The Drosophila midkine/pleiotrophin homologues Miple1 and Miple2 affect adult lifespan but are dispensable for alk signaling during embryonic gut formation

Hormonal gatekeeping via the blood-brain barrier governs caste-specific behavior in ants

Here, we reveal an unanticipated role of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in regulating complex social behavior in ants. Using scRNA-seq, we find localization in the BBB of a key hormone-degrading enzyme called juvenile hormone esterase (Jhe), and we show that this localization governs the level of juvenile hormone (JH3) entering the brain. Manipulation of the Jhe level reprograms the brain transcriptome between ant castes. Although ant Jhe is retained and functions intracellularly within the BBB, we show that Drosophila Jhe is naturally extracellular. Heterologous expression of ant Jhe into the Drosophila BBB alters behavior in fly to mimic what is seen in ants. Most strikingly, manipulation of Jhe levels in ants reprograms complex behavior between worker castes. Our study thus uncovers a remarkable, potentially conserved role of the BBB serving as a molecular gatekeeper for a neurohormonal pathway that regulates social behavior.

Comprehensive Analysis of lncRNA and mRNA Expression Profile of Macrophage RAW264.7 Stimulated by Antimicrobial Peptide BSN-37

BACKGROUND

BSN-37, a novel antimicrobial peptide (AMP) containing 37 amino acid residues isolated from the bovine spleen, has not only antibacterial activity but also immunomodulatory activity. Recent evidence shows that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in regulating the activation and function of immune cells. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the lncRNA and mRNA expression profile of mouse macrophages RAW264.7 stimulated by bovine antimicrobial peptide BSN-37.

METHODS

The whole gene expression microarray was used to detect the differentially expressed lncRNA and mRNA between antimicrobial peptide BSN-37 activated RAW264.7 cells and normal RAW264.7 cells. KEGG pathway analysis and GO function annotation analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNA were carried out. Eight kinds of lncRNAs and nine kinds of mRNA with large differences were selected for qRT-PCR verification, respectively.

RESULTS

In the current study, we found that 1294 lncRNAs and 260 mRNAs were differentially expressed between antibacterial peptide BSN-37 treatment and control groups. Among them, Bcl2l12, Rab44, C1s, Cd101 and other genes were associated with immune responses and were all significantly up-regulated. Mest and Prkcz are related to cell growth, and other genes are related to glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism. In addition, some immune-related terms were also found in the GO and KEGG analyses. At the same time, real-time quantitative PCR was used to verify selected lncRNA and mRNA with differential expression. The results of qRT-PCR verification were consistent with the sequencing results, indicating that our data were reliable.

CONCLUSION

This study provides the lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles of RAW264.7 macrophages stimulated by antimicrobial peptide BSN-37 and helps to provide a reference value for subsequent studies on lncRNA regulation of antimicrobial peptide BSN-37 immune function.

Sustained Response to Entrectinib in an Infant With a Germline ALKAL2 Variant and Refractory Metastatic Neuroblastoma With Chromosomal 2p Gain and Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase and Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase Activation

Personalized molecular workup enabled successful ALK inhibitor treatment in a child with resistant neuroblastoma.

Defining Pathological Activities of ALK in Neuroblastoma, a Neural Crest-Derived Cancer

Neuroblastoma is a common extracranial solid tumour of childhood, responsible for 15% of cancer-related deaths in children. Prognoses vary from spontaneous remission to aggressive disease with extensive metastases, where treatment is challenging. Tumours are thought to arise from sympathoadrenal progenitor cells, which derive from an embryonic cell population called neural crest cells that give rise to diverse cell types, such as facial bone and cartilage, pigmented cells, and neurons. Tumours are found associated with mature derivatives of neural crest, such as the adrenal medulla or paraspinal ganglia. Sympathoadrenal progenitor cells express anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor that is the most frequently mutated gene in neuroblastoma. Activating mutations in the kinase domain are common in both sporadic and familial cases. The oncogenic role of ALK has been extensively studied, but little is known about its physiological role. Recent studies have implicated ALK in neural crest migration and sympathetic neurogenesis. However, very few downstream targets of ALK have been identified. Here, we describe pathological activation of ALK in the neural crest, which promotes proliferation and migration, while preventing differentiation, thus inducing the onset of neuroblastoma. Understanding the effects of ALK activity on neural crest cells will help find new targets for neuroblastoma treatment.

Identification of the Wallenda JNKKK as an Alk suppressor reveals increased competitiveness of Alk-expressing cells

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (Alk) is a receptor tyrosine kinase of the insulin receptor super-family that functions as oncogenic driver in a range of human cancers such as neuroblastoma. In order to investigate mechanisms underlying Alk oncogenic signaling, we conducted a genetic suppressor screen in Drosophila melanogaster. Our screen identified multiple loci important for Alk signaling, including members of Ras/Raf/ERK-, Pi3K-, and STAT-pathways as well as tailless (tll) and foxo whose orthologues NR2E1/TLX and FOXO3 are transcription factors implicated in human neuroblastoma. Many of the identified suppressors were also able to modulate signaling output from activated oncogenic variants of human ALK, suggesting that our screen identified targets likely relevant in a wide range of contexts. Interestingly, two misexpression alleles of wallenda (wnd, encoding a leucine zipper bearing kinase similar to human DLK and LZK) were among the strongest suppressors. We show that Alk expression leads to a growth advantage and induces cell death in surrounding cells. Our results suggest that Alk activity conveys a competitive advantage to cells, which can be reversed by over-expression of the JNK kinase kinase Wnd.

