Yeast poly(A)-binding protein Pab1 shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm and functions in mRNA export.

Pab1 is the major poly(A)-binding protein in yeast. It is a multifunctional protein that mediates many cellular functions associated with the 3'-poly(A)-tail of messenger RNAs. Here, we characterize Pab1 as an export cargo of the protein export factor Xpo1/Crm1.

Is perceived social support a predictor of survival for patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation?

Purpose: Previous research discussed the predictive value of psychosocial variables along with biomedical predictors for survival; such as affective functioning and quality of life. The present study addresses the following research question: does perceived social support prior to PSBCT have an impact on post-transplant survival?

Subjects And Methods: Ninety-nine patients suffering from Multiple Myeloma (n=55), Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (n=33), and other malignancies (n=11) completed the Illness Specific Scales of Social Support (ISSS) before undergoing PBSCT. ISSS is comprised of the subscales 'positive social support' and 'problematic social support', e.

Light-induced inhibition of chymotrypsin using photocleavable monolayers on gold nanoparticles.

Positively charged gold nanoparticles featuring photocleavable units within their surrounding monolayer are switched from non-interacting species to inhibitors of chymotrypsin through UV irradiation.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperalgesic effects of sesquiterpene lactones from Magnolia and Bear's foot.

Sesquiterpene lactones possess a variety of biological activities, including anti-inflammatory activity. Two plants native to the southeastern United States, Magnolia grandiflora (L.) and Smallanthus uvedalius (L.

Conserved and acquired features of neurogenin1 regulation.

The telencephalon shows vast morphological variations among different vertebrate groups. The transcription factor neurogenin1 (ngn1) controls neurogenesis in the mouse pallium and is also expressed in the dorsal telencephalon of the evolutionary distant zebrafish. The upstream regions of the zebrafish and mammalian ngn1 loci harbour several stretches of conserved sequences.

The comparative interaction of human and bovine serum albumins with CYP2C9 in human liver microsomes.

The effect of human serum albumin (HSA), in its endogenous, free fatty acid free (FAF) and globulin free (GF) form, on the activity of CYP2C9 was studied in human liver microsomes using tolbutamide as the substrate. The widely used BSA was included to assess the differential effect of BSA and HSA. CYP2C9 activity was expressed as CLint (Vmax/Km).

Protein-solute interactions affect the outcome of ultrafiltration/diafiltration operations.

Protein production operations often involve a final diafiltration of the protein into formulation buffer. For several Amgen product proteins, post-diafiltration assays revealed a significant difference in molar excipient concentrations on the retentate and the permeate side of the membrane. For example, post-diafiltration assays of formulated 200 mg/mL human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist showed molar chloride concentrations up to 30% lower than those of the diafiltration buffer.

Is cardiology consultation required before cardiac catheterization?

Background: In many hospitals, internists have begun to directly refer patients for cardiac catheterization without a prior cardiology consultation. The purpose of this study is to compare the results of a policy of mandatory consultation prior to catheterization with one of optional consultation. Methods: One hundred seventy-five consecutive patients who underwent catheterization with a prior cardiology consultation (closed group) were compared to 175 patients who underwent the procedure without a prior mandatory consultation (open group).

A native-like artificial protein from antisense DNA.

We describe the creation of folded chimaeric proteins by combining a designed polypeptide segment (bait) derived from a beta-sheet of a human antibody variable domain with random polypeptide segments encoded by human cDNA fragments. The repertoire of polypeptides was displayed on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage and folded polypeptides were selected by proteolysis. One of these, 2a6, was readily expressed in the Escherichia coli cytoplasm as a soluble and protease-resistant protein and could be purified after heating the bacterial lysate to 90 degrees C.

Individual quality of life of patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

Background: Most quality-of-life (QoL) studies in autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation (PBSCT) are descriptive and concentrate on symptom severity and functional deficits. The aim of this study is to compare individual QoL (iQoL) with health-related QoL (hrQoL) and functional status of patients before high-dosed therapy/PBSCT.

Patients And Methods: Multiple Myeloma, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and other tumor patients were asked to complete the following measures before high-dosed therapy/PBSCT: the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30), and the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual QoL-Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), a patient-generated instrument which allows the patients to nominate the five most important domains (cues) for their present QoL.

Control of protein structure and function through surface recognition by tailored nanoparticle scaffolds.

Thioalkyl and thioalkylated oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) ligands with chain-end functionality were used to fabricate water-soluble CdSe nanoparticle scaffolds. Surface recognition of chymotrypsin (ChT) was achieved using these functionalized nanoparticle scaffolds, with three levels of interaction demonstrated: no interaction (OEG terminated with hydroxyl group), inhibition with denaturation (carboxylate-terminated thioalkyl ligands), and inhibition with retention of structure (carboxylate-terminated OEG). The latter process was reversible upon an increase in ionic strength, with essentially complete restoration of enzymatic activity.

Expression profiling and comparative genomics identify a conserved regulatory region controlling midline expression in the zebrafish embryo.

Differential gene transcription is a fundamental regulatory mechanism of biological systems during development, body homeostasis, and disease. Comparative genomics is believed to be a rapid means for the identification of regulatory sequences in genomes. We tested this approach to identify regulatory sequences that control expression in the midline of the zebrafish embryo.

