Microexons--tiny but mighty.

Microexons Go Big

Microexons are frequently underestimated in transcriptome analyses. Two studies published in Cell and Genome Research now independently report the identification of hundreds of microexons. Alternative splicing of some microexons is regulated by neuronal-specific RNA-binding proteins and modifies the function of proteins involved in neurogenesis, with misregulation linked to autism.

A Highly Conserved Program of Neuronal Microexons Is Misregulated in Autistic Brains

Alternative splicing (AS) generates vast transcriptomic and proteomic complexity. However, which of the myriad of detected AS events provide important biological functions is not well understood. Here, we define the largest program of functionally coordinated, neural-regulated AS described to date in mammals. Relative to all other types of AS within this program, 3-15 nucleotide "microexons" di...

L-leucine, beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyric acid (HMB) and creatine monohydrate prevent myostatin-induced Akirin-1/Mighty mRNA down-regulation and myotube atrophy

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine if L-leucine (Leu), β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB), or creatine monohydrate (Crea) prevented potential atrophic effects of myostatin (MSTN) on differentiated C2C12 myotubes. METHODS After four days of differentiation, myotubes were treated with MSTN (10 ng/ml) for two additional days and four treatment groups were studied: 1) 3x per day 10...

A side-by-side comparison of sampling methods for settled, indoor allergens.

Exposure to indoor allergens is associated with asthma, but there is no standardized sampling method for measuring allergens. We compared the association of measured allergen exposure and serum-specific IgE levels and the precision of three sampling methods (Cyclone, Mighty Mite, and Readivac II) to identify a standardized sampling method for indoor allergens. A random sample of 72 children, 5 ...

Berkeley and the ‘Mighty Difficulty’: The Idealist Lesson of the Inverted Retinal Image