RESUMO
Lactylation is a lactate-induced post-translational modification best known for its roles in epigenetic regulation. Herein, we demonstrate that MRE11, a crucial homologous recombination (HR) protein, is lactylated at K673 by the CBP acetyltransferase in response to DNA damage and dependent on ATM phosphorylation of the latter. MRE11 lactylation promotes its binding to DNA, facilitating DNA end resection and HR. Inhibition of CBP or LDH downregulated MRE11 lactylation, impaired HR, and enhanced chemosensitivity of tumor cells in patient-derived xenograft and organoid models. A cell-penetrating peptide that specifically blocks MRE11 lactylation inhibited HR and sensitized cancer cells to cisplatin and PARPi. These findings unveil lactylation as a key regulator of HR, providing fresh insights into the ways in which cellular metabolism is linked to DSB repair. They also imply that the Warburg effect can confer chemoresistance through enhancing HR and suggest a potential therapeutic strategy of targeting MRE11 lactylation to mitigate the effects.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Ligação a DNA , Proteína Homóloga a MRE11 , Reparo de DNA por Recombinação , Humanos , DNA , Quebras de DNA de Cadeia Dupla , Reparo do DNA , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Epigênese Genética , Recombinação Homóloga , Proteína Homóloga a MRE11/metabolismo , Ácido Láctico/metabolismoRESUMO
We set out to exhaustively characterize the impact of the cis-chromatin environment on prime editing, a precise genome engineering tool. Using a highly sensitive method for mapping the genomic locations of randomly integrated reporters, we discover massive position effects, exemplified by editing efficiencies ranging from â¼0% to 94% for an identical target site and edit. Position effects on prime editing efficiency are well predicted by chromatin marks, e.g., positively by H3K79me2 and negatively by H3K9me3. Next, we developed a multiplex perturbational framework to assess the interaction of trans-acting factors with the cis-chromatin environment on editing outcomes. Applying this framework to DNA repair factors, we identify HLTF as a context-dependent repressor of prime editing. Finally, several lines of evidence suggest that active transcriptional elongation enhances prime editing. Consistent with this, we show we can robustly decrease or increase the efficiency of prime editing by preceding it with CRISPR-mediated silencing or activation, respectively.
Assuntos
Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Cromatina , Epigênese Genética , Edição de Genes , Humanos , Cromatina/metabolismo , Cromatina/genética , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas/genética , Edição de Genes/métodos , Histonas/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Código das HistonasRESUMO
Pollen-pistil interactions establish interspecific/intergeneric pre-zygotic hybridization barriers in plants. The rejection of undesired pollen at the stigma is crucial to avoid outcrossing but can be overcome with the support of mentor pollen. The mechanisms underlying this hybridization barrier are largely unknown. Here, in Arabidopsis, we demonstrate that receptor-like kinases FERONIA/CURVY1/ANJEA/HERCULES RECEPTOR KINASE 1 and cell wall proteins LRX3/4/5 interact on papilla cell surfaces with autocrine stigmatic RALF1/22/23/33 peptide ligands (sRALFs) to establish a lock that blocks the penetration of undesired pollen tubes. Compatible pollen-derived RALF10/11/12/13/25/26/30 peptides (pRALFs) act as a key, outcompeting sRALFs and enabling pollen tube penetration. By treating Arabidopsis stigmas with synthetic pRALFs, we unlock the barrier, facilitating pollen tube penetration from distantly related Brassicaceae species and resulting in interspecific/intergeneric hybrid embryo formation. Therefore, we uncover a "lock-and-key" system governing the hybridization breadth of interspecific/intergeneric crosses in Brassicaceae. Manipulating this system holds promise for facilitating broad hybridization in crops.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Arabidopsis , Arabidopsis , Hormônios Peptídicos , Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Proteínas de Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Brassicaceae/genética , Brassicaceae/metabolismo , Hormônios Peptídicos/metabolismo , Peptídeos/metabolismo , Pólen/metabolismo , Tubo Polínico/metabolismo , Isolamento ReprodutivoRESUMO
Global dispersal and increasing frequency of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant D614G are suggestive of a selective advantage but may also be due to a random founder effect. We investigate the hypothesis for positive selection of spike D614G in the United Kingdom using more than 25,000 whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Despite the availability of a large dataset, well represented by both spike 614 variants, not all approaches showed a conclusive signal of positive selection. Population genetic analysis indicates that 614G increases in frequency relative to 614D in a manner consistent with a selective advantage. We do not find any indication that patients infected with the spike 614G variant have higher COVID-19 mortality or clinical severity, but 614G is associated with higher viral load and younger age of patients. Significant differences in growth and size of 614G phylogenetic clusters indicate a need for continued study of this variant.
