Biology subjects

Roig, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Roig, J..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

BICD2 is a centriolar protein that controls mother-daughter centriole engagement and the licensing of duplication

Centrosomes and the centrioles at their core have key cellular roles that require their duplication exactly once during each cell cycle. Abnormal centriole numbers can contribute to the onset of different pathologies and thus different mechanisms have evolved to tightly control centriole duplication. Importantly, centriole pairs are barred from duplicating until they go through a not completely understood process of licensing that includes the physical separation of older (mother) and younger (daughter) centrioles. Here we report that the dynein adaptor BICD2 is a centriolar protein with a previously unknown dynein-independent role controlling mother-daughter centriole engagement. We show that a pool of BICD2 resides at the centrosome, surrounding mother centrioles close to the daughter centriole. Removal of BICD2 results in premature centriole disengagement in G2 and early M and in centriole amplification in both non-transformed and transformed cells. We characterize the molecular determinants of BICD2 centriolar localization and suggest that this localization, and thus the role of BICD2 at the centriole, is controlled by phosphorylation. Our findings reveal a novel function of BICD2, independent of its ability to interact with dynein, which is crucial for the regulation of centriole licensing and the centrosome duplication cycle.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Disparate demographic impacts of the Roman Colonization and the Migration Period in the Iberian Peninsula.

It has been unclear how the periods of Roman and later Germanic political control shaped the demography of the Iberian Peninsula and how Iberia differs in these respects from other parts of the Roman Empire. We report genome-wide data from 248 ancient individuals from the largely unsampled period 100-800 CE and co-analyze them with previously reported data. In the Roman era, we document profound demographic transformation, with an influx of people with ancestry from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean in all the areas under study and of North Africans, especially in central and southern Iberia. Germanic (Buri, Suebi, Vandals & Visigoths) and Sarmatian (Alans) took over political control beginning in the 5th century, and although we identify individuals with Germanic-associated ancestry at sites with Germanic-style ornaments and observe that such individuals were closely related across large distances as in the case of two siblings separated by 700 km, for Iberia as a whole, we observe high continuity with the previous Hispano-Roman population. The demographic patterns in Iberia contrast sharply with those in Britain, which showed the opposite pattern of little change in the Roman period followed by great change in the Migration period, and also from demographic patterns in the central Mediterranean where both periods were associated with profound transformation, raising broader questions about the forces that precipitated change over this time.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2021

CDK1 and PLK1 cooperate to regulate BICD2, dynein activation and recruitment to the nucleus as well as centrosome separation in G2/M

The activity of dynein is regulated by a number of adaptors that mediate its interaction with dynactin, effectively activating the motor complex while also connecting it to different cargos. The regulation of adaptors is consequently central to dynein physiology, but remains largely unexplored. We now describe that one of the best-known dynein adaptors, BICD2, is effectively activated through phosphorylation. In G2 phosphorylation of BICD2 by CDK1 promotes its interaction with PLK1. In turn, PLK1 phosphorylation of a single residue in the N-terminus of BICD2 results in a conformational change that facilitates interaction with dynein and dynactin, allowing the formation of active motor complexes. BICD2 phosphorylation is central for dynein recruitment to the nuclear envelope, centrosome tethering to the nucleus and centrosome separation in G2/M. This work reveals adaptor activation through phosphorylation as crucial for the spatiotemporal regulation of dynein activity.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Xanthine urolithiasis: Inhibitors of xanthine crystallization

OBJECTIVETo identify in vitro inhibitors of xanthine crystallization that have potential for inhibiting the formation of xanthine crystals in urine and preventing the development of the renal calculi in patients with xanthinuria.\n\nMETHODSThe formation of xanthine crystals in synthetic urine and the effects of 10 potential crystallization inhibitors were assessed using a kinetic turbidimetric system with a photometer. The maximum concentration tested for each compound was: 20 mg/L for 3-methylxanthine (3-MX); 40 mg/L for 7-methylxanthine (7-MX), 1- methylxanthine (1-MX), theobromine (TB), theophylline, paraxanthine, and caffeine; 45 mg/L for 1-methyluric acid; 80 mg/L for 1,3-dimethyluric acid; and 200 mg/L for hypoxanthine. All crystals were examined by scanning electron microscopy.\n\nRESULTSOnly 7-MX, 3-MX, and 1-MX significantly inhibited xanthine crystallization at the tested concentrations. Mixtures of inhibitors had an additive effect rather than a synergistic effect on crystallization.\n\nCONCLUSIONTwo of the inhibitors identified here --7-MX and 3-MX -- are major metabolites of TB. In particular, after TB consumption, 20% is excreted in the urine as TB, 21.5% as 3-MX, and 36 % as 7-MX. Thus, consumption of theobromine could protect patients with xanthinuria from the development of renal xanthine calculi. Clinical trials are necessary to demonstrate these effects in vivo.

pharmacology and toxicology↗