58 research outputs found
IκB kinase β–induced phosphorylation of CARMA1 contributes to CARMA1–Bcl10–MALT1 complex formation in B cells
Protein kinase C (PKC) β has been reported (Shinohara, H., T. Yasuda, Y. Aiba, H. Sanjo, M. Hamadate, H. Watarai, H. Sakurai, and T. Kurosaki. 2005. J. Exp. Med. 202:1423–1431; Sommer, K., B. Guo, J.L. Pomerantz, A.D. Bandaranayake, M.E. Moreno-Garcia, Y.L. Ovechkina, and D.J. Rawlings. 2005. Immunity. 23:561–574) to play a crucial role in B cell receptor (BCR)–mediated IκB kinase (IKK) activation through phosphorylation of caspase recruitment domain 11, Bimp3 (CARMA1). However, it remains unclear whether this PKCβ-mediated phosphorylation accounts fully for the activation status of CARMA1, because involvement of other kinases, such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase–dependent kinase 1, has also been suggested. We show that PKCβ mediates phosphorylation of CARMA1 on Ser668, which in turn is essential for BCR-mediated CARMA1–Bcl10–mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue 1 (MALT1) association and subsequent IKK activation. Our analyses also demonstrate that the downstream kinase IKKβ contributes to facilitating formation of the complex CARMA1–Bcl10–MALT1 by mediating phosphorylation of CARMA1. Hence, our data suggest that PKCβ is crucial for initial activation of IKK. The activated IKKβ does not merely function as an effector enzyme but also modifies the upstream signaling complex through a feedback mechanism, thereby optimizing the strength and duration of the nuclear factor κB signal
Production and crystallization of lobster muscle tropomyosin expressed in Sf9 cells
AbstractA new form of muscle tropomyosin crystal has been obtained, by employing new strategies in protein preparation and crystallization. Non-polymerizable tropomyosin was prepared by removing 11 amino acids at the C-terminus. The truncated tropomyosin was expressed in Sf9 insect cells by use of the baculovirus-based expression system, to obtain highly homogeneous protein preparations. By routinely monitoring homogeneity by mass spectrometry, we found that the homogeneity played a key role in obtaining good crystals. The crystal quality was also dependent on isoforms; the crystals raised from a slow muscle-specific isoform diffracted to a higher resolution, compared with a fast muscle-specific counterpart. For crystallization, a high concentration of organic solvent was used as the precipitant; in the presence of 35% DMSO, tetragonal crystals were formed, which belong to space group P43(1)212 with cell constants of a = b = 105.6 Å, c = 506.9 Å. The crystals gave rise to reflections the intensities of which were characteristically determined by the transform of α-helical coiled-coil. Thus in the region of 10-5.5 Å resolution along the c∗-axis, the reflections were weak. For accurate measurement of these reflection intensities, beam-line ID2 in ESRF Grenoble was advantageous owing to the high brilliance and a low background. There the crystals diffracted to beyond 3.0 Å along the c∗-axis, whereas along the a∗–b∗-plane reflections were limited to 6.6 Å. Data analysis is under way on a data set from a PtCl4 derivative
The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO
DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future
Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of
observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing
various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive
black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of
three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry–
Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre-
DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024
DECIGO pathfinder
DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article
Current status of space gravitational wave antenna DECIGO and B-DECIGO
Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the
future Japanese space mission with a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. DECIGO
aims at the detection of primordial gravitational waves, which could be
produced during the inflationary period right after the birth of the universe.
There are many other scientific objectives of DECIGO, including the direct
measurement of the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, and reliable
and accurate predictions of the timing and locations of neutron star/black hole
binary coalescences. DECIGO consists of four clusters of observatories placed
in the heliocentric orbit. Each cluster consists of three spacecraft, which
form three Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers with an arm length of 1,000
km. Three clusters of DECIGO will be placed far from each other, and the fourth
cluster will be placed in the same position as one of the three clusters to
obtain the correlation signals for the detection of the primordial
gravitational waves. We plan to launch B-DECIGO, which is a scientific
pathfinder of DECIGO, before DECIGO in the 2030s to demonstrate the
technologies required for DECIGO, as well as to obtain fruitful scientific
results to further expand the multi-messenger astronomy.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
The status of DECIGO
DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) is the planned Japanese space gravitational wave antenna, aiming to detect gravitational waves from astrophysically and cosmologically significant sources mainly between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz and thus to open a new window for gravitational wave astronomy and for the universe. DECIGO will consists of three drag-free spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with 1000 km arm lengths whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry-Perot interferometer, and four units of triangular Fabry-Perot interferometers are arranged on heliocentric orbit around the sun. DECIGO is vary ambitious mission, we plan to launch DECIGO in era of 2030s after precursor satellite mission, B-DECIGO. B-DECIGO is essentially smaller version of DECIGO: B-DECIGO consists of three spacecraft arranged in an triangle with 100 km arm lengths orbiting 2000 km above the surface of the earth. It is hoped that the launch date will be late 2020s for the present
Current status of space gravitational wave antenna DECIGO and B-DECIGO
The Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is a future Japanese space mission with a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. DECIGO aims at the detection of primordial gravitational waves, which could have been produced during the inflationary period right after the birth of the Universe. There are many other scientific objectives of DECIGO, including the direct measurement of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, and reliable and accurate predictions of the timing and locations of neutron star/black hole binary coalescences. DECIGO consists of four clusters of observatories placed in heliocentric orbit. Each cluster consists of three spacecraft, which form three Fabry–Pérot Michelson interferometers with an arm length of 1000 km. Three DECIGO clusters will be placed far from each other, and the fourth will be placed in the same position as one of the other three to obtain correlation signals for the detection of primordial gravitational waves. We plan to launch B-DECIGO, which is a scientific pathfinder for DECIGO, before DECIGO in the 2030s to demonstrate the technologies required for DECIGO, as well as to obtain fruitful scientific results to further expand multi-messenger astronomy
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