Journal: Leukemia

Article Title: Distinct characteristics of VEXAS-causative UBA1 M41 and recurrent functional non-M41 mutations

doi: 10.1038/s41375-025-02775-4

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Schematic representation of the UBA1 gene, highlighting its functional domains and pinpointing the exact locations of the identified UBA1 variants. The variants were classified into Tier-1 (pathogenic: P), Tier-2 (likely pathogenic: LP) and Tier-3 (variant of uncertain significance: VUS), as depicted in the outer pie chart on the left. UBA1 variants are displayed on top of the gene if the locus occurred recurrently in our screen. Combination of variants detected in the same patients are also shown. Variants detected only as combinations are italicized. M41 and other tier assignments are color-coded. Bold underlined variants were tested for functional significance. B Chart summarizing UBA1 variants and their functional status, indicating the presence or absence of ubiquitylation. Quantification of polyubiquitin levels and mono-ubiquitylated histone H2A/B (Ub-H2A, Ub-H2B) or E2 enzymes (UBE2D3-Ub, UBE2L3-Ub) were normalized within each sample to β-actin levels and scaled to WT transfection. E2 enzyme ubiquitylation was quantified as the ratio of charged form to uncharged form and scaled to WT. Data represent n = 3–6 biological replicates, shown as mean −/+ s.d., significance determined by unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01).

Article Snippet: Primary antibodies for Poly-ubiquitin (Cell Signaling, 3936S), UBE2D3 (Cell-Signaling, 4330), UBE2L3 (R&D Systems, E2-640), ubiquitylated-H2A (Cell Signaling, 8240), H2A (Cell Signaling, 12349), ubiquitylated-H2B (Cell Signaling, 5546S), H2B (Cell Signaling, 12364), and β-actin (Cell Signaling, 4970) were used at a concentration of 1:1000 and visualized using HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies (anti-rabbit [Cell Signaling, 7074S] or anti-mouse [Cell Signaling, 7076S]) at a concentration of 1:3000.

Techniques: Functional Assay, Variant Assay, Transfection

Journal: JCI insight

Article Title: Transcriptional heterogeneity of fibroblasts is a hallmark of the aging heart.

doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.131092

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 6. Age-dependent changes of fibroblast function on endothelial cells. (A and B) Experimental outline and tube formation assay of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) that were cultured in conditioned medium received from young (12 weeks) and aged (20 months) cardiac mouse fibroblasts. Accumulated tube length was measured in 5 randomly chosen microscopic fields with a computer-assisted microscope using Axiovision 4.5 (Zeiss) (scale bar: 100 μm; n = 4). (C) Capillary density of random healthy areas of young (12 weeks; n = 6) and old (n = 8) heart sections versus capillary density of fibrotic (n = 8) areas of aged hearts (20 months). Shown is the quantification of the Isolectin B4–positive area versus the total area (%). (D) Expression of Serpine1, Serpine2, and Efemp1 in fibroblasts displayed in log scale in trajectory plots. (E) Secretion of SerpinE1 in isolated young and aged cardiac fibroblasts cultured for 24 hours in serum-free medium. Data were derived using a mouse angiogenesis array (R&D Systems) of culture supernatants of isolated cardiac fibroblasts (n = 4). (F) Tube formation assay of HUVECs that were cultured in conditioned medium received from young (12 weeks) and aged (20 months) cardiac mouse fibroblasts. The aged phenotype was rescued by supplementing the aged fibroblast medium with 4 μg of an anti-Serpin antibody. Accumulated tube length was mea- sured in 5 randomly chosen microscopic fields with a computer-assisted microscope using Axiovision 4.5 (Zeiss) (scale bar: 200 μm; n = 4). (G) RNA expression

Article Snippet: For the recombinant serpin study, HUVECs were cultured in medium supplemented with 10 ng/mL serpin E1 (CSB-EP021081MO, Cusabio) or serpin E2 (2175-PI-010, R&D Systems) for 24 hours.

Techniques: Tube Formation Assay, Cell Culture, Microscopy, Expressing, Isolation, Derivative Assay, RNA Expression