Human

2014
Bahar Yilmazel, Yanhui Hu, Frederic Sigoillot, Jennifer A Smith, Caroline E Shamu, Norbert Perrimon, and Stephanie E Mohr. 2014. “Online GESS: prediction of miRNA-like off-target effects in large-scale RNAi screen data by seed region analysis.” BMC Bioinformatics, 15, Pp. 192.Abstract

BACKGROUND: RNA interference (RNAi) is an effective and important tool used to study gene function. For large-scale screens, RNAi is used to systematically down-regulate genes of interest and analyze their roles in a biological process. However, RNAi is associated with off-target effects (OTEs), including microRNA (miRNA)-like OTEs. The contribution of reagent-specific OTEs to RNAi screen data sets can be significant. In addition, the post-screen validation process is time and labor intensive. Thus, the availability of robust approaches to identify candidate off-targeted transcripts would be beneficial. RESULTS: Significant efforts have been made to eliminate false positive results attributable to sequence-specific OTEs associated with RNAi. These approaches have included improved algorithms for RNAi reagent design, incorporation of chemical modifications into siRNAs, and the use of various bioinformatics strategies to identify possible OTEs in screen results. Genome-wide Enrichment of Seed Sequence matches (GESS) was developed to identify potential off-targeted transcripts in large-scale screen data by seed-region analysis. Here, we introduce a user-friendly web application that provides researchers a relatively quick and easy way to perform GESS analysis on data from human or mouse cell-based screens using short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs), as well as for Drosophila screens using shRNAs. Online GESS relies on up-to-date transcript sequence annotations for human and mouse genes extracted from NCBI Reference Sequence (RefSeq) and Drosophila genes from FlyBase. The tool also accommodates analysis with user-provided reference sequence files. CONCLUSION: Online GESS provides a straightforward user interface for genome-wide seed region analysis for human, mouse and Drosophila RNAi screen data. With the tool, users can either use a built-in database or provide a database of transcripts for analysis. This makes it possible to analyze RNAi data from any organism for which the user can provide transcript sequences.

2014_BMC Bioinfo_Yilmazel.pdf
Stephanie E Mohr, Jennifer A Smith, Caroline E Shamu, Ralph A Neumüller, and Norbert Perrimon. 2014. “RNAi screening comes of age: improved techniques and complementary approaches.” Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 15, 9, Pp. 591-600.Abstract

Gene silencing through sequence-specific targeting of mRNAs by RNAi has enabled genome-wide functional screens in cultured cells and in vivo in model organisms. These screens have resulted in the identification of new cellular pathways and potential drug targets. Considerable progress has been made to improve the quality of RNAi screen data through the development of new experimental and bioinformatics approaches. The recent availability of genome-editing strategies, such as the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 system, when combined with RNAi, could lead to further improvements in screen data quality and follow-up experiments, thus promoting our understanding of gene function and gene regulatory networks.

2014_Nat Rev Mol Cell Bio_Mohr.pdf
2013
Clément Carré, Caroline Jacquier, Anne-Laure Bougé, Fabrice de Chaumont, Corinne Besnard-Guerin, Hélène Thomassin, Josette Pidoux, Bruno Da Silva, Eleftheria Chalatsi, Sarah Zahra, Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin, Hélène Munier-Lehmann, and Christophe Antoniewski. 2013. “AutomiG, a biosensor to detect alterations in miRNA biogenesis and in small RNA silencing guided by perfect target complementarity.” PLoS One, 8, 9, Pp. e74296.Abstract

Defects in miRNA biogenesis or activity are associated to development abnormalities and diseases. In Drosophila, miRNAs are predominantly loaded in Argonaute-1, which they guide for silencing of target RNAs. The miRNA pathway overlaps the RNAi pathway in this organism, as miRNAs may also associate with Argonaute-2, the mediator of RNAi. We set up a gene construct in which a single inducible promoter directs the expression of the GFP protein as well as two miRNAs perfectly matching the GFP sequences. We show that self-silencing of the resulting automiG gene requires Drosha, Pasha, Dicer-1, Dicer-2 and Argonaute-2 loaded with the anti-GFP miRNAs. In contrast, self-silencing of the automiG gene does not involve Argonaute-1. Thus, automiG reports in vivo for both miRNA biogenesis and Ago-2 mediated silencing, providing a powerful biosensor to identify situations where miRNA or siRNA pathways are impaired. As a proof of concept, we used automiG as a biosensor to screen a chemical library and identified 29 molecules that strongly inhibit miRNA silencing, out of which 5 also inhibit RNAi triggered by long double-stranded RNA. Finally, the automiG sensor is also self-silenced by the anti-GFP miRNAs in HeLa cells and might be easily used to identify factors involved in miRNA biogenesis and silencing guided by perfect target complementarity in mammals.

