Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| correlating traits of gene retention, sequence divergence, duplicability and essentiality in vertebrates, arthropods, and fungi. | delineating ancestral gene relations among a large set of sequenced eukaryotic genomes allowed us to rigorously examine links between evolutionary and functional traits. we classified 86% of over 1.36 million protein-coding genes from 40 vertebrates, 23 arthropods, and 32 fungi into orthologous groups and linked over 90% of them to gene ontology or interpro annotations. quantifying properties of ortholog phyletic retention, copy-number variation, and sequence conservation, we examined correlatio ... | 2010 | 21148284 |
| genomic organization and localization of the nad-dependent histone deacetylase gene sirtuin 3 (sirt3) in the mouse. | sirtuin 3 (sirt3) is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (nad+)-dependent deacetylase, which belongs to the silent information regulator 2 (sir2) family of histone deacetylases (sirtuin hdacs). the yeast sir2 protein and its mammalian derivatives play a central role in epigenetic gene silencing, dna repair and recombination, cell-cycle, microtubule organization, and in the regulation of aging. we have isolated and characterized the murine sirt3 genomic sequence, which spans a region of 18,646 bp ... | 2010 | 21165558 |
| probing for primary functions of prohibitin in trypanosoma brucei. | prohibitins (phbs) 1 and 2 are small conserved proteins implicated in a number of functions in the mitochondrion, as well as in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. the current understanding of phb functions comes from studies of model organisms such as yeast, worm and mouse, but considerable debate remains with regard to the primary functions of these ubiquitous proteins. we exploit the tractable reverse genetics of trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of african sleeping sickness, in order to s ... | 2010 | 19683530 |
| mapping the interaction site of prion protein and sho. | the cellular prion protein (prp(c)) is a highly conserved protein among mammals and is considered to have important cellular functions. despite decades of intensive research, however, the physiological function of prp(c) remains unclear. sho (shadoo, shadow of prion protein) and prp(c) have similar n-terminals, which suggests that the two proteins share biological functions. using truncation mutants of both proteins and yeast two-hybrid analysis, with validation by co-immunoprecipitation and sur ... | 2010 | 19685161 |
| elucidating ants in worms using genomic and bioinformatic tools--biotechnological prospects? | adenine nucleotide translocators (ants) belong to the mitochondrial carrier family (mcf) of proteins. atp production and consumption are tightly linked to ants, the kinetics of which have been proposed to play a key regulatory role in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. ants are also recognized as a central component of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore associated with apoptosis. although ants have been investigated in a range of vertebrates, including human, mouse and cattle, ... | 2010 | 19770033 |
| microkit 3.0: an integrated database of midbody, centrosome and kinetochore. | during cell division/mitosis, a specific subset of proteins is spatially and temporally assembled into protein super complexes in three distinct regions, i.e. centrosome/spindle pole, kinetochore/centromere and midbody/cleavage furrow/phragmoplast/bud neck, and modulates cell division process faithfully. although many experimental efforts have been carried out to investigate the characteristics of these proteins, no integrated database was available. here, we present the microkit database (http: ... | 2010 | 19783819 |
| comparing effects of mtr and mtert deletion on gene expression and dna damage response: a critical examination of telomere length maintenance-independent roles of telomerase. | telomerase, the essential enzyme that maintains telomere length, contains two core components, tert and tr. early studies in yeast and mouse showed that loss of telomerase leads to phenotypes only after several generations, due to telomere shortening. however, recent studies have suggested additional roles for telomerase components in transcription and the response to dna damage. to examine these potential telomere length maintenance-independent roles of telomerase components, we examined first ... | 2010 | 19850716 |
| identification of novel pten-binding partners: pten interaction with fatty acid binding protein fabp4. | pten is a tumor suppressor with dual protein and lipid-phosphatase activity, which is frequently deleted or mutated in many human advanced cancers. recent studies have also demonstrated that pten is a promising target in type ii diabetes and obesity treatment. using c-terminal pten sequence in peg202-nls as bait, yeast two-hybrid screening on mouse embryo, colon cancer, and hela cdna libraries was carried out. isolated positive clones were validated by mating assay and identified through automat ... | 2010 | 19911253 |
| the role of scaffold proteins in jnk signalling. | this paper summarises how scaffold proteins affects and regulate the jnk signalling pathway. we believe that some of these scaffold proteins, by virtue of their anchoring and catalytic properties contribute to a high degree of specificity of intra cellular signalling pathways that regulate the progression through the cell cycle. | 2010 | 19922489 |
| production of novel antioxidative phenolic amides through heterologous expression of the plant's chlorogenic acid biosynthesis genes in yeast. | phenolic esters like chlorogenic acid play an important role in therapeutic properties of many plant extracts. we aimed to produce phenolic esters in baker's yeast, by expressing tobacco 4cl and globe artichoke hct. indeed yeast produced phenolic esters. however, the primary product was identified as n-(e)-p-coumaroyl-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid by nmr. this compound is an amide condensation product of p-coumaric acid, which was supplied to the yeast, with 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, which was unex ... | 2010 | 19941969 |
| association of whirlin with cav1.3 (alpha1d) channels in photoreceptors, defining a novel member of the usher protein network. | usher syndrome is the most common form of hereditary deaf-blindness. it is both clinically and genetically heterogeneous. the ush2d protein whirlin interacts via its pdz domains with other usher-associated proteins containing a c-terminal type i pdz-binding motif. these proteins co-localize with whirlin at the region of the connecting cilium and at the synapse of photoreceptor cells. this study was undertaken to identify novel, usher syndrome-associated, interacting partners of whirlin and there ... | 2010 | 19959638 |
| nix is a selective autophagy receptor for mitochondrial clearance. | autophagy is the cellular homeostatic pathway that delivers large cytosolic materials for degradation in the lysosome. recent evidence indicates that autophagy mediates selective removal of protein aggregates, organelles and microbes in cells. yet, the specificity in targeting a particular substrate to the autophagy pathway remains poorly understood. here, we show that the mitochondrial protein nix is a selective autophagy receptor by binding to lc3/gabarap proteins, ubiquitin-like modifiers tha ... | 2010 | 20010802 |
