Leaderless secretory proteins of the neurodegenerative diseases via TNTs: a structure-function perspective.

Neurodegenerative disease-causing proteins such as alpha-synuclein, tau, and huntingtin are known to traverse across cells via exosomes, extracellular vesicles and tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). There seems to be good synergy between exosomes and TNTs in intercellular communication. Interestingly, many of the known major neurodegenerative proteins/proteolytic products are leaderless and are also reported to be secreted out of the cell via unconventional protein secretion.

Early Bioinformatic Implication of Triacidic Amino Acid Motifs in Autophagy-Dependent Unconventional Secretion of Mammalian Proteins.

Several proteins are secreted outside the cell, and in many cases, they may be identified by a characteristic signal peptide. However, more and more studies point to the evidence for an "unconventional" secretion, where proteins without a hitherto unknown signal are secreted, possibly in conditions of starvation. In this work, we analyse a set of 202 RNA binding mammalian proteins, whose unconventional secretion has recently been established.

Identification and analysis of the origin recognition complex in the human fungal pathogen .

DNA replication in eukaryotes is initiated by the orchestrated assembly and association of initiator proteins (heterohexameric Origin Recognition Complex, ORC) on the replication origins. These functionally conserved proteins play significant roles in diverse cellular processes besides their central role in ignition of DNA replication at origins. , a major human fungal pathogen, is a diploid budding yeast that belongs to Ascomycota.

Facets of Autophagy Based Unconventional Protein Secretion-The Road Less Traveled.

Unconventional protein secretion (UCPS) of leaderless proteins bypasses the conventional endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi route. The proportion of UCPS in the secretome varies tremendously across eukaryotes. Interestingly, macroautophagy, an intracellular recycling process that is generally involved in cargo degradation, also participates in UCPS.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool for Distinguishing Extracellular Vesicles under Autophagic Conditions: A Marker for Disease Diagnostics.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) laden with lipids, proteins, DNA, and micro-RNAs play important biological functions in intercellular communication and have pivotal roles in pathophysiological conditions. Characterization of the EVs has always been a multistep process involving large volumes, and they are heterogeneous in size and properties. A multitude of approaches is used to distinguish the EVs.

Exploring the context of diacidic motif DE as a signal for unconventional protein secretion in eukaryotic proteins.

Unconventional protein secretion (UPS) is an important phenomenon with fundamental implications to cargo export. How eukaryotic proteins transported by UPS are recognized without a conventional signal peptide has been an open question. It was recently observed that a diacidic amino acid motif (ASP-GLU or DE) is necessary for the secretion of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) from yeast under nutrient starvation.

Repeat-Associated Fission Yeast-Like Regional Centromeres in the Ascomycetous Budding Yeast Candida tropicalis.

The centromere, on which kinetochore proteins assemble, ensures precise chromosome segregation. Centromeres are largely specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A (also known as Cse4 in yeasts). Structurally, centromere DNA sequences are highly diverse in nature.

Analysis of stress-induced duplex destabilization (SIDD) properties of replication origins, genes and intergenes in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Background: Replication and transcription, the two key functions of DNA, require unwinding of the DNA double helix. It has been shown that replication origins in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae contain an easily unwound stretch of DNA. We have used a recently developed method for determining the locations and degrees of stress-induced duplex destabilization (SIDD) for all the reported replication origins in the genome of the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Rapid evolution of Cse4p-rich centromeric DNA sequences in closely related pathogenic yeasts, Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis.

The Cse4p-containing centromere regions of Candida albicans have unique and different DNA sequences on each of the eight chromosomes. In a closely related yeast, C. dubliniensis, we have identified the centromeric histone, CdCse4p, and shown that it is localized at the kinetochore.