2013_PLOS One_Carre.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Yong Miao, Cathrine Miner, Lei Zhang, Phyllis I Hanson, Adish Dani, and Monika Vig. 2013. “An essential and NSF independent role for α-SNAP in store-operated calcium entry.” Elife, 2, Pp. e00802.Abstract

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) by calcium release activated calcium (CRAC) channels constitutes a primary route of calcium entry in most cells. Orai1 forms the pore subunit of CRAC channels and Stim1 is the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident Ca(2+) sensor. Upon store-depletion, Stim1 translocates to domains of ER adjacent to the plasma membrane where it interacts with and clusters Orai1 hexamers to form the CRAC channel complex. Molecular steps enabling activation of SOCE via CRAC channel clusters remain incompletely defined. Here we identify an essential role of α-SNAP in mediating functional coupling of Stim1 and Orai1 molecules to activate SOCE. This role for α-SNAP is direct and independent of its known activity in NSF dependent SNARE complex disassembly. Importantly, Stim1-Orai1 clustering still occurs in the absence of α-SNAP but its inability to support SOCE reveals that a previously unsuspected molecular re-arrangement within CRAC channel clusters is necessary for SOCE. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00802.001.

2013_eLife_Miao.pdf
Keren Imberg-Kazdan, Susan Ha, Alex Greenfield, Christopher S Poultney, Richard Bonneau, Susan K Logan, and Michael J Garabedian. 2013. “A genome-wide RNA interference screen identifies new regulators of androgen receptor function in prostate cancer cells.” Genome Res, 23, 4, Pp. 581-91.Abstract

The androgen receptor (AR) is a mediator of both androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancers. Identification of cellular factors affecting AR transcriptional activity could in principle yield new targets that reduce AR activity and combat prostate cancer, yet a comprehensive analysis of the genes required for AR-dependent transcriptional activity has not been determined. Using an unbiased genetic approach that takes advantage of the evolutionary conservation of AR signaling, we have conducted a genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila cells for genes required for AR transcriptional activity and applied the results to human prostate cancer cells. We identified 45 AR-regulators, which include known pathway components and genes with functions not previously linked to AR regulation, such as HIPK2 (a protein kinase) and MED19 (a subunit of the Mediator complex). Depletion of HIPK2 and MED19 in human prostate cancer cells decreased AR target gene expression and, importantly, reduced the proliferation of androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer cells. We also systematically analyzed additional Mediator subunits and uncovered a small subset of Mediator subunits that interpret AR signaling and affect AR-dependent transcription and prostate cancer cell proliferation. Importantly, targeting of HIPK2 by an FDA-approved kinase inhibitor phenocopied the effect of depletion by RNAi and reduced the growth of AR-positive, but not AR-negative, treatment-resistant prostate cancer cells. Thus, our screen has yielded new AR regulators including drugable targets that reduce the proliferation of castration-resistant prostate cancer cells.

2013_Genome Res_Imberg-Kazdan.pdf Supplement.pdf
Arunachalam Vinayagam, Yanhui Hu, Meghana Kulkarni, Charles Roesel, Richelle Sopko, Stephanie E Mohr, and Norbert Perrimon. 2013. “Protein complex-based analysis framework for high-throughput data sets.” Sci Signal, 6, 264, Pp. rs5.Abstract

Analysis of high-throughput data increasingly relies on pathway annotation and functional information derived from Gene Ontology. This approach has limitations, in particular for the analysis of network dynamics over time or under different experimental conditions, in which modules within a network rather than complete pathways might respond and change. We report an analysis framework based on protein complexes, which are at the core of network reorganization. We generated a protein complex resource for human, Drosophila, and yeast from the literature and databases of protein-protein interaction networks, with each species having thousands of complexes. We developed COMPLEAT (http://www.flyrnai.org/compleat), a tool for data mining and visualization for complex-based analysis of high-throughput data sets, as well as analysis and integration of heterogeneous proteomics and gene expression data sets. With COMPLEAT, we identified dynamically regulated protein complexes among genome-wide RNA interference data sets that used the abundance of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase in cells stimulated with either insulin or epidermal growth factor as the output. The analysis predicted that the Brahma complex participated in the insulin response.

