[
Journal of Gerontology,
1998]
Vanfleteren and colleagues present an interesting example of environmental conditions altering the kinetics of survival. Most previous studies of survival in C. elegans have used abundant bacteria as a food source. Such studies have found that the Gompertz function (exponential growth in mortality rate with age) gives a relatively good fit to survival curves, but that there is some deceleration in the rate of growth of mortality later in the life span. Yulong Yang and I have completed dozens of studies of small populations of the wild-type strain, N2, as well as strains TJ401, TJ411, TJ412,and BA713 in the presence of abundant bacteria in liquid or on agar. Survival curves were better fit by Gompertz more often than by Weibull or logistic functions (unpublished observations).
[
RNA Biol,
2014]
Small RNA programmed Argonautes are sophisticated cellular effector platforms known to be involved in a diverse array of functions ranging from mRNA cleavage, translational inhibition, DNA elimination, epigenetic silencing, alternative splicing and even gene activation. First observed in human cells, small RNA-induced gene activation, also known as RNAa, involves the targeted recruitment of Argonaute proteins to specific promoter sequences followed by induction of stable epigenetic changes which promote transcription. The existence of RNAa remains contentious due to its elusive mechanism. A string of recent studies in C. elegans provides unequivocal evidence for RNAa's fundamental role in sculpting the epigenetic landscape and maintaining active transcription of endogenous genes and supports the presence of a functionally sophisticated network of small RNA-Argonaute pathways consisting of opposite yet complementary "yin and yang" regulatory elements. In this review, we summarize key findings from recent studies of endogenous RNAa in C. elegans, with an emphasis on the Argonaute protein CSR-1.
[
Adv Protein Chem,
2001]
Biochemical characterization of the yeast prions has revealed many similarities with the mammalian amyloidogenic proteins. The ease of generating in vivo mutations in yeast and the developing in vitro models for [PSI+] and [URE3] circumvent many of the difficulties of studying the proteins linked to the mammalian amyloidoses. Future work especially aimed at understanding the molecular role of chaperone proteins in regulating conversion as well as the early steps in de novo formation of the prion state in yeast will likely provide invaluable lessons that may be more broadly applicable to related processes in higher eukaryotes. It is important to remember, however, that there are clear distinctions between disease states associated with amyloidogenesis and the epigenetic modulation of protein function by self-perpetuating conformational conversions. Amyloid formation is detrimental to mammals and is likely selected against, providing a possible explanation for the late onset of these disorders (Lansbury, 1999). In contrast, the known yeast prions are compatible with normal growth and, if beneficial to the organism, may be subject to evolutionary pressures that ultimately maximize transmission. In the prion proteins examined to date, distinct domains are responsible for normal function and for the conformational switches producing a prion conversion of that function. Recent work has demonstrated that the prion domains are both modular and transferable to other proteins on which they can confer a heritable epigenetic alteration of function (Edskes et al., 1999; Li and Lindquist, 2000; Patino et al., 1996; Santoso et al., 2000; Sondheimer and Lindquist, 2000). That is, prion domains need not coevolve with particular functional domains but might be moved from one protein to another during evolution. Such processes may be widely used in biology. Mechanistic studies of [PSI+] and [URE3] replication are sure to lay a foundation of knowledge for understanding a host of nonconventional genetic elements that currently remain elusive.
[
Biochem J,
2007]
Mammalian Na+/Ca2+ exchangers are members of three branches of a much larger family of transport proteins [the CaCA (Ca2+/cation antiporter) superfamily] whose main role is to provide control of Ca2+ flux across the plasma membranes or intracellular compartments. Since cytosolic levels of Ca2+ are much lower than those found extracellularly or in sequestered stores, the major function of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers is to extrude Ca2+ from the cytoplasm. The exchangers are, however, fully reversible and thus, under special conditions of subcellular localization and compartmentalized ion gradients, Na+/Ca2+ exchangers may allow Ca2+ entry and may play more specialized roles in Ca2+ movement between compartments. The NCX (Na+/Ca2+ exchanger) [SLC (solute carrier) 8] branch of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers comprises three members: NCX1 has been most extensively studied, and is broadly expressed with particular abundance in heart, brain and kidney, NCX2 is expressed in brain, and NCX3 is expressed in brain and skeletal muscle. The NCX proteins subserve a variety of roles, depending upon the site of expression. These include cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, neuronal signalling and Ca2+ reabsorption in the kidney. The NCKX (Na2+/Ca2+-K+ exchanger) (SLC24) branch of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers transport K+ and Ca2+ in exchange for Na+, and comprises five members: NCKX1 is expressed in retinal rod photoreceptors, NCKX2 is expressed in cone photoreceptors and in neurons throughout the brain, NCKX3 and NCKX4 are abundant in brain, but have a broader tissue distribution, and NCKX5 is expressed in skin, retinal epithelium and brain. The NCKX proteins probably play a particularly prominent role in regulating Ca2+ flux in environments which experience wide and frequent fluctuations in Na+ concentration. Until recently, the range of functions that NCKX proteins play was generally underappreciated. This situation is now changing rapidly as evidence emerges for roles including photoreceptor adaptation, synaptic plasticity and skin pigmentation. The CCX (Ca2+/cation exchanger) branch has only one mammalian member, NCKX6 or NCLX (Na+/Ca2+-Li+ exchanger), whose physiological function remains unclear, despite a broad pattern of expression.