Phosphorylation-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of the IFNAR1 chain of Type I interferon (IFN) receptor is regulated by two different pathways one of which is ligand-independent. We report that this pathway is activated by inducers of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, including viral infection, in a PERK-dependent manner. Upon infection, activation of this pathway promotes phosphorylation-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of IFNAR1, and specifically inhibits Type I IFN signaling and antiviral defenses. Either knock-in of an IFNAR1 mutant insensitive to virus-induced turnover or conditional knockout of PERK prevented ER stress- and virus-induced IFNAR1 degradation while restoring cellular responses to Type I IFN and resistance to viruses. The role of this novel mechanism in pathogenesis of viral infections and therapeutic approaches to their treatment is discussed.

Diffuse infiltrative invasion is a major cause for the dismal prognosis of glioblastoma (GBM), but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Using human glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) that recapitulate the invasive propensity of primary GBM, we find that EphA2 critically regulates GBM invasion in vivo. EphA2 was expressed in all seven GSC lines examined, and overexpression of EphA2 enhanced intracranial invasion. The effects required Akt-mediated phosphorylation of EphA2 on serine 897. In vitro the Akt-EphA2 signaling axis is maintained in the absence of ephrin-A ligands and is disrupted upon ligand stimulation. To test whether ephrinAs in tumor microenvironment can regulate GSC invasion, the newly established Efna1;Efna3;Efna4 triple knockout mice (TKO) were used in an ex vivo brain slice invasion assay. We observed significantly increased GSC invasion through the brain slices of TKO mice relative to wild type littermates. Mechanistically EphA2 knockdown suppressed stem properties of GSCs, causing diminished self-renewal, reduced stem marker expression and decreased tumorigenicity. In a subset of GSCs, the reduced stem properties were associated with lower Sox2 expression. Overexpression of EphA2 promoted stem properties in a kinase-independent manner and Users may view, print, copy, download and text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use: http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/license.html#terms HHS Public Access

Bacteria strains with strong virulence were isolated from pond-cultured tilapia in China. They were identified as Streptococcus agalactiae by biochemical assays, and confirmed by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and group B Streptococcus (GBS)-specific gene cfb analyses. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay of the alpha C protein (ACP) gene and capsular polysaccharide antigen (cps) gene was employed to identify their molecular serotype (MS). Amplification of the ACP gene produced a 400-bp C alpha protein gene (bca) fragment, suggesting that these isolates belong to MS Ia, Ib or II; amplification of cps produced a 790-bp amplicon, indicating that they belong to MS Ia/III-3. An additional PCR based on nucleotide difference in the cps H-I region of MS Ia and III further suggested that the isolates belong to serotype MS Ia. Moreover, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) indicated that these strains were of sequence type 7 (ST-7). These results showed that isolates from different regions of China shared the same MS and ST. However, none of the isolated ST-7 GBS corresponded to the capsular serotype, suggesting that these fish GBS possessed specific molecular characteristics not present in human or other animals. Data from this study will facilitate the understanding of epidemiology and nosogenesis of tilapia GBS and the establishment of effective disease prevention methods.