Molecular evolution of the substrate specificity of ent-kaurene synthases to adapt to gibberellin biosynthesis in land plants.

ent-Kaurene is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of the plant hormone gibberellin. In ent-kaurene biosynthesis in flowering plants, two diterpene cyclases (DTCs), ent-copalyl diphosphate (ent-CDP) synthase (ent-CPS) and ent-kaurene synthase (KS), catalyse the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to ent-CDP and ent-CDP to ent-kaurene, respectively. In contrast, the moss Physcomitrella patens has a bifunctional ent-CPS/KS (PpCPS/KS) that catalyses both cyclization reactions.

Mevalonate-dependent enzymatic synthesis of amorphadiene driven by an ATP-regeneration system using polyphosphate kinase.

Polyphosphate kinase (PPK), which can regenerate ATP from ADP, was utilized in the mevalonate-dependent enzymatic synthesis of amorphadiene. The activity of PPK, cloned from Escherichia coli, was determined by (31)P-NMR. The yield from the PPK-catalyzed synthesis was 25%, 2.

ASCL1-coexpression profiling but not single gene expression profiling defines lung adenocarcinomas of neuroendocrine nature with poor prognosis.

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma is heterogeneous regarding histology, etiology and prognosis. Although there have been several attempts to find a subgroup with poor prognosis, it is unclear whether or not adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine (NE) nature has unfavorable prognosis.

Materials And Methods: To elucidate whether a subtype of adenocarcinoma with NE nature has poor prognosis, we performed gene expression profiling by cDNA microarray for 262 Japanese lung cancer and 30 normal lung samples, including 171 adenocarcinomas, 56 squamous cell carcinomas and 35 NE tumors.

Adhesion-induced drug resistance in leukemia stem cells.

The co-culture of TF-1 leukemia cells and MS-5 stromal cells produces a cobblestone area which partially mimics the leukemia stem cell niche. The adhering leukemia cells are shown to become less sensitive to cytarabine, etoposide and daunorubicin. These changes are associated with an increased proportion of the G0/G1 phase, increased upregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, and increased levels of Bcl-2, but not with any change in the expression of BAX or drug transporters such as ABCG2 and MDR1, compared to monocultured leukemic cells.

Adhesion-mediated self-renewal abilities of Ph+ blastoma cells.

The Philadelphia chromosome-positive blastoma, maintained by serial subcutaneous transplantation in nude mice, is a highly proliferating biological mass consisting of homogenous CD34(+)CD38(-) myeloblastoid cells. These cells newly evolved from pluripotent leukemia stem cells of chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase. Therefore, this mass may provide a unique tool for better understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms of self-renewal of leukemia stem cells.