Research Interests:
The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a genome-editing tool that allows for precise and efficient modifications to the DNA of a cell. This technology can be used in endophytic fungi, which live within plants and can have beneficial effects on their... more
The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a genome-editing tool that allows for precise and efficient modifications to the DNA of a cell. This technology can be used in endophytic fungi, which live within plants and can have beneficial effects on their host, making them important for agriculture. Using CRISPR/Cas9, researchers can introduce specific genetic changes into endophytic fungal genomes, allowing them to study the function of genes, improve their plant-growth-promoting properties, and create new, more beneficial endophytes. This system works by using the Cas9 protein, which acts as a pair of molecular scissors, to cut DNA at specific locations determined by a guide RNA. Once the DNA is cut, the cell’s natural repair mechanisms can be used to insert or delete specific genes, allowing for precise editing of the fungal genome. This article discusses the mechanism and applications of CRISPR/Cas9 to fungal endophytes.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Physiology, Molecular Biology, Biology, Cell Biology, Medicine, and 11 moreNuclear Receptor, Medical Physiology, Retinoic Acid, Receptor, Retinoid, Structure activity Relationship, DNA binding proteins, retinoid X receptor, Biochemistry and cell biology, Gene Expression Regulation, and Retinoic Acid Receptor
The major type of receptor for the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), called the GABAA receptor, is a member of a gene superfamily of ligand‐gated ion channels. This receptor is a heterooligomeric protein composed of... more
The major type of receptor for the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), called the GABAA receptor, is a member of a gene superfamily of ligand‐gated ion channels. This receptor is a heterooligomeric protein composed of several distinct polypeptide types (α, β, γ, and δ). Molecular cloning of these polypeptides reveals that they show 20‐40% identity with each other, and 10‐20% identity with polypeptides of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and strychnine‐sensitive glycine receptor. Each polypeptide type is also represented by a family of genes whose members have 60‐80% amino acid sequence identity. Regions of conserved and variable amino acid sequence suggest structural and functional domains within each polypeptide. All of the polypeptides when expressed in heterologous cells produce GABA‐activated chloride channels, and the different subtypes express different pharmacological properties. The distributions of mRNAs for the different GABAA receptor polypeptides and their subtypes show significant brain regional variation consistent with pharmacological and biochemical evidence for receptor heterogeneity. Subpopulations of GABAA receptors with different cellular and regional locations show differential sensitivity to GABA, to modulators like steroids, to physiological regulation, to disease processes, and to pharmacological manipulation by drugs such as benzodiazepines. The properties of the different subpopulations of GABAA receptors are determined by which one or more of the different polypeptides and their subtypes are expressed in a given cell to produce a variety of different oligomeric protein structures. Molecular cloning techniques have produced rapid advances in understanding the GABAA receptor protein family.— Olsen, R. W.; Tobin, A. J. Molecular biology of GABAA receptors. FASEB J. 4: 1469‐1480; 1990.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The application of modern molecular biological methods has had an increasing and dramatic impact upon the discipline of molecular neuropharmacology. This is particularly true for the study of neurotransmitter receptors, where the use of... more
The application of modern molecular biological methods has had an increasing and dramatic impact upon the discipline of molecular neuropharmacology. This is particularly true for the study of neurotransmitter receptors, where the use of recombinant DNA techniques has resulted in the cloning of multiple and sometimes unexpected receptor subtypes for a given neurotransmitter and, in some cases, the cloning of receptors for which no neurotransmitter is known. Within the past couple of years, it has become readily apparent that dopamine receptors will be no exception to this trend. Five different dopamine receptors have now been cloned and identified using molecular biological techniques, while only a few years ago only two receptor subtypes were thought to exist. David Sibley and Frederick Monsma review the molecular characteristics of the recently cloned dopamine receptors and discuss prospects for the cloning and identification of additional subtypes in this receptor family.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Until recently, it has been impossible to approach learning with the techniques of cell biology. During the past several years, elementary forms of learning have been analyzed in higher invertebrates. Their nervous systems allow the... more
