In type 1 diabetes, many effector mechanisms damage the beta cell, a key one being perforin/granzyme B production by CD8(+) T cells. The death receptor pathway has also been implicated in beta cell death, and we have therefore generated NOD mice that express a dominant-negative form of the Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) adaptor to block death receptor signaling in beta cells. Islets...

Monomers of microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates, mainly 3-hydroxyhexanoic acid (3HHx) and 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid (3HO), were produced by overexpressing polyhydroxyalkanoates depolymerase gene phaZ, together with putative long-chain fatty acid transport protein fadL of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 and acyl-CoA synthetase (fadD) of Escherichia coli MG1655 in P. putida KT2442. FadL(Pp), which is responsi...

Fas/Apo-1 signals through the FADD (Fas-associated death domain) adaptor protein, which recruits and activates the apical caspase 8 and leads to apoptosis. Cellular FLIP (cFLIP) is a homolog of caspase 8 and is also capable of binding to FADD. Previous studies suggest that cFLIP could either enhance or inhibit apoptosis and lead to NF-kappaB and Erk1/2 activation. Like FADD or caspase 8 deficie...

The death domain and death effector domain are two common motifs that mediate protein-protein interactions between components of cell death signaling complexes. The mechanism by which these domains engage their binding partners has been explored by extensive mutagenesis of two death adaptors, FADD and TRADD, suggesting that a death adaptor can discriminate its intended binding partners from oth...

INTRODUCTION During studies on chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in lymphoid cells, we noted that aggregation of spectrin occurred early in apoptosis, i.e. before activation of initiator caspase(s) and prior to exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS). We also found that protein kinase C theta (PKC-θ) co-localized with spectrin in these aggregates. Our previously published studies indicated that in for...

Tissue fusion is an essential morphogenetic mechanism in development, playing a fundamental role in developing neural tube, palate and the optic fissure. Disruption of genes associated with the tissue fusion can lead to congenital malformations, such as spina bifida, cleft lip/palate and ocular coloboma. For instance, the Pax2 transcription factor is required for optic fissure closure, although...

miRNAs have emerged as important players in the regulation of gene expression and their deregulation is a common feature in a variety of diseases, especially cancer. Currently, many efforts are focused on studying miRNA expression patterns, as well as miRNA target validation. Here, we show that the over expression of miR-23a approximately 27a approximately 24-2 cluster in HEK293T cells induces ...

BACKGROUND The Fas system regulates a number of physiological and pathological processes of cell death. Many types of cancer cells are resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis by several mechanisms, including mutations of the genes involved in Fas-mediated apoptosis. The present study aimed to detect Fas pathway gene alterations in primary resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHOD...

Interferon (IFN) mediates its antiviral effects by inducing a number of responsive genes, including the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-dependent protein kinase, PKR. Here we report that inducible overexpression of functional PKR in murine fibroblasts sensitized cells to apoptosis induced by influenza virus, while in contrast, cells expressing a dominant-negative variant of PKR were completely resi...