Assuntos
Substituição de Aminoácidos , COVID-19/transmissão , COVID-19/virologia , SARS-CoV-2/genética , SARS-CoV-2/patogenicidade , Glicoproteína da Espícula de Coronavírus/genética , Ácido Aspártico/análise , Ácido Aspártico/genética , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Genoma Viral , Glicina/análise , Glicina/genética , Humanos , Mutação , SARS-CoV-2/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Reino Unido/epidemiologia , Virulência , Sequenciamento Completo do GenomaRESUMO
Genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors are powerful tools for monitoring biochemical activities in live cells, but their multiplexing capacity is limited by the available spectral space. We overcome this problem by developing a set of barcoding proteins that can generate over 100 barcodes and are spectrally separable from commonly used biosensors. Mixtures of barcoded cells expressing different biosensors are simultaneously imaged and analyzed by deep learning models to achieve massively multiplexed tracking of signaling events. Importantly, different biosensors in cell mixtures show highly coordinated activities, thus facilitating the delineation of their temporal relationship. Simultaneous tracking of multiple biosensors in the receptor tyrosine kinase signaling network reveals distinct mechanisms of effector adaptation, cell autonomous and non-autonomous effects of KRAS mutations, as well as complex interactions in the network. Biosensor barcoding presents a scalable method to expand multiplexing capabilities for deciphering the complexity of signaling networks and their interactions between cells.
Assuntos
Técnicas Biossensoriais/métodos , Células/ultraestrutura , Microscopia de Fluorescência/métodos , Análise de Célula Única/métodos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , HumanosRESUMO
COVID-19 exhibits extensive patient-to-patient heterogeneity. To link immune response variation to disease severity and outcome over time, we longitudinally assessed circulating proteins as well as 188 surface protein markers, transcriptome, and T cell receptor sequence simultaneously in single peripheral immune cells from COVID-19 patients. Conditional-independence network analysis revealed primary correlates of disease severity, including gene expression signatures of apoptosis in plasmacytoid dendritic cells and attenuated inflammation but increased fatty acid metabolism in CD56dimCD16hi NK cells linked positively to circulating interleukin (IL)-15. CD8+ T cell activation was apparent without signs of exhaustion. Although cellular inflammation was depressed in severe patients early after hospitalization, it became elevated by days 17-23 post symptom onset, suggestive of a late wave of inflammatory responses. Furthermore, circulating protein trajectories at this time were divergent between and predictive of recovery versus fatal outcomes. Our findings stress the importance of timing in the analysis, clinical monitoring, and therapeutic intervention of COVID-19.
Assuntos
COVID-19/imunologia , Citocinas/metabolismo , Células Dendríticas/metabolismo , Expressão Gênica/imunologia , Células Matadoras Naturais/metabolismo , Índice de Gravidade de Doença , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Biomarcadores/metabolismo , COVID-19/mortalidade , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Células Dendríticas/citologia , Feminino , Humanos , Células Matadoras Naturais/citologia , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Transcriptoma/imunologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Engineering microorganisms for production of fuels and chemicals often requires major re-programming of metabolism to ensure high flux toward the product of interest. This is challenging, as millions of years of evolution have resulted in establishment of tight regulation of metabolism for optimal growth in the organism's natural habitat. Here, we show through metabolic engineering that it is possible to alter the metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae from traditional ethanol fermentation to a pure lipogenesis metabolism, resulting in high-level production of free fatty acids. Through metabolic engineering and process design, we altered subcellular metabolic trafficking, fine-tuned NADPH and ATP supply, and decreased carbon flux to biomass, enabling production of 33.4 g/L extracellular free fatty acids. We further demonstrate that lipogenesis metabolism can replace ethanol fermentation by deletion of pyruvate decarboxylase enzymes followed by adaptive laboratory evolution. Genome sequencing of evolved strains showed that pyruvate kinase mutations were essential for this phenotype.
