Norovirus non-structural protein p20 leads to impaired restitution of epithelial defects by inhibition of actin cytoskeleton remodelling.

Objective: Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans worldwide. Typical symptoms are vomiting, nausea and severe watery diarrhea. Because of the lack of cell lines susceptible to human norovirus infection, pathomechanisms and replication cycle are largely unknown.

Identification and functional characterization of a spliced rhesus rhadinovirus gene with homology to the K15 gene of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus.

Rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) is a gamma-2 herpesvirus related to the human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV or human herpesvirus 8). This study identified an alternatively spliced gene at the right side of the RRV genome (strain 17577) between open reading frame 75 and the terminal repeat region. Of its eight exons, the first seven encoded up to 12 transmembrane domains, whilst the eighth exon encoded a predicted C-terminal cytoplasmic domain.

Interleukin-13 is the key effector Th2 cytokine in ulcerative colitis that affects epithelial tight junctions, apoptosis, and cell restitution.

Background & Aims: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by a Th2 immune response with inflammation and epithelial barrier dysfunction. So far, Th2 cytokines have not been shown to directly influence epithelial barrier function.

Methods: Lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) were stimulated and interleukin (IL)-13 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Functional crosstalk between Wnt signaling and Cdx-related transcriptional activation in the regulation of the claudin-2 promoter activity.

Assembly of tight junctions at the most apical part of the lateral cell membrane is a key event in the differentiation of polarized epithelial cells. Claudin-2, a transmembrane protein involved in tight junction strand formation, has turned out to play a crucial role for the paracellular barrier function by opening pores for small cations. Physiological and pathological variations of epithelial barrier function are accompanied by differential expression of tight junction proteins.

Molecular biology of Porcine circovirus: analyses of gene expression and viral replication.

The rep gene of Porcine circovirus type 1 directs the synthesis of two proteins. The full-length protein Rep is 312 amino acids in size, the spliced variant Rep' is truncated (168 aa) and exon 2 is frame-shifted. Replication of PCV1 DNA depends on synthesis of both proteins.

Gene expression of the tight junction protein occludin includes differential splicing and alternative promoter usage.

Occludin is an integral membrane protein located at the tight junctions of epithelial cells. Multiple domains of occludin are involved in the regulation of paracellular permeability as well as in the targeting of the protein to the tight junction. In this study, different occludin variants were identified on the mRNA level.

Analysis of transcription of Porcine circovirus type 1.

Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) contains two major open reading frames encoding the replication initiator proteins, Rep and Rep', and the structural protein, Cap. The promoters of these two genes (P(cap) and P(rep)) have been mapped. P(cap) is located within the rep open reading frame (nt 1328-1252).