Integrase interactor 1 (Ini1/hSNF5) is a repressor of basal human immunodeficiency virus type 1 promoter activity

Boese, Annette,Sommer, Peter,Holzer, Daniela,Maier, Reinhard,Nehrbass, Ulf Microbiology Society 2009 The Journal of general virology Vol.90 No.10

<P>Integrase interactor 1 (Ini1/hSNF5/BAF47/SMARCB1), the core subunit of the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodelling complex SWI/SNF, is a cellular interaction partner of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase. Ini1/hSNF5 is recruited to HIV-1 pre-integration complexes before nuclear migration, suggesting a function in the integration process itself or a contribution to the preferential selection of transcriptionally active genes as integration sites of HIV-1. More recent evidence indicates, however, that, whilst Ini1/hSNF5 is dispensable for HIV-1 transduction per se, it may have an inhibitory effect on the early steps of HIV-1 replication but facilitates proviral transcription by enhancing Tat function. These partially contradictory observations prompted an investigation of the immediate and long-term effects of Ini1/hSNF5 depletion on the basal transcriptional potential of the virus promoter. Using small interfering RNAs, it was shown that Ini1/hSNF5-containing SWI/SNF complexes mediate transcriptional repression of the basal activity of the integrated HIV-1 long terminal repeat. Transient depletion of Ini1/hSNF5 during integration was accompanied by an early boost of HIV-1 replication. After the reappearance of Ini1/hSNF5, expression levels decreased and this was associated with increased levels of histone methylation at the virus promoter in the long term, indicative of epigenetic gene silencing. These results demonstrate the opposing effects of Ini1/hSNF5-containing SWI/SNF complexes on basal and Tat-dependent transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 promoter. It is proposed that Ini1/hSNF5 may be recruited to the HIV-1 pre-integration complex to initiate, immediately after integration, one of two mutually exclusive transcription programmes, namely post-integration latency or high-level, Tat-dependent gene expression.</P>

How (not) to measure democracy

Vanessa A Boese 한국외국어대학교 국제지역연구센터 2019 International Area Studies Review Vol.22 No.2

Measures of democracy are regularly employed in the statistical analysis of economic, political, and social policy. This paper reviews the measures' setup, strength, and weaknesses across the three most prominent democracy datasets: PolityIV, Freedom House, and Varieties of Democracy. The measures developed by the Varieties of Democracy project outperform Polity2 and Freedom House Index with respect to the underlying definition and measurement scale, as well as the theoretical justification of the aggregation procedure. The three indices display a high level of agreement for those observations included in all three datasets. The most substantial differences between the indices lie in the indices’ coverage, i.e. in their non-missing observations (in Polity2 coding, for example, years during which a country is occupied by foreign powers constitute missing values), the availability of disaggregate data and the above mentioned key areas. This paper clarifies when to proceed with caution, but for the most part advocates the use of Varieties of Democracy in the statistical analysis of democracy.

Contestation and participation: Concepts, measurement, and inference

Vanessa Alexandra Boese,Matthew Charles Wilson 한국외국어대학교 국제지역연구센터 2023 International Area Studies Review Vol.26 No.2

Contestation and participation are commonly viewed as two main constituent dimensions of electoral democracy. How exactly have these two dimensions been conceptualized and measured in the literature? Are they empirically observable and do they matter for democratic development and stability? This article answers the first of these questions and considers their implications for the second by reviewing the literature on these two dimensions. We discuss three issues that affect conclusions about dimensions of democracy and their relevance for understanding democratic development: First, conceptual ambiguities-substantive overlap between the two concepts-obscure the meanings of each of the two dimensions. Such ambiguities led to a second issue, which is a concept-measurement mismatch. The conceptual contributions were never really met with an empirical equivalent that would allow us to properly measure the two dimensions. Scholars continue to invoke theoretical understandings from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, but represent them using measures that were not explicitly concerned with measuring them, which presents the third issue of concept reification. As a result of these three issues, inferences about how democracy has developed and its relevance for democratic stability or for transitions to democratic rule is potentially obscured. Based on these issues, we provide three suggestions for future research concerning the concepts of contestation and participation.

