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SUMMARY Mediator complex is an integrative hub for transcriptional regulation. Here we show that Mediator regulates alternative mRNA processing via its Med23 subunit. Combining tandem affinity purification and mass spectrometry, we identified a number of mRNA processing factors that bind to a soluble recombinant Mediator subunit MED23 but not to several other Mediator components. One of these factors, hnRNP L, specifically interacts with MED23 in vitro and in vivo. Consistently, Mediator partially colocalizes with hnRNP L and the splicing machinery in the cell. Functionally Med23 regulates a subset of hnRNP L-targeted alternative splicing (AS) and alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA) events as shown by minigene reporters and exon array analysis. ChIP-seq analysis revealed that Med23 can regulate hnRNP L occupancy at their co-regulated genes. Taken together, these results demonstrate a crosstalk between Mediator and the splicing machinery, providing a molecular basis for coupling mRNA processing to transcription.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex causes tuberculosis (TB), one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. TB results in more fatalities than multi-drug resistant (MDR) HIV strain related coinfection. Vaccines play a key role in the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Unfortunately, the only licensed preventive vaccine against TB, bacilli Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ineffective for prevention of pulmonary TB in adults. Therefore, it is very important to develop novel vaccines for TB prevention and control. This literature review provides an overview of the innate and adaptive immune response during M. tuberculosis infection, and presents current developments and challenges to novel TB vaccines. A comprehensive understanding of vaccines in preclinical and clinical studies provides extensive insight for the development of safer and more efficient vaccines, and may inspire new ideas for TB prevention and treatment.

SUMMARY CD4 + Foxp3 + T regulatory (Treg) cells are key players in preventing lethal autoimmunity. Tregs undertake differentiation processes and acquire diverse functional properties. However, how Treg’s differentiation and functional specification are regulated remains incompletely understood. Here, we report that gradient expression of TCF1 and LEF1 distinguishes Tregs into three distinct subpopulations, particularly highlighting a subset of activated Treg (aTreg) cells. Treg-specific ablation of TCF1 and LEF1 renders the mice susceptible to systemic autoimmunity. TCF1 and LEF1 are dispensable for Treg’s suppressive capacity but essential for maintaining a normal aTreg pool and promoting Treg’s competitive survival. As a consequence, the development of T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells, which are a subset of aTreg, is abolished in TCF1/LEF1-conditional knockout mice, leading to unrestrained T follicular helper (Tfh) and germinal center B cell responses. Thus, TCF1 and LEF1 act redundantly to control the maintenance and functional specification of Treg subsets to prevent autoimmunity.

◥Natural killer (NK) cells are enriched within the liver. Apart from conventional NK (cNK) cells, recent studies identified a liverresident NK (LrNK) subset, which constitutes about half of hepatic NK cells and exhibits distinct developmental, phenotypic, and functional features. However, it remains unclear whether and how LrNK cells, as well as cNK cells, participate in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) individually. Here, we report that both LrNK and cNK cells are significantly decreased in HCC. The T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (Tim-3) was significantly upregulated in both tumor-infiltrating LrNK and cNK cells and suppressed their cytokine secretion and cytotoxic activity. Mechanistically, phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) engagement promoted phosphorylation of Tim-3, which then competed with PI3K p110 to bind p85, inhibiting downstream Akt/mTORC1 signaling and resulting in malfunctioning of both NK-cell subsets. Tim-3 blockade retarded HCC growth in a NKcell-dependent manner. These studies for the first time report the presence and dysfunction of LrNK cells in HCC and show that Tim-3-mediated PI3K/mTORC1 interference is responsible for the dysfunction of both tumor-infiltrating cNK and LrNK cells, providing a new strategy for immune checkpoint-based targeting.Significance: Tim-3 enhances hepatocellular carcinoma growth by blocking natural killer cell function.

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is still a global infectious disease that seriously threatens human beings. The only licensed TB vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG)’s protective efficacy varies significantly among populations and regions. It is very urgent to develop more effective vaccines.MethodsIn this study, eleven candidate proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were selected to predict peptides with high-affinity binding capacity for the HLA-DRB1*01:01 molecule. The immunodominant peptides were identified with the enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) and linked in silico to result in a novel polypeptide vaccine in Escherichia coli cells. The vaccine’s protective efficacy was evaluated in humanized and wild-type C57BL/6 mice. The potential immune protective mechanisms were explored with Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), flow cytometry, and ELISPOT.ResultsSix immunodominant peptides screened from 50 predicted peptides were used to construct a new polypeptide vaccine named MP3RT. After challenge with M. tuberculosis, the colony-forming units (CFUs), lung lesion area, and the number of inflammatory cells in humanized mice rather than wild-type mice vaccinated with MP3RT were significantly lower than these in mice immunized with PBS. The humanized mice vaccinated with MP3RT revealed significant increases in IFN-γ cytokine production, IFN-γ+ T lymphocytes, CD3+IFN-γ+ T lymphocytes, and the MP3RT-specific IgG antibody.ConclusionsTaken together, MP3RT is a promising peptides-based TB vaccine characterized by inducing high levels of IFN-γ and CD3+IFN-γ+ T lymphocytes in humanized mice. These new findings will lay a foundation for the development of peptides-based vaccines against TB.