2013_Sci Sig_Vinayagam.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Zheng Yin, Amine Sadok, Heba Sailem, Afshan McCarthy, Xiaofeng Xia, Fuhai Li, Mar Arias Garcia, Louise Evans, Alexis R Barr, Norbert Perrimon, Christopher J Marshall, Stephen TC Wong, and Chris Bakal. 2013. “A screen for morphological complexity identifies regulators of switch-like transitions between discrete cell shapes.” Nat Cell Biol, 15, 7, Pp. 860-71.Abstract

The way in which cells adopt different morphologies is not fully understood. Cell shape could be a continuous variable or restricted to a set of discrete forms. We developed quantitative methods to describe cell shape and show that Drosophila haemocytes in culture are a heterogeneous mixture of five discrete morphologies. In an RNAi screen of genes affecting the morphological complexity of heterogeneous cell populations, we found that most genes regulate the transition between discrete shapes rather than generating new morphologies. In particular, we identified a subset of genes, including the tumour suppressor PTEN, that decrease the heterogeneity of the population, leading to populations enriched in rounded or elongated forms. We show that these genes have a highly conserved function as regulators of cell shape in both mouse and human metastatic melanoma cells.

2013_Nat Cell Bio_Yin.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Yanhui Hu, Charles Roesel, Ian Flockhart, Lizabeth Perkins, Norbert Perrimon, and Stephanie E Mohr. 2013. “UP-TORR: online tool for accurate and Up-to-Date annotation of RNAi Reagents.” Genetics, 195, 1, Pp. 37-45.Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is a widely adopted tool for loss-of-function studies but RNAi results only have biological relevance if the reagents are appropriately mapped to genes. Several groups have designed and generated RNAi reagent libraries for studies in cells or in vivo for Drosophila and other species. At first glance, matching RNAi reagents to genes appears to be a simple problem, as each reagent is typically designed to target a single gene. In practice, however, the reagent-gene relationship is complex. Although the sequences of oligonucleotides used to generate most types of RNAi reagents are static, the reference genome and gene annotations are regularly updated. Thus, at the time a researcher chooses an RNAi reagent or analyzes RNAi data, the most current interpretation of the RNAi reagent-gene relationship, as well as related information regarding specificity (e.g., predicted off-target effects), can be different from the original interpretation. Here, we describe a set of strategies and an accompanying online tool, UP-TORR (for Updated Targets of RNAi Reagents; www.flyrnai.org/up-torr), useful for accurate and up-to-date annotation of cell-based and in vivo RNAi reagents. Importantly, UP-TORR automatically synchronizes with gene annotations daily, retrieving the most current information available, and for Drosophila, also synchronizes with the major reagent collections. Thus, UP-TORR allows users to choose the most appropriate RNAi reagents at the onset of a study, as well as to perform the most appropriate analyses of results of RNAi-based studies.

2013_Genetics_Hu.pdf Supplement.pdf
2012
Stephanie C Stotz and David E Clapham. 2012. “Anion-sensitive fluorophore identifies the Drosophila swell-activated chloride channel in a genome-wide RNA interference screen.” PLoS One, 7, 10, Pp. e46865.Abstract

