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Cilia are necessary for sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, which is required to pattern the neural tube. We know that ventral neural cell fates are defined by a specific cohort of transcription factors that are induced by distinct thresholds of Shh activity mediated by opposing gradients of Gli activator (GliA) and Gli repressor (GliR). Despite this understanding, the role of Shh as an instructive morphogen is viewed as increasingly complex, with current models integrating positive inputs in terms of ligand concentration and time, along with negative feedback via the downstream gene regulatory network. To investigate the relative contributions of the positive and negative inputs from Shh signaling in neural patterning, we took advantage of a protein that uncouples the regulation of GliA and GliR: the cilia protein ADP-ribosylation factor-like 13b (Arl13b). By deleting Arl13b in mouse, we induced low-level constitutive GliA function at specific developmental stages and defined a crucial period prior to E10.5 when shifts in the level of GliA cause cells to change their fate. Strikingly, we found that improperly patterned cells in these mice converted to the wild-type pattern by E12.5. We further showed that the recovery of patterning did not occur when we also deleted Gli3, the primary GliR in the neural tube, revealing a crucial role of Gli3 in the maintenance of neural patterning.

Mitochondria are dynamic cellular organelles that balance fission and fusion to regulate organelle morphology, distribution, and activity, and Opa1 is one of three GTPases known to regulate mitochondrial fusion. In humans, loss of a single Opa1 allele causes dominant optic atrophy, a degenerative condition that leads to loss of vision. Here we demonstrate that the lilR3 mutant mouse phenotype is due to a point mutation in the Opa1 gene resulting in mislocalized Opa1 protein from the mitochondria to the cytosol. Importantly, the mutation is in the middle domain of the Opa1 protein, for which no function had been described. Lack of mitochondrial retention of Opa1 is sufficient to cause the cellular Opa1 loss-of-function phenotype as the mitochondria are fragmented, indicating an inability to fuse. Despite the normally ubiquitous expression of Opa1 and the essential nature of mitochondria, embryos with aberrant Opa1 survived through midgestation and died at E11.5. These mutants displayed growth retardation, exencephaly, and abnormal patterning along the anterior-posterior axis, although the A-P axis itself was intact. The complex relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and cell death is emphasized by apoptosis in specific cell populations of lilR3 embryos. Our results define, for the first time, a function of the middle domain of the Opa1 protein and demonstrate that mitochondrial retention of Opa1 protein is essential for normal embryogenesis.

Since its identification in April 2009, an A(H1N1) virus containing a unique combination of gene segments from both North American and Eurasian swine lineages has continued to circulate in humans. The lack of similarity between the 2009 A(H1N1) virus and its nearest relatives indicates that its gene segments have been circulating undetected for an extended period. Its low genetic diversity suggests that the introduction into humans was a single event or multiple events of similar viruses. Molecular markers predictive of adaptation to humans are not currently present in 2009 A(H1N1) viruses, suggesting that previously unrecognized molecular determinants could be responsible for the transmission among humans. Antigenically the viruses are homogeneous and similar to North American swine A(H1N1) viruses but distinct from seasonal human A(H1N1).

Selenium is an essential micronutrient that is currently being tested for prostate cancer chemoprevention. In spite of its significant promise as a chemopreventive agent, the molecular mechanisms of selenium-mediated effects remain to be elucidated. Recent evidence suggests that selenium may mediate its chemopreventive effects by inducing apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Here we report that selenium-mediated apoptosis appears to involve membrane death receptor, DR5-dependent pathway in human prostate cancer cells. Selenium specifically upregulated DR5 expression but not that of DR4. Selenium upregulation of DR5 was coupled with caspase 8 activation and Bid cleavage thereby suggesting the existence of a potential cross-talk between the DR5 and the mitochondrial pathways. Thus, our results suggest that DR5 is specifically regulated by selenium and its activation may play an important role in selenium-mediated chemoprevention.

Sulindac is the most extensively investigated clinically relevant chemopreventive nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Sulindac sulfide is one of the major metabolites of sulindac that is believed to mediate its antitumorigenic effects by inducing apoptosis. Recent evidence suggests that sulindac sulfide engages the mitochondrial pathway involving caspase 9 and Bax to mediate its apoptotic effects [Zhang et al., Science (Wash. DC), 290: 989-992, 2000]. In this report, we demonstrate that sulindac sulfide also engaged the membrane death receptor (DR) pathway to mediate apoptosis. Sulindac sulfide up-regulated DR5 and activated the proximal caspase 8 in various different colon and prostate cancer cell lines. Sulindac sulfide specifically up-regulated the DR5 levels but had no effect on the levels of other DRs including DR4, Fas, and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1. To further delineate the role of DR5 in sulindac sulfide-induced apoptosis, we used JCA-1 prostate cancer cells that are deficient in mounting a Fas and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1-dependent apoptotic response but are proficient in mediating DR5-dependent apoptosis. JCA-1 cells were stably transfected with dominant-negative Fas-associated death domain to block the flow of apoptotic signals originating from the endogenous DR5, and sulindac sulfide-induced apoptosis was investigated. Our results indicated that by blocking the DR5-dependent apoptotic pathway, dominant-negative Fas-associated death domain did indeed inhibit sulindac sulfide-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, exogenous tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, the ligand for DR5, also potentiated sulindac sulfide-induced apoptosis in all of the cell lines tested, thereby further supporting the involvement of DR5 in sulindac sulfide-induced apoptosis. Thus, our results demonstrate that sulindac sulfide also engages the membrane DR pathway involving DR5 and proximal caspase 8 to induce apoptosis.

Treatment of benzyl 2-acetamido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-alpha-D-allopyranoside with diethylaminosulfur trifluoride or of the 3-O-mesyl derivative with tetrabutylammonium fluoride gave the 2,3-unsaturated compound instead of the expected 3-deoxy-3-fluoro derivative. The latter was obtained when benzyl 2-acetamido-4,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-3-O-mesyl-alpha-D-allopyran oside was treated with potassium fluoride. Methyl 2-azido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-alpha-D-altropyranoside was converted into the 2-acetamido- and 2-phthalimido-3-O-mesyl derivatives; when treated with fluoride nucleophile, these gave only the 2,3-aziridine derivative. However, treatment of the 2-azido-2-deoxy derivative with diethylaminosulfur trifluoride gave methyl 2-azido-2,3-dideoxy-3-fluoro-alpha-D-mannopyranoside which, after reduction, deprotection, and acetylation, gave the acetylated derivative of methyl 2-acetamido-2,3-dideoxy-3-fluoro-alpha-D-mannopyranoside in excellent yield. These acetylated 3-fluoro derivatives exhibited inhibition of cell growth of murine L1210 leukemia cells in culture at micromolar concentrations.