Stable G protein-effector complexes in striatal neurons: mechanism of assembly and role in neurotransmitter signaling.

In the striatum, signaling via G protein-coupled neurotransmitter receptors is essential for motor control. Critical to this process is the effector enzyme adenylyl cyclase type 5 (AC5) that produces second messenger cAMP upon receptor-mediated activation by G protein Golf. However, the molecular organization of the Golf-AC5 signaling axis is not well understood.

Structures of the Gβ-CCT and PhLP1-Gβ-CCT complexes reveal a mechanism for G-protein β-subunit folding and Gβγ dimer assembly.

G-protein signaling depends on the ability of the individual subunits of the G-protein heterotrimer to assemble into a functional complex. Formation of the G-protein βγ (Gβγ) dimer is particularly challenging because it is an obligate dimer in which the individual subunits are unstable on their own. Recent studies have revealed an intricate chaperone system that brings Gβ and Gγ together.

Phosducin-like protein 1 is essential for G-protein assembly and signaling in retinal rod photoreceptors.

G-protein β subunits perform essential neuronal functions as part of G-protein βγ and Gβ5-regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) complexes. Both Gβγ and Gβ5-RGS are obligate dimers that are thought to require the assistance of the cytosolic chaperonin CCT and a cochaperone, phosducin-like protein 1 (PhLP1) for dimer formation. To test this hypothesis in vivo, we deleted the Phlp1 gene in mouse (Mus musculus) retinal rod photoreceptor cells and measured the effects on G-protein biogenesis and visual signal transduction.

Inferring gene regulatory networks from asynchronous microarray data with AIRnet.

Background: Modern approaches to treating genetic disorders, cancers and even epidemics rely on a detailed understanding of the underlying gene signaling network. Previous work has used time series microarray data to infer gene signaling networks given a large number of accurate time series samples. Microarray data available for many biological experiments is limited to a small number of arrays with little or no time series guarantees.

Analysis of papaya BAC end sequences reveals first insights into the organization of a fruit tree genome.

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a major tree fruit crop of tropical and subtropical regions with an estimated genome size of 372 Mbp. We present the analysis of 4.