A leading cause of male infertility is genetic variation in genes required for sperm formation and/or function. There is evidence to suggest PACRG is involved in mammalian spermatogenesis. Specifically, the loss of Pacrg function causes a spermatogenic defect and male infertility in mice. To investigate if PACRG plays a similar role in human spermatogenesis, the localisation of PACRG was determined in human testis. Using an immunohistochemical approach, this study demonstrated that PACRG is localised to the human sperm flagella. To investigate a potential role for PACRG in human male infertility, sequence analysis and an association study were performed. Sequence analysis did not identify any pathological alterations. However, 1 of 3 variants identified (rs9347683) was shown to be significantly associated with male infertility by association analysis (p=0.009, Odds Ratio=1.6, n=766). / A high degree of structural and functional conservation exists between different types of motile cilia/flagella. Evidence from studies in C.reinhardtii and T.brucei indicate Pacrg is necessary for axoneme formation and microtubule stability. To test the role of the mammalian homologue, this study characterised the Pacrg knockout mouse, quakingviable (qkv) and generated Pacrg transgenic qkv mice (qkv-Tg). Using immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy this study demonstrated that Pacrg was localised to the axonemal microtubule doublets of sperm and ependymal cilia. The absence of Pacrg was associated with compromised sperm flagella formation and male infertility. In addition, histological and MRI analysis of qkv mutant mice revealed hydrocephalus. Specifically, qkv mutant mice showed a ~2.5 fold expansion of the lateral ventricle area compared to wildtype mice. The hydrocephalus phenotype was associated with a reduction in ependymal cilial beat frequency (CBF). Transgenic expression of Pacrg was sufficient to rescue the hydrocephalus and infertility phenotypes. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that Pacrg is a novel axonemal protein in a subset of motile cilia and loss of Pacrg function results in spermiogenic defects and hydrocephalus in mice. Further, this study has shown that variations in the human PACRG promoter are a risk factor in human male infertility. Collectively these data provide evidence for a conserved role of PACRG in the cilial axoneme. This suggests the protein may be a candidate for a variety of human diseases characterised by cilial dysfunction.

The Quaking (qk) gene has been implicated in the development of oligodendroglial cells which are the primary source of myelin in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Qk encodes three alternatively spliced variants, QKI-5, QKI-6 and QKI-7, all of which are RNA binding proteins. Loss of QKI-6 and QKI-7 results in a dysmyelination phenotype that is present shortly after birth while loss of QKI-5 results in embryonic lethality. CG4 oligodendroglial cells were transfected with either pIRES2-QKI5 to up regulate QKI-5 expression or a QKI-5 specific siRNA to down regulate QKI-5. Cells were cultured for 6d in differentiation medium (DM) following which total RNA and protein was collected from the cell cultures, and coverslips with attached cells were processed for immunofluorescence. Increased QKI-5 expression following transfection with pIRES2-QKI5 resulted in increased Sirt2 and Plp mRNA expression, but did not affect SIRT2 and PLP protein expression. Down regulation of QKI-5 expression had no significant effect on mRNA or protein levels for QKI-6, QKI-7, Plp or Sirt2. Immunocytochemistry revealed that up regulation of QKI-5 resulted in significantly higher percentage of A2B5+ cells and a lower percentage of GalC+ cells, whereas siRNA treatment resulted in an increase in the percentage of GalC+ cells. Our results suggest QKI-5 regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation and modulates the transcription and availability of target mRNAs, such as Sirt2 and Plp, for translation. In order to gain a more complete understanding of the relationship between qk and both Sirt2 and Plp, future studies would include RNA coimmunoprecipitation, miRNA studies, and expanding the list of target genes to include various cell cycle components.

Many quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands throughout western North America are considered mature, overmature, or decadent, and lack root suckering to replace the overstory mortality. To mimic natural disturbance and stimulate aspen suckering, prescribed burning or harvesting is needed. It is important to identify pre-disturbance indicators so that land managers will have a way to assess potential sucker production resulting from a prescribed treatment. In fall 2011, eight field sites were located in the Cedar Mountain study area in southern Utah, and two field sites were located on Deseret Land and Livestock land in northern Utah. At each site, two aspen stands were selected within 50 m of each other, one having a relatively low live aspen basal area and one stand having a relatively high live aspen basal area. Above- and belowground pre-disturbance site characteristics for each paired plot were measured and compared. In spring 2012, all trees within 12.2 m (40 ft) of plot center were felled to stimulate a suckering response from the root system. Root diameter and root surface area proved to be the best predictors of sucker regeneration density after a disturbance. Sucker densities decrease with increasing root diameters, and most suckers are produced on roots less than 2.5 cm in diameter. The highest sucker densities were recorded on plots which contained abundant roots less than 2.5 cm in diameter. A simple methodology for sampling aspen roots in the field is outlined and is based on the relationship between root diameter, root surface area and sucker production. There was no relationship between total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) concentration in the roots (measured as starch and water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), % dry weight) and sucker density, indicating that TNC concentration cannot be used as an indicator of sucker ability of aspen after a disturbance. This study also documents the effect of herbivory on sucker height. In areas where grazing and browsing pressures were great, sucker potential was severely decreased due to the effects of repeated hedging below the browse line or complete sucker elimination. If aspen are to persist on the landscape under these circumstances, management strategies must be implemented to enhance aspen regeneration.

