Mutations in the gene coding