The rockefeller university

A search for the exotic meson X(5568) decaying into the B-s(0)pi(+/-) final state is performed using data corresponding to 9.6 fb(-1) from pp collisions at root s = 1960 GeV recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. No evidence for this state is found and an upper limit of 6.7% at the 95% confidence level is set on the fraction of B-s(0) produced through the X(5568) -> B-s(0)pi(+/-) process.

In studying how stem cells make and maintain tissues, nearly every chapter of a cell biology textbook takes on special interest. The field even allows us to venture where no chapters have yet been written. In studying this basic problem, we are continually bombarded by nature's surprises and challenges. Stem cell biology has captured my interest for nearly my entire scientific career. Below, I focus on my laboratory's contributions to this fascinating field, to which so many friends and colleagues have made seminal discoveries equally deserving of this award.

A search for gauge-mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) in final states with photons and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The data sample of pp collisions at root s= 13 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). Data are compared with models in which the lightest neutralino has bino- or wino-like components, resulting in decays to photons and gravitinos, where the gravitinos escape detection. The event selection is optimized for both electroweak (EWK) and strong production SUSY scenarios. The observed data are consistent with standard model predictions, and limits are set in the context of a general gauge mediation model in which gaugino masses up to 980 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. Gaugino masses below 780 and 950 GeV are excluded in two simplified models with EWK production of mass-degenerate charginos and neutralinos. Stringent limits are set on simplified models based on gluino and squark pair production, excluding gluino (squark) masses up to 2100 (1750)GeV depending on the assumptions made for the decay modes and intermediate particle masses. This analysis sets the highest mass limits to date in the studied EWK models, and in the considered strong production models when the mass difference between the gauginos and the squarks or gluinos is small. (C) 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.

CLC channels mediate passive Cl- conduction, while CLC transporters mediate active Cl- transport coupled to H+ transport in the opposite direction. The distinction between CLC-0/1/2 channels and CLC transporters seems undetectable by amino acid sequence. To understand why they are different functionally we determined the structure of the human CLC-1 channel. Its 'glutamate gate' residue, known to mediate proton transfer in CLC transporters, adopts a location in the structure that appears to preclude it from its transport function. Furthermore, smaller side chains produce a wider pore near the intracellular surface, potentially reducing a kinetic barrier for Cl- conduction. When the corresponding residues are mutated in a transporter, it is converted to a channel. Finally, Cl- at key sites in the pore appear to interact with reduced affinity compared to transporters. Thus, subtle differences in glutamate gate conformation, internal pore diameter and Cl- affinity distinguish CLC channels and transporters.

S-Fatty-acylation is the covalent attachment of long chain fatty acids, predominately palmitate (C16:0, S-palmitoylation),to cysteine (Cys) residues via a thioester linkage on proteins. This post-translational and reversible lipid modification regulates protein function and localization in eukaryotes and is important in mammalian physiology and human diseases. While chemical labeling methods have improved the detection and enrichment of S-fatty-acylated proteins, mapping sites of modification and characterizing the endogenously attached fatty acids are still challenging. Here, we describe the integration and optimization of fatty acid chemical reporter labeling with hydroxylamine-mediated enrichment of S-fatty-acylated proteins and direct tagging of modified Cys residues to selectively map lipid modification sites. This afforded improved enrichment and direct identification of many protein S-fatty-acylation sites compared to previously described methods. Notably, we directly identified the S-fatty-acylation sites of IFITM3, an important interferon-stimulated inhibitor of virus entry, and we further demonstrated that the highly conserved Cys residues are primarily modified by palmitic acid. The methods described here should facilitate the direct analysis of protein S-fatty-acylation sites and their endogenously attached fatty acids in diverse cell types and activation states important for mammalian physiology and diseases.

Lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) is an evolutionarily conserved and widespread histone mark like lysine acetylation (Kac). Here we report that EP300 functions as a lysine 2-hyroxyisobutyryltransferase to regulate glycolysis in response to nutritional cues. We discovered that EP300 differentially regulates Khib and Kac on distinct lysine sites, with only 6 of the 149 EP300-targeted Khib sites overlapping with the 693 EP300-targeted Kac sites. We demonstrate that diverse cellular proteins, particularly glycolytic enzymes, are targeted by EP300 for Khib, but not for Kac. Specifically, deletion of EP300 significantly reduces Khib levels on several EP300-dependent, Khib-specific sites on key glycolytic enzymes including ENO1, decreasing their catalytic activities. Consequently, EP300-deficient cells have impaired glycolysis and are hypersensitive to glucose-depletion-induced cell death. Our study reveals an EP300-catalyzed, Khib-specific molecular mechanism that regulates cellular glucose metabolism and further indicate that EP300 has an intrinsic ability to select short-chain acyl-CoA-dependent protein substrates.

