Conditional knockout of TOG results in CNS hypomyelination.

The tumor overexpressed gene (TOG) protein is present in RNA granules that transport myelin basic protein (MBP) mRNA in oligodendrocyte processes to the myelin compartment. Its role was investigated by conditionally knocking it out (KO) in myelinating glia in vivo. TOG KO mice have severe motor deficits that are already apparent at the time of weaning.

Identification of bacteria isolated from veterinary clinical specimens using MALDI-TOF MS.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has recently emerged as a rapid and accurate identification method for bacterial species. Although it has been successfully applied for the identification of human pathogens, it has so far not been well evaluated for routine identification of veterinary bacterial isolates. This study was performed to compare and evaluate the performance of MALDI-TOF MS based identification of veterinary bacterial isolates with commercially available conventional test systems.

MALDI-TOF MS based identification of food-borne yeast isolates.

In this study, food-borne yeast isolates (n=96), comprising at least 33 species, were identified using MALDI-TOF MS and conventional methods (API ID 32 C and Phoenix Yeast ID). Discrepancies of both methods were resolved by sequencing the ITS1-5.8S-rRNA-ITS2 region.

Conditional knockout of tumor overexpressed gene in mouse neurons affects RNA granule assembly, granule translation, LTP and short term habituation.

In neurons, specific RNAs are assembled into granules, which are translated in dendrites, however the functional consequences of granule assembly are not known. Tumor overexpressed gene (TOG) is a granule-associated protein containing multiple binding sites for heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2, another granule component that recognizes cis-acting sequences called hnRNP A2 response elements (A2REs) present in several granule RNAs. Translation in granules is sporadic, which is believed to reflect monosomal translation, with occasional bursts, which are believed to reflect polysomal translation.

Differential subcellular distributions and trafficking functions of hnRNP A2/B1 spliceoforms.

Trafficking of mRNA molecules from the nucleus to distal processes in neural cells is mediated by heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2/B1 trans-acting factors. Although hnRNP A2/B1 is alternatively spliced to generate four isoforms, most functional studies have not distinguished between these isoforms. Here, we show, using isoform-specific antibodies and isoform-specific green fluorescent protein (GFP)-fusion expression constructs, that A2b is the predominant cytoplasmic isoform in neural cells, suggesting that it may play a key role in mRNA trafficking.