The expression of the HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) protein in cancer cells is a well-established cancer marker used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in modern treatment protocols, especially in breast cancer. The gold-standard immunohistochemical diagnostic methods with the specific anti-HER2 antibodies are utilized in the clinic to measure expression level of the membrane-bound receptor. However, a soluble extracellular domain (ECD) of HER2 is released to the extracellular matrix, thus the blood assays for HER2 measurements present an attractive way for HER2 level determination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoupling cell wall expansion with cell growth is a universal challenge faced by walled organisms. Mutations in Schizosaccharomyces pombe css1, which encodes a PM inositol phosphosphingolipid phospholipase C, prevent cell wall expansion but not synthesis of cell wall material. To probe how Css1 modulates cell wall formation we used classical and chemical genetics coupled with quantitative mass spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn many organisms, positive and negative signals cooperate to position the division site for cytokinesis. In the rod-shaped fission yeast , symmetric division is achieved through anillin/Mid1-dependent positive cues released from the central nucleus and negative signals from the DYRK-family polarity kinase Pom1 at cell tips. Here we establish that Pom1's kinase activity prevents septation at cell tips even if Mid1 is absent or mislocalized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAll over the world there has been a sudden increase in the number of international travels, mostly for touristic purposes. According to the World Tourism Organisation, the number of international journeys exceeded 1.323 billion in 2017 and it continues to grow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Niemann Pick type C (NPC) lysosomal disorder is linked to the disruption of cholesterol transport. Recent data suggest that the molecular background of this disease is more complex. It was found that accumulation of cholesterol and glycolipids in the late endosomal/lysosomal compartment of NPC1 cells may affect mitochondrial functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnnexins form a family of membrane- and calcium-binding proteins, widely distributed in vertebrates. Their interactions with membranes are regulated by changes of intracellular concentration of calcium ([Ca]), pH, and the presence of negatively charged phospholipids as well as cholesterol in membranes. As protein participating in membrane fusion and sensors of a [Ca] Annexins may regulate various signaling pathways including patways involving protein kinase C (PKC isoforms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs) are crucial elements in a wide array of cellular physiological or pathophysiological processes such as apoptosis, proliferation, or metastasis formation. Among the NDPK isoenzymes, NDPK-B, a cytoplasmic protein, was reported to be associated with several biological membranes such as plasma or endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Using several membrane models (liposomes, lipid monolayers, and supported lipid bilayers) associated with biophysical approaches, we show that lipid membrane binding occurs in a two-step process: first, initiation by a strong electrostatic adsorption process and followed by shallow penetration of the protein within the membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in the NPC1 or NPC2 genes lead to Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, a rare lysosomal storage disorder characterized by progressive neurodegeneration. These mutations result in cholesterol and glycosphingolipid accumulation in the late endosomal/lysosomal compartment. Complications in the storage of cholesterol in NPC1 mutant cells are associated with other anomalies, such as altered distribution of intracellular organelles and properties of the plasma membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPostepy Biochem
October 2014
Annexins are a family of membrane interacting proteins, widely distributed in vertebrates. Their involvement in the endosomal transport is due to annexin capability of binding cellular constituents such as membrane phospholipids and intracellular protein partners in a calcium dependent manner. Furthermore, annexins, through endosomal transport of particular receptors and specific cargo, may regulate various processes involved in signal transduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell integrity, assured by plasma membrane continuity, is essential to maintain proper cell functioning and survival. Plasma membrane separates the cell interior from the extracellular milieu and constitutes a barrier due to which the spatial relationship between organelles and the internal membrane network as well as the chemical composition of the cytoplasm are preserved during the cellular life span. Therefore, all cellular processes including intracellular ion homeostasis, exchange of substances between the extracellular environment and the cytoplasm, maintenance of cellular shape, cellular movement, vesicular traffic, cell division and membrane biogenesis, as well as and cellular signaling depend on the integrity, structure and function of the plasma membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnnexins are physiologically important proteins that play a role in calcium buffering but also influence membrane structure, participate in Ca²⁺-dependent membrane repair events and in remodelling of the cytoskeleton. Thirty years ago several peptides isolated from lung perfusates, peritoneal leukocytes, neutrophiles and renal cells were proven inhibitory to the activity of phospholipase A₂. Those peptides were found to derive from structurally related proteins: annexins AnxA1 and AnxA2.
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