Search results for "model [interaction]"
showing 10 items of 1495 documents
Identification and characterisation of the dopamine receptor II from the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis (CfDopRII)
2006
International audience; G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent a protein family with a wide range of functions. Approximately 30% of human drug targets are GPCRs, illustrating their pharmaceutical relevance. In contrast, the knowledge about invertebrate GPCRs is limited and is mainly restricted to model organisms like Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. Especially in ectoparasites like ticks and fleas, only few GPCRs are characterised. From the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis, a relevant parasite of cats and dogs, no GPCRs are known so far. Thus, we performed a bioinformatic analysis of available insect GPCR sequences from the honeybee Apis mellifera, the mosquito Anop…
Assessing Chronological Aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
2012
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most studied model organisms for the identification of genes and mechanisms that affect aging. The chronological lifespan (CLS) assay, which monitors the survival of a non-dividing population, is one of the two methods to study aging in yeast. To eliminate potential artifacts and identify genes and signaling pathways that may also affect aging in higher eukaryotes, it is important to determine CLS by multiple methods. Here, we describe these methods as well as the assays to study macromolecular damage during aging in yeast, with a focus on genomic instability.
A novel moniliformin derivative as pan-inhibitor of histone deacetylases triggering apoptosis of leukemia cells
2021
New and potent agents that evade multidrug resistance (MDR) and inhibit epigenetic modifications are of great interest in cancer drug development. Here, we describe that a moniliformin derivative (IUPAC name: 3-(naphthalen-2-ylsulfanyl)-4-{[(2Z)-1,3,3-trimethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-2-ylidene]methyl}cyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione; code: MCC1381) bypasses P-gp-mediated MDR. Using transcriptomics, we identified a large number of genes significantly regulated in response to MCC1381, which affected the cell cycle and disturbed cellular death and survival. The potential targets of MCC1381 might be histone deacetylases (HDACs) as predicted by SwissTargetPrediction. In silico studies confirmed that MCC13…
Streptomyces coelicolor Vesicles: Many Molecules To Be Delivered
2022
ABSTRACT Streptomyces coelicolor is a model organism for the study of Streptomyces, a genus of Gram-positive bacteria that undergoes a complex life cycle and produces a broad repertoire of bioactive metabolites and extracellular enzymes. This study investigated the production and characterization of membrane vesicles (MVs) in liquid cultures of S. coelicolor M145 from a structural and biochemical point of view; this was achieved by combining microscopic, physical and -omics analyses. Two main populations of MVs, with different sizes and cargos, were isolated and purified. S. coelicolor MV cargo was determined to be complex, containing different kinds of proteins and metabolites. In particul…
Powerful tumor cell growth-inhibiting activity of a synthetic derivative of atractyligenin: Involvement of PI3K/Akt pathway and thioredoxin system
2014
The semi-synthetic ent-kaurane 15-ketoatractyligenin methyl ester (SC2017) has been previously reported to possess high antiproliferative activity against several solid tumor-derived cell lines. Our study was aimed at investigating SC2017 tumor growth-inhibiting activity and the underlying mechanisms in Jurkat cells (T-cell leukemia) and xenograft tumor models. METHODS: Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. Cell cycle progression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) elevation and apoptotic hallmarks were monitored by flow cytometry. Inhibition of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) by biochemical assays. Levels and/or activation status of signaling proteins were assessed by western blotting. Xenogr…
Modeling Local Social Migrations: A Cellular Automata Approach
2015
In local social migrations, agents move from their initial location looking for a better local social environment. Social migrations processes do not change the number of social agents of a given type (i.e., the empirical distribution of the population) but their spatial location. Although cellular automata seems to appear as a natural approach to model of social migrations, the evolution of the configuration through a cellular automata might induce a new configuration wherein the number of agents of each type might be actually modified. This article provides a characterization of these cellular automata rules such that for any initial empirical distribution, the evolution of the configurat…
Neurons of the dentate molecular layer in the rabbit hippocampus.
2012
The molecular layer of the dentate gyrus appears as the main entrance gate for information into the hippocampus, i.e., where the perforant path axons from the entorhinal cortex synapse onto the spines and dendrites of granule cells. A few dispersed neuronal somata appear intermingled in between and probably control the flow of information in this area. In rabbits, the number of neurons in the molecular layer increases in the first week of postnatal life and then stabilizes to appear permanent and heterogeneous over the individuals' life span, including old animals. By means of Golgi impregnations, NADPH histochemistry, immunocytochemical stainings and intracellular labelings (lucifer yellow…
Parallelized TCSPC for dynamic intravital fluorescence lifetime imaging : quantifying neuronal dysfunction in neuroinflammation
2013
Two-photon laser-scanning microscopy has revolutionized our view on vital processes by revealing motility and interaction patterns of various cell subsets in hardly accessible organs (e.g. brain) in living animals. However, current technology is still insufficient to elucidate the mechanisms of organ dysfunction as a prerequisite for developing new therapeutic strategies, since it renders only sparse information about the molecular basis of cellular response within tissues in health and disease. In the context of imaging, Forster resonant energy transfer (FRET) is one of the most adequate tools to probe molecular mechanisms of cell function. As a calibration-free technique, fluorescence lif…
Single administration of tripeptide α-MSH(11-13) attenuates brain damage by reduced inflammation and apoptosis after experimental traumatic brain inj…
2013
Following traumatic brain injury (TBI) neuroinflammatory processes promote neuronal cell loss. Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a neuropeptide with immunomodulatory properties, which may offer neuroprotection. Due to short half-life and pigmentary side-effects of α-MSH, the C-terminal tripeptide α-MSH(11-13) may be an anti-inflammatory alternative. The present study investigated the mRNA concentrations of the precursor hormone proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and of melanocortin receptors 1 and 4 (MC1R/MC4R) in naive mice and 15 min, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after controlled cortical impact (CCI). Regulation of POMC and MC4R expression did not change after trauma, while MC1R levels incr…
Hypothalamic S-Nitrosylation Contributes to the Counter-Regulatory Response Impairment following Recurrent Hypoglycemia
2013
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23894333; International audience; AIMS: Hypoglycemia is a severe side effect of intensive insulin therapy. Recurrent hypoglycemia (RH) impairs the counter-regulatory response (CRR) which restores euglycemia. During hypoglycemia, ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) production of nitric oxide (NO) and activation of its receptor soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) are critical for the CRR. Hypoglycemia also increases brain reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. NO production in the presence of ROS causes protein S-nitrosylation. S-nitrosylation of sGC impairs its function and induces desensitization to NO. We hypothesized that during hypoglycemia, the interaction b…