Relationship between plasma protein S levels and apolipoprotein C-II in Japanese middle-aged obese women and young nonobese women.

: Protein S, a nonenzymatic cofactor to activated protein C, presents in two forms in plasma, free form and in a complex with C4b-binding protein. The aim of this study was to determine the association of plasma protein S levels with the variables related to cardiovascular disease risk. The relationships between plasma protein S levels with lipids, inflammation markers, and adiposity were first examined on middle-aged obese women (n = 62), then on young nonobese women (n = 160) to verify the findings in the obese women.

TBC1D12 is a novel Rab11-binding protein that modulates neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells.

Recycling endosomes are generally thought to play a central role in endocytic recycling, but recent evidence has indicated that they also participate in other cellular events, including cytokinesis, autophagy, and neurite outgrowth. Rab small GTPases are key regulators in membrane trafficking, and although several Rab isoforms, e.g.

Rab12 Regulates Retrograde Transport of Mast Cell Secretory Granules by Interacting with the RILP-Dynein Complex.

Secretory granule (SG) transport is a critical step in regulated exocytosis including degranulation of activated mast cells. The latter process results in the release of multiple inflammatory mediators that play key roles in innate immunity, as well as in allergic responses. In this study, we identified the small GTPase Rab12 as a novel regulator of mast cell SG transport, and we provide mechanistic insights into its mode of action.

Dennd3 functions as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for small GTPase Rab12 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts.

Small GTPase Rab12 regulates mTORC1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1) activity and autophagy through controlling PAT4 (proton/amino acid transporter 4) trafficking from recycling endosomes to lysosomes, where PAT4 is degraded. However, the precise regulatory mechanism of the Rab12-mediated membrane trafficking pathway remained to be determined because a physiological Rab12-GEF (guanine nucleotide exchange factor) had yet to be identified. In this study we performed functional analyses of Dennd3, which has recently been shown to possess a GEF activity toward Rab12 in vitro.