Search results for "dimer"

Mcl-1 and Bok transmembrane domains : Unexpected players in the modulation of apoptosis

2020

The Bcl-2 protein family comprises both proand antiapoptotic members that control the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane, a crucial step in the modulation of apoptosis. Recent research has demonstrated that the carboxyl-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD) of some Bcl-2 protein family mem-bers can modulate apoptosis; however, the transmembrane interactome of the antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1 remains largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that the Mcl-1 TMD forms homooligomers in the mitochondrial membrane, competes with full-length Mcl-1 protein with regards to its antiapoptotic function, and induces cell death in a Bok-dependent manner. While the Bok TMD oligomers locate p…

The swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a terrestrial cyanobacterium, Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450

2017

ABSTRACT Swinholides are 42-carbon ring polyketides with a 2-fold axis of symmetry. They are potent cytotoxins that disrupt the actin cytoskeleton. Swinholides were discovered from the marine sponge Theonella sp. and were long suspected to be produced by symbiotic bacteria. Misakinolide, a structural variant of swinholide, was recently demonstrated to be the product of a symbiotic heterotrophic proteobacterium. Here, we report the production of swinholide A by an axenic strain of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450. We located the 85-kb trans -AT polyketide synthase (PKS) swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a draft genome of Nostoc sp. UHCC 0450. The swinholide …

ERa dimerization: a key factor for the weak estrogenic activity of an ERa modulator unable to compete with estradiol in binding assays

2016

PMID: 27400858; International audience; AbstractEstrothiazine (ESTZ) is a weak estrogen sharing structural similarities with coumestrol. ESTZ failed to compete with [3H]17β-estradiol ([3H]17β-E2) for binding to the estrogen receptor α (ERα), questioning its ability to interact with the receptor. However, detection by atomic force spectroscopy (AFS) of an ESTZ-induced ERα dimerization has eliminated any remaining doubts. The effect of the compound on the proliferation of ERα-positive and negative breast cancer cells confirmed the requirement of the receptor. The efficiency of ESTZ in MCF-7 cells was weak without any potency to modify the proliferation profile of estradiol and coumestrol. Gro…

Expanding the Therapeutic Spectrum of Artemisinin: Activity Against Infectious Diseases Beyond Malaria and Novel Pharmaceutical Developments

2016

The interest of Western medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a source of drug leads/new drugs to treat diseases without available efficient therapies has been dramatically augmented in the last decades by the extensive work and the outstanding findings achieved within this kind of medicine. The practice of TCM over thousands of years has equipped scientists with substantial experience with hundreds of plants that led to the discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu), which is extracted from the medicinal plant Artemisia annua L. (qinghao). The unexpected success of artemisinin in combating malaria has drawn strong attention from the scientific community towards TCM. Artemisinin was d…

Clinical utility of biochemical markers for the prediction of COVID-19-related mortality in kidney transplant recipients

2021

International audience

Course of D-Dimer and C-Reactive Protein Levels in Survivors and Nonsurvivors with COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Retrospective Analysis of 577 Patients

2020

9-cis-Retinoic acid enhances fatty acid-induced expression of the liver fatty acid-binding protein gene

1997

The role of retinoic acids (RA) on liver fatty acid- binding protein (L-FABP) expression was investigated in the well differentiated FAO rat hepatoma cell line. 9-cis-Retinoic acid (9-ci's-RA) specifically enhanced L-FABP mRNA levels in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The higher induction was found 6 h after addition of 10 -6 M 9-CK-RA in the medium. RA also enhanced further both L-FABP mRNA levels and cytosolic L-FABP protein content induced by oleic acid. The retinoid X receptor (RXR) and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), which are known to be activated, respectively, by 9-c/s-RA and long chain fatty acid (LCFA), co-operated to bind specifically the peroxisome prol…

Physico-chemical study of the radiopharmaceuticals 99mTc-DMSA, 99mTc-EDTA and 99mTc-DTPA interaction with plasmatic proteins.

1989

This report studies the binding rate of the radiopharmaceuticals 99mTc-DTPA, 99mTc-EDTA and 99mTc-DMSA to plasmatic proteins. The proteins bind to the tested radiopharmaceuticals in the following sequence: 99mTc-DTPA less than 99mTc-DMSA(C1) less than 99mTc-EDTA less than 99mTc-DMSA(C2) where C1 and C2 represent two different Tc-DMSA complexes. The thermodynamic study suggests a quantitative relationship of radiopharmaceutical:protein = 1:1 and an almost nonexistent influence of the temperature, which means that the interacting forces in this process are relatively weak.

Electronic structure of phthalocyanines : Theoretical investigation of the optical properties of phthalocyanine monomers, dimers, and crystals

1990

We present valence effective Hamiltonian (VEH) calculations on the optical absorptions of a series of phthalocyanine compounds: the metal‐free phthalocyanine molecule, a model system for the lithium phthalocyanine molecule, the metal‐free phthalocyanine dimer, and model systems for the lutetium diphthalocyanine and the lithium phthalocyanine crystal. For these compounds, it is found that the major factor influencing the evolution of the optical transitions is not the electronic structure of the metal but rather the geometric structure: phthalocyanine intraring geometry and, in the dimers and crystals, interring separation and staggering angle. The origin of the so‐called Soret or B absorpti…

Structural and Dynamic Properties of the Homodimeric Hemoglobin from Scapharca inaequivalvis Thr-72→Ile Mutant: Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Low Te…

1998

AbstractMolecular dynamics simulations, low temperature visible absorption spectroscopy, and resonance Raman spectroscopy have been performed on a mutant of the Scapharca inaequivalvis homodimeric hemoglobin, where residue threonine 72, at the subunit interface, has been substituted by isoleucine. Molecular dynamics simulation indicates that in the Thr-72→Ile mutant several residues that have been shown to play a role in ligand binding fluctuate around orientations and distances similar to those observed in the x-ray structure of the CO derivative of the native hemoglobin, although the overall structure remains in the T state. Visible absorption spectroscopy data indicate that in the deoxy …