| aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligand activity of polycyclic aromatic ketones and polycyclic aromatic quinones. | polycyclic aromatic ketones (paks) and polycyclic aromatic quinones (paqs) are oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs), and reports about the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (ahr) ligand activities of these compounds are few. in this study, activation of ahr by 41 polycyclic aromatic compounds (pacs), focusing especially on paks and paqs, was determined by measuring beta-galactosidase activity from a reporter plasmid in yeast engineered to express human ahr and the ahr nuclear translocator ... | 2007 | 17665676 |
| the c terminus of the synovial sarcoma-associated ssx proteins interacts with the lim homeobox protein lhx4. | as a result of the synovial sarcoma-associated t(x;18) translocation, the ss18 gene on chromosome 18 is fused to either one of the three closely related ssx genes on the x chromosome. the ss18 protein is thought to act as a transcriptional co-activator, whereas the ssx proteins are thought to act as transcriptional corepressors. the main ssx-repression domain is located in its c terminus, a domain that is retained in the respective ss18-ssx fusion proteins. both the ss18 and ssx proteins lack dn ... | 2008 | 17667940 |
| endocrine modulation and toxic effects of two commonly used uv screens on the aquatic invertebrates potamopyrgus antipodarum and lumbriculus variegatus. | the two uv screens 3-benzylidene-camphor (3-bc) and 3-(4'-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-mbc) were tested regarding their toxicity and estrogenic activity. the yeast estrogen screen (yes) and two sediment assays with the freshwater invertebrates lumbriculus variegatus and potamopyrgus antipodarum were performed. in the yes, both substances activated the human estrogen receptor alpha with ec50 values of 44.2 microm for 3-bc and 44.3 microm for 4-mbc, whereby 4-mbc attained only 8% of the maximal r ... | 2008 | 17669564 |
| purification and antimicrobial activity studies of the n-terminal fragment of ubiquitin from human amniotic fluid. | a 4.3-kda antimicrobial peptide was isolated from human amniotic fluid by dialysis, ultrafiltration, and c18 reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. this peptide, which we named amniotic fluid peptide-1 (afp-1), possessed antimicrobial activity but lacked hemolytic activity. in addition, afp-1 potently inhibited the growth of a variety of bacteria (escherichia coli, salmonella typhimurium, listeria monocytogenes and staphylococcus aureus), filamentous fungi (botrytis cinerea, aspe ... | 2007 | 17669700 |
| functional interactions between the forkhead transcription factor foxk1 and the mads-box protein srf. | the combinatorial control of gene expression by the association of members of different families of transcription factors is a common theme in eukaryotic transcriptional control. the mads-box transcription factors srf and mcm1 represent paradigms for such regulation through their interaction with numerous partner proteins. for example, in saccharomyces cerevisiae, mcm1 interacts with the forkhead transcription factor fkh2. here, we identify a novel interaction between srf and the forkhead transc ... | 2007 | 17670796 |
| highly efficient gene delivery for bladder cancers by intravesically administered replication-competent retroviral vectors. | in an attempt to improve viral delivery of potentially therapeutic genes via an intravesical route, we have recently developed murine leukemia virus-based replication-competent retrovirus (rcr) vectors. | 2007 | 17671137 |
| intrachromosomal gene amplification triggered by hairpin-capped breaks requires homologous recombination and is independent of nonhomologous end-joining. | gene amplification is one of the major mechanisms of acquisition of drug resistance and activation of oncogenes in tumors. in mammalian cells, amplified chromosomal regions are manifested cytogenetically as extrachromosomal double minutes (dms) and chromosomal homogeneously staining regions (hsrs). we recently demonstrated using yeast model system that hairpin-capped double strand breaks (dsbs) generated at the location of human alu-quasipalindromes can trigger both types of gene amplification. ... | 2007 | 17671429 |
| nbs1 is involved in dna repair and plays a synergistic role with atm in mediating meiotic homologous recombination in plants. | the ability of plants to repair dna double-strand breaks (dsbs) is essential for growth and fertility. the arabidopsis dsb repair proteins atrad50 and atmre11 form part of an evolutionarily conserved complex that, in saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammals, includes a third component termed xrs2 and nbs1, respectively. the mrn complex (mrx in yeast) has a direct role in dsb repair and is also required for dna damage signaling and checkpoint activation in a pathway mediated by the protein kinase atm ... | 2007 | 17672843 |
| a predicted interactome for arabidopsis. | the complex cellular functions of an organism frequently rely on physical interactions between proteins. a map of all protein-protein interactions, an interactome, is thus an invaluable tool. we present an interactome for arabidopsis (arabidopsis thaliana) predicted from interacting orthologs in yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae), nematode worm (caenorhabditis elegans), fruitfly (drosophila melanogaster), and human (homo sapiens). as an internal quality control, a confidence value was generated ba ... | 2007 | 17675552 |
| proteomic parsimony through bipartite graph analysis improves accuracy and transparency. | assembling peptides identified from lc-ms/ms spectra into a list of proteins is a critical step in analyzing shotgun proteomics data. as one peptide sequence can be mapped to multiple proteins in a database, naïve protein assembly can substantially overstate the number of proteins found in samples. we model the peptide-protein relationships in a bipartite graph and use efficient graph algorithms to identify protein clusters with shared peptides and to derive the minimal list of proteins. we test ... | 2007 | 17676885 |
| orthology and functional conservation in eukaryotes. | in recent years, it has become clear that all of the organisms on the earth are related to each other in ways that can be documented by molecular sequence comparison. in this review, we focus on the evolutionary relationships among the proteins of the eukaryotes, especially those that allow inference of function from one species to another. data and illustrations are derived from specific comparison of eight species: homo sapiens, mus musculus, arabidopsis thaliana, caenorhabditis elegans, danio ... | 2007 | 17678444 |
| regulation of human cytidine triphosphate synthetase 1 by glycogen synthase kinase 3. | cytidine triphosphate synthetase (ctps) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the de novo synthesis of ctp, and both the yeast and human enzymes have been reported to be regulated by protein kinase a or protein kinase c phosphorylation. here, we provide evidence that stimulation or inhibition of protein kinase a and protein kinase c does not alter the phosphorylation of endogenous human ctps1 in human embryonic kidney 293 cells under the conditions tested. unexpectedly, we found that low serum con ... | 2007 | 17681942 |
| htra2 regulates beta-amyloid precursor protein (app) metabolism through endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. | alzheimer disease-associated beta-amyloid peptide is generated from its precursor protein app. by using the yeast two-hybrid assay, here we identified htra2/omi, a stress-responsive chaperone-protease as a protein binding to the n-terminal cysteinerich region of app. htra2 coimmunoprecipitates exclusively with immature app from cell lysates as well as mouse brain extracts and degrades app in vitro. a subpopulation of htra2 localizes to the cytosolic side of the endoplasmic reticulum (er) membran ... | 2007 | 17684015 |
