Antifungal Activity, Structural Stability, and Immunomodulatory Effects on Human Immune Cells of Defensin from the Lentil .

An increase in the frequency of mycoses and spreading of multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens necessitates the search for new antifungal agents. Earlier, we isolated the novel defensin from lentil seeds, designated as Lc-def, which inhibited the growth of phytopathogenic fungi. Here, we studied an antifungal activity of Lc-def against human pathogenic species, structural stability of the defensin, and its immunomodulatory effects that may help to prevent fungal infection.

Expression profiles of PIWIL2 short isoforms differ in testicular germ cell tumors of various differentiation subtypes.

PIWI family proteins have recently emerged as essential contributors in numerous biological processes including germ cell development, stem cell maintenance and epigenetic reprogramming. Expression of some of the family members has been shown to be elevated in tumors. In particular, PIWIL2 has been probed as a potential neoplasia biomarker in many cancers in humans.

Cancer specificity of promoters of the genes controlling cell proliferation.

Violation of proliferation control is a common feature of cancer cells. We put forward the hypothesis that promoters of genes involved in the control of cell proliferation should possess intrinsic cancer specific activity. We cloned promoter regions of CDC6, POLD1, CKS1B, MCM2, and PLK1 genes into pGL3 reporter vector and studied their ability to drive heterologous gene expression in transfected cancer cells of different origin and in normal human fibroblasts.

Activity of the upstream component of tandem TERT/survivin promoters depends on features of the downstream component.

We spliced the promoters of the human telomerase and human survivin genes (PhTERT and PhSurv, respectively) widely used for gene therapy and known to have the broadest cancer type spectrum of activity. Two head-to-tail constructs were obtained: the PhTERT-PhSurv and PhSurv-PhTERT tandems. The splicing caused quantitative and qualitative changes in the promoter features.

Human-specific modulation of transcriptional activity provided by endogenous retroviral insertions.

Many phenotypic differences exist between Homo sapiens and its closest relatives, chimpanzees, and these differences can arise as a result of variations in the regulation of certain genes common to these closely related species. Human-specific endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and their solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) are probable candidates for such a role due to the presence of regulatory elements, such as enhancers, promoters, splice sites, and polyadenylation signals. In this study we show for the first time that HERVs can participate in the specific antisense regulation of human gene expression owing to their LTR promoter activity.

A new technique for selective identification and mapping of enhancers within long genomic sequences.

We report a new experimental method of direct selection, identification, and mapping of potential enhancer sequences within extended stretches of genomic DNA. The method allows simultaneous cloning of a quantity of sequences instead of tedious screening of the separate ones, thus providing a robust and high-throughput approach to the mapping of enhancers. The selection procedure is based on the ability of such sequences to activate a minimal promoter that drives expression of a selective gene.