Search results for "CONSERVE"
showing 10 items of 127 documents
Zebrafish Reveals Different and Conserved Features of Vertebrate Neuroglobin Gene Structure, Expression Pattern, and Ligand Binding
2004
Neuroglobin has been identified as a respiratory protein that is primarily expressed in the mammalian nervous system. Here we present the first detailed analysis of neuroglobin from a non-mammalian vertebrate, the zebrafish Danio rerio. The zebrafish neuroglobin gene reveals a mammalian-type exon-intron pattern in the coding region (B12.2, E11.0, and G7.0), plus an additional 5'-non-coding exon. Similar to the mammalian neuroglobin, the zebrafish protein displays a hexacoordinate deoxy-binding scheme. Flash photolysis kinetics show the competitive binding on the millisecond timescale of external ligands and the distal histidine, resulting in an oxygen affinity of 1 torr. Western blotting, i…
Probing suggested catalytic domains of glycosyltransferases by site-directed mutagenesis.
2003
The plant enzyme arbutin synthase isolated from cell suspension cultures of Rauvolfia serpentina and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli is a member of the NRD1beta family of glycosyltransferases. This enzyme was used to prove, by site-directed mutagenesis, suggested catalytic domains and reaction mechanisms proposed for enzyme-catalyzed glycosylation. Replacement of amino acids far from the NRD domain do not significantly affect arbutin synthase activity. Exchange of amino acids at the NRD site leads to a decrease of enzymatic activity, e.g. substitution of Glu368 by Asp. Glu368, which is a conserved amino acid in glycosyltransferases located at position 2 and is important for enz…
Immune activation promotes evolutionary conservation of T-cell epitopes in HIV-1.
2013
The immune system should constitute a strong selective pressure promoting viral genetic diversity and evolution. However, HIV shows lower sequence variability at T-cell epitopes than elsewhere in the genome, in contrast with other human RNA viruses. Here, we propose that epitope conservation is a consequence of the particular interactions established between HIV and the immune system. On one hand, epitope recognition triggers an anti-HIV response mediated by cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs), but on the other hand, activation of CD4(+) helper T lymphocytes (TH cells) promotes HIV replication. Mathematical modeling of these opposite selective forces revealed that selection at the intrapatient l…
A non-perturbative study of massive gauge theories
2013
We consider a non-perturbative formulation of an SU(2) massive gauge theory on a space-time lattice, which is also a discretised gauged non-linear chiral model. The lattice model is shown to have an exactly conserved global SU(2) symmetry. If a scaling region for the lattice model exists and the lightest degrees of freedom are spin one vector particles with the same quantum numbers as the conserved current, we argue that the most general effective theory describing their low-energy dynamics must be a massive gauge theory. We present results of a exploratory numerical simulation of the model and find indications for the presence of a scaling region where both a triplet vector and a scalar re…
Evolutionary conservation and function of the human embryonic stem cell specific miR-302/367 cluster
2015
miRNA clusters define a group of related miRNAs closely localized in the genome with an evolution that remains poorly understood. The miR-302/367 cluster represents a single polycistronic transcript that produces five precursor miRNAs. The cluster is highly expressed and essential for maintenance of human embryonic stem cells. We found the cluster to be highly conserved and present in most mammals. In primates, seed sequence and miRNA structure are conserved, but inter-precursor sequences are evolving. Insertions of new miRNAs, deletions of individual miRNAs, and a cluster duplication observed in different species suggest an actively evolving cluster. Core transcriptional machinery consisti…
Actin binding LIM protein 3 (abLIM3).
2005
LIM domain proteins were demonstrated to play key roles in various biological processes such as embryonic development, cell lineage determination, and cancer differentiation. Actin binding LIM protein 1 (abLIM1) was reported to be localized in a genomic region often deleted in human cancers and suggested to be involved in axon guidance. Recently, existence of a second family member was reported, actin binding LIM protein 2. By means of computational biology and comparative genomics, we now characterized an additional, third member of the actin binding LIM protein subgroup, actin binding LIM protein 3 (abLIM3). The human mRNA sequence was previously annotated as differentially regulated in h…
Identification of a Conserved HLA-A2-Restricted Decapeptide from the IE1 Protein (pUL123) of Human Cytomegalovirus
2002
Abstract Control of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is predominantly mediated by cytolytic CD8 + T lymphocytes (CTL). Among the roughly 200 HCMV-encoded polypeptides, the tegument protein pp65 (ppUL83) and the nonstructural IE1 protein are considered to be dominant CTL targets. Yet the importance of CTL against IE1 for protective immunity against HCMV reactivation and disease has remained elusive. Analyses have been difficult, as all MHC class I presented peptides of IE1 defined so far are located in parts of the protein that are variable between viral strains. In this study a conserved decameric peptide from IE1 (P6, IE1 354–363 ) that bound to HLA-A2 was identified. Using peptide-p…
A fundamental catalytic difference between zinc and manganese dependent enzymes revealed in a bacterial isatin hydrolase
2018
Scientific reports 8(1), 13104 (2018). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31259-y
A conserved role for the mitochondrial citrate transporter Sea/SLC25A1 in the maintenance of chromosome integrity.
2009
Histone acetylation plays essential roles in cell cycle progression, DNA repair, gene expression and silencing. Although the knowledge regarding the roles of acetylation of histone lysine residues is rapidly growing, very little is known about the biochemical pathways providing the nucleus with metabolites necessary for physiological chromatin acetylation. Here, we show that mutations in the scheggia (sea)-encoded Sea protein, the Drosophila ortholog of the human mitochondrial citrate carrier Solute carrier 25 A1 (SLC25A1), impair citrate transport from mitochondria to the cytosol. Interestingly, inhibition of sea expression results in extensive chromosome breakage in mitotic cells and indu…
The new gene DmX from Drosophila melanogaster encodes a novel WD-repeat protein
1998
DmX is a novel gene from Drosophila melanogaster located on the X chromosome in region 5D5/6-E1. The molecular analysis of the genomic and cDNA sequences of DmX shows that the gene spans appr. 16kb and displays a mosaic structure with 15 exons. The 12kb long DmX transcript is present in Drosophila embryos, larvae and adults of both sexes. The open reading frame of DmX encodes a novel WD-repeat protein, containing at least 30 WD-repeat units. WD-repeat proteins contain a conserved motif of approximately 40 amino acids (aa), usually ending with the dipeptide Trp-Asp (WD). Homologues of the DmX gene exist in other dipteran species, in Caenorhabditis elegans and human, revealing that DmX is an …