| estrogen-like effect of a cimicifuga racemosa extract sub-fraction as assessed by in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro assays. | black cohosh (cimicifuga racemosa) is used in the treatment of painful menstruation and menopausal symptoms. data about the nature of the active compounds and mechanism(s) of action are still controversial, chiefly with respect to its estrogenic activity. this work aimed to assess the possible estrogenic activity of a commercial dry hydro-alcoholic extract of c. racemosa and its hydrophilic and lipophilic sub-fractions on in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro assays. in a yeast estrogen screen, only th ... | 2007 | 17689956 |
| activation of estrogen receptor-beta by a special extract of rheum rhaponticum (err 731), its aglycones and structurally related compounds. | the special extract err 731 from the roots of rheum rhaponticum is the major constituent of phytoestrol n which is used for the treatment of climacteric symptoms in menopausal women. however, the molecular mode of action of err 731 was unknown. for the first time, err 731 and its aglycones trans-rhapontigenin and desoxyrhapontigenin were investigated with regard to the activation of the estrogen receptor-alpha or estrogen receptor-beta (eralpha, erbeta). the related hydroxystilbenes cis-rhaponti ... | 2007 | 17692514 |
| an investigation into 53bp1 complex formation. | loss of the control over cellular proliferation can lead to cell death or result in the abnormal proliferation characteristic of the cancerous state. among the controls used to achieve normal cellular proliferation is the dna damage checkpoint pathway that monitors genome integrity (hartwell and kastan 1994). 53bp1 was identified as a protein that interacts with the dna-binding core domain of the tumor suppressor p53. the p53-binding region of 53bp1 maps to the c-terminal brct domains which are ... | 2007 | 17695720 |
| a screen for suppressors of gross chromosomal rearrangements identifies a conserved role for plp in preventing dna lesions. | genome instability is a hallmark of cancer cells. one class of genome aberrations prevalent in tumor cells is termed gross chromosomal rearrangements (gcrs). gcrs comprise chromosome translocations, amplifications, inversions, deletion of whole chromosome arms, and interstitial deletions. here, we report the results of a genome-wide screen in saccharomyces cerevisiae aimed at identifying novel suppressors of gcr formation. the most potent novel gcr suppressor identified is bud16, the gene coding ... | 2007 | 17696614 |
| a role for yeast and human translesion synthesis dna polymerases in promoting replication through 3-methyl adenine. | 3-methyl adenine (3mea), a minor-groove dna lesion, presents a strong block to synthesis by replicative dna polymerases (pols). to elucidate the means by which replication through this dna lesion is mediated in eukaryotic cells, here we carry out genetic studies in the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae treated with the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate. from the studies presented here, we infer that replication through the 3mea lesion in yeast cells can be mediated by the action of three rad ... | 2007 | 17698580 |
| rescuing yeast mutants with human genes. | the fission yeast schizosaccharomyces pombe and the budding yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae have, in addition to being extensively studied themselves, both been utilized for the last quarter century as experimental systems for the isolation of genes from other organisms. mutations conferring growth defects in either of the two yeast strains have frequently been complemented by expression of cdna libraries from heterologous species, often human. many successful experiments have utilized available ... | 2007 | 17698857 |
| increasing selenium concentration in milk: effects of amount of selenium from yeast and cereal grain supplements. | two experiments were conducted to establish responses in milk se concentrations in grazing dairy cows to different amounts of dietary se yeast, and to determine the effects of the se concentration of the basal diet. the hypothesis tested was that the response in milk, blood, and tissue se concentrations to supplemental se would not be affected by whether the se was from the basal diet or from se yeast. in addition, by conducting a similar experiment in either early (spring; experiment 1) or late ... | 2007 | 17699029 |
| recruitment of factors linking transcription and processing of pre-rrna to nor chromatin is ubf-dependent and occurs independent of transcription in human cells. | efficient ribosome biogenesis requires coordination of a highly complex series of events. early events include pre-rna transcription, processing, and modification. analysis in yeast has demonstrated that t-utps, components of the u3 snorna-containing pre-rrna processing complex, are required for efficient transcription of ribosomal genes (rdna) by rna polymerase i (pol i). here, we characterize human t-utps and establish that their ability to link transcription and pre-rrna processing is evoluti ... | 2007 | 17699751 |
| mutational analysis of the tre2 oncogene encoding an inactive rabgap. | the tre2 oncoprotein is structurally related to the rabgap (gtpase-activating protein) family. however, tre2 seems enzymatically inactive. two regions are important for its lack of gap activity. first, the tbc domain, forming the catalytically active domain of rabgaps, is non-functional in the oncoprotein. also involved in tre2 inactivity is the 93-aa region flanking the tbc domain on the c-terminal side. in order to identify the residues responsible for non-functionality, we performed hydrophob ... | 2007 | 17701273 |
| dna damage leaves its mark on chromatin. | dna organization into chromatin has a major influence on the cellular response to dna damage. recent studies in various systems ranging from yeast to human cells stress the importance of chromatin not simply as a barrier to dna repair processes but also as an active contributor to the dna damage response. indeed, modulations of chromatin organization involving various degrees of rearrangements, such as histone modifications and even nucleosome displacement, can promote efficient repair and also ... | 2007 | 17703111 |
| synthesis, transportability and hypoxiaselective binding of 1-beta-d-(5-deoxy-5-fluororibofuranosyl)-2-nitroimidazole (beta-5-fazr), a configurational isomer of the clinical hypoxia marker, faza. | cellular uptake of most azomycin-based radiosensitizers depends on perfusion and diffusion, rather than on active transport. in medical imaging using radioisotopically labeled azomycin nucleosides, image contrast depends on rapid diffusion from normoxic tissues and rapid renal clearance from the central compartment. [18f]faza [1-alpha-d-(5-deoxy-18f]fluoroarabinofuranosyl)-2-nitroimidazole], an azomycin nucleoside currently under clinical evaluation as a marker of tissue hypoxia in medical cente ... | 2007 | 17706182 |
| high-throughput fluorescent-based optimization of eukaryotic membrane protein overexpression and purification in saccharomyces cerevisiae. | eukaryotic membrane proteins are often difficult to produce in large quantities, which is a significant obstacle for further structural and biochemical investigation. based on the analysis of 43 eukaryotic membrane proteins, we present a cost-effective high-throughput approach for rapidly screening membrane proteins that can be overproduced to levels of >1 mg per liter in saccharomyces cerevisiae. we find that 70% of the well expressed membrane proteins tested in this system are stable, targeted ... | 2007 | 17709746 |
