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Woodchuck is an important animal model for studying human hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Within the cytokine network, interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an important role in immune responses that may lead to viral clearance. To further understand woodchuck IL-6 biology, we cloned and characterized the IL-6 gene from white blood cells. The complete woodchuck IL-6 gene is about 7 kb and consists of five...
Glutathione SH-transferase (GST) is a 25-kDa protein and a member of a large family that plays a critical role in the cellular homeostasis of all organisms. In this report, we describe a novel GST-containing protein identified and cloned from Drosophila. This 1045 amino acid protein possesses a zinc finger domain with a tandem array of four FLYWCH zinc finger motifs at its N-terminus and a C-terminal...
The type X collagen gene is the classical marker of hypertrophic chondrocytes. Mutations in the human collagen X gene cause metaphyseal chondrodysplasia type Schmid (MCDS). In order to gain insight into the evolution of collagen X genes, we identified a putative collagen X gene from the pufferfish Fugu rubripes. We demonstrated expression of the putative Fugu collagen X gene by reverse transcription–polymerase...
New evidence suggests that abundant small RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) act as regulatory vehicles to repress translation or cleave RNA transcripts, depending on their complementarity to the target gene, and result in modulation of gene expression. This review describes that the miRNAs derived from introns can suppress intracellular RNA homologues and regulate the gene function.
The large neuregulin 1 gene (NRG1) has been mapped to a 1.125 Mb region on chromosome 8p11–21. Three major forms of NRG1 (types I–III), all with distinct amino-termini encoded by unique 5′-exons, have been described. We report here the discovery of nine novel NRG1 exons, including six alternative 5′-exons, increasing the number of potential promoters in NRG1 from three to nine. The novel transcripts...
Systemic hormones and local growth factors have significant and often complex roles in normal tissue development, growth, remodeling, and repair. Early efforts in skeletal tissue attempted to define active panels of these agents and their direct effects on cell proliferation, matrix production, and secretion of other soluble mediators of differentiated cell function. Initial results resolved many...
IκB inhibits nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), which is known to regulate the expression of various genes, including genes involved in inflammation. Recently, a novel IκB family protein, ‘molecule possessing ankyrin repeats induced by lipopolysaccharide’ (MAIL), was identified. MAIL is a nuclear-acting, inducible protein, unlike typical IκB proteins. However, the mechanism of its induction by lipopolysaccharide...
Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) has been characterized in the dicotyledon Arabidopsis thaliana. A TERT homolog has now been identified in the monocotyledon rice (Oryza sativa L.) on the basis of its predicted homology to the A. thaliana enzyme (AtTERT). At least five alternatively spliced transcripts of the rice TERT (OsTERT) gene were detected. The full-length OsTERT protein shares structural...
The PAX7 gene encodes an evolutionary conserved transcription factor that is involved in the determination of the myogenic cell lineage during the development of vertebrates. In the postnatal period, the function of PAX7 is ultimately required for the specification of muscle satellite cells. The fact that PAX7 is expressed in fast proliferating embryonal myoblasts and in quiescent satellite cells...
The genomic region of Marinomonas mediterranea containing the genes required for tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis has been cloned by marker rescue using the transposon-generated, amelanogenic strain T105. Five ORFs, two incomplete and three complete, have been sequenced in the genomic region where the transposon was inserted. RT-PCR analysis indicates that ORF 3, coding for tyrosinase, and...
The aim of this study was to characterise a novel family of inflammatory genes induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines in primary human endothelial cells. Using a genome-wide array screen two previously uncharacterised genes, NLF1 and NLF2 were identified that were upregulated over 30 fold by treatment with interleukin 1β for 2 h. They were also found to respond to tumour necrosis factor α, suggesting...
By degenerate PCR and screening of mouse testis cDNA library, we have identified seven cDNAs from the meiotic recombination gene Msh4. Variant α and probably β are likely involved in meiotic DNA recombination. Other variants have distinctive structures; variant ɛ, θ and ι form a bicistronic operon, while variant δ contains antisense RNA for the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperon Hspa5 gene and small...
An orthologue to the mammalian epithelial calcium channels, ECaC1 (TRPV5) and ECaC2 (TRPV6), was cloned from gill of pufferfish (Fugu rubripes) and characterised, demonstrating that this gene predates the evolution of land-living vertebrates. The F. rubripes ECaC (FrECaC) protein displays all structural features typical for mammalian ECaCs including three ankyrin repeats, six transmembrane domains,...
The determinants of in vivo target site selectivity by transcription factors are poorly understood. To find targets for the developmentally regulated transcription factor TBX2, we generated stable transfectants of human embryonic kidney cells (293) that express a TBX2-ecdysone receptor (EcR) chimeric protein. While constitutive expression of TBX2 is toxic to 293 cells, clones expressing TBX2EcR are...
Analysis of the automated computer annotation of the early draft phase genome of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM revealed the previously discovered S-layer gene slpA and an additional partial ORF with weak similarities to S-layer proteins. The entire gene was sequenced to reveal a 1799-bp gene coding for 599 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 64.8 kDa. No transcription or translation signals...
Synectin, a PDZ2 protein, binds to a number of plasma membrane receptors. We characterized synectin promoter and carried out a detailed expression survey. The protein is widely distributed in adult cells and tissues. Expression in the mouse embryo is apparent at day 4.5, peaks at day 12.5 and declines to its adult levels by day 18.5. The level of synectin transcription was minimally affected by exposure...
A variety of studies that are currently underway may validate the fruit fly as an in vivo model for analyzing genes involved in cardiac function. Many mutations in conserved genetic pathways have been found, including those controlling development and physiology. Because homologous genes control early developmental events as well as functional components of the Drosophila and vertebrate hearts, the...
Histones are the major protein component of nucleosomes, and de novo histone synthesis is essential for packaging newly replicated DNA into chromatin. As a result, histone gene expression is exquisitely and functionally coupled with DNA replication. Vastly divergent organisms such as yeast, fly and human all demonstrate the phylogenetically conserved propensity to maintain clustering of histone genes...
Reduced expression of topoisomerase II is one of the mechanisms observed in cell lines and clinical samples that are resistant to topoisomerase II-targeting agents. The Chinese hamster lung cell line DC-3F/9-OH-E made resistant to 9-OH ellipticine and cross-resistant to other topoisomerase II inhibitors has previously been shown to express lower level of topoisomerase IIα isoform, than the parental...
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