Prediction and characterization of the stability enhancing effect of the Cherry-Tag™ in highly concentrated protein solutions by complex rheological measurements and MD simulations.

Solution stability attributes are one of the key parameters within the production and launching phase of new biopharmaceuticals. Instabilities of active biological compounds can reduce the yield of biopharmaceutical productions, and may induce undesired reactions in patients, such as immunogenic rejections. Protein solution stability thus needs to be engineered and monitored throughout production and storage.

Integrated development of up- and downstream processes supported by the Cherry-Tag™ for real-time tracking of stability and solubility of proteins.

Product analytics is the bottleneck of most processes in bioprocess engineering, as it is rather time-consuming. Real-time and in-line product tracing without sample pre-treatment is only possible for few products. The Cherry-Tag™ (Delphi Genetics, Belgium) which can be fused to any target protein allows for straightforward product analytics by VIS absorption measurements.

4F2hc-silencing impairs tumorigenicity of HeLa cells via modulation of galectin-3 and β-catenin signaling, and MMP-2 expression.

4F2hc is a type-II glycoprotein whose covalent-bound association with one of several described light chains yields a heterodimer mainly involved in large neutral amino acid transport. Likewise, it is well known that the heavy chain interacts with β-integrins mediating integrin-dependent events such as survival, proliferation, migration and even transformation. 4F2hc is a ubiquitous protein whose overexpression has been related to tumor development and progression.

Role of diabetes- and obesity-related protein in the regulation of osteoblast differentiation.

Although thyroid hormone (TH) is known to exert important effects on the skeleton, the nuclear factors constituting the TH receptor coactivator complex and the molecular pathways by which TH mediates its effects on target gene expression in osteoblasts remain poorly understood. A recent study demonstrated that the actions of TH on myoblast differentiation are dependent on diabetes- and obesity-related protein (DOR). However, the role of DOR in osteoblast differentiation is unknown.

Human endometrial CD98 is essential for blastocyst adhesion.

Background: Understanding the molecular basis of embryonic implantation is of great clinical and biological relevance. Little is currently known about the adhesion receptors that determine endometrial receptivity for embryonic implantation in humans.

Methods And Principal Findings: Using two human endometrial cell lines characterized by low and high receptivity, we identified the membrane receptor CD98 as a novel molecule selectively and significantly associated with the receptive phenotype.

The nuclear receptor coactivator AIB3 is a modulator of HOMA beta-cell function in nondiabetic children.

Objective: The amplified in breast cancer-3 protein (AIB3) is a nuclear coactivator involved in proliferation, apoptosis and development. AIB3 loss of function causes deficient insulin secretion in mice, indicating that AIB3 participates in beta-cell regulation. Our objective was to evaluate genetic variants located on AIB3 associated with beta-cell function in children and to analyse the effect of AIB3 overexpression on gene expression in insulin 1 (INS-1) beta-pancreatic cells.

Identification of a novel modulator of thyroid hormone receptor-mediated action.

Background: Diabetes is characterized by reduced thyroid function and altered myogenesis after muscle injury. Here we identify a novel component of thyroid hormone action that is repressed in diabetic rat muscle.

Methodology/principal Findings: We have identified a gene, named DOR, abundantly expressed in insulin-sensitive tissues such as skeletal muscle and heart, whose expression is highly repressed in muscle from obese diabetic rats.

The structure of human 4F2hc ectodomain provides a model for homodimerization and electrostatic interaction with plasma membrane.

4F2hc (CD98hc) is a multifunctional type II membrane glycoprotein involved in amino acid transport and cell fusion, adhesion, and transformation. The structure of the ectodomain of human 4F2hc has been solved using monoclinic (Protein Data Bank code 2DH2) and orthorhombic (Protein Data Bank code 2DH3) crystal forms at 2.1 and 2.

Hospital infestation by the cluster fly, Pollenia rudis sensu stricto Fabricius 1794 (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and its possible role in transmission of bacterial pathogens in Germany.

The potential of the cluster fly, Pollenia rudis sensu stricto, to transmit bacterial pathogens was investigated during a mass infestation that took place in a German hospital. Cluster flies were individually examined for mesophilic bacteria carried on the exoskeleton. Bacterial growth could only be detected by using the enrichment culture technique to increase sensitivity, but not by direct intoculation of fly samples to agar plates.

Sick building syndrome in an office building formerly used by a pharmaceutical company: a case study.

In the past two decades, a group of health problems related to the indoor environment--generally termed sick building syndrome (SBS)--has emerged. We present an investigation of SBS in employees of a ministry working in a naturally ventilated office building that formerly had been used by a pharmaceutical company. A preceding environmental monitoring had failed to identify the cause(s) for the complaints.

On the target of a novel class of antibiotics, oxazolidinones, active against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria.

Oxazolidinones are a promising new class of synthetic antibiotics active against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. To elucidate their mode of action, the effect of DuP 721 on individual steps of protein translation was studied. The drug does not interfere with translation initiation at the stage of mRNA binding or formation of 30S pre-initiation complexes.

[Acanthamoeba, naturally intracellularly infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, after their isolation from a microbiologically contaminated drinking water system in a hospital].

The drinking water system of a new hospital building that was highly contaminated with bacteria before opening was investigated too for the prevalence of small free living amoebae. Germ counts resulted in > 100 CFU/ml in 100% of the cold water samples, that showed also growth of P. aeruginosa, whereas E.

Natural inhibitors of germination and growth, VII synthesis of ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase in darkness and its inhibition by coumarin.

Cress (Lepidium sativum) seeds were germinated in darkness. Seedlings were investigated for soluble proteins by SDS-PAGE. Two proteins were identified by microsequencing: the small subunit of ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase (SSU) and the alpha subunit of the storage protein cruciferin.