Rab Proteins: Insights into Intracellular Trafficking in Endometrium.

Rab proteins belong to the Ras superfamily of small monomeric GTPases. These G proteins are the main controllers of vesicular transport in every tissue, among them, the endometrium. They are in charge of to the functional subcellular compartmentalization and cargo transport between organelles and the plasma membrane.

Induction of autophagy increases the proteolytic activity of reservosomes during metacyclogenesis.

Cruzipain, the major cysteine protease of the pathogenic protozoa , is an important virulence factor that plays a key role in the parasite nutrition, differentiation and host cell infection. Cruzipain is synthesized as a zymogen, matured, and delivered to reservosomes. These organelles that store proteins and lipids ingested by endocytosis undergo a dramatic decrease in number during the metacyclogenesis of .

Glycosylation-dependent galectin-receptor interactions promote infection.

() constitutes the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterium worldwide. Chlamydial infections can lead to severe clinical sequelae including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and tubal infertility. As an obligate intracellular pathogen, has evolved multiple strategies to promote adhesion and invasion of host cells, including those involving both bacterial and host glycans.

The regulation of autophagy differentially affects Trypanosoma cruzi metacyclogenesis.

Autophagy is a cellular process required for the removal of aged organelles and cytosolic components through lysosomal degradation. All types of eukaryotic cells from yeasts to mammalian cells have the machinery to activate autophagy as a result of many physiological and pathological situations. The most frequent stimulus of autophagy is starvation and the result, in this case, is the fast generation of utilizable food (e.

Changes of myoid and endothelial cells in the peritubular wall during contraction of the seminiferous tubule.

The wall of the seminiferous tubule in rodents consists of an inner layer of myoid cells covered by an outer layer of endothelial cells. Myoid cells are a type of smooth muscle cell containing α-actin filaments arranged in two independent layers that contract when stimulated by endothelin-1. The irregular surface relief of the tubular wall is often considered a hallmark of contraction induced by a variety of stimuli.

Hyperthermia effects on Hsp27 and Hsp72 associations with mismatch repair (MMR) proteins and cisplatin toxicity in MMR-deficient/proficient colon cancer cell lines.

Purpose: Hyperthermia is used in combination with conventional anticancer agents to potentiate their cytotoxicity. One of its key events is the synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSPs), which are able to associate with components from DNA repair mechanisms. However, little is known about their relationship with the mismatch repair system (MMR).

Peritubular myoid cells from rat seminiferous tubules contain actin and myosin filaments distributed in two independent layers.

In the mammalian testis, peritubular myoid cells (PM cells) surround the seminiferous tubules (STs), express cytoskeletal markers of true smooth muscle cells, and participate in the contraction of the ST. It has been claimed that PM cells contain bundles of actin filaments distributed orthogonally in an intermingled mesh. Our hypothesis is that these actin filaments are not forming a random intermingled mesh, but are actually arranged in contractile filaments in independent layers.