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page 1 of 142 pages | next »Molecular Diversity of Telomeric Sequences
Marita Cohn
Telomeric DNA generally comprises a repetitive, noncoding sequence which terminates in a single‑stranded extension, the 3\' overhang. Although these species‑specific repeats show a large diversity in sequence and length, they comprise some specific characteristic conserved features. Ther...
Mitochondrial Telomeres: An Evolutionary Paradigm for the Emergence of Telomeric Structures and Their Replication Strategies
Jozef Nosek and Ľubomír Tomáska
Linear DNA genomes are sporadically found among viruses, bacteria and organelles. In contrast, virtually all eukaryotic species harbor in their nuclei chromosomes consisting of linear DNA molecules that terminate with specific structures termed telomeres, indicating that this genomic or chromosomal ...
Cancer as a Microevolutionary Process Affecting Telomere Structure and Dynamics: The Contribution of Telomeres to Cancer
J. Arturo Londoño-Vallejo
Telomeres play fundamental roles in genome stability, nuclear architecture and chromosome pairing during meiosis. They shorten at every cell division and may be re‑elongated or not depending on the presence of the dedicated enzyme, telomerase. Since in most human somatic cells telomerase is no...
Drosophila Telomeres: A Variation on the Telomerase Theme
Mary-Lou Pardue and P. Gregory DeBaryshe
In Drosophila, the role of telomerase is carried out by three specialized retrotransposable elements, HeT‑A, TART and Tahre. Telomeres contain long tandem head‑to‑tail arrays of these elements. Within each array, the three elements occur in random, but polarized, order. Some are tr...
Evolution, Composition and Interrelated Functions of Telomeres and Subtelomeres: Lessons from Plants
Jiří Fajkus, Andrew R. Leitch, Michael Chester and Eva Sýkorová
The terminal parts of chromosomes, telomeres and their subtelomeric neighbors are reviewed. Both have common and specific features that interact to generate the unique and essential biology that characterizes telomeres. The chromatin of both chromosome domains has a nucleosomal structure and their D...
Telomeres: Guardians of Genomic Integrity or Double Agents of Evolution?
Michael McEachern
Telomeres are crucial components required for genomic stability. Telomere dysfunction can result in enormously elevated rates of chromosomal alterations, particularly in subtelomeric regions. Interestingly, the chromosomal regions in the vicinity of telomeres are often among the most rapidly evolvin...
Telomerase: Evolution, Structure and Function
Marie-Eve Brault, Yasmin D'Souza and Chantal Autexier
Telomerase is a unique ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase that uses an integral RNA template to catalyze the addition of telomeric repeats at telomeres. This mechanism is required for the maintenance of chromosome termini, as the structure and integrity of telomeres are essential for genome sta...
Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres in Mammalian Cells
Anthony J. Cesare and Roger R. Reddel
For human cells to achieve immortalization they must bypass multiple proliferative checkpoints and acquire a telomere maintenance mechanism to counteract the natural telomere attrition that results from the end‑replication problem. A number of human tumors and cells immortalized in culture mai...
Prokaryotic Telomeres: Replication Mechanisms and Evolution
Sherwood R. Casjens and Wai Mun Huang
Two types of bacterial telomeres of linear genomes are known. One type involves the covalent attachment of a terminal protein to each of the 5\'‑ends and the protective terminal protein is part of the priming complex in new rounds of DNA replication. The second type is a protein free DNA end i...
Evolution of Telomere Binding Proteins
Martin P. Horvath
Telomere binding proteins provide essential functions for chromosome maintenance in most eukaryotes and consequently are well suited for analysis in the context of evolution. This review focuses on patterns gleaned from structural and functional characterization of telomere proteins that reveal cont...
T‑Loops, T‑Circles and Slippery Forks
Sarah A. Compton, Anthony J. Cesare, Nicole Fouche, Sezgin Ozgur and Jack D. Griffith
All species with linear chromosomes require telomeres, whose role is to stabilize chromosome ends and prevent undesirable recombination‑mediated or DNA repair‑mediated events involving these DNA ends. The telomeres of most higher eukaryotic species are composed of very long tracts of a s...
Telomere Position Effect and the Evolution of the Genome
Frederique Magdinier, Alexandre Ottaviani and Eric Gilson
It is now well known that chromatin structure and subnuclear environment play universal roles in the regulation of gene transcription and any type of DNA transactions, including the 3Rs (replication, recombination and repair). Most telomeres and subtelomeres from Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Homo sap...
The role of FasL and Fas in Health and Disease
Martin Ehrenschwender and Harald Wajant
The FS7‑associated cell surface antigen (Fas, also named CD95, APO‑1 or TNFRSF6) attracted considerable interest in the field of apoptosis research since its discovery in 1989. The groups of Shin Yonehara and Peter Krammer were the first reporting extensive apoptotic cell death induction...