Conservation and restoration of quaking aspen in the western United States requires an understanding of how and when aspen clones became established, how clones adapt to environmental challenges, and how individual clones interact within stands. I used molecular tools to identify individual clones in a natural population of aspen in southern Utah and detected high and low levels of clonal diversity within stands. Stands with high clonal diversity were located in areas with a more frequent fire history, indicating that fires may have prepared sites for seed germination and establishment over time. Conversely, areas of low clonal diversity corresponded to areas with less frequent fire. The same molecular tools were then used to investigate clonal interactions/succession over relatively recent time. For this portion of the study I sampled small, medium, and large aspen ramets (stems) at 25 subplots within spatially separated one-hectare plots, and mapped the clonal identities. I found that approximately 25% of the clones appeared to be spreading into adjacent clones, while 75% of the clones had a stationary pattern. In the final portion of the study, I again used molecular tools to identify aspen clones and investigated tradeoffs between growth and defense chemistry in mature, naturally-occurring trees. Growth was estimated using a ten-year basal area increment, and the percent dry weight of salicortin, tremulacin, and condensed tannins was measured in the same trees. Overall I discovered evidence for a tradeoff between growth and salicortin/tremulacin, and a marginally significant but positive relationship between growth and condensed tannins.

No description available.

Chez le poisson zèbre, le muscle squelettique axial est composé de deux types de fibres musculaires différentes, les fibres lentes et les fibres rapides, organisées le long de l’axe antéro-postérieur et délimités par des frontières somitiques. Les cellules cuboïdes adaxiales, précurseurs des fibres lentes, sont les premières cellules musculaires à se différencier. En cours de somitogenèse elles s’allongent et migrent à partir de la notochorde radialement vers l’extérieur du somite formant une couche monocellulaire de fibres lentes mononuclées. Au sein de ces précurseurs en cours de réarrangement, se déroule l’initiation de la myofibrillogénèse. Ces premières étapes de formation des myofibrilles sont peu connues et nous aimerions comprendre les mécanismes sous-jacents liés à cette initiation. La structure et la composition du sarcomère sont conservées au cours de l’évolution, offrant la possibilité d’utiliser le poisson zèbre comme model afin de mieux comprendre les processus de myofibrillogénèse chez les Vertébrés et potentiellement d’expliquer l’origine des Myopathies Myofibrillaires qui affectent le développement des myofibrilles chez l’Homme. Récemment, nous avons montré que la perte de fonction la protéine Quaking A chez le poisson zèbre perturbait, entre autre, la maturation finale des fibres musculaires lentes. Cette protéine de liaison aux ARN fait partie de la famille des protéines à domaine STAR, elle possède généralement d’autres isoformes chez les Vertébrés. Au cours de ma thèse, j’ai identifié chez le poisson zèbre, par comparaison de séquence in silico, un homologue du gène qkiA que nous avons nommé qkiC. L’expression des gènes qkiA et qkiC est recouvrante sur le territoire des cellules adaxiales. Bien que la perte de fonction de QkiC n’ait aucuns effets sur développement des fibres lentes, la perte de fonction conjointe de QkiA et QkiC induit un phénotype cellulaire autonome sévère et ce, dès les stades précoce de myofibrillogénèse. Ensemble nos données suggèrent une interaction fonctionnelle des deux homologues dans les cellules adaxiales que nous avons cherché à comprendre et à décrire. Un phénotype similaire est induit par la perte de fonction des protéines Mef2C/D, Nous avons montré que ces deux voies agissent en parallèle afin d’initier et d’accompagner le programme de myofibrillogénèse. A 24hpf, une accumulation des protéines de Myosine et une dissection/désolidarisation des filaments épais sont observées dans les fibres lentes, fortement lié à une destruction importante de la bande-Z. Ces phénotypes sont similaires à ceux utilisés par les pathologistes pour décrire les Myopathies Myofibrillaires. Ainsi, notre étude montre un nouveau type de régulation précoce de la myofibrillogénèse et offre un model potentiel pour étudier chez le poisson zèbre les myopathies myofibrillaire. / In zebrafish, myotomes are organized along the antero-posterior axis within repeated units called somites. Contractile fibers are subdivided into two muscle cell types, the slow muscle fibers and the fast muscle fibers. The slow muscle cells are located on the surface of the embryo body while the fast muscle cells are located deeper in the somite, underneath the slow muscle cells. Myogenesis correspond to transitions from unspecified mesodermal cells to mature and functional muscle fibers. These cellular transitions have been extensively studied. However relatively little is known about early developmental mechanisms that are required to form premyofibrils, neither about maturation processes, during which premyofibrils evolved in contractile myofibers. This process called myofibrillogenesis involved a dynamic assembly of the elementary components of the sarcomere that occurred first in adaxial cells, the muscle precursors of slow muscle fibers. Here we show that QkiA and QkiC, two RNA-binding proteins with STAR domain, are required during the early step of myofibrillogenesis where Moysin proteins are not correctly assembled. This early phenotype leads to a strong and specific alteration in the maturation of thick Myosin filaments at 24hpf. The combined QkiA/QkiC loss of function induced a dissection of thick filaments followed by the accumulation of Myosin proteins at the tip of slow muscle cells in a cell autonomous manner. Interestingly, the loss of function of Mef2C/D, two myogenic enhancers from the same family, induced a similar phenotype. However we have shown that Quaking and Mef2 proteins act in parallel ways to control and regulate myofibrillogenesis. Remarkably, we have seen that the accumulation of Myosin, the dissection of thick filaments and the alteration of the Z-disk, induced by QkiA/C loss of function, are the pathologic phenotypes found in Human Myofibrillar Myopathies (MFM). This subgroup of myopathies has been created recently and very few is known about mechanisms involved in those diseases. We propose that QkiA and QkiC is another regulated system that is required to initiated and maintained myofibrillogenesis.