| fhl2 interacts with foxk1 and corepresses foxo4 activity in myogenic progenitors. | adult skeletal muscle has a remarkable regenerative capacity because of a myogenic progenitor cell population. using a gene disruption strategy, we determined that foxk1 regulates myogenic progenitor cell activation and muscle regeneration. in this study, we undertook a yeast two hybrid screen to identify foxk1 interacting proteins. we identified the lim-only protein, fhl2, as a foxk1 interacting protein. using transcriptional assays, we observed that fhl2, in a dose-dependent fashion, promotes ... | 2010 | 20013826 |
| from meiosis to postmeiotic events: uncovering the molecular roles of the meiosis-specific recombinase dmc1. | in meiosis, the accurate segregation of maternal and paternal chromosomes is accomplished by homologous recombination. a central player in meiotic recombination is the dmc1 recombinase, a member of the reca/rad51 recombinase superfamily, which is widely conserved from viruses to humans. dmc1 is a meiosis-specific protein that functions with the ubiquitously expressed homolog, the rad51 recombinase, which is essential for both mitotic and meiotic recombination. since its discovery, it has been sp ... | 2010 | 20015079 |
| candida albicans pep12 is required for biofilm integrity and in vivo virulence. | to investigate the role of the prevacuolar secretion pathway in biofilm formation and virulence in candida albicans, we cloned and analyzed the c. albicans homolog of the saccharomyces cerevisiae prevacuolar trafficking gene pep12. c. albicans pep12 encodes a deduced t-snare that is 28% identical to s. cerevisiae pep12p, and plasmids bearing c. albicans pep12 complemented the abnormal vacuolar morphology and temperature-sensitive growth of an s. cerevisiae pep12 null mutant. the c. albicans pep1 ... | 2010 | 20023068 |
| interaction between hhex and sox13 modulates wnt/tcf activity. | fine-tuning of the wnt/tcf pathway is crucial for multiple embryological processes, including liver development. here we describe how the interaction between hhex (hematopoietically expressed homeobox) and sox13 (sry-related high mobility group box transcription factor 13), modulates wnt/tcf pathway activity. hhex is a homeodomain factor expressed in multiple endoderm-derived tissues, like the liver, where it is essential for proper development. the pleiotropic expression of hhex during embryoni ... | 2010 | 20028982 |
| a conserved threonine residue in the juxtamembrane domain of the xa21 pattern recognition receptor is critical for kinase autophosphorylation and xa21-mediated immunity. | despite the key role that pattern recognition receptors (prrs) play in regulating immunity in plants and animals, the mechanism of activation of the associated non-arginine-aspartate (non-rd) kinases is unknown. the rice prr xa21 recognizes the pathogen-associated molecular pattern, ax21 (activator of xa21-mediated immunity). here we show that the xa21 juxtamembrane (jm) domain is required for kinase autophosphorylation. threonine 705 in the xa21 jm domain is essential for xa21 autophosphorylati ... | 2010 | 20118235 |
| wild-type and hupki (human p53 knock-in) murine embryonic fibroblasts: p53/arf pathway disruption in spontaneous escape from senescence. | research on cell senescence and immortalization of murine embryonic fibroblasts (mefs) has revealed important clues about genetic control of senescence in humans. to investigate senescence and genetic alterations in the p53 pathway that lead to senescence bypass in culture, we compared the behavior of mefs from wild-type mice with mefs from hupki mice, which harbor a humanized p53 gene. we found that humanizing the p53 gene in mice preserved major features of the mef senescence/immortalization p ... | 2010 | 20118236 |
| atg9a protein, an autophagy-related membrane protein, is localized in the neurons of mouse brains. | old and unneeded intracellular macromolecules are delivered through autophagy to lysosomes that degrade macromolecules into bioactive monomers such as amino acids. autophagy is conserved in eukaryotes and is essential for the maintenance of cellular metabolism. currently, more than 30 autophagy-related genes (atgs) have been identified in yeast. of these genes, the18 that are essential for autophagosome formation are also conserved in mammalian cells. atg9 is the only transmembrane atg protein r ... | 2010 | 20124090 |
| crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy within the beclin 1 interactome. | although the essential genes for autophagy (atg) have been identified, the molecular mechanisms through which atg proteins control 'self eating' in mammalian cells remain elusive. beclin 1 (bec1), the mammalian orthologue of yeast atg6, is part of the class iii phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (pi3k) complex that induces autophagy. the first among an increasing number of bec1-interacting proteins that has been identified is the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2. the dissociation of bec1 from bcl-2 is es ... | 2010 | 20125189 |
| transgenic mice expressing mutant forms vcp/p97 recapitulate the full spectrum of ibmpfd including degeneration in muscle, brain and bone. | inclusion body myopathy associated with paget's disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia (ibmpfd) is a dominantly inherited degenerative disorder caused by mutations in the valosin-containing protein (vcp) gene. vcp (p97 in mouse, ter94 in drosophila melanogaster and cdc48 in saccharomyces cerevisiae) is a highly conserved aaa(+)-atpase that regulates a wide array of cellular processes. the mechanism of ibmpfd pathogenesis is unknown. towards elucidating the pathogenic mechanism we have devel ... | 2010 | 20147319 |
| fine-needle aspiration may replace skin biopsy for the collection of material for experimental infection of mice with mycobacterium leprae and lacazia loboi. | procedures involving the use of mycobacterium leprae and lacazia loboi, uncultivated organisms, depend on the collection of material from the lesions of patients or experimental animals. this study compared fine-needle aspiration (fna) and skin biopsy methods for obtaining bacilli and fungal cells to experimentally infect animals. | 2010 | 20149978 |
| mechanisms of recombination between diverged sequences in wild-type and blm-deficient mouse and human cells. | double-strand breaks (dsbs) are particularly deleterious dna lesions for which cells have developed multiple mechanisms of repair. one major mechanism of dsb repair in mammalian cells is homologous recombination (hr), whereby a homologous donor sequence is used as a template for repair. for this reason, hr repair of dsbs is also being exploited for gene modification in possible therapeutic approaches. hr is sensitive to sequence divergence, such that the cell has developed ways to suppress recom ... | 2010 | 20154148 |
| modulation of myocardin function by the ubiquitin e3 ligase ubr5. | fully differentiated mature smooth muscle cells (smcs) are characterized by the presence of a unique repertoire of smooth muscle-specific proteins. although previous studies have shown myocardin to be a critical transcription factor for stimulating expression of smooth muscle-specific genes, the mechanisms regulating myocardin activity are still poorly understood. we used a yeast two-hybrid screen with myocardin as bait to search for factors that may regulate the transcriptional activity of the ... | 2010 | 20167605 |
| rnf220, an e3 ubiquitin ligase that targets sin3b for ubiquitination. | modification of proteins by ubiquitination plays important roles in various cellular processes. during this process, the target specificity is determined by ubiquitin ligases. here we identify rnf220 (ring finger protein 220) as a novel ubiquitin ligase for sin3b. as a conserved ring protein, rnf220 can bind e2 and mediate auto-ubiquitination of itself. through a yeast two-hybrid screen, we isolated sin3b as one of its targets, which is a scaffold protein of the sin3/hdac (histone deacetylase) c ... | 2010 | 20170641 |
