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- Herrera-Rivero, Marisol, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the genetics of lithium response in bipolar disorders.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Research square.
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Lithium (Li) remains the treatment of choice for bipolar disorders (BP). Its mood-stabilizing effects help reduce the long-term burden of mania, depression and suicide risk in patients with BP. It also has been shown to have beneficial effects on disease-associated conditions, including sleep and cardiovascular disorders. However, the individual responses to Li treatment vary within and between diagnostic subtypes of BP (e.g. BP-I and BP-II) according to the clinical presentation. Moreover, long-term Li treatment has been linked to adverse side-effects that are a cause of concern and non-adherence, including the risk of developing chronic medical conditions such as thyroid and renal disease. In recent years, studies by the Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) have uncovered a number of genetic factors that contribute to the variability in Li treatment response in patients with BP. Here, we leveraged the ConLiGen cohort (N=2,064) to investigate the genetic basis of Li effects in BP. For this, we studied how Li response and linked genes associate with the psychiatric symptoms and polygenic load for medical comorbidities, placing particular emphasis on identifying differences between BP-I and BP-II.We found that clinical response to Li treatment, measured with the Alda scale, was associated with a diminished burden of mania, depression, substance and alcohol abuse, psychosis and suicidal ideation in patients with BP-I and, in patients with BP-II, of depression only. Our genetic analyses showed that a stronger clinical response to Li was modestly related to lower polygenic load for diabetes and hypertension in BP-I but not BP-II. Moreover, our results suggested that a number of genes that have been previously linked to Li response variability in BP differentially relate to the psychiatric symptomatology, particularly to the numbers of manic and depressive episodes, and to the polygenic load for comorbid conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and hypothyroidism.Taken together, our findings suggest that the effects of Li on symptomatology and comorbidity in BP are partially modulated by common genetic factors, with differential effects between BP-I and BP-II.
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| 2. |
- Costa, Tiago R. D., et al.
(författare)
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Active type III translocon assemblies that attenuate Yersinia virulence
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Type III secretion enables bacteria to intoxicate eukaryotic cells with anti-host effectors. A class of secreted cargo are the two hydrophobic translocators that form a translocon pore in the host cell plasma membrane through which the translocated effectors may gain cellular entry. In pathogenic Yersinia, YopB and YopD shape this translocon pore. Here, four in cis yopD mutations were constructed to disrupt a predicted a-helix motif at the C-terminus. Mutants YopDI262P and YopDK267P poorly localised Yop effectors into target eukaryotic cells and failed to resist uptake and killing by immune cells. These defects were due to deficiencies in host-membrane insertion of the YopD-YopB translocon. Mutants YopDA263P and YopDA270P had no measurable in vitro translocation defect, even though they formed smaller translocon pores in erythrocyte membranes. Despite this, all four mutants were attenuated in a mouse infection model. Hence, YopD variants have been generated that can spawn translocons capable of targeting effectors in vitro, yet were bereft of any lethal effect in vivo. It is therefore probable that an active translocon makes a range of contributions during bacteria-host cell contact that extends beyond effector delivery per se.
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| 3. |
- Costa, Tiago R. D., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of the LcrH chaperone on type III secretion system regulation in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Human pathogenic Yersiniae share a common virulence plasmid that encodes for the Ysc-Yop type III secretion system (T3SS). Control of yop expression involves several pathways in which their cross-talk is not completely understood. LcrF, an AraC-like transcriptional activator, is required for temperature-dependent yop-transcription. In contrast, a repressive effect of the T3S chaperone LcrH and the cognate translocator substrate YopD occurs through binding to yop mRNA and inhibiting translation; a process that is also thought to involve LcrQ. Several homologous members of the LcrH family of translocator-class of T3S chaperones can act as a cofactor to amplify the activity of transcriptional activators analogous to LcrF. However, we show here in Y. pseudotuberculosis that LcrH does not induce LcrF-dependent transcription of target genes. Moreover, a full length DlcrH null mutant in which YopB and YopD are rapidly degraded is totally de-repressed for Yop synthesis even though the anti-activator LcrQ is forced to accumulate in the cytoplasm through rendering the Ysc-Yop T3SS non-functional or ectopically producing LcrQ in trans. Typically, this mutant cannot grow at 37°C. Thus, in all respects, the DlcrH null mutant mirrors the regulatory defects established for Yersinia lacking the translocator and anti-activator YopD. On the other hand, Y. pseudotuberculosis producing the LcrHE30G point mutant that is defective for YscY chaperone binding exhibits a mild regulatory defect that permits some growth at 37°C, but is blind to the cytoplasmic accumulation of LcrQ. Critically however, this mutant still responds to repression caused by YopD accumulation, which is stably produced and efficiently secreted by this strain. Thus, our work with LcrHE30G indicates an additional regulatory function of this versatile T3S chaperone that is independent of the LcrF transcription factor and the YopD anti-activator.
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