Background: Phosphatidic acid (PA) is involved in membrane dynamics. Results: PA-preferring phospholipase A 1 (PA-PLA 1 ) affects mitochondrial morphology in an activity-dependent manner. Gene disruption of PA-PLA 1 in mice causes sperm malformation due to mitochondrial organization defects. Conclusion: PA-PLA 1 regulates mitochondrial dynamics. Significance: We demonstrate an in vivo function of PA-PLA 1 and suggest a possible mechanism of PA regulation of the mitochondrial membrane.

Coat protein complex II (COPII)-coated vesicles/carriers, which mediate export of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), are formed at special ER subdomains in mammals, termed ER exit sites or transitional ER. The COPII coat consists of a small GTPase, Sar1, and two protein complexes, Sec23-Sec24 and Sec13-Sec31. Sec23-Sec24 and Sec13-Sec31 appear to constitute the inner and the outermost layers of the COPII coat, respectively. We previously isolated two mammalian proteins (p125 and p250) that bind to Sec23. p125 was found to be a mammalian-specific, phospholipase A 1 -like protein that participates in the organization of ER exit sites. Here we show that p250 is encoded by the KIAA0310 clone and has sequence similarity to yeast Sec16 protein. Although KIAA0310p was found to be localized at ER exit sites, subcellular fractionation revealed its predominant presence in the cytosol. Cytosolic KIAA0310p was recruited to ER membranes in a manner dependent on Sar1. Depletion of KIAA0310p mildly caused disorganization of ER exit sites and delayed protein transport from the ER, suggesting its implication in membrane traffic out of the ER. Overexpression of KIAA0310p affected ER exit sites in a manner different from that of p125. Binding experiments suggested that KIAA0310p interacts with both the inner and the outermost layer coat complexes, whereas p125 binds principally to the inner layer complex. Our results suggest that KIAA0310p, a mammalian homologue of yeast Sec16, builds up ER exit sites in cooperation with p125 and plays a role in membrane traffic from the ER.

Gut microbiota compositional alteration may have an association with immune dysfunction in patients with Behcet’s disease (BD). We conducted a fecal metagenomic analysis of BD patients. We analyzed fecal microbiota obtained from 12 patients with BD and 12 normal individuals by sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene. We compared the relative abundance of bacterial taxa. Direct comparison of the relative abundance of bacterial taxa demonstrated that the genera Bifidobacterium and Eggerthella increased significantly and the genera Megamonas and Prevotella decreased significantly in BD patients compared with normal individuals. A linear discriminant analysis of bacterial taxa showed that the phylum Actinobacteria, including Bifidobacterium, and the family Lactobacillaceae exhibited larger positive effect sizes than other bacteria in patients with BD. The phylum Firmicutes and the class Clostridia had large effect sizes in normal individuals. There was no significant difference in annotated species numbers (as numbers of operational taxonomic unit; OTU) and bacterial diversity of each sample (alpha diversity) between BD patients and normal individuals. We next assigned each sample to a position using three axes by principal coordinates analysis of the OTU table. The two groups had a significant distance as beta diversity in the 3-axis space. Fecal sIgA concentrations increased significantly in BD patients but did not correlate with any bacterial taxonomic abundance. These data suggest that the compositional changes of gut microbes may be one type of dysbiosis (unfavorable microbiota alteration) in patients with BD. The dysbiosis may have an association with the pathophysiology of BD.

SummaryExcessive T helper type 1 (Th1) cell activity has been reported in Behçet's disease (BD). Recently, association of Th17 cells with certain autoimmune diseases was reported, and we thus investigated circulating Th17 cells in BD.

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In Syn18(390)-transfected cells, we frequently (40-50% of cells at 72 hours after transfection) observed large patches positive for an ER membrane protein, Bap31 (Annaert et al., 1997) (Fig. 1B, middle row, left). Albeit much less frequently, similar patches were observed in cells transfected with the less efficient siRNA Syn18(770) (bottom row, left), suggesting that the redistribution of Bap31 is a consequence of syntaxin 18 depletion, and not a consequence of off target effect of Syn18(390). The different frequencies of the Bap31-positive patches are probably the result of the different knockdown efficiency of the two siRNAs. Fig. 1B also shows that silencing of syntaxin 18 causes a substantial dispersion of the Golgi complex marked by a cis-Golgi marker, p115 (Waters et al., 1992), without affecting microtubules. Other Golgi proteins, such as GM130, mannosidase II (Man II), β-COP and the KDEL receptor (KDEL-R), were also dispersed (supplementary material Fig. S1). The time course of morphological changes of the ER and Golgi structures concomitant with syntaxin 18 depletion is shown in supplementary material Fig. S2.To investigate in detail the morphology of the ER and the Golgi complex in syntaxin-18-depleted cells, we performed electron microscopy. In Syn18(390)-transfected cells, vesiculated membrane structures, instead of the Golgi stacks, were observed at the perinuclear region ( Fig. 2B,C; supplementary material Fig. S3). Furthermore, there were well-defined membrane aggregates consisting of a convoluted network of branching tubules, as well as dilated ER structures, in Syn18(390)-transfected cells ( Fig. 2B-D; supplementary material Fig. S3). Similar results were obtained with Syn18(770)-transfected cells, although ER aggregates were observed only in some cells (data not shown). Quantitative analysis showed that the area and length of the ER normalized to the cytoplasmic area of Syn18(390)-transfected cells are higher than those of mock-transfected cells (Tables 1 and 2), suggesting a proliferation of the ER membrane concomitant with syntaxin 18 depletion.Immunoelectron microscopy confirmed Golgi disassembly and the formation of ER membrane aggregates in syntaxin-18-depleted cells. In Syn18(390)-transfected cells, a cis-Golgi marker, p115, and . At 72 hours after transfection, the cells were stained with an antibody against syntaxin 18 (right) or solubilized in phosphate-buffered saline with 0.5% SDS. The lysates (10 μg each) were separated by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by immunoblotting with the indicated antibodies (left). (B) HeLa cells were treated as described in A and stained for Bap31, p115 or α-tubulin. The distributions of the proteins investigated were indistinguishable between mock-transfected cells and lamin A/C siRNA-treated cells (data not shown). Scale bars: 10 μm. The boxed area in B is shown enlarged in C. G, Golgi complex; M, mitochondria; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; N, nucleus. Arrows, arrowheads and asterisks indicate vesiculated membrane structures, ER patches and dilated ER, respectiv...