Enhanced Charge Transportin Enzyme-Wired Organometallic Block Copolymers for Bioenergy andBiosensors

Lee, Joungphil,Ahn, Hyungmin,Choi, Ilyoung,Boese, Markus,Park, Moon Jeong American ChemicalSociety 2012 Macromolecules Vol.45 No.7

<P>Wiring of glucose oxidase (GOx) onto electrode surfacewas successfully achieved by cross-linked networks of organometallicblock copolymers comprising electroactive ferrocene moieties and chemicallycross-linkable diene groups, poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane-<I>b</I>-isoprene)s (PFS–PIs). Different nanoscale morphologiesof PFS–PIs, i.e., bicontinuous structure, nanowires, and nanoparticles,have been derived by varying molecular weights and casting solvents.Upon examining catalytic current responses of the GOx integrated PFS–PIsystems, notably, the morphology of PFS–PI is foundout to be a crucial parameter in determining the efficiency of electrontransfer. For example, the use of bicontinuous PFS–PI confirms2–50 times improved catalytic current densities, compared withthe values of other morphologies; the maximum catalytic current ofglucose oxidation was 0.7 mA/cm<SUP>2</SUP> at 70 mM glucose concentration.The biosensing ability of the fabricated electrode with structuraloptimization was also exploited, and good sensitivity is obtainedat the physiological concentration of glucose in blood.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/mamobx/2012/mamobx.2012.45.issue-7/ma300155u/production/images/medium/ma-2012-00155u_0006.gif'></P>

SCON—a Short Conditional intrON for conditional knockout with one-step zygote injection

Wu Szu-Hsien Sam,Lee Heetak,Szép-Bakonyi Réka,Colozza Gabriele,Boese Ayse,Gert Krista R.,Hallay Natalia,Lee Ji-Hyun,Kim Jihoon,Zhu Yi,Linssen Margot M.,Pilat-Carotta Sandra,Hohenstein Peter,Theussl Ha 생화학분자생물학회 2022 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.54 No.-

The generation of conditional alleles using CRISPR technology is still challenging. Here, we introduce a Short Conditional intrON (SCON, 189 bp) that enables the rapid generation of conditional alleles via one-step zygote injection. In this study, a total of 13 SCON mouse lines were successfully generated by 2 different laboratories. SCON has conditional intronic functions in various vertebrate species, and its target insertion is as simple as CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene tagging.

Automated genome-wide visual profiling of cellular proteins involved in HIV infection.

Genovesio, Auguste,Kwon, Yong-Jun,Windisch, Marc P,Kim, Nam Youl,Choi, Seo Yeon,Kim, Hi Chul,Jung, Sungyong,Mammano, Fabrizio,Perrin, Virginie,Boese, Annette S,Casartelli, Nicoletta,Schwartz, Olivier Mary Ann Liebert, Inc 2011 Journal of biomolecular screening Vol.16 No.9

<P>Recent genome-wide RNAi screens have identified >842 human genes that affect the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cycle. The list of genes implicated in infection differs between screens, and there is minimal overlap. A reason for this variance is the interdependence of HIV infection and host cell function, producing a multitude of indirect or pleiotropic cellular effects affecting the viral infection during RNAi screening. To overcome this, the authors devised a 15-dimensional phenotypic profile to define the viral infection block induced by CD4 silencing in HeLa cells. They demonstrate that this phenotypic profile excludes nonspecific, RNAi-based side effects and viral replication defects mediated by silencing of housekeeping genes. To achieve statistical robustness, the authors used automatically annotated RNAi arrays for seven independent genome-wide RNAi screens. This identified 56 host genes, which reliably reproduced CD4-like phenotypes upon HIV infection. The factors include 11 known HIV interactors and 45 factors previously not associated with HIV infection. As proof of concept, the authors confirmed that silencing of PAK1, Ku70, and RNAseH2A impaired HIV replication in Jurkat cells. In summary, multidimensional, visual profiling can identify genes required for HIV infection.</P>