Loin pain hematuria syndrome (LPHS) is a rare chronic pain disorder that is poorly understood. LPHS presents as unilateral or bilateral flank pain with hematuria of unknown cause. The lack of knowledge surrounding pathogenesis and effective treatment has resulted in missed diagnoses as well as narcotic addiction in some patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: In addition to its function as the microtubule organizing center of the cell, the centrosome has functions in many other cellular processes including primary cilia formation, DNA damage checkpoints, and cell cycle progression. But the role of individual components of the centrosome in these processes remains unclear. Previous studies used siRNA (small interfering RNA) to "knock down" protein levels of the centrosome component centriolin, resulting in failed cytokinesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Many medical students and practicing physicians view biochemistry, especially its metabolic pathways, as a challenging topic given the depth of material. Medical biochemistry educators aim to help prepare future physicians to apply knowledge of metabolism to disease processes. Research confirms that study tools promote critical thinking and help to connect biochemistry concepts to health and disease processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Arf tumor suppressor is expressed transiently during mouse male germ cell and eye development. Its inactivation compromises spermatogenesis as mice age and leads to aberrant postnatal proliferation of cells in the vitreous of the eye, resulting in blindness. In the testis, expression of p19(Arf) is limited to spermatogonia but is extinguished completely in spermatocytes, suggesting that Arf plays a physiologic role in setting the balance between mitotic and meiotic germ cell division.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe hematopoietic zinc finger protein, Hzf, is induced in response to genotoxic and oncogenic stress. The Hzf protein is encoded by a p53-responsive gene, and its overexpression, either in cells retaining or lacking functional 53, halts their proliferation. Enforced expression of Hzf led to the appearance of tetraploid cells with supernumerary centrosomes and, ultimately, to cell death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe terminal step in cytokinesis, called abscission, requires resolution of the membrane connection between two prospective daughter cells. Our previous studies demonstrated that the coiled-coil protein centriolin localized to the midbody during cytokinesis and was required for abscission. Here we show that centriolin interacts with proteins of vesicle-targeting exocyst complexes and vesicle-fusion SNARE complexes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary cilia are nonmotile microtubule structures that assemble from basal bodies by a process called intraflagellar transport (IFT) and are associated with several human diseases. Here, we show that the centrosome protein pericentrin (Pcnt) colocalizes with IFT proteins to the base of primary and motile cilia. Immunogold electron microscopy demonstrates that Pcnt is on or near basal bodies at the base of cilia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCentrosomes nucleate microtubules and contribute to mitotic spindle organization and function. They also participate in cytokinesis and cell cycle progression in ways that are poorly understood. Here we describe a novel human protein called centriolin that localizes to the maternal centriole and functions in both cytokinesis and cell cycle progression.
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