When cells swell in hypo-osmotic solutions, chloride-selective ion channels (Cl(swell)) activate to reduce intracellular osmolality and prevent catastrophic cell rupture. Despite intensive efforts to assign a molecular identity to the mammalian Cl(swell) channel, it remains unknown. In an unbiased genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen of Drosophila cells stably expressing an anion-sensitive fluorescent indicator, we identify Bestrophin 1 (dBest1) as the Drosophila Cl(swell) channel. Of the 23 screen hits with mammalian homologs and predicted transmembrane domains, only RNAi specifically targeting dBest1 eliminated the Cl(swell) current (I(Clswell)). We further demonstrate the essential contribution of dBest1 to Drosophila I(Clswell) with the introduction of a human Bestrophin disease-associated mutation (W94C). Overexpression of the W94C construct in Drosophila cells significantly reduced the endogenous I(Clswell). We confirm that exogenous expression of dBest1 alone in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells creates a clearly identifiable Drosophila-like I(Clswell). In contrast, activation of mouse Bestrophin 2 (mBest2), the closest mammalian ortholog of dBest1, is swell-insensitive. The first 64 residues of dBest1 conferred swell activation to mBest2. The chimera, however, maintains mBest2-like pore properties, strongly indicating that the Bestrophin protein forms the Cl(swell) channel itself rather than functioning as an essential auxiliary subunit. dBest1 is an anion channel clearly responsive to swell; this activation depends upon its N-terminus.

2012_PLOS One_Stotz.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Joshua D Stender, Gabriel Pascual, Wen Liu, Minna U Kaikkonen, Kevin Do, Nathanael J Spann, Michael Boutros, Norbert Perrimon, Michael G Rosenfeld, and Christopher K Glass. 2012. “Control of proinflammatory gene programs by regulated trimethylation and demethylation of histone H4K20.” Mol Cell, 48, 1, Pp. 28-38.Abstract

Regulation of genes that initiate and amplify inflammatory programs of gene expression is achieved by signal-dependent exchange of coregulator complexes that function to read, write, and erase specific histone modifications linked to transcriptional activation or repression. Here, we provide evidence for the role of trimethylated histone H4 lysine 20 (H4K20me3) as a repression checkpoint that restricts expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) target genes in macrophages. H4K20me3 is deposited at the promoters of a subset of these genes by the SMYD5 histone methyltransferase through its association with NCoR corepressor complexes. Signal-dependent erasure of H4K20me3 is required for effective gene activation and is achieved by NF-κB-dependent delivery of the histone demethylase PHF2. Liver X receptors antagonize TLR4-dependent gene activation by maintaining NCoR/SMYD5-mediated repression. These findings reveal a histone H4K20 trimethylation/demethylation strategy that integrates positive and negative signaling inputs that control immunity and homeostasis.

2012_Mol Cell_Stender.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Stephanie E Mohr and Norbert Perrimon. 2012. “RNAi screening: new approaches, understandings, and organisms.” Wiley Interdiscip Rev RNA, 3, 2, Pp. 145-58.Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) leads to sequence-specific knockdown of gene function. The approach can be used in large-scale screens to interrogate function in various model organisms and an increasing number of other species. Genome-scale RNAi screens are routinely performed in cultured or primary cells or in vivo in organisms such as C. elegans. High-throughput RNAi screening is benefitting from the development of sophisticated new instrumentation and software tools for collecting and analyzing data, including high-content image data. The results of large-scale RNAi screens have already proved useful, leading to new understandings of gene function relevant to topics such as infection, cancer, obesity, and aging. Nevertheless, important caveats apply and should be taken into consideration when developing or interpreting RNAi screens. Some level of false discovery is inherent to high-throughput approaches and specific to RNAi screens, false discovery due to off-target effects (OTEs) of RNAi reagents remains a problem. The need to improve our ability to use RNAi to elucidate gene function at large scale and in additional systems continues to be addressed through improved RNAi library design, development of innovative computational and analysis tools and other approaches.

2012_Wiley Interdis Rev_Mohr.pdf
2011
Joost Schulte, Katharine J Sepp, Chaohong Wu, Pengyu Hong, and Troy J Littleton. 2011. “High-content chemical and RNAi screens for suppressors of neurotoxicity in a Huntington's disease model.” PLoS One, 6, 8, Pp. e23841.Abstract

