Yuri M Moshkin

Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences

Nucleosomal DNA is thought to be generally inaccessible to DNA-binding factors, such as micrococcal nuclease (MNase). Here, we digest Drosophila chro-matin with high and low concentrations of MNase to reveal two distinct nucleosome types: MNase-sensitive and MNase-resistant. MNase-resistant nu-cleosomes assemble on sequences depleted of A/T and enr...

Most of eukaryotic DNA is embedded into nucleosome arrays formed by DNA wrapped around a core histone octamer. Nucleosome is a fundamental repeating unit of chromatin guarding access to the genetic information. Here, I will discuss two facets of nucleosome in eukaryotic gene control. On the one hand, nucleosome acts as a regulatory unit, which cont...

Author Summary Eukaryotic DNA is assembled into a nucleo-protein structure called chromatin. Nucleosomes are the basic building blocks of chromatin, comprising 147 bp of DNA tightly wrapped around a histone protein core. Histone chaperones mediate nucleosome assembly by preventing non-productive aggregation of histones with DNA. Here, we describe a...

Histone chaperones are involved in a variety of chromatin transactions. By a proteomics survey, we identified the interaction networks of histone chaperones ASF1, CAF1, HIRA, and NAP1. Here, we analyzed the cooperation of H3/H4 chaperone ASF1 and H2A/H2B chaperone NAP1 with two closely related silencing complexes: LAF and RLAF. NAP1 binds RPD3 and...

The odor plays a key role in communication between animals and the choice of a mate. The odor of urine of males becomes less attractive to mature females after infection or activation of the immune system. The development of the immune response in the early stages is related with the production of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokin...

Mate choice is the very important part of sexual selection. It is known that free mate choice is to provide the most viable offspring are born. Researches on different animal species found that viability from introduction to sexual maturity is significantly higher in individuals born in crossbreeding in accordance with free behavioral mate choice,...

Sexual selection is considered as one of the leading factors of evolutionary development. In the conditions of incessant competition, specialized methods of attracting individuals of the opposite sex as well as criteria for assessing the quality of a sexual partner have been formed. In order for animals to rely on signaling from sexual partners, th...

To identify body systems subject to epigenetic transformation during in vitro fertilization (IVF), comparative morphological and functional studies were performed on sexually mature offspring of outbred CD1 mice, specific-pathogen-free (SPF), obtained by IVF (experiment) and natural conception (control). The studies included assessment of age-relat...

Nanoparticles (NPs) can be transported via the nose-to-brain (N2B) route. Nonetheless, quantitative data on their spatiotemporal dynamics and regulation of the N2B transport are largely lacking. We surveyed metal oxide/hydroxide NPs as MRI contrasts for quantitative N2B tracking. NPs containing divalent transition metals were the only ones capable...

Developmental instability (DI) is thought to be inversely related to a capacity of an organism to buffer its development against random genetic and environmental perturbations. DI is represented by a trait’s inter- and intra-individual variabilities. The inter-individual variability (inversely referred to as canalization) indicates the capability o...

The latest vaccination campaign has actualized the potential impact of antigenic stimuli on reproductive functions. To address this, we mimicked vaccination’s effects by administering keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH ) to CD1 male mice and used their sperm for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Two-cell embryos after IVF with spermatozoa from control (C)...

ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers control the accessibility of genomic DNA through nucleosome mobilization. However, the dynamics of genome exploration by remodelers, and the role of ATP hydrolysis in this process remain unclear. We used live-cell imaging of Drosophila polytene nuclei to monitor Brahma (BRM) remodeler interactions with its chromos...

Finding novel biomarkers for human pathologies and predicting clinical outcomes for patients is challenging. This stems from the heterogeneous response of individuals to disease and is reflected in the inter-individual variability of gene expression responses that obscures differential gene expression analysis. Here, we developed an alternative app...

ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers control the accessibility of genomic DNA through nucleosome mobilization. However, the dynamics of genome exploration by remodelers, and the role of ATP hydrolysis in this process remain unclear. We used live-cell imaging of Drosophila polytene nuclei to monitor Brahma (BRM) remodeler interactions with its chromos...