Reversible "irreversible" inhibition of chymotrypsin using nanoparticle receptors.

Anionically functionalized amphiphilic nanoparticles efficiently inhibit chymotrypsin through electrostatic binding followed by protein denaturation. We demonstrate the ability to disrupt this "irreversible" inhibition of chymotrypsin through modification of the nanoparticle surface using cationic surfactants. Up to 50% of original chymotrypsin activity is rescued upon long-chain surfactant addition.

Detection of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) using highly specific antisera against Gag and Env.

Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) are considered an obstacle to the safe use of cells, tissues, and organs from pigs in the course of xenotransplantation. Thus, the detection of viral proteins and of a potential PERV infection is of major interest. Recently, we have published the generation of a highly specific antiserum directed against the nucleocapsid (p10) of PERV (Xenotransplantation 7 (2000), 221).

Interaction of serum proteins with CYP isoforms in human liver microsomes: inhibitory effects of human and bovine albumin, alpha-globulins, alpha-1-acid glycoproteins and gamma-globulins on CYP2C19 and CYP2D6.

The effects of serum proteins on the in vitro hydroxylation pathways of mephenytoin (CYP2C19) and debrisoquine (CYP2D6) were studied to enhance the predictability of in vivo drug metabolism from in vitro assays. Both CYP substrates are known to be weakly bound to albumin and the applicability of the free drug hypothesis was further appraised. Since bovine serum albumin (BSA) is used widely in in vitro assays, a comparison between human and bovine proteins was made.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women with CIN and invasive uterine cervix cancer. Significance of hormonal status.

In women with CIN at fertile age and those over 50 years of age, EGFR expression is lower in the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis (Cht) infection. In all Cht infected women over 50 years of age expression of Ki 67 is higher; the increase is significant among women with invasive carcinoma. In these groups of women with CIN and invasive carcinoma TGF-alpha expression is insignificantly augmented.

Cyclops-independent floor plate differentiation in zebrafish embryos.

In zebrafish, development of the ventral neural tube depends on the Nodal-related signal Cyclops (Cyc). One-day-old cyc mutant embryos lack the medial floor plate (MFP). We show here that cells expressing MFP marker genes differentiate gradually in cyc mutant embryos in a delayed manner during the second day of development.

Experimental identification of downhill protein folding.

Theory predicts the existence of barrierless protein folding. Without barriers, folding should be noncooperative and the degree of native structure should be coupled to overall protein stability. We investigated the thermal unfolding of the peripheral subunit binding domain from Escherichia coli's 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex (termed BBL) with a combination of spectroscopic techniques and calorimetry.

A floor plate enhancer of the zebrafish netrin1 gene requires Cyclops (Nodal) signalling and the winged helix transcription factor FoxA2.

The floor plate is an organising centre that controls neural differentiation and axonogenesis in the neural tube. The axon guidance molecule Netrin1 is expressed in the floor plate of zebrafish embryos. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying expression in the floor plate, we scanned the netrin1 locus for regulatory regions and identified an enhancer that drives expression in the floor plate and hypochord of transgenic embryos.

Transcriptional regulation of porcine endogenous retroviruses released from porcine and infected human cells by heterotrimeric protein complex NF-Y and impact of immunosuppressive drugs.

Recent studies revealed a significant promoter activity of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) long terminal repeats (LTRs) in different human and mammalian cell lines, which is mediated by a 39-bp repeat located in the U3 region in different numbers, representing an enhancer (G. Scheef, N. Fischer, U.

Brevican isoforms associate with neural membranes.

Brevican is a neural-specific proteoglycan of the brain extracellular matrix, which is particularly abundant in the terminally differentiated CNS. It is expressed by neuronal and glial cells, and as a component of the perineuronal nets it decorates the surface of large neuronal somata and primary dendrites. One brevican isoform harbors a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor attachment site and, as shown by ethanolamine incorporation studies, is indeed glypiated in stably transfected HEK293 cells as well as in oligodendrocyte precursor Oli-neu cells.

The interaction of human and bovine serum proteins with CYP3A in human liver microsomes: inhibition of testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation by albumin, alpha-globulins, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein and gamma-globulins.

The effects of human and bovine serum proteins on CYP3A activity, using testosterone as the probe substrate, were investigated in human liver microsomes. Serum albumin, alpha-globulins, and alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (alpha(1)-AGP) of both species significantly inhibited testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation. When the inhibitory effects of serum proteins were compared with serum protein binding data, human alpha-globulins, with a ratio (relative metabolic activity/unbound fraction) of 0.

The ferredoxin docking site of photosystem I.

The reaction center of photosystem I (PSI) reduces soluble ferredoxin on the stromal side of the photosynthetic membranes of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. The X-ray structure of PSI from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus has been recently established at a 2.5 A resolution [Nature 411 (2001) 909].

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive carcinoma.

We analyzed 149 women (81 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and with invasive carcinoma of the cervix and 68--as a control group). The influence of Chlamydia trachomatis (Cht) infection into expression of EGFR, TGF-alpha, Ki 67, HPV 16 and 18 was examined. IS-PCR was used to measure the level of antibodies in the serum.