Glycogen: an overview of possible regulatory roles of the proteins associated with the granuleThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 14th International Biochemistry of Exercise Conference – Muscles as Molecular and Metabolic Machines, and has undergone the Journal’s usual peer review process.

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 488-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry E. Graham

While scientists have routinely measured muscle glycogen in many metabolic situations for over 4 decades, there is surprisingly little known regarding its regulation. In the past decade, considerable evidence has illustrated that the carbohydrate stores in muscle are not homogeneous, and it is very likely that metabolic pools exist or that each granule has independent regulation. The fundamental aspects appear to be associated with a complex set of proteins that associate with both the granule and each other in a dynamic fashion. Some of the proteins are enzymes and others play scaffolding roles. A number of the proteins can translocate, depending on the metabolic stimulus. These various processes appear to be the mechanisms that give the glycogen granule precise yet dynamic regulation. This may also allow the stores to serve as an important metabolic regulator of other metabolic events.

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita A. Thambirajah ◽  
Juan Ausió

There has been a hotbed of activity surrounding MeCP2 research in the past number of years. Despite better characterizing the functions and nature of this protein, it has become abundantly clear that MeCP2 is involved in far more complex activities than perhaps initially anticipated. Recent publications have shown that MeCP2 is dynamically post-translationally modified, and it is possible that these marks permit MeCP2 to inhabit very diverse chromatin environments. It is also of interest to consider how nucleosome composition differs in these varying chromatin regions, and how the chromatin template itself contributes to diversifying the regulatory roles of MeCP2. These will be critical points to examine when seeking to understand how MeCP2 behaviour differentiates in tissues other than the brain. By understanding the chromatin and (or) tissue context in which MeCP2 interacts, it may be possible to discern the specific etiology of diseases linked to MeCP2 dysfunction.


2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Lu ◽  
Joshua M. Klonoski ◽  
Michael G. Resch ◽  
Jeffrey C. Hansen

Chromatin in a eukaryotic nucleus is condensed through 3 hierarchies: primary, secondary, and tertiary chromatin structures. In vitro, when induced with cations, chromatin can self-associate and form large oligomers. This self-association process has been proposed to mimic processes involved in the assembly and maintenance of tertiary chromatin structures in vivo. In this article, we review 30 years of studies of chromatin self-association, with an emphasis on the evidence suggesting that this in vitro process is physiologically relevant.


2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Wendler ◽  
Helen R Saibil

Independent cryo electron microscopy (cryo-EM) studies of the closely related protein disaggregases ClpB and Hsp104 have resulted in two different models of subunit arrangement in the active hexamer. We compare the EM maps and resulting atomic structure fits, discuss their differences, and relate them to published experimental information in an attempt to discriminate between models. In addition, we present some general assessment criteria for low-resolution cryo-EM maps to offer non-structural biologists tools to evaluate these structures.


Author(s):  
Max Meng ◽  
◽  
Witold Pedrycz

The 1999 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and computer Engineering (CCECE'99) was held from May 9 to 12, 1999, at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. The conference was a great success with over 380 papers presented and more than 400 peoples from 38 different countries presenting their recent research results. The area of Computational Intelligence was one of the vivid pursuits presented at the conference. Subsequently, we have been invited by the Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence to prepare a Special Issue of the Journal CCECE'99 conference. After a careful and strict peer review process, we have chosen six papers to be included in this special issue. They are selected from more than 20 papers submitted to this special issue, which are extended versions of the papers presented at the CCECE'99 conference in the areas of advanced computational intelligence. The papers fully reflect the breadth and diversity of conceptual and algorithmic facets of Computational Intelligence along with a spectrum of applications. We thank the authors and reviewers for doing an excellent job. We are grateful to Kaoru Hirota and Toshio Fukuda for making this selection of papers a part of the journal. We do hope the readers will enjoy this issue.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Moustafa

Over the past few years, different changes have been introduced into the science publishing industry. However, important reforms are still required at both the content and form levels. First, the peer review process needs to be open, fair and transparent. Second, author-paid fees in open access journals need to either be removed or reconsidered toward more affordability. Third, the categorization of papers should include all types of scientific contributions that can be of higher interest to the scientific community than many mere quantitative and observable measures, or simply removed from publications. Forth, word counts and reference numbers in online open access journal should be nuanced or replaced by recommended ranges rather than to be a proxy of acceptance or rejection. Finally, all the coauthors of a manuscript should be considered corresponding authors and responsible for their mutual manuscript rather than only one or two.