The Mediator complex functions as a control center, orchestrating diverse signaling, gene activities, and biological processes. However, how Mediator subunits determine distinct cell fates remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that Mediator MED23 controls the cell fate preference that directs differentiation into smooth muscle cells (SMCs) or adipocytes. Med23 deficiency facilitates SMC differentiation but represses adipocyte differentiation from the multipotent mesenchymal stem cells. Gene profiling revealed that the presence or absence of Med23 oppositely regulates two sets of genes: the RhoA/MAL targeted cytoskeleton/SMC genes and the Ras/ELK1 targeted growth/ adipogenic genes. Mechanistically, MED23 favors ELK1-SRF binding to SMC gene promoters for repression, whereas the lack of MED23 favors MAL-SRF binding to SMC gene promoters for activation. Remarkably, the effect of MED23 on SMC differentiation can be recapitulated in zebrafish embryogenesis. Collectively, our data demonstrate the dual, opposing roles for MED23 in regulating the cytoskeleton/SMC and growth/adipogenic gene programs, suggesting its ''Ying-Yang'' function in directing adipogenesis versus SMC differentiation.[Keywords: Mediator complex; MED23; MAL; ELK1; smooth muscle cell; adipocyte; differentiation] Supplemental material is available for this article. Received March 26, 2012; revised version accepted August 13, 2012. Cell fate determination in metazoans is precisely controlled by sophisticated spatiotemporal patterns of RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-mediated transcription in response to various intracellular and extracellular signals. Genetic or environmental alterations that perturb the regulation of transcription can alter cell fate specifications, leading to a variety of developmental defects. Control over lineagespecific transcriptional programs has generally been attributed to the specific DNA-binding transcription factors. To ensure precise transcriptional control of cell fate determination and development, the master transcription factors are subjected to further regulatory control. Eukaryotes have evolved elaborate transcriptional machinery consisting of multiple cofactors/cofactor complexes to modulate the basal transcriptional apparatus. Two recent studies demonstrated that the cofactors control the cell fate by modulating the distinct transcription factors. First, TAZ coactivates Runx2-dependent 7 Present address: Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221002, China. 8 Corresponding author E-mail gwang22@sibs.ac.cn Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi

1. The present study investigated the relationship between antituberculosis (anti-TB) drug-induced hepatotoxicity and genetic polymorphisms of two important drug-metabolizing enzymes involved in the metabolism of isoniazid, namely N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1). 2. A polymerase chain reaction direct sequencing approach was used to detect genetic polymorphisms of the NAT2 and CYP2E1 genes in tuberculosis (TB) patients with (n = 101) or without (n = 107) anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity. Associations between various genetic polymorphisms and anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity were then determined. 3. Patients with NAT2 (282TT , 590AA and 857GA) alleles had an increased susceptibility to anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity. The slow acetylator NAT2 genotypes (especially NAT2*6A/7B and NAT2*6A/6A) were risk factors for hepatotoxicity (odds ratio (OR) 9.57 (P < 0.001) for NAT2*6A/7B; OR 5.24 (P = 0.02) for NAT2*6A/6A). 4. The CYP2E1 genotype per se was not significantly associated with the development of anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity. However, the combination of the CYP2E1 C1/C1 genotype with a slow acetylator NAT2 genotype increased the risk of anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity (OR 5.33; P = 0.003) compared with the combination of a rapid acetylator NAT2 genotype with either a C1/C2 or C2/C2 genotype. 5. Thus, slow acetylators with the NAT2*6A/7B and NAT2*6A/6A genotypes combined with the C1/C1 CYP2E1 genotype may be involved in the pathogenesis of anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity. 6. The present findings may be explained, in part, by changes in the metabolism of the anti-TB drug isoniazid induced via NAT2 and CYP2E1, a metabolic process known to produce hepatotoxic intermediates.