Precise regulation of gene expression is crucial to myogenesis and is thought to require the cooperation of various transcription factors. On the basis of a bioinformatic analysis of gene regulatory sequences, we hypothesized that myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), key regulators of skeletal myogenesis, cooperate with members of the SIX family of transcription factors, known to play important roles during embryonic skeletal myogenesis. To this day little is known regarding the exact molecular mechanism by which SIX factors regulate muscle development. We have conducted a functional genomic study of the role played by SIX1 and SIX4 during the differentiation of skeletal myoblasts, a model of adult muscle regeneration. We report that SIX factors cooperate with the members of the MRF family to activate gene expression during myogenic differentiation, and that their function is essential to this process. Our findings also support a model where SIX factors function not only ‘upstream’ of the MRFs during embryogenesis, but also ‘in parallel’ to them during myoblast differentiation. We have identified new essential nodes that depend on SIX factor function, in the myogenesis regulatory network, and have uncovered a novel way by which MRF function is modulated during differentiation.

The recent development of porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) capable of generating chimeric animals, a feat not previously accomplished with embryonic stem cells or iPSCs in a species outside of rodents, has opened the doors for in-depth study of iPSC tumorigenicity, autologous transplantation, and other key aspects to safely move iPSC therapies to the clinic. The study of iPSC tumorigenicity is critical as previous research in the mouse showed that iPSCderived chimeras possessed large numbers of tumors, rising significant concerns about the safety of iPSC therapies. Additionally, piPSCs capable of generating germline chimeras could revolutionize the transgenic animal field by enabling complex genetic manipulations (e.g., knockout or knockin of genes) to produce biomedically important large animal models or improve livestock production. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time in a nonrodent species germline transmission of iPSCs with the live birth of a transgenic piglet that possessed genome integration of the human POU5F1 and NANOG genes. In addition, gross and histological examination of necropsied porcine chimeras at 2, 7, and 9 months showed that these animals lacked tumor formation and demonstrated normal development. Tissue samples positive for human POU5F1 DNA showed no C-MYC gene expression, further implicating C-MYC as a cause of tumorigenicity. The development of germline-competent porcine iPSCs that do not produce tumors in young chimeric animals presents an attractive and powerful translational model to study the efficacy and safety of stem cell therapies and perhaps to efficiently produce complex transgenic animals. STEM CELLS

Land plants have developed a cuticle preventing uncontrolled water loss. Here we report that an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily G (ABCG) full transporter is required for leaf water conservation in both wild barley and rice. A spontaneous mutation, eibi1.b , in wild barley has a low capacity to retain leaf water, a phenotype associated with reduced cutin deposition and a thin cuticle. Map-based cloning revealed that Eibi1 encodes an HvABCG31 full transporter. The gene was highly expressed in the elongation zone of a growing leaf (the site of cutin synthesis), and its gene product also was localized in developing, but not in mature tissue. A de novo wild barley mutant named “ eibi1.c ,” along with two transposon insertion lines of rice mutated in the ortholog of HvABCG31 also were unable to restrict water loss from detached leaves. HvABCG31 is hypothesized to function as a transporter involved in cutin formation. Homologs of HvABCG31 were found in green algae, moss, and lycopods, indicating that this full transporter is highly conserved in the evolution of land plants.

While the signaling pathways and transcription factors active in adult slow- and fast-type muscles begin to be characterized, genesis of muscle fiber-type diversity during mammalian development remains unexplained. We provide evidence showing that Six homeoproteins are required to activate the fast-type muscle program in the mouse primary myotome. Affymetrix transcriptomal analysis of Six1(-/-)Six4(-/-) E10.5 somites revealed the specific down-regulation of many genes of the fast-type muscle program. This data was confirmed by in situ hybridization performed on Six1(-/-)Six4(-/-) embryos. The first mouse myocytes express both fast-type and slow-type muscle genes. In these fibers, Six1 and Six4 expression is required to specifically activate fast-type muscle genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments confirm the binding of Six1 and Six4 on the regulatory regions of these muscle genes, and transfection experiments show the ability of these homeoproteins to activate specifically identified fast-type muscle genes. This in vivo wide transcriptomal analysis of the function of the master myogenic determinants, Six, identifies them as novel markers for the differential activation of a specific muscle program during mammalian somitic myogenesis.

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The mechanisms and determinants preserving lysosomal membrane stability are unclear. Here, Li et al. show that the lysosomal membrane protein SCAV-3, the Caenorhabditis elegans homologue of human LIMP-2, is a key regulator of lysosome integrity and normal adult lifespan.

Quiescent satellite cells are myogenic progenitors that enable regeneration of skeletal muscle. One of the early events of satellite cell activation following myotrauma is the induction of the myogenic regulatory factor MyoD, which eventually induces terminal differentiation and muscle function gene expression. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism by which MyoD is induced during activation of satellite cells in mouse muscle undergoing regeneration. We show that Six1, a transcription factor essential for embryonic myogenesis, also regulates MyoD expression in muscle progenitor cells. Six1 knock-down by RNA interference leads to decreased expression of MyoD in myoblasts. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays reveal that Six1 binds the Core Enhancer Region of MyoD. Further, transcriptional reporter assays demonstrate that Core Enhancer Region reporter gene activity in myoblasts and in regenerating muscle depends on the expression of Six1 and on Six1 binding sites. Finally, we provide evidence indicating that Six1 is required for the proper chromatin structure at the Core Enhancer Region, as well as for MyoD binding at its own enhancer. Together, our results reveal that MyoD expression in satellite cells depends on Six1, supporting the idea that Six1 plays an important role in adult myogenesis, in addition to its role in embryonic muscle formation.

The design and synthesis of novel energetic compounds with integrated properties of high density, high energy, good thermal stability and sensitivities is particularly challenging due to the inherent contradiction between energy and safety for energetic compounds. In this study, a novel structure of 4-amino-7,8-dinitropyrazolo-[5,1-d] [1,2,3,5]-tetrazine 2-oxide (BITE-101) is designed and synthesized in three steps. With the help of the complementary advantages of different explosophoric groups and diverse weak interactions, BITE-101 is superior to the benchmark explosive HMX in all respects, including higher density of 1.957 g·cm−3, highest decomposition temperature of 295 °C (onset) among CHON-based high explosives to date and superior detonation velocity and pressure (D: 9314 m·s−1, P: 39.3 GPa), impact and friction sensitivities (IS: 18 J, FS: 128 N), thereby showing great potential for practical application as replacement for HMX, the most powerful military explosive in current use.