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Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are essential for maintenance of lineage fidelity by coordinating developmental gene expression programs. Polycomb group ring finger 6 (PCGF6) has been previously reported to repress expression of lineage-specific genes, especially germ cell-related genes in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) via the non-canonical polycomb repressive complex PRC1.6. However, the molecular mechanism of this repression remains largely unknown. Here, using RNA-Seq, real-time RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, immunoprecipitation, and ChIP analyses, we demonstrate that PCGF6 plays an essential role in embryonic development, indicated by the partially penetrant embryonic lethality in homozygous PCGF6 (Pcgf6-/-)-deficient mice. We also found that surviving Pcgf6-deficient mice exhibit reduced fertility. Using the Pcgf6-deficient mice, we observed that ablation of Pcgf6 in somatic tissues robustly derepresses germ cell-related genes. We further provide evidence that these genes are direct targets of PCGF6 in ESCs and that endogenous PCGF6 co-localizes with the histone-modifying proteins G9A histone methyltransferase (G9A)/G9a-like protein (GLP) and histone deacetylase 1/2 (HDAC1/2) on the promoters of the germ cell-related genes. Moreover, the binding of these proteins to their target genes correlated with methylation of Lys-9 of histone 3 (H3K9) and with the status of histone acetylation at these genes. Moreover, the recruitment of G9A/GLP and HDAC1/2 to target promoters was dependent on the binding of PCGF6. Our findings indicate that PCGF6 has a critical role in safeguarding lineage decisions and in preventing aberrant expression of germ cell-related genes.COVID-19 is a zoonotic viral infection that originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. WHO classified the resulting pandemic as a 'global health emergency' due to its virulence and propensity to cause acute respiratory distress syndrome. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on diagnostic laboratories, particularly those handling cell and tissue specimens. This development carries serious implications for laboratory practice in that safety of personnel has to be balanced against high-quality analysis and timely reporting of results. The aim of this article is to present some recommendations for the handling of such specimens in the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical phases of laboratory testing and analysis in an era of high COVID-19 prevalence, such as that seen, for example, in the UK, Spain, Italy and France.Precise control of organ growth and patterning is executed through a balanced regulation of progenitor self-renewal and differentiation. [https://www.selleckchem.com/ see more] In the auditory sensory epithelium-the organ of Corti-progenitor cells exit the cell cycle in a coordinated wave between E12.5 and E14.5 before the initiation of sensory receptor cell differentiation, making it a unique system for studying the molecular mechanisms controlling the switch between proliferation and differentiation. Here we identify the Yap/Tead complex as a key regulator of the self-renewal gene network in organ of Corti progenitor cells. We show that Tead transcription factors bind directly to the putative regulatory elements of many stemness- and cell cycle-related genes. We also show that the Tead coactivator protein, Yap, is degraded specifically in the Sox2-positive domain of the cochlear duct, resulting in down-regulation of Tead gene targets. Further, conditional loss of the Yap gene in the inner ear results in the formation of significantly smaller auditory and vestibular sensory epithelia, while conditional overexpression of a constitutively active version of Yap, Yap5SA, is sufficient to prevent cell cycle exit and to prolong sensory tissue growth. We also show that viral gene delivery of Yap5SA in the postnatal inner ear sensory epithelia in vivo drives cell cycle reentry after hair cell loss. Taken together, these data highlight the key role of the Yap/Tead transcription factor complex in maintaining inner ear progenitors during development, and suggest new strategies to induce sensory cell regeneration.Artificial photosynthesis provides a way to store solar energy in chemical bonds. Achieving water splitting without an applied external potential bias provides the key to artificial photosynthetic devices. We describe here a tandem photoelectrochemical cell design that combines a dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cell (DSPEC) and an organic solar cell (OSC) in a photoanode for water oxidation. When combined with a Pt electrode for H2 evolution, the electrode becomes part of a combined electrochemical cell for water splitting, 2H2O → O2 + 2H2, by increasing the voltage of the photoanode sufficiently to drive bias-free reduction of H+ to H2 The combined electrode gave a 1.5% solar conversion efficiency for water splitting with no external applied bias, providing a mimic for the tandem cell configuration of PSII in natural photosynthesis. The electrode provided sustained water splitting in the molecular photoelectrode with sustained photocurrent densities of 1.24 mA/cm2 for 1 h under 1-sun illumination with no applied bias.The ability to modulate cellular electrophysiology is fundamental to the investigation of development, function, and disease. Currently, there is a need for remote, nongenetic, light-induced control of cellular activity in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) platforms. Here, we report a breakthrough hybrid nanomaterial for remote, nongenetic, photothermal stimulation of 2D and 3D neural cellular systems. We combine one-dimensional (1D) nanowires (NWs) and 2D graphene flakes grown out-of-plane for highly controlled photothermal stimulation at subcellular precision without the need for genetic modification, with laser energies lower than a hundred nanojoules, one to two orders of magnitude lower than Au-, C-, and Si-based nanomaterials. Photothermal stimulation using NW-templated 3D fuzzy graphene (NT-3DFG) is flexible due to its