Exposure to nanomaterials is considered as one of the risk factors for neurodegenerative pathology. In vitro inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) absorb intrinsically disordered proteins, many of which are the constituents of stress-granules (SGs). SGs normally form in response to cellular stress and, here, we addressed whether selected inorganic NPs coul...

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) increasingly occupy the study of human reproduction. In addition, in developed countries they contribute to breeding of more than 50 % of cattle. In the management of collections of genetic lines of laboratory animals, these technologies are obligatory components of cryopreservation and rederivation. ART pro...

We analyzed the whole-genome experimental maps of nucleosomes in Drosophila melanogaster and classified genes by the expression level in S2 cells (RPKM value, reads per kilobase million) as well as the number of tissues in which a gene was expressed (breadth of expression, BoE). Chromatin in 5′-regions of genes we classified on four states accordin...

Finding novel biomarkers for human pathologies and predicting clinical outcomes for patients is rather challenging. This stems from the heterogenous response of individuals to disease which is also reflected in the inter-individual variability of gene expression responses. This in turn obscures differential gene expression analysis (DGE). In the mi...

The life-history theory suggests that parental experience of the environment is passed to offspring, which allows them to adapt to prevailing conditions. This idea is supported from the mother’s side, but to a much less extent from the father’s side. Here, we investigated the effect of immunising fathers on pre- and neonatal development and on immu...

The concepts of allostatic load and overload, i.e. a dramatic increase in the allostatic load that predisposes to disease, have been extensively described in the literature. Here, we show that rats engaging in active offensive response (AOR) behavioral strategies to chronic predator scent stress (PSS) display less anxiety behavior and lower plasma...

Transcriptome sequencing is a powerful technique to study molecular changes that underlie the differences in physiological conditions and disease progression. A typical question that is posed in such studies is finding genes with significant changes between sample groups. In this respect expression variability is regarded as a nuisance factor that...

There is a canonical life-history trade-off between quantity and quality of offspring, but molecular determinants for this are unknown. Here, we show that knockout of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-KO) in mice switched a relation between the number and size of developing embryos from expectedly negative to unexpectedly positive. Depletion of TNFα imbal...

Study question: Does the genotype of the surrogate mother modulate the body composition and immunity of her offspring? Summary answer: C57BL/6J (B6) progenies carried by immunodeficient NOD SCID (NS) mothers had increased adaptive, but decreased innate, immune responsiveness in comparison with the same genotype offspring carried by immunocompete...

Long-lived systems are expected to be stable, i. e. resistant to either external influences, or internal failures. Robustness of biological systems can be defined as a reciprocal value to their phenotypic plasticity expressed through a coefficient of variation (C.V.) for positively distributed phenotypic traits. Considering lifespan as phenotype, w...

The ability to deliver particulated xenobiotics and therapeutic drugs directly from the nasal cavity to the central nervous system, bypassing the hemato-encephalic barrier, determines a high importance of investigation of factors influencing this process. It was shown that the bioavailability of solid particles is influenced by their size and surfa...

In experiments in which nano-sized metal oxide particles are multiply administered through inhalation, the absence of a material correlation between the number of they are administered and the metal concentration in olfactory bulbs (OBs) is demonstrated. This circumstance raises the question about a possible decrease in the efficiency of the captur...

The aim of the present study was to examine how administration of a compound of 1,3,4- thiadiazine class 2-morpholino-5-phenyl-6H-1,3,4-thiadiazine, hydrobromide (L-17) with hypothermia inducing properties affects the brain metabolism. The mechanism by which L-17 induces hypothermia is unknown; it may involve hypothalamic central thermoregulation a...

