Protein allosteric pathways are investigated in the imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase heterodimer in an effort to elucidate how the effector (PRFAR, N′-[(5′-phosphoribulosyl)formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide) activates glutaminase catalysis at a distance of 25 Å from the glutamine-binding site.
Changes in protein–protein interactions that occur in response to environmental cues are difficult to uncover and have been poorly characterized to date. Here we describe a yeast-based assay that allows many binary protein interactions to be assessed in parallel and under various conditions.
Drought-induced proline accumulation is widely observed in plants but its regulation and adaptive value are not as well understood.
Transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs) are planktonic, organic microgels that are ubiquitous in aqueous environments. Increasing evidence indicates that TEPs play an active role in the process of aquatic biofilm formation. Frequently, TEPs are intensely colonized by bacteria and other microorganisms, thus serving as hot spots of intense microbial activity.
CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein δ (C/EBPδ) recently emerged as an essential player in the inflammatory response to bacterial infections. C/EBPδ levels increase rapidly after a proinflammatory stimulus, and increasing C/EBPδ levels seem to be indispensable for amplification of the inflammatory response.
Hospital-associated infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a global health burden dominated by a small number of bacterial clones. The pandemic EMRSA-16 clone (ST36-II) has been widespread in UK hospitals for 20 y, but its evolutionary origin and the molecular basis for its hospital association are unclear.
Influenza A virus possesses a segmented genome of eight negative-sense, single-stranded RNAs. The eight segments have been shown to be represented in approximately equal molar ratios in a virus population; however, the exact copy number of each viral RNA segment per individual virus particles has not been determined.
Topoisomerase poisons such as the epipodophyllotoxin etoposide are widely used effective cytotoxic anticancer agents. However, they are associated with the development of therapy-related acute myeloid leukemias (t-AMLs), which display characteristic balanced chromosome translocations, most often involving the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) locus at 11q23.
In addition to glycolysis, the oncogenic transcription factor c-MYC (MYC) stimulates glutamine catabolism to fuel growth and proliferation of cancer cells through up-regulating glutaminase (GLS). Glutamine is converted to glutamate by GLS, entering the tricarboxylic acid cycle as an important energy source.
Metformin has been reported to lower cancer incidence among type II diabetics. Metformin exhibits antiproliferative and antineoplastic effects associated with inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), but the mechanisms are poorly understood.
