Publications by authors named "Yuantai Wu"

Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on the eukaryotic microbe's autocrine proliferation repressor protein A (AprA), which inhibits cell growth and acts as a chemorepellent.
  • Researchers discovered that the receptor for AprA is likely the G protein-coupled receptor GrlH, as cells lacking GrlH show rapid growth and reduced sensitivity to AprA.
  • The findings suggest that G protein-coupled receptors play a role in both sensing cell density and mediating movement away from repellant signals, shedding light on eukaryotic cell communication and organization.
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is an essential gene in budding yeast and belongs to a highly conserved subfamily of P-type ATPase genes that encode phospholipid flippases. Inactivation of temperature sensitive alleles produces pleiomorphic defects in the secretory and endocytic pathways, including fragmented vacuoles. A screen for multicopy suppressors of growth defects yielded , which encodes a Rab7 homolog involved in SNARE-dependent vacuolar fusion.

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Eukaryotic organisms typically express multiple type IV P-type ATPases (P4-ATPases), which establish plasma membrane asymmetry by flipping specific phospholipids from the exofacial to the cytosolic leaflet. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for example, expresses five P4-ATPases, including Neo1, Drs2, Dnf1, Dnf2, and Dnf3. Neo1 is thought to be a phospholipid flippase, although there is currently no experimental evidence that Neo1 catalyzes this activity or helps establish membrane asymmetry.

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Heterotrimeric G protein-mediated signal transduction plays a pivotal role in both vegetative and developmental stages in the eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum. Here we describe novel functions of the G protein alpha subunit Gα8 during vegetative and development stages. Gα8 is expressed at low levels during vegetative growth.

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While GABA has been suggested to regulate spore encapsulation in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, the metabolic profile and other potential functions of GABA during development remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the homeostasis of GABA metabolism by disrupting genes related to GABA metabolism and signaling. Extracellular levels of GABA are tightly regulated during early development, and GABA is generated by the glutamate decarboxylase, GadB, during growth and in early development.

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Zinc is an essential nutritional factor involved in many key biological processes. However, the physiological function of zinc transporters at the organismal level is not well characterized. Early embryonic lethality of Znt1 knockout mice precludes functional analysis of the role of ZnT1 in dietary zinc absorption.

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Alkaline phosphatases are ubiquitous enzymes involved in many important biological processes. Mammalian tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) has long been thought to play an important role in bone mineralization. In this study, we identified a full-length cDNA encoding a potential alkaline phosphatse from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata by RT-PCR and RACE and designated the encoded protein as PFAP.

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