Individual experiments data file. (PDF)

Changes in mouse body temperature induced by L-17. Mice BALB/c were injected intraperitoneally with L-17 (140 mg/kg) in NaCl 0.9% or same volume of NaCl 0.9% (control), three mice per group. Temperature measurements were performed using intraperitoneally implanted thermosensitive logger. (TIF)

The immune response to immunogenic stimuli depends on various factors such as the cytokine context, way of entry, and immune status of the organism. In mice, the entry of the female’s chemosignals into the male organism via the respiratory system activates the mucosal immune response, which leads to the development of enhanced resistance to infecti...

In experiments with reusable inhalation of nano-sized metal oxide particles, it has been shown that there is no significant relationship between the number of presentations and the metal concentration in the olfactory bulb. This fact raises the question of a possible decrease in the efficiency of particulate capturing by the olfactory epithelium af...

Nanoparticles are capable of penetrating cells, but little is known about the way they interact with intracellular proteome. Here we showed that inorganic nanoparticles associate with low-complexity, intrinsically disordered proteins from HeLa cytosolic protein extracts in non-denaturing in vitro nanoparticle pull-down assays. Intrinsic protein dis...

Glioblastoma is a leader among the most malignant brain tumors with the average lifespan of patients around 9-12 months. For prevention and treatment of neuropathology, a variety of therapeutic and surgical approaches are being developed and improved, including radiation and chemical therapy methods. In our work, we investigated cytopathic effect o...

This review shows that the interpenetration of population ecology and animal physiology positively affects the both scientific directions that are important fields of modern zoology. Due to progress in the development of telemetry and non-invasive methods to assess the animal state, as well as of moleculargenetic methods that permit to distinguish...

The silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) has previously been shown to have negative effects on the Notch pathway in several contexts. We bring evidence that Sirt1 has a positive effect on Notch activation in Drosophila, in the context of sensory organ precursor specification and during wing development. The phenotype of Sirt1 mutant resembles wea...

Magnetic resonance angiography was used to examine blood flow in great arteries of hypertensive ISIAH and normotensive Wistar rats. In hypertensive ISIAH rats, increased vascular resistance in the basin of the abdominal aorta and renal arteries as well as reduced fraction of total renal blood flow were found. In contrast, blood flow through both ca...

Restricted mobility and spatial isolation of social units in gregarious subterranean mammals ensure good defence mechanisms against parasites, which in turn allows for a reduction of immunity components. In contrast, a parasite invasion may cause an increased adaptive immune response. Therefore, it can be expected that spatial and temporal distribu...

Hypertension is one of the most common human diseases, which leads to serious disturbances, such as myocardial infarction and stroke. A decrease in the neuron viability in different parts of the brain in humans with hypertension has been shown by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS). Translation of NMRS tools to the clinical practice requ...

Olfactory perception plays the key role in the interaction of animals with biotic factors of the species- specific econiche. Identification of odorants informs nocturnal animals about social environment, presence of predators, or infected food. Olfactory efficiency depends on physiological conditions; in particular, odor sensitiveity can be changed...

In our experiments, we investigate a flow of a viscous fluid in the model of the common carotid artery bifurcation. The studies are carried out using three hardware equipments: two magnetic resonance scanners by Philips and Bruker, and intravascular guidewire ComboWire. The flux is generated by a special pump CompuFlow that is designed to reproduce...

Reconstruction of vascular net of small laboratory animals from MRI data is associated with some problems. This paper proposes a method of MRI data processing which allows to eliminate the fragmentation of reconstructed vascular net. Problem of vessels fragmentation occurs in the case when vessels are parallel to the scanning plane. Our approach is...

Reconstruction of vascular net of small laboratory animals from magnetic resonance imaging magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data is associated with some problems. First of all this is due to the physics of nuclear magnetic resonance nuclear magnetic resonance signal registration. Scanner is sensible to the blood flow propagating through the section...

Transgenesis has become a routine for modern biological studies. The most popular method for producing transgenic animals–pronuclear microinjection–frequently leads to host gene disruption due to a random transgene integration. In this paper, we report our analysis of morphophysiological parameters of the transgenic mouse line GM9, in which a trans...

