The hepatitis E virus is a serious health concern worldwide, with 20 million cases each year. Growing numbers of autochthonous HEV infections in industrialized nations are brought on via the zoonotic transmission of HEV genotypes 3 and 4. Pigs and wild boars are the main animal reservoirs of HEV and play the primary role in HEV transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant viruses have traditionally been studied as pathogens in the context of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of a particular disease affecting crops. In recent years, viruses have emerged as a new alternative for producing biological nanomaterials and chimeric vaccines. Plant viruses were also used to generate highly efficient expression vectors, revolutionizing plant molecular farming (PMF).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases cause serious illness with billions of cases, and millions of deaths. The most effective way to restrict the spread of zoonotic viruses among humans and animals and prevent disease is vaccination. Recombinant proteins produced in plants offer an alternative approach for the development of safe, effective, inexpensive candidate vaccines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates whether selected WD40 proteins with a 7-bladed β-propeller structure, similar to that of the β subunit of the G protein heterotrimer, interact with the cytosolic chaperonin CCT and its known binding partner, PhLP1. Previous studies have shown that CCT is required for the folding of the Gβ subunit and other WD40 proteins. The role of PhLP1 in the folding of Gβ has also been established, but it is unknown if PhLP1 assists in the folding of other Gβ-like proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatitis E is an emerging global disease, mainly transmitted via the fecal-oral route in developing countries, and in a zoonotic manner in the developed world. Pigs and wild boar constitute the primary Hepatitis E virus (HEV) zoonotic reservoir. Consumption of undercooked animal meat or direct contact with infected animals is the most common source of HEV infection in European countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThymopoiesis depends on the recruitment and expansion of bone marrow-derived progenitor populations; tight regulation of these processes is required for maintenance of the homeostasis of the T lineage. Lyl-1, a transcription factor that regulates hematopoietic progenitors, is expressed in thymocyte progenitors until T cell commitment. Here we demonstrate a requirement for Lyl-1 in lymphoid specification and the maintenance of early T lineage progenitors (ETPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuccessful haematopoiesis requires long-term retention of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in a quiescent state. The transcriptional regulation of stem cell quiescence, especially by factors with specific functions in HSCs, is only beginning to be understood. Here, we demonstrate that Nurr1, a nuclear receptor transcription factor, has such a regulatory role.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Lymphoblastic leukemia 1 (LYL1) gene is a proto-oncogenic transcription factor found upregulated in patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-cell ALL). Initially, the upregulation was described to be as a result of a translocation. However, further studies revealed that transcriptional upregulation of LYL1could also occur without translocations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the function of the lymphoblastic leukemia gene, Lyl1 in the hematopoietic system and its oncogenic potential in the development of leukemia. Overexpression of Lyl1 in mouse bone marrow cells caused T-cell increase in the peripheral blood and expansion of the hematopoietic progenitors in culture and in the bone marrow. These observations were the result of increased proliferation and suppressed apoptosis of the progenitor cells caused by the Lyl1-overexpression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosducin-like protein (PhLP) is a widely expressed binding partner of the G protein betagamma subunit complex (Gbetagamma) that has been recently shown to catalyze the formation of the Gbetagamma dimer from its nascent polypeptides. Phosphorylation of PhLP at one or more of three consecutive serines (Ser-18, Ser-19, and Ser-20) is necessary for Gbetagamma dimer formation and is believed to be mediated by the protein kinase CK2. Moreover, several lines of evidence suggest that the cytosolic chaperonin complex (CCT) may work in concert with PhLP in the Gbetagamma-assembly process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosducin-like protein (PhLP) is a widely expressed binding partner of the G protein betagamma subunit dimer (Gbetagamma). However, its physiological role is poorly understood. To investigate PhLP function, its cellular expression was blocked using RNA interference, resulting in inhibition of Gbetagamma expression and G protein signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosducin (Pdc) and phosducin-like protein (PhLP) regulate G protein-mediated signaling by binding to the betagamma subunit complex of heterotrimeric G proteins (Gbetagamma) and removing the dimer from cell membranes. The binding of Pdc induces a conformational change in the beta-propeller structure of Gbetagamma, creating a pocket between blades 6 and 7. It has been proposed that the isoprenyl group of Gbetagamma inserts into this pocket, stabilizing the Pdc.
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