Craniofacial, vestibular and bone defects in mice lacking the Distal-less-related gene Dlx5

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (17) ◽  
pp. 3795-3809 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Acampora ◽  
G.R. Merlo ◽  
L. Paleari ◽  
B. Zerega ◽  
M.P. Postiglione ◽  
...  

The Dlx5 gene encodes a Distal-less-related DNA-binding homeobox protein first expressed during early embryonic development in anterior regions of the mouse embryo. In later developmental stages, it appears in the branchial arches, the otic and olfactory placodes and their derivatives, in restricted brain regions, in all extending appendages and in all developing bones. We have created a null allele of the mouse Dlx5 gene by replacing exons I and II with the E. coli lacZ gene. Heterozygous mice appear normal. Beta-galactosidase activity in Dlx5+/− embryos and newborn animals reproduces the known pattern of expression of the gene. Homozygous mutants die shortly after birth with a swollen abdomen. They present a complex phenotype characterised by craniofacial abnormalities affecting derivatives of the first four branchial arches, severe malformations of the vestibular organ, a delayed ossification of the roof of the skull and abnormal osteogenesis. No obvious defect was observed in the patterning of limbs and other appendages. The defects observed in Dlx5−/− mutant animals suggest multiple and independent roles of this gene in the patterning of the branchial arches, in the morphogenesis of the vestibular organ and in osteoblast differentiation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-488
Author(s):  
Heli Sanghvi ◽  
Satyendra Mishra

Background: Curcumin, one of the most important pharmacologically significant natural products, has gained significant consideration among scientists for decades since its multipharmacological activities. 1, 3-Dicarbonyl moiety of curcumin was found to be accountable for the rapid degradation of curcumin molecule. The aim of present work is to replace 1, 3-dicarbonyl moiety of curcumin by pyrazole and phenylpyrazole derivatives with a view to improving its stability and to investigate the role of substitution in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin on its antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria. Methods: Pyrazole derivatives of curcumin were prepared by heating curcumin with phenyhydrazine/ substituted phenyhydrazine derivatives in AcOH. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography. Structures of purified compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR and Mass spectroscopy. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity by the microdilution broth susceptibility test method against gram positive (S. aureus) and gram negative (E. coli). Results: Effects of substitution in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin derivatives against S. aureus and E. coli were studied. The most active N-(3-Nitrophenylpyrazole) curcumin (12) exhibits twenty-fold more potency against S. aureus (MIC: 10μg/mL)) and N-(2-Fluoroophenylpyrazole) curcumin (5) fivefold more potency against E. coli (MIC; 50 μg/mL) than N-phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Whereas, a remarkable decline in anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli was observed when electron donating groups were incorporated in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Comparative studies of synthesized compounds suggest the effects of electron withdrawing and electron donating groups on unsubstituted phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Conclusion: The structure-activity relationship (SAR) results indicated that the electron withdrawing and electron donating at N-phenylpyrazole curcumin played key roles for their bacterial inhibitory effects. The results of the antibacterial evaluation showed that the synthesized pyrazole derivatives of curcumin displayed moderate to very high activity in S. aureus. In conclusion, the series of novel curcumin derivatives were designed, synthesized and tested for their antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. Among them, N-(3-Nitrophenylpyrazole curcumin; 12) was most active against S. aureus (Gram-positive) and N-(2-Fluoroophenylpyrazole) curcumin (5) against E. coli (Gram-negative) bacteria.


Genetics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Eric Alani ◽  
Nancy Kleckner

ABSTRACT We have made constructs that join the promoter sequences and a portion of the coding region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae HIS4 and GAL1 genes and the E. coli lacZ gene to the sixth codon of the S. cerevisiae URA3 gene (encodes orotidine-5′-phosphate (OMP) decarboxylase) to form three in frame protein fusions. In each case the fusion protein has OMP decarboxylase activity as assayed by complementation tests and this activity is properly regulated. A convenient cassette consisting of the URA3 segment plus some immediately proximal amino acids of HIS4C is available for making URA3 fusions to other proteins of interest. URA3 fusions offer several advantages over other systems for gene fusion analysis: the URA3 specified protein is small and cytosolic; genetic selections exist to identify mutants with either increased or decreased URA3 function in both yeast (S. cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe) and bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium); and a sensitive OMP decarboxylase enzyme assay is available. Also, OMP decarboxylase activity is present in mammals, Drosophila and plants, so URA3 fusions may eventually be applicable in these other organisms as well.


