Amyloids represent protein aggregates with highly ordered fibrillar structure associated with the development of various disorders in humans and animals and involved in implementation of different vital functions in all three domains of life. In prokaryotes, amyloids perform a wide repertoire of functions mostly attributed to their interactions with other organisms including interspecies interactions within bacterial communities and host-pathogen interactions. Recently, we demonstrated that free-living cells of , a nitrogen-fixing symbiont of legumes, produce RopA and RopB which form amyloid fibrils at cell surface during the stationary growth phase thus connecting amyloid formation and host-symbiont interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn humans, telomeric repeats (TTAGGG) are known to be present at internal chromosomal sites. These interstitial telomeric sequences (ITSs) are an important source of genomic instability, including repeat length polymorphism, but the molecular mechanisms responsible for this instability remain to be understood. Here, we studied the mechanisms responsible for expansions of human telomeric (Htel) repeats that were artificially inserted inside a yeast chromosome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyloids are protein aggregates with a highly ordered spatial structure giving them unique physicochemical properties. Different amyloids not only participate in the development of numerous incurable diseases but control vital functions in archaea, bacteria and eukarya. Plants are a poorly studied systematic group in the field of amyloid biology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyloids are β-sheets-rich protein fibrils that cause neurodegenerative and other incurable human diseases affecting millions of people worldwide. However, a number of proteins is functional in the amyloid state in various organisms from bacteria to humans. Using an original proteomic approach, we identified a set of proteins forming amyloid-like aggregates in the brain of young healthy rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyloids represent protein fibrils with a highly ordered spatial structure, which not only cause dozens of incurable human and animal diseases but also play vital biological roles in Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. Despite the fact that association of bacterial amyloids with microbial pathogenesis and infectious diseases is well known, there is a lack of information concerning the amyloids of symbiotic bacteria. In this study, using the previously developed proteomic method for screening and identification of amyloids (PSIA), we identified amyloidogenic proteins in the proteome of the root nodule bacterium Among 54 proteins identified, we selected two proteins, RopA and RopB, which are predicted to have β-barrel structure and are likely to be involved in the control of plant-microbial symbiosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe importance of root nodule bacteria in biotechnology is determined by their distinctive feature: symbiotic nitrogen fixation resulting in the production of organic nitrogen-containing compounds. While interacting with host legume plants, the cells of these bacteria undergo global changes at all levels of expression of genetic information leading to the formation in root nodules of so-called bacteroids functioning as nitrogen fixation factories. The molecular mechanisms underlying plant-microbial symbiosis are actively investigated, and one of the most interesting and poorly studied aspects of this problem is the species-specificity of interaction between root nodule bacteria and host plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeorgian Med News
December 2018
Under development of dimethylhydrazine-induced adenocarcinomatosis of the large intestine in white outbred male rats morphological changes of the structural components of the spleen were studied. It was found, that the progression of experimental carcinogenesis is accompanied by severe violations of the morphological state of all structural components of the spleen, manifested by destructively degenerative changes of the stroma, red and white pulp and significant vascular disorders. The severity of the pathomorphological changes in the spleen increases directly proportionally to the increase of the duration of the oncogenic factor impact.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlpha-actinin 4 (ACTN4) is an actin-binding protein of the spectrin superfamily. ACTN4 is found both in the cytoplasm and nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The main function of cytoplasmic ACTN4 is stabilization of actin filaments and their binding to focal contacts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe search for novel pathological and functional amyloids represents one of the most important tasks of contemporary biomedicine. Formation of pathological amyloid fibrils in the aging brain causes incurable neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Huntington's diseases. At the same time, a set of amyloids regulates vital processes in archaea, prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe concept of "protein-based inheritance" defines prions as epigenetic determinants that cause several heritable traits in eukaryotic microorganisms, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Podospora anserina. Previously, we discovered a non-chromosomal factor, [NSI+], which possesses the main features of yeast prions, including cytoplasmic infectivity, reversible curability, dominance, and non-Mendelian inheritance in meiosis. This factor causes omnipotent suppression of nonsense mutations in strains of S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyloids are protein fibrils adopting structure of cross-beta spine exhibiting either pathogenic or functionally significant properties. In prokaryotes, there are several groups of functional amyloids; however, all of them were identified by specialized approaches that do not reveal all cellular amyloids. Here, using our previously developed PSIA (Proteomic Screening and Identification of Amyloids) approach, we have conducted a proteomic screening for candidates for novel amyloid-forming proteins in Escherichia coli as one of the most important model organisms and biotechnological objects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelomeric repeats located within chromosomes are called interstitial telomeric sequences (ITSs). They are polymorphic in length and are likely hotspots for initiation of chromosomal rearrangements that have been linked to human disease. Using our S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