| phosphorylation and activation of the atypical kinase p53-related protein kinase (prpk) by akt/pkb. | p53-related protein kinase (prpk), the human homologue of yeast bud32, belonging to a small subfamily of atypical protein kinases, is inactive unless it is previously incubated with cell lysates. here we show that such an activation of prpk is mediated by another kinase, akt/pkb, which phosphorylates prpk at ser250. we show that recombinant prpk is phosphorylated in vitro by akt and its phospho-form is recognized by a ser250-phospho-specific antibody; that cell co-transfection with akt along wit ... | 2007 | 17712528 |
| regulation of repp86 stability by human siah2. | human repp86 is a nuclear protein that is expressed in a tightly limited period of time during the cell cycle and plays an essential role in its progression. manipulation of repp86 expression by reduction of endogenous repp86 or overexpression of exogenous repp86 results in cell cycle arrest. we found that repp86 interacts with human siah2, which is a known mediator for proteasomal degradation. siah2 failed to interact with repp86 lacking the first 67 n-terminal amino acids. overexpression of si ... | 2007 | 17716627 |
| atp-dependent assembly of the human origin recognition complex. | the origin recognition complex (orc) was initially discovered in budding yeast extracts as a protein complex that binds with high affinity to autonomously replicating sequences in an atp-dependent manner. we have cloned and expressed the human homologs of the orc subunits as recombinant proteins. in contrast to other eukaryotic initiators examined thus far, assembly of human orc in vitro is dependent on atp binding. mutations in the atp-binding sites of orc4 or orc5 impair complex assembly, wher ... | 2007 | 17716973 |
| the par-1/mark family of protein kinases: from polarity to metabolism. | the par-1 protein kinases are conserved from yeast to man and belong to a subfamily of kinases that includes the energy sensor and metabolic regulator, ampk. par-1 is regulated by lkb1 and atypical pkc and has been shown in multiple organisms and cell types to be critical for regulation of cellular polarity. recent studies using knockout mice have revealed several surprising physiological functions for par-1b/mark2/emk1. our recent study shows that par-1b regulates metabolic rate, adiposity and ... | 2007 | 17721078 |
| analysis of transactivation capability and conformation of p53 temperature-dependent mutants and their reactivation by amifostine in yeast. | the p53 gene is often mutated during cancer development. frequency and functional consequences of these mutations vary in different tumor types. we analysed conformation and temperature dependency of 23 partially inactivating temperature-dependent (td) p53 mutants derived from various human tumors in yeast. we found considerable differences in transactivation capabilities and discriminative character of various p53 mutants. no correlations in transactivation rates and conformations of the td p53 ... | 2008 | 17724467 |
| some highlights of research on aging with invertebrates, 2006-2007. | the invertebrate model organisms continue to be engines of discovery in aging research. recent work with drosophila stem cells has thrown light on their human equivalents, and on the role of stem cells and their niches in the decline in fecundity with age. inspired by observations of aging in bacteria and yeast, a new theoretical study has revealed evolutionary forces that could favour asymmetry in the distribution of damaged cell constituents at division, and hence pave the way for the evolutio ... | 2007 | 17725687 |
| the dna polymerase gamma y955c disease variant associated with peo and parkinsonism mediates the incorporation and translesion synthesis opposite 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine. | mitochondrial dna is replicated and repaired by dna polymerase gamma (pol gamma), encoded by the polg gene. the y955c substitution in polg leads to autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia (peo) with other severe phenotypes. peo patients with this mutation can further develop parkinsonism or premature ovarian failure. mouse and yeast models with this mutation show enhanced amounts of oxidative lesions and increased mtdna damage. in dna pol gamma, tyr955 plays a critical role in ca ... | 2007 | 17725985 |
| the checkpoint saccharomyces cerevisiae rad9 protein contains a tandem tudor domain that recognizes dna. | dna damage checkpoints are signal transduction pathways that are activated after genotoxic insults to protect genomic integrity. at the site of dna damage, 'mediator' proteins are in charge of recruiting 'signal transducers' to molecules 'sensing' the damage. budding yeast rad9, fission yeast crb2 and metazoan 53bp1 are presented as mediators involved in the activation of checkpoint kinases. here we show that, despite low sequence conservation, rad9 exhibits a tandem tudor domain structurally cl ... | 2007 | 17726056 |
| wide-scale analysis of human functional transcription factor binding reveals a strong bias towards the transcription start site. | transcription factors (tf) regulate expression by binding to specific dna sequences. a binding event is functional when it affects gene expression. functionality of a binding site is reflected in conservation of the binding sequence during evolution and in over represented binding in gene groups with coherent biological functions. functionality is governed by several parameters such as the tf-dna binding strength, distance of the binding site from the transcription start site (tss), dna packing, ... | 2007 | 17726537 |
| ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic control of sumo conjugates. | posttranslational protein modification with small ubiquitin-related modifier (sumo) is an important regulatory mechanism implicated in many cellular processes, including several of biomedical relevance. we report that inhibition of the proteasome leads to accumulation of proteins that are simultaneously conjugated to both sumo and ubiquitin in yeast and in human cells. a similar accumulation of such conjugates was detected in saccharomyces cerevisiae ubc4 ubc5 cells as well as in mutants lacking ... | 2007 | 17728242 |
| effect of suramin on the human pathogen candida albicans: implications on the fungal development and virulence. | candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen that is of growing medical importance because it causes superficial, mucosal and systemic infections in susceptible individuals. here, the effect of suramin, a polysulfonated naphthylurea derivative, on c. albicans development and virulence was evaluated. firstly, it was demonstrated that suramin (500 microm) arrested its growth, showing a fungicidal action dependent on cell number. suramin treatment caused profound changes in the yeast ultrastructur ... | 2007 | 17760875 |
| sumo-targeted ubiquitin ligases in genome stability. | we identify the sumo-targeted ubiquitin ligase (stubl) family of proteins and propose that stubls selectively ubiquitinate sumoylated proteins and proteins that contain sumo-like domains (slds). stubl recruitment to sumoylated/sld proteins is mediated by tandem sumo interaction motifs (sims) within the stubls n-terminus. stubl-mediated ubiquitination maintains sumoylation pathway homeostasis by promoting target protein desumoylation and/or degradation. thus, stubls establish a novel mode of comm ... | 2007 | 17762865 |
| identification and functional characterization of ask/dbf4, a novel cell survival gene in cutaneous melanoma with prognostic relevance. | malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive and invasive metastatic tumors derived from melanocytes that have undergone malignant transformation by acquisition of genetic and epigenetic alterations. oligonucleotide microarray-based screening of distinct stages in the tumor progression model of cutaneous melanoma identified ask/dbf4, as a novel determinant for melanoma development. quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction-based confirmation of ask/dbf4 on a series of benign nevi, dys ... | 2007 | 17768177 |
