Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease from Circulating Blood Leukocytes Using a Fluorescent Amyloid Probe.

Background: Toxic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides aggregate into higher molecular weight assemblies and accumulate not only in the extracellular space, but also in the walls of blood vessels in the brain, increasing their permeability, and promoting immune cell migration and activation. Given the prominent role of the immune system, phagocytic blood cells may contact pathological brain materials.

Objective: To develop a novel method for early Alzheimer's disease (AD) detection, we used blood leukocytes, that could act as "sentinels" after trafficking through the brain microvasculature, to detect pathological amyloid by labelling with a conformationally-sensitive fluorescent amyloid probe and imaging with confocal spectral microscopy.

GL2 EXPRESSION MODULATOR, a plant specific protein phosphatase one interactor that binds phosphoinositides.

Protein phosphatase one (PP1) is a major eukaryotic serine/threonine protein phosphatase whose activity is controlled by targeting or regulatory subunits. Currently, very few plant protein phosphatase one regulatory subunits are known. Here, Arabidopsis GL2 EXPRESSION MODULATOR (GEM) was identified and confirmed as a protein phosphatase one binding partner.

Identification and characterization of AtI-2, an Arabidopsis homologue of an ancient protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) regulatory subunit.

PP1 (protein phosphatase 1) is among the most conserved enzymes known, with one or more isoforms present in all sequenced eukaryotic genomes. PP1 dephosphorylates specific serine/threonine phosphoproteins as defined by associated regulatory or targeting subunits. In the present study we performed a PP1-binding screen to find putative PP1 interactors in Arabidopsis thaliana and uncovered a homologue of the ancient PP1 interactor, I-2 (inhibitor-2).

The phosphoinositide-3-OH-kinase-related kinases of Arabidopsis thaliana.

The phosphoinositide-3-OH-kinase-related kinases (PIKKs) are atypical protein kinases exclusive to eukaryotes. They mediate the cellular response to a range of stresses, including genome and RNA surveillance and availability of nutrients for growth. Orthologues of five out of the six PIKK family members are present in plant genomes.