Assuntos
Ácidos Graxos não Esterificados/biossíntese , Engenharia Metabólica , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Acetilcoenzima A/metabolismo , Glucose/metabolismo , Glicólise , Isocitrato Desidrogenase/genética , Isocitrato Desidrogenase/metabolismo , Lipogênese , NADP/metabolismo , Via de Pentose Fosfato/genética , Piruvato Quinase/genética , Piruvato Quinase/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismoRESUMO
Some phages encode anti-CRISPR (acr) genes, which antagonize bacterial CRISPR-Cas immune systems by binding components of its machinery, but it is less clear how deployment of these acr genes impacts phage replication and epidemiology. Here, we demonstrate that bacteria with CRISPR-Cas resistance are still partially immune to Acr-encoding phage. As a consequence, Acr-phages often need to cooperate in order to overcome CRISPR resistance, with a first phage blocking the host CRISPR-Cas immune system to allow a second Acr-phage to successfully replicate. This cooperation leads to epidemiological tipping points in which the initial density of Acr-phage tips the balance from phage extinction to a phage epidemic. Furthermore, both higher levels of CRISPR-Cas immunity and weaker Acr activities shift the tipping points toward higher initial phage densities. Collectively, these data help elucidate how interactions between phage-encoded immune suppressors and the CRISPR systems they target shape bacteria-phage population dynamics.
Assuntos
Bacteriófagos/imunologia , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas/imunologia , Terapia de Imunossupressão , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/imunologia , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/virologia , Evolução Molecular , Modelos Teóricos , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/genéticaRESUMO
The means by which the physicochemical properties of different cellular components together determine bacterial cell shape remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate a programmed cell-shape change during Bacillus subtilis sporulation, when a rod-shaped vegetative cell is transformed to an ovoid spore. Asymmetric cell division generates a bigger mother cell and a smaller, hemispherical forespore. The septum traps the forespore chromosome, which is translocated to the forespore by SpoIIIE. Simultaneously, forespore size increases as it is reshaped into an ovoid. Using genetics, timelapse microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and mathematical modeling, we demonstrate that forespore growth relies on membrane synthesis and SpoIIIE-mediated chromosome translocation, but not on peptidoglycan or protein synthesis. Our data suggest that the hydrated nucleoid swells and inflates the forespore, displacing ribosomes to the cell periphery, stretching septal peptidoglycan, and reshaping the forespore. Our results illustrate how simple biophysical interactions between core cellular components contribute to cellular morphology.
Assuntos
Divisão Celular Assimétrica/fisiologia , Bacillus subtilis/fisiologia , Cromossomos Bacterianos/metabolismo , Esporos Bacterianos/metabolismo , Translocação Genética , Bacillus subtilis/ultraestrutura , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Cromossomos Bacterianos/genética , Peptidoglicano/biossíntese , Peptidoglicano/genética , Biossíntese de Proteínas/fisiologia , Esporos Bacterianos/genética , Esporos Bacterianos/ultraestruturaRESUMO
What happens inside an enzyme's active site to allow slow and difficult chemical reactions to occur so rapidly? This question has occupied biochemists' attention for a long time. Computer models of increasing sophistication have predicted an important role for electrostatic interactions in enzymatic reactions, yet this hypothesis has proved vexingly difficult to test experimentally. Recent experiments utilizing the vibrational Stark effect make it possible to measure the electric field a substrate molecule experiences when bound inside its enzyme's active site. These experiments have provided compelling evidence supporting a major electrostatic contribution to enzymatic catalysis. Here, we review these results and develop a simple model for electrostatic catalysis that enables us to incorporate disparate concepts introduced by many investigators to describe how enzymes work into a more unified framework stressing the importance of electric fields at the active site.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Bactérias/química , Hidrolases/química , Cetosteroides/química , Pseudomonas/enzimologia , Esteroide Isomerases/química , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Biocatálise , Domínio Catalítico , Expressão Gênica , Hidrolases/genética , Hidrolases/metabolismo , Cetosteroides/metabolismo , Cinética , Modelos Químicos , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Mutação , Pseudomonas/química , Pseudomonas/genética , Espectrofotometria Infravermelho/métodos , Eletricidade Estática , Esteroide Isomerases/genética , Esteroide Isomerases/metabolismo , TermodinâmicaRESUMO
Cancer cells consume glucose and secrete lactate in culture. It is unknown whether lactate contributes to energy metabolism in living tumors. We previously reported that human non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) oxidize glucose in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Here, we show that lactate is also a TCA cycle carbon source for NSCLC. In human NSCLC, evidence of lactate utilization was most apparent in tumors with high 18fluorodeoxyglucose uptake and aggressive oncological behavior. Infusing human NSCLC patients with 13C-lactate revealed extensive labeling of TCA cycle metabolites. In mice, deleting monocarboxylate transporter-1 (MCT1) from tumor cells eliminated lactate-dependent metabolite labeling, confirming tumor-cell-autonomous lactate uptake. Strikingly, directly comparing lactate and glucose metabolism in vivo indicated that lactate's contribution to the TCA cycle predominates. The data indicate that tumors, including bona fide human NSCLC, can use lactate as a fuel in vivo.
