HSC90 is required for nascent hepatitis C virus core protein stability in yeast cells.

Hepatitis C virus core protein (Core) contributes to HCV pathogenicity. Here, we demonstrate that Core impairs growth in budding yeast. We identify HSP90 inhibitors as compounds that reduce intracellular Core protein level and restore yeast growth.

Hepatocyte-protective and anti-oxidant effects of rifampicin on human chronic hepatitis C and murine acute hepatocyte disorder.

Rifampicin (RFP) is a semisynthetic antibiotic derived from the rifamycins and is one of the most commonly used pharmaceutical compounds worldwide in the treatment of tuberculosis. We previously reported that low-dose and long-term oral administration of RFP to 6 hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis patients who were at high risk for presenting with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resulted in a marked suppression of the occurrence of HCC without showing an adverse effect. The underlying mechanism was found to be due to the anticancer effect based on the potent anti-angiogenic properties of RFP.

Structural similarity between histone chaperone Cia1p/Asf1p and DNA-binding protein NF-kappaB.

The structural relationships between histone-binding proteins and DNA-binding proteins are important, since nucleosome-interacting factors possess histone-binding and/or DNA-binding components. S. cerevisiae (Sc) Cia1p/Asf1p, a homologue of human CIA (CCG1-interacting factor A), is the most evolutionarily conserved histone chaperone, which facilitates nucleosome assembly by interacting with the nucleosome entry site of the core histones H3/H4.

Crystal structure of the homolog of the oncoprotein gankyrin, an interactor of Rb and CDK4/6.

The oncoprotein gankyrin plays a central role in tumorigenesis and cell proliferation. Gankyrin interacts with the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (Rb) and cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6), increases phosphorylation at specific residues of Rb by CDK4/6 in vivo, and promotes tumorigenesis. The phosphorylation of Rb by CDK4/6 leads to the deregulation of the cell cycle during G1/S transition.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of yeast nucleosome-assembly factor Cia1p.

Yeast Cia1p is a homologue of human CIA (CCG1-interacting factor A), which possesses nucleosome-assembly activity and interacts with the human TFIID subunit CCG1 and the C-terminal domain of histone H3. The yeast Cia1p without the C-terminal polyanionic stretch has been expressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 8000 as precipitant. The protein was crystallized in orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 106.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of yeast regulatory particle non-ATPase subunit 6 (Nas6p).

The regulatory particle non-ATPase subunit, Nas6p, from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 4000 as precipitant. The crystals belong to the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 41.43 (2), b = 61.