We first establish sufficient conditions ensuring strong duality for cone constrained nonconvex optimization problems under a generalized Slater-type condition. Such conditions allow us to cover ...situations where recent results cannot be applied. Afterwards, we provide a new complete characterization of strong duality for a problem with a single constraint: showing, in particular, that strong duality still holds without the standard Slater condition. This yields Lagrange multipliers characterizations of global optimality in case of (not necessarily convex) quadratic homogeneous functions after applying a generalized joint-range convexity result. Furthermore, a result which reduces a constrained minimization problem into one with a single constraint under generalized convexity assumptions, is also presented.
•Rare data collected from marching locusts during an upsurge highlights importance of field studies.•Protein hunger does not drive collective movement of locusts, but carbohydrate limitation is ...common and likely dampens migration.•Migrating insects are not protein-limited and seek plants low in protein and high in carbohydrate to supply their energy needs.•Relative plant protein to carbohydrate contents can predict nutritional limitations of locust outbreaks.
Locusts are grasshoppers that migrate en masse and devastate food security, yet little is known about the nutritional needs of marching bands in nature. While it has been hypothesized that protein limitation promotes locust marching behavior, migration is fueled by dietary carbohydrates. We studied South American Locust (Schistocerca cancellata) bands at eight sites across Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Bands ate most frequently from dishes containing carbohydrate artificial diets and minimally from balanced, protein, or control (vitamins and salts) dishes—indicating carbohydrate hunger. This hunger for carbohydrates is likely explained by the observation that local vegetation was generally protein-biased relative to locusts’ preferred protein to carbohydrate ratio. This study highlights the importance of studying the nutritional ecology of animals in their environment and suggests that carbohydrate limitation may be a common pattern for migrating insect herbivores.
Primary cilium dysfunction underlies the pathogenesis of Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a genetic disorder whose symptoms include obesity, retinal degeneration, and nephropathy. However, despite the ...identification of 12 BBS genes, the molecular basis of BBS remains elusive. Here we identify a complex composed of seven highly conserved BBS proteins. This complex, the BBSome, localizes to nonmembranous centriolar satellites in the cytoplasm but also to the membrane of the cilium. Interestingly, the BBSome is required for ciliogenesis but is dispensable for centriolar satellite function. This ciliogenic function is mediated in part by the Rab8 GDP/GTP exchange factor, which localizes to the basal body and contacts the BBSome. Strikingly, Rab8GTP enters the primary cilium and promotes extension of the ciliary membrane. Conversely, preventing Rab8GTP production blocks ciliation in cells and yields characteristic BBS phenotypes in zebrafish. Our data reveal that BBS may be caused by defects in vesicular transport to the cilium.
Cytokines of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family, such as IL-1α/β and IL-18, have important functions in host defense, immune regulation, and inflammation. Insight into their biological functions has led ...to novel therapeutic approaches to treat human inflammatory diseases. Within the IL-1 family, IL-1α/β, IL-1Ra, and IL-18 have been matched to their respective receptor complexes and have been shown to have distinct biological functions. The most prominent orphan IL-1 receptor is ST2. This receptor has been described as a negative regulator of Toll-like receptor-IL-1 receptor signaling, but it also functions as an important effector molecule of T helper type 2 responses. We report a member of the IL-1 family, IL-33, which mediates its biological effects via IL-1 receptor ST2, activates NF-κB and MAP kinases, and drives production of TH2-associated cytokines from in vitro polarized TH2 cells. In vivo, IL-33 induces the expression of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 and leads to severe pathological changes in mucosal organs.
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is inappropriately activated in certain human cancers, including medulloblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. GDC-0449, a drug that inhibits Hh signaling by ...targeting the serpentine receptor Smoothened (SMO), has produced promising anti-tumor responses in early clinical studies of cancers driven by mutations in this pathway. To evaluate the mechanism of resistance in a medulloblastoma patient who had relapsed after an initial response to GDC-0449, we determined the mutational status of Hh signaling genes in the tumor after disease progression. We identified an amino acid substitution at a conserved aspartic acid residue of SMO that had no effect on Hh signaling but disrupted the ability of GDC-0449 to bind SMO and suppress this pathway. A mutation altering the same amino acid also arose in a GDC-0449-resistant mouse model of medulloblastoma. These findings show that acquired mutations in a serpentine receptor with features of a G protein-coupled receptor can serve as a mechanism of drug resistance in human cancer.
Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is initiated at the cell surface by association of secreted Wnt with its receptors Frizzled (Fz) and low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5/6 (LRP5/6). The ...study of these molecular interactions has been a significant technical challenge because the proteins have been inaccessible in sufficient purity and quantity. In this report we describe insect cell expression and purification of soluble mouse Fz8 cysteine-rich domain and human LRP6 extracellular domain and show that they inhibit Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in cellular assays. We determine the binding affinities of Wnts and Dickkopf 1 (Dkk1) to the relevant co-receptors and reconstitute in vitro the Fz8 CRD.Wnt3a.LRP6 signaling complex. Using purified fragments of LRP6, we further show that Wnt3a binds to a region including only the third and fourth beta-propeller domains of LRP6 (E3E4). Surprisingly, we find that Wnt9b binds to a different part of the LRP6 extracellular domain, E1E2, and we demonstrate that Wnt3a and Wnt9b can bind to LRP6 simultaneously. Dkk1 binds to both E1E2 and E3E4 fragments and competes with both Wnt3a and Wnt9b for binding to LRP6. The existence of multiple, independent Wnt binding sites on the LRP6 co-receptor suggests new possibilities for the architecture of Wnt signaling complexes and a model for broad-spectrum inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling by Dkk1.
Nephronophthisis (NPHP), Joubert (JBTS), and Meckel-Gruber (MKS) syndromes are autosomal-recessive ciliopathies presenting with cystic kidneys, retinal degeneration, and cerebellar/neural tube ...malformation. Whether defects in kidney, retinal, or neural disease primarily involve ciliary, Hedgehog, or cell polarity pathways remains unclear. Using high-confidence proteomics, we identified 850 interactors copurifying with nine NPHP/JBTS/MKS proteins and discovered three connected modules: “NPHP1-4-8” functioning at the apical surface, “NPHP5-6” at centrosomes, and “MKS” linked to Hedgehog signaling. Assays for ciliogenesis and epithelial morphogenesis in 3D renal cultures link renal cystic disease to apical organization defects, whereas ciliary and Hedgehog pathway defects lead to retinal or neural deficits. Using 38 interactors as candidates, linkage and sequencing analysis of 250 patients identified
ATXN10 and
TCTN2 as new NPHP-JBTS genes, and our
Tctn2 mouse knockout shows neural tube and Hedgehog signaling defects. Our study further illustrates the power of linking proteomic networks and human genetics to uncover critical disease pathways.
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► High-confidence proteomics identifies an NPHP-JBTS-MKS interaction network ► Three connected modules at apical surface, at centrosomes, or linked to Hh signaling ►
ATXN10 and
TCTN2 are new NPHP-JBTS genes ►
Tctn2 mouse knockout shows neural tube and Hedgehog signaling defects
Members of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family of cytokines play major roles in host defense and immune system regulation in infectious and inflammatory diseases. IL-1 cytokines trigger a biological ...response in effector cells by assembling a heterotrimeric signaling complex with two IL-1 receptor chains, a high-affinity primary receptor and a low-affinity coreceptor. To gain insights into the signaling mechanism of the novel IL-1-like cytokine IL-33, we first solved its solution structure and then performed a detailed biochemical and structural characterization of the interaction between IL-33, its primary receptor ST2, and the coreceptor IL-1RAcP. Using nuclear magnetic resonance data, we obtained a model of the IL-33/ST2 complex in solution that is validated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data and is similar to the IL-1β/IL-1R1 complex. We extended our SAXS analysis to the IL-33/ST2/IL-1RAcP and IL-1β/IL-1R1/IL-1RAcP complexes and propose a general model of the molecular architecture of IL-1 ternary signaling complexes.
ADP‐ribosyltransferases including toxins secreted by Vibrio cholera, Pseudomonas aerurginosa, and other pathogenic bacteria inactivate the function of human target proteins by attaching ADP‐ribose ...onto a critical amino acid residue. Cross‐species polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and database mining identified the orthologs of these ADP‐ribosylating toxins in humans and the mouse. The human genome contains four functional toxin‐related ADP‐ribosyltransferase genes (ARTs) and two related intron‐containing pseudogenes; the mouse has six functional orthologs. The human and mouse ART genes map to chromosomal regions with conserved linkage synteny. The individual ART genes reveal highly restricted expression patterns, which are largely conserved in humans and the mouse. We confirmed the predicted extracellular location of the ART proteins by expressing recombinant ARTs in insect cells. Two human and four mouse ARTs contain the active site motif (R‐S‐EXE) typical of arginine‐specific ADP‐ribosyltransferases and exhibit the predicted enzyme activities. Two other human ARTs and their murine orthologues deviate in the active site motif and lack detectable enzyme activity. Conceivably, these ARTs may have acquired a new specificity or function. The position‐sensitive iterative database search program PSI‐BLAST connected the mammalian ARTs with most known bacterial ADP‐ribosylating toxins. In contrast, no related open reading frames occur in the four completed genomes of lower eucaryotes (yeast, worm, fly, and mustard weed). Interestingly, these organisms also lack genes for ADP‐ribosylhydrolases, the enzymes that reverse protein ADP‐ribosylation. This suggests that the two enzyme families that catalyze reversible mono‐ADP‐ribosylation either were lost from the genomes of these nonchordata eucaryotes or were subject to horizontal gene transfer between kingdoms.
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