| the morphogenetic regulator czf1p is a dna-binding protein that regulates white opaque switching in candida albicans. | czf1p has been demonstrated to regulate the switch between the yeast-cell morphology and filamentous morphologies of the human fungal pathogen candida albicans. the predicted amino acid sequence of czf1p contains a zinc-cluster motif similar to the dna-binding domains of proteins such as saccharomyces cerevisiae gal4p, suggesting that czf1p is a dna-binding protein. czf1p also demonstrates genetic interaction and a two-hybrid interaction with a second regulator of c. albicans cellular morphology ... | 2007 | 17768232 |
| mrna trafficking in fungi. | fungal growth depends on active transport of macromolecules along the actin and/or microtubule cytoskeleton. thereby, molecular cargo such as proteins, lipids, and mrnas is targeted to defined subcellular regions. active transport and localisation of mrnas mediate localised translation so that protein synthesis occurs where protein function is required. in saccharomyces cerevisiae, actomyosin-dependent mrna trafficking participates in polar growth, asymmetric cell division, targeting of membrane ... | 2007 | 17768642 |
| mutation in mouse hei10, an e3 ubiquitin ligase, disrupts meiotic crossing over. | crossing over during meiotic prophase i is required for sexual reproduction in mice and contributes to genome-wide genetic diversity. here we report on the characterization of an n-ethyl-n-nitrosourea-induced, recessive allele called mei4, which causes sterility in both sexes owing to meiotic defects. in mutant spermatocytes, chromosomes fail to congress properly at the metaphase plate, leading to arrest and apoptosis before the first meiotic division. mutant oocytes have a similar chromosomal p ... | 2007 | 17784788 |
| the u3 small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein component imp4p is a telomeric dna-binding protein. | imp4p is a component of u3 snornp (small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein) involved in the maturation of 18s rrna. we have shown that imp4p interacts with cdc13p, a single-stranded telomere-binding protein involved in telomere maintenance. to understand the role of imp4p in telomeres, we purified recombinant imp4p protein and tested its binding activity towards telomeric dna using electrophoretic mobility-shift assays. our results showed that imp4p bound specifically to single-stranded telomeric dna ... | 2007 | 17803460 |
| enzymatic and hemolytic activities of candida dubliniensis strains. | candida dubliniensis is an opportunistic yeast that has been recovered from several body sites in many populations; it is most often recovered from the oral cavities of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. although extensive studies on epidemiology and phylogeny of c. dubliniensis have been performed, little is known about virulence factors such as exoenzymatic and hemolytic activities. in this study we compared proteinase, hyaluronidase, chondroitin sulphatase and hemolytic activitie ... | 2007 | 17823746 |
| generation of a prophylactic melanoma vaccine using whole recombinant yeast expressing mart-1. | malignant melanoma is a potentially deadly form of skin cancer and people at high-risk of developing melanoma will benefit from effective preventive intervention. yeast can be used as an efficient vehicle of antigen loading and immunostimulation. saccharomyces cerevisiae is not pathogenic to humans and can be easily engineered to express specific antigens. in this study, we have developed a melanoma vaccine using a yeast-based platform expressing a full-length melanocyte/melanoma protein to inve ... | 2007 | 17845213 |
| molecular characterisation of a second structurally unusual ar-smad without an mh1 domain and a smad4 orthologue from echinococcus multilocularis. | members of the transforming growth factor-beta/bone morphogenetic protein (tgf-beta/bmp) family of cytokines play crucial roles in animal development and are candidate molecules for host-parasite cross-communication in helminth diseases. tgf-beta/bmp-signalling involves binding of the cytokines to receptor kinases which subsequently activate intracellular transcription factors of the smad family. we have previously characterized two members of the receptor-regulated smad (r-smad) family, emsmada ... | 2008 | 17845804 |
| structural studies of the final enzyme in the alpha-aminoadipate pathway-saccharopine dehydrogenase from saccharomyces cerevisiae. | the 1.64 a structure of the apoenzyme form of saccharopine dehydrogenase (sdh) from saccharomyces cerevisiae shows the enzyme to be composed of two domains with similar dinucleotide binding folds with a deep cleft at the interface. the structure reveals homology to alanine dehydrogenase, despite low primary sequence similarity. a model of the ternary complex of sdh, nad, and saccharopine identifies residues lys77 and glu122 as potentially important for substrate binding and/or catalysis, consist ... | 2007 | 17854830 |
| pulmonary histoplasmosis as an example of imported mycoses in japan. | as travel increases, histoplasmosis as an imported mycosis that has the potential to increase abruptly in japan. a 56-year-old japanese man who had been in bolivia for 2 years complained of a dry cough. chest computed tomography revealed multiple lesions in the right and left lower lobes of his lung that were difficult to diagnose and differentiate from advanced lung cancer. we performed surgical resection for biopsy by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. an intraoperative histopathological ex ... | 2007 | 17867281 |
| involvement of rela-associated inhibitor in regulation of trophoblast differentiation via interaction with transcriptional factor specificity protein-1. | glucose transporter-1 (glut1), one of the key functional indicators of placental differentiation, has an important role in placental glucose transport. we previously showed that the protein levels of glut1 and nuclear transcription factor specificity protein-1 (sp1) in rat choriocarcinoma cells (rcho-1 cells) decreased during the differentiation of these cells to giant cells. we also showed that sp1 was involved in the regulation of glut1 gene expression during this process. rela-associated inhi ... | 2007 | 17872376 |
| novel membrane-bound eif2alpha kinase in the flagellar pocket of trypanosoma brucei. | translational control mediated by phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eif2alpha) is central to stress-induced programs of gene expression. trypanosomatids, important human pathogens, display differentiation processes elicited by contact with the distinct physiological milieu found in their insect vectors and mammalian hosts, likely representing stress situations. trypanosoma brucei, the agent of african trypanosomiasis, encodes three potential eif2alpha ki ... | 2007 | 17873083 |
| nucleolar translocalization of gra10 of toxoplasma gondii transfectionally expressed in hela cells. | toxoplasma gondii gra10 expressed as a gfp-gra10 fusion protein in hela cells moved to the nucleoli within the nucleus rapidly and entirely. gra10 was concentrated specifically in the dense fibrillar component of the nucleolus morphologically by the overlap of gfp-gra10 transfection image with ifa images by monoclonal antibodies against gra10 (tg378), b23 (nucleophosmin) and c23 (nucleolin). the nucleolar translocalization of gra10 was caused by a putative nucleolar localizing sequence (nols) of ... | 2007 | 17876161 |