Midaortic syndrome (MAS) is a rare cause of severe childhood hypertension characterized by narrowing of the abdominal aorta in children and is associated with extensive vascular disease. It may occur as part of a genetic syndrome, such as neurofibromatosis, or as consequence of a pathological inflammatory disease. However, most cases are considered idiopathic. We hypothesized that in a high percentage of these patients, a monogenic cause of disease may be detected by evaluating whole exome sequencing data for mutations in 1 of 38 candidate genes previously described to cause vasculopathy. We studied a cohort of 36 individuals from 35 different families with MAS by exome sequencing. In 15 of 35 families (42.9%), we detected likely causal dominant mutations. In 15 of 35 (42.9%) families with MAS, whole exome sequencing revealed a mutation in one of the genes previously associated with vascular disease (NF1, JAG1, ELN, GATA6, and RNF213). Ten of the 15 mutations have not previously been reported. This is the first report of ELN, RNF213, or GATA6 mutations in individuals with MAS. Mutations were detected in NF1 (6/15 families), JAG1 (4/15 families), ELN (3/15 families), and one family each for GATA6 and RNF213. Eight individuals had syndromic disease and 7 individuals had isolated MAS. Whole exome sequencing can provide conclusive molecular genetic diagnosis in a high fraction of individuals with syndromic or isolated MAS. Establishing an etiologic diagnosis may reveal genotype/phenotype correlations for MAS in the future and should, therefore, be performed routinely in MAS.

Cryptochromes (CRYs) entrain the circadian clocks of plants and animals to light. Irradiation of the Drosophila cryptochrome (dCRY) causes reduction of an oxidized flavin cofactor by a chain of conserved tryptophan (Trp) residues. However, it is unclear how redox chemistry within the Trp chain couples to dCRY-mediated signaling. Here, we show that substitutions of four key Trp residues to redox-active tyrosine and redox-inactive phenylalanine tune the light sensitivity of dCRY photoreduction, conformational activation, cellular stability, and targeted degradation of the clock protein timeless (TIM). An essential surface Trp gates electron flow into the flavin cofactor, but can be relocated for enhanced photoactivation. Differential effects of Trp-mediated flavin photoreduction on cellular turnover of TIM and dCRY indicate that these activities are separated in time and space. Overall, the dCRY Trp chain has evolutionary importance for light sensing, and its manipulation has implications for optogenetic applications of CRYs.

A major challenge in neuroscience is to sample large-scale neuronal activity at high speed and resolution. While calcium (Ca2+) imaging allows high-resolution optical read-out of neuronal activity, it remains challenging to sample large-scale activity at high speed, as most available imaging microscopes provide a trade-off between speed and the size of the acquisition volume. One promising method that avoids the trade-off between the acquisition rate and volume size is light-field microscopy in which the full 3D profile of an object is imaged simultaneously, thereby offering high speed at the cost of reduced spatial resolution. Here we introduce speckle light-field microscopy (speckle LFM), which utilizes speckle-based structured illumination to enhance spatial resolution. Using speckle LFM we demonstrate brain-wide recording of neuronal activity in larval zebrafish at 10 Hz volume rate and at 1.4 times higher resolution compared to conventional light-field microscopy and with suppressed background fluorescence. In addition to improving resolution of spatial structure, we show that the increased resolution reduces spurious signal crosstalk between neighboring neurons. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

We demonstrate two approaches for unbalanced interferometers as time-bin qubit analyzers for quantum communication, robust against mode distortions and polarization effects as expected from free-space quantum communication systems including wavefront deformations, path fluctuations, pointing errors, and optical elements. Despite strong spatial and temporal distortions of the optical mode of a time-bin qubit, entangled with a separate polarization qubit, we verify entanglement using the Negative Partial Transpose, with the measured visibility of up to 0.85 +/- 0.01. The robustness of the analyzers is further demonstrated for various angles of incidence up to 0.2 degrees. The output of the interferometers is coupled into multimode fiber yielding a high system throughput of 0.74. Therefore, these analyzers are suitable and efficient for quantum communication over multimode optical channels.