A brain-specific microRNA regulates dendritic spine development.
AuthorsSchratt GM, Tuebing F, Nigh EA, Kane CG, Sabatini ME, Kiebler M, Greenberg ME
JournalNature
PubMed ID16421561
'MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that control the translation of target messenger RNAs, thereby regulating critical aspects of plant and animal development. In the mammalian nervous system, the spatiotemporal control of mRNA translation has an important role in synaptic development and plasticity. Although a number of microRNAs have been isolated ... More
Inheritance of a pre-inactivated paternal X chromosome in early mouse embryos.
AuthorsHuynh KD, Lee JT
JournalNature
PubMed ID14661031
'In mammals, dosage compensation ensures equal X-chromosome expression between males (XY) and females (XX) by transcriptionally silencing one X chromosome in XX embryos. In the prevailing view, the XX zygote inherits two active X chromosomes, one each from the mother and father, and X inactivation does not occur until after ... More
Genome-wide analysis demonstrates conserved localization of messenger RNAs to mitotic microtubules.
AuthorsBlower MD, Feric E, Weis K, Heald R,
JournalJ Cell Biol
PubMed ID18166649
RNA localization is of critical importance in many fundamental cell biological and developmental processes by regulating the spatial control of gene expression. To investigate how spindle-localized RNAs might influence mitosis, we comprehensively surveyed all messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that bound to microtubules during metaphase in both Xenopus laevis egg extracts and ... More
Single-molecule analysis of 1D diffusion and transcription elongation of T7 RNA polymerase along individual stretched DNA molecules.
AuthorsKim JH, Larson RG,
JournalNucleic Acids Res
PubMed ID17526520
Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we directly visualize in real-time, the 1D Brownian motion and transcription elongation of T7 RNA polymerase along aligned DNA molecules bound to substrates by molecular combing. We fluorescently label T7 RNA polymerase with antibodies and use flow to convect them orthogonally to the DNA ... More
Drosophila Squid/hnRNP helps Dynein switch from a gurken mRNA transport motor to an ultrastructural static anchor in sponge bodies.
AuthorsDelanoue R, Herpers B, Soetaert J, Davis I, Rabouille C,
JournalDev Cell
PubMed ID17925228
In Drosophila oocytes, dorso-anterior transport of gurken mRNA requires both the Dynein motor and the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) Squid. We show that gurken transcripts are transported directly on microtubules by Dynein in nonmembranous electron-dense transport particles that also contain Squid and the transport cofactors Egalitarian and Bicaudal-D. At its ... More
Transcription of giant DNA complexed with cationic nanoparticles as a simple model of chromatin.
AuthorsZinchenko AA, Luckel F, Yoshikawa K
JournalBiophys J
PubMed ID17142281
We prepared complexes of giant double-stranded DNA with cationic nanoparticles of 10-40 nm in diameter as an artificial model of chromatin and characterized the properties of changes in their higher-order conformation. We measured the changes in transcriptional activity that accompanied the DNA conformational transitions. Complete inhibition was found at excess ... More