Distinct physiological and behavioural functions for parental alleles of imprinted Grb10

Imprinted genes, defined by their preferential expression of a single parental allele, represent a subset of the mammalian genome and often have key roles in embryonic development, but also postnatal functions including energy homeostasis and behaviour. When the two parental alleles are unequally represented within a social group (when there is sex bias in dispersal and/or variance in reproductive success), imprinted genes may evolve to modulate social behaviour, although so far no such instance is known. Predominantly expressed from the maternal allele during embryogenesis, Grb10 encodes an intracellular adaptor protein that can interact with several receptor tyrosine kinases and downstream signalling molecules. Here we demonstrate that within the brain Grb10 is expressed from the paternal allele from fetal life into adulthood and that ablation of this expression engenders increased social dominance specifically among other aspects of social behaviour, a finding supported by the observed increase in allogrooming by paternal Grb10-deficient animals. Grb10 is, therefore, the first example of an imprinted gene that regulates social behaviour. It is also currently alone in exhibiting imprinted expression from each of the parental alleles in a tissue-specific manner, as loss of the peripherally expressed maternal allele leads to significant fetal and placental overgrowth. Thus Grb10 is, so far, a unique imprinted gene, able to influence distinct physiological processes, fetal growth and adult behaviour, owing to actions of the two parental alleles in different tissues.     

Reconfigurable self-assembly through chiral control of interfacial tension

From determining the optical properties of simple molecular crystals to establishing the preferred handedness in highly complex vertebrates, molecular chirality profoundly influences the structural, mechanical and optical properties of both synthetic and biological matter on macroscopic length scales. In soft materials such as amphiphilic lipids and liquid crystals, the competition between local chiral interactions and global constraints imposed by the geometry of the self-assembled structures leads to frustration and the assembly of unique materials. An example of particular interest is smectic liquid crystals, where the two-dimensional layered geometry cannot support twist and chirality is consequently expelled to the edges in a manner analogous to the expulsion of a magnetic field from superconductors. Here we demonstrate a consequence of this geometric frustration that leads to a new design principle for the assembly of chiral molecules. Using a model system of colloidal membranes, we show that molecular chirality can control the interfacial tension, an important property of multi-component mixtures. This suggests an analogy between chiral twist, which is expelled to the edges of two-dimensional membranes, and amphiphilic surfactants, which are expelled to oil-water interfaces. As with surfactants, chiral control of interfacial tension drives the formation of many polymorphic assemblages such as twisted ribbons with linear and circular topologies, starfish membranes, and double and triple helices. Tuning molecular chirality in situ allows dynamical control of line tension, which powers polymorphic transitions between various chiral structures. These findings outline a general strategy for the assembly of reconfigurable chiral materials that can easily be moved, stretched, attached to one another and transformed between multiple conformational states, thus allowing precise assembly and nanosculpting of highly dynamical and designable materials with complex topologies.     

Impact of caloric restriction on health and survival in rhesus monkeys from the NIA study

Calorie restriction (CR), a reduction of 10–40% in intake of a nutritious diet, is often reported as the most robust non-genetic mechanism to extend lifespan and healthspan. CR is frequently used as a tool to understand mechanisms behind ageing and age-associated diseases. In addition to and independently of increasing lifespan, CR has been reported to delay or prevent the occurrence of many chronic diseases in a variety of animals. Beneficial effects of CR on outcomes such as immune function, motor coordination and resistance to sarcopenia in rhesus monkeys have recently been reported. We report here that a CR regimen implemented in young and older age rhesus monkeys at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) has not improved survival outcomes. Our findings contrast with an ongoing study at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC), which reported improved survival associated with 30% CR initiated in adult rhesus monkeys (7–14?years) and a preliminary report with a small number of CR monkeys. Over the years, both NIA and WNPRC have extensively documented beneficial health effects of CR in these two apparently parallel studies. The implications of the WNPRC findings were important as they extended CR findings beyond the laboratory rodent and to a long-lived primate. Our study suggests a separation between health effects, morbidity and mortality, and similar to what has been shown in rodents, study design, husbandry and diet composition may strongly affect the life-prolonging effect of CR in a long-lived nonhuman primate.     

DNA cloning in Streptomyces: resistance genes from antibiotic-producing species

The biochemical and morphological differentiation of actinomycetes makes them academically and economically interesting. Their secondary metabolites provide the majority of medically and agriculturally important antibiotics (streptomycete genes may also be the primary source of clinically important antibiotic resistance); their complex morphological developmental cycle involves a series of changes from vegetative mycelial growth to spore formation. Recombinant DNA technology would add a powerful new dimension to the analysis of these various aspects of actinomycete biology and would also facilitate the development of industrial strains with increased antibiotic yield, or capable of making new antibiotics. For most of these purposes, cloning of genes within and between actinomycetes is required to study the expression of particular genes in genetic backgrounds defined by mutations of the characters under study. To achieve this, we have now developed a method for molecular cloning involving the transfer of genes between unrelated streptomycetes.     

Recombinant interleukin-2 directly augments the cytotoxicity of human monocytes

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), originally described as a growth factor required for sustained proliferation of T cells in vitro is a glycoprotein hormone of known structure which appears to be important for the generation of immune responses in vivo. As well as T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and large granular lymphocytes with natural killer activity (NK cells) can also respond to IL-2. The action of IL-2 seemed to be limited specifically to lymphocytes, however, and the term 'T-lymphocytotrophic hormone' was used. Here we provide evidence that human monocytes display a substantially increased cytotoxic activity as a direct and rapid response to human recombinant IL-2 but not to human recombinant glycosylated interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) or lipopolysaccharide. Our results reveal a previously unknown function of IL-2 and suggest its possible involvement in monocyte-T cell interactions.     

Inter-locus allozyme mobility correlations and species divergence

Summary An analysis of allozyme data from numerous sets of related vertebrate andDrosophila species shows that species divergence does not generally seem to be accompanied by an overall increase or decrease in enzyme charge. The 2 significant results came from vertebrate inter-generic comparisons.