broadband absorption and does not generate cellular stress. Therefore, it serves as a powerful toolset for studies of cell signaling within and between tissues and can enable therapeutic interventions.Pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) are allosteric receptors that mediate rapid electrochemical signal transduction in the animal nervous system through the opening of an ion pore upon binding of neurotransmitters. Orthologs have been found and characterized in prokaryotes and they display highly similar structure-function relationships to eukaryotic pLGICs; however, they often encode greater architectural diversity involving additional amino-terminal domains (NTDs). Here we report structural, functional, and normal-mode analysis of two conformational states of a multidomain pLGIC, called DeCLIC, from a Desulfofustis deltaproteobacterium, including a periplasmic NTD fused to the conventional ligand-binding domain (LBD). X-ray structure determination revealed an NTD consisting of two jelly-roll domains interacting across each subunit interface. Binding of Ca2+ at the LBD subunit interface was associated with a closed transmembrane pore, with resolved monovalent cations intracellular to the hydrophobic gate. Accordingly, DeCLIC-injected oocytes conducted currents only upon depletion of extracellular Ca2+; these were insensitive to quaternary ammonium block. link2 Furthermore, DeCLIC crystallized in the absence of Ca2+ with a wide-open pore and remodeled periplasmic domains, including increased contacts between the NTD and classic LBD agonist-binding sites. Functional, structural, and dynamical properties of DeCLIC paralleled those of sTeLIC, a pLGIC from another symbiotic prokaryote. Based on these DeCLIC structures, we would reclassify the previous structure of bacterial ELIC (the first high-resolution structure of a pLGIC) as a "locally closed" conformation. Taken together, structures of DeCLIC in multiple conformations illustrate dramatic conformational state transitions and diverse regulatory mechanisms available to ion channels in pLGICs, particularly involving Ca2+ modulation and periplasmic NTDs.Free hydrogen (H2) is a basal energy source underlying chemosynthetic activity within igneous ocean crust. In an attempt to systematically account for all H2 within young oceanic lithosphere ( less then 10 Ma) near the Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR), we construct a box model of this environment. Within this control volume, we assess abiotic H2 sources (∼6 × 1012 mol H2/y) and sinks (∼4 × 1012 mol H2/y) and then attribute the net difference (∼2 × 1012 mol H2/y) to microbial consumption in order to balance the H2 budget. Despite poorly constrained details and large uncertainties, our analytical framework allows us to synthesize a vast body of pertinent but currently disparate information in order to propose an initial global estimate for microbial H2 consumption within young ocean crust that is tractable and can be iteratively improved upon as new data and studies become available. Our preliminary investigation suggests that microbes beneath the MOR may be consuming a sizeable portion (at least ∼30%) of all produced H2, supporting the widely held notion that subseafloor microbes voraciously consume H2 and play a fundamental role in the geochemistry of Earth's ocean-atmosphere system.Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that direct animal embryogenesis must respond to varying environmental and physiological conditions to ensure robust construction of organ systems. While GRNs are evolutionarily modified by natural genomic variation, the roles of epigenetic processes in shaping plasticity of GRN architecture are not well understood. The endoderm GRN in Caenorhabditis elegans is initiated by the maternally supplied SKN-1/Nrf2 bZIP transcription factor; however, the requirement for SKN-1 in endoderm specification varies widely among distinct C. elegans wild isotypes, owing to rapid developmental system drift driven by accumulation of cryptic genetic variants. We report here that heritable epigenetic factors that are stimulated by transient developmental diapause also underlie cryptic variation in the requirement for SKN-1 in endoderm development. This epigenetic memory is inherited from the maternal germline, apparently through a nuclear, rather than cytoplasmic, signal, resulting in a parent-of-origin effect (POE), in which the phenotype of the progeny resembles that of the maternal founder. The occurrence and persistence of POE varies between different parental pairs, perduring for at least 10 generations in one pair. This long-perduring POE requires piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) function and the germline nuclear RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, as well as MET-2 and SET-32, which direct histone H3K9 trimethylation and drive heritable epigenetic modification. Such nongenetic cryptic variation may provide a resource of additional phenotypic diversity through which adaptation may facilitate evolutionary changes and shape developmental regulatory systems.The human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, contains an essential plastid called the apicoplast. Most apicoplast proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome and it is unclear how the plastid proteome is regulated. Here, we study an apicoplast-localized caseinolytic-protease (Clp) system and how it regulates organelle proteostasis. Using null and conditional mutants, we demonstrate that the P. falciparum Clp protease (PfClpP) has robust enzymatic activity that is essential for apicoplast biogenesis. We developed a CRISPR/Cas9-based system to express catalytically dead PfClpP, which showed that PfClpP oligomerizes as a zymogen and is matured via transautocatalysis. The expression of both wild-type and mutant Clp chaperone (PfClpC) variants revealed a functional chaperone-protease interaction. link3 Conditional mutants of the substrate-adaptor (PfClpS) demonstrated its essential function in plastid biogenesis. A combination of multiple affinity purification screens identified the Clp complex composition as well as putative Clp substrates.