In the developing vertebrate retina, progenitor cells initially proliferate but begin to produce postmitotic neurons when neuronal differentiation occurs. However, the mechanism that determines whether retinal progenitor cells continue to proliferate or exit from the cell cycle and differentiate is largely unknown. Here, we report that histone deacetylase 1 (Hdac1) is required for the switch from proliferation to differentiation in the zebrafish retina. We isolated a zebrafish mutant, ascending and descending(add), in which retinal cells fail to differentiate into neurons and glial cells but instead continue to proliferate. The cloning of the add gene revealed that it encodes Hdac1. Furthermore, the ratio of the number of differentiating cells to that of proliferating cells increases in proportion to Hdac activity, suggesting that Hdac proteins regulate a crucial step of retinal neurogenesis in zebrafish. Canonical Wnt signaling promotes the proliferation of retinal cells in zebrafish, and Notch signaling inhibits neuronal differentiation through the activation of a neurogenic inhibitor, Hairy/Enhancer-of-split (Hes). We found that both the Wnt and Notch/Hes pathways are activated in the add mutant retina. The cell-cycle progression and the upregulation of Hes expression in the add mutant retina can be inhibited by the blockade of Wnt and Notch signaling, respectively. These data suggest that Hdac1 antagonizes these pathways to promote cell-cycle exit and the subsequent neurogenesis in zebrafish retina. Taken together, these data suggest that Hdac1 functions as a dual switch that suppresses both cell-cycle progression and inhibition of neurogenesis in the zebrafish retina.

Bioactive phospholipids, which include sphingosine-1-phosphate,lysophosphatidic acid, ceramide and their derivatives regulate a wide variety of cellular functions in culture such as proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. The availability of these lipids and their products is regulated by the lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs). Here we show that mouse embryos deficient for LPP3 fail to form a chorio-allantoic placenta and yolk sac vasculature. A subset of embryos also show a shortening of the anterior-posterior axis and frequent duplication of axial structures that are strikingly similar to the phenotypes associated with axin deficiency,a critical regulator of Wnt signaling. Loss of LPP3 results in a marked increase in β-catenin-mediated TCF transcription, whereas elevated levels of LPP3 inhibit β-catenin-mediated TCF transcription. LPP3 also inhibits axis duplication and leads to mild ventralization in Xenopusembryo development. Although LPP3 null fibroblasts show altered levels of bioactive phospholipids, consistent with loss of LPP3 phosphatase activity, mutant forms of LPP3, specifically lacking phosphatase activity, were able to inhibit β-catenin-mediated TCF transcription and also suppress axis duplication, although not as effectively as intact LPP3. These results reveal that LPP3 is essential to formation of the chorio-allantoic placenta and extra-embryonic vasculature. LPP3 also mediates gastrulation and axis formation, probably by influencing the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. The exact biochemical roles of LPP3 phosphatase activity and its undefined effect on β-catenin-mediated TCF transcription remain to be determined.

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Homologous recombination-mediated gene targeting has greatly contributed to genetic analysis in a wide range of species, but is highly inefficient in human cells because of overwhelmingly frequent random integration events, whose molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here we show that DNA polymerase θ, despite its minor role in chromosomal DNA repair, substantially contributes to random integration, and that cells lacking both DNA polymerase θ and DNA ligase IV, which is essential for non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), exhibit 100% efficiency of spontaneous gene targeting by virtue of undetectable levels of random integration. Thus, DNA polymerase θ-mediated end joining is the sole homology-independent repair route in the absence of NHEJ and, intriguingly, their combined absence reveals rare Alu-Alu recombination events utilizing a stretch of homology. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanics of foreign DNA integration and the role of DNA polymerase θ in human genome maintenance.

Six materials, (EDT-TTF)(4)BrI(2)(TIE)(5) (1, where EDT-TTF = ethylenedithiotetrathiafulvalene and TIE = tetraiodoethylene), (EDST)(4)I(3)(TIE)(5) (2, where EDST = ethylenedithiodiselenadithiafulvalene), (MDT-TTF)(4)BrI(2)(TIE)(5) (3, where MDT-TTF = methylenedithiotetrathiafulvalene), (HMTSF)(2)Cl(2)(TIE)(3) (4, where HMTSF = hexamethylenetetraselenafulvalene), (PT)(2)Cl(DFBIB)(2) (5, where PT = bis(propylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene and DFBIB = 1,4-difluoro-2,5-bis(iodoethynyl)benzene), and (TSF)Cl(HFTIEB) (6, where TSF = tetraselenafulvalene and HFTIEB = 1,1',3,3',5,5'-hexafluoro-2,2',4,4'-tris(iodoethynyl)-biphenyl), consisting of conducting nanowires were obtained by galvanostatic oxidation of the donor molecules in the presence of the corresponding halide anions and iodine-containing neutral molecules. We report their characterizations using single-crystal crystallography, electrical resistance measurements, and electron spin resonance. The structures are built on stacks of planar cations of the donors that are isolated electrically by an insulating network consisting of supramolecular assemblies of the halide anions and neutral molecules held together by a halogen bond. The size and shape as well as the orientation (tilt) of the donors are matched by the self-organization of the insulating sheaths in all cases, providing a pea-in-a-pod example in the field of supramolecular chemistry. The observed resistivities, resistivity anisotropies, and electron spin resonance behaviors of these salts are analyzed by tight-binding band calculations and resistance-array modeling. Crystal 6 with insulating layer of 1 nm thickness exhibits 8 orders of magnitude anisotropy in its resistivity, indicating high potential of the supramolecular network as sheathing material. The observation of such networks leads us to propose a roadmap for future development toward multidimensional memory devices.