| the trafficking protein tmed2/p24beta(1) is required for morphogenesis of the mouse embryo and placenta. | during vesicular transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and the golgi, members of the tmed/p24 protein family form hetero-oligomeric complexes that facilitate protein-cargo recognition as well as vesicle budding. in addition, they regulate each other's level of expression. despite analyses of tmed/p24 protein distribution in mammalian cells, yeast, and c. elegans, little is known about the role of this family in vertebrate embryogenesis. we report the presence of a single point mutation in ... | 2010 | 20178780 |
| antigen-presenting dendritic cells rescue cd4-depleted ccr2-/- mice from lethal histoplasma capsulatum infection. | excessive production of interleukin-4 impairs clearance of the fungal pathogen histoplasma capsulatum in mice lacking the chemokine receptor ccr2. an increase in the interleukin-4 level is associated with decreased recruitment of dendritic cells to lungs; therefore, we investigated the possibility that these cells influence interleukin-4 production. adoptive transfer of wild-type or ccr2(-/-) bone marrow-derived dendritic cells loaded with heat-killed yeast cells to infected ccr2(-/-) mice suppr ... | 2010 | 20194586 |
| identification of a z-band associated protein complex involving ky, flnc and igfn1. | the ky protein underlies a form of muscular dystrophy in the mouse but its role in muscle remains elusive. immunodetection of endogenous ky protein in c2c12-derived myotubes and expression of a recombinant form in neonatal cardiomyocytes indicated that ky is a z-band associated protein. moreover, characterization of a ky interacting protein fragment led to the identification of igfn1 (immunoglobulin-like and fibronectin type 3 domain containing 1). igfn1 is a transcriptionally complex locus enco ... | 2010 | 20206623 |
| a strand invasion 3' polymerization intermediate of mammalian homologous recombination. | initial events in double-strand break repair by homologous recombination in vivo involve homology searching, 3' strand invasion, and new dna synthesis. while studies in yeast have contributed much to our knowledge of these processes, in comparison, little is known of the early events in the integrated mammalian system. in this study, a sensitive pcr procedure was developed to detect the new dna synthesis that accompanies mammalian homologous recombination. the test system exploits a well-charact ... | 2010 | 20308280 |
| zebrafish as a model host for candida albicans infection. | in this work, the zebrafish model organism was developed to obtain a minivertebrate host system for a candida albicans infection study. we demonstrated that c. albicans can colonize and invade zebrafish at multiple anatomical sites and kill the fish in a dose-dependent manner. inside zebrafish, we monitored the progression of the c. albicans yeast-to-hypha transition by tracking morphogenesis, and we monitored the corresponding gene expression of the pathogen and the early host immune response. ... | 2010 | 20308295 |
| mammalian blm helicase is critical for integrating multiple pathways of meiotic recombination. | bloom's syndrome (bs) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by growth retardation, cancer predisposition, and sterility. bs mutated (blm), the gene mutated in bs patients, is one of five mammalian recq helicases. although blm has been shown to promote genome stability by assisting in the repair of dna structures that arise during homologous recombination in somatic cells, less is known about its role in meiotic recombination primarily because of the embryonic lethality associated with ... | 2010 | 20308424 |
| systematic discovery of nonobvious human disease models through orthologous phenotypes. | biologists have long used model organisms to study human diseases, particularly when the model bears a close resemblance to the disease. we present a method that quantitatively and systematically identifies nonobvious equivalences between mutant phenotypes in different species, based on overlapping sets of orthologous genes from human, mouse, yeast, worm, and plant (212,542 gene-phenotype associations). these orthologous phenotypes, or phenologs, predict unique genes associated with diseases. ou ... | 2010 | 20308572 |
| protogenin defines a transition stage during embryonic neurogenesis and prevents precocious neuronal differentiation. | many ig superfamily members are expressed in the developing nervous system, but the functions of these molecules during neurogenesis are not all clear. here, we explore the expression and function of one of members of this superfamily, protogenin (prtg), in the developing nervous system. expression of prtg protein is strong in the neural tube of mouse embryos between embryonic days 7.75 and 9.5 but disappears after embryonic day 10.5 when the neural progenitor marker nestin expresses prominently ... | 2010 | 20335479 |
| effect of yeast superoxide dismutase treatment on some mediators of inflammation during adjuvant-induced arthritis in mice. | * author for correspondence and reprint requests z. naturforsch. 65c, 141-147 (2010); received june 17/july 21, 2009 the superoxide radical (o2-), hydrogen peroxide (h2o2) and nitric oxide (no) are pleiotropic inflammatory mediators which play an important role in inflammatory joint diseases. they are overproduced during rheumatoid arthritis and its experimental model - adjuvant-induced arthritis in rodents--and may be detected both systemically and intra-articularly. their secretion is up-regul ... | 2010 | 20355334 |
| drug target prediction and prioritization: using orthology to predict essentiality in parasite genomes. | new drug targets are urgently needed for parasites of socio-economic importance. genes that are essential for parasite survival are highly desirable targets, but information on these genes is lacking, as gene knockouts or knockdowns are difficult to perform in many species of parasites. we examined the applicability of large-scale essentiality information from four model eukaryotes, caenorhabditis elegans, drosophila melanogaster, mus musculus and saccharomyces cerevisiae, to discover essential ... | 2010 | 20361874 |
| yeast, plants, worms, and flies use a methyltransferase to metabolize age-damaged (r,s)-adomet, but what do mammals do? | the biological methyl donor s-adenosyl-l-methionine [(s,s)-adomet] can spontaneously break down under physiological conditions to form the inactive diastereomer (r,s)-adomet, which may interfere with cell function. although several lower organisms metabolize (r,s)-adomet via homocysteine methyltransferases, it is unclear how mammals deal with it. in this paper, we show that the mouse liver extracts, containing the bhmt-2 homocysteine methyltransferase candidate for a similar activity, recognizes ... | 2010 | 20370499 |
| map4k4 negatively regulates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (ppar) gamma protein translation by suppressing the mammalian target of rapamycin (mtor) signaling pathway in cultured adipocytes. | the receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (ppargamma) is considered a master regulator of adipocyte differentiation and promotes glucose and lipid metabolism in mature adipocytes. we recently identified the yeast sterile 20 (ste20) protein kinase ortholog, map4k4, in an rna interference-based screen as an inhibitor of ppargamma expression in cultured adipocytes. here, we show that rna interference-mediated silencing of map4k4 elevates the levels of both ppargamma1 and ppargam ... | 2010 | 20038583 |