To identify Huntington's Disease therapeutics, we conducted high-content small molecule and RNAi suppressor screens using a Drosophila primary neural culture Huntingtin model. Drosophila primary neurons offer a sensitive readout for neurotoxicty, as their neurites develop dysmorphic features in the presence of mutant polyglutamine-expanded Huntingtin compared to nonpathogenic Huntingtin. By tracking the subcellular distribution of mRFP-tagged pathogenic Huntingtin and assaying neurite branch morphology via live-imaging, we identified suppressors that could reduce Huntingtin aggregation and/or prevent the formation of dystrophic neurites. The custom algorithms we used to quantify neurite morphologies in complex cultures provide a useful tool for future high-content screening approaches focused on neurodegenerative disease models. Compounds previously found to be effective aggregation inhibitors in mammalian systems were also effective in Drosophila primary cultures, suggesting translational capacity between these models. However, we did not observe a direct correlation between the ability of a compound or gene knockdown to suppress aggregate formation and its ability to rescue dysmorphic neurites. Only a subset of aggregation inhibitors could revert dysmorphic cellular profiles. We identified lkb1, an upstream kinase in the mTOR/Insulin pathway, and four novel drugs, Camptothecin, OH-Camptothecin, 18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid, and Carbenoxolone, that were strong suppressors of mutant Huntingtin-induced neurotoxicity. Huntingtin neurotoxicity suppressors identified through our screen also restored viability in an in vivo Drosophila Huntington's Disease model, making them attractive candidates for further therapeutic evaluation.

2011_PLOS One_Schulte.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Yanhui Hu, Ian Flockhart, Arunachalam Vinayagam, Clemens Bergwitz, Bonnie Berger, Norbert Perrimon, and Stephanie E Mohr. 2011. “An integrative approach to ortholog prediction for disease-focused and other functional studies.” BMC Bioinformatics, 12, Pp. 357.Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mapping of orthologous genes among species serves an important role in functional genomics by allowing researchers to develop hypotheses about gene function in one species based on what is known about the functions of orthologs in other species. Several tools for predicting orthologous gene relationships are available. However, these tools can give different results and identification of predicted orthologs is not always straightforward. RESULTS: We report a simple but effective tool, the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center Integrative Ortholog Prediction Tool (DIOPT; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt), for rapid identification of orthologs. DIOPT integrates existing approaches, facilitating rapid identification of orthologs among human, mouse, zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila, and S. cerevisiae. As compared to individual tools, DIOPT shows increased sensitivity with only a modest decrease in specificity. Moreover, the flexibility built into the DIOPT graphical user interface allows researchers with different goals to appropriately 'cast a wide net' or limit results to highest confidence predictions. DIOPT also displays protein and domain alignments, including percent amino acid identity, for predicted ortholog pairs. This helps users identify the most appropriate matches among multiple possible orthologs. To facilitate using model organisms for functional analysis of human disease-associated genes, we used DIOPT to predict high-confidence orthologs of disease genes in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) and genes in genome-wide association study (GWAS) data sets. The results are accessible through the DIOPT diseases and traits query tool (DIOPT-DIST; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt-dist). CONCLUSIONS: DIOPT and DIOPT-DIST are useful resources for researchers working with model organisms, especially those who are interested in exploiting model organisms such as Drosophila to study the functions of human disease genes.

2011_BMC Bioinfo_Hu.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
2010
Amy M Wiles, Mark Doderer, Jianhua Ruan, Ting-Ting Gu, Dashnamoorthy Ravi, Barron Blackman, and Alexander JR Bishop. 2010. “Building and analyzing protein interactome networks by cross-species comparisons.” BMC Syst Biol, 4, Pp. 36.Abstract

BACKGROUND: A genomic catalogue of protein-protein interactions is a rich source of information, particularly for exploring the relationships between proteins. Numerous systems-wide and small-scale experiments have been conducted to identify interactions; however, our knowledge of all interactions for any one species is incomplete, and alternative means to expand these network maps is needed. We therefore took a comparative biology approach to predict protein-protein interactions across five species (human, mouse, fly, worm, and yeast) and developed InterologFinder for research biologists to easily navigate this data. We also developed a confidence score for interactions based on available experimental evidence and conservation across species. RESULTS: The connectivity of the resultant networks was determined to have scale-free distribution, small-world properties, and increased local modularity, indicating that the added interactions do not disrupt our current understanding of protein network structures. We show examples of how these improved interactomes can be used to analyze a genome-scale dataset (RNAi screen) and to assign new function to proteins. Predicted interactions within this dataset were tested by co-immunoprecipitation, resulting in a high rate of validation, suggesting the high quality of networks produced. CONCLUSIONS: Protein-protein interactions were predicted in five species, based on orthology. An InteroScore, a score accounting for homology, number of orthologues with evidence of interactions, and number of unique observations of interactions, is given to each known and predicted interaction. Our website http://www.interologfinder.org provides research biologists intuitive access to this data.

2010_BMC Sys Bio_Wiles.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Franz Wendler, Alison K Gillingham, Rita Sinka, Cláudia Rosa-Ferreira, David E Gordon, Xavier Franch-Marro, Andrew A Peden, Jean-Paul Vincent, and Sean Munro. 2010. “A genome-wide RNA interference screen identifies two novel components of the metazoan secretory pathway.” EMBO J, 29, 2, Pp. 304-14.Abstract

Genetic screens in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have identified many proteins involved in the secretory pathway, most of which have orthologues in higher eukaryotes. To investigate whether there are additional proteins that are required for secretion in metazoans but are absent from yeast, we used genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) to look for genes required for secretion of recombinant luciferase from Drosophila S2 cells. This identified two novel components of the secretory pathway that are conserved from humans to plants. Gryzun is distantly related to, but distinct from, the Trs130 subunit of the TRAPP complex but is absent from S. cerevisiae. RNAi of human Gryzun (C4orf41) blocks Golgi exit. Kish is a small membrane protein with a previously uncharacterised orthologue in yeast. The screen also identified Drosophila orthologues of almost 60% of the yeast genes essential for secretion. Given this coverage, the small number of novel components suggests that contrary to previous indications the number of essential core components of the secretory pathway is not much greater in metazoans than in yeasts.

2010_EMBO_Wendler.pdf Supplemental Files.zip
Stephanie Mohr, Chris Bakal, and Norbert Perrimon. 2010. “Genomic screening with RNAi: results and challenges.” Annu Rev Biochem, 79, Pp. 37-64.Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is an effective tool for genome-scale, high-throughput analysis of gene function. In the past five years, a number of genome-scale RNAi high-throughput screens (HTSs) have been done in both Drosophila and mammalian cultured cells to study diverse biological processes, including signal transduction, cancer biology, and host cell responses to infection. Results from these screens have led to the identification of new components of these processes and, importantly, have also provided insights into the complexity of biological systems, forcing new and innovative approaches to understanding functional networks in cells. Here, we review the main findings that have emerged from RNAi HTS and discuss technical issues that remain to be improved, in particular the verification of RNAi results and validation of their biological relevance. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of multiplexed and integrated experimental data analysis pipelines to RNAi HTS.

2010_Annu Rev Biochem_Mohr.pdf
Christine Akimana, Souhaila Al-Khodor, and Yousef Abu Kwaik. 2010. “Host factors required for modulation of phagosome biogenesis and proliferation of Francisella tularensis within the cytosol.” PLoS One, 5, 6, Pp. e11025.Abstract

Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious facultative intracellular bacterium that can be transmitted between mammals by arthropod vectors. Similar to many other intracellular bacteria that replicate within the cytosol, such as Listeria, Shigella, Burkholderia, and Rickettsia, the virulence of F. tularensis depends on its ability to modulate biogenesis of its phagosome and to escape into the host cell cytosol where it proliferates. Recent studies have identified the F. tularensis genes required for modulation of phagosome biogenesis and escape into the host cell cytosol within human and arthropod-derived cells. However, the arthropod and mammalian host factors required for intracellular proliferation of F. tularensis are not known. We have utilized a forward genetic approach employing genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila melanogaster-derived cells. Screening a library of approximately 21,300 RNAi, we have identified at least 186 host factors required for intracellular bacterial proliferation. We silenced twelve mammalian homologues by RNAi in HEK293T cells and identified three conserved factors, the PI4 kinase PI4KCA, the ubiquitin hydrolase USP22, and the ubiquitin ligase CDC27, which are also required for replication in human cells. The PI4KCA and USP22 mammalian factors are not required for modulation of phagosome biogenesis or phagosomal escape but are required for proliferation within the cytosol. In contrast, the CDC27 ubiquitin ligase is required for evading lysosomal fusion and for phagosomal escape into the cytosol. Although F. tularensis interacts with the autophagy pathway during late stages of proliferation in mouse macrophages, this does not occur in human cells. Our data suggest that F. tularensis utilizes host ubiquitin turnover in distinct mechanisms during the phagosomal and cytosolic phases and phosphoinositide metabolism is essential for cytosolic proliferation of F. tularensis. Our data will facilitate deciphering molecular ecology, patho-adaptation of F. tularensis to the arthropod vector and its role in bacterial ecology and patho-evolution to infect mammals.

