JNK mediates cell death by promoting the ubiquitination of the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE1.

The c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinases (JNKs) regulate cell death, generally through the direct phosphorylation of both pro- and anti-apoptotic substrates. In this report, we demonstrate an alternate mechanism of JNK-mediated cell death involving the anti-apoptotic protein human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1). Treatment of cells with a variety of genotoxic stresses enhanced APE1-JNK (all isoforms of JNK1 or JNK2) interaction, specifically in cells undergoing apoptosis.

In silico tandem affinity purification refines an Oct4 interaction list.

Introduction: Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) is a master regulator of early mammalian development. Its expression begins from the oocyte stage, becomes restricted to the inner cell mass of the blastocyst and eventually remains only in primordial germ cells. Unearthing the interactions of Oct4 would provide insight into how this transcription factor is central to cell fate and stem cell pluripotency.

A novel method of protein extraction from yeast using ionic liquid solution.

As the first attempt, ionic liquid solutions have been employed for direct extraction of proteins from yeast cells. Compared with effects of 21 different ionic liquid solutions on the extraction efficiency, 3-(dimethylamino)-1-propylaminium formate ([DMAPA]FA) was selected as the suitable ionic liquid solution. As this ionic liquid can be easily removed under vacuum, contamination by the chemical noise can be effectively reduced.

The ulcerative colitis marker protein WAFL interacts with accessory proteins in endocytosis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the major forms of inflammatory bowel disease with unknown cause. A molecular marker, WAFL, has recently been found to be up-regulated in the inflamed colonic mucosa of UC patients. Towards understanding biological function of WAFL, we analyzed proteins interacting with WAFL in HEK-293 cells by immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry.