Effect of curvature on sound propagation in the ear canal.

In this paper, we investigate the effect of the curvature and torsion of the ear canal on its resonance through a comparison between several ear canal models. Utilizing Stinson's ear canal geometries as a reference, we build and analyze several ear canal models using both transmission matrix and numerical methods for the purpose of comparative assessment. A conical transmission unit, which considers visco-thermal effects, is employed for the modeling of the human ear canal. While the transfer matrix and numerical method agree well for a straight axis model, this simplification results in up to 20% deviation from a curved canal. We propose the curve twist ratio as a metric to quantify the influence of curvature on the ear canal and find that our proposed metric can effectively express the error introduced by the simplified straight axis model. Upon this metric, an empirical equation is proposed for incorporating the curvature effect in the transmission matrix method, enabling it to generate comparable results to those of the numerical method, which considers the effect of the curvature and torsion, thus dramatically accelerating computation.

Sufu limits sepsis-induced lung inflammation via regulating phase separation of TRAF6.

Rationale: Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body's response to a severe infection. Although the identification of multiple pathways involved in inflammation, tissue damage and aberrant healing during sepsis, there remain unmet needs for the development of new therapeutic strategies essential to prevent the reoccurrence of infection and organ injuries. Methods: Expression of Suppressor of Fused (Sufu) was evaluated by qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence in murine lung and peritoneal macrophages. The significance of Sufu expression in prognosis was assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The GFP-TRAF6-expressing stable cell line (GFP-TRAF6 Blue cells) were constructed to evaluate phase separation of TRAF6. Phase separation of TRAF6 and the roles of Sufu in repressing TRAF6 droplet aggregation were analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, Native-PAGE, FRAP and in vitro assays using purified proteins. The effects of Sufu on sepsis-induced lung inflammation were evaluated by cell function assays, LPS-induced septic shock model and polymicrobial sepsis-CLP mice model. Results: We found that Sufu expression is reduced in early response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute inflammation in murine lung and peritoneal macrophages. Deletion of Sufu aggravated LPS-induced and CLP (cecal ligation puncture)-induced lung injury and lethality in mice, and augmented LPS-induced proinflammatory gene expression in cultured macrophages. In addition, we identified the role of Sufu as a negative regulator of the Toll-Like Receptor (TLR)-triggered inflammatory response. We further demonstrated that Sufu directly interacts with TRAF6, thereby preventing oligomerization and autoubiquitination of TRAF6. Importantly, TRAF6 underwent phase separation during LPS-induced inflammation, which is essential for subsequent ubiquitination activation and NF-κB activity. Sufu inhibits the phase-separated TRAF6 droplet formation, preventing NF-κB activation upon LPS stimulation. In a septic shock model, TRAF6 depletion rescued the augmented inflammatory phenotype in mice with myeloid cell-specific deletion of Sufu. Conclusions: These findings implicated Sufu as an important inhibitor of TRAF6 in sepsis and suggest that therapeutics targeting Sufu-TRAF6 may greatly benefit the treatment of sepsis.

Fsh-Pc-Sce complex mediates active transcription of Cubitus interruptus (Ci).

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays important roles in both embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Such biological functions are mediated by the transcription factor Cubitus interruptus (Ci). Yet the transcriptional regulation of the effector Ci itself is poorly investigated. Through an RNAi-based genetic screen, we identified that female sterile (1) homeotic (Fsh), a transcription co-activator, directly activates Ci transcription. Biochemistry assays demonstrated physical interactions among Fsh, Sex combs extra (Sce), and Polycomb (Pc). Functional assays further showed that both Pc and Sce are required for Ci expression, which is not likely mediated by the derepression of Engrailed (En), a repressor of Ci, in Pc or Sce mutant cells. Finally, we provide evidence showing that Pc/Sce facilitates the binding of Fsh at Ci locus and that the physical interaction between Fsh and Pc is essential for Fsh-mediated Ci transcription. Taken together, we not only uncover that Ci is transcriptionally regulated by Fsh-Pc-Sce complex but also provide evidence for the coordination between Fsh and PcG proteins in transcriptional regulation.

UbcD1 regulates Hedgehog signaling by directly modulating Ci ubiquitination and processing.

