Cecilia Conaco

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the draft genome sequence of Amphimedon queenslandica, a demosponge from the Great Barrier Reef, and show that it is remarkably similar to other animal genomes in content, structure and organization.

TL;DR: It is shown that REST regulates the expression of a family of miRNAs, including brain-specific miR-124a, and the combined transcriptional and posttranscriptional consequences of REST action maximize the contrast between neuronal and nonneuronal cell phenotypes.

TL;DR: A direct biochemical method for miRNA target discovery that combined RNA-induced silencing complex purification with microarray analysis of bound mRNAs is devised, honed by examining the determinants of stable binding between RISC and synthetic target RNAs in vitro and by determining the dependency of both repression and RISC coimmunoprecipitation in two of its well characterized targets in vivo.

TL;DR: Serial analysis of chromatin occupancy is used to perform genome-wide identification of REST-occupied target sequences (RE1 sites) in a kidney cell line and found that the number of RE1 sites far exceeded previous estimates, supporting the model that REST binding is a critical determinant of neuronal phenotype.

TL;DR: It is suggested that functional synapses evolved by exapting preexisting cellular machines, likely through some modification of regulatory circuitry, and that Evolutionarily ancient modules continue to operate seamlessly within the synapses of modern animals.