Search results for "Knockout"

The APC/C cofactor Cdh1 prevents replicative stress and p53-dependent cell death in neural progenitors

2013

The E3-ubiquitin ligase APC/C-Cdh1 is essential for endoreduplication but its relevance in the mammalian mitotic cell cycle is still unclear. Here we show that genetic ablation of Cdh1 in the developing nervous system results in hypoplastic brain and hydrocephalus. These defects correlate with enhanced levels of Cdh1 substrates and increased entry into the S phase in neural progenitors. However, cell division is prevented in the absence of Cdh1 due to hyperactivation of cyclin-dependent kinases, replicative stress, induction of p53, G2 arrest and apoptotic death of these progenitor cells. Concomitant ablation of p53 rescues apoptosis but not replicative stress, resulting in the presence of …

The Translesion Polymerase Rev3L in the Tolerance of Alkylating Anticancer Drugs

2009

Temozolomide and fotemustine, representing methylating and chloroethylating agents, respectively, are used in the treatment of glioma and malignant melanoma. Because chemoresistance of these tumors is a common phenomenon, identification of the underlying mechanisms is needed. Here we show that Rev3L, the catalytic subunit of the translesion DNA polymerase zeta, mediates resistance to both temozolomide and fotemustine. Rev3L knockout cells are hypersensitive to both agents. It is remarkable that cells heterozygous for Rev3L showed an intermediate sensitivity. Rev3L is not involved in the tolerance of the toxic O6-methylguanine lesion. However, a possible role of Rev3L in the tolerance of O6-…

Improvement of baculovirus as protein expression vector and as biopesticide by CRISPR/Cas9 editing

2019

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system?associated Cas9 endonuclease is a molecular tool that enables specific sequence editing with high efficiency. In this study, we have explored the use of CRISPR/Cas9 system for the engineering of baculovirus. We have shown that the delivering of Cas9-single guide RNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex with or without DNA repair template into Sf21 insect cells through lipofection might be efficient to produce knockouts as well as knock-ins into the baculovirus. To evaluate potential application of our CRISPR/Cas9 method to improve baculovirus as protein expression vector and as biopesticide, we attempted to knockout se…

The disintegrin ADAM9 indirectly contributes to the physiological processing of cellular prion by modulating ADAM10 activity

2005

The cellular prion protein (PrP(c)) is physiologically cleaved in the middle of its 106-126 amino acid neurotoxic region at the 110/111 downward arrow112 peptidyl bond, yielding an N-terminal fragment referred to as N1. We recently demonstrated that two disintegrins, namely ADAM10 and ADAM17 (TACE, tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme) participated in both constitutive and protein kinase C-regulated generation of N1, respectively. These proteolytic events were strikingly reminiscent of those involved in the so-called "alpha-secretase pathway" that leads to the production of secreted sAPPalpha from betaAPP. We show here, by transient and stable transfection analyses, that ADAM9 also…

A spontaneous mitonuclear epistasis converging on Rieske Fe-S protein exacerbates complex III deficiency in mice

2020

We previously observed an unexpected fivefold (35 vs. 200 days) difference in the survival of respiratory chain complex III (CIII) deficient Bcs1lp.S78G mice between two congenic backgrounds. Here, we identify a spontaneous homoplasmic mtDNA variant (m.G14904A, mt-Cybp.D254N), affecting the CIII subunit cytochrome b (MT-CYB), in the background with short survival. We utilize maternal inheritance of mtDNA to confirm this as the causative variant and show that it further decreases the low CIII activity in Bcs1lp.S78G tissues to below survival threshold by 35 days of age. Molecular dynamics simulations predict D254N to restrict the flexibility of MT-CYB ef loop, potentially affecting RISP dyna…

Analysis of Lipid Experiments (ALEX): A Software Framework for Analysis of High-Resolution Shotgun Lipidomics Data

2013

Global lipidomics analysis across large sample sizes produces high-content datasets that require dedicated software tools supporting lipid identification and quantification, efficient data management and lipidome visualization. Here we present a novel software-based platform for streamlined data processing, management and visualization of shotgun lipidomics data acquired using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The platform features the ALEX framework designed for automated identification and export of lipid species intensity directly from proprietary mass spectral data files, and an auxiliary workflow using database exploration tools for integration of sample information, computat…

Impact of a Three Amino Acid Deletion in the CH2 Domain of Murine IgG1 on Fc-Associated Effector Functions

2008

Abstract Four murine IgG subclasses display markedly different Fc-associated effector functions because of their differential binding to three activating IgG Fc receptors (FcγRI, FcγRIII, and FcγRIV) and C1q. Previous analysis of IgG subclass switch variants of 34-3C anti-RBC monoclonal autoantibodies revealed that the IgG1 subclass, which binds only to FcγRIII and fails to activate complement, displayed the poorest pathogenic potential. This could be related to the presence of a three amino acid deletion at positions 233–235 in the CH2 domain uniquely found in this subclass. To address this question, IgG1 insertion and IgG2b deletion mutants at positions 233–235 of 34-3C anti-RBC Abs were …

Mast cells promote homeostasis by limiting endothelin-1-induced toxicity

2004

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a 21-amino-acid peptide, derived from vascular endothelial cells, with potent vasoconstrictor activity. ET-1 has been implicated in diverse physiological or pathological processes, including the vascular changes associated with sepsis. However, the factors that regulate ET-1-associated toxicity during bacterial infections, or in other settings, are not fully understood. Both the pathology associated with certain allergic and autoimmune disorders, and optimal host defence against bacterial and parasitic infections are mediated by mast cells. In vitro, mast cells can produce ET-1 (ref. 11), undergo ET-1-dependent and endothelin-A receptor (ET(A))-dependent activation, a…

Divergent impact of the polysialyltransferases ST8SiaII and ST8SiaIV on polysialic acid expression in immature neurons and interneurons of the adult …

2010

Polysialic acid (PSA) is a negatively charged carbohydrate polymer, which confers antiadhesive properties to the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM and facilitates cellular plasticity during brain development. In mice, PSA expression decreases drastically during the first postnatal weeks and it gets confined to immature neurons and regions displaying structural plasticity during adulthood. In the brain, PSA is exclusively synthesized by the two polysialyltransferases ST8SiaII and ST8SiaIV. To study their individual contribution to polysialylation in the adult, we analyzed PSA expression in mice deficient for either polysialyltransferase. Focusing on the cerebral cortex, our results indicate…

The non-neuronal cholinergic system

2012