dictyNews Electronic Edition Volume 42, number 23 September 30, 2016 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 ========= Abstracts ========= Web of Stories Interview of John Bonner - Video I was interviewed for Web of Stories a few months ago on the story of my life and the video is now online. Just search for Web of Stories or directly go to this link: http://www.webofstories.com/play/Bonner/1 The interview is largely based on my published autobiography. It is too long — fit only for those who run the marathon. You can quit at the 5 mile marker! submitted by: John Bonner [jtbonner@princeton.edu] ——————————————————————————————————————— The PARP family: insights into functional aspects of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 in cell growth and survival T. Jubin1, A. Kadam1, M. Jariwala1, S. Bhatt1, S. Sutariya1, A.R. Gani1, S. Gautam2, R. Begum1 1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. 2Food Technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. Cell Proliferation, 49: 421– 437. doi: 10.1111/cpr.12268 PARP family members can be found spread across all domains and continue to be essential molecules from lower to higher eukaryotes. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1), newly termed ADP-ribosyltransferase D-type 1 (ARTD1), is a ubiquitously expressed ADP-ribosyltransferase (ART) enzyme involved in key cellular processes such as DNA repair and cell death. This review assesses current developments in PARP-1 biology and activation signals for PARP-1, other than conventional DNA damage activation. Moreover, many essential functions of PARP-1 still remain elusive. PARP-1 is found to be involved in a myriad of cellular events via conservation of genomic integrity, chromatin dynamics and transcriptional regulation. This article briefly focuses on its other equally important overlooked functions during growth, metabolic regulation, spermatogenesis, embryogenesis, epigenetics and differentiation. Understanding the role of PARP-1, its multidimensional regulatory mechanisms in the cell and its dysregulation resulting in diseased states, will help in harnessing its true therapeutic potential. submitted by: Sandip Sutariya [sandeepsutariya@gmail.com] ——————————————————————————————————————— Extracellular matrix dynamics and functions in the social amoeba Dictyostelium: A critical review Robert J. Huber (a)* and Danton H. O’Day (b,c) (a) Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (b) Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (c) Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - General Subjects Background: The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a dynamic complex of glycoproteins, proteoglycans, carbohydrates, and collagen that serves as an interface between mammalian cells and their extracellular environment. Essential for normal cellular homeostasis, physiology, and events that occur during development, it is also a key functionary in a number of human diseases including cancer. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum secretes an ECM during multicellular development that regulates multicellularity, cell motility, cell differentiation, and morphogenesis, and provides structural support and protective layers to the resulting differentiated cell types. Proteolytic processing within the Dictyostelium ECM leads to specific bioactive factors that regulate cell motility and differentiation.Scope of Review: Here we review the structure and functions of the Dictyostelium ECM and its role in regulating multicellular development. The questions and challenges that remain and how they can be answered are also discussed. Major Conclusions: The Dictyostelium ECM shares many of the features of mammalian and plant ECM, and thus presents an excellent system for studying the structure and function of the ECM. General Significance: As a genetically tractable model organism, Dictyostelium offers the potential to further elucidate ECM functions, and to possibly reveal previously unknown roles for the ECM. submitted by: Robert Huber [roberthuber@trentu.ca] ============================================================== [End dictyNews, volume 42, number 23]