From maps to mechanisms through neuroimaging of schizophrenia

Functional and structural brain imaging has identified neural and neurotransmitter systems involved in schizophrenia and their link to cognitive and behavioural disturbances such as psychosis. Mapping such abnormalities in patients, however, cannot fully capture the strong neurodevelopmental component of schizophrenia that pre-dates manifest illness. A recent strategy to address this issue has been to focus on mechanisms of disease risk. Imaging genetics techniques have made it possible to define neural systems that mediate heritable risk linked to candidate and genome-wide-supported common variants, and mechanisms for environmental risk and gene-environment interactions are emerging. Characterizing the neural risk architecture of schizophrenia provides a translational research strategy for future treatments.     

Complete subunit architecture of the proteasome regulatory particle

The proteasome is the major ATP-dependent protease in eukaryotic cells, but limited structural information restricts a mechanistic understanding of its activities. The proteasome regulatory particle, consisting of the lid and base subcomplexes, recognizes and processes polyubiquitinated substrates. Here we used electron microscopy and a new heterologous expression system for the lid to delineate the complete subunit architecture of the regulatory particle from yeast. Our studies reveal the spatial arrangement of ubiquitin receptors, deubiquitinating enzymes and the protein unfolding machinery at subnanometre resolution, outlining the substrate's path to degradation. Unexpectedly, the ATPase subunits within the base unfoldase are arranged in a spiral staircase, providing insight into potential mechanisms for substrate translocation through the central pore. Large conformational rearrangements of the lid upon holoenzyme formation suggest allosteric regulation of deubiquitination. We provide a structural basis for the ability of the proteasome to degrade a diverse set of substrates and thus regulate vital cellular processes.     

Scaling and the design of miniaturized chemical-analysis systems

Micrometre-scale analytical devices are more attractive than their macroscale counterparts for various reasons. For example, they use smaller volumes of reagents and are therefore cheaper, quicker and less hazardous to use, and more environmentally appealing. Scaling laws compare the relative performance of a system as the dimensions of the system change, and can predict the operational success of miniaturized chemical separation, reaction and detection devices before they are fabricated. Some devices designed using basic principles of scaling are now commercially available, and opportunities for miniaturizing new and challenging analytical systems continue to arise.     

Visualization Methodology for Multidimensional Scaling

These uncertainties will be addressed by the following interactive techniques: (a) algorithm animation, random restarts, and manual editing of configurations, (b) interactive control over parameters that determine the criterion and its minimization, (c) diagnostics for pinning down artifactual point configurations, and (d) restricting MDS to subsets of objects and subsets of pairs of objects. A system, called "XGvis", which implments these techniques, is freely available with the "XGobi" distribution. XGobi is a multivariate data visualization system that is used here for visualizing point configurations.     

BH3-only Bcl-2 family member Bim is required for apoptosis of autoreactive thymocytes

During lymphocyte development, the assembly of genes coding for antigen receptors occurs by the combinatorial linking of gene segments. The stochastic nature of this process gives rise to lymphocytes that can recognize self-antigens, thereby having the potential to induce autoimmune disease. Such autoreactive lymphocytes can be silenced by developmental arrest or unresponsiveness (anergy), or can be deleted from the repertoire by cell death. In the thymus, developing T lymphocytes (thymocytes) bearing a T-cell receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex that engages self-antigens are induced to undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis), but the mechanisms ensuring this 'negative selection' are unclear. We now report that thymocytes lacking the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim (also known as Bcl2l11) are refractory to apoptosis induced by TCR-CD3 stimulation. Moreover, in transgenic mice expressing autoreactive TCRs that provoke widespread deletion, Bim deficiency severely impaired thymocyte killing. TCR ligation upregulated Bim expression and promoted interaction of Bim with Bcl-XL, inhibiting its survival function. These findings identify Bim as an essential initiator of apoptosis in thymocyte-negative selection.     

Chromatin-IgG complexes activate B cells by dual engagement of IgM and Toll-like receptors

Autoreactive B cells are present in the lymphoid tissues of healthy individuals, but typically remain quiescent. When this homeostasis is perturbed, the formation of self-reactive antibodies can have serious pathological consequences. B cells expressing an antigen receptor specific for self-immunoglobulin-gamma (IgG) make a class of autoantibodies known as rheumatoid factor (RF). Here we show that effective activation of RF+ B cells is mediated by IgG2a-chromatin immune complexes and requires the synergistic engagement of the antigen receptor and a member of the MyD88-dependent Toll-like receptor (TLR) family. Inhibitor studies implicate TLR9. These data establish a critical link between the innate and adaptive immune systems in the development of systemic autoimmune disease and explain the preponderance of autoantibodies reactive with nucleic acid-protein particles. The unique features of this dual-engagement pathway should facilitate the development of therapies that specifically target autoreactive B cells.     

