Bacterial Cas9 nuclease induces site-specific DNA breaks using small gRNA as guides. Cas9 has been successfully introduced into Drosophila for genome editing. Here, we improve the versatility of this method by developing a transgenic system that expresses Cas9 in the Drosophila germline. Using this system, we induced inheritable knock-out mutations by injecting only the gRNA into embryos, achie...

Nucleosomes with specific histone variants are incorporated into DNA at sites of transcription and repair. The histone variant H3.3 has been linked to transcriptional regulation, but genetic tests in the fruit fly have yielded surprising results.

Background Our previous studies demonstrated that dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) deficiency promotes the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice, and that modification of gut microbiota composition by prebiotics (non-digestible fructans) can improve the hepatic steatosis and serum lipids in this model [1,2]. The present study has been designed to analyze the pot...

The channels belonging to the KCNQ gene family consist of 5 different subtypes, which assemble as pentameric channels. The KCNQ2-5 subunits are highly expressed in the ventrobasal thalamus (VB) where they function primarily as KCNQ2/3 heteromers. They underlie an outward potassium (K+)-current, called M-current (IM), which provides a hyperpolarizing drive, thus regulating neuronal excitability....

Selective blockers of the norepinephrine transporter (NET) inhibit dopamine uptake in the prefrontal cortex. This suggests that dopamine in this region is normally cleared by the somewhat promiscuous NET. We have tested this hypothesis by comparing the effects of inhibitors selective for the three monoamine transporters with those of a nonspecific inhibitor, cocaine, on uptake of 3H-dopamine in...

We present here evidences supporting a negative regulation of p38alpha MAPK activity by C3G in MEFs triggered by stress, which can mediate cell death or survival depending on the stimuli. Upon serum deprivation, C3G induces survival through inhibition of p38alpha activation, which mediates apoptosis. In contrast, in response to H2O2, C3G behaves as a pro-apoptotic molecule, as its knock-down or...

Spectroscopic factors for one-nucleon knock-out from O are calculated for states with low excitation energy in N with the Bonn-C potential. A method is proposed to deal with both shortand long-range correlations consistently. For this purpose a Green’s function formalism is used and the self-energy in the Dyson equation is approximated as the sum of an energy-dependent Hartree-Fock ~HF! term an...

The conventional technique for targeted mutation of mouse genes entails placing a genomic DNA fragment containing the gene of interest into a vector for fine mapping, followed by cloning of two genomic arms around a selectable neomycin-resistance cassette in a vector containing thymidine kinase [1]; this generally requires 1-2 months of work for each construct. The single 'knock-out' construct ...