Search results for "Reductases"
showing 10 items of 276 documents
Rhythmic Regulation of Photoreceptor and RPE Genes Important for Vision and Genetically Associated With Severe Retinal Diseases.
2018
Purpose The aim of the present study was to identify candidate genes for mediating daily adjustment of vision. Methods Genes important for vision and genetically associated with severe retinal diseases were tested for 24-hour rhythms in transcript levels in neuronal retina, microdissected photoreceptors, photoreceptor-related pinealocytes, and retinal pigment epithelium-choroid (RPE-choroid) complex by using quantitative PCR. Results Photoreceptors of wildtype mice display circadian clock-dependent regulation of visual arrestins (Arr1, Arr4) and the visual cycle gene Rdh12, whereas cells of the RPE-choroid exhibit light-dependent regulation of the visual cycle key genes Lrat, Rpe65, and Rdh…
Stem Cell-Derived, microRNA-Carrying Extracellular Vesicles: A Novel Approach to Interfering with Mesangial Cell Collagen Production in a Hyperglycae…
2016
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are derived from stem cells are proving to be promising therapeutic options. We herein investigate the therapeutic potential of EVs that have been derived from different stem cell sources, bone-marrow (MSC) and human liver (HLSC), on mesangial cells (MCs) exposed to hyperglycaemia. By expressing a dominant negative STAT5 construct (ΔNSTAT5) in HG-cultured MCs, we have demonstrated that miR-21 expression is under the control of STAT5, which translates into Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGFβ) expression and collagen production. A number of approaches have been used to show that both MSC- and HLSC-derived EVs protect MCs from HG-induced damage via the trans…
The murine cytomegalovirus M35 protein antagonizes type I IFN induction downstream of pattern recognition receptors by targeting NF-κB mediated trans…
2017
The type I interferon (IFN) response is imperative for the establishment of the early antiviral immune response. Here we report the identification of the first type I IFN antagonist encoded by murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) that shuts down signaling following pattern recognition receptor (PRR) sensing. Screening of an MCMV open reading frame (ORF) library identified M35 as a novel and strong negative modulator of IFNβ promoter induction following activation of both RNA and DNA cytoplasmic PRR. Additionally, M35 inhibits the proinflammatory cytokine response downstream of Toll-like receptors (TLR). Using a series of luciferase-based reporters with specific transcription factor binding sites, …
Extracellular histones disarrange vasoactive mediators reléase through COX-NOS interaction in human endothelial cells
2017
Abstract Extracellular histones are mediators of inflammation, tissue injury and organ dysfunction. Interactions between circulating histones and vascular endothelial cells are key events in histone‐mediated pathologies. Our aim was to investigate the implication of extracellular histones in the production of the major vasoactive compounds released by human endothelial cells (HUVECs), prostanoids and nitric oxide (NO). HUVEC exposed to increasing concentrations of histones (0.001 to 100 μg/ml) for 4 hrs induced prostacyclin (PGI2) production in a dose‐dependent manner and decreased thromboxane A2 (TXA2) release at 100 μg/ml. Extracellular histones raised cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) and prostac…
MicroRNAs miR-19, miR-340, miR-374 and miR-542 regulate MID1 protein expression.
2018
The MID1 ubiquitin ligase activates mTOR signaling and regulates mRNA translation. Misregulation of MID1 expression is associated with various diseases including midline malformation syndromes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. While this indicates that MID1 expression must be tightly regulated to prevent disease states specific mechanisms involved have not been identified. We examined miRNAs to determine mechanisms that regulate MID1 expression. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that recognize specific sequences in their target mRNAs. Upon binding, miRNAs typically downregulate expression of these targets. Here, we identified four miRNAs, miR-19, miR-340, miR-374 and miR-542…
Multigram Scale Enzymatic Synthesis of (R)-1-(4′-Hydroxyphenyl)ethanol Using Vanillyl Alcohol Oxidase
2018
The enantioselective oxyfunctionalisation of C−H bonds is a highly interesting reaction, as it provides access to chiral alcohols that are important pharmaceutical building blocks. However, it is hard to achieve using traditional methods. One way in which it can be achieved is through the action of oxidative enzymes. Although many reports of the oxyfunctionalisation capabilities of enzymes at an analytical scale have been published, reports on the use of enzymes to achieve oxyfunctionalisation on a synthetically relevant scale are fewer. Here, we describe the scale-up of the conversion of 4-ethylphenol to (R)-1-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)ethanol using the flavin-dependent enzyme vanillyl alcohol oxi…
A functional zeaxanthin epoxidase from red algae shedding light on the evolution of light-harvesting carotenoids and the xanthophyll cycle in photosy…
2017
The epoxy-xanthophylls antheraxanthin and violaxanthin are key precursors of light-harvesting carotenoids and participate in the photoprotective xanthophyll cycle. Thus, the invention of zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) catalyzing their formation from zeaxanthin has been a fundamental step in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes. ZEP genes have only been found in Viridiplantae and chromalveolate algae with secondary plastids of red algal ancestry, suggesting that ZEP evolved in the Viridiplantae and spread to chromalveolates by lateral gene transfer. By searching publicly available sequence data from eleven red algae covering all currently recognized red algal classes we identified ZEP cand…
Characterization of sulfhydryl oxidase from Aspergillus tubingensis
2017
Background Despite of the presence of sulfhydryl oxidases (SOXs) in the secretomes of industrially relevant organisms and their many potential applications, only few of these enzymes have been biochemically characterized. In addition, basic functions of most of the SOX enzymes reported so far are not fully understood. In particular, the physiological role of secreted fungal SOXs is unclear. Results The recently identified SOX from Aspergillus tubingensis (AtSOX) was produced, purified and characterized in the present work. AtSOX had a pH optimum of 6.5, and showed a good pH stability retaining more than 80% of the initial activity in a pH range 4-8.5 within 20 h. More than 70% of the initia…
Pyrithione-based ruthenium complexes as inhibitors of aldo-keto reductase 1C enzymes and anticancer agents.
2016
Four ruthenium complexes of clinically used zinc ionophore pyrithione and its oxygen analog 2-hydroxypyridine N-oxide were prepared and evaluated as inhibitors of enzymes of the aldo–keto reductase subfamily 1C (AKR1C). A kinetic study assisted with docking simulations showed a mixed type of inhibition consisting of a fast reversible and a slow irreversible step in the case of both organometallic compounds 1A and 1B. Both compounds also showed a remarkable selectivity towards AKR1C1 and AKR1C3 which are targets for breast cancer drug design. The organoruthenium complex of ligand pyrithione as well as pyrithione itself also displayed toxicity on the hormone-dependent MCF-7 breast cancer cell…
Abundance of narG , nirS , nirK , and nosZ Genes of Denitrifying Bacteria during Primary Successions of a Glacier Foreland
2006
ABSTRACT Quantitative PCR of denitrification genes encoding the nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide reductases was used to study denitrifiers across a glacier foreland. Environmental samples collected at different distances from a receding glacier contained amounts of 16S rRNA target molecules ranging from 4.9 × 10 5 to 8.9 × 10 5 copies per nanogram of DNA but smaller amounts of narG , nirK , and nosZ target molecules. Thus, numbers of narG , nirK , nirS , and nosZ copies per nanogram of DNA ranged from 2.1 × 10 3 to 2.6 × 10 4 , 7.4 × 10 2 to 1.4 × 10 3 , 2.5 × 10 2 to 6.4 × 10 3 , and 1.2 × 10 3 to 5.5 × 10 3 , respectively. The densities of 16S rRNA genes per gram of soil increased with…