Identification and structural analysis of protein arginine methyltransferase 4 (PRMT4).

Protein arginine methyltransferase 4 (PRMT4) is an essential epigenetic regulator of fundamental and conserved processes during vertebrate development, such as pluripotency and differentiation. Surprisingly, PRMT4 homologs have been identified in nearly all vertebrate classes except the avian genome. This raises the possibility that in birds PRMT4 functions are taken over by other PRMT family members.

C-Raf controlled pathways in the protection of tumor cells from apoptosis.

The Raf serine-threonine kinase is upregulated in many human tumors and plays a pivotal role in tumor cell proliferation and survival. Abrogation of c-Raf expression by specific antisense oligonucleotides (Raf-AS-ODN) efficiently blocks tumor cell growth and induces apoptosis in human cancer cells. The signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms c-Raf utilizes to mediate the survival of tumor cells are, however, not well understood.