Publications by Daniel Constam

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Secreted cytokines of the TGF beta family are found in all multicellular organisms and implicated in regulating fundamental cell behaviors such as proliferation, differentiation, migration and survival. Signal transduction involves complexes of specific ty ...

The basic proprotein convertases (PCs) furin, PC1/3, PC2, PC5/6, PACE4, PC4, and PC7 are promising drug targets for human diseases. However, developing selective inhibitors remains challenging due to overlapping substrate recognition motifs and limited str ...

It has been suggested that systemic infection, occurring during aging and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, can evoke an immune response that aggravates the progression of neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. It has been shown that the AD11 neurodege ...

More than forty per cent of the mammalian genome is derived from retroelements, of which about one-quarter are endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). Some are still active, notably in mice the highly polymorphic early transposon (ETn)/MusD and intracisternal A-ty ...

Polycystic kidneys frequently associate with mutations in individual components of cilia, basal bodies or centriolar satellites that perturb complex protein networks. In this review, we focus on the RNA-binding protein Bicaudal-C1 (BICC1) which was found m ...

Nanocharacterization plays a vital role in understanding the complex nanoscale organization of cells and organelles. Understanding cellular function requires high-resolution information about how the cellular structures evolve over time. A number of techni ...

A fundamental challenge in biology is to explain how progenitor cells in developing tissues acquire distinct fates according to their position. In vertebrates, the positional information that specifies the germ layers and the primary body axes is mediated ...

Background Activin-A, a transforming growth factor beta family member, is secreted by many cancer types and is often associated with poor disease prognosis. Previous studies have shown that Activin-A expression can promote cancer progression and reduce the ...

Nodal is a secreted protein of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) family that activates Smad2 and Smad3 transcription factors through complexes of type I and type II activin receptors and glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored coreceptors of the ...

Polycystic diseases and left-right (LR) axis malformations are frequently linked to cilia defects. Renal cysts also arise in mice and frogs lacking Bicaudal C (BicC), a conserved RNA-binding protein containing K-homology (KH) domains and a sterile alpha mo ...

Organ laterality of vertebrates is specified by accelerated asymmetric decay of Dand5 mRNA mediated by Bicaudal-C1 (Bicc1) on the left side, but whether binding of this or any other mRNA to Bicc1 can be regulated is unknown. Here, we found that a CRISPR-en ...

The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family member activin A (hereafter Activin-A) is overexpressed in many cancer types, often correlating with cancer-associated cachexia and poor prognosis. Activin-A secretion by melanoma cells indirectly imped ...

The fate of pluripotent cells in early mouse embryos is controlled by graded Nodal signals that are activated by the endoproteases Furin and Pace4. Soluble forms of Furin and Pace4 cleave proNodal in vitro and after secretion in transfected cells, but dire ...

Bicaudal C homologue 1 (Bicc1) knockout in mice causes polycystic kidney disease and pancreas development defects, including a reduction in insulin-producing β-cells and ensuing diabetes. We therefore screened 137 patients with renal abnormalities or assoc ...

PC7 belongs to the proprotein convertase family, whose members are implicated in the cleavage of secretory precursors. The in vivo function of PC7 is unknown. Herein, we find that the precursor proBDNF is processed into mature BDNF in COS-1 cells coexpress ...

The secreted glycoprotein sonic hedgehog (Shh) is expressed in the prechordal mesoderm, where it plays a crucial role in induction and patterning of the ventral forebrain. Currently little is known about how Shh is regulated in prechordal tissue. Here we s ...

The clinical efficacy and safety of a drug is determined by its activity profile across many proteins in the proteome. However, designing drugs with a specific multi-target profile is both complex and difficult. Therefore methods to design drugs rationally ...

In vertebrates, left-right (LR) asymmetry is specified by asymmetric decay of Dand5 messenger RNA (mRNA) mediated by the recruitment of the BicC family RNA binding protein 1 (Bicc1). Besides regulating organ laterality, Bicc1 is required to prevent cystic ...

The growing number of diseases linked to aberrant phase transitioning of ribonucleoproteins highlights the need to uncover how the interplay between multivalent protein and RNA interactions is regulated. Cytoplasmic granules of the RNA binding protein Bica ...

The Activin-A precursor dimer can be cleaved by furin, but how this proteolytic maturation is regulated in vivo and how it facilitates access to signaling receptors is unclear. Here, analysis in a syngeneic melanoma grafting model shows that without furin ...

Daniel Constam

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Regulation of TGF beta and related signals by precursor processing

A novel cell-based sensor detecting the activity of individual basic proprotein convertases

Pathogen-free husbandry conditions alleviate behavioral deficits and neurodegeneration in AD10 anti-NGF mice

KAP1 controls endogenous retroviruses in embryonic stem cells

Role of the RNA-binding protein Bicaudal-C1 and interacting factors in cystic kidney diseases

Time-Resolved Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy for Three-Dimensional Tracking of Nanoscale Cell Surface Dynamics

Running the gauntlet: an overview of the modalities of travel employed by the putative morphogen Nodal

Activin-A impairs CD8 T cell-mediated immunity and immune checkpoint therapy response in melanoma

Riding shotgun: a dual role for the epidermal growth factor-Cripto/FRL-1/Cryptic protein Cripto in Nodal trafficking

Bicaudal C, a novel regulator of Dvl signaling abutting RNA-processing bodies, controls cilia orientation and leftward flow

Bicc1 ribonucleoprotein complexes specifying organ laterality are licensed by ANKS6-induced structural remodeling of associated ANKS3

Inhibition of anti-tumor immunity by melanoma cell-derived Activin-A depends on STING

The microenvironment patterns the pluripotent mouse epiblast through paracrine Furin and Pace4 proteolytic activities

Two mutations in human BICC1 resulting in Wnt pathway hyperactivity associated with cystic renal dysplasia

Disruption of the expression of the proprotein convertase PC7 reduces BDNF production and affects learning and memory in mice

ProNodal acts via FGFR3 to govern duration of Shh expression in the prechordal mesoderm

Automated design of ligands to polypharmacological profiles

M6A methylation inhibits recruitment of the Dand5 3’UTR to the left-right determinant Bicc1

Antagonistic interactions among structured domains in the multivalent Bicc1-ANKS3-ANKS6 protein network govern phase transitioning of target mRNAs

Stepwise release of Activin-A from its inhibitory prodomain is modulated by cysteines and requires furin coexpression to promote melanoma growth