Endocytosis as a stabilizing mechanism for tissue homeostasis [Systems Biology]

Cells in tissues communicate by secreted growth factors (GF) and other signals. An important function of cell circuits is tissue homeostasis: maintaining proper balance between the amounts of different cell types. Homeostasis requires negative feedback on the GFs, to avoid a runaway situation in which cells stimulate each other and...

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Circadian clock-dependent and -independent posttranscriptional regulation underlies temporal mRNA accumulation in mouse liver [Systems Biology]

The mammalian circadian clock coordinates physiology with environmental cycles through the regulation of daily oscillations of gene expression. Thousands of transcripts exhibit rhythmic accumulations across mouse tissues, as determined by the balance of their synthesis and degradation. While diurnally rhythmic transcription regulation is well studied and often thought to be...

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Regulation of Arabidopsis brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 endocytosis and degradation by plant U-box PUB12/PUB13-mediated ubiquitination [Plant Biology]

Plants largely rely on plasma membrane (PM)-resident receptor-like kinases (RLKs) to sense extracellular and intracellular stimuli and coordinate cell differentiation, growth, and immunity. Several RLKs have been shown to undergo internalization through the endocytic pathway with a poorly understood mechanism. Here, we show that endocytosis and protein abundance of the...

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Effective games and the confusion over spatial structure [Biological Sciences]

A typical study of space in evolutionary game theory starts with a specification of how local interactions impact fitness, and then simulates that interaction over a model of space to show a surprising difference in dynamics between the spatial model and its nonspatial counterpart. Usually, this difference is revealed at...

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Reply to Van Meerbeek and Svenning, Emery, and Springmann et al.: Clarifying assumptions and objectives in evaluating effects of food system shifts on human diets [Biological Sciences]

Letters by Van Meerbeek and Svenning (1), Emery (2), and Springmann et al. (3), regarding the study by White and Hall (4), express concerns regarding assumptions of land allocation and proposed dietary characteristics. The authors (1–3) also present individual, diverse concerns. We attempt to address each concern below. Land Allocation...

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Normal aging induces A1-like astrocyte reactivity [Neuroscience]

The decline of cognitive function occurs with aging, but the mechanisms responsible are unknown. Astrocytes instruct the formation, maturation, and elimination of synapses, and impairment of these functions has been implicated in many diseases. These findings raise the question of whether astrocyte dysfunction could contribute to cognitive decline in aging....

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Septal cholinergic neurons gate hippocampal output to entorhinal cortex via oriens lacunosum moleculare interneurons [Neuroscience]

Neuromodulation of neural networks, whereby a selected circuit is regulated by a particular modulator, plays a critical role in learning and memory. Among neuromodulators, acetylcholine (ACh) plays a critical role in hippocampus-dependent memory and has been shown to modulate neuronal circuits in the hippocampus. However, it has remained unknown how...

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