Until recently, it has been impossible to approach learning with the techniques of cell biology. During the past several years, elementary forms of learning have been analyzed in higher invertebrates. Their nervous systems allow the experimental study of behavioral, neurophysiological, morphological, biochemical, and genetic components of the functional (plastic) changes underlying learning. In this review, we focus primarily on short-term sensitization of the gill and siphon reflex in the marine mollusk, Aplysia californica. Analyses of this form of learning provide direct evidence that protein phosphorylation dependent on cyclic adenosine monophosphate can modulate synaptic action. These studies also suggest how the molecular mechanisms for this short-term form of synaptic plasticity can be extended to explain both long-term memory and classical conditioning.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
All multicellular organisms have mechanisms for killing their own cells, and use physiological cell death for defence, development, homeostasis, and aging. Apoptosis is a morphologically recognizable form of cell death that is implemented... more
All multicellular organisms have mechanisms for killing their own cells, and use physiological cell death for defence, development, homeostasis, and aging. Apoptosis is a morphologically recognizable form of cell death that is implemented by a mechanism that has been conserved throughout evolution from nematode to man. Thus homologs of the genes that implement cell death in nematodes also do so in mammals, but in mammals the process is considerably more complex, involving multiple isoforms of the components of the cell death machinery. In some circumstances this allows independent regulation of pathways that converge upon a common end point. A molecular understanding of this mechanism may allow design of therapies that either enhance or block cell death at will.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Phylogenetics, Evolutionary genetics, and 15 moreMolecular Evolution, Biology, Medicine, Software, Phylogeny, Sequence alignment, Molecular biology and evolution, Selection, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Protein Sequence Analysis, Phylogenetic Tree, Mega, Cross platform, Internet, and Biochemistry and cell biology
Research Interests:
... Special Article. You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article Molecular biology of the hepatitis C viruses: Implications for diagnosis, development and control of viral disease. Michael Houghton Ph.D.,; Amy Weiner,; Jang Han,;... more
... Special Article. You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article Molecular biology of the hepatitis C viruses: Implications for diagnosis, development and control of viral disease. Michael Houghton Ph.D.,; Amy Weiner,; Jang Han,; George Kuo,; Qui-Lim Choo. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Apoptosis: The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Programmed Cell Death *. ROBERT A. SCHWARTZMAN and JOHN A. CIDLOWSKI Department ...
Research Interests: Molecular Biology, Biology, Inflammation, Cell Biology, Apoptosis, and 12 moreMedicine, Signal Transduction, Humans, Animals, Programmed cell death, Chromatin, Clinical Sciences, Necrosis, Neoplasms, Biochemistry and cell biology, Gene Expression Regulation, and Paediatrics and reproductive medicine
Introduction: STEROID hormones are familiar clinically and physiologically as regulators of physiological processes. Five groups of steroid hormones are generally recognized according to their physiological behavior: mineralocorticoids,... more
Introduction: STEROID hormones are familiar clinically and physiologically as regulators of physiological processes. Five groups of steroid hormones are generally recognized according to their physiological behavior: mineralocorticoids, which instruct the renal tubules to retain sodium; ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The biology of learning, and short-term and long-term memory, as revealed by Aplysia and other organisms, is reviewed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The many plant-specific phenylpropanoid branch pathways and the correн sponding functional diversity of their products have long attracted attention in plant physiology, as has the specific, differential inducibility of these pathн ways... more
The many plant-specific phenylpropanoid branch pathways and the correн sponding functional diversity of their products have long attracted attention in plant physiology, as has the specific, differential inducibility of these pathн ways at the transcriptional level. Asked to ...
Research Interests:
▪ The prostaglandin endoperoxide H synthases-1 and 2 (PGHS-1 and PGHS-2; also cyclooxygenases-1 and 2, COX-1 and COX-2) catalyze the committed step in prostaglandin synthesis. PGHS-1 and 2 are of particular interest because they are the... more
▪ The prostaglandin endoperoxide H synthases-1 and 2 (PGHS-1 and PGHS-2; also cyclooxygenases-1 and 2, COX-1 and COX-2) catalyze the committed step in prostaglandin synthesis. PGHS-1 and 2 are of particular interest because they are the major targets of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including aspirin, ibuprofen, and the new COX-2 inhibitors. Inhibition of the PGHSs with NSAIDs acutely reduces inflammation, pain, and fever, and long-term use of these drugs reduces fatal thrombotic events, as well as the development of colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease. In this review, we examine how the structures of these enzymes relate mechanistically to cyclooxygenase and peroxidase catalysis, and how differences in the structure of PGHS-2 confer on this isozyme differential sensitivity to COX-2 inhibitors. We further examine the evidence for independent signaling by PGHS-1 and PGHS-2, and the complex mechanisms for regulation of PGHS-2 gene expression.
Research Interests:
The collagen superfamily of proteins now contains at least 19 proteins formally defined as collagens and an additional ten proteins that have collagen-like domains. The most abundant collagens form extracellular fibrils or network-like... more
The collagen superfamily of proteins now contains at least 19 proteins formally defined as collagens and an additional ten proteins that have collagen-like domains. The most abundant collagens form extracellular fibrils or network-like structures, but the others fulfill a variety of biological functions. Some of the eight highly specific post-translational enzymes involved in collagen biosynthesis have recently been cloned. Over 400 mutations in 6 different collagens cause a variety of human diseases that include osteogenesis imperfecta, chondrodysplasias, some forms of osteoporosis, some forms of osteoarthritis, and the renal disease known as the Alport syndrome. Many of the disease phenotypes have been produced in transgenic mice with mutated collagen genes. There has been increasing interest in the possibility that the unique post-translational enzymes involved in collagen biosynthesis offer attractive targets for specifically inhibiting excessive fibrotic reactions in a number of diseases. A number of experiments suggest it may be possible to inhibit collagen synthesis with oligo-nucleotides or antisense genes.
Research Interests: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Computational Biology, Biology, Medicine, and 15 moreTransgenic Mice, Biological Sciences, Humans, Mutation, Collagen, Mice, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Animals, Fibrosis, Gene, Protein Conformation, Molecular Structure, Alport Syndrome, Genetic Therapy, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests:
Cell biology distinguishes itself from biochemistry and molecular biology in its approach, relating mole-cular structure and biochemical mechanisms to larger-scale cellular processes. Cell biologists have the challen-ging task of merging... more
Cell biology distinguishes itself from biochemistry and molecular biology in its approach, relating mole-cular structure and biochemical mechanisms to larger-scale cellular processes. Cell biologists have the challen-ging task of merging reductionist experimental science with a systems ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The oxidation of glucose represents a major source of metabolic energy for mammalian cells. However, because the plasma membrane is impermeable to polar molecules such as glucose, the cellular uptake of this important nutrient is... more
The oxidation of glucose represents a major source of metabolic energy for mammalian cells. However, because the plasma membrane is impermeable to polar molecules such as glucose, the cellular uptake of this important nutrient is accomplished by membrane-associated carrier proteins that bind and transfer it across the lipid bilayer. Two classes of glucose carriers have been described in mammalian cells: the Na(+)-glucose cotransporter and the facilitative glucose transporter. The Na(+)-glucose cotransporter transports glucose against its concentration gradient by coupling its uptake with the uptake of Na+ that is being transported down its concentration gradient. Facilitative glucose carriers accelerate the transport of glucose down its concentration gradient by facilitative diffusion, a form of passive transport. cDNAs have been isolated from human tissues encoding a Na(+)-glucose-cotransporter protein and five functional facilitative glucose-transporter isoforms. The Na(+)-glucose...