Assuntos
Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/metabolismo , Ácido Láctico/metabolismo , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Animais , Análise Química do Sangue , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Ciclo do Ácido Cítrico , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Feminino , Ácidos Glicéricos/metabolismo , Xenoenxertos , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Transportadores de Ácidos Monocarboxílicos/genética , Transportadores de Ácidos Monocarboxílicos/metabolismo , Transplante de Neoplasias , Simportadores/genética , Simportadores/metabolismoRESUMO
Maternal inactivation of genes encoding components of the subcortical maternal complex (SCMC) and its associated member, PADI6, generally results in early embryo lethality. In humans, SCMC gene variants were found in the healthy mothers of children affected by multilocus imprinting disturbances (MLID). However, how the SCMC controls the DNA methylation required to regulate imprinting remains poorly defined. We generated a mouse line carrying a Padi6 missense variant that was identified in a family with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and MLID. If homozygous in female mice, this variant resulted in interruption of embryo development at the two-cell stage. Single-cell multiomic analyses demonstrated defective maturation of Padi6 mutant oocytes and incomplete DNA demethylation, down-regulation of zygotic genome activation (ZGA) genes, up-regulation of maternal decay genes, and developmental delay in two-cell embryos developing from Padi6 mutant oocytes but little effect on genomic imprinting. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses showed reduced levels of UHRF1 in oocytes and abnormal localization of DNMT1 and UHRF1 in both oocytes and zygotes. Treatment with 5-azacytidine reverted DNA hypermethylation but did not rescue the developmental arrest of mutant embryos. Taken together, this study demonstrates that PADI6 controls both nuclear and cytoplasmic oocyte processes that are necessary for preimplantation epigenetic reprogramming and ZGA.
Assuntos
Oócitos , Zigoto , Animais , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Camundongos , Proteínas Estimuladoras de Ligação a CCAAT/genética , Citoplasma/genética , Citoplasma/metabolismo , Metilação de DNA/genética , Desenvolvimento Embrionário/genética , Impressão Genômica/genética , Ubiquitina-Proteína Ligases/metabolismoRESUMO
Scalable sequence-function studies have enabled the systematic analysis and cataloging of hundreds of thousands of coding and noncoding genetic variants in the human genome. This has improved clinical variant interpretation and provided insights into the molecular, biophysical, and cellular effects of genetic variants at an astonishing scale and resolution across the spectrum of allele frequencies. In this review, we explore current applications and prospects for the field and outline the principles underlying scalable functional assay design, with a focus on the study of single-nucleotide coding and noncoding variants.
Assuntos
Variação Genética , Genoma Humano , Humanos , Genoma Humano/genéticaRESUMO
Proliferating cells exhibit a metabolic phenotype known as "aerobic glycolysis," which is characterized by an elevated rate of glucose fermentation to lactate irrespective of oxygen availability. Although several theories have been proposed, a rationalization for why proliferating cells seemingly waste glucose carbon by excreting it as lactate remains elusive. Using the NCI-60 cell lines, we determined that lactate excretion is strongly correlated with the activity of mitochondrial NADH shuttles, but not proliferation. Quantifying the fluxes of the malate-aspartate shuttle (MAS), the glycerol 3-phosphate shuttle (G3PS), and lactate dehydrogenase under various conditions demonstrated that proliferating cells primarily transform glucose to lactate when glycolysis outpaces the mitochondrial NADH shuttles. Increasing mitochondrial NADH shuttle fluxes decreased glucose fermentation but did not reduce the proliferation rate. Our results reveal that glucose fermentation, a hallmark of cancer, is a secondary consequence of MAS and G3PS saturation rather than a unique metabolic driver of cellular proliferation.