1994 ◽  
Vol 180 (6) ◽  
pp. 2147-2153 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Pizza ◽  
M R Fontana ◽  
M M Giuliani ◽  
M Domenighini ◽  
C Magagnoli ◽  
...  

Escherichia coli enterotoxin (LT) and the homologous cholera toxin (CT) are A-B toxins that cause travelers' diarrhea and cholera, respectively. So far, experimental live and killed vaccines against these diseases have been developed using only the nontoxic B portion of these toxins. The enzymatically active A subunit has not been used because it is responsible for the toxicity and it is reported to induce a negligible titer of toxin neutralizing antibodies. We used site-directed mutagenesis to inactivate the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of the A subunit and obtained nontoxic derivatives of LT that elicited a good titer of neutralizing antibodies recognizing the A subunit. These LT mutants and equivalent mutants of CT may be used to improve live and killed vaccines against cholera and enterotoxinogenic E. coli.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 2588-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir A Stepchenko ◽  
Anatoly I Miroshnikov ◽  
Frank Seela ◽  
Igor A Mikhailopulo

The trans-2-deoxyribosylation of 4-thiouracil (4SUra) and 2-thiouracil (2SUra), as well as 6-azauracil, 6-azathymine and 6-aza-2-thiothymine was studied using dG and E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) for the in situ generation of 2-deoxy-α-D-ribofuranose-1-phosphate (dRib-1P) followed by its coupling with the bases catalyzed by either E. coli thymidine (TP) or uridine (UP) phosphorylases. 4SUra revealed satisfactory substrate activity for UP and, unexpectedly, complete inertness for TP; no formation of 2’-deoxy-2-thiouridine (2SUd) was observed under analogous reaction conditions in the presence of UP and TP. On the contrary, 2SU, 2SUd, 4STd and 2STd are good substrates for both UP and TP; moreover, 2SU, 4STd and 2’-deoxy-5-azacytidine (Decitabine) are substrates for PNP and the phosphorolysis of the latter is reversible. Condensation of 2SUra and 5-azacytosine with dRib-1P (Ba salt) catalyzed by the accordant UP and PNP in Tris∙HCl buffer gave 2SUd and 2’-deoxy-5-azacytidine in 27% and 15% yields, respectively. 6-Azauracil and 6-azathymine showed good substrate properties for both TP and UP, whereas only TP recognizes 2-thio-6-azathymine as a substrate. 5-Phenyl and 5-tert-butyl derivatives of 6-azauracil and its 2-thioxo derivative were tested as substrates for UP and TP, and only 5-phenyl- and 5-tert-butyl-6-azauracils displayed very low substrate activity. The role of structural peculiarities and electronic properties in the substrate recognition by E. coli nucleoside phosphorylases is discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
MZ Alam ◽  
L Regioneiri ◽  
MAS Santos

The synthesis of protein according to genetic code of a gene determines the basis of life and a stable proteome is necessary for cell homeostatis. However, errors occur naturally during translation of protein from its mRNA, which varies from 10-3 to 10-4 per codon. These errors are more frequent in recombinant protein overexpressed in heterologous hosts and affect protein functionality. The increasing amount of nonfunctional protein is often related to mistranslation of a gene under stress. In the present study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a host organism to overexpress E. coli lacZ gene fusion with GST to quantify misincorporation of amino acid in GST-? galactosidase recombinant protein. The yeast was treated with various stressors such as ethanol, chromium (CrO3), and aminoglycoside antibiotic - geneticin (G418) to induce protein aggregation. The misincorporation of amino acids was studied in soluble protein fractions by mass-spectrometry to determine how much misincorporation occur. We found that under experimental stress conditions the misincorporation of amino acids ranges from 5.6 ×10-3 to 8 × 10-3, which represents 60-80 fold higher than reported level. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v42i1.15760 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2013. 42 (1): 11-19


Antibiotics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice Mgbeahuruike ◽  
Pia Fyhrquist ◽  
Heikki Vuorela ◽  
Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto ◽  
Yvonne Holm

