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MIA-Jet: Multi-scale Identification Algorithm of Chromatin Jets.

The mammalian genome is organized into large-scale chromosome territories, compartments, domains, and at the smallest scale, chromatin loops and stripes. The newest element is a chromatin jet, a diffused line perpendicular to the main diagonal in the Hi-C contact map, which was reported in quiescent mammalian lymphocytes supporting a two-sided symmetric cohesin loop extrusion model. A similar structure is observed in Repli-HiC data, where relatively thin and straight chromatin fountains indicate coupling of DNA replication forks. However, the precise biological implications of these jet-like structures are unknown due to the limitations in computational methods. We developed MIA-Jet, a multi-scale ridge detection algorithm that can accurately detect jets of variable lengths, widths, and angles. When tested on Hi-C, Repli-HiC, ChIA-PET, ChIA-Drop, and Micro-C data in mouse, human, roundworm, and zebrafish cells, MIA-Jet outperformed existing methods. In human cells, jets were enriched in cohesin loading sites and early replication initiation zones. Applying MIA-Jet to Hi-C data generated from protein-degraded cells revealed that jets are dependent on cohesin but not YY1, and jet signals are strengthened after depleting WAPL. We envision MIA-Jet to be broadly applicable to any 3D genome mapping data, thereby providing new insights into the functional roles of chromatin jets.

3D genome mapping↗

Apoptosis of inner hair cells caused by laser ablation of their spiral ganglion neurons in cultures of the mouse organ of Corti.

Laser beam ablation of spiral ganglion neurons was performed in seven organotypic cultures of the newborn mouse cochlea between 5 and 8 days in vitro, with a recovery period of from 18 hours to 3 days. Direct somatic injury (laser or mechanical) inflicted on hair cells does not necessarily cause their death; many of them survive, repair damage and re-establish their neurosensory connections. By contrast, laser irradiation and ablation of their afferent spiral ganglion neurons causes a most spectacular degeneration of sensory cells within 18-48 hours after the insult. Ultrastructurally, the degenerated hair cells-characteristically the inner hair cells-display "dark-cell vacuolar degeneration" that combines the signs of apoptotic death (the peripheral condensation of nuclear chromatin and nuclear pyknosis) with signs of cell edema, vacuolization and necrosis. The ultimate condensation of the cytoplasm gives the dead cells a jet black appearance. The irradiated spiral ganglion neurons die displaying similar pathological characteristics. The extent and locus of inner hair cell degeneration correspond to that of ablated spiral ganglion neurons: ultimately the ablation of one neuron causes degeneration of a single inner hair cell within the closest radial segment of the afferent innervation. The elimination of spiral ganglion neurons by mechanical means does not affect hair cell survival. It is inferred that the laser pulse acts as a stimulus depolarizing the neuronal membrane of the spiral ganglion neurons and their radial fibers and causing the excitotoxic death of their synaptic sensory cells through excessive stimulation of the glutamatergic receptors. Reciprocal pre-and postsynaptic synapses between the afferent dendrites and inner hair cells in culture could possibly serve as entryways of the stimulus. The pathogenesis of this apparent transsynaptically-induced apoptotic death of inner hair cells will be further examined in culture.

Animals↗

Male reproductive effects of solvent and fuel exposure during aircraft maintenance.

Few studies have addressed the effects of mixed, low-level exposures to complex mixtures on a man's reproductive potential. In this prospective study, each subject was evaluated before first exposure and at 15 and 30 weeks after exposures had begun. A total of 50 men working on aircraft maintenance at an Air Force installation were included in the study. In addition, eight unexposed men were concurrently sampled. Industrial hygiene (IH) sampling and expired breath samples were collected for jet fuel as measured by total napthas, benzene--a component of jet fuel, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, methyl ethyl ketone, xylenes, toluene, and methylene chloride. Sperm production, structure, and function (sperm concentration, sperm motion, viability, morphology, morphometrics, and stability of sperm chromatin) were evaluated. Exposures were low. All mean IH measures were below 6 ppm, which is less than 10% of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard for all chemicals except benzene. Sheet metal workers had the highest mean breath levels for both total solvents (24 ppb) and fuels (28.3 ppb). For most sperm measures, mean values remained in the normal range throughout the 30 weeks of exposure. When jobs were analyzed by exposure groups, some adverse changes were observed. The paint shop group had a significant decline in motility of 19.5% at 30 weeks. Internal dose measures, however, did not show a significant association with spermatogenic changes.

