Annexins - calcium- and membrane-binding proteins in the plant kingdom: potential role in nodulation and mycorrhization in Medicago truncatula.

Annexins belong to a family of multi-functional membrane- and Ca(2+)-binding proteins. The characteristic feature of these proteins is that they can bind membrane phospholipids in a reversible, Ca(2+)-dependent manner. While animal annexins have been known for a long time and are fairly well characterized, their plant counterparts were discovered only in 1989, in tomato, and have not been thoroughly studied yet.

Excessive activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase contributes to inherited photoreceptor degeneration in the retinal degeneration 1 mouse.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited blinding disease for which there is no treatment available. It is characterized by a progressive and neurodegenerative loss of photoreceptors but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Excessive activation of the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) has recently been shown to be involved in several neuropathologies.