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biochemical processes that have been im- tethering complex that can be genetically ARCHAEOLOGY
plicated in neurodegenerative diseases manipulated without confounding altera-
such as Ca2+ homeostasis, autophagy (the
process of cellular organelle recycling),
and mitochondrial dynamics (15). More
tions in ER or mitochondrial integrity.
This exciting discovery will provide not
only new molecular tools to begin to de-
Finding
importantly, it is known that ER-mitochon-
drial tethering is disturbed in Alzheimer’s
fine the physiological functions of ER-mi-
tochondrial connections but also stimulate the first
disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyo-
trophic lateral sclerosis with associated
frontotemporal dementia (15). However,
the search for the mitochondrial interac-
tion partner of PDZD8 and other potential
yeast ERMES homologs in mammals. j
Americans
the molecular mechanisms underlying
REFERENCES
The first humans to
ER-mitochondrial disruption are not fully
understood. Although ER-mitochondrial
1. A. P. AhYoung et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112, E3179
(2015).
reach the Americas
contact sites represent a nexus for many 2. J. R. Friedman et al., Science 334, 358 (2011). are likely to have come
signaling cascades and biochemical reac- 3. F. Korobova, V. Ramabhadran, H. N. Higgs, Science 339,
tions, it is yet to be determined whether 464 (2013). via a coastal route
4. T. Garofalo et al., Autophagy 12, 917 (2016).
a disruption in tethering is causative in 5. R. Filadi, P. Theurey, P. Pizzo, Cell Calcium 62, 1 (2017).
neurodegenerative disease initiation or 6. Y. Hirabayashi et al., Science 358, 623 (2017). By Todd J. Braje,1 Tom D. Dillehay,2
represents a secondary alteration that oc- 7. B. Kornmann et al., Science 325, 477 (2009). Jon M. Erlandson,3 Richard G. Klein,4
curs during disease progression. Clearly, 8. G. Csordás, A. P. Thomas, G. Hajnóczky, EMBO J. 18, 96 Torben C. Rick5
F
better understand the ER-mitochondrial 10. M. J. Berridge, M. D. Bootman, H. L. Roderick, Nat. Rev. Mol. or much of the 20th century, most
axis with respect to physiology and disease Cell Biol. 4, 517 (2003). archaeologists believed humans first
across cell types. 11. S.-K. Kwon et al., PLOS Biol. 14, e1002516 (2016). colonized the Americas ~13,500 years
12. R. Heidelberger, C. Heinemann, E. Neher, G. Matthews,
Although several mammalian ER-mi- ago via an overland route that crossed
Nature 371, 513 (1994).
tochondrial tethering proteins have been 13. A. Tran-Van-Minh, T. Abrahamsson, L. Cathala, D. A. Beringia and followed a long and
proposed, most lack clear indisputable evi- DiGregorio, Neuron 91, 837 (2016). narrow, mostly ice-free corridor to
dence, and the identification of bona fide 14. D. Tsay, J. T. Dudman, S. A. Siegelbaum, Neuron 56, 1076 the vast plains of central North America.
ER-mitochondrial tethers has remained (2007). There, Clovis people and their descendants
15. S. Paillusson et al., Trends Neurosci. 39, 146 (2016).
elusive. We now have the first description hunted large game and spread rapidly
of a protein that appears to primarily func- through the New World. Twentieth-century
tion as a member of an ER-mitochondrial 10.1126/science.aaq0141 discoveries of distinctive Clovis artifacts
throughout North America, some associ-
ated with mammoth or mastodon kill sites,
Coupling ER and mitochondrial membranes supported this “Clovis-first” model. North
The proteins that mediate the close coupling of ER and mitochondrial membranes (tethering) in mammalian America’s coastlines and their rich marine,
cells have remained elusive. PDZD8 is an ER-bound protein that is critical for the tight association of ER and estuarine, riverine, and terrestrial ecosys-
mitochondrial membranes. This will now allow the search for other possible binding partners and regulators tems were peripheral to the story of how
that make up this newly identified tethering complex in mammalian cells. The close proximity of the ER and when the Americas were first settled
and mitochondria is essential for several cellular processes. IP3R, inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor; by humans. Recent work along the Pacific
MCU, mitochondrial calcium uniporter; RYR, ryanodine receptor. coastlines of North and South America
has revealed that these environments were
ER-mitochondrial tethering settled early and continuously provided a
2+ 2+
Ca Ca rich diversity of subsistence options and
Calcium transport technological resources for New World
ER RYR IP3R hunter-gatherers.
Subcellular signaling domains Confidence in the Clovis-first theory
started to crumble in the late 1980s and
PDZD8
1990s, when archaeological evidence for
SMP domain Lipid/membrane homeostasis late Pleistocene seafaring and maritime
< 30 nm
Ca2+ Ca2+
colonization of multiple islands off east-
Ca2+
? ern Asia (such as the Ryukyu Islands and
? Neurotransmitter release
Ca2+ the Bismarck Archipelago) accumulated.
By the early 2000s, the Clovis-first theory
Ca2+
Cell death collapsed after widespread scholarly accep-
Mitochondria
GRAPHIC: V. ALTOUNIAN/SCIENCE
MCU Autophagy 1
Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University,
San Diego, CA 92182, USA. 2Department of Anthropology,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA. 3Department
Mitochondrial dynamics of Anthropology and Museum of Natural and Cultural History,
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. 4Departments
Inner of Anthropology and Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
mitochondrial Infammation 94305, USA. 5Department of Anthropology, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC,
Matrix membrane
USA. Email: tbraje@mail.sdsu.edu
Published by AAAS
A coastal route for the first Americans underwater. Recent discov-
Recent archaeological finds show that pre-Clovis people arrived in the Americas before 13,500 years ago, eries at the Page-Ladson
likely via a coastal route along the Pacific Coast. Higher sea levels make finding direct evidence difficult. site, for example, produced
~14,500-year-old butch-
Pre-Clovis–age sites Clovis-age sites Current land Last glacial maximum land
ered mastodon bones and
chipped stone tools in the
bottom of Florida’s Aucilla
River (3). Several multidisci-
Beringia
Ushki Lake plinary studies are currently
~13,000 mapping and exploring
Triquet Island NORTH the submerged landscapes
~14,000 (?) AMERICA of North America’s Pacific
Incipient Jōmon
~16,000 to 13,000 and Gulf of Mexico coasts,
Paisley Caves Page-Ladson searching for submerged
Ryukyu ~14,000 ~14,500
Islands pre-Clovis sites (8).
Huaca Prieta
~15,000 to 14,500
With Clovis-first’s de-
Bismarck
Bismark Channel Islands mise, debate has shifted to
Archipelago ~13,000
whether colonization oc-
curred well before the last
deglaciation (before 25,000
ers (9, 10). Kelp resources extended as far earlier such a dispersal took place, the fur- ~50,000 years ago.
south as Baja California, and then—after a ther offshore (and at greater depth) the Answers to the questions of how, when,
gap in Central America, where productive evidence may lie, enlarging already vast and where humans first reached the Ameri-
mangrove and other aquatic habitats were potential search areas on the submerged cas remain tentative. The small sample of
available—picked up again in northern continental shelf. Although direct evidence pre-Clovis sites has yet to produce a coher-
Peru, where the cold, nutrient-rich waters of a maritime pre-Clovis dispersal has yet to ent technological signature with the broad
from the Humboldt Current supported kelp emerge, recent discoveries confirm that late geographic patterning that characterizes
forests as far south as Tierra del Fuego. Pleistocene archaeological sites can be found Clovis. Distinctive fluted Clovis, other fluted
T
Asian origin for Native American ances- he vast majority of eukaryotes have led to two very different ideas. There could be
tors some time in the past 20,000 years. But two copies of each chromosome and something about extremely repetitive short
more data are needed to close substantial reproduce sexually. Meiosis is a vital DNA sequences that is essential for func-
spatial and temporal gaps between these process that produces gametes (eggs tion, or these short DNA sequences might be
far-flung finds and trace a dispersal route and sperm) by reducing the number selfish and promote their own inheritance
from Asia to the Americas. Work on early of chromosome copies to one; fertil- without any functional benefit for the host
Published by AAAS
Finding the first Americans
Todd J. Braje, Tom D. Dillehay, Jon M. Erlandson, Richard G. Klein and Torben C. Rick
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