Expression and characterization of branched-chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase from the rat. Is it a histidine-protein kinase?

The recombinant rat branched-chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase has been amplified from rat kidney cDNA, based on the previously reported rat cDNA sequence (Popov, K. M., Zhao, Y.

TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma induce expression of nitric oxide synthase in cultured rat medullary interstitial cells.

Cytokines increase the expression of the inducible (type II) nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in macrophages, liver, and renal epithelial cells. Previously, we found that cultured rat medullary interstitial cells (RMIC) contain high levels of soluble guanylyl cyclase. To determine whether these cells can also produce NO, we studied the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on NO production, NOS II mRNA, and NOS II protein expression.

Unique functional characteristics of the polymerization and MAP binding regulatory domains of plant tubulin.

An understanding of the regulation of microtubule polymerization and dynamics in plant cells requires biochemical information on the structures, functions, and molecular interactions of plant tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) that regulate microtubule function. We have probed the regulatory domain and polymerization domain of purified maize tubulin using MAP2, an extensively characterized mammalian neuronal MAP. MAP2 bound to the surface of preformed, taxol-stabilized maize microtubules, with binding saturation occurring with one MAP2 molecule per five to six tubulin dimers, as it does with mammalian microtubules.