SUMMARYThe ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway plays a central role in the degradation of short-lived regulatory proteins, to control many cellular events. To further understand this pathway, we focused on the RPT2 subunit of the 26S proteasome regulatory particle. The Arabidopsis genome contains two genes, AtRPT2a and AtRPT2b, which encode paralog molecules of the RPT2 subunit, with a difference of only three amino acids in the protein sequences. Both genes showed similar mRNA accumulation patterns. However, the rpt2a mutant showed a specific phenotype of enlarged leaves caused by increased cell size, in correlation with increased ploidy. Detailed analyses revealed that cell expansion is increased in the rpt2a mutant by extended endoreduplication early in leaf development. The transcription of genes encoding cell cycle-related components, for DNA replication licensing and the G2/M phase, was also promoted in the rpt2a mutant, suggesting that extended endoreduplication was caused by increased DNA replication, and disrupted regulation of the G2/M checkpoint, at the proliferation stage of leaf development.

The use of skin environment-sensitive liposomes for transdermal penetration is beneficial for improving cosmetic efficacy.

Spaceflight uniquely alters the physiology of both human cells and microbial pathogens, stimulating cellular and molecular changes directly relevant to infectious disease. However, the influence of this environment on host–pathogen interactions remains poorly understood. Here we report our results from the STL-IMMUNE study flown aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-131, which investigated multi-omic responses (transcriptomic, proteomic) of human intestinal epithelial cells to infection with Salmonella Typhimurium when both host and pathogen were simultaneously exposed to spaceflight. To our knowledge, this was the first in-flight infection and dual RNA-seq analysis using human cells.

Dual-signal-sensitive copolymers were synthesized by copolymerization of methoxy diethylene glycol methacrylate, methacrylic acid, and lauroxy tetraethylene glycol methacrylate, which respectively provide temperature sensitivity, pH sensitivity, and anchoring to liposome surfaces. These novel copolymers, with water solubility that differs depending on temperature and pH, are soluble in water under neutral pH and low-temperature conditions, but they become water-insoluble and form aggregates under acidic pH and high-temperature conditions. Liposomes modified with these copolymers exhibited enhanced content release at weakly acidic pH with increasing temperature, although no temperature-dependent content release was observed in neutral conditions. Interaction between the copolymers and the lipid monolayer at the air-water interface revealed that the copolymer chains penetrate more deeply into the monolayer with increasing temperature at acidic pH than at neutral pH, where the penetration of copolymer chains was moderate and temperature-independent at neutral pH. Interaction of the copolymer-modified liposomes with HeLa cells demonstrated that the copolymer-modified liposomes were adsorbed quickly and efficiently onto the cell surface and that they were internalized more gradually than the unmodified liposomes through endocytosis. Furthermore, the copolymer-modified liposomes enhanced the content release in endosomes with increasing temperature, but no such temperature-dependent enhancement of content release was observed for unmodified liposomes.