Search results for " polymer"
showing 10 items of 3533 documents
Recovery from Toxic-Induced Demyelination Does Not Require the NG2 Proteoglycan
2016
NG2 cells are defined as CNS cells expressing chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan nerve/glia antigen. The vast majority of NG2-positive cells also express platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) and are oligodendroglial progenitors (OPC). In addition a subpopulation of pericytes expresses NG2, but is positive for PDGF receptor beta (PDGFRβ) [1]. NG2-positive OPC comprise approximately 5% of the cells in the CNS where they are evenly distributed in grey and white matter [2, 3]. NG2-positive OPC form synapses with neurons [4–6] and react to brain injury with proliferation, as has been shown in several animal models as well as in human demyelinating and degenerative diseases [7–9].…
Progressive Characterization of Visual Phenotype in Bardet-Biedl Syndrome Mutant Mice
2019
Purpose Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an archetypical ciliopathy caused by defective ciliary trafficking and consequent function. Insights gained from BBS mouse models are applicable to other syndromic and nonsyndromic retinal diseases. This progressive characterization of the visual phenotype in three BBS mouse models sets a baseline for testing therapeutic interventions. Methods Longitudinal acquisition of electroretinograms, optical coherence tomography scans, and visual acuity using the optomotor reflex in Bbs6/Mkks, Bbs8/Ttc8, and Bbs5 knockout mice. Gene and protein expression analysis in vivo and in vitro. Results Complete loss of BBS5, BBS6, or BBS8 leads to different rates of reti…
Quantitative characterization of translational riboregulators using an in vitro transcription–translation system
2018
Riboregulators are short RNA sequences that, upon binding to a ligand, change their secondary structure and influence the expression rate of a downstream gene. They constitute an attractive alternative to transcription factors for building synthetic gene regulatory networks because they can be engineered de novo. However, riboregulators are generally designed in silico and tested in vivo, which provides little quantitative information about their performances, thus hindering the improvement of design algorithms. Here we show that a cell-free transcription-translation (TX-TL) system provides valuable information about the performances of in silico designed riboregulators. We first propose a …
Antiproliferative Effect of Elastin-Derived Peptide VGVAPG on SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells
2019
Throughout the lifetime of humans, the amount of stem cells and the rate of cell proliferation continue to decrease. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are one among the many factors that promote stem cell aging. Both a decrease in the level of stem cells and increase in ROS production can lead to the development of different neurodegenerative diseases. This study was conducted to determine how the VGVAPG peptide, liberated from elastin during the aging process and under pathological conditions, affects ROS production and activities of antioxidant enzymes in undifferentiated, proliferating SH-SY5Y cells. SH-SY5Y cells were maintained in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium/nutrient mixture F-12 su…
Extinct type of human parvovirus B19 persists in tonsillar B cells
2017
Parvovirus B19 (B19V) DNA persists lifelong in human tissues, but the cell type harbouring it remains unclear. We here explore B19V DNA distribution in B, T and monocyte cell lineages of recently excised tonsillar tissues from 77 individuals with an age range of 2–69 years. We show that B19V DNA is most frequent and abundant among B cells, and within them we find a B19V genotype that vanished from circulation >40 years ago. Since re-infection or re-activation are unlikely with this virus type, this finding supports the maintenance of pathogen-specific humoral immune responses as a consequence of B-cell long-term survival rather than continuous replenishment of the memory pool. Moreover, we …
Hot1 factor recruits co-activator Sub1 and elongation complex Spt4/5 to osmostress genes.
2016
Hyperosmotic stress response involves the adaptative mechanisms needed for cell survival. Under high osmolarity conditions, many stress response genes are activated by several unrelated transcription factors that are controlled by the Hog1 kinase. Osmostress transcription factor Hot1 regulates the expression of several genes involved in glycerol biosynthesis, and the presence of this transcription factor in their promoters is essential for RNApol II recruitment. The physical association between Hog1 and Hot1 activates this transcription factor and directs the RNA polymerase II localization at these promoters. We, herein, demonstrate that physical and genetic interactions exist between Hot1 …
Asymmetric cell division requires specific mechanisms for adjusting global transcription
2017
Most cells divide symmetrically into two approximately identical cells. There are many examples, however, of asymmetric cell division that can generate sibling cell size differences. Whereas physical asymmetric division mechanisms and cell fate consequences have been investigated, the specific problem caused by asymmetric division at the transcription level has not yet been addressed. In symmetrically dividing cells the nascent transcription rate increases in parallel to cell volume to compensate it by keeping the actualmRNA synthesis rate constant. This cannot apply to the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where this mechanism would provoke a neverending increasing mRNA synthesis rate in sma…
The cellular growth rate controls overall mRNA turnover, and modulates either transcription or degradation rates of particular gene regulons
2015
We analyzed 80 different genomic experiments, and found a positive correlation between both RNA polymerase II transcription and mRNA degradation with growth rates in yeast. Thus, in spite of the marked variation in mRNA turnover, the total mRNA concentration remained approximately constant. Some genes, however, regulated their mRNA concentration by uncoupling mRNA stability from the transcription rate. Ribosome-related genes modulated their transcription rates to increase mRNA levels under fast growth. In contrast, mitochondria-related and stress-induced genes lowered mRNA levels by reducing mRNA stability or the transcription rate, respectively. We also detected these regulations within th…
Defects in the NC2 repressor affect both canonical and non-coding RNA polymerase II transcription initiation in yeast.
2016
BACKGROUND: The formation of the pre-initiation complex in eukaryotic genes is a key step in transcription initiation. The TATA-binding protein (TBP) is a universal component of all pre-initiation complexes for all kinds of RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) genes, including those with a TATA or a TATA-like element, both those that encode proteins and those that transcribe non-coding RNAs. Mot1 and the negative cofactor 2 (NC2) complex are regulators of TBP, and it has been shown that depletion of these factors in yeast leads to defects in the control of transcription initiation that alter cryptic transcription levels in selected yeast loci. RESULTS: In order to cast light on the molecular func…
The membrane-associated MUC1 improves adhesion of salivary MUC5B on buccal cells. Application to development of an in vitro cellular model of oral ep…
2015
Objectives: The mucosal pellicle is a thin layer of salivary proteins, mostly MUC5B mucins, anchored to epithelial oral cells. This pellicle is involved in protection of oral mucosae against abrasion, pathogenic microorganisms or chemical xenobiotics. The present study aimed at studying the involvement of MUC1 in mucosal pellicle formation and more specifically in salivary MUC5B binding using a cell-based model of oral epithelium. DESIGN: MUC1 mRNAs were not detected in TR146 cells, and therefore a stable cell line named TR146/MUC1 expressing this protein was developed by transfection. TR146 and TR146/MUC1 were incubated with human saliva in order to evaluate retention of MUC5B by epithelia…