The evolutionary origins of the gene network underlying cellular pluripotency, a central theme in developmental biology, have yet to be elucidated. In mammals, Oct4 is a factor crucial in the reprogramming of differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. The Oct4 and Pou2 genes evolved from a POU class V gene ancestor, but it is unknown whether pluripotency induced by Oct4 gene activity is a feature specific to mammals or was already present in ancestral vertebrates. Here we report that different vertebrate Pou2 and Oct4 homologues can induce pluripotency in mouse and human fibroblasts and that the inability of zebrafish Pou2 to establish pluripotency is not representative of all Pou2 genes, as medaka Pou2 and axolotl Pou2 are able to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent cells. Therefore, our results indicate that induction of pluripotency is not a feature specific to mammals, but existed in the Oct4/Pou2 common ancestral vertebrate.

Soluble oligomeric amyloid-β (Aβ) species are toxic to many cell types and are a putative etiological factor in Alzheimer's disease. The NINDS-Custom Collection of 1040 drugs and biologically active compounds was robotically screened for inhibitors of Aβ oligomer formation with a single-site biotinylated Aβ(1-42) oligomer assembly assay. Several quinoline-like compounds were identified with IC 50 's < 10 μM, including the antiprotozoal clioquinol that has been reported to have effects on metal ion metabolism. The 2-OH, 4-OH, and 6-OH quinolines do not block Aβ oligomer formation up to a concentration of 100 μM. Analogs of clioquinol have shown activity in reducing Aβ levels and improving behavioral deficits in mouse models of Aβ pathology. The inhibitory effects of clioquinol and other 8-OH quinoline derivatives on oligomer formation in vitro are unrelated to their chelating activity. Crosslinking studies suggest that clioquinol acts at the stage of trimer formation. These preliminary data may suggest that 8-OH quinolines have the potential for suppressing Aβ oligomer formation which should be considered when assessing the effects of these compounds in animal models and clinical trials.

This work was supported by the Max Planck Society and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG-Research Unit FOR 1041 Germ Cell Potential (grant numbers SCHO 340/7-1, SCHL394/11-2). The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

BackgroundTissue regeneration is widely distributed across the tree of life. Among vertebrates, salamanders possess an exceptional ability to regenerate amputated limbs and other complex structures. Thus far, molecular insights about limb regeneration have come from a relatively limited number of species from two closely related salamander families. To gain a broader perspective on the molecular basis of limb regeneration and enhance the molecular toolkit of an emerging plethodontid salamander (Bolitoglossa ramosi), we used RNA-Seq to generate a de novo reference transcriptome and identify differentially expressed genes during limb regeneration.ResultsUsing paired-end Illumina sequencing technology and Trinity assembly, a total of 433,809 transcripts were recovered and we obtained functional annotation for 142,926 non-redundant transcripts of the B. ramosi de novo reference transcriptome. Among the annotated transcripts, 602 genes were identified as differentially expressed during limb regeneration. This list was further processed to identify a core set of genes that exhibit conserved expression changes between B. ramosi and the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), and presumably their common ancestor from approximately 180 million years ago.ConclusionsWe identified genes from B. ramosi that are differentially expressed during limb regeneration, including multiple conserved protein-coding genes and possible putative species-specific genes. Comparative analyses reveal a subset of genes that show similar patterns of expression with ambystomatid species, which highlights the importance of developing comparative gene expression data for studies of limb regeneration among salamanders.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-5076-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Photosystem II complexes were prepared from chloroplasts of wild type tobacco Nicotiana tabacum var. John William’s Broadleaf and from two chlorophyll mutants derived from it, namely N. tabacum Su/su and N. tabacum Su/su var. Aurea. The hydrophobic peptides of these complexes were analyzed for bound lipid molecules by means of monospecific lipid antisera. A comparison of the peptide composition of the complexes of the three chloroplast types by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the peptide composition was qualitatively identical. A major quantitative difference referred to a 66 kDa peptide which appeared to be much stronger in gels of photosystem II peptides originating from the yellowgreen and the yellow tobacco variety. Furthermore, we were able to show that different SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis runs of the same PS II preparation yielded differences in the band strength of this peptide. Comparative densitometric measurements showed that an increase in this 66 kDa peptide was always correlated with a decrease in the D1 and D2 peptides. Obviously, the 66 kDa peptide is the heterodimer of D1 and D2. Differences in the peptide composition of photosystem II preparations from the 3 tobacco species refer above all to peptides of the light-harvesting complex with molecular masses of 28 and 26 kDa. After the transfer of the peptides from the polyacrylamide gel to nitrocellulose membranes, they were incubated with monospecific antisera to monogalactolipid, digalactolipid or sulfolipid. These experiments showed that the 66 kDa peptide reacted with antibodies to digalactolipid and with those to sulfolipid. The 66 kDa peptide reacts in the Western blot procedure also with an antiserum to a 66 kDa peptide prepared and characterized earlier and which was shown to inhibit electron transport reactions in the region of the reaction center of photosystem II. The monospecific antiserum to monogalactolipid reacts with the D1 and D2 peptide as well as with the chlorophyll-binding polypeptides of the masses 42 and 48 kDa, and also with the 26 and 28 kDa peptides of the light-harvesting complex as well as with the extrinsic peptides exhibiting the molecular masses, 33 ,21 -23 and 18 kDa. Whereas lipase treatment apparently destroys the lipids as antigenic determinants of the peptides on the nitrocellulose membrane, periodate treatment or treatment of the photosystem II preparations with organic solvents do not prevent the reaction of the 66 kDa peptide with the sulfolipid antiserum. These experiments show as the 66 kDa peptide appears to be the heterodimer of D1 and D2, that the galactolipids mono- and digalactosyldiglyceride as well as the sulfolipid are bound, much like prosthetic groups, onto the core peptides.