December 2012
DNA polymerase ε (Pol ε) participates in the synthesis of the leading strand during DNA replication in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pol ε comprises four subunits: the catalytic subunit, Pol2, and three accessory subunits, Dpb2, Dpb3 and Dpb4. DPB2 is an essential gene with unclear function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTriplex structure-forming GAA/TTC repeats pose a dual threat to the eukaryotic genome integrity. Their potential to expand can lead to gene inactivation, the cause of Friedreich's ataxia disease in humans. In model systems, long GAA/TTC tracts also act as chromosomal fragile sites that can trigger gross chromosomal rearrangements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFYeast DNA polymerase ε (Pol ε) is a highly accurate and processive enzyme that participates in nuclear DNA replication of the leading strand template. In addition to a large subunit (Pol2) harboring the polymerase and proofreading exonuclease active sites, Pol ε also has one essential subunit (Dpb2) and two smaller, non-essential subunits (Dpb3 and Dpb4) whose functions are not fully understood. To probe the functions of Dpb3 and Dpb4, here we investigate the consequences of their absence on the biochemical properties of Pol ε in vitro and on genome stability in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFour protein-based genetic determinants or prions-[SWI(+)], [MCA], [OCT(+)], and [MOT3(+)]-are recent additions to the list of well-known Saccharomyces cerevisiae prions, [PSI(+)], [URE3], and [PIN(+)]. A rapid expansion of this list may indicate that many yeast proteins can convert into heritable prion forms and underscores a problem of prion input into cellular physiology. Here, we prove that the global transcriptional regulator Sfp1 can become a prion corresponding to the prion-like determinant [ISP(+)] described earlier.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prion-like determinant [ISP+] manifests itself as antisuppressor of certain sup35 mutations. To establish that [ISP+] actually represents a new yeast prion, it is necessary to identify the gene encoding protein corresponding in its prion form to [ISP+]. Analysis of transformants obtained by transformation of [ISP+] strain with insertion gene library revealed three genes controlling the [ISP+] maintenance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe efficiency of stop codons read-through in yeast is controlled by multiple interactions of genetic and epigenetic factors. In this study, we demonstrate the participation of the Hal3-Ppz1 protein complex in regulation of read-through efficiency and manifestation of non-Mendelian anti-suppressor determinant [ISP(+)]. Over-expression of HAL3 in [ISP(+)] strain causes nonsense suppression, whereas its inactivation displays as anti-suppression of sup35 mutation in [isp(-)] strain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe eukaryotic translation termination factor eRF3 stimulates release of nascent polypeptides from the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner. In most eukaryotes studied, eRF3 consists of an essential, conserved C-terminal domain and a nonessential, nonconserved N-terminal extension. However, in some species, this extension is required for efficient termination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is known that translation fidelity in Saccharomyces yeast is determined by factors of genetic and epigenetic (prion) nature. The work represents results of further analysis of strains containing non-chromosomal determinant [ISP+], described earlier. This determinant is involved in the control of translation fidelity and some of its properties indicate that it is a prion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCollection of missense mutations in the SUP45 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encoding translation termination factor eRF1 has been obtained by different approaches. It has been shown that most of isolated mutations cause amino acid substitutions in the N-terminal part of eRF1 and do not decrease the eRF1 amount. Most of mutations studied do not abolish eRF1-eRF3 interaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo cytoplasmically inherited determinants related by their manifestation to the control of translation accuracy were previously described in yeast. Cells carrying one of them, [PSI(+)], display a nonsense suppressor phenotype and contain a prion form of the Sup35 protein. Another element, [PIN(+)], determines the probability of de novo generation of [PSI(+)] and results from a prion form of several proteins, which can be functionally unrelated to Sup35p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenes SUP35 and SUP45 have been identified in the saccharomycete yeast as genes controlling termination of translation in cytoplasmic ribosomes. However, many facts indicate that the control of translation termination is not the only function of these genes. This work is devoted to studying one of the pleiotropic effects of sup35 and sup45 mutations, a respiratory deficiency.
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