SIX3 and SIX6 interact with GEMININ via C-terminal regions.

The histoarchitecture and function of eye and forebrain depend on a well-controlled balance between cell proliferation and differentiation. For example, the binding of the cell cycle regulator GEMININ to CDT1, which is a part of the pre-replication complex, promotes cell differentiation. Homeodomain transcription factors SIX3 and SIX6 also interact with GEMININ of which SIX3-GEMININ interaction promotes cell proliferation, whereas the nature of SIX6-GEMININ interaction has not been studied to date.

Two tales of Annexin A2 knock-down: One of compensatory effects by antisense RNA and another of a highly active hairpin ribozyme.

Besides altering its own expression during cell transformation, Annexin A2 is upregulated during the progression of many cancer types and also plays key roles during viral infection and multiplication. Consequently, there has been great interest in Annexin A2 as a potential drug target. The successful design of efficient in vivo delivery systems constitutes an obstacle in full exploitation of antisense and RNA-cleaving technologies for the knock-down of specific targets.

CorA is a copper repressible surface-associated copper(I)-binding protein produced in Methylomicrobium album BG8.

CorA is a copper repressible protein previously identified in the methanotrophic bacterium Methylomicrobium album BG8. In this work, we demonstrate that CorA is located on the cell surface and binds one copper ion per protein molecule, which, based on X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure analysis, is in the reduced state (Cu(I)). The structure of endogenously expressed CorA was solved using X-ray crystallography.

CXXC5 (retinoid-inducible nuclear factor, RINF) is a potential therapeutic target in high-risk human acute myeloid leukemia.

The retinoid-responsive gene CXXC5 localizes to the 5q31.2 chromosomal region and encodes a retinoid-inducible nuclear factor (RINF) that seems important during normal myelopoiesis. We investigated CXXC5/RINF expression in primary human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells derived from 594 patients, and a wide variation in CXXC5/RINF mRNA levels was observed both in the immature leukemic myeloblasts and in immature acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

Low BRAF and NRAS expression levels are associated with clinical benefit from DTIC therapy and prognosis in metastatic melanoma.

Metastatic melanoma is characterized by a poor response to chemotherapy. Furthermore, there is a lack of established predictive and prognostic markers. In this single institution study, we correlated mutation status and expression levels of BRAF and NRAS to dacarbazine (DTIC) treatment response as well as progression-free and overall survival in a cohort of 85 patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma.