2,113 research outputs found
Cellular homologs of the avian erythroblastosis virus erb-A and erb-B genes are syntenic in mouse but asyntenic in man.
Expression of Human Chemerin Induces Insulin Resistance in the Skeletal Muscle but Does Not Affect Weight, Lipid Levels, and Atherosclerosis in LDL Receptor Knockout Mice on High-Fat Diet
Ubiquitination of CXCR7 Controls Receptor Trafficking
The chemokine receptor CXCR7 binds CXCL11 and CXCL12 with high affinity, chemokines that were previously thought to bind exclusively to CXCR4 and CXCR3, respectively. Expression of CXCR7 has been associated with cardiac development as well as with tumor growth and progression. Despite having all the canonical features of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the signalling pathways following CXCR7 activation remain controversial, since unlike typical chemokine receptors, CXCR7 fails to activate Gαi-proteins. CXCR7 has recently been shown to interact with β-arrestins and such interaction has been suggested to be responsible for G protein-independent signals through ERK-1/2 phosphorylation. Signal transduction by CXCR7 is controlled at the membrane by the process of GPCR trafficking. In the present study we investigated the regulatory processes triggered by CXCR7 activation as well as the molecular interactions that participate in such processes. We show that, CXCR7 internalizes and recycles back to the cell surface after agonist exposure, and that internalization is not only β-arrestin-mediated but also dependent on the Serine/Threonine residues at the C-terminus of the receptor. Furthermore we describe, for the first time, the constitutive ubiquitination of CXCR7. Such ubiquitination is a key modification responsible for the correct trafficking of CXCR7 from and to the plasma membrane. Moreover, we found that CXCR7 is reversibly de-ubiquitinated upon treatment with CXCL12. Finally, we have also identified the Lysine residues at the C-terminus of CXCR7 to be essential for receptor cell surface delivery. Together these data demonstrate the differential regulation of CXCR7 compared to the related CXCR3 and CXCR4 receptors, and highlight the importance of understanding the molecular determinants responsible for this process
CXCR7 Protein Expression in Human Adult Brain and Differentiated Neurons
Background: CXCR7 and CXCR4 are receptors for the chemokine CXCL12, which is involved in essential functions of the immune and nervous systems. Although CXCR7 transcripts are widely expressed throughout the central nervous system, little is known about its protein distribution and function in the adult brain. To evaluate its potential involvement in CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling in differentiated neurons, we studied CXCR7 protein expression in human brain and cultured neurons. Methodology/Principal Findings: Immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analyses of cortex and hippocampus from control and HIV-positive subjects provided the first evidence of CXCR7 protein expression in human adult neurons, under normal and pathological conditions. Furthermore, confocal microscopy and binding assays in cultured neurons show that CXCR7 protein is mainly located into cytoplasm, while little to no protein expression is found on neuronal plasma membrane. Interestingly, specific CXCR7 ligands that inhibit CXCL12 binding to CXCR7 do not alter CXCR4-activated survival signaling (pERK/pAkt) in rat cortical neurons. Neuronal CXCR7 co-localizes to some extent with the endoplasmic reticulum marker ERp29, but not with early/late endosome markers. Additionally, large areas of overlap are detected in the intracellular pattern of CXCR7 and CXCR4 expression. Conclusions/Significance: Overall, these results implicate CXCR4 as the main CXCL12 signaling receptor on the surface o
Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods
Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures.
In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.
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A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons
Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal
of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs
bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data
collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and
we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard
Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots
for b/w printin
Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state
A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a
Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are
sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield
collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets.
The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing
suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a
data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits
in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and
branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for
a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any
enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for
t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version
includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu
Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least
three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data
sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns
collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector
at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model
backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are
presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard
model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new
particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets
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