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is an inflammatory disease of unknown causes, characterized by recurrent inflammation in cartilaginous tissues of the whole body. Recently, researchers have reported that, in mouse experiments, altered gut microbe-dependent T cell differentiation occurred in gut associated lymphoid tissues. Here, we investigated whether gut microbe alteration existed, and if so, the alteration affected peripheral T cell differentiation in patients with RP. In an analysis of gut microbiota, we found increased annotated species numbers in RP patients compared with normal individuals. In the RP gut microbiota, we observed several predominant species, namely Veillonella parvula, Bacteroides eggerthii, Bacteroides fragilis, Ruminococcus bromii, and Eubacterium dolichum, all species of which were reported to associate with propionate production in human intestine. Propionate is a short-chain fatty acid and is suggested to associate with interleukin (IL)10-producing regulatory T (Treg) cell differentiation in gut associated lymphoid tissues. IL10 gene expressions were moderately higher in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of RP patients than those of normal individuals. Six hours after the initiation of the cell culture, regardless of the presence and absence of mitogen stimulation, IL10 gene expressions were significantly lower in RP patients than those in normal individuals. It is well known that PBMC of patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases show hyporesponsiveness to mitogen stimulation. We suggest that, in RP patients, continuous stimulation of intestinal T cells by excessive propionate leads to the spontaneous IL10 production and a subsequent refractory period of T cells in patients with RP. The hyporesponsiveness of Treg cells upon activation may associate with inflammatory cytokine production of PBMC and subsequently relate to chondritis in RP patients.

Transcription elongation factor S-II/TFIIS promotes readthrough of transcriptional blocks by stimulating nascent RNA cleavage activity of RNA polymerase II in vitro. The biologic significance of S-II function in higher eukaryotes, however, remains unclear. To determine its role in mammalian development, we generated S-IIdeficient mice through targeted gene disruption. Homozygous null mutants died at midgestation with marked pallor, suggesting severe anemia. S-II ؊/؊ embryos had a decreased number of definitive erythrocytes in the peripheral blood and disturbed erythroblast differentiation in fetal liver. There was a dramatic increase in apoptotic cells in S-II ؊/؊ fetal liver, which was consistent with a reduction in Bcl-x L gene expression. The presence of phenotypically defined hematopoietic stem cells and in vitro colony-forming hematopoietic progenitors in S-II ؊/؊ fetal liver indicates that S-II is dispensable for the generation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells. S-II-deficient fetal liver cells, however, exhibited a loss of long-term repopulating potential when transplanted into lethally irradiated adult mice, indicating that S-II deficiency causes an intrinsic defect in the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells. Thus, S-II has critical and nonredundant roles in definitive hematopoiesis.Precise control of gene transcription is essential for the regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival. Transcriptional regulation involves the concerted actions of upstream activators, coactivators, basal transcription factors, and RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) at the gene promoter (34,42). In addition, recent studies suggest that the factors regulating transcription elongation have critical roles in the activation of gene expression (46). S-II, also designated TFIIS, is a transcription elongation factor widely found in eukaryotes (59). S-II helps RNAPII pass through transcriptional blocks on template DNA (9). Transcriptional blocks cause persistent catalytic inactivation (transcription arrest) of the RNAPII elongation complex. S-II promotes RNAPII-mediated endonucleolytic cleavage of the nascent RNA, which restores the catalytic activity of the polymerase, leading to the resumption of transcript elongation (18). This mode of action contrasts with that of other elongation factors such as ELL, DSIF (DRB sensitivity-inducing factor), and elongin, which function by increasing the overall rate of transcription elongation catalyzed by RNAPII (4,16,47,57). It is also suggested that S-II has a role in overcoming the arrest induced by nucleosomes, thereby promoting chromatin transcription in vitro (21). Consistent with its role in transcription through nucleosomes, deletion of DST1, a gene encoding S-II in budding yeast, causes strong synthetic phenotypes in combination with mutations of genes involved in chromatin modification, such as SNF2, SPT16, SET2, and SWR1 (5,24,25,35).Although DST1 is not essential for viability in yeast, null mutation renders the yeast cells sensitive to oxidative stress...