| mtor binds to the promoters of rna polymerase i- and iii-transcribed genes. | target of rapamycin (tor) is a conserved regulator of gene expression from yeast to humans. in budding yeast, tor is associated with ribosomal dna (rdna) promoter, which is critical for ribosome biogenesis and transfer rna (trna) synthesis. whether mtor behaves similarly in mammalian cells is unknown. here, we report that mtor is detected at several different promoters in human and murine cells, including that of rdna and trna genes. the association of mtor with these promoters is regulated by g ... | 2010 | 20038818 |
| appl1 is dispensable for mouse development, and loss of appl1 has growth factor-selective effects on akt signaling in murine embryonic fibroblasts. | the adaptor protein appl1 (adaptor protein containing pleckstrin homology (ph), phosphotyrosine binding (ptb), and leucine zipper motifs) was first identified as a binding protein of akt2 by yeast two-hybrid screening. appl1 was subsequently found to bind to several membrane-bound receptors and was implicated in their signal transduction through akt and/or mapk pathways. to determine the unambiguous role of appl1 in vivo, we generated appl1 knock-out mice. here we report that appl1 knock-out mic ... | 2010 | 20040596 |
| novel folate binding protein-1 interactions in embryonic orofacial tissue. | to identify proteins with which folbp1 may interact within lipid rafts in tissue derived from embryonic orofacial tissue. | 2010 | 20045418 |
| developmental and cellular functions of the escrt machinery in pluricellular organisms. | escrts (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) were first discovered in yeast and are known to be required in the biogenesis of the mvb (multivesicular body). most escrt research has been carried out in vitro using models such as yeast and mammalian cells in culture. the role of the escrts genes in endosome maturation is conserved from yeast to mammals, but little is known about their function during development in multicellular organisms. since escrts play a leading role in regulat ... | 2010 | 20059450 |
| dietary restriction and aging, 2009. | dietary restriction (dr) is a robust nongenetic, nonpharmacological intervention that is known to increase active and healthy lifespan in a variety of species. despite a variety of differences in the protocols and the way dr is carried out in different species, conserved relationships are emerging among multiple species. 2009 saw the field of dr mature with important mechanistic insights from multiple species. a report of lifespan extension in rapamycin-treated mice suggested that the tor pathwa ... | 2010 | 20096035 |
| overexpression of sirt5 confirms its involvement in deacetylation and activation of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1. | sir2 protein, an nad-dependent deacetylase, is localized to nucleus and is involved in life span extension by calorie restriction in yeast. in mammals, among the seven sir2 homologues (sirt1-7), sirt3, 4, and 5 are localized to mitochondria. as sirt5 mrna levels in liver are increased by fasting, the physiological role of sirt5 was investigated in liver of sirt5-overexpressing transgenic (sirt5 tg) mice. we identified carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (cps1), a key enzyme of the urea cycle that c ... | 2010 | 20097174 |
| dysbindin regulates the transcriptional level of myristoylated alanine-rich protein kinase c substrate via the interaction with nf-yb in mice brain. | an accumulating body of evidence suggests that dtnbp1 (dysbindin) is a key susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. using the yeast-two-hybrid screening system, we examined the candidate proteins interacting with dysbindin and revealed one of these candidates to be the transcription factor nf-yb. | 2010 | 20098743 |
| clp36 interacts with palladin in dorsal root ganglion neurons. | clp36, a member of the alpha-actinin-associated lim protein (alp)/enigma protein family, plays a role in neurite outgrowth in the peripheral nervous system. however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not known. in this study, we performed yeast two-hybrid screening of an e18 mouse whole-body cdna library with clp36 as the bait and isolated palladin as a clp36-binding protein. palladin is an actin-binding protein and it was shown to have a role in the extension of cortical neurons. a coimmu ... | 2010 | 20381583 |
| lim domain binding proteins 1 and 2 have different oligomeric states. | lim domain binding (ldb) proteins are important regulators of lim homeodomain and lim-only proteins that specify cell fate in many different tissues. an essential feature of these proteins is the ability to self-associate, but there have been no studies that characterise the nature of this self-association. we have used deletion mutagenesis with yeast two-hybrid analysis to define the minimal self-association domains of ldb1 and ldb2 as residues 14-200 and 21-197, respectively. we then used a ra ... | 2010 | 20382157 |
| potentiating effect of beta-glucans on photodynamic therapy of implanted cancer cells in mice. | photodynamic therapy (pdt) combines a drug or photosensitizer with a specific type of light to kill cancer cells. the cellular damage induced by pdt leads to activation of the dna damage repair, which is an important factor for modulating tumor sensitivity to this treatment. beta-glucans are natural polysaccharides that bind complement receptor 3 on the effector cells, thereby activating them to kill tumor cells during pdt. the hypothesis of the present study was that adjuvant therapy with beta- ... | 2010 | 20410681 |
| real-time imaging of trapping and urease-dependent transmigration of cryptococcus neoformans in mouse brain. | infectious meningitis and encephalitis is caused by invasion of circulating pathogens into the brain. it is unknown how the circulating pathogens dynamically interact with brain endothelium under shear stress, leading to invasion into the brain. here, using intravital microscopy, we have shown that cryptococcus neoformans, a yeast pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis, stops suddenly in mouse brain capillaries of a similar or smaller diameter than the organism, in the same manner and with the ... | 2010 | 20424328 |
| nsc126188, a piperazine alkyl derivative, induces apoptosis via upregulation of rhob in hela cells. | we describe here a piperazine alkyl derivative, nsc126188, which induced apoptosis of hela cells by upregulating rhob expression. nsc126188 caused multi-septation of fission yeast and hypersensitized a rho3 mutant, which implicates the involvement of functional human homolog rhob. the treatment of cells with nsc126188 induced apoptosis and a dramatic increase in rhob expression. in addition, rhob knockdown using sirna rescued cells from apoptosis, indicating a crucial role of rhob in nsc126188-i ... | 2010 | 20432054 |
| detection of gene orthology from gene co-expression and protein interaction networks. | ortholog detection methods present a powerful approach for finding genes that participate in similar biological processes across different organisms, extending our understanding of interactions between genes across different pathways, and understanding the evolution of gene families. | 2010 | 20438654 |
| sparc interacts with ampk and regulates glut4 expression. | amp-activated protein kinase (ampk) is a critical regulator of glucose metabolism. to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms by which ampk regulates glucose and fat metabolism, we conducted a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify its interacting partners. a yeast two-hybrid system was used to screen a mouse embryo cdna library for proteins able to bind mouse ampk alpha 1. we also demonstrated an endogenous interaction between ampk alpha 1 and its interacting partner by co-immunoprecipitation of the ... | 2010 | 20460104 |
