Search results for "SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
The Odd Sibling: Features ofβ3-Adrenoceptor Pharmacology
2014
beta(3)-Adrenoceptor agonists have recently been introduced for the treatment of overactive urinary bladder syndrome. Their target, the beta(3)-adrenoceptor, was discovered much later than beta(1)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptors and exhibits unique properties which make extrapolation of findings from the other two subtypes difficult and the beta(3)-adrenoceptor a less-understood subtype. This article discusses three aspects of beta(3)-adrenoceptor pharmacology. First, the ligand-recognition profile of beta(3)-adrenoceptors differs considerably from that of the other two subtypes, i.e., many antagonists considered as nonselective actually are beta(3)-sparing, including propranolol or nadolol. Man…
Tips and turns of bacteriophytochrome photoactivation
2020
Phytochromes are ubiquitous photosensor proteins, which control the growth, reproduction and movement in plants, fungi and bacteria. Phytochromes switch between two photophysical states depending on the light conditions. In analogy to molecular machines, light absorption induces a series of structural changes that are transduced from the bilin chromophore, through the protein, and to the output domains. Recent progress towards understanding this structural mechanism of signal transduction has been manifold. We describe this progress with a focus on bacteriophytochromes. We describe the mechanism along three structural tiers, which are the chromophore-binding pocket, the photosensory module,…
The Role of Erythropoietin in Neuroprotection: Therapeutic Perspectives
2007
Nervous system diseases are very complex conditions comprising a large variety of local and systemic responses. Several therapeutic agents interfering with all or in part the biochemical steps that ultimately cause neuronal death have been demonstrated to be neuroprotective in preclinical models. However, all the agents so far investigated have inexorably failed in the phase III trials carried out. A large body of evidence suggests that the hormone erythropoietin (EPO), besides its well-known hematopoietic action, exerts beneficial effects in the central nervous system. EPO's effect has been assessed in several experimental models of brain and spinal cord injury thus becoming a serious cand…
The hedgehog receptor patched is involved in cholesterol transport.
2011
International audience; BACKGROUND: Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling plays a crucial role in growth and patterning during embryonic development, and also in stem cell maintenance and tissue regeneration in adults. Aberrant Shh pathway activation is involved in the development of many tumors, and one of the most affected Shh signaling steps found in these tumors is the regulation of the signaling receptor Smoothened by the Shh receptor Patched. In the present work, we investigated Patched activity and the mechanism by which Patched inhibits Smoothened. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using the well-known Shh-responding cell line of mouse fibroblasts NIH 3T3, we first observed that enhancement …