dictyNews Electronic Edition Volume 36, number 1 Jan 7, 2011 Please submit abstracts of your papers as soon as they have been accepted for publication by sending them to dicty@northwestern.edu or by using the form at http://dictybase.org/db/cgi-bin/dictyBase/abstract_submit. Back issues of dictyNews, the Dicty Reference database and other useful information is available at dictyBase - http://dictybase.org. Follow dictyBase on twitter: http://twitter.com/dictybase HAPPY NEW YEAR! ========= Abstracts ========= Developmental Gene Regulation by an Ancient Intercellular Communication System in Social Amoebae Asma Asghar, Marco Groth, Oliver Siol, Friedemann Gaube, Christoph Enzensperger, Gernot Glšckner, Thomas Winckler Protist, in press The social amoebae (Dictyostelia) use quorum sensing-like communication systems to coordinate the periodic transition from uni- to multicellularity. The monophyletic descent of the Dictyostelia provides a unique opportunity to study the origin and adaptive evolution of such intercellular communication systems. We determined that the ability of aggregation-competent cells to respond to the intercellular messenger glorin occurred in the most ancient taxa of the Dictyostelia. We show using Illumina sequencing technology that glorin mediates rapid changes in gene expression at the transition from vegetative growth to aggregation, apparently without pronounced cross-talk with the cyclic AMP-based communication system that coordinates post- aggregation events in these species. We conclude that peptide-based communication is the most ancient form of intercellular signaling in the evolution of multicellularity in the social amoebae, but has been repeatedly replaced by other communication systems during the monophyletic evolution of the social amoebae. Glorin communication has parallels with quorum sensing in that the molecule diffuses into the field, stimulates gene expression in receptive cells and coordinates a population-wide response. Submitted by Thomas Winckler [t.winckler@uni-jena.de] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derivatives of Dictyostelium differentiation-inducing factors promote mitogen-activated IL-2 production via AP-1 in Jurkat cells Katsunori Takahashi 1, Masami Murakami 1, Haruhisa Kikuchi 2, Yoshiteru Oshima 2, Yuzuru Kubohara 3 1 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan 2 Laboratory of Natural Product Chemistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aoba-yama, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan 3 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8512, Japan Life Sciences, in press. Aims: Differentiation-inducing factors (DIFs) are chlorinated alkylphenones found in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. DIF derivatives exhibit antiproliferative activities and promote glucose consumption in mammalian cells in vitro. Here, we assessed the ability of DIFs to regulate the immune system in a mammalian cell-line and investigated their mechanisms of action. Main methods: We examined the effects of 30 DIF derivatives on concanavalin AŠinduced interleukin-2 (IL-2) production (CIIP) in Jurkat T-cells. We also examined the effects of these DIF derivatives on the activity of three transcription factors required for CIIP: namely, activator protein-1 (AP-1), nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), and nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB). Key findings: A reporter gene assay suggested that 2 DIF derivatives, termed DIF-1(+1) and DIF-3(3M), significantly promoted CIIP in Jurkat cells, at least in part, by enhancing the activity of AP-1. These 2 DIF derivatives had no significant effect on concanavalin AŠinduced interferon-gamma production. Significance: The results suggest that DIF derivatives could be developed as novel drugs for the activation of IL-2 production and resultant stimulation of the immune system. Submitted by: Yuzuru Kubohara [kubohara@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp] ============================================================== [End dictyNews, volume 36, number 1]