| tpr-mediated self-association of plant sgt1. | the tetratricopeptide repeat (tpr) domain mediates inter-protein associations in a number of systems. the domain is also thought to mediate oligomerization of some proteins, but this has remained controversial, with conflicting data appearing in the literature. by way of investigating such tpr-mediated self-associations we used a variety of biophysical techniques to characterize purified recombinant sgt1, a tpr-containing protein found in all eukaryotes that is involved in a broad range of biolo ... | 2007 | 17877371 |
| hemocompatibility of hydrophilic antimicrobial copolymers of alkylated 4-vinylpyridine. | quaternized poly(vinylpyridine) (pvp) is a polymer with inherent antimicrobial properties that is effective against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, viruses, and yeast cells. however, quaternized pvp has poor biocompatibility, which prevents its use in biomaterial applications. copolymerization was examined as a method of modifying the structure to incorporate biocompatibility. polyethyleneglycol methyl ether methacrylate (pegma) and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (hema) are polymers g ... | 2007 | 17877398 |
| interactions between subunits of saccharomyces cerevisiae rnase mrp support a conserved eukaryotic rnase p/mrp architecture. | ribonuclease mrp is an endonuclease, related to rnase p, which functions in eukaryotic pre-rrna processing. in saccharomyces cerevisiae, rnase mrp comprises an rna subunit and ten proteins. to improve our understanding of subunit roles and enzyme architecture, we have examined protein-protein and protein-rna interactions in vitro, complementing existing yeast two-hybrid data. in total, 31 direct protein-protein interactions were identified, each protein interacting with at least three others. fu ... | 2007 | 17881380 |
| shy1 couples cox1 translational regulation to cytochrome c oxidase assembly. | cytochrome c oxidase (complex iv) of the respiratory chain is assembled from nuclear and mitochondrially-encoded subunits. defects in the assembly process lead to severe human disorders such as leigh syndrome. shy1 is an assembly factor for complex iv in saccharomyces cerevisiae and mutations of its human homolog, surf1, are the most frequent cause for leigh syndrome. we report that shy1 promotes complex iv biogenesis through association with different protein modules; shy1 interacts with mss51 ... | 2007 | 17882259 |
| expression, purification, and characterization of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor-2 in pichia pastoris. | keratinocyte growth factor-2 (kgf-2) is a member of the fibroblast growth factor family. the full-length human kgf-2 coding sequence, gained by synthesizing, was cloned into the ppiczalphaa vector in frame with the yeast alpha-factor secretion signal under the transcriptional control of the aox promoter and integrated into pichia pastoris strain gs115. in shake-flask culture induced with methanol, the rhkgf-2 content was about 17.5% of the total secreted proteins. under the optimal conditions, s ... | 2007 | 17884221 |
| composition, enantiomeric distribution, and antimicrobial activity of tanacetum argenteum subsp. flabellifolium essential oil. | tanacetum argenteum (lam.) willd. subsp. flabellifolium (boiss. & heldr.) grierson of asteraceae is an endemic species in turkey. hydrodistillation of aerial parts using a clevenger apparatus yielded an essential oil, which was subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (gc-ms). alpha-pinene (29%), (e)-sesquilavandulol (16%), and camphor (14%) were found as main constituents. enantiomeric distribution of the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and camphor was determined on a fused silic ... | 2007 | 17884324 |
| ecm11 protein of yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae is regulated by sumoylation during meiosis. | damaged regulation of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (sumo) system contributes to some human diseases; therefore, it is very important to identify the sumo targets and to determine the function of their sumoylation. in this study, it is shown that ecm11 protein in saccharomyces cerevisiae is modified by sumo during meiosis. it is known that ecm11 is required in the early stages of yeast meiosis where its function is related to dna replication and crossing over. here it is shown that the level ... | 2008 | 17888002 |
| structural and functional insights into dom34, a key component of no-go mrna decay. | the yeast protein dom34 is a key component of no-go decay, by which mrnas with translational stalls are endonucleolytically cleaved and subsequently degraded. however, the identity of the endoribonuclease is unknown. homologs of dom34, called pelota, are broadly conserved in eukaryotes and archaea. to gain insights into the structure and function of dom34/pelota, we have determined the structure of pelota from thermoplasma acidophilum (ta pelota) and investigated the ribonuclease activity of dom ... | 2007 | 17889667 |
| sel1 repeat protein lpne is a legionella pneumophila virulence determinant that influences vacuolar trafficking. | the environmental pathogen legionella pneumophila possesses five proteins with sel1 repeats (slrs) from the tetratricopeptide repeat protein family. three of these proteins, lpne, enhc, and lidl, have been implicated in the ability of l. pneumophila to efficiently establish infection and/or manipulate host cell trafficking events. previously, we showed that lpne is important for l. pneumophila entry into macrophages and epithelial cells. in further virulence studies here, we show that lpne is al ... | 2007 | 17893138 |
| recycling of sphingosine is regulated by the concerted actions of sphingosine-1-phosphate phosphohydrolase 1 and sphingosine kinase 2. | in yeast, the long-chain sphingoid base phosphate phosphohydrolase lcb3p is required for efficient ceramide synthesis from exogenous sphingoid bases. similarly, in this study, we found that incorporation of exogenous sphingosine into ceramide in mammalian cells was regulated by the homologue of lcb3p, sphingosine-1-phosphate phosphohydrolase 1 (spp-1), an endoplasmic reticulum resident protein. sphingosine incorporation into endogenous long-chain ceramides was increased by spp-1 overexpression, ... | 2007 | 17895250 |
| signaling of human frizzled receptors to the mating pathway in yeast. | frizzled receptors have seven membrane-spanning helices and are considered as atypical g protein-coupled receptors (gpcrs). the mating response of the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by a gpcr signaling system and this model organism has been used extensively in the past to study mammalian gpcr function. we show here that human frizzled receptors (fz1 and fz2) can be properly targeted to the yeast plasma membrane, and that they stimulate the yeast mating pathway in the absence of adde ... | 2007 | 17895994 |
| mvb-12, a fourth subunit of metazoan escrt-i, functions in receptor downregulation. | after ligand binding and endocytosis, cell surface receptors can continue to signal from endosomal compartments until sequestered from the cytoplasm. an important mechanism for receptor downregulation in vivo is via the inward budding of receptors into intralumenal vesicles to form specialized endosomes called multivesicular bodies (mvbs) that subsequently fuse with lysosomes, degrading their cargo. this process requires four heterooligomeric protein complexes collectively termed the escrt machi ... | 2007 | 17895996 |
| different contribution of co-stimulatory molecules b7.1 and b7.2 to the immune response to recombinant modified vaccinia virus ankara vaccine expressing prm/e proteins of japanese encephalitis virus and two hepatitis b virus vaccines. | this study clarifies the role of co-stimulatory molecules b7.1 and b7.2 in the immune response to 3 types of vaccines: a/ recombinant modified vaccinia virus ankara (mva) (vjh9) expressing prm/e proteins of japanese encephalitis virus (jev), b/ recombinant yeast-expressed hepatitis b virus (yhbv), c/ human plasma-derived hepatitis b virus (phbv). we constructed plasmids expressing b7.1 and b7.2 molecules and found that the expression level of b7.2 protein in transfected cho-k1 cells was higher t ... | 2007 | 17900219 |
