PWD and PCP are employees of Cynvenio Biosystems Inc. FB is employed by Menarini Silicon Biosystems. SK, MT, PDC, MWM, and SG are employees of ResearchDx. JU and KD are employees of Liquid Genomics. SR is an employee of NantHealth. PD is affiliated with Liquid Genomics. These companies all developed platforms used in this work.

SUMMARY Mid1 and Mid2 are ubiquitin ligases that regulate microtubule dynamics and whose mutation is associated with X-linked developmental disorders. We show that Astrin, a microtubule-organizing protein, co-purifies with Mid1 and Mid2, has an overlapping localization with Mid1 and Mid2 at intercellular bridge microtubules, is ubiquitinated by Mid2 on lysine 409 and is degraded during cytokinesis. Mid2 depletion led to Astrin stabilization during cytokinesis, cytokinetic defects, multinucleated cells, and cell death. Similarly, expression of a K409A mutant Astrin in Astrin-depleted cells led to the accumulation of K409A on intercellular bridge microtubules and an increase in cytokinetic defects, multinucleated cells, and cell death. These results indicate that Mid2 regulates cell division through the ubiquitination of Astrin on K409, which is critical for its degradation and proper cytokinesis. These results may help explain how mutation of MID2 leads to misregulation of microtubule organization and the downstream disease pathology associated with X-linked intellectual disabilities.

Highly tumorigenic, drug‐resistant cancer stem‐like cells drive cancer progression. These aggressive cells can arise repeatedly from bulk tumor cells independently of mutational events, suggesting an epigenetic mechanism. To test this possibility, we studied bladder cancer cells as they cyclically shifted to and from a cancer stem‐like phenotype, and we discovered that these two states exhibit distinct DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility. Most differential chromatin accessibility was independent of methylation and affected the expression of driver genes such as E2F3, a cell cycle regulator associated with aggressive bladder cancer. Cancer stem‐like cells exhibited increased E2F3 promoter accessibility and increased E2F3 expression that drove cell migration, invasiveness and drug resistance. Epigenetic interference using a DNA methylation inhibitor blocked the transition to a cancer stem‐like state and reduced E2F3 expression. Our findings indicate that epigenetic plasticity plays a key role in the transition to and from an aggressive, drug‐resistant phenotype.

Short-rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPS) arise from mutations in genes involved in retrograde intraflagellar transport (IFT) and basal body homeostasis, which are critical for cilia assembly and function. Recently, mutations in WDR34 or WDR60 (candidate dynein intermediate chains) were identified in SRPS. We have identified and characterized Tctex1d2, which associates with Wdr34, Wdr60 and other dynein complex 1 and 2 subunits. Tctex1d2 and Wdr60 localize to the base of the cilium and their depletion causes defects in ciliogenesis. We propose that Tctex1d2 is a novel dynein light chain important for trafficking to the cilium and potentially retrograde IFT and is a new molecular link to understanding SRPS pathology.