2010_PLOS One_Akimana.pdf Table S1.xls
2009
Lorna S Kategaya, Binita Changkakoty, Travis Biechele, William H Conrad, Ajamete Kaykas, Ramanuj DasGupta, and Randall T Moon. 2009. “Bili inhibits Wnt/beta-catenin signaling by regulating the recruitment of axin to LRP6.” PLoS One, 4, 7, Pp. e6129.Abstract

BACKGROUND: Insights into how the Frizzled/LRP6 receptor complex receives, transduces and terminates Wnt signals will enhance our understanding of the control of the Wnt/ss-catenin pathway. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In pursuit of such insights, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila cells expressing an activated form of LRP6 and a beta-catenin-responsive reporter. This screen resulted in the identification of Bili, a Band4.1-domain containing protein, as a negative regulator of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. We found that the expression of Bili in Drosophila embryos and larval imaginal discs significantly overlaps with the expression of Wingless (Wg), the Drosophila Wnt ortholog, which is consistent with a potential function for Bili in the Wg pathway. We then tested the functions of Bili in both invertebrate and vertebrate animal model systems. Loss-of-function studies in Drosophila and zebrafish embryos, as well as human cultured cells, demonstrate that Bili is an evolutionarily conserved antagonist of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Mechanistically, we found that Bili exerts its antagonistic effects by inhibiting the recruitment of AXIN to LRP6 required during pathway activation. CONCLUSIONS: These studies identify Bili as an evolutionarily conserved negative regulator of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.

2009_PLOS One_Kategaya.pdf Supplement.pdf
October M Sessions, Nicholas J Barrows, Jayme A Souza-Neto, Timothy J Robinson, Christine L Hershey, Mary A Rodgers, Jose L Ramirez, George Dimopoulos, Priscilla L Yang, James L Pearson, and Mariano A Garcia-Blanco. 2009. “Discovery of insect and human dengue virus host factors.” Nature, 458, 7241, Pp. 1047-50.Abstract

Dengue fever is the most frequent arthropod-borne viral disease of humans, with almost half of the world's population at risk of infection. The high prevalence, lack of an effective vaccine, and absence of specific treatment conspire to make dengue fever a global public health threat. Given their compact genomes, dengue viruses (DENV-1-4) and other flaviviruses probably require an extensive number of host factors; however, only a limited number of human, and an even smaller number of insect host factors, have been identified. Here we identify insect host factors required for DENV-2 propagation, by carrying out a genome-wide RNA interference screen in Drosophila melanogaster cells using a well-established 22,632 double-stranded RNA library. This screen identified 116 candidate dengue virus host factors (DVHFs). Although some were previously associated with flaviviruses (for example, V-ATPases and alpha-glucosidases), most of the DVHFs were newly implicated in dengue virus propagation. The dipteran DVHFs had 82 readily recognizable human homologues and, using a targeted short-interfering-RNA screen, we showed that 42 of these are human DVHFs. This indicates notable conservation of required factors between dipteran and human hosts. This work suggests new approaches to control infection in the insect vector and the mammalian host.

2009_Nature_Sessions.pdf Supplement.pdf
Dawei Jiang, Linlin Zhao, and David E Clapham. 2009. “Genome-wide RNAi screen identifies Letm1 as a mitochondrial Ca2+/H+ antiporter.” Science, 326, 5949, Pp. 144-7.Abstract

Mitochondria are integral components of cellular calcium (Ca2+) signaling. Calcium stimulates mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphate production, but can also initiate apoptosis. In turn, cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations are regulated by mitochondria. Although several transporter and ion-channel mechanisms have been measured in mitochondria, the molecules that govern Ca2+ movement across the inner mitochondrial membrane are unknown. We searched for genes that regulate mitochondrial Ca2+ and H+ concentrations using a genome-wide Drosophila RNA interference (RNAi) screen. The mammalian homolog of one Drosophila gene identified in the screen, Letm1, was found to specifically mediate coupled Ca2+/H+ exchange. RNAi knockdown, overexpression, and liposome reconstitution of the purified Letm1 protein demonstrate that Letm1 is a mitochondrial Ca2+/H+ antiporter.

2009_Science_Jiang.pdf Supplement.pdf

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