| engineering of a human kringle domain into agonistic and antagonistic binding proteins functioning in vitro and in vivo. | here, we report the development of target-specific binding proteins based on the kringle domain (kd) ( approximately 80 residues), a ubiquitous modular structural unit occurring across eukaryotic species. by exploiting the highly conserved backbone folding by core residues, but using extensive sequence variations in the seven loop regions of naturally occurring human kds, we generated a synthetic kd library on the yeast cell surface by randomizing 45 residues in the loops of a human kd template. ... | 2010 | 20460308 |
| ash2l interacts with tbx1 and is required during early embryogenesis. | tbx1 encodes a dna binding transcription factor that is commonly deleted in human digeorge syndrome and plays an important role in heart development. mechanisms of tbx1 function, such as tbx1 interacting regulatory proteins and transcriptional target specificity, are largely unknown. ash2l is the mammalian homolog of drosophila ash2 (absent small homeotic 2) and is a core component of a multimeric histone methyltransferase complex that epigenetically regulates transcription via methylation of hi ... | 2010 | 20463296 |
| the set3/hos2 histone deacetylase complex attenuates camp/pka signaling to regulate morphogenesis and virulence of candida albicans. | candida albicans, like other pleiomorphic fungal pathogens, is able to undergo a reversible transition between single yeast-like cells and multicellular filaments. this morphogenetic process has long been considered as a key fungal virulence factor. here, we identify the evolutionarily conserved set3/hos2 histone deacetylase complex (set3c) as a crucial repressor of the yeast-to-filament transition. cells lacking core components of the set3c are able to maintain all developmental phases, but are ... | 2010 | 20485517 |
| roles of heat shock factor 1 and 2 in response to proteasome inhibition: consequence on p53 stability. | a single heat shock factor (hsf), mediating the heat shock response, exists from yeast to drosophila, whereas several related hsfs have been found in mammals. this raises the question of the specific or redundant functions of the different members of the hsf family and in particular of hsf1 and hsf2, which are both ubiquitously expressed. using immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts (imefs) derived from wild-type, hsf1(-/-), hsf2(-/-) or double-mutant mice, we observed the distinctive behavior ... | 2010 | 20498630 |
| nucleosome occupancy landscape and dynamics at mouse recombination hotspots. | during meiosis, paternal and maternal homologous chromosomes recombine at specific recombination sites named hotspots. what renders 2% of the mammalian genomes permissive to meiotic recombination by allowing spo11 endonuclease to initiate double-strand breaks is largely unknown. work in yeast has shown that chromatin accessibility seems to be important for this activity. here, we define nucleosome profiles and dynamics at four mouse recombination hotspots by purifying highly enriched fractions o ... | 2010 | 20508641 |
| exclusive expression of a membrane-bound spink3-interacting serine protease-like protein tespl in mouse testis. | we identified a testis-specific protease-like protein tentatively named tespl and a pancreatic trypsinogen prss2 from the clones of a yeast two-hybrid screen against a mouse testicular cdna library using the trypsin inhibitor spink3 from male accessory sexual glands as bait. the enzymatic motifs and the cysteine patterns in serine proteases are highly conserved in these two proteins. based on the phylogenetic analysis, prss2 duplicated recently and tespl underwent distant evolution without gene ... | 2010 | 20512923 |
| tdp-43 mediates degeneration in a novel drosophila model of disease caused by mutations in vcp/p97. | inclusion body myopathy associated with paget's disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia (ibmpfd) is a dominantly inherited degenerative disorder caused by mutations in the valosin-containing protein (vcp7) gene. vcp (p97 in mouse, ter94 in drosophila melanogaster, and cdc48 in saccharomyces cerevisiae) is a highly conserved aaa(+) (atpases associated with multiple cellular activities) atpase that regulates a wide array of cellular processes. the mechanism of ibmpfd pathogenesis is unknown. t ... | 2010 | 20519548 |
| the silac fly allows for accurate protein quantification in vivo. | stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (silac) is widely used to quantify protein abundance in tissue culture cells. until now, the only multicellular organism completely labeled at the amino acid level was the laboratory mouse. the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster is one of the most widely used small animal models in biology. here, we show that feeding flies with silac-labeled yeast leads to almost complete labeling in the first filial generation. we used these "silac flies" to ... | 2010 | 20525996 |
| [polar steroids from solaster endeca starfish and the physiological activity of polar steroids from three starfish species]. | four polyhydroxylated steroids, new (20r)-5alpha-cholestan-3beta,6alpha,8,15alpha,24,26-hexaol (i) and known (20r,25s)-5alpha-cholestan-3beta6alpha,8,15beta,16beta,26-hexaol, (20r,25s)-5alpha-cholestan-3beta,6alpha,15beta,16beta,26-pentaol, and marthasterone sulfate were isolated from the solaster endeca starfish inhabiting the sea of okhotsk and characterized. steroid (i) contains a 24,26-dihydroxylated side chain, which is uncommon for starfish polyols. the isolated steroids and related metabo ... | 2010 | 20531484 |
| sidl interacts with the dendritic targeting motif of shal (k(v)4) k+ channels in drosophila. | shal k(+) (k(v)4) channels in mammalian neurons have been shown to be localized exclusively to somato-dendritic regions of neurons, where they function as key determinants of dendritic excitability. to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying dendritic localization of k(v)4 channels, we use drosophila melanogaster as our model system. we show that shal k(+) channels display a conserved somato-dendritic localization in vivo in drosophila. from a yeast-2-hybrid screen, we identify the novel int ... | 2010 | 20550966 |
| ubqln1 interacts with spem1 and participates in spermiogenesis. | spermiogenesis represents the process through which haploid male germ cells differentiate from round spermatids into elongated spermatids and eventually the male gametes called spermatozoa. haploid cell differentiation is unique to male germ cell development and many unique genes/proteins essential for this process have been discovered. spem1 is one of these spermiogenesis-essential proteins encoded by a testis-specific gene exclusively expressed in the developing spermatids. inactivation of spe ... | 2010 | 20558241 |
| a septin diffusion barrier at the base of the primary cilium maintains ciliary membrane protein distribution. | in animal cells, the primary cilium transduces extracellular signals through signaling receptors localized in the ciliary membrane, but how these ciliary membrane proteins are retained in the cilium is unknown. we found that ciliary membrane proteins were highly mobile, but their diffusion was impeded at the base of the cilium by a diffusion barrier. septin 2 (sept2), a member of the septin family of guanosine triphosphatases that form a diffusion barrier in budding yeast, localized at the base ... | 2010 | 20558667 |