| roles of the negatively charged n-terminal extension of saccharomyces cerevisiae ribosomal protein s5 revealed by characterization of a yeast strain containing human ribosomal protein s5. | ribosomal protein (rp) s5 belongs to a family of ribosomal proteins that includes bacterial rps7. rps5 forms part of the exit (e) site on the 40s ribosomal subunit and is essential for yeast viability. human rps5 is 67% identical and 79% similar to saccharomyces cerevisiae rps5 but lacks a negatively charged (pi approximately 3.27) 21 amino acid long n-terminal extension that is present in fungi. here we report that replacement of yeast rps5 with its human homolog yielded a viable yeast strain w ... | 2007 | 17901157 |
| the yeast connection: is candida linked to breastfeeding associated pain? | the objective of the study was to determine whether the isolation of candida from breastfeeding women is associated with self-reported pain. | 2007 | 17904988 |
| o-mannosyltransferase 1 in aspergillus fumigatus (afpmt1p) is crucial for cell wall integrity and conidium morphology, especially at an elevated temperature. | protein o-mannosyltransferases initiate o mannosylation of secretory proteins, which are of fundamental importance in eukaryotes. in this study, the pmt gene family of the human fungal pathogen aspergillus fumigatus was identified and characterized. unlike the case in saccharomyces cerevisiae, where the pmt family is highly redundant, only one member of each pmt subfamily, namely, afpmt1, afpmt2, and afpmt4, is present in a. fumigatus. mutants with a deletion of afpmt1 are viable. in vitro and i ... | 2007 | 17905922 |
| cholestin (monascus purpureus rice) inhibits homocysteine-induced reactive oxygen species generation, nuclear factor-kappab activation, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in human aortic endothelial cells. | hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with dysfunction and an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. cholestin (monascus purpureus-fermented rice), contains a naturally-occurring statin, which has lipid-modulating and anti-inflammatory effects. we investigated the effects of cholestin extract on the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (vcam-1) by homocysteine (hcy)-treated human aortic endothelial cells (haecs). supplement of haecs with cholestin extract significantly suppr ... | 2008 | 17906965 |
| sharcgs, a fast and highly accurate short-read assembly algorithm for de novo genomic sequencing. | the latest revolution in the dna sequencing field has been brought about by the development of automated sequencers that are capable of generating giga base pair data sets quickly and at low cost. applications of such technologies seem to be limited to resequencing and transcript discovery, due to the shortness of the generated reads. in order to extend the fields of application to de novo sequencing, we developed the sharcgs algorithm to assemble short-read (25-40-mer) data with high accuracy a ... | 2007 | 17908823 |
| the ephd protein spbp interacts with topbp1 and together they co-operate to stimulate ets1-mediated transcription. | spbp (stromelysin-1 pdgf responsive element binding protein) is a ubiquitously expressed 220 kda nuclear protein shown to enhance or repress the transcriptional activity of various transcription factors. a yeast two-hybrid screen, with the extended plant homeodomain (ephd) of spbp as bait, identified topbp1 (topoisomerase ii beta-binding protein 1) as a candidate interaction partner of spbp. topbp1 has eight brca1 carboxy-terminal (brct) domains and is involved in dna replication, dna damage res ... | 2007 | 17913746 |
| dominant-negative behavior of mammalian vps35 in yeast requires a conserved prlyl motif involved in retromer assembly. | the retromer protein complex assists in recycling selected integral membrane proteins from endosomes to the trans golgi network. one protein subcomplex (vps35p, vps26p and vps29p) combines with a second (vps17p and vps5p) to form a coat involved in sorting and budding of endosomal vesicles. yeast vps35p (yvps35) exhibits similarity to human vps35 (hvps35), especially in a completely conserved prlyl motif contained within an amino-terminal domain. companion studies indicate that an r(98)w mutatio ... | 2007 | 17916227 |
| genes2networks: connecting lists of gene symbols using mammalian protein interactions databases. | in recent years, mammalian protein-protein interaction network databases have been developed. the interactions in these databases are either extracted manually from low-throughput experimental biomedical research literature, extracted automatically from literature using techniques such as natural language processing (nlp), generated experimentally using high-throughput methods such as yeast-2-hybrid screens, or interactions are predicted using an assortment of computational approaches. genes or ... | 2007 | 17916244 |
| caf-1 is essential for drosophila development and involved in the maintenance of epigenetic memory. | dna synthesis during s-phase and upon dna repair is accompanied by chromatin assembly. the chromatin assembly factor caf-1 has been biochemically well-characterized to deposit histones onto newly synthesized dna. to gain insights into the in vivo functions of caf-1 in drosophila, we generated null mutants of the largest subunit of dcaf-1, dcaf-1-p180. we show that, unlike caf-1 mutant yeast, dcaf-1-p180 mutant flies are hemizygous lethal. removal of maternal dcaf-1-p180 activity by germline clon ... | 2007 | 17916346 |
| functional expression and characterisation of a gut facilitative glucose transporter, nlht1, from the phloem-feeding insect nilaparvata lugens (rice brown planthopper). | phloem-sap feeding hemipteran insects have access to a sucrose-rich diet but are dependent on sucrose hydrolysis and hexose transport for carbon nutrition. a cdna library from nilaparvata lugens (rice brown planthopper) was screened for clones encoding potential transmembrane transporters. a selected cdna, nlht1, encodes a 53kda polypeptide with sequence similarity to facilitative hexose transporters of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, including glut1, the human erythrocyte hexose transporter. nlht1 ... | 2007 | 17916500 |
| allosteric loss-of-function mutations in hiv-1 nef from a long-term non-progressor. | activation of src family kinases by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1) nef may play an important role in the pathogenesis of hiv/aids. here we investigated whether diverse nef sequences universally activate hck, a src family member expressed in macrophages and other hiv-1 target cells. in general, we observed that hck activation is a highly conserved nef function. however, we identified an unusual nef variant from an hiv-positive individual that did not develop aids which failed to acti ... | 2007 | 17920628 |
| pathobiology of fungal infections of the central nervous system with special reference to the indian scenario. | ubiquitously present fungi in the environment find a nidus in the human body and adopt its metabolic machinery to be in symbiosis or become pathogenic. immunocompromised states like human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids), systemic neoplasia and organ transplantation have enhanced the frequency of fungal infections. high-risk behavior, iv drug abuse and air travel have led to the emergence of new fungal infections hitherto geographically localized. the path ... | 2007 | 17921648 |