Prionkrankheiten sind übertragbare, tödliche neurodegenerative Erkrankungen beim Menschen und bei Tieren. Sie basieren auf der Konversion des zellulären Prion-Proteins (PrPC) in seine pathogene Form (PrPSc). Durch diese Konversion sind Prionkrankheiten pathogen und übertragbar. Bis heute ist weder der dem zugrunde liegende Mechanismus verstanden noch eine Behandlung gefunden worden. Die sichere Diagnose einer sporadischen Prionkrankheit ist ausschließlich mittels Gehirnbiopsie möglich, weswegen zu Lebzeiten des Patienten häufig nur die Diagnose einer wahrscheinlichen Prionkrankheit erfolgt. Zusammen mit der klinischen Heterogenität der Prionkrankheiten weisen neueste Erkenntnisse auf das Vorhandensein mehrerer humaner Prionstämme hin. Für die Suche nach Medikamenten fehlt ein geeigneter Wirkstoff-Suchtest, der auf der humanen Pathogenese basiert, für einen hohen Durchsatz geeignet und gut reproduzierbar ist. Die real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC), eine neu entwickelte in vitro-Methode, erlaubt den Nachweis von bisher nicht messbaren Mengen an PrPSc in humanem Liquor cerebrospinalis (Liquor). Dazu werden die selbst-replizierenden Eigenschaften des PrPSc genutzt. Erste Untersuchungen weisen auf distinkte Eigenschaften humaner Prionkrankheiten in der RT-QuIC hin. Zum Einsatz in Diagnostik und Forschung bedarf es jedoch einer umfassenden Validierung der Methode für die Anwendung mit humanem Liquor. In dieser Arbeit beträgt die Sensitivität der RT-QuIC 85,5 % und die Spezifität 99,5 % für humane Prionkrankheiten. Die Reproduzierbarkeit im Ringversuch ist gut bis exzellent. Die Kurzzeitlagerungen der Liquorproben bei Raumtemperatur und +4°C sowie die Langzeitlagerung bei −80°C und das wiederholte Einfrieren und Auftauen haben keinen Einfluss auf die Testergebnisse. Jedoch führt die Kontamination mit Blut zu falsch-negativen Resultaten. Diese Ergebnisse weisen auf eine Eignung der RT-QuIC zur sicheren Diagnose von Prionkrankheiten zu Lebzeiten der Patienten hin. Zur Charakterisierung des Reaktionspotentials möglicher humaner Prionstämme wurden Liquorproben von verschiedenen humanen Prionkrankheiten wie bspw. der sporadischen und der genetischen Form mittels RT-QuIC untersucht. Die Auswertung der Daten zeigt distinkte Eigenschaften des PrPSc im Liquor, die moduliert werden durch die Form der Prionkrankheit, den Prnp Codon 129-Genotyp und die Krankheitsdauer. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen das Potential der RT-QuIC, die selbst-replizierenden Eigenschaften des PrPSc im Liquor zu untersuchen, womit erstmals eine Methode zur Verfügung steht, um diese Effekte in Patienten während der symptomatischen Phase zu studieren. Zur Nutzung der RT-QuIC als neuartige Methode zur Wirkstoffsuche wurde die Wirkung mehrerer Stoffe auf die RT-QuIC-Reaktion untersucht. Doxyzyklin inhibiert diese Reaktion sowohl in Korrelation mit der Dosis als auch mit dem Zeitpunkt der Zugabe. Diese Ergebnisse weisen auf eine Eignung der RT-QuIC zur Suche von Stoffen hin, die den PrP-Konversionsprozess inhibieren und zeigen die inhibierende Wirkung von Doxyzyklin auf die in-vitro-Amplifikation von PrPSc.

