Channels, transporters and receptors for cadmium and cadmium complexes in eukaryotic cells: myths and facts

BioMetals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Thévenod ◽  
Johannes Fels ◽  
Wing-Kee Lee ◽  
Ralf Zarbock
Author(s):  
J. Jakana ◽  
M.F. Schmid ◽  
P. Matsudaira ◽  
W. Chiu

Actin is a protein found in all eukaryotic cells. In its polymerized form, the cells use it for motility, cytokinesis and for cytoskeletal support. An example of this latter class is the actin bundle in the acrosomal process from the Limulus sperm. The different functions actin performs seem to arise from its interaction with the actin binding proteins. A 3-dimensional structure of this macromolecular assembly is essential to provide a structural basis for understanding this interaction in relationship to its development and functions.


Author(s):  
G.P.A. Vigers ◽  
R.A. Crowther ◽  
B.M.F. Pearse

Clathrin forms the polyhedral cage of coated vesicles, which mediate the transfer of selected membrane components within eukaryotic cells. Clathrin cages and coated vesicles have been extensively studied by electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations and shadowed specimens. From these studies the gross morphology of the outer part of the polyhedral coat has been established and some features of the packing of clathrin trimers into the coat have also been described. However these previous studies have not revealed any internal details about the position of the terminal domain of the clathrin heavy chain, the location of the 100kd-50kd accessory coat proteins or the interactions of the coat with the enclosed membrane.


Author(s):  
U. Aebi ◽  
E.C. Glavaris ◽  
R. Eichner

Five different classes of intermediate-sized filaments (IFs) have been identified in differentiated eukaryotic cells: vimentin in mesenchymal cells, desmin in muscle cells, neurofilaments in nerve cells, glial filaments in glial cells and keratin filaments in epithelial cells. Despite their tissue specificity, all IFs share several common attributes, including immunological crossreactivity, similar morphology (e.g. about 10 nm diameter - hence ‘10-nm filaments’) and the ability to reassemble in vitro from denatured subunits into filaments virtually indistinguishable from those observed in vivo. Further more, despite their proteinchemical heterogeneity (their MWs range from 40 kDa to 200 kDa and their isoelectric points from about 5 to 8), protein and cDNA sequencing of several IF polypeptides (for refs, see 1,2) have provided the framework for a common structural model of all IF subunits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 1474-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyaldeva C. Vijayakumar ◽  
Lokesh Kumar Bhatt ◽  
Kedar S. Prabhavalkar

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) mainly belongs to the non-histone DNA-binding protein. It has been studied as a nuclear protein that is present in eukaryotic cells. From the HMG family, HMGB1 protein has been focused particularly for its pivotal role in several pathologies. HMGB-1 is considered as an essential facilitator in diseases such as sepsis, collagen disease, atherosclerosis, cancers, arthritis, acute lung injury, epilepsy, myocardial infarction, and local and systemic inflammation. Modulation of HMGB1 levels in the human body provides a way in the management of these diseases. Various strategies, such as HMGB1-receptor antagonists, inhibitors of its signalling pathway, antibodies, RNA inhibitors, vagus nerve stimulation etc. have been used to inhibit expression, release or activity of HMGB1. This review encompasses the role of HMGB1 in various pathologies and discusses its therapeutic potential in these pathologies.


Author(s):  
Joseph Ayers

This chapter describes how synthetic biology and organic electronics can integrate neurobiology and robotics to form a basis for biohybrid robots and synthetic neuroethology. Biomimetic robots capture the performance advantages of animal models by mimicking the behavioral control schemes evolved in nature, based on modularized devices that capture the biomechanics and control principles of the nervous system. However, current robots are blind to chemical senses, difficult to miniaturize, and require chemical batteries. These obstacles can be overcome by integration of living engineered cells. Synthetic biology seeks to build devices and systems from fungible gene parts (gene systems coding different proteins) integrated into a chassis (induced pluripotent eukaryotic cells, yeast, or bacteria) to produce devices with properties not found in nature. Biohybrid robots are examples of such systems (interacting sets of devices). A nascent literature describes genes that can mediate organ levels of organization. Such capabilities, applied to biohybrid systems, portend truly biological robots guided, controlled, and actuated solely by life processes.


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