Assuntos
Malatos , NAD , Ácido Aspártico/metabolismo , Glucose/metabolismo , Glicólise , Ácido Láctico , Malatos/metabolismo , NAD/metabolismoRESUMO
Aerobic glycolysis, or preferential fermentation of glucose-derived pyruvate to lactate despite available oxygen, is associated with proliferation across many organisms and conditions. To better understand that association, we examined the metabolic consequence of activating the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH) to increase pyruvate oxidation at the expense of fermentation. We find that increasing PDH activity impairs cell proliferation by reducing the NAD+/NADH ratio. This change in NAD+/NADH is caused by increased mitochondrial membrane potential that impairs mitochondrial electron transport and NAD+ regeneration. Uncoupling respiration from ATP synthesis or increasing ATP hydrolysis restores NAD+/NADH homeostasis and proliferation even when glucose oxidation is increased. These data suggest that when demand for NAD+ to support oxidation reactions exceeds the rate of ATP turnover in cells, NAD+ regeneration by mitochondrial respiration becomes constrained, promoting fermentation, despite available oxygen. This argues that cells engage in aerobic glycolysis when the demand for NAD+ is in excess of the demand for ATP.
Assuntos
Trifosfato de Adenosina/metabolismo , Glucose/metabolismo , Glicólise , NAD/metabolismo , Células A549 , Trifosfato de Adenosina/genética , Aerobiose , Glucose/genética , Células HeLa , Humanos , NAD/genética , OxirreduçãoRESUMO
PIWI proteins and their guiding Piwi-interacting small RNAs (piRNAs) are crucial for fertility and transposon defense in the animal germline. In most species, the majority of piRNAs are produced from distinct large genomic loci, called piRNA clusters. It is assumed that germline-expressed piRNA clusters, particularly in Drosophila, act as principal regulators to control transposons dispersed across the genome. Here, using synteny analysis, we show that large clusters are evolutionarily labile, arise at loci characterized by recurrent chromosomal rearrangements, and are mostly species-specific across the Drosophila genus. By engineering chromosomal deletions in D. melanogaster, we demonstrate that the three largest germline clusters, which account for the accumulation of >40% of all transposon-targeting piRNAs in ovaries, are neither required for fertility nor for transposon regulation in trans. We provide further evidence that dispersed elements, rather than the regulatory action of large Drosophila germline clusters in trans, may be central for transposon defense.
Assuntos
Elementos de DNA Transponíveis , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Evolução Molecular , Fertilidade/genética , Família Multigênica , Ovário/fisiologia , Estabilidade de RNA , RNA Interferente Pequeno/genética , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Proteínas Argonautas/genética , Proteínas Argonautas/metabolismo , Deleção Cromossômica , Cromossomos de Insetos , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/metabolismo , Feminino , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Ovário/metabolismo , RNA Interferente Pequeno/metabolismoRESUMO
Signaling abnormalities in immune responses in the small intestine can trigger chronic type 2 inflammation involving interaction of multiple immune cell types. To systematically characterize this response, we analyzed 58,067 immune cells from the mouse small intestine by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) at steady state and after induction of a type 2 inflammatory reaction to ovalbumin (OVA). Computational analysis revealed broad shifts in both cell-type composition and cell programs in response to the inflammation, especially in group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s). Inflammation induced the expression of exon 5 of Calca, which encodes the alpha-calcitonin gene-related peptide (α-CGRP), in intestinal KLRG1+ ILC2s. α-CGRP antagonized KLRG1+ ILC2s proliferation but promoted IL-5 expression. Genetic perturbation of α-CGRP increased the proportion of intestinal KLRG1+ ILC2s. Our work highlights a model where α-CGRP-mediated neuronal signaling is critical for suppressing ILC2 expansion and maintaining homeostasis of the type 2 immune machinery.
