Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Recent Submissions
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CIRCADIAN CLOCK-ASSOCIATED1 Controls Resistance to Aphids by Altering Indole Glucosinolate Production
(2019)CIRCADIAN CLOCK-ASSOCIATED1 (CCA1), a well-known central circadian clock regulator, coordinates plant responses to environmental challenges. Its daily rhythmic expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) confers host resistance to the caterpillar Trichoplusia ni. However, it is unclear whether CCA1 plays a role in defense against phloem sap-feeding ... -
CLN8 is an endoplasmic reticulum cargo receptor that regulates lysosome biogenesis
(2018)Organelle biogenesis requires proper transport of proteins from their site of synthesis to their target subcellular compartment1,2,3. Lysosomal enzymes are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and traffic through the Golgi complex before being transferred to the endolysosomal system4,5,6, but how they are transferred from the ER to the Golgi ... -
OncomiR-10b hijacks the small molecule inhibitor linifanib in human cancers
(2018)The pervasive role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer pathobiology drives the introduction of new drug development approaches such as miRNA inhibition. In order to advance miRNA-therapeutics, meticulous screening strategies addressing specific tumor targets are needed. Small molecule inhibitors represent an attractive goal for these strategies. In this ... -
Hyaluronan: A simple polysaccharide with diverse biological functions
(2014)Hyaluronan (HA) is a linear polysaccharide with disaccharide repeats of d-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine. It is evolutionarily conserved and abundantly expressed in the extracellular matrix (ECM), on the cell surface and even inside cells. Being a simple polysaccharide, HA exhibits an astonishing array of biological functions. HA interacts ... -
Deficiency in Perlecan/HSPG2 During Bone Development Enhances Osteogenesis and Decreases Quality of Adult Bone in Mice
(2014)Perlecan/HSPG2 (Pln) is a large heparan sulfate proteoglycan abundant in the extracellular matrix of cartilage and the lacunocanalicular space of adult bones. Although Pln function during cartilage development is critical, evidenced by deficiency disorders including Schwartz–Jampel Syndrome and dyssegmental dysplasia Silverman-Handmaker type, little ... -
Structure, Dynamics, and Specificity of Endoglucanase D from Clostridium cellulovorans
(2013)The enzymatic degradation of cellulose is a critical step in the biological conversion of plant biomass into an abundant renewable energy source. An understanding of the structural and dynamic features that cellulases utilize to bind a single strand of crystalline cellulose and hydrolyze the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds of cellulose to produce fermentable ... -
A promoter-level mammalian expression atlas
(2014)Regulated transcription controls the diversity, developmental pathways and spatial organization of the hundreds of cell types that make up a mammal. Using single-molecule cDNA sequencing, we mapped transcription start sites (TSSs) and their usage in human and mouse primary cells, cell lines and tissues to produce a comprehensive overview of mammalian ... -
SCHEMA Computational Design of Virus Capsid Chimeras: Calibrating How Genome Packaging, Protection, and Transduction Correlate with Calculated Structural Disruption
(2013)Adeno-associated virus (AAV) recombination can result in chimeric capsid protein subunits whose ability to assemble into an oligomeric capsid, package a genome, and transduce cells depends on the inheritance of sequence from different AAV parents. To develop quantitative design principles for guiding site-directed recombination of AAV capsids, we ... -
Perlecan-Containing Pericellular Matrix Regulates Solute Transport and Mechanosensing Within the Osteocyte Lacunar-Canalicular System
(2014)The pericellular matrix (PCM), a thin coating surrounding nearly all mammalian cells, plays a critical role in many cell-surface phenomena. In osteocytes, the PCM is believed to control both “outside-in” (mechanosensing) and “inside-out” (signaling molecule transport) processes. However, the osteocytic PCM is challenging to study in situ because it ... -
The crystal structure of BlmI as a model for nonribosomal peptide synthetase peptidyl carrier proteins
(2014)Carrier proteins (CPs) play a critical role in the biosynthesis of various natural products, especially in nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and polyketide synthase (PKS) enzymology, where the CPs are referred to as peptidyl-carrier proteins (PCPs) or acyl-carrier proteins (ACPs), respectively. CPs can either be a domain in large multifunctional ... -
