215 results match your criteria: "Institute for Medical Biochemistry[Affiliation]"

Endogenous redox systems not only counteract oxidative damage induced by high levels of hydroxyl radicals (OH·) under pathological conditions, but also shape redox signaling as a key player in the regulation of physiological processes. Second messengers like hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide, as well as redox enzymes of the Thioredoxin (Trx) family, including Trxs, glutaredoxins (Grxs), and peroxiredoxins (Prxs) modulate reversible, oxidative modifications of proteins. Thereby redox regulation is part of various cellular processes such as the immune response and Trx proteins have been linked in different disorders including inflammatory diseases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ischemia and reperfusion events, such as myocardial infarction (MI), are reported to induce remote organ damage severely compromising patient outcomes. Tissue survival and functional restoration relies on the activation of endogenous redox regulatory systems such as the oxidoreductases of the thioredoxin (Trx) family. Trxs and peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are essential for the redox regulation of protein thiol groups and for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Heme oxygenase (HO) and biliverdin reductase (BVR) activities are important for neuronal function and redox homeostasis. Resuscitation from cardiac arrest (CA) frequently results in neuronal injury and delayed neurodegeneration that typically affect vulnerable brain regions, primarily hippocampus (Hc) and motor cortex (mC), but occasionally also striatum and cerebellum. We questioned whether these delayed effects are associated with changes of the HO/BVR system.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Targeted Inhibition of the NUP98-NSD1 Fusion Oncogene in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Cancers (Basel)

September 2020

Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany.

NUP98-NSD1-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a poor prognostic subgroup that is frequently diagnosed in pediatric cytogenetically normal AML. NUP98-NSD1-positive AML often carries additional mutations in genes including and . The purpose of our study was to characterize the cooperative potential of the fusion and its associated Neuroblastoma rat sarcoma (NRAS) mutation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Role of GSH and Iron-Sulfur Glutaredoxins in Iron Metabolism-Review.

Molecules

August 2020

Christopher Horst Lillig, Institute for Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.

Glutathione (GSH) was initially identified and characterized for its redox properties and later for its contributions to detoxification reactions. Over the past decade, however, the essential contributions of glutathione to cellular iron metabolism have come more and more into focus. GSH is indispensable in mitochondrial iron-sulfur (FeS) cluster biosynthesis, primarily by co-ligating FeS clusters as a cofactor of the CGFS-type (class II) glutaredoxins (Grxs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Molecular basis for the distinct functions of redox-active and FeS-transfering glutaredoxins.

Nat Commun

July 2020

Institute for Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Despite their very close structural similarity, CxxC/S-type (class I) glutaredoxins (Grxs) act as oxidoreductases, while CGFS-type (class II) Grxs act as FeS cluster transferases. Here we show that the key determinant of Grx function is a distinct loop structure adjacent to the active site. Engineering of a CxxC/S-type Grx with a CGFS-type loop switched its function from oxidoreductase to FeS transferase.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The failure of insulin-producing β-cells is the underlying cause of hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus. β-cell decay has been linked to hypoxia, chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress. Thioredoxin (Trx) proteins are major actors in redox signaling and essential for signal transduction and the cellular stress response.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

STAT5 is required for lipid breakdown and beta-adrenergic responsiveness of brown adipose tissue.

Mol Metab

October 2020

Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210, Vienna, Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, 1090, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of STAT5 in brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, essential for increasing energy expenditure to combat obesity.
  • Researchers used mice with a deleted Stat5a/b gene in adipocytes and found that STAT5 is crucial for maintaining temperature during cold exposure and promoting lipid mobilization in BAT.
  • The absence of STAT5 impaired mitochondrial function, reduced thermogenic markers, and decreased responsiveness to β-adrenergic stimulation, highlighting its importance in BAT functionality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fusion proteins involving Nucleoporin 98 (NUP98) are recurrently found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are associated with poor prognosis. Lack of mechanistic insight into NUP98-fusion-dependent oncogenic transformation has so far precluded the development of rational targeted therapies. We reasoned that different NUP98-fusion proteins deregulate a common set of transcriptional targets that might be exploitable for therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Impaired glucose homeostasis is a common finding in pheochromocytoma (PHEO), especially with adrenergic phenotype. The possible contribution of incretin dysfunction to dysglycemia in PHEO patients has not been studied.

Objective: To compare changes in pancreatic endocrine function and gut hormones' production during a liquid meal test before and 1 year after adrenalectomy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Signal-regulated oxidation of proteins via MICAL.

Biochem Soc Trans

April 2020

Institute for Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University Medicine Greifswald, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Processing of and responding to various signals is an essential cellular function that influences survival, homeostasis, development, and cell death. Extra- or intracellular signals are perceived via specific receptors and transduced in a particular signalling pathway that results in a precise response. Reversible post-translational redox modifications of cysteinyl and methionyl residues have been characterised in countless signal transduction pathways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The cytosolic isoform of glutaredoxin 2 promotes cell migration and invasion.

Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj

July 2020

Institute for Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University Medicine, University Greifswald, Germany. Electronic address:

Backround: Cytosolic glutaredoxin 2 (Grx2c) controls axonal outgrowth and is specifically induced in many cancer cell lines. We thus hypothesized that Grx2c promotes cell motility and invasiveness.

Methods: We characterized the impact of Grx2c expression in cell culture models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) and KHV disease (KHVD) - a recently updated overview.

