scholarly journals Toxicological impacts and likely protein targets of bisphenol A in Paramecium caudatum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Senra ◽  
Ana Lucia Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Bisphenol A ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Chemical Agent ◽  
Paramecium Caudatum ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Protein Targets ◽  
Eukaryotic Diversity ◽  
Time Dependent Effect

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical agent widely used in plastic production and a well-known ubiquitous endocrine disruptor, frequently associated with a series of reproductive, developmental, and transgenerational impacts over wildlife, livestocks, and humans. Although widely studied, toxicological data on the effects of BPA are mostly restricted to mammalian models, remaining largely underexplored for other groups of organisms such as protists, which represents a considerable proportion of eukaryotic diversity. Here, we used acute end-point toxicological assay to evaluate the impacts of BPA over the survival of the cosmopolitan Paramecium caudatum; and a proteome-wide inverted virtual-screening (IVS) to predict the most likely P. caudatum proteins and pathways affected by BPA. This xenobiotic exerts a time-dependent effect over P. caudatum survival, which may be a consequence of impairments to multiple core cellular functions. We discuss the potential use of this ciliate as a biosensor for environmental BPA and as a new model organism to study the general impacts of this plasticizer agent over Eukaryotes. Finally, our data stress the relevance of bioinformatic methods to leverage the current knowledge on the molecular impacts of environmental contaminants over a diversity of biological systems.

scholarly journals Bone morphogenetic proteins, breast cancer, and bone metastases: striking the right balance

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. R349-R366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Zabkiewicz ◽  
Jeyna Resaul ◽  
Rachel Hargest ◽  
Wen Guo Jiang ◽  
Lin Ye
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Breast Tumour ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Foetal Development ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Right

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) belong to the TGF-β super family, and are essential for the regulation of foetal development, tissue differentiation and homeostasis and a multitude of cellular functions. Naturally, this has led to the exploration of aberrance in this highly regulated system as a key factor in tumourigenesis. Originally identified for their role in osteogenesis and bone turnover, attention has been turned to the potential role of BMPs in tumour metastases to, and progression within, the bone niche. This is particularly pertinent to breast cancer, which commonly metastasises to bone, and in which studies have revealed aberrations of both BMP expression and signalling, which correlate clinically with breast cancer progression. Ultimately a BMP profile could provide new prognostic disease markers. As the evidence suggests a role for BMPs in regulating breast tumour cellular function, in particular interactions with tumour stroma and the bone metastatic microenvironment, there may be novel therapeutic potential in targeting BMP signalling in breast cancer. This review provides an update on the current knowledge of BMP abnormalities and their implication in the development and progression of breast cancer, particularly in the disease-specific bone metastasis.

Neuroligin-2 as a central organizer of inhibitory synapses in health and disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (663) ◽  
pp. eabd8379
Author(s):  
Heba Ali ◽  
Lena Marth ◽  
Dilja Krueger-Burg
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Transmission ◽  
Synapse Formation ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Inhibitory Synapses ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Altered Expression ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Flow Of Information

Postsynaptic organizational protein complexes play central roles both in orchestrating synapse formation and in defining the functional properties of synaptic transmission that together shape the flow of information through neuronal networks. A key component of these organizational protein complexes is the family of synaptic adhesion proteins called neuroligins. Neuroligins form transsynaptic bridges with presynaptic neurexins to regulate various aspects of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. Neuroligin-2 (NLGN2) is the only member that acts exclusively at GABAergic inhibitory synapses. Altered expression and mutations in NLGN2 and several of its interacting partners are linked to cognitive and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, and anxiety. Research on NLGN2 has fundamentally shaped our understanding of the molecular architecture of inhibitory synapses. Here, we discuss the current knowledge on the molecular and cellular functions of mammalian NLGN2 and its role in the neuronal circuitry that regulates behavior in rodents and humans.

The DEAH helicase DHX36 and its role in G-quadruplex-dependent processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Schult ◽  
Katrin Paeschke
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
G Quadruplex ◽  
Cellular Pathways ◽  
Nucleic Acid Structures ◽  
Dependent Processes

AbstractDHX36 is a member of the DExD/H box helicase family, which comprises a large number of proteins involved in various cellular functions. Recently, the function of DHX36 in the regulation of G-quadruplexes (G4s) was demonstrated. G4s are alternative nucleic acid structures, which influence many cellular pathways on a transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. In this review we provide an overview of the current knowledge about DHX36 structure, substrate specificity, and mechanism of action based on the available models and crystal structures. Moreover, we outline its multiple functions in cellular homeostasis, immunity, and disease. Finally, we discuss the open questions and provide potential directions for future research.

