State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and the MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Institute of Genetics, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China, Department of Health Toxicology, Shanghai Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China and Life Science Institute, Nanchang University, Jiangxi Provinc...

Immunization of rabbits with purified catechol methyltransferase from Candida tropicalis yielded a potent antiserum. Ouchterlony double diffusion analysis showed a single precipitin line. There was no cross reactivity with the catechol methyltransferase from rat and bovine liver. Specific antigen-antibody interaction was demonstrated by a potent inhibitory effect of the antibody on the yeast en...

Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) play important roles in several cellular processes, including signaling, gene regulation, and transport of proteins and nucleic acids, to impact growth, differentiation, proliferation, and development. PRMT5 symmetrically di-methylates the two-terminal ω-guanidino nitrogens of arginine residues on substrate proteins. PRMT5 acts as part of a multimeric...

Eukaryotic ATP-dependent 6-phosphofructokinases (Pfks) differ from their bacterial counterparts in a much more complex structural organization and allosteric regulation. Pichia pastoris Pfk (PpPfk) is, with ∼ 1 MDa, the most complex and probably largest eukaryotic Pfk. We have determined the crystal structure of full-length PpPfk to 3.05 Å resolution in the T state. PpPfk forms a (αβγ)(4) dodec...

We present the first presteady state kinetic analysis of an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent enzyme. The target enzyme is the bacterial EcoRI DNA methyl-transferase, which transfers the methyl group to the second adenine in the DNA sequence GAATTC. The rate constant for conversion of the central complex (enzyme-DNA-S-adenosylmethionine) to products (enzyme-methylated DNA-S-adenosylhomocysteine) (...

Mounting evidence suggests that protein methyltransferases (PMTs), which catalyze methylation of histone and nonhistone proteins, play a crucial role in diverse biological processes and human diseases. In particular, PMTs have been recognized as major players in regulating gene expression and chromatin state. PMTs are divided into two categories: protein lysine methyltransferases (PKMTs) and pr...

The etiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is complex and multifactorial, with an important genetics load. Pharmacological, animal, and brain image studies provide significant evidence that monoamine genes are relevant (Gizer et al., 2009). We aimed to explore the possible association between Val158Met COMT, VNTR 30 UTR SLC6A, and LPR SLC6A4 candidate genes with ADHD and it...

Brazilein, a natural small molecule, shows a variety of pharmacological activities, especially on nervous system and immune system. As a potential multifunctional drug, we studied the distribution and the transport behavior and metabolic behavior of brazilein in vivo and in vitro. Brazilein was found to be able to distribute in the mouse brain and transport into neural cells. A metabolite was f...

OBJECTIVE This study examined associations between functional polymorphism (Val(108/158) Met) in the catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and eye tracking measures in schizophrenia. METHOD Predictive pursuit and closed-loop gains of 62 patients with schizophrenia and 53 healthy comparison subjects with Val-Val, Val-Met, and Met-Met genotypes were compared. RESULTS There was a significan...

Intensive computerized auditory training results in improved cognition for schizophrenia patients, but participants show variation in their cognitive gains and the biological factors that affect the response to training are unknown. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene have been related to cognitive function. Here we asked if functional variatio...