| estrogenic pyrethroid pesticides regulate expression of estrogen receptor transcripts in mouse sertoli cells differently from 17beta-estradiol. | studies suggested that exposure to agricultural pesticides may affect male fertility. pyrethroids are widely used pesticides due to their insecticidal potency and low mammalian toxicity. a recombinant yeast assay system incorporating the human alpha-estrogen receptor was used to analyze the estrogenicity of a range of readily available pyrethroid pesticides. the commercial product ripcord plus showed estrogenic activity by this assay. to determine whether pyrethroid compounds might exert an effe ... | 2010 | 20574910 |
| the genemania prediction server: biological network integration for gene prioritization and predicting gene function. | genemania (http://www.genemania.org) is a flexible, user-friendly web interface for generating hypotheses about gene function, analyzing gene lists and prioritizing genes for functional assays. given a query list, genemania extends the list with functionally similar genes that it identifies using available genomics and proteomics data. genemania also reports weights that indicate the predictive value of each selected data set for the query. six organisms are currently supported (arabidopsis thal ... | 2010 | 20576703 |
| tlr9 signaling is required for generation of the adaptive immune protection in cryptococcus neoformans-infected lungs. | to determine whether tlr9 signaling contributes to the development of the adaptive immune response to cryptococcal infection, wild-type (tlr9+/+) and tlr9 knockout (tlr9-/-) balb/c mice were infected intratracheally with 10(4) c. neoformans 52d. we evaluated 1) organ microbial burdens, 2) pulmonary leukocyte recruitment, 3) pulmonary and systemic cytokine induction, and 4) macrophage activation profiles. tlr9 deletion did not affect pulmonary growth during the innate phase, but profoundly impair ... | 2010 | 20581055 |
| antimicrobial activity of mucosal-associated invariant t cells. | mucosal-associated invariant t lymphocytes (mait lymphocytes) are characterized by two evolutionarily conserved features: an invariant t cell antigen receptor (tcr) alpha-chain and restriction by the major histocompatibility complex (mhc)-related protein mr1. here we show that mait cells were activated by cells infected with various strains of bacteria and yeast, but not cells infected with virus, in both humans and mice. this activation required cognate interaction between the invariant tcr and ... | 2010 | 20581831 |
| role of candida albicans aft2p transcription factor in ferric reductase activity, morphogenesis and virulence. | the ability of candida albicans to act as an opportunistic fungal pathogen is linked to its ability to switch among different morphological forms. this conversion is an important feature of c. albicans and is correlated with its pathogenesis. many conserved positive and negative transcription factors regulate morphogenetic transition of c. albicans. here, we show the results of functional analysis of caaft2, which is an orthologue of the saccharomyces cerevisiae aft2 gene. we have cloned caaft2 ... | 2010 | 20595261 |
| modulation of histone h3 lysine 56 acetylation as an antifungal therapeutic strategy. | candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen that causes serious systemic and mucosal infections in immunocompromised individuals. in yeast, histone h3 lys56 acetylation (h3k56ac) is an abundant modification regulated by enzymes that have fungal-specific properties, making them appealing targets for antifungal therapy. here we demonstrate that h3k56ac in c. albicans is regulated by the rtt109 and hst3 genes, which respectively encode the h3k56 acetyltransferase (rtt109p) and deacetylase (hst3p). ... | 2010 | 20601951 |
| paracoccidioides brasiliensis enolase is a surface protein that binds plasminogen and mediates interaction of yeast forms with host cells. | paracoccidioidomycosis (pcm), caused by the dimorphic fungus paracoccidioides brasiliensis, is a disseminated, systemic disorder that involves the lungs and other organs. the ability of the pathogen to interact with host components, including extracellular matrix (ecm) proteins, is essential to further colonization, invasion, and growth. previously, enolase (ec 4.2.1.11) was characterized as a fibronectin binding protein in p. brasiliensis. interaction of surface-bound enolase with plasminogen h ... | 2010 | 20605975 |
| experimental annotation of the human pathogen candida albicans coding and noncoding transcribed regions using high-resolution tiling arrays. | compared to other model organisms and despite the clinical relevance of the pathogenic yeast candida albicans, no comprehensive analysis has been done to provide experimental support of its in silico-based genome annotation. | 2010 | 20618945 |
| kbp interacts with scg10, linking goldberg-shprintzen syndrome to microtubule dynamics and neuronal differentiation. | goldberg-shprintzen syndrome (goshs) is a rare clinical disorder characterized by central and enteric nervous system defects. this syndrome is caused by inactivating mutations in the kinesin binding protein (kbp) gene, which encodes a protein of which the precise function is largely unclear. we show that kbp expression is up-regulated during neuronal development in mouse cortical neurons. moreover, kbp-depleted pc12 cells were defective in nerve growth factor-induced differentiation and neurite ... | 2010 | 20621975 |
| a novel pathway regulates memory and plasticity via sirt1 and mir-134. | the nad-dependent deacetylase sir2 was initially identified as a mediator of replicative lifespan in budding yeast and was subsequently shown to modulate longevity in worms and flies. its mammalian homologue, sirt1, seems to have evolved complex systemic roles in cardiac function, dna repair and genomic stability. recent studies suggest a functional relevance of sirt1 in normal brain physiology and neurological disorders. however, it is unknown if sirt1 has a role in higher-order brain functions ... | 2010 | 20622856 |
| vacuolar (h+)-atpases in caenorhabditis elegans: what can we learn about giant h+ pumps from tiny worms? | vacuolar (h(+))-atpases, also called v-atpases, are atp-driven proton pumps that are highly phylogenetically conserved. early biochemical and cell biological studies have revealed many details of the molecular mechanism of proton pumping and of the structure of the multi-subunit membrane complex, including the stoichiometry of subunit composition. in addition, yeast and mouse genetics have broadened our understanding of the physiological consequences of defective vacuolar acidification and its r ... | 2010 | 20637717 |
| divergent interactions involving the oxidosqualene cyclase and the steroid-3-ketoreductase in the sterol biosynthetic pathway of mammals and yeasts. | in mammals and yeasts, oxidosqualene cyclase (osc) catalyzes the formation of lanosterol, the first cyclic intermediate in sterol biosynthesis. we used a murine myeloma cell line (ns0), deficient in the 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 7 (hsd17b7), as a model to study the potential interaction of the hsd17b7 with the osc in mammals. hsd17b7 is the orthologue of the yeast steroid-3-ketoreductase (erg27), an enzyme of ergosterol biosynthesis that plays a protective role towards osc. tracer ex ... | 2010 | 20659585 |