The Hh pathway controls many morphogenetic processes in metazoans and plays important roles in numerous pathologies and in cancer. Hh signaling is mediated by the activity of the Gli/Ci family of transcription factors. Several studies in Drosophila have shown that ubiquitination by the ubiquitin E3 ligases Slimb and Rdx(Hib) plays a crucial role in controlling Ci stability dependent on the levels of Hh signals. If Hh levels are low, Slimb adds K11- and K48-linked poly-ubiquitin chains on Ci resulting in partial degradation. Ubiquitin E2 enzymes are pivotal in determining the topologies of ubiquitin chains. However, which E2 enzymes participate in the selective ubiquitination-degradation of Ci remains elusive. Here, we find that the E2 enzyme UbcD1 negatively regulates Hh signaling activity in Drosophila wing disks. Genetic and biochemical analyses in wing disks and in cultured cells reveal that UbcD1 directly controls Ci stability. Interestingly, UbcD1 is found to be selectively involved in Slimb-mediated Ci degradation. Finally, we show that the homologs of UbcD1 play a conserved role in modulating Hh signaling in vertebrates.

SUMO regulates somatic cyst stem cell maintenance and directly targets the Hedgehog pathway in adult Drosophila testis.

SUMO (Small ubiquitin-related modifier) modification (SUMOylation) is a highly dynamic post-translational modification (PTM) that plays important roles in tissue development and disease progression. However, its function in adult stem cell maintenance is largely unknown. Here, we report the function of SUMOylation in somatic cyst stem cell (CySC) self-renewal in adult Drosophila testis. The SUMO pathway cell-autonomously regulates CySC maintenance. Reduction of SUMOylation promotes premature differentiation of CySCs and impedes the proliferation of CySCs, which leads to a reduction in the number of CySCs. Consistent with this, CySC clones carrying a mutation of the SUMO-conjugating enzyme are rapidly lost. Furthermore, inhibition of the SUMO pathway phenocopies disruption of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, and can block the proliferation of CySCs induced by Hh activation. Importantly, the SUMO pathway directly regulates the SUMOylation of Hh pathway transcription factor Cubitus interruptus (Ci), which is required for promoting CySC proliferation. Thus, we conclude that SUMO directly targets the Hh pathway and regulates CySC maintenance in adult Drosophila testis.

A positive role for polycomb in transcriptional regulation via H4K20me1.

The highly conserved polycomb group (PcG) proteins maintain heritable transcription repression of the genes essential for development from fly to mammals. However, sporadic reports imply a potential role of PcGs in positive regulation of gene transcription, although systematic investigation of such function and the underlying mechanism has rarely been reported. Here, we report a Pc-mediated, H3K27me3-dependent positive transcriptional regulation of Senseless (Sens), a key transcription factor required for development. Mechanistic studies show that Pc regulates Sens expression by promoting H4K20me1 at the Sens locus. Further bioinformatic analysis at genome-wide level indicates that the existence of H4K20me1 acts as a selective mark for positive transcriptional regulation by Pc/H3K27me3. Both the intensities and specific patterns of Pc and H3K27me3 are important for the fates of target gene transcription. Moreover, binding of transcription factor Broad (Br), which physically interacts with Pc and positively regulates the transcription of Sens, is observed in Pc(+)H3K27me3(+)H4K20me1(+) genes, but not in Pc(+)H3K27me3(+)H4K20me1(-) genes. Taken together, our study reveals that, coupling with the transcription factor Br, Pc positively regulates transcription of Pc(+)H3K27me3(+)H4K20me1(+) genes in developing Drosophila wing disc.

Structural insight into the mutual recognition and regulation between Suppressor of Fused and Gli/Ci.

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling regulates embryonic development and adult tissue homoeostasis. Mutations of its pathway components including Suppressor of Fused (Sufu) and Gli/Ci predispose to cancers and congenital anomalies. The Sufu-Gli protein complex occupies a central position in the vertebrate Hh signalling pathway, especially in mammals. Here structures of full-length human and Drosophila Sufu, the human Sufu-Gli complex, along with normal mode analysis and FRET measurement results, reveal that Sufu alternates between 'open' and 'closed' conformations. The 'closed' form of Sufu is stabilized by Gli binding and inhibited by Hh treatment, whereas the 'open' state of Sufu is promoted by Gli-dissociation and Hh signalling. Mutations of critical interface residues disrupt the Sufu-Gli complex and prevent Sufu from repressing Gli-mediated transcription, tethering Gli in the cytoplasm and protecting Gli from the 26S proteasome-mediated degradation. Our study thus provides mechanistic insight into the mutual recognition and regulation between Sufu and Gli/Ci.