J Appl Microbiol

July 2020

OIE and National Reference Laboratory for KHVD, Institute of Infectology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.

Over the last years, there has been an enormous increase in the knowledge on koi herpesvirus (KHV), koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD), pathogenesis and virus variants. Different KHV lineages have clearly been identified, possible genomic changes during replication in different cell cultures at different temperatures but also in several hosts have been identified, a persistent stage of infection has been specified and it has been shown that infection with KHV is not host specific at all, but KHVD is. Additionally, it has been shown that it is possible to combat KHVD by immunization with inactivated and attenuated live vaccines using different delivery systems but also to benefit from alternative treatments with e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Due to an increasing incidence of invasive fungal infections, the availability of reliable diagnostic tools for the fast detection of a wide spectrum of fungal pathogens is of vital importance. In this study, we aimed to conduct an extensive clinical evaluation of a recently published in-house panfungal PCR assay on samples from suspected invasive fungal infections.

Methods: Overall 265 clinical samples from 232 patients with suspected invasive fungal disease (96 deep airway samples, 60 sterile fluids, 50 tissue biopsies, and 59 blood samples) were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The spatio-temporal reduction and oxidation of protein thiols is an essential mechanism in signal transduction in all kingdoms of life. Thioredoxin (Trx) family proteins efficiently catalyze thiol-disulfide exchange reactions and the proteins are widely recognized for their importance in the operation of thiol switches. Trx family proteins have a broad and at the same time very distinct substrate specificity - a prerequisite for redox switching.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Regimen-dependent synergism and antagonism of treprostinil and vildagliptin in hematopoietic cell transplantation.

J Mol Med (Berl)

February 2020

Institute of Pharmacology and the Gaston H. Glock Research Laboratories for Exploratory Drug Development, Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria.

The cell dose in umbilical cord blood units is a major determinant for the outcome of hematopoietic cell transplantation. Prostaglandin analogs and dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP4/CD26)-inhibitors enhance the ability of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to reconstitute hematopoiesis. Here we explored the synergism between treprostinil, a stable prostaglandin agonist, and the DPP4/CD26-inhibitor vildagliptin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Seeds are like little packages that keep a plant baby safe and asleep until the right time to grow.
  • When conditions are good, the seeds wake up and start using their stored energy to grow, which happens super fast!
  • Scientists found out that certain proteins in the seeds change to help them use energy better, and if those proteins aren’t working well, the seeds don’t grow as efficiently, especially if they're old.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mutations in the CEBPA gene are present in 10-15% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. The most frequent type of mutations leads to the expression of an N-terminally truncated variant of the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), termed p30. While initial reports proposed that p30 represents a dominant-negative version of the wild-type C/EBPα protein, other studies show that p30 retains the capacity to actively regulate gene expression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by transcriptional dysregulation that results in a block in differentiation and increased malignant self-renewal. Various epigenetic therapies aimed at reversing these hallmarks of AML have progressed into clinical trials, but most show only modest efficacy owing to an inability to effectively eradicate leukaemia stem cells (LSCs). Here, to specifically identify novel dependencies in LSCs, we screened a bespoke library of small hairpin RNAs that target chromatin regulators in a unique ex vivo mouse model of LSCs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Activation of artemisinin and heme degradation in Leishmania tarentolae promastigotes: A possible link.

Biochem Pharmacol

March 2020

Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address:

Endoperoxides (EPs) appear to be promising drug candidates against protozoal diseases, including malaria and leishmaniasis. Previous studies have shown that these drugs need an intracellular activation to exert their pharmacological potential. The efficiency of these drugs is linked to the extensive iron demand of these intracellular protozoal parasites.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Thioredoxin 1 Plays a Protective Role in Retinas Exposed to Perinatal Hypoxia-Ischemia.

Neuroscience

January 2020

Laboratorio de Citoarquitectura y Plasticidad Neuronal, Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas "Prof. Dr. Alberto C. Taquini" (ININCA), Facultad de Medicina (UBA-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile.

Thioredoxin family proteins are key modulators of cellular redox regulation and have been linked to several physiological functions, including the cellular response to hypoxia-ischemia. During perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (PHI), the central nervous system is subjected to a fast decrease in O and nutrients with a subsequent reoxygenation that ultimately leads to the production of reactive species impairing physiological redox signaling. Particularly, the retina is one of the most affected tissues, due to its high oxygen consumption and exposure to light.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are frequently deregulated in cancer and represent promising drug targets. We provide evidence that CDK8 has a key role in B-ALL. Loss of CDK8 in leukemia mouse models significantly enhances disease latency and prevents disease maintenance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The heme oxygenase (HO) system is essential for heme and iron homeostasis and necessary for adaptation to cell stress. HO degrades heme to biliverdin (BV), carbon monoxide (CO) and ferrous iron. Although mostly beneficial, the HO reaction can also produce deleterious effects, predominantly attributed to excessive product formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Evolutionary divergent PEX3 is essential for glycosome biogenesis and survival of trypanosomatid parasites.

Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res

December 2019

Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Department of Systems Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Electronic address:

Trypanosomatid parasites cause devastating African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, and Leishmaniasis that affect about 18 million people worldwide. Recently, we showed that the biogenesis of glycosomes could be the "Achilles' heel" of trypanosomatids suitable for the development of new therapies against trypanosomiases. This was shown for inhibitors of the import machinery of matrix proteins, while the distinct machinery for the topogenesis of glycosomal membrane proteins evaded investigation due to the lack of a druggable interface.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF