Molecular Biology
Chapters
Adhesion‑Dependent Modulation of Macrophage K+ Channels
Margaret Colden-Stanfield
Integrin‑mediated adhesion of monocytes not only triggers cell rolling and diapedesis, it also activates ionic permeability changes resulting in monocyte activation, maturation and differentiation. Mononuclear phagocytes possess voltage‑dependent inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) currents and...
Brain and Neural Networks
Kaneyasu Nishimura, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Yoshihisa Kitamura and Kiyokazu Agata
Freshwater planarians have a relatively well‑organized central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain and the ventral nerve cords (VNCs). Recently, several neural marker genes have been isolated by expressed sequence tag (EST) projects and DNA chip analysis and extensive molecular a...
Chirality, Homochirality and the Order of Biomolecular Interactions
Sandra Pizzarello
Chirality is defined formally as the property of objects that cannot be brought into congruence with their mirror image by translation or rotation. The word derives from the Greek χειρ that means hand and, in fact, the familiar name of “handedness” may explain this property more ...
Coordinated Regulation of Vascular Ca2+ and K+ Channels by Integrin Signaling
Peichun Gui, Jun-Tzu Chao, Xin Wu, Yan Yang, George E. Davis and Michael J. Davis
A role for integrins in mechanotransduction has been suggested because these molecules form an important mechanical link between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the cytoskeleton. An example of mechanotransduction in blood vessels is the myogenic response—the rapid and maintained constriction of a...
Fungal-Derived Immune Modulating Molecules
Tania C. Sorrell and Sharon C.A. Chen
Invasive fungal infections are an increasing clinical problem for which new therapeutic approaches are needed. Understanding the initial interaction between fungi and the host offers potential for development of new drugs or vaccines. It has recently been recognized that like other pathogens, fungi ...
Gas7
Wenlynn B. Su, Jhong-Jhe You, Bo-Tsang Huang, Viswanathan Sivakumar, Shauh-Der Yeh and Sue Lin-Chao
Gas7 (growth‑arrest specific gene 7) has recently been classified to be a member of the Pombe Cdc 15 homology (PCH) family and belongs to the proline, serine, threonine‑rich phosphatase interacting protein (PSTPIP) subfamily.1,2 Most PCH proteins share a similar domain architecture, whic...
Meteorites and the Chemistry That Preceded Life’s Origin
Sandra Pizzarello
Meteorites are pieces of extraterrestrial material that cross the Earth’s orbit, enter the terrestrial atmosphere and reach the ground without being completely destroyed. Some are known to have been ejected from Mars, the Moon and even Mercury following local impacts in those bodies. For the most pa...
Nuclear Export of Ribosomes
Arlen Johnson
Ribosomes are some of the bulkiest and most abundant ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) in cells. They are assembled within the nucleus but function in translation in the cytoplasm and thus must be exported out of the nucleus through the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). This chapter will present our c...
Nucleocytoplasmic Transport of Steroid Hormone Receptors
Cristina T. Kesler and Bryce M. Paschal
Steroid hormone receptors are ligand‑regulated transcription factors that undergo translation in the cytoplasm and translocation into the nucleus. Nuclear import of steroid hormone receptors depends on a bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS) encoded within the DNA binding domain (DBD) an...
Oligonucleotide Binding Proteins: The Occurrence of Dimer and Multimer Formation
Jackie Wilce, Julian Vivian and Matthew Wilce
Protein dimers and multimers are often employed by nature for DNA and RNA handling and formation of specific, high‑affinity protein‑oligonucleotide complexes. The repeating structure of dsDNA lends itself to recognition by multimeric protein complexes that can assemble about the helical ...
Protocols for Generating ES Cell‑Derived Dopamine Neurons
Sonja Kriks and Lorenz Studer
Stem cells are defined by their ability to self‑renew and to differentiate into specific specialized cell types. Pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells are capable of differentiating into all cell types of the three germ layers. Self‑renewal and differentiation potential are...
Ribozymes and the Evolution of Metabolism
Randall A. Hughes and Andrew Ellington
In a prebiotic World, organisms as we currently know them did not exist, but the molecules that carried information and performed catalysis would have arisen during this period of biochemical evolution. Comparative analysis of modern organisms suggests that most biological information is stored in t...
Role of the Cytoskeleton in Nucleocytoplasmic Transport
Daniela Martino Roth and David A. Jans
The nucleocytoplasmic transport of macromolecules is dependent on specific targeting signals that are recognised by members of the importin (IMP) superfamily of transport molecules that mediate translocation through the nuclear envelope‑localised nuclear pore complex. Recent evidence implicate...
Structural Analysis of Karyopherin-Mediated Nucleocytoplasmic Transport
Zi Chao Zhang and Yuh Min Chook
In human cells, the majority of nucleocytoplasmic transport is mediated by 19 members of the Karyopherinβ (Kapβs/Importins/Exportins) protein family. Thus, Kapβs are critically involved in cellular processes such as gene expression, signal transduction, immune response, oncogenesis an...
The Budding Yeast PCH/F‑BAR Proteins
Alan L. Munn
The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome encodes two classical Pombe Cdc15 Homology (PCH) proteins: Hof1p (or Cyk2p) and Bzz1p (or Lsb7p). Like mammalian PCH proteins, both have an N‑terminal F‑BAR domain and C‑terminal Src Homology 3 (SH3) domain(s). The yeast genome also...