Piper guineense is a food and medicinal plant commonly used to treat infectious diseases in West-African traditional medicine. In a bid to identify new antibacterial compounds due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, twelve extracts of P. guineense fruits and leaves, obtained by sequential extraction, as well as the piperine and piperlongumine commercial compounds were evaluated for antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria. HPLC-DAD and UHPLC/Q-TOF MS analysis were conducted to characterize and identify the compounds present in the extracts with promising antibacterial activity. The extracts, with the exception of the hot water decoctions and macerations, contained piperamide alkaloids as their main constituents. Piperine, dihydropiperine, piperylin, dihydropiperylin or piperlonguminine, dihydropiperlonguminine, wisanine, dihydrowisanine and derivatives of piperine and piperidine were identified in a hexane extract of the leaf. In addition, some new piperamide alkaloids were identified, such as a piperine and a piperidine alkaloid derivative and two unknown piperamide alkaloids. To the best of our knowledge, there are no piperamides reported in the literature with similar UVλ absorption maxima and masses. A piperamide alkaloid-rich hexane leaf extract recorded the lowest MIC of 19 µg/mL against Sarcina sp. and gave promising growth inhibitory effects against S. aureus and E. aerogenes as well, inhibiting the growth of both bacteria with a MIC of 78 µg/mL. Moreover, this is the first report of the antibacterial activity of P. guineense extracts against Sarcina sp. and E. aerogenes. Marked growth inhibition was also obtained for chloroform extracts of the leaves and fruits against P. aeruginosa with a MIC value of 78 µg/mL. Piperine and piperlongumine were active against E. aerogenes, S. aureus, E. coli, S. enterica, P. mirabilis and B. cereus with MIC values ranging from 39–1250 µg/mL. Notably, the water extracts, which were almost devoid of piperamide alkaloids, were not active against the bacterial strains. Our results demonstrate that P. guineense contains antibacterial alkaloids that could be relevant for the discovery of new natural antibiotics.


RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (97) ◽  
pp. 54217-54225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Chetan B. Sangani ◽  
Li-Xin Jia ◽  
Pi-Xian Gong ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
...  

Series of novel Schiff's base derivatives have been synthesized. Compound 10q showed the most potent inhibitory activity (IC50 = 2.6883 μM).


1997 ◽  
Vol 226 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Abe ◽  
Y Setoguchi ◽  
T Hayashi ◽  
Y Itoyama
Keyword(s):  

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Schughart ◽  
C.J. Bieberich ◽  
R. Eid ◽  
F.H. Ruddle

To characterize cis-acting regulatory elements of the murine homeobox gene, Hox-2.2, transgenic mouse lines were generated that contained the LacZ reporter gene under the control of different fragments from the presumptive Hox-2.2 promoter. A promoter region of 3600 base pairs (bp) was identified, which reproducibly directed reporter gene expression into specific regions of developing mouse embryos. At 8.5 days postcoitum (p.c.) reporter gene activity was detected in posterior regions of the lateral mesoderm and, in subsequent developmental stages, expression of the LacZ gene was restricted to specific regions of the developing limb buds and the mesenchyme of the ventrolateral body region. This pattern of Hox-2.2-LacZ expression was found in all transgenic embryos that have been generated with the 3.6 kb promoter fragment (two founder embryos and embryos from five transgenic lines). In addition, embryos from two transgenic mouse lines expressed the reporter gene at low levels in the developing central nervous system (CNS). Our results are consistent with the idea that in addition to their presumptive role in CNS and vertebrae development, Hox-2.2 gene products are involved in controlling pattern formation in developing limbs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Yunfei Tang ◽  
Yamei Liu ◽  
Lei Tong ◽  
Shini Feng ◽  
Dongshu Du ◽  
...  

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurological disease characterized by impaired social communication and interaction skills, rigid behavior, decreased interest, and repetitive activities. The disease has a high degree of genetic heterogeneity, and the genetic cause of ASD in many autistic individuals is currently unclear. In this study, we report a patient with ASD whose clinical features included social interaction disorder, communication disorder, and repetitive behavior. We examined the patient’s genetic variation using whole-exome sequencing technology and found new de novo mutations. After analysis and evaluation, ARRB2 was identified as a candidate gene. To study the potential contribution of the ARRB2 gene to the human brain development and function, we first evaluated the expression profile of this gene in different brain regions and developmental stages. Then, we used weighted gene coexpression network analysis to analyze the associations between ARRB2 and ASD risk genes. Additionally, the spatial conformation and stability of the ARRB2 wild type and mutant proteins were examined by simulations. Then, we further established a mouse model of ASD. The results showed abnormal ARRB2 expression in the mouse ASD model. Our study showed that ARRB2 may be a risk gene for ASD, but the contribution of de novo ARRB2 mutations to ASD is unclear. This information will provide references for the etiology of ASD and aid in the mechanism-based drug development and treatment.


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