AT A GLANCE
- Modeling neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans
Summary: While unsurpassed as an experimental system for fundamental biology, Caenorhabditis elegans remains undervalued for its translational potential. Here, we highlight significant outcomes from, and resources available for, C. elegans-based research into neurodegenerative disorders.
REVIEW
- Cellular and animal models for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
Summary: Owing to its complex etiology and the toxicity of DUX4, modeling facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is uniquely challenging. Here, we review the approaches that overcame these difficulties to develop highly relevant FSHD models.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Ammonia inhibits energy metabolism in astrocytes in a rapid and glutamate dehydrogenase 2-dependent manner
Summary: Here, we identified a mechanism relevant for hepatic encephalopathy by which glutamate dehydrogenase 2 impairs energy metabolism in mitochondria very rapidly via inhibiting the TCA cycle in astrocytes.
- Cells expressing PAX8 are the main source of homeostatic regeneration of adult mouse endometrial epithelium and give rise to serous endometrial carcinoma
Summary: The study describes a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the mouse uterus and shows that PAX8+ cells are responsible for long-term maintenance of endometrial epithelium and might represent the cell of origin of serous endometrial carcinoma.
- Progenitor death drives retinal dysplasia and neuronal degeneration in a mouse model of ATRIP-Seckel syndrome
Summary: Retinopathies have been reported in primordial dwarfism syndromes. We show that the loss of Atrip, a gene mutated in Seckel syndrome, causes photoreceptor degeneration owing to p53-dependent apoptosis of retinal progenitors during development.
- A novel hypomorphic allele of Spag17 causes primary ciliary dyskinesia phenotypes in mice
Summary: The Spag17pcdo mouse model closely recapitulates the human central pair primary ciliary dyskinesia condition, and the data here reinforce the power of the hypomorphic allele in representing human conditions.
- Chronic administration of P2X7 receptor antagonist JNJ-47965567 delays disease onset and progression, and improves motor performance in ALS SOD1G93A female mice
Summary: This study implicates the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression in mice and shows that the effectiveness of treatment with P2X7R antagonists is sex dependent.
- An HIV-Tat inducible mouse model system of childhood HIV-associated nephropathy
Summary: The development of a new inducible mouse model system of childhood HIV-associated nephropathy demonstrated that HIV-Tat plays a critical role in this disease, acting in synergy with other HIV-1 genes and heparin-binding cytokines.
- Machine learning discriminates a movement disorder in a zebrafish model of Parkinson's disease
Summary: Using computational analyses to harness artificial intelligence, we have tested a genetic model of Parkinson's disease and reveal a distinct movement phenotype in adult zebrafish lacking Dj-1.
- CHIP mutations affect the heat shock response differently in human fibroblasts and iPSC-derived neurons
Summary: Cell viability, expression and immunocytochemical analyses reveal that mutations in STUB1 that cause SCAR16 impair the heat-shock response in patient-derived fibroblasts, but not in iPSC-derived cortical neurons.
- The SDHB Arg230His mutation causing familial paraganglioma alters glycolysis in a new Caenorhabditis elegans model
Editor’s choice: Heritable pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma follows the Arg230His missense mutation in SDHB in mitochondrial complex II. By mutating this highly conserved ortholog in C. elegans, we generated a tractable phenotype.
This issue
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
DMM and COVID-19
We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on researchers worldwide. The Editors of all The Company of Biologists’ journals have been considering ways in which we can alleviate concerns that members of our community may have around publishing activities during this time. Read about the actions we are taking at this time.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you have any questions or concerns.
Professor Elizabeth Patton appointed as DMM’s next Editor-in-Chief
We are pleased to announce that The Company of Biologists directors have appointed Professor Elizabeth Patton as DMM's new Editor-in-Chief. As Paresh Vyas writes in his Editorial, Liz ‘brings vitality and a passion for the remit of DMM, and is deeply embedded in the community.’
Did you know DMM Conference Travel Grants can be used for online meetings?
With travel restrictions still in place, we want to continue supporting early-career researchers in their careers. DMM’s Conference Travel Grants can now be used to attend virtual and online scientific meetings, workshops, conferences and training courses.
The current application round closes on 8 February 2021 – find out more.
Identification of MYOM2 as a candidate gene in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Tetralogy of Fallot, and its functional evaluation in the Drosophila heart
Research from Silke Sperling and colleagues uses Drosophila to identify MYOM2 as a candidate gene in congenital heart malformations in this issue’s Editor’s choice.
C. elegans as a disease model
A new Research article from Doyle et al., models spinal muscular atrophy in C. elegans to show that that targeting therapies to muscle cells is more effective than neuronal delivery. Find more research using C. elegans as a disease model in our latest subject collection.
Call for papers – The RAS Pathway: Diseases, Therapeutics and Beyond
Our upcoming special issue is now welcoming submissions until 1 April 2021. Guest-edited by Donita Brady (Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, USA) and Arvin Dar (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA), the issue will focus on the targeting the RAS pathway. Find out more about the issue and how to submit your manuscript.
Interview – Kim Landry-Truchon and Nicolas Houde
In an interview, first authors Kim Landry-Truchon and Nicolas Houde discuss their mouse model of the early stages of pleuropulmonary blastoma, reflecting on the implications of their work and the future of their field.