| rna analysis by mekc with lif detection. | we have developed and validated a procedure of high sensitivity for the analysis of rna. the procedure is based on the separation and detection of the 5'-monophosphates of ribonucleosides selectively conjugated with 4,4-difluoro-5,7-dimethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-3-propionyl ethylene diamine hydrochloride (bodipy fl eda) at the 5'-phosphate group using ce with lif. bodipy conjugates of the four common ribonucleoside-5'-monophosphates were prepared and subjected to ce-lif to serve as stan ... | 2007 | 17922502 |
| a novel dominant mutation in plakoglobin causes arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. | arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (arvc) is an inherited disorder associated with arrhythmias and sudden death. a recessive mutation in the gene encoding plakoglobin has been shown to cause naxos disease, a cardiocutaneous syndrome characterized by arvc and abnormalities of hair and skin. here, we report, for the first time, a dominant mutation in the gene encoding plakoglobin in a german family with arvc but no cutaneous abnormalities. the mutation (s39_k40inss) is predicted to in ... | 2007 | 17924338 |
| letm1, deleted in wolf-hirschhorn syndrome is required for normal mitochondrial morphology and cellular viability. | wolf-hirschhorn syndrome (whs) is a complex congenital syndrome caused by a monoallelic deletion of the short arm of chromosome 4. seizures in whs have been associated with deletion of letm1 gene. letm1 encodes for the human homologue of yeast mdm38p, a mitochondria-shaping protein of unclear function. here we show that human letm1 is located in the inner membrane, exposed to the matrix and oligomerized in higher molecular weight complexes of unknown composition. down-regulation of letm1 did not ... | 2008 | 17925330 |
| high-throughput screening for fatty acid uptake inhibitors in humanized yeast identifies atypical antipsychotic drugs that cause dyslipidemias. | fatty acids are implicated in the development of dyslipidemias, leading to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. we used a standardized small compound library to screen humanized yeast to identify compounds that inhibit fatty acid transport protein (fatp)-mediated fatty acid uptake into cells. this screening procedure used live yeast cells expressing human fatp2 to identify small compounds that reduced the import of a fluorescent fatty acid analog, 4,4-difluoro-5-methyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza- ... | 2008 | 17928635 |
| many microbe microarrays database: uniformly normalized affymetrix compendia with structured experimental metadata. | many microbe microarrays database (m3d) is designed to facilitate the analysis and visualization of expression data in compendia compiled from multiple laboratories. m3d contains over a thousand affymetrix microarrays for escherichia coli, saccharomyces cerevisiae and shewanella oneidensis. the expression data is uniformly normalized to make the data generated by different laboratories and researchers more comparable. to facilitate computational analyses, m3d provides raw data (cel file) and nor ... | 2008 | 17932051 |
| studies on fungal pumilio gene family through mining multiple genome-scale data sets. | the genes belonging to pumilio gene family of the fission yeast schizosaccharomyces pombe (s. pombe) were compared with genome information of the several fungi and their functions have been inferred using public-access databases disclosed on the internet websites. the pumilio-family genes are conserved from yeast to man and have been considered to suppress the expression of other genes by binding their specific target messenger rnas. in s. pombe genome, nine genes belonging to pumilio gene famil ... | 2007 | 17932456 |
| bioactivity and stability analysis of endostatin purified from fermentation supernatant of 293 cells transfected with ad/rhendo. | endostatin is a potent angiogenic inhibitor that has been approved for the treatment of cancer. however, endostatin is unstable in vitro and difficult to produce in large quantities. endostatin gene therapy is an alternative to overcome these difficulties by expressing sustained bioactive endostatin in vivo. we previously developed a recombinant replication-defective adenovirus, e10a, which carries the human endostatin gene. phase i trial of e10a given as a weekly intratumoral injection in adult ... | 2007 | 17933553 |
| high rate of starvation-associated mutagenesis in ung(-) yeast caused by the overproduction of human activation-induced deaminase. | we examined the role of saccharomyces cerevisiae uracil dna glycosylase in the suppression of mutagenesis in non-dividing, adenine-starved cells expressing human activation-induced deaminase (aid) gene. our aim was to further understand the mechanisms preventing starvation-associated mutagenesis in yeast and to explore the consequences of aid gene expression in non-proliferating eukaryotic cells. genetic control of starvation-induced mutagenesis in many aspects is similar to the control of spont ... | 2007 | 17934734 |
| androgen receptor transactivation assay using green fluorescent protein as a reporter. | for screening of a large number of samples for androgenic activity, a robust system with minimal handling is required. the coding sequence for human androgen receptor (ar) was inserted into expression plasmid yepbubi-flag1, resulting in the plasmid yepbubiflag-ar, and the estrogen response element (ere) on the reporter vector yrpe2 was replaced by an androgen response element (are), resulting in the plasmid yrpe2-are. thus, a fully functional transactivation assay system with beta-galactosidase ... | 2008 | 17935685 |
| current prospects for the production of coenzyme q10 in microbes. | coenzyme q or ubiquinone (uq) is a naturally occurring coenzyme formed from the conjugation of a benzoquinone ring and an isoprenoid chain of varying length. uq-10, the main uq species produced by humans, provides therapeutic benefits in certain human diseases, such as cardiomyopathy, when administered orally. increased consumer demand has led to the development of bioprocesses for the commercial production of uq-10. up to now, these processes have relied on microbes that produce high levels of ... | 2007 | 17935805 |
| emerging roles of the oxysterol-binding protein family in metabolism, transport, and signaling. | osbp (oxysterol-binding protein) and orps (osbp-related proteins) constitute an enigmatic eukaryotic protein family that is united by a signature domain that binds oxysterols, sterols, and possibly other hydrophobic ligands. the human genome contains 12 osbp/orp family members genes, while that of the budding yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes seven osbp homologues (osh). of these, osh4 (also referred to as kes1) has been the most widely studied to date. recently, three-dimensional crystal s ... | 2008 | 17938859 |
| systems analysis of chaperone networks in the malarial parasite plasmodium falciparum. | molecular chaperones participate in the maintenance of cellular protein homeostasis, cell growth and differentiation, signal transduction, and development. although a vast body of information is available regarding individual chaperones, few studies have attempted a systems level analysis of chaperone function. in this paper, we have constructed a chaperone interaction network for the malarial parasite, plasmodium falciparum. p. falciparum is responsible for several million deaths every year, an ... | 2007 | 17941702 |