Systematic review and analysis of human proteomics aging studies unveils a novel proteomic aging clock and identifies key processes that change with age

The development of clinical interventions that significantly improve human healthspan requires robust markers of biological age as well as thoughtful therapeutic targets. To promote these goals, we performed a systematic review and analysis of human aging and proteomics studies. The systematic review includes 36 different proteomics analyses, each of which identified proteins that significantly changed with age. We discovered 1,128 proteins that had been reported by at least two or more analyses and 32 proteins that had been reported by five or more analyses. Each of these 32 proteins has known connections relevant to aging and age-related disease. GDF15, for example, extends both lifespan and healthspan when overexpressed in mice and is additionally required for the anti-diabetic drug metformin to exert beneficial effects on body weight and energy balance. Bioinformatic enrichment analyses of our 1,128 commonly identified proteins heavily implicated processes relevant to inflammation, the extracellular matrix, and gene regulation. We additionally propose a novel proteomic aging clock comprised of proteins that were reported to change with age in plasma in three or more different studies. Using a large patient cohort comprised of 3,301 subjects (aged 18-76 years), we demonstrate that this clock is able to accurately predict human age.

Leukocyte receptor tyrosine kinase interacts with secreted midkine to promote survival of migrating neural crest cells

Neural crest cells migrate long distances throughout the embryo and rely on extracellular signals that attract, repel and/or stimulate survival to ensure proper contribution to target derivatives. Here, we show that leukocyte receptor tyrosine kinase (LTK), an ALK-type receptor tyrosine kinase, is expressed by neural crest cells during early migratory stages in chicken embryos. Loss of LTK in the cranial neural crest impairs migration and results in increased levels of apoptosis. Conversely, midkine, previously proposed as a ligand for ALK, is secreted by the non-neural ectoderm during early neural crest migratory stages and internalized by neural crest cells in vivo Similar to loss of LTK, loss of midkine reduces survival of the migratory neural crest. Moreover, we show by proximity ligation and co-immunoprecipitation assays that midkine binds to LTK. Taken together, these results suggest that LTK in neural crest cells interacts with midkine emanating from the non-neural ectoderm to promote cell survival, revealing a new signaling pathway that is essential for neural crest development.

FAM150A and FAM150B are activating ligands for anaplastic lymphoma kinase

Aberrant activation of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) has been described in a range of human cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer and neuroblastoma (Hallberg and Palmer, 2013). Vertebrate ALK has been considered to be an orphan receptor and the identity of the ALK ligand(s) is a critical issue. Here we show that FAM150A and FAM150B are potent ligands for human ALK that bind to the extracellular domain of ALK and in addition to activation of wild-type ALK are able to drive 'superactivation' of activated ALK mutants from neuroblastoma. In conclusion, our data show that ALK is robustly activated by the FAM150A/B ligands and provide an opportunity to develop ALK-targeted therapies in situations where ALK is overexpressed/activated or mutated in the context of the full length receptor.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09811.001

Cells have receptor proteins on their surface that enable them to detect changes in their environment and communicate with other cells. Signal molecules bind to a segment of the receptor called the extracellular domain that faces out from the cell. This can result in the activation of another domain in the receptor that is just inside the cell, which, in turn, activates signaling pathways that relay the information around the cell.

However, these communication systems are often disrupted in cancer cells. This helps the cells to override the strict growth controls imposed upon them by other (healthy) cells in the body. The gene that encodes a receptor protein called Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (or ALK for short) is often mutated in some types of human cancer so that the protein is always active. However, we still do not know what signal molecules bind to the ALK protein to activate it in normal cells.

Guan, Umapathy et al. used a variety of cell biology and biochemical techniques to study the role of ALK. The experiments show that when either of two proteins called FAM150A and FAM150B are produced in rat nerve cells alongside ALK, the nerve cells rapidly respond and form outgrowths. Experiments using cancer cells derived from human nerve cells also yielded similar results. Guan, Umapathy et al. found that the extracellular domain of ALK can physically interact with FAM150A and FAM150B.

The eyes of fruit flies that had been genetically modified to produce the human ALK protein alongside either FAM150A or FAM150B grew more than normal, giving the eyes an abnormal "rough" appearance. Further experiments showed that FAM150A and FAM150B are also able to increase the level of activation of an ALK mutant protein that is already active. Therefore, in future, the development of drugs that stop FAM150A and FAM150B from binding to ALK may be useful for treating cancers that are driven by high levels of ALK activity. Many challenging questions lie ahead to better understand how FAM150A and FAM150B interact with ALK.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09811.002