Search results for "Protein Structure"
showing 10 items of 757 documents
Tetramer visualization of gut-homing gluten-specific T cells in the peripheral blood of celiac disease patients
2007
Tetramers of MHC–peptide complexes are used for detection and characterization of antigen-specific T cell responses, but they require knowledge about both antigenic peptide and the MHC restriction element. The successful application of these reagents in human diseases involving CD4 + T cells is limited. Celiac disease, an intestinal inflammation driven by mucosal CD4 + T cells recognizing wheat gluten peptides in the context of disease-associated HLA-DQ molecules, is an ideal model to test the potential clinical use of these reagents. We investigated whether gluten-specific T cells can be detected in the peripheral blood of celiac disease patients using DQ2 tetramers. Nine DQ2 + patients a…
Evaluation of clinical diagnosis criteria of familial ligand defective apoB 100 and lipoprotein phenotype comparison between LDL receptor gene mutati…
2007
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and familial defective apoB 100 (FDB) are characterized by increased plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) levels and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). FDB is clinically indistinguishable from FH. The aims of this study were to evaluate clinical diagnosis criteria for FDB and to compare the lipoprotein phenotype between carriers of LDL receptor (LDLR) gene mutations that affect the ligand-binding domain and subjects with the R3500Q mutation in apoB gene. We studied 213 subjects (113 probands) with FH and 19 heterozygous FDB subjects. Genetic diagnosis was determined by following a protocol based on Southern blot and polymerase chain reactio…
Isolated hevein-like domains, but not 31-kd endochitinases, are responsible for IgE-mediated in vitro and in vivo reactions in latex-fruit syndrome.
2005
Background Individuals with natural rubber latex allergy often have immediate reactions to plant-derived foods and fresh fruits, such as avocado and banana. IgE of these patients has been shown to bind endochitinases containing an N-terminal hevein-like domain (HLD). However, evidence on 31-kd endochitinase-induced reactions in vivo is lacking. Objective We sought to assess the clinical significance of 31-kd endochitinases and isolated HLDs in latex-fruit syndrome. Methods The 31-kd endochitinases and corresponding HLDs were purified or produced from avocado, banana, latex, and wheat germ. Skin prick test reactivities against purified proteins were examined in 15 patients with natural rubbe…
NDST1 missense mutations in autosomal recessive intellectual disability.
2014
NDST1 was recently proposed as a candidate gene for autosomal recessive intellectual disability in two families. It encodes a bifunctional GlcNAc N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase with important functions in heparan sulfate biosynthesis. In mice, Ndst1 is crucial for embryonic development and homozygous null mutations are perinatally lethal. We now report on two additional unrelated families with homozygous missense NDST1 mutations. All mutations described to date predict the substitution of conserved amino acids in the sulfotransferase domain, and mutation modeling predicts drastic alterations in the local protein conformation. Comparing the four families, we noticed significant overlap in …
A series of West European patients with severe cardiac and skeletal myopathy associated with a de novo R406W mutation in desmin.
2003
Desminopathy is a familial or sporadic cardiac and skeletal muscular dystrophy associated with mutations in desmin. We have previously characterized a de novo desmin R406W mutation in a patient of European origin with early onset muscle weakness in the lower extremities and atrioventricular conduction block requiring a permanent pacemaker. The disease relentlessly progressed resulting in severe incapacity within 5 years after onset. We have now identified three other patients with early onset rapidly progressive cardiac and skeletal myopathy caused by this same desmin R406W mutation. The mutation was present in each studied patient, but not in their parents or other unaffected family member…
Mutations in myosin heavy chain 11 cause a syndrome associating thoracic aortic aneurysm/aortic dissection and patent ductus arteriosus
2006
We have recently described two kindreds presenting thoracic aortic aneurysm and/or aortic dissection ( TAAD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)(1,2) and mapped the disease locus to 16p12.2-p13.13 (ref. 3). We now demonstrate that the disease is caused by mutations in the MYH11 gene affecting the C-terminal coiled-coil region of the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain, a specific contractile protein of smooth muscle cells (SMC). All individuals bearing the heterozygous mutations, even if asymptomatic, showed marked aortic stiffness. Examination of pathological aortas showed large areas of medial degeneration with very low SMC content. Abnormal immunological recognition of SM-MHC and the colocal…
Tas1R1-Tas1R3 taste receptor variants in human fungiform papillae.
2009
International audience; Monosodium glutamate as well as metabotropic and ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists have been reported to be perceived as umami by humans. In spite of the fact that Tas1R1-Tas1R3 has been shown to mediate most of the glutamate taste sensation in mice other candidate receptors have been put forward for which a clear role in detection is still lacking. This work was aimed at investigating the molecular determinants underlying umami taste detection in humans. First, we show evidence supporting expression of Tas1R1 and Tas1R3 but not mGluRs in the fungiform papillae of several individuals. Next, we report a number of naturally occurring l-glutamate taste receptor var…
A rhamnose-binding lectin from sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) plasma agglutinates and opsonizes pathogenic bacteria
2014
Abstract The discovery of rhamnose-binding lectins (RBLs) in teleost fish eggs led to the identification of a novel lectin family characterized by a unique sequence motif and a structural fold, and initially proposed to modulate fertilization. Further studies of the RBL tissue localization and gene organization were also suggestive of role(s) in innate immunity. Here we describe the purification, and biochemical and functional characterization of a novel RBL (DlRBL) from sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) serum. The purified DlRBL had electrophoretic mobilities corresponding to 24 kDa and 100 kDa under reducing and non-reducing conditions, respectively, suggesting that in plasma the DlRBL is p…
Differential cysteine depletion in respiratory chain complexes enables the distinction of longevity from aerobicity.
2010
Mitochondrially encoded proteins in long-lived animals exhibit a characteristic anomaly on the amino acid usage level: they abstain from the use of cysteine in a lifespan-dependent fashion. Here, we have further investigated this phenomenon by analyzing respiratory chain complex subunits individually. We find that complex I cysteine depletion is the almost exclusive carrier of the cysteine-lifespan correlation, whereas complex IV cysteine depletion is uniform in all aerobic animals, unrelated to longevity, but even more pronounced than complex I cysteine depletion in the longest-lived species. In nuclear encoded subunits of the respiratory chain, we find lifespan-independent cysteine deplet…
Histaprodifens: synthesis, pharmacological in vitro evaluation, and molecular modeling of a new class of highly active and selective histamine H(1)-r…
2000
A new class of histamine analogues characterized by a 3, 3-diphenylpropyl substituent at the 2-position of the imidazole nucleus has been prepared outgoing from 4,4-diphenylbutyronitrile (4b) via cyclization of the corresponding methyl imidate 5b with 2-oxo-4-phthalimido-1-butyl acetate or 2-oxo-1,4-butandiol in liquid ammonia, followed by standard reactions. The title compounds displayed partial agonism on contractile H(1) receptors of the guinea-pig ileum and endothelium-denuded aorta, respectively, except 10 (histaprodifen; 2-[2-(3, 3-diphenylpropyl)-1H-imidazol-4-yl]ethanamine) which was a full agonist in the ileum assay. While 10 was equipotent with histamine (1), methylhistaprodifen (…