Role of tyrosine autophosphorylation and methionine residues in BRI1 function in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Background: Brassinosteroids (BRs), a group of plant growth hormones, control biomass accumulation and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and therefore are highly relevant to agriculture. BRs bind to the BR receptor protein, brassinosteroid insensitive 1 (BRI1), which is classified as a serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinase. Recently, we reported that BRI1 acts as a dual-specificity kinase both in vitro and in vivo by undergoing autophosphorylation at tyrosine (Tyr) residues.

Measurement of altered APP isoform expression in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese mice by absolute quantitative real-time PCR.

Obesity is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have demonstrated that amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) is expressed in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), upregulated with obesity, and correlates with insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation. APP is alternatively spliced into several isoforms, which may be indicative of the pathogenesis of APP-related diseases, but the accurate quantification has been difficult to standardize and reproduce.