Daminozide Enhances Vigor and Steviol Glycoside Yield of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bert.) Propagated in the Temporary Immersion Bioreactor

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) contains sweet compound widely used as natural sweetener, steviol glycoside (SG). SG is a diterpenoid secondary metabolite synthesized from ent-kaurenoic acid, the same precursor of Gibberellin (GA). Therefore, in this study, a GA inhibitor, Daminozide (0, 10, 20 ppm) was used to block ent-kaurenoic acid conversion towards GA synthesis in attempt to increase SG content of stevia propagated in Temporary Immersion Bioreactor (TIB). Daminozide in 10 mg/L was observed to be the optimum concentration which increased biomass weight and SG content (stevioside and rebaudioside A) up to 40%. The treatment also increased transcripts accumulation of genes enrolled in SG biosynthesis, such as SrKA13H, SrUGT85C2, and SrUGT76G1, indicating SG pathway become more active due to the inhibition of GA pathway. Furthermore, the inhibition of GA was also indicated by the upregulated expression of GA biosynthesis gene (GA3ox) as the result of feedback regulation, and the downregulated expression of GA catabolism gene (GA2ox2) as the result of feed-forward regulation caused by inhibitor treatment.

Structural and Functional Coupling of Calcium-Activated BK Channels and Calcium-Permeable Channels Within Nanodomain Signaling Complexes

Biochemical and functional studies of ion channels have shown that many of these integral membrane proteins form macromolecular signaling complexes by physically associating with many other proteins. These macromolecular signaling complexes ensure specificity and proper rates of signal transduction. The large-conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channel is dually activated by membrane depolarization and increases in intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). The activation of BK channels results in a large K+ efflux and, consequently, rapid membrane repolarization and closing of the voltage-dependent Ca2+-permeable channels to limit further increases in [Ca2+]i. Therefore, BK channel-mediated K+ signaling is a negative feedback regulator of both membrane potential and [Ca2+]i and plays important roles in many physiological processes and diseases. However, the BK channel formed by the pore-forming and voltage- and Ca2+-sensing α subunit alone requires high [Ca2+]i levels for channel activation under physiological voltage conditions. Thus, most native BK channels are believed to co-localize with Ca2+-permeable channels within nanodomains (a few tens of nanometers in distance) to detect high levels of [Ca2+]i around the open pores of Ca2+-permeable channels. Over the last two decades, advancement in research on the BK channel’s coupling with Ca2+-permeable channels including recent reports involving NMDA receptors demonstrate exemplary models of nanodomain structural and functional coupling among ion channels for efficient signal transduction and negative feedback regulation. We hereby review our current understanding regarding the structural and functional coupling of BK channels with different Ca2+-permeable channels.

Defining the dynamics of naive CD4 and CD8 T cells across the mouse lifespan

Naive CD4 and CD8 T cells are part of the foundation of adaptive immune responses, but multiple aspects of their behaviour remain elusive. Newly generated T cells continue to develop after they leave the thymus and their dynamics and 'rules of entry' into the mature naive population are challenging to define. The extents to which naive T cells' capacities to survive or self-renew change as they age are also unclear. Further, much of what we know about their behaviour derives from studies in adults, both mouse and human. We know much less about naive T cell dynamics early in life, during which the thymus is highly active and peripheral T cell populations are rapidly established. For example, it has been suggested that neonatal mice are lymphopenic; if so, does this environment impact the behaviour of the earliest thymic emigrants, for example through altered rates of division and loss? In this study we integrate data from multiple experimental systems to construct models of naive CD4 and CD8 T cell population dynamics across the entire mouse lifespan. We infer that both subsets progressively increase their capacity to persist through survival mechanisms rather than through self-renewal, and find that this very simple model of adaptation describes the population dynamics of naive CD4 T cells from birth into old age. In addition, we find that newly generated naive CD8 T cells are lost at an elevated rate for the first 3-4 weeks of life, which may derive from transiently increased recruitment into conventional and virtual memory populations. We find no evidence for elevated rates of division of naive CD4 or CD8 T cells early in life and indeed estimate that these cells divide extremely rarely. Markers of proliferation within peripheral naive T cells are instead inherited from division during thymic development. We also find no evidence for feedback regulation of rates of division or loss of naive T cells at any age in healthy mice, challenging the dogma that their numbers are homeostatically regulated. Our analyses show how confronting an array of mechanistic mathematical models with diverse datasets can move us closer to a complete, and remarkably simple, picture of naive CD4 and CD8 T cell dynamics in mice.

Cleavage-Mediated Regulation of Myd88 Signaling by Inflammasome-Activated Caspase-1

Coordination among multiple signaling pathways ensures an appropriate immune response, where a signaling pathway may impair or augment another signaling pathway. Here, we report a negative feedback regulation of signaling through the key innate immune mediator MyD88 by inflammasome-activated caspase-1. NLRP3 inflammasome activation impaired agonist- or infection-induced TLR signaling and cytokine production through the proteolytic cleavage of MyD88 by caspase-1. Site-specific mutagenesis was used to identify caspase-1 cleavage site within MyD88 intermediary segment. Different cleavage site location within MyD88 defined the functional consequences of MyD88 cleavage between mouse and human cells. LPS/monosodium urate–induced mouse inflammation model corroborated the physiological role of this mechanism of regulation, that could be reversed by chemical inhibition of NLRP3. While Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain released by MyD88 cleavage additionally contributed to the inhibition of signaling, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia associated MyD88L265P mutation is able to evade the caspase-1-mediated inhibition of MyD88 signaling through the ability of its TIRL265P domain to recruit full length MyD88 and facilitate signaling. The characterization of this mechanism reveals an additional layer of innate immunity regulation.

Implication of Ceramide Kinase/C1P in Cancer Development and Progression

Cancer cells rewire their metabolic programs to favor biological processes that promote cell survival, proliferation, and dissemination. Among this relevant reprogramming, sphingolipid metabolism provides metabolites that can favor or oppose these hallmarks of cancer. The sphingolipid ceramide 1-phosphate (C1P) and the enzyme responsible for its biosynthesis, ceramide kinase (CERK), are well established regulators of cell growth and survival in normal, as well as malignant cells through stress-regulated signaling pathways. This metabolite also promotes cell survival, which has been associated with the feedback regulation of other antitumoral sphingolipids or second messengers. C1P also regulates cancer cell invasion and migration of different types of cancer, including lung, breast, pancreas, prostate, or leukemia cells. More recently, CERK and C1P have been implicated in the control of inflammatory responses. The present review provides an updated view on the important role of CERK/C1P in the regulation of cancer cell growth, survival, and dissemination.

Alternative transcription and feedback regulation suggest that SlIDI1 is involved in tomato carotenoid synthesis in a complex way.

Carotenoid pigments confer photoprotection and visual attraction and serve as precursors for many important signaling molecules. Herein, the orange-fruited phenotype of a tomato elite inbred line resulting from sharply reduced carotenoid levels and an increased β-carotene-to-lycopene ratio in fruit was shown to be controlled by a single recessive gene, oft3. BSA-Seq combined with fine mapping delimited the oft3 gene to a 71.23 kb interval on chromosome 4, including eight genes. Finally, the oft3 candidate gene SlIDI1, harboring a 116 bp deletion mutation, was identified by genome sequence analysis. Further functional complementation and CRISPR–Cas9 knockout experiments confirmed that SlIDI1 was the gene underlying the oft3 locus. qRT–PCR analysis revealed that the expression of SlIDI1 was highest in flowers and fruit and increased with fruit ripening or flower maturation. SlIDI1 simultaneously produced long and short transcripts by alternative transcription initiation and alternative splicing. Green fluorescent protein fusion expression revealed that the long isoform was mainly localized in plastids and that an N-terminal 59-amino acid extension sequence was responsible for plastid targeting. Short transcripts were identified in leaves and fruit by 5’ RACE and in fruit by 3’ RACE, which produced corresponding proteins lacking transit peptides and/or putative peroxisome targeting sequences, respectively. In SlIDI1 mutant fruit, SlBCH1 transcription involved in β-carotenoid catabolism was obviously suppressed, which may be responsible for the higher β-carotene-to-lycopene ratio and suggested potential feedback regulatory mechanisms involved in carotenoid pathway flux.

Dichotomous Feedback: A Signal Sequestration-based Feedback Mechanism for Biocontroller Design

We introduce a new design framework for implementing negative feedback regulation in Synthetic Biology, which we term "dichotomous feedback". Our approach is different from current methods, in that it sequesters existing fluxes in the process to be controlled, and in this way takes advantage of the process's architecture to design the control law. This signal sequestration mechanism appears in many natural biological systems and can potentially be easier to realise than 'molecular sequestration' and other comparison motifs that are nowadays common in biomolecular feedback control design. The loop is closed by linking the strength of signal sequestration to the process output. Our feedback regulation mechanism is motivated by two-component signalling systems, where we introduce a second response regulator competing with the natural response regulator thus sequestering kinase activity. Here, dichotomous feedback is established by increasing the concentration of the second response regulator as the level of the output of the natural process increases. Extensive analysis demonstrates how this type of feedback shapes the signal response, attenuates intrinsic noise while increasing robustness and reducing crosstalk.

Understanding the Shade Tolerance Responses Through Hints From Phytochrome A-Mediated Negative Feedback Regulation in Shade Avoiding Plants

Based on how plants respond to shade, we typically classify them into two groups: shade avoiding and shade tolerance plants. Under vegetative shade, the shade avoiding species induce a series of shade avoidance responses (SARs) to outgrow their competitors, while the shade tolerance species induce shade tolerance responses (STRs) to increase their survival rates under dense canopy. The molecular mechanism underlying the SARs has been extensively studied using the shade avoiding model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, while little is known about STRs. In Aarabidopsis, there is a PHYA-mediated negative feedback regulation that suppresses exaggerated SARs. Recent studies revealed that in shade tolerance Cardamine hirsuta plants, a hyperactive PHYA was responsible for suppressing shade-induced elongation growth. We propose that similar signaling components may be used by shade avoiding and shade tolerance plants, and different phenotypic outputs may result from differential regulation or altered dynamic properties of these signaling components. In this review, we summarized the role of PHYA and its downstream components in shade responses, which may provide insights into understanding how both types of plants respond to shade.