIP5K is involved in amphioxus innate immune response to LPS stimulation. Thirdly, our results demonstrate that miR-2013 can inhibit AmphiPIP5K expression by binding to the CDS and 3' UTR regions of AmphiPIP5K. Collectively, our work not only demonstrates the evolutionary pattern of amphioxus PIP5K, but also reveals that miR-2013 negatively regulate PIP5K expression to involve in amphioxus innate immune response.

Functional characterization of STATa/b genes encoding transcription factors from Branchiostoma belcheri.

The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT), as an important transcription factor of the Janus kinase (JAK)-STAT signaling pathway, is pivotal for development and immunity and well documented in vertebrates. However, the STAT gene has not been reported in chordate amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri). In this study, we firstly identify and characterize two STAT genes from Branchiostoma belcheri (designed as AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb). Secondly, our results reveal that AmphiSTATa is clustered with vertebrate STAT1, STAT2, STAT3 and STAT4, whereas AmphiSTATb is grouped with STAT5 and STAT6 based on phylogenetic analysis. Thirdly, AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb are found to widely express in five representative tissues of amphioxus (gill, hepatic cecum, intestine, muscle and notochord) by RT-qPCR analysis. Importantly, both AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb can be involved in innate immune responses to LPS stimulation. Fourthly, we demonstrate that AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb can form homodimers or heterodimers by Co-IP and Native-PAGE assay, and that AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb proteins can also distribute in cytoplasm and nucleus by the subcellular localization. Taken together, our findings not only reveal the roles of AmphiSTATa and AmphiSTATb in amphioxus innate immune responses to LPS stimulation, but provide a new insight into further elucidating the evolution and function of STATs in animals.

Phylogenetically conserved TAK1 participates in Branchiostoma belcheri innate immune response to LPS stimulus.

Transforming growth factor-ß activated kinase-1 (TAK1) is an important member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) family, which plays an important role in animal innate immune response. However, the TAK1 gene has yet not been reported in amphioxus to date. Here, we have identified and characterized a TAK1 gene from amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri) (named as AmphiTAK1) with the full-length cDNA of 3479 bp, including an ORF sequence of 1905 bp, a 5' UTR of 394 bp and a 3' UTR of 1180 bp. Moreover, the predicted AmphiTAK1 protein contains STKc_TAK1 domain, TAB1 and TAB2/3 binding domain which are conserved among chordate, and phylogenetic analysis also shows that the AmphiTAK1 is located at the bottom of the chordate, revealing AmphiTAK1 as a new member of the TAK1 gene family. The further qRT-PCR analysis has shown that AmphiTAK1 is widely expressed in six investigated tissues (gonad, gill, hepatic cecum, intestine, muscle and notochord) of Branchiostoma belcheri, with high expression in notochord and gonad, moderate in gill and hepatic cecum. Notably, the expression level of AmphiTAK1 is significantly up-regulated after LPS stimulation. Specially, we also find that AmphiTAK1 protein can interact with AmphiTAB1 by immunoprecipitation assay. These findings reveal that AmphiTAK1 might interact with AmphiTAB1 to involve in innate immune response of Branchiostoma belcheri. Taken together, our present works provide a new insight into evolution and innate immune response mechanism of AmphiTAK1 gene in Branchiostoma belcheri.