2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara L. Caterino ◽  
Jeffrey J. Hayes

Linker histones are multifunctional proteins that are involved in a myriad of processes ranging from stabilizing the folding and condensation of chromatin to playing a direct role in regulating gene expression. However, how this class of enigmatic proteins binds in chromatin and accomplishes these functions remains unclear. Here we review data regarding the H1 structure and function in chromatin, with special emphasis on the C-terminal domain (CTD), which typically encompasses approximately half of the mass of the linker histone and includes a large excess of positively charged residues. Owing to its amino acid composition, the CTD was previously proposed to function in chromatin as an unstructured polycation. However, structural studies have shown that the CTD adopts detectable secondary structure when interacting with DNA and macromolecular crowding agents. We describe classic and recent experiments defining the function of this domain in chromatin folding and emerging data indicating that the function of this protein may be linked to intrinsic disorder.


2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Haslberger ◽  
Bernd Bukau ◽  
Axel Mogk

The oligomeric AAA+ chaperones ClpB/Hsp104 mediate the reactivation of aggregated proteins, an activity that is crucial for the survival of cells during severe stress. Hsp104 is also essential for the propagation of yeast prions by severing prion fibres. Protein disaggregation depends on the cooperation of ClpB/Hsp104 with a cognate Hsp70 chaperone system. While Hsp70 chaperones are also involved in prion propagation, their precise role is much less well defined compared with its function in aggregate solubilization. Therefore, it remained unclear whether both ClpB/Hsp104 activities are based on common or different mechanisms. Novel data show that ClpB/Hsp104 uses a motor threading activity to remodel both protein aggregates and prion fibrils. Moreover, transfer of both types of substrates to the ClpB/Hsp104 processing pore site requires initial substrate interaction of Hsp70. Together these data emphasize the similarity of thermotolerance and prion propagation pathways and point to a shared mechanistic principle of Hsp70–ClpB/Hsp104-mediated solubilization of amorphous and ordered aggregates.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1113
Author(s):  

Following acceptance of the Special Issue article by the Guest Editor, El-Sayed Abd El-Aziz, concerns were raised regarding the integrity of the peer review process [...]


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1117
Author(s):  

Following acceptance of the Special Issue article by the Guest Editor, El-Sayed Abd El-Aziz, concerns were raised regarding the integrity of the peer review process [...]


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flaminio Squazzoni ◽  
Giangiacomo Bravo ◽  
Pierpaolo Dondio ◽  
Mike Farjam ◽  
Ana Marusic ◽  
...  

This article examines gender bias in peer review with complete data on 145 journals in various fields of research, including about 1.7 million authors and 740,000 referees. We reconstructed three possible sources of bias, i.e., the editorial selection of referees, referee recommendations, and editorial decisions, and examined all their possible relationships. In line with previous research, we found that editors were sensitive to gender homophily in that they tended to match authors and referee by gender systematically. Results showed that in general manuscripts written by women as solo authors or co-authored by women are treated even more favorably by referees and editors. This is especially so in biomedicine and health journals, whereas women were treated relatively less favorably in social science & humanities journals, i.e., the field in which the ratio of female authors was the highest in our sample. Although with some caveat, our findings suggest that peer review and editorial processes in scholarly journals do not penalize manuscripts by women. However, considering the complex social nature of gender prejudices, journals should increase gender diversity among reviewers and editors as a means of correcting signals potentially biasing the perceptions of authors and referees.


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