Project description:It is proposed that the impaired sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia induced by recurrent insulin-induced hypoglycemia (RH) is an adaptive phenomenon induced by specific changes in microRNA expression in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). To test this hypothesis, genome-wide microRNAomic profiling of the VMH by RNA-sequencing was performed in control and RH treated rats. Differential expression analysis identified microRNA-7a-5p and microRNA-665 as potential mediators of this phenomenon. To further test this hypothesis, experiments were conducted consisting of targeted lentiviral-mediated overexpression of microRNA-7a-5p and downregulation of microRNA-665 in the VMH. Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp experiments demonstrated that targeted overexpression of microRNA-7a-5p (but not downregulation of microRNA-665) in the VMH of RH rats restored the epinephrine response to hypoglycemia. This restored response to hypoglycemia was associated with a restoration of GABAA receptor gene expression. Finally, a direct interaction of microRNA-7a-5p with 3’-UTR of GABAA receptor α1-subunit (Gabra1) gene was demonstrated in a luciferase assay. These findings indicate that 1) the impaired sympathoadrenal response induced by RH is associated with changes in VMH microRNA expression, and 2) microRNA-7a-5p, possibly via direct downregulation of GABA receptor gene expression, may serve as a mediator of the altered sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia.
Project description:Small RNA sequencing of all the let-7a single-nucleotide mutants to confirm the expression of the mutant miRNAs.We found that the abundance of the mutated let-7a miRNA in each mutant was similar to that of the native let-7a in WT, with a variance (<10%) that we judge not sufficient to cause lf phenotypes by reduced expression (Fig. 3B). Note that the strains with mutations at g11-g16 also contained a WT let-7 allele on a genetic balancer umnIs25(mnDp1), hence both WT and mutant let-7a were expressed.
Project description:The global significance of marine non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs, notably heterotrophic bacterial diazotrophs (HBDs), has become increasingly clear. Understanding N2 fixation rates for these largely uncultured organisms poses a challenge due to uncertain growth requirements and complex nitrogenase regulation. We identified Candidatus Thalassolituus haligoni as an Oceanospirillales member, closely related to other significant γ-proteobacterial HBDs. Pangenome analysis reinforces this classification, indicating the isolate belongs to the same species as the uncultured metagenome-assembled genome Arc-Gamma-03. Analysis of the nifH gene in amplicon sequencing libraries reveals the extensive distribution of Cand. T. haligoni across the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Through combined proteomic analysis and N2 fixation rate measurements, we confirmed the isolate’s capacity for nitrate independent N2 fixation, although a clear understanding of nitrogenase regulation remains unclear. Overall, our study highlights the significance of Cand. T. haligoni as the first globally distributed, cultured model species within the understudied group of Oceanospirillales, and γ-HBDs in general.