| polyploidy: mechanisms and cancer promotion in hematopoietic and other cells. | polyploidy, the state of having greater than a diploid content of dna (e.g., tetraploid, octaploid, etc) has been recognized in a large variety of both, plant and animal cells. human and murine megakaryocytes, hepatocytes, arterial smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes, all develop a certain degree of polyploidy during their normal lifespan. in addition, polyploid cells may be found in some tissues under conditions of stress, including uterine smooth muscle during pregnancy, aortic vascular s ... | 2010 | 20687472 |
| the absence of genotoxicity of sucralose. | sucralose is a non-nutritive sweetener that is approximately 600 times sweeter than table sugar. it is currently approved for use in over 80 countries. evidence from chronic studies demonstrates that this compound is not carcinogenic. this report summarizes the results of genotoxicity studies that were part of the original safety assessment of sucralose-conducted early in the safety investigation and shared with regulatory agencies around the world. studies included the ames (salmonella typhimur ... | 2010 | 20691239 |
| autophagy, proteases and the sense of balance. | the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying autophagy has considerably improved after the isolation and characterization of autophagy-defective mutants in the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae. two ubiquitin-like conjugation systems are required for yeast autophagy. one of them requires the participation of atg8 synthesized as a precursor protein, which is cleaved after a gly residue by a cysteine proteinase called atg4. the new gly-terminal residue from atg8 is activated by atg7 (an e1-li ... | 2010 | 20724821 |
| model organisms--a historical perspective. | much of our knowledge on heredity, development, physiology and the underlying cellular and molecular processes is derived from the studies of model, or reference, organisms. despite the great variety of life, a common base of shared principles could be extracted by studying a few life forms, selected based on their amenability to experimental studies. very briefly, the origins of a few model organisms are described, including e. coli, yeast, c. elegans, drosophila, xenopus, zebrafish, mouse, mai ... | 2010 | 20727995 |
| regulation of serum response factor activity and smooth muscle cell apoptosis by chromodomain helicase dna-binding protein 8. | serum response factor (srf) is a widely expressed protein that plays a key role in the regulation of smooth muscle differentiation, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. it is generally accepted that one mechanism by which srf regulates these diverse functions is through pathway-specific cofactor interactions. a novel srf cofactor, chromodomain helicase dna binding protein 8 (chd8), was isolated from a yeast two-hybrid screen using srf as bait. chd8 is highly expressed in adult smooth muscle ... | 2010 | 20739623 |
| full-field transmission x-ray microscopy for bio-imaging. | a full-field hard-x-ray microscope at ssrl has successfully imaged samples of biological and environmental origin at 40 nm resolution. phase contrast imaging of trabeculae from a female mouse tibia, loaded in vivo to study the effects of weight-bearing on bone structure, revealed a complex network of osteocytes and canaliculi. imaging of cordgrass roots exposed to mercury revealed nanoparticles with strong absorption contrast. 3d tomography of yeast cells grown in selenium rich media showed inte ... | 2009 | 20111669 |
| mouse neutrophil extracellular traps in microbial infections. | neutrophil extracellular traps (nets) play an important role in innate immunity to microbial infections. nets have been described in several species, but the molecular details of net formation and their role in infection has not been addressed, partly because we lack optimal experimental models. here we describe tools to investigate net formation in neutrophils isolated from mice. upon in vitro stimulation of wild-type mouse neutrophils with pma, we analyzed 3 important steps in the process of n ... | 2009 | 20375576 |
| actin and phosphoinositide recruitment to fully formed candida albicans phagosomes in mouse macrophages. | candida albicans is a dimorphic yeast that enters macrophages (mphi) via the beta-glucan receptor dectin-1. phagocytosis of c. albicans is characterized by actin polymerization, syk kinase activation and rapid acquisition of phagolysosomal markers. in mice, c. albicans are able to resist the harsh environment of the phagosome and form pseudohyphae inside the phagolysosomal compartment, eventually extending from the mphi. in this study, we investigated these unique c. albicans phagosomes and foun ... | 2009 | 20375582 |
| [inhibitory effect of dexamethasone on myeloid differentiation factor 88 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha expressions in mouse peritoneal macrophages]. | to study the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone (dex) on myeloid differentiation factor 88 (myd88) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-alpha) expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages in innate immune response to penicillium marneffei (pm). | 2009 | 20034887 |
| identification and characterization of a small molecule inhibitor of formin-mediated actin assembly. | formins stimulate actin filament assembly for fundamental cellular processes including division, adhesion, establishing polarity, and motility. a formin inhibitor would be useful because most cells express multiple formins whose functions are not known and because metastatic tumor formation depends on the deregulation of formin-dependent processes. we identified a general small molecule inhibitor of formin homology 2 domains (smifh2) by screening compounds for the ability to prevent formin-media ... | 2009 | 19942139 |
| accumulation of cd11b+ lung dendritic cells in response to fungal infection results from the ccr2-mediated recruitment and differentiation of ly-6chigh monocytes. | pulmonary clearance of the encapsulated yeast cryptococcus neoformans is associated with the ccr2-mediated accumulation of lung dendritic cells (dc) and the development of a t1 adaptive immune response. the objective of this study was to identify the circulating dc precursor(s) responsible for this large increase in lung dc numbers. an established murine model was used to evaluate putative dc precursors in the blood, bone marrow, and lungs of ccr2(+/+) mice and ccr2(-/-) mice throughout a time c ... | 2009 | 19933856 |
| an auxin-based degron system for the rapid depletion of proteins in nonplant cells. | plants have evolved a unique system in which the plant hormone auxin directly induces rapid degradation of the aux/iaa family of transcription repressors by a specific form of the scf e3 ubiquitin ligase. other eukaryotes lack the auxin response but share the scf degradation pathway, allowing us to transplant the auxin-inducible degron (aid) system into nonplant cells and use a small molecule to conditionally control protein stability. the aid system allowed rapid and reversible degradation of t ... | 2009 | 19915560 |
| balance between synaptic versus extrasynaptic nmda receptor activity influences inclusions and neurotoxicity of mutant huntingtin. | huntington's disease is caused by an expanded cag repeat in the gene encoding huntingtin (htt), resulting in loss of striatal and cortical neurons. given that the gene product is widely expressed, it remains unclear why neurons are selectively targeted. here we show the relationship between synaptic and extrasynaptic activity, inclusion formation of mutant huntingtin protein (mthtt) and neuronal survival. synaptic n-methyl-d-aspartate-type glutamate receptor (nmdar) activity induces mthtt inclus ... | 2009 | 19915593 |