Foxa1 and Foxa2 Transcription Factors Regulate Differentiation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons
Siew-Lan Ang
Midbrain dopaminergic neurons (mDA), comprising the substantia nigra pars compacta (A8), the ventral tegmental area (A9) and the retrorubal field (A10) subgroups, are generated from floor plate progenitors, rostral to the isthmic boundary. Floor plate progenitors are specified to become mDA progenit...
Percutaneous Treatment of Surgical Bile Duct Injury
Gianpaolo Carrafiello , Domenico Laganà, Monica Mangini, Federico Fontana, Massimiliano Dizonno, Andrea Ianniello, Elisa Cotta, Riad Salem and Carlo Fugazzola
Surgical bile duct injury (SBDI) is one of the most serious complications of hepato‑biliary surgery and liver transplantation. Regardless of the improvements in surgical techniques in recent years, SBDI remains a critical problem and a major cause of morbidity. Proper diagnosis and treatment o...
The Role of B27 Heavy Chain Dimer Immune Receptor Interactions in Spondyloarthritis
Simon Kollnberger and Paul Bowness
HLA‑B27 (B27) is strongly associated with spondyloarthopathy. The classical role of B27 is to present peptides from intracellular pathogens as a heterotrimeric complex with β2 microglobulin for recognition by the T‑cell receptor (TCR) of CD8 T‑cells. In addition to heterotrime...
Is Leptin a Pro‑ or Anti‑Apoptotic Agent?
Srujana Rayalam, Mary Anne Della-Fera, Suresh Ambati and Clifton A. Baile
Apoptosis, the regulated destruction of a cell, is characterized by biological and morphological changes and involves a large web of integrating pathways and factors. Apoptosis is necessary to eliminate excess cells and cells that hinder development and hence the importance of apoptotic pathways and...
Clinical Assessment in the Spondyloarthropathies
Ruth Wittoek and Herman Mielants
In order to measure disease activity, progression and response to therapy, it is important to use accurate, reliable and feasible outcome measures that can ideally be used in longitudinal cohorts, clinical trials and clinical practice.rnWith emerging therapies, the focus on the methodology of outcom...
Pancreas Preservation
Shinichi Matsumoto, Hirofumi Noguchi, Naoya Kobayashi, Angelika Gruessner and David E.R. Sutherland
Pancreas preservation is an essential process prior to both pancreas transplantation and islet isolation. Traditionally, research on pancreas preservation focused on pancreas transplantation. Recently, we focused on islet isolation and transplantation and then created a new solution.rnIn this chapte...
Leptin Signal Transduction—A 2008 Update
Walter Becker
Leptin is an adipocyte‑secreted hormone that informs the brain about the status of the body’s energy stores. Leptin controls energy homeostasis through effects on satiety and energy expenditure but also regulates other processes, including reproduction, glycemic control, immune function and wo...
Calcium Regulation and Signaling in Apicomplexan Parasites
Kisaburo Nagamune, Silvia N. Moreno, Eduardo N. Chini and L. David Sibley
Apicomplexan parasites rely on calcium-mediated signaling for a variety of vital functions including protein secretion, motility, cell invasion, and differentiation. These functions are controlled by a variety of specialized systems for uptake and release of calcium, which acts as a second messenger...
Trypanosoma cruzi: Parasite and Host Cell Signaling during the Invasion Process
Nobuko Yoshida and Mauro Cortez
Mammalian cell invasion by Trypanosoma cruzi is a complex process in which various parasite and host cell components interact, triggering the activation of signaling cascades and Ca2+ mobilization in both cells. Using metacyclic trypomastigotes (MT) generated in vitro and tissue culture-derived tryp...
Role of the gp85/Trans-Sialidase Superfamily of Glycoproteins in the Interaction of Trypanosoma cruzi with Host Structures
Maria Júlia M. Alves and Walter Colli
Invasion of mammalian cells by T. cruzi trypomastigotes is a multi-step and complex process involving several adhesion molecules, signaling events and proteolytic activities. From the blood to the cell target in different tissues the parasite has to interact with different cells and the extracellula...
Microneme Proteins in Apicomplexans
Vern B. Carruthers and Fiona M. Tomley
The invasive stages (zoites) of most apicomplexan parasites are polarised cells that use their actinomyosin-powered gliding motility or “glideosome” system to move over surfaces, migrate through biological barriers and invade and leave host cells. Central to these processes is the timely engagement ...
Erythrocyte Invasion by Plasmodium falciparum: Multiple Ligand-Receptor Interactions and Phenotypic Switching
Manoj Duraisingh, Tiffany DeSimone, Cameron Jennings, Philippe Refour and Chenwei Wu
Infection with the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes the most severe form of human malaria with over two million deaths per year. The clinical symptoms of malaria infection result from the rapid exponential expansion of parasites during the asexual erythrocytic phase of the P. falcipar...
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