Link-layer fairness models that have been proposed for wireline and packet cellular networks cannot be generalized for shared channel wireless networks because of the unique characteristics of the wireless channel, such as location-dependent contention, inherent conflict between optimizing channel utilization and achieving fairness, and the absence of any centralized control.In this paper, we propose a general analytical framework that captures the unique characteristics of shared wireless channels and allows the modeling of a large class of systemwide fairness models via the specification of per-flow utility functions. We show that system-wide fairness can be achieved without explicit global coordination so long as each node executes a contention resolution algorithm that is designed to optimize its local utility function.We present a general mechanism for translating a given fairness model in our framework into a corresponding contention resolution algorithm. Using this translation, we derive the backoff algorithm for achieving proportional fairness in wireless shared channels, and compare the fairness properties of this algorithm with both the ideal proportional fairness objective, and state-of-the-art backoff-based contention resolution algorithms.We believe that the two aspects of the proposed framework, i.e. the ability to specify arbitrary fairness models via local utility functions, and the ability to automatically generate local contention resolution mechanisms in response to a given utility function, together provide the path for achieving flexible service differentiation in future shared channel wireless networks.

The activating NK-cell receptor KIR3DS1 has been implicated in the outcome of various human diseases, including delayed HIV-1 disease progression, yet a ligand that accounts for its biological effects remained unknown. We screened 100 HLA-I proteins and found that KIR3DS1 binds HLA-F, which was validated biochemically and functionally. Primary human KIR3DS1+ NK cells degranulated and produced antiviral cytokines upon encountering HLA-F, and inhibited HIV-1 replication in vitro. CD4+ T-cell activation triggered HLA-F transcription and expression and induced KIR3DS1 ligand expression. HIV-1 infection further increased HLA-F transcription, but decreased KIR3DS1 ligand expression, indicating an immune-evasion mechanism. Altogether, we established HLA-F as a ligand of KIR3DS1, and demonstrated cell-context-dependent expression of HLA-F that may explain the widespread influence of KIR3DS1 in human diseases.

α-Synuclein (αS) forms round cytoplasmic inclusions in Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Evidence suggests a physiological function of αS in vesicle trafficking and release. In contrast to earlier tenets, recent work indicates that αS normally exists in cells in a dynamic equilibrium between monomers and tetramers/multimers. We engineered αS mutants incapable of multimerization, leading to excess monomers at vesicle membranes. By EM, such mutants induced prominent vesicle clustering, leading to round cytoplasmic inclusions. Immunogold labeling revealed abundant αS intimately associated with vesicles of varied size. Fluorescence microscopy with marker proteins showed that the αS-associated vesicles were of diverse endocytic and secretory origin. An αS '3K' mutant (E35K + E46K + E61K) that amplifies the PD/DLB-causing E46K mutation induced αS-rich vesicle clusters resembling the vesicle-rich areas of Lewy bodies, supporting pathogenic relevance. Mechanistically, E46K can increase αS vesicle binding via membrane-induced amphipathic helix formation, and '3K' further enhances this effect. Another engineered αS variant added hydrophobicity to the hydrophobic half of αS helices, thereby stabilizing αS-membrane interactions. Importantly, substituting charged for uncharged residues within the hydrophobic half of the stabilized helix not only reversed the strong membrane interaction of the multimer-abolishing αS variant but also restored multimerization and prevented the aberrant vesicle interactions. Thus, reversible αS amphipathic helix formation and dynamic multimerization regulate a normal function of αS at vesicles, and abrogating multimers has pathogenic consequences.

Microscopy of Lewy bodies in Parkinson’s disease (PD) suggests they are not solely filamentous deposits of α-synuclein (αS) but also contain vesicles and other membranous material. We previously reported the existence of native αS tetramers/multimers and described engineered mutations of the αS KTKEGV repeat motifs that abrogate the multimers. The resultant excess monomers accumulate in lipid membrane-rich inclusions associated with neurotoxicity exceeding that of natural familial PD mutants, such as E46K. Here, we use the αS “3K” (E35K+E46K+E61K) engineered mutation to probe the mechanisms of reported small-molecule modifiers of αS biochemistry and then identify compounds via a medium-throughput automated screen. αS 3K, which forms round, vesicle-rich inclusions in cultured neurons and causes a PD-like, l-DOPA–responsive motor phenotype in transgenic mice, was fused to YFP, and fluorescent inclusions were quantified. Live-cell microscopy revealed the highly dynamic nature of the αS inclusions: for example, their rapid clearance by certain known modulators of αS toxicity, including tacrolimus (FK506), isradipine, nilotinib, nortriptyline, and trifluoperazine. Our automated 3K cellular screen identified inhibitors of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) that robustly prevent the αS inclusions, reduce αS 3K neurotoxicity, and prevent abnormal phosphorylation and insolubility of αS E46K. SCD inhibition restores the E46K αS multimer:monomer ratio in human neurons, and it actually increases this ratio for overexpressed wild-type αS. In accord, conditioning 3K cells in saturated fatty acids rescued, whereas unsaturated fatty acids worsened, the αS phenotypes. Our cellular screen allows probing the mechanisms of synucleinopathy and refining drug candidates, including SCD inhibitors and other lipid modulators.