Search results for "binding"
showing 10 items of 3896 documents
Cloning and expression of the putative aggregation factor from the marine sponge Geodia cydonium.
2001
Sponges (phylum Porifera) have extensively been used as a model system to study cell-cell interaction on molecular level. Recently, we identified and cloned the putative aggregation receptor (AR) of the sponge Geodia cydonium, which interacts in a heterophilic way with the aggregation factor (AF) complex. In the present study, antibodies against this complex have been raised that abolish the adhesion function of the enriched sponge AF, the AF-Fraction 6B. Using this antibody as a tool, a complete 1.7 kb long cDNA, GEOCYAF, could be isolated from a cDNA library that encodes the putative AF. Its deduced aa sequence in the N-terminal section comprises high similarity to amphiphysin/BIN1 sequen…
Myosin VIIa, harmonin and cadherin 23, three Usher I gene products that cooperate to shape the sensory hair cell bundle
2002
Deaf-blindness in three distinct genetic forms of Usher type I syndrome (USH1) is caused by defects in myosin VIIa, harmonin and cadherin 23. Despite being critical for hearing, the functions of these proteins in the inner ear remain elusive. Here we show that harmonin, a PDZ domain-containing protein, and cadherin 23 are both present in the growing stereocilia and that they bind to each other. Moreover, we demonstrate that harmonin b is an F-actin-bundling protein, which is thus likely to anchor cadherin 23 to the stereocilia microfilaments, thereby identifying a novel anchorage mode of the cadherins to the actin cytoskeleton. Moreover, harmonin b interacts directly with myosin VIIa, and i…
Cloning of a cDNA fragment encoding part of the protein moiety of the 58-kDa fibrinogen-binding mannoprotein of Candida albicans
2006
Immunoscreening of a Candida albicans expression library with antibodies against the 58 kDa fibrinogen-binding mannoprotein (mp58) of the fungus resulted in the isolation of clones encoding the protein moiety of this molecule. Sequence of the 0.9 kb cDNA of one of the clones selected for further analysis, revealed an open reading frame coding for 292 amino acids, which displays sequence similarity to proteins belonging to a family of immunodominant antigens of Aspergillus spp. The gene corresponding to this cDNA was named FBP1 (fibrinogen-binding protein). These results represent the first report on the identification of C. albicans genes encoding surface receptors for host proteins.
Isolation of Mhc class I cDNAs from the axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum.
1997
Class I major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) cDNA clones were isolated from axolotl mRNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by screening a cDNA phage library. The nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences show definite similarities to the Mhc class Ialpha molecules of higher vertebrates. Most of the amino acids in the peptide binding region that dock peptides at their N and C termini in mammals are conserved. Several amino acids considered to be important for the interaction of beta2-microglobulin with the Mhc alpha chain are also conserved in the axolotl sequence. The fact that axolotl class I A cDNAs are ubiquitously expressed and highly polymorphic in the alpha1 and alpha2 doma…
A respiratory hemocyanin from an insect.
2004
Insects possess an elaborate tracheal system that enables transport of gaseous oxygen from the atmosphere directly to the inner organs. Therefore, the presence of specialized oxygen-transport proteins in the circulatory system of insects has been considered generally unnecessary. Here, we show for the first time, to our knowledge, the presence of an ancestral and functional hemocyanin (Hc) in an insect. In the hemolymph of nymphs and adults of the stonefly Perla marginata , a hexameric Hc was identified, which consists of two distinct subunit types of 659 and 655 amino acids. P. marginata Hc displays cooperative oxygen binding with a moderately high oxygen affinity [(half-saturation pressu…
Molecular cloning and expression of Tenebrio molitor ultraspiracle during metamorphosis and in vivo induction of its phosphorylation by 20-hydroxyecd…
2000
Using a RT-PCR approach, the Tenebrio molitor homologue of Drosophila Ultraspiracle (TmUSP) was characterized. Its DNA binding domain shows a degree of identity with those of the other insect USPs. However, the ligand binding domain is closer to those of retinoid X receptors. Using an antibody raised against DmUSP, Western blot analysis of proteins from epidermis and other tissues revealed five immunoreactive bands, corresponding to different phosphorylated forms of a unique polypeptide, as shown by lambda-phosphatase treatment. The nuclear form of TmUSP seems unphosphorylated. An in vivo 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment increases considerably and rapidly the phosphorylated forms of TmUSP. This…
Analysis of expression of an alternative La (SS-B) cDNA and localization of the encoded N- and C-terminal peptides
1997
AbstractA deletion of an (A)-residue was detected in a cDNA encoding for the nuclear autoantigen La/SS-B. The cDNA was recently isolated from a cDNA library made from peripheral blood lymphocytes of a patient with primary Sjögren's Syndrome. The region, where the deletion occurred, represents a hot spot region in the La gene(s). It leads to a frame shift mutation and a premature stop codon eleven amino acids downstream of the deletion site within one of the protease sensitive regions of the La protein. In spite of the frame shift mutation expression of full length La protein occurred efficiently in E. coli. Full length La protein was also made in SF9 cells infected with recombinant baculovi…
Isolation and characterization of a cDNA encoding a potential morphogen from the marine sponge Geodia cydonium that is conserved in higher metazoans.
1998
Species belonging to the lowest metazoan phylum, the sponges (Porifera), exhibit a surprisingly complex and multifaceted Bauplan (body plan). Recently, key molecules have been isolated from sponges which demonstrate that the cells of these animals are provided with characteristic metazoan adhesion and signal transduction molecules, allowing tissue formation. In order to understand which factors control the spatial organization of these cells in the sponge body plan, we screened for a cDNA encoding a soluble modulator of the behaviour of endothelial cells. A cDNA encoding a putative protein, which is highly similar to the human and mouse endothelial monocyte-activating polypeptide (EMAP) II …
Key Disulfide Bonds in an Insect Hormone Binding Protein: cDNA Cloning of a Juvenile Hormone Binding Protein of Heliothis virescens and Ligand Bindin…
1995
The hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) from the early fifth instar larvae of Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) has been purified, and three cDNA clones for this protein have been isolated from a fat body cDNA library constructed in bacteriophage λZAP XR. The deduced amino acid sequence of the full-length clone predicts a mature protein consisting of 224 residues, a molecular mass of 24 976 Da, and a p/ of 5.29. Comparison of the amino acid sequence to that of the previously described JHBP from Manduca sexta shows 51 % overall identity with highly conserved N- and C-terminal regions. One of the three clones bound photoactivatable analogs of juvenile hormones with mu…
Putative phenoloxidases in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis and the origin of the arthropod hemocyanin superfamily.
2003
In addition to the respiratory copper-containing proteins for which it is named, the arthropod hemocyanin superfamily also includes phenoloxidases and various copperless storage proteins (pseudo-hemocyanins, hexamerins and hexamerin receptors). It had long been assumed that these proteins are restricted to the arthropod phylum. However, in their analysis of the predicted genes in the Ciona intestinalis (Urochordata:Tunicata) genome, Dehal et al. (Science 298:2157–2167) proposed that the sea squirt lacks hemoglobin but uses hemocyanin for oxygen transport. While there are, nevertheless, four hemoglobin genes present in Ciona, we have identified and cloned two cDNA sequences from Ciona that i…