The gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone binds and stabilises the FsrB membrane protein in Enterococcus faecalis quorum sensing.

Quorum-sensing mechanisms regulate gene expression in response to changing cell-population density detected through pheromones. In Enterococcus faecalis, Fsr quorum sensing produces and responds to the gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone (GBAP). Here we establish that the enterococcal FsrB membrane protein has a direct role connected with GBAP by showing that GBAP binds to purified FsrB.

HHIPL1, a Gene at the 14q32 Coronary Artery Disease Locus, Positively Regulates Hedgehog Signaling and Promotes Atherosclerosis.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified chromosome 14q32 as a locus for coronary artery disease. The disease-associated variants fall in a hitherto uncharacterized gene called HHIPL1 (hedgehog interacting protein-like 1), which encodes a sequence homolog of an antagonist of hedgehog signaling. The function of HHIPL1 and its role in atherosclerosis are unknown.