Immune response to immunogenic stimuli depends on various factors, like cytokine context, way of entry, and immune status of the organism. In mice, female chemosignals entry into male organism via respiratory system causes activation of mucosal immune response, which leads to development of enhanced resistance to infections and is of adaptive signi...

Hypertension is one of the most common human diseases. This disease leads to serious disturbances such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Due to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS), a decrease in neuron viability in different parts of the brain in humans with hypertension has been shown. Translation of NMRS tools to...

Olfactory perception plays the key role in the inter­action of animals with biotic factors of the species-specific econiche. Identification of odorants informs nocturnal animals about social environment, presence of predators, or infected food. Olfactory efficiency depends on physiological conditions; in particular, odor sensitivity can be changed...

Air pollution by particulate matter (PM) has been associated with cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality in many recent epidemiological studies. It has been shown that transition metal compounds, well- known toxic components of PM, are able to induce hypothermia following whole-body inhalation exposure. Low temperature appears to protect tissue ag...

TNF is a multifunctional cytokine that, at physiological concentrations, maintains the balance between apoptosis and survival of male germ cells and, at higher concentrations, has adverse effects on various stages of the reproductive process. Although ant-cytokine therapies have been used in millions of patients, the consequences of cytokine defici...

During spermatogenesis, the paternal genome is repackaged into a non-nucleosomal, highly compacted chromatin structure. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that Drosophila sperm chromatin proteins are characterized by a motif related to the highmobility group (HMG) box, which we termed malespecific transcript (MST)-HMG box. MST77F is a MST-HMG-box prot...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001206.].

The Zbtb33gene encodes the Kaiso protein - a bimodal transcriptional repressor. Here, the effects of Zbtb33gene disruption on the brain and behaviour of the Kaiso-deficient (KO) and C57BL/6 (WT) male mice were investigated. Behaviour was studied using the open field, novel object, elevated plus maze and acoustic startle reflex tests. Brain morpholo...

The modification of pre- and postnatal development conferred by immunogenic stimulation of mothers provides a population-level adaptation mechanism for non-genetic transfer of maternal experiences to progeny. However little is known about the transmission of paternal immune experiences to offspring. Here, we show that immune priming of males 3-9 da...

The mole vole (Ellobius talpinus (Pallas), Rodentia) is the object of interest for cytogenetics, ecology and gerontology research, peculiarly because of partial similarity of this animal to the unique long-living rodent, mole rat. In this work, the mole vole has been found to have very specific spectrum of tumors and non-tumor pathologies which vas...

Increasing amounts of data support a role for guanine quadruplex (G4) DNA and RNA structures in various cellular processes. We stained different organisms with monoclonal antibody 1H6 specific for G4 DNA. Strikingly, immuno-electron microscopy showed exquisite specificity for heterochromatin. Polytene chromosomes from Drosophila salivary glands sho...

Perturbations in host energetics are considered to be an essential pathway for parasite impact on host fitness. However, direct estimations of parasite-induced variations in basal metabolic rates of vertebrate hosts have so far provided contradictory results. The energy requirements of immunity and other vital functions may be compromised in energy...

Olfaction plays an important role in mammals while aging causes olfactory dysfunction. Here the features of olfactory function in aging male rats were studied. We compared brain activity of regions involved in the perception (olfactory bulbs) and processing (cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus) of sexually or socially significant odor stimul...

Eusocial subterranean rodents of the Bathyergidae family have enormous longevity. The long lifespan of these species is associated with negligible senescence, that is, an absence of the signs of age-related deterioration in physical condition. The question arises as to whether these features are unique to eusocial Bathyergids or typical of other so...

Background The medications produced from natural products are widely used as prophylactics for sickness induced by alcohol consumption. One such prophylactic is produced from the Reishi mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum. Because of the antioxidant properties of these preparations, we expect neuroprotective prophylactic effects of Reishi-based medications...

Tuberculosis remains one of the major infectious diseases, which continues to pose a major global health problem. Transgenic plants may serve as bioreactors to produce heterologous proteins including antibodies, antigens, and hormones. In the present study, a genetic construct has been designed that comprises the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes cf...