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) clones within close proximity to one another can exhibit drastically different levels of browsing by ungulates. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine interclonal differences in plant chemistry between adjacent clones exhibiting different degrees of herbivory which may influence the browsing behavior and patterns of ungulates, and (2) determine if correlation exists in the levels of salicortin and tremulacin between current year's suckers and current year's growth on older trees. This second objective was meant to indicate a protocol for land managers for identifying clones meriting increased protection from herbivory after treatment and wildfire. In July of 2005, 6 pairs of clones were identified on the Dixie National Forest, Utah, and on Cedar Mountain, east of Cedar City, Utah. Pairs consisted of 2 clones within the same pasture and/or grazing allotment and within a minimal distance from one another; one clone displaying moderate to high levels of ungulate utilization of aspen suckers, and one exhibiting minimal to no ungulate utilization of aspen suckers. Soil samples were taken at each clone and leaf tissues were sampled to determine genet. Aspen suckers were sampled for nutrient content, combined phenolic glycoside concentration (salicortin and tremulacin), condensed tannins, and the presence of extra floral nectaries (EFNs), at intervals throughout the growing season (August 3-6, August 31-September 2, and October 12-14). Current year's growth from representative mature trees was sampled for phenolic glycoside concentration at these times as well. All tests demonstrated high levels of insignificance for both leaves and stems.Sucker nitrogen values may have been elevated during portions of the sampling year in clones displaying moderate to high levels of ungulate utilization, possibility indicating an ungulate preference for nitrogen, but due to missing values, this is far from conclusive. P-values for forest floor factors were also highly non-significant with the exception of forest floor C (0.04) in the regenerating clones. Two post-project hypotheses are postulated in an attempt to explain the differences of forest floor carbon in terms of factors that may be influencing ungulate herbivory.

For the past 45 years, QKI has been studied for its role in the processes of development and central nervous system myelination using the qkv mouse. The presence of a single KH domain and the recent identification of a high-affinity binding site in mRNAs, suggests that it can bind to and regulate mRNAs through processes such as stability, splicing and transport. As a member of the STAR RNA binding family of proteins the QKI isoforms may also be involved in cell signaling pathways. / QKI's involvement in all of these processes, lead us to examine both the protein partners and the mRNA targets of the QKI complex in order to identify potentially new pathways regulated by QKI. In doing so, we identified a novel direct protein-protein interaction with PABP and for the first time described the relocalization of QKI to cytoplasmic granules following oxidative stress. In addition, in vivo mRNA interaction studies were performed and allowed the identification of approximately 100 new mRNA targets in human glioblastoma cells. One of the targets identified was VEGF mRNA. / Another QKI target mRNA is MBP, a major protein component of the myelin sheath and the candidate auto-antigen in multiple sclerosis (MS). In vivo MBP is symmetrically dimethylated on a single arginine residue. To further establish the role of the methylation of MBP in myelination, a methyl-specific antibody and an adenovirus expressing a recombinant protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) was generated. We show that methylated MBP is found in areas of mature myelin and that overexpression of the PRTM5 blocked the differentiation of oligodendrocytes. / Taken together these datas implicate QKI for the first time in the process of human cancer angiogenesis and could explain the vascularization defects observed in some of the qkI mutant mice. In addition, arginine methylation of MBP may prove to have an important role in the process of myelination and in the pathogenesis of demyelination and the autoimmune reaction in diseases such as MS.

No description available.