Adult↗

Mechanisms of JP-8 jet fuel toxicity. I. Induction of apoptosis in rat lung epithelial cells.

JP-8 is a kerosene-based fuel widely used by the U.S. military. Various models of human occupational and animal exposure to JP-8 have demonstrated the potential for local and systemic toxicity but the mechanisms involved are unknown. The purpose of our investigation was to study the molecular mechanisms of JP-8 toxicity by using an in vitro model. JP-8 exposure in a rat lung alveolar type II epithelial cell line (RLE-6TN) induces biochemical and morphological markers of apoptotic cell death: caspase-3 activation, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, and genomic DNA cleavage into both oligonucleosomal (DNA ladder) and high-molecular-weight (HMW) fragments. The human histiocytic lymphoma cell line (U937) also responds to JP-8 with caspase-3 activation, cleavage of caspase substrates, including PARP, DNA-PK, and lamin B1, and degradation of genomic DNA with the production of HMW fragments. Caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage also occur in the acute T-cell leukemia cell line (Jurkat) following treatment with JP-8. Furthermore, Jurkat cells stably transfected with a plasmid encoding the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-x(L) or pretreated with the pan-caspase inhibitor Boc-d-fmk, are relatively resistant to the cytotoxic effects of JP-8 compared to control cells. Finally, we demonstrate that PARP cleavage occurs in primary mouse thymocytes exposed to JP-8. In conclusion, our data support the hypothesis that apoptotic cell death is responsible at least partially for the cytotoxic effects of JP-8 and suggest that inhibition of the apoptotic cascade might reduce JP-8 toxicity.

Animals↗

Three-dimensional viewing of internal cell structure.

3T3 and HeLa cells, grown as a monolayer, have been rapidly frozen by propane jet as a fresh preparation, without pretreatment. In some experiments the frozen cells were fractured at -170 degrees C, thawed into fixative and viewed by high-resolution SEM after critical-point drying. In other experiments the frozen cells were thawed into fixative unfractured. These preparations were refrozen in 15% methanol, fractured and deep-etched for replication and TEM study. The technique used in this work appears to give rapid rewarming from -170 degrees C to 0 degree C with little evidence of ice crystal growth. The cells fractured before thawing, examined by SEM, show extensive extraction of both nucleus and cytoplasm with deep views of nuclear chromatin, and of cytoplasmic organelles caught amongst rather distorted filaments of the cytoskeleton. Initial fixation for the SEM work was light (0.3% glutaraldehyde for 10 mins) so that structure is seen as it would be retained for antibody labelling.

Animals↗

Induction of lupus-related specific autoantibodies by non-specific inflammation caused by an intraperitoneal injection of n-hexadecane in BALB/c mice.

A single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of pristane, incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA), or the adjuvant oil squalene, but not high molecular weight medicinal mineral oils, induces lupus-related autoantibodies to nRNP/Sm and -Su in non-autoimmune strains of mice. This ability appears to be associated with the low molecular weight and adjuvanticity of hydrocarbon. n-Hexadecane (C(16)H(34)), which is present in petroleum, has adjuvant activity and induces arthritis in rodents like other lupus-inducing oils. In addition to dietary exposure to n-hexadecane in mineral oils, exposure also occurs via inhalation of oil mist, jet fuel, or diesel exhaust or by absorption through the skin. Since n-hexadecane is a low molecular weight adjuvant hydrocarbon oil similar to other lupus-inducing hydrocarbons, the present study examined whether it can also induce lupus-related autoantibodies in mice. Female BALB/cJ mice received a single i.p. injection of 0.5 ml of n-hexadecane, pristane, or saline (control). Pathology and serology (immunoglobulin levels, autoantibodies by immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, and ELISA) were examined 3 months later. Unexpectedly, all n-hexadecane-treated mice, but none in the other groups, developed inflammatory ascites within 2.5 months. n-Hexadecane induced hypergammaglobulinemia (IgG1, IgG2a), antinuclear (titer>1:160, 67%) and -cytoplasmic antibodies (58%) and autoantibodies to nRNP/Sm (25%), Su (33%), ssDNA (83%), and chromatin (100%). Therefore, non-specific inflammation caused by n-hexadecane resulted in the production of a limited set of specific autoantibodies. These previously unrecognized immunological effects of n-hexadecane may have implications in monitoring human exposure to hydrocarbons and in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.

Alkanes↗