Genomics and Proteomics
Brain cell somatic gene recombination and its phylogenetic foundations
A new form of somatic gene recombination (SGR) has been identified in the human brain that affects the Alzheimer's disease gene, amyloid precursor protein (APP). SGR occurs when a gene sequence is cut and recombined within a single cell's genomic DNA, generally independent of DNA replication and the cell cycle. The newly identified brain SGR produces genomic complementary DNAs (gencDNAs) lacking introns, which integrate into locations distinct from germline loci. This brief review will present an overview of likely related recombination mechanisms and genomic cDNA-like sequences that implicate evolutionary origins for brain SGR.Biological and catalytic functions of sirtuin 6 as targets for small-molecule modulators
Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is a nuclear NAD+-dependent deacetylase of histone H3 that regulates genome stability and gene expression. However, nonhistone substrates and additional catalytic activities of SIRT6, including long-chain deacylation and mono-ADP-ribosylation of other proteins, have also been reported, but many of these noncanonical roles remain enigmatic. Genetic studies have revealed critical homeostatic cellular functions of SIRT6, underscoring the need to better understand which catalytic functions and molecular pathways are driving SIRT6-associated phenotypes.Enigmatic MELK: The controversy surrounding its complex role in cancer
The Ser/Thr protein kinase MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase) has been considered an attractive therapeutic target for managing cancer since 2005. Studies using expression analysis have indicated that MELK expression is higher in numerous cancer cells and tissues than in their normal, nonneoplastic counterparts. Further, RNAi-mediated MELK depletion impairs proliferation of multiple cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and these growth defects can be rescued with exogenous WT MELK, but not kinase-dead MELK complementation.Drosophila, which lacks canonical transcription-coupled repair proteins, performs transcription-coupled repair
Previous work with the classic T4 endonuclease V digestion of DNA from irradiated Drosophila cells followed by Southern hybridization led to the conclusion that Drosophila lacks transcription-coupled repair (TCR). This conclusion was reinforced by the Drosophila Genome Project, which revealed that Drosophila lacks Cockayne syndrome WD repeat protein (CSA), CSB, or UV-stimulated scaffold protein A (UVSSA) homologs, whose orthologs are present in eukaryotes ranging from Arabidopsis to humans that carry out TCR.Rare-variant pathogenicity triage and inclusion of synonymous variants improves analysis of disease associations of orphan G protein–coupled receptors
The pace of deorphanization of G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) has slowed, and new approaches are required. Small molecule targeting of orphan GPCRs can potentially be of clinical benefit even if the endogenous receptor ligand has not been identified. Many GPCRs lack common variants that lead to reproducible genome-wide disease associations, and rare-variant approaches have emerged as a viable alternative to identify disease associations for such genes. Therefore, our goal was to prioritize orphan GPCRs by determining their associations with human diseases in a large clinical population.Differential and overlapping targets of the transcriptional regulators NRF1, NRF2, and NRF3 in human cells
The nuclear factor (erythroid 2)-like (NRF) transcription factors are a subset of cap'n'collar transcriptional regulators. They consist of three members, NRF1, NRF2, and NRF3, that regulate the expression of genes containing antioxidant-response elements (AREs) in their promoter regions. Although all NRF members regulate ARE-containing genes, each is associated with distinct roles. A comprehensive study of differential and overlapping DNA-binding and transcriptional activities of the NRFs has not yet been conducted.