| genetic determinants of mitochondrial response to arsenic in yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae. | we have used yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae as a tool to identify the importance of mitochondrial processes involved in arsenic-induced carcinogenicity in humans. we screened 466 single-gene knockout strains of yeast s. cerevisiae known to be involved in biogenesis of mitochondria for sodium arsenite (asiii) and sodium arsenate (asv) sensitivity. we identified 72 arsenite-sensitive and 81 arsenate-sensitive mutants. we categorized the identified mutants based on the various mitochondrial process ... | 2007 | 17942904 |
| hccrbp-1 directly interacting with hccr-1 induces tumorigenesis through p53 stabilization. | oncogene hccr-1 functions as a negative regulator of the p53 and contributes to tumorigenesis of various human tissues. hccr transgenic mice developed breast cancers but it is unknown how hccr-1 contributes to human tumorigenesis. this study identified a hccr-1-binding protein 1 (hccrbp-1) as an hccr binding partner by performing yeast two hybrid screening. their endogenous interaction was further confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation experiments. these two proteins colocalized in the mitochondria. ... | 2008 | 17943721 |
| a new highly androgen specific yeast biosensor, enabling optimisation of (q)sar model approaches. | recently we constructed recombinant yeast cells that express the human androgen receptor (har) and yeast enhanced green fluorescent protein (yegfp), the latter in response to androgens. when exposed to 17beta-testosterone, the concentration where half-maximal activation is reached (ec50) was 50 nm. relative androgenic potencies (rap), defined as the ratio between the ec50 of 17beta-testosterone and the ec50 of the compound, were 1.7, 1.2 and 0.008 for 19-nortestosterone, tetrahydrogestrinone and ... | 2008 | 17945480 |
| protein tyrosine phosphatase h1 is a target of the e6 oncoprotein of high-risk genital human papillomaviruses. | the e6 proteins of high-risk genital human papillomaviruses (hpv), such as hpv types 16 and 18, possess a conserved c-terminal pdz-binding motif, which mediates interaction with some cellular pdz domain proteins. the binding of e6 usually results in their ubiquitin-mediated degradation. the ability of e6 to bind to pdz domain proteins correlates with the oncogenic potential. using a yeast two-hybrid system, gst pull-down experiments and coimmunoprecipitations, we identified the protein tyrosine ... | 2007 | 17947517 |
| structural characterization of the atpase reaction cycle of endosomal aaa protein vps4. | the multivesicular body (mvb) pathway functions in multiple cellular processes including cell surface receptor down-regulation and viral budding from host cells. an important step in the mvb pathway is the correct sorting of cargo molecules, which requires the assembly and disassembly of endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (escrts) on the endosomal membrane. disassembly of the escrts is catalyzed by atpase associated with various cellular activities (aaa) protein vps4. vps4 contai ... | 2007 | 17949747 |
| biochemical analysis of inositol phosphate kinases. | lipid-derived inositol phosphates (ips) are a complex group of second messengers generated by the sequential phosphorylation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (ip(3)). synthetic pathways leading from ip(3) to the formation of inositol tetrakisphosphate ip(4), inositol pentakisphosphate ip(5), inositol hexakisphosphate ip(6), and inositol pyrophosphates pp-ips have been elucidated in eukaryotes from yeast to human. studies have attributed a variety of cellular functions to ips, highlighting the imp ... | 2007 | 17954248 |
| overaccumulation of higher polyamines in ripening transgenic tomato fruit revives metabolic memory, upregulates anabolism-related genes, and positively impacts nutritional quality. | vegetables and fruits are essential components of the human diet as they are sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber and provide antioxidants that prevent chronic diseases. our goal is to improve durable nutritional quality of tomato fruit. we developed transgenic tomatoes expressing yeast s-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (ysamdc) gene driven by a fruit-specific e8 promoter to investigate the role of polyamines in fruit metabolism. stable integration of e8-ysamdc chimeric gene in tomato genom ... | 2007 | 17955994 |
| suppression of polyglutamine toxicity by the yeast sup35 prion domain in drosophila. | the propensity of proteins to form beta-sheet-rich amyloid fibrils is related to a variety of biological phenomena, including a number of human neurodegenerative diseases and prions. a subset of amyloidogenic proteins forms amyloid fibrils through glutamine/asparagine (q/n)-rich domains, such as pathogenic polyglutamine (poly(q)) proteins involved in neurodegenerative disease, as well as yeast prions. in the former, the propensity of an expanded poly(q) tract to abnormally fold confers toxicity ... | 2007 | 17956866 |
| regulation of mitochondrial fusion and division. | in many organisms, ranging from yeast to humans, mitochondria fuse and divide to change their morphology in response to a multitude of signals. during the past decade, work using yeast and mammalian cells has identified much of the machinery required for fusion and division, including the dynamin-related gtpases--mitofusins (fzo1p in yeast) and opa1 (mgm1p in yeast) for fusion and drp1 (dnm1p) for division. however, the mechanisms by which cells regulate these dynamic processes have remained lar ... | 2007 | 17959383 |
| gpm1p is a factor h-, fhl-1-, and plasminogen-binding surface protein of candida albicans. | the human pathogenic yeast candida albicans utilizes host complement regulators for immune evasion. here we identify the first fungal protein that binds factor h and fhl-1. by screening a protein array of 4088 proteins of saccharomyces cerevisiae, phosphoglycerate mutase (scgpm1p) was identified as a factor h- and fhl-1-binding protein. the homologous c. albicans gpm1p (cagpm1p) was cloned and recombinantly expressed as a 36-kda his-tagged protein. purified cagpm1p binds the host complement regu ... | 2007 | 17959597 |
| altered, but not diminished specific t cell response in chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis patients. | patients suffering from chronic mucocutaneous infections with the yeast candida albicans (cmc) are discussed to have an underlying primary cellular immunodeficiency. in order to characterise cellular immunity in cmc patients, we analysed chemotaxis and myeloperoxidase (mpo) releases of neutrophils and t cell proliferation and cytokine production to candida albicans. patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (n = 4) and healthy volunteers of same sex and similar age (n = 14) were enrolled i ... | 2007 | 17960405 |
| phylomedb: a database for genome-wide collections of gene phylogenies. | the complete collection of evolutionary histories of all genes in a genome, also known as phylome, constitutes a valuable source of information. the reconstruction of phylomes has been previously prevented by large demands of time and computer power, but is now feasible thanks to recent developments in computers and algorithms. to provide a publicly available repository of complete phylomes that allows researchers to access and store large-scale phylogenomic analyses, we have developed phylomedb ... | 2008 | 17962297 |
| cr/periphilin is a transcriptional co-repressor involved in cell cycle progression. | cr/periphilin (cr) retards cell cycle progression mainly at the s-phase in part by transcriptionally repressing expression of cdc7, the key regulator of dna replication, and in part by unknown mechanisms. in this study, we show that enforced expression of cr inhibits cdc7 promoter activity. the attachment of the dna-binding domain of the yeast gal4 transcription factor to cr that appears without dna-binding sequences, enables cr to repress gal4 promoter-mediated transcription in a histone deacet ... | 2007 | 17963697 |