Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and associated miRNAs in the development of breast cancer in African American women.

Breast cancer (BCa) is a prevalent form of cancer in women, exhibiting varying rates and distribution across different ethnic groups. Among these groups, African American (AA) women have the highest incidence of BCa and the lowest levels of Vitamin D (VD). Numerous studies have explored the connection between variations in the VDR gene and BCa risk, particularly in different populations, but research on the AA population remains limited.

Regulation of alternative splicing and polyadenylation in neurons.

Cell-type-specific gene expression is a fundamental feature of multicellular organisms and is achieved by combinations of regulatory strategies. Although cell-restricted transcription is perhaps the most widely studied mechanism, co-transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes are also central to the spatiotemporal control of gene functions. One general category of expression control involves the generation of multiple transcript isoforms from an individual gene, whose balance and cell specificity are frequently tightly regulated via diverse strategies.

Staphylococcus aureus SigS Induces Expression of a Regulatory Protein Pair That Modulates Its mRNA Stability.

SigS is the sole extracytoplasmic function sigma factor in Staphylococcus aureus and is necessary for virulence, immune evasion, and adaptation to toxic chemicals and environmental stressors. Despite the contribution of SigS to a myriad of critical phenotypes, the downstream effectors of SigS-dependent pathogenesis, immune evasion, and stress adaptation remain elusive. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed the S.

Post-Transcriptional Regulation of RseA by Small RNAs RyhB and FnrS in .

RseA is the critical central regulator of the σ-dependent stress response in and other related bacteria. The synthesis of RseA is controlled at the transcriptional level by several promoters and transcriptional regulators, including σ itself at two σ-dependent promoters: and . The presence of these two independent polycistrons encoding is potentially redundant.

Ketamine interactions with gut-microbiota in rats: relevance to its antidepressant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Background: Appreciable evidence suggest that dysbiosis in microbiota, reflected in gut microbial imbalance plays a key role in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders including depression and inflammatory diseases. Recently, the antidepressant properties of ketamine have gained prominence due to its fast and long lasting effects. Additional uses for ketamine in inflammatory disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome have been suggested.

An essential cell division protein directly regulates FtsZ dynamics.

Binary fission has been well studied in rod-shaped bacteria, but the mechanisms underlying cell division in spherical bacteria are poorly understood. Rod-shaped bacteria harbor regulatory proteins that place and remodel the division machinery during cytokinesis. In the spherical human pathogen , we found that the essential protein GpsB localizes to mid-cell during cell division and co-constricts with the division machinery.

TrmL and TusA Are Necessary for rpoS and MiaA Is Required for hfq Expression in Escherichia coli.

Previous work demonstrated that efficient RNA Polymerase sigma S-subunit (RpoS) translation requires the N6-isopentenyladenosine i6A37 transfer RNA (tRNA) modification for UUX-Leu decoding. Here we investigate the effect of two additional tRNA modification systems on RpoS translation; the analysis was also extended to another High UUX-leucine codon (HULC) protein, Host Factor for phage Qβ (Hfq). One tRNA modification, the addition of the 2'-O-methylcytidine/uridine 34 (C/U34m) tRNA modification by tRNA (cytidine/uridine-2'O)-ribose methyltransferase L (TrmL), requires the presence of the ⁶-isopentenyladenosine 37 (i⁶A37) and therefore it seemed possible that the defect in RpoS translation in the absence of i⁶A37 prenyl transferase (MiaA) was in fact due to the inability to add the C/U34m modification to UUX-Leu tRNAs.

The i6A37 tRNA modification is essential for proper decoding of UUX-Leucine codons during rpoS and iraP translation.

The translation of rpoS(σ(S)), the general stress/stationary phase sigma factor, is tightly regulated at the post-transcriptional level by several factors via mechanisms that are not clearly defined. One of these factors is MiaA, the enzyme necessary for the first step in theN(6)-isopentyl-2-thiomethyl adenosinemethyl adenosine 37 (ms(2)i(6)A37) tRNA modification. We tested the hypothesis that an elevated UUX-Leucine/total leucine codon ratio can be used to identify transcripts whose translation would be sensitive to loss of the MiaA-dependent modification.

Id3 induces an Elk-1-caspase-8-dependent apoptotic pathway in squamous carcinoma cells.

Inhibitor of differentiation/DNA-binding (Id) proteins are helix-loop-helix (HLH) transcription factors. The Id protein family (Id1-Id4) mediates tissue homeostasis by regulating cellular processes including differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Ids typically function as dominant negative HLH proteins, which bind other HLH proteins and sequester them away from DNA promoter regions.