| triosephosphate isomerase deficiency: new insights into an enigmatic disease. | the triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) functions at a metabolic cross-road ensuring the rapid equilibration of the triosephosphates produced by aldolase in glycolysis, which is interconnected to lipid metabolism, to glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle and to the pentose phosphate pathway. the enzyme is a stable homodimer, which is catalytically active only in its dimeric form. tpi deficiency is an autosomal recessive multisystem genetic disease coupled with hemolytic anemia and neurological disorder frequ ... | 2009 | 19786097 |
| cooperative binding of two acetylation marks on a histone tail by a single bromodomain. | a key step in many chromatin-related processes is the recognition of histone post-translational modifications by effector modules such as bromodomains and chromo-like domains of the royal family. whereas effector-mediated recognition of single post-translational modifications is well characterized, how the cell achieves combinatorial readout of histones bearing multiple modifications is poorly understood. one mechanism involves multivalent binding by linked effector modules. for example, the tan ... | 2009 | 19794495 |
| miz1 is a signal- and pathway-specific modulator or regulator (smor) that suppresses tnf-alpha-induced jnk1 activation. | the proinflammatory cytokine tnf-alpha exerts its pleiotropic functions through activation of multiple downstream effectors, including jnk1. yet, the underlying regulatory mechanism is incompletely understood. here, we report that the transcription factor myc-interacting zinc-finger protein 1 (miz1) selectively suppresses tnf-alpha-induced jnk1 activation and cell death independently of its transcription activity. proteomics analysis and yeast two-hybrid screening reveal that miz1 is a jnk-assoc ... | 2009 | 19815509 |
| limiting the persistence of a chromosome break diminishes its mutagenic potential. | to characterize the repair pathways of chromosome double-strand breaks (dsbs), one approach involves monitoring the repair of site-specific dsbs generated by rare-cutting endonucleases, such as i-scei. using this method, we first describe the roles of ercc1, msh2, nbs1, xrcc4, and brca1 in a set of distinct repair events. subsequently, we considered that the outcome of such assays could be influenced by the persistent nature of i-scei-induced dsbs, in that end-joining (ej) products that restore ... | 2009 | 19834534 |
| nascent: an automatic protein interaction network generation tool for non-model organisms. | large quantity of reliable protein interaction data are available for model organisms in public depositories (e.g., mint, dip, hprd, interact). most data correspond to experiments with the proteins of saccharomyces cerevisiae, drosophila melanogaster, homo sapiens, caenorhabditis elegans, escherichia coli and mus musculus. for other important organisms the data availability is poor or non-existent. here we present nascent, a completely automatic web-based tool and also a downloadable java progra ... | 2009 | 19707301 |
| interaction of postsynaptic density protein-95 with nmda receptors influences excitotoxicity in the yeast artificial chromosome mouse model of huntington's disease. | evidence suggests that nmda-type glutamate receptors contribute to degeneration of striatal medium-sized spiny neurons (msns) in huntington's disease (hd). previously, we demonstrated that nmda receptor (nmdar)-mediated current and/or toxicity is increased in msns from the yeast artificial chromosome (yac) transgenic mouse model expressing polyglutamine (polyq)-expanded (mutant) full-length human huntingtin (htt). others have shown that membrane-associated guanylate kinases (maguks), such as psd ... | 2009 | 19726651 |
| the inactivation of the sortilin gene leads to a partial disruption of prosaposin trafficking to the lysosomes. | lysosomes are intracellular organelles which contain enzymes and activator proteins involved in the digestion and recycling of a variety of cellular and extracellular substances. we have identified a novel sorting receptor, sortilin, which is involved in the lysosomal trafficking of the sphingolipid activator proteins, prosaposin and gm(2)ap, and the soluble hydrolases cathepsin d, cathepsin h, and acid sphingomyelinase. sortilin belongs to a growing family of receptors with homology to the yeas ... | 2009 | 19732768 |
| pharmacological characterization of anaphylaxis-like shock responses induced in mice by mannan and lipopolysaccharide. | intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (lps, a component of the gram-negative bacterial cell-surface) or mannan (man, a component of the fungal cell-surface) into mice reportedly induces anaphylaxis-like shock (als) via complement-associated platelet degradation and platelet-activating factor (paf), respectively. however, it is unclear whether paf is involved in lps-als or whether complements and/or platelets are involved in man-als. here, using preparations of man from saccharomyces cerevi ... | 2009 | 19755175 |
| cutting edge: candida albicans hyphae formation triggers activation of the nlrp3 inflammasome. | the proinflammatory cytokine il-1beta plays an important role in antifungal immunity; however, the mechanisms by which fungal pathogens trigger il-1beta secretion are unclear. in this study we show that infection with candida albicans is sensed by the nlrp3 inflammasome, resulting in the subsequent release of il-1beta. the ability of c. albicans to switch from a unicellular yeast form into a filamentous form is essential for activation of the nlrp3 inflammasome, as c. albicans mutants incapable ... | 2009 | 19684085 |
| predicting protein post-translational modifications using meta-analysis of proteome scale data sets. | protein post-translational modifications are an important biological regulatory mechanism, and the rate of their discovery using high throughput techniques is rapidly increasingly. to make use of this wealth of sequence data, we introduce a new general strategy designed to predict a variety of post-translational modifications in several organisms. we used the motif-x program to determine phosphorylation motifs in yeast, fly, mouse, and man and lysine acetylation motifs in man. these motifs were ... | 2009 | 18974045 |
| p31 deficiency influences endoplasmic reticulum tubular morphology and cell survival. | p31, the mammalian orthologue of yeast use1p, is an endoplasmic reticulum (er)-localized soluble n-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein (snap) receptor (snare) that forms a complex with other snares, particularly syntaxin 18. however, the role of p31 in er function remains unknown. to determine the role of p31 in vivo, we generated p31 conditional knockout mice. we found that homozygous deletion of the p31 gene led to early embryonic lethality before embryonic day 8.5. conditional ... | 2009 | 19188447 |
| gene cloning and expression of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent l-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate dehydratase from pseudomonas sp. t62, and characterization of the recombinant enzyme. | l-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate dehydratase (l-tha dh, ec 4.3.1.16), which catalyses the cleavage of l-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate (l-tha) to oxalacetate and ammonia, has been purified from the soil bacterium pseudomonas sp. t62. in this report, the gene encoding l-tha dh was cloned and expressed in escherichia coli, and the gene product was purified and characterized in detail. a 957-bp nucleotide fragment was confirmed to be the gene encoding l-tha dh, based on the agreement of internal amino acid seq ... | 2009 | 19193709 |