Hyaluronan (HA) Interacting Proteins RHAMM and Hyaluronidase Impact Prostate Cancer Cell Behavior and Invadopodia Formation in 3D HA-Based Hydrogels
(2012)To study the individual functions of hyaluronan interacting proteins in prostate cancer (PCa) motility through connective tissues, we developed a novel three-dimensional (3D) hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel assay that provides a flexible, quantifiable, and physiologically relevant alternative to current methods. Invasion in this system reflects the ... -
Recreating the tumor microenvironment in a bilayer, hyaluronic acid hydrogel construct for the growth of prostate cancer spheroids
(2012)Cancer cells cultured in physiologically relevant, three-dimensional (3D) matrices can recapture many essential features of native tumor tissues. In this study, a hyaluronic acid (HA)-based bilayer hydrogel system that not only supports the tumoroid formation from LNCaP prostate cancer (PCa) cells, but also simulates their reciprocal interactions ... -
Transcriptional Activation by NFκB Increases Perlecan/HSPG2 Expression in the Desmoplastic Prostate Tumor Microenvironment
(2014)Perlecan/HSPG2, a heparan sulfate proteoglycan typically found at tissue borders including those separating epithelia and connective tissue, increases near sites of invasion of primary prostatic tumors as previously shown for other proteins involved in desmoplastic tissue reaction. Studies of prostate cancer cells and stromal cells from both prostate ... -
A novel in vivo model for evaluating functional restoration of a tissue-engineered salivary gland
(2014)Objectives/Hypothesis: To create a novel model for development of a tissue-engineered salivary gland from human salivary gland cells that retains progenitor cell markers useful for treatment of radiation-induced xerostomia. Study Design: A three-dimensional (3D) hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel scaffold was used to encapsulate primary human salivary ... -
p62/SQSTM1 is required for cell survival of apoptosis-resistant bone metastatic prostate cancer cell lines
(2014)BACKGROUND: Bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) paracrine factor(s) can induce apoptosis in bone metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines. However, the PCa cells that escape BMSC-induced apoptosis can upregulate cytoprotective autophagy. METHODS: C4-2, C4-2B, MDA PCa 2a, MDA PCa 2b, VCaP, PC3, or DU145 PCa cell lines were grown in BMSC conditioned ... -
Redox properties of human hemoglobin in complex with fractionated dimeric and polymeric human haptoglobin
(2014)Haptoglobin (Hp) is an abundant and conserved plasma glycoprotein, which binds acellular adult hemoglobin (Hb) dimers with high affinity and facilitates their rapid clearance from circulation after hemolysis. Humans possess three main phenotypes of Hp, designated Hp 1-1, Hp 2-1, and Hp 2-2. These variants exhibit diverse structural configurations and ... -
Modeling delay in genetic networks: From delay birth-death processes to delay stochastic differential equations
(2014)Delay is an important and ubiquitous aspect of many biochemical processes. For example, delay plays a central role in the dynamics of genetic regulatory networks as it stems from the sequential assembly of first mRNA and then protein. Genetic regulatory networks are therefore frequently modeled as stochastic birth-death processes with delay. Here, ... -
The Constrained Maximal Expression Level Owing to Haploidy Shapes Gene Content on the Mammalian X Chromosome
(2015)X chromosomes are unusual in many regards, not least of which is their nonrandom gene content. The causes of this bias are commonly discussed in the context of sexual antagonism and the avoidance of activity in the male germline. Here, we examine the notion that, at least in some taxa, functionally biased gene content may more profoundly be shaped ... -
The PRE-Derived NMR Model of the 38.8-kDa Tri-Domain IsdH Protein from Staphylococcus aureus Suggests That It Adaptively Recognizes Human Hemoglobin
(2016)Staphylococcus aureus is a medically important bacterial pathogen that, during infections, acquires iron from human hemoglobin (Hb). It uses two closely related iron-regulated surface determinant (Isd) proteins to capture and extract the oxidized form of heme (hemin) from Hb, IsdH and IsdB. Both receptors rapidly extract hemin using a conserved ...
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