Structure and nucleic-acid binding of the Drosophila Argonaute 2 PAZ domain

RNA interference is a conserved mechanism that regulates gene expression in response to the presence of double-stranded (ds)RNAs. The RNase III-like enzyme Dicer first cleaves dsRNA into 21-23-nucleotide small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). In the effector step, the multimeric RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) identifies messenger RNAs homologous to the siRNAs and promotes their degradation. The Argonaute 2 protein (Ago2) is a critical component of RISC. Both Argonaute and Dicer family proteins contain a common PAZ domain whose function is unknown. Here we present the three-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance structure of the Drosophila melanogaster Ago2 PAZ domain. This domain adopts a nucleic-acid-binding fold that is stabilized by conserved hydrophobic residues. The nucleic-acid-binding patch is located in a cleft between the surface of a central beta-barrel and a conserved module comprising strands beta3, beta4 and helix alpha3. Because critical structural residues and the binding surface are conserved, we suggest that PAZ domains in all members of the Argonaute and Dicer families adopt a similar fold with nucleic-acid binding function, and that this plays an important part in gene silencing.     

SNARE-protein-mediated disease resistance at the plant cell wall

Failure of pathogenic fungi to breach the plant cell wall constitutes a major component of immunity of non-host plant species--species outside the pathogen host range--and accounts for a proportion of aborted infection attempts on 'susceptible' host plants (basal resistance). Neither form of penetration resistance is understood at the molecular level. We developed a screen for penetration (pen) mutants of Arabidopsis, which are disabled in non-host penetration resistance against barley powdery mildew, Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei, and we isolated the PEN1 gene. We also isolated barley ROR2 (ref. 2), which is required for basal penetration resistance against B. g. hordei. The genes encode functionally homologous syntaxins, demonstrating a mechanistic link between non-host resistance and basal penetration resistance in monocotyledons and dicotyledons. We show that resistance in barley requires a SNAP-25 (synaptosome-associated protein, molecular mass 25 kDa) homologue capable of forming a binary SNAP receptor (SNARE) complex with ROR2. Genetic control of vesicle behaviour at penetration sites, and plasma membrane location of PEN1/ROR2, is consistent with a proposed involvement of SNARE-complex-mediated exocytosis and/or homotypic vesicle fusion events in resistance. Functions associated with SNARE-dependent penetration resistance are dispensable for immunity mediated by race-specific resistance (R) genes, highlighting fundamental differences between these two resistance forms.     

Self-assembly in aqueous solution of wheel-shaped Mo154 oxide clusters into vesicles

Surfactants and membrane lipids readily assemble into complex structures such as micelles, liposomes or hollow vesicles owing to their amphiphilic character-the fact that part of their structure is attracted to polar environments while another part is attracted to non-polar environments. The self-assembly of complex structures also occurs in polyoxometallate chemistry, as exemplified by the molybdenum blue solutions known for centuries. But while the presence of nanometre-sized metal oxide aggregates in these solutions has long been recognized, unravelling the composition and formation process of these aggregates proved difficult. Recent work has indicated that discrete, wheel-shaped mixed-valence polyoxomolybdate clusters of the type [Mo154] (refs 2-4) assemble into well-defined nanometre-sized aggregates, including spherical structures. Here we report light-scattering data and transmission electron microscopy images of hollow spherical structures with an average, almost monodisperse radius of about 45 nm and composed of approximately 1,165 [Mo154] wheel-shaped clusters. The clusters appear to lie flat and homogeneously distributed on the vesicle surface. Unlike conventional lipid vesicles, the structures we observe are not stabilized by hydrophobic interactions. Instead, we believe the polyoxomolybdate-based vesicles form owing to a subtle interplay between short-range van der Waals attraction and long-range electrostatic repulsion, with important further stabilization arising from hydrogen bonding involving water molecules encapsulated between the wheel-shaped clusters and in the vesicles' interior.