Assuntos
Peptídeo Relacionado com Gene de Calcitonina/metabolismo , Inflamação/imunologia , Intestinos/imunologia , Linfócitos/imunologia , Neuropeptídeos/metabolismo , Animais , Peptídeo Relacionado com Gene de Calcitonina/genética , Células Cultivadas , Biologia Computacional , Imunidade Inata , Interleucina-5/genética , Interleucina-5/metabolismo , Lectinas Tipo C/metabolismo , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Transgênicos , Neuropeptídeos/genética , Receptores Imunológicos/metabolismo , Análise de Sequência de RNA , Transdução de Sinais , Análise de Célula Única , Células Th2/imunologia , Transcriptoma , Regulação para CimaRESUMO
Population-scale sequencing efforts have catalogued substantial genetic variation in humans such that variant discovery dramatically outpaces interpretation. We discuss how single-cell sequencing is poised to reveal genetic mechanisms at a rate that may soon approach that of variant discovery. The functional genomics toolkit is sufficiently modular to systematically profile almost any type of variation within increasingly diverse contexts and with molecularly comprehensive and unbiased readouts. As a result, we can construct deep phenotypic atlases of variant effects that span the entire regulatory cascade. The same conceptual approach to interpreting genetic variation should be applied to engineering therapeutic cell states. In this way, variant mechanism discovery and cell state engineering will become reciprocating and iterative processes towards genomic medicine.
Assuntos
Variação Genética , Análise de Célula Única , Humanos , Análise de Célula Única/métodos , Genômica/métodos , Genoma Humano/genética , FenótipoRESUMO
In silico variant effect predictions are available for nearly all missense variants but played a minimal role in clinical variant classification because they were deemed to provide only supporting evidence. Recently, the ClinGen Sequence Variant Interpretation (SVI) Working Group updated recommendations for variant effect prediction use. By analyzing control pathogenic and benign variants across all genes, they were able to compute evidence strength for predictor score intervals with some intervals generating moderate, strong, or even very strong evidence. However, this genome-wide approach could obscure heterogeneous predictor performance in different genes. We quantified the gene-by-gene performance of two top predictors, REVEL and BayesDel, by analyzing control variants in each predictor score interval in 3,668 disease-relevant genes. Approximately 10% of intervals had sufficient control variants for analysis, and â¼70% of these intervals exceeded the maximum number of incorrect predictions implied by the SVI recommendations. These trending discordant intervals arose owing to the divergence of the gene-specific distribution of predictions from the genome-wide distribution, suggesting that gene-specific calibration is needed in many cases. Approximately 22% of ClinVar missense variants of uncertain significance in genes we analyzed (REVEL = 100,629, BayesDel = 71,928) had predictions in trending discordant intervals. Thus, genome-wide calibrations could result in many variants receiving inappropriate evidence strength. To facilitate a review of the SVI's calibrations, we developed a web application enabling visualization of gene-specific predictions and trending concordant and discordant intervals.
RESUMO
While it is widely thought that de novo mutations (DNMs) occur randomly, we previously showed that some DNMs are enriched because they are positively selected in the testes of aging men. These "selfish" mutations cause disorders with a shared presentation of features, including exclusive paternal origin, significant increase of the father's age, and high apparent germline mutation rate. To date, all known selfish mutations cluster within the components of the RTK-RAS-MAPK signaling pathway, a critical modulator of testicular homeostasis. Here, we demonstrate the selfish nature of the SMAD4 DNMs causing Myhre syndrome (MYHRS). By analyzing 16 informative trios, we show that MYHRS-causing DNMs originated on the paternally derived allele in all cases. We document a statistically significant epidemiological paternal age effect of 6.3 years excess for fathers of MYHRS probands. We developed an ultra-sensitive assay to quantify spontaneous MYHRS-causing SMAD4 variants in sperm and show that pathogenic variants at codon 500 are found at elevated level in sperm of most men and exhibit a strong positive correlation with donor's age, indicative of a high apparent germline mutation rate. Finally, we performed in vitro assays to validate the peculiar functional behavior of the clonally selected DNMs and explored the basis of the pathophysiology of the different SMAD4 sperm-enriched variants. Taken together, these data provide compelling evidence that SMAD4, a gene operating outside the canonical RAS-MAPK signaling pathway, is associated with selfish spermatogonial selection and raises the possibility that other genes/pathways are under positive selection in the aging human testis.