scholarly journals The Multiple Functions of Rho GTPases in Fission Yeasts

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1422
Author(s):  
Jero Vicente-Soler ◽  
Teresa Soto ◽  
Alejandro Franco ◽  
José Cansado ◽  
Marisa Madrid
Keyword(s):  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Rho Gtpases ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Rho Family

The Rho family of GTPases represents highly conserved molecular switches involved in a plethora of physiological processes. Fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has become a fundamental model organism to study the functions of Rho GTPases over the past few decades. In recent years, another fission yeast species, Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, has come into focus offering insight into evolutionary changes within the genus. Both fission yeasts contain only six Rho-type GTPases that are spatiotemporally controlled by multiple guanine–nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), and whose intricate regulation in response to external cues is starting to be uncovered. In the present review, we will outline and discuss the current knowledge and recent advances on how the fission yeasts Rho family GTPases regulate essential physiological processes such as morphogenesis and polarity, cellular integrity, cytokinesis and cellular differentiation.

scholarly journals Hanks-Type Serine/Threonine Protein Kinases and Phosphatases in Bacteria: Roles in Signaling and Adaptation to Various Environments

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Janczarek ◽  
José-María Vinardell ◽  
Paulina Lipa ◽  
Magdalena Karaś
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Response Regulator ◽  
Protein Targets ◽  
Regulatory Pathways ◽  
Translational Machinery ◽  
Signaling Systems ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Division Cell

Reversible phosphorylation is a key mechanism that regulates many cellular processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, signal transduction includes two-component signaling systems, which involve a membrane sensor histidine kinase and a cognate DNA-binding response regulator. Several recent studies indicate that alternative regulatory pathways controlled by Hanks-type serine/threonine kinases (STKs) and serine/threonine phosphatases (STPs) also play an essential role in regulation of many different processes in bacteria, such as growth and cell division, cell wall biosynthesis, sporulation, biofilm formation, stress response, metabolic and developmental processes, as well as interactions (either pathogenic or symbiotic) with higher host organisms. Since these enzymes are not DNA-binding proteins, they exert the regulatory role via post-translational modifications of their protein targets. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of STKs and STPs, and discuss how these enzymes mediate gene expression in prokaryotes. Many studies indicate that regulatory systems based on Hanks-type STKs and STPs play an essential role in the regulation of various cellular processes, by reversibly phosphorylating many protein targets, among them several regulatory proteins of other signaling cascades. These data show high complexity of bacterial regulatory network, in which the crosstalk between STK/STP signaling enzymes, components of TCSs, and the translational machinery occurs. In this regulation, the STK/STP systems have been proved to play important roles.

scholarly journals Mitophagy: mechanisms, pathophysiological roles, and analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 393 (7) ◽  
pp. 547-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Xing Ding ◽  
Xiao-Ming Yin
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Energy Homeostasis ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Tissue Injury ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Terminal Differentiation ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Cellular Energy

Abstract Mitochondria are essential organelles that regulate cellular energy homeostasis and cell death. The removal of damaged mitochondria through autophagy, a process called mitophagy, is thus critical for maintaining proper cellular functions. Indeed, mitophagy has been recently proposed to play critical roles in terminal differentiation of red blood cells, paternal mitochondrial degradation, neurodegenerative diseases, and ischemia or drug-induced tissue injury. Removal of damaged mitochondria through autophagy requires two steps: induction of general autophagy and priming of damaged mitochondria for selective autophagic recognition. Recent progress in mitophagy studies reveals that mitochondrial priming is mediated either by the Pink1-Parkin signaling pathway or the mitophagic receptors Nix and Bnip3. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the mechanisms of mitophagy. We also discuss the pathophysiological roles of mitophagy and current assays used to monitor mitophagy.

scholarly journals Detection of secondary binding sites in proteins using fragment screening

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (52) ◽  
pp. 15910-15915 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Frederick Ludlow ◽  
Marcel L. Verdonk ◽  
Harpreet K. Saini ◽  
Ian J. Tickle ◽  
Harren Jhoti
Keyword(s):  
Binding Site ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Modulate Function ◽  
Protein Targets ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Fragment Screening ◽  
High Conservation ◽  
Partner Proteins

Proteins need to be tightly regulated as they control biological processes in most normal cellular functions. The precise mechanisms of regulation are rarely completely understood but can involve binding of endogenous ligands and/or partner proteins at specific locations on a protein that can modulate function. Often, these additional secondary binding sites appear separate to the primary binding site, which, for example for an enzyme, may bind a substrate. In previous work, we have uncovered several examples in which secondary binding sites were discovered on proteins using fragment screening approaches. In each case, we were able to establish that the newly identified secondary binding site was biologically relevant as it was able to modulate function by the binding of a small molecule. In this study, we investigate how often secondary binding sites are located on proteins by analyzing 24 protein targets for which we have performed a fragment screen using X-ray crystallography. Our analysis shows that, surprisingly, the majority of proteins contain secondary binding sites based on their ability to bind fragments. Furthermore, sequence analysis of these previously unknown sites indicate high conservation, which suggests that they may have a biological function, perhaps via an allosteric mechanism. Comparing the physicochemical properties of the secondary sites with known primary ligand binding sites also shows broad similarities indicating that many of the secondary sites may be druggable in nature with small molecules that could provide new opportunities to modulate potential therapeutic targets.

scholarly journals A mutagenesis screen for essential plastid biogenesis genes in human malaria parasites

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Tang ◽  
Thomas R. Meister ◽  
Marta Walczak ◽  
Michael J. Pulkoski-Gross ◽  
Sanjay B. Hari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Targets ◽  
Metabolic Enzyme ◽  
Parasitic Diseases ◽  
Organelle Biogenesis ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Fluorescent Reporter ◽  
Forward Genetic Screen ◽  
Mutagenesis Screen ◽  
Eukaryotic Diversity ◽  
Tim Barrel

SummaryEndosymbiosis has driven major molecular and cellular innovations. Plasmodium spp. parasites that cause malaria contain an essential, non-photosynthetic plastid, the apicoplast, which originated from a secondary (eukaryote-eukaryote) endosymbiosis. To discover organellar pathways with evolutionary and biomedical significance, we performed a mutagenesis screen for essential genes required for apicoplast biogenesis in P. falciparum. Apicoplast-minus mutants were isolated using a chemical rescue that permits conditional disruption of the apicoplast and a new fluorescent reporter for organelle loss. Five candidate genes were validated (out of 12 identified), including a TIM-barrel protein that likely derived from a core metabolic enzyme but evolved a new activity. Our results demonstrate the first forward genetic screen to assign essential cellular functions to unannotated P. falciparum genes. A putative TIM-barrel enzyme and other newly-identified apicoplast biogenesis proteins open opportunities to discover new mechanisms of organelle biogenesis, molecular evolution underlying eukaryotic diversity, and drug targets against multiple parasitic diseases.

scholarly journals Protein kinase CK2: structure, regulation and role in cellular decisions of life and death

2003 ◽  
Vol 369 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. LITCHFIELD
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Protein Kinase Ck2 ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Serine Threonine Kinase ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Dual Specificity ◽  
Mechanistic Basis ◽  
Kinase Ck2

Protein kinase CK2 ('casein kinase II') has traditionally been classified as a messenger-independent protein serine/threonine kinase that is typically found in tetrameric complexes consisting of two catalytic (α and/or α′) subunits and two regulatory β subunits. Accumulated biochemical and genetic evidence indicates that CK2 has a vast array of candidate physiological targets and participates in a complex series of cellular functions, including the maintenance of cell viability. This review summarizes current knowledge of the structural and enzymic features of CK2, and discusses advances that challenge traditional views of this enzyme. For example, the recent demonstrations that individual CK2 subunits exist outside tetrameric complexes and that CK2 displays dual-specificity kinase activity raises new prospects for the precise elucidation of its regulation and cellular functions. This review also discusses a number of the mechanisms that contribute to the regulation of CK2 in cells, and will highlight emerging insights into the role of CK2 in cellular decisions of life and death. In this latter respect, recent evidence suggests that CK2 can exert an anti-apoptotic role by protecting regulatory proteins from caspase-mediated degradation. The mechanistic basis of the observation that CK2 is essential for viability may reside in part in this ability to protect cellular proteins from caspase action. Furthermore, this anti-apoptotic function of CK2 may contribute to its ability to participate in transformation and tumorigenesis.

scholarly journals Relating GPI-Anchored Ly6 Proteins uPAR and CD59 to Viral Infection

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu ◽  
Murthy ◽  
Liu
Keyword(s):  
Viral Infection ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Lymphocyte Antigen ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
Type Plasminogen Activator ◽  
Cell Adhesion And Migration ◽  
And Migration

The Ly6 (lymphocyte antigen-6)/uPAR (urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor) superfamily protein is a group of molecules that share limited sequence homology but conserved three-fingered structures. Despite diverse cellular functions, such as in regulating host immunity, cell adhesion, and migration, the physiological roles of these factors in vivo remain poorly characterized. Notably, increasing research has focused on the interplays between Ly6/uPAR proteins and viral pathogens, the results of which have provided new insight into viral entry and virus–host interactions. While LY6E (lymphocyte antigen 6 family member E), one key member of the Ly6E/uPAR-family proteins, has been extensively studied, other members have not been well characterized. Here, we summarize current knowledge of Ly6/uPAR proteins related to viral infection, with a focus on uPAR and CD59. Our goal is to provide an up-to-date view of the Ly6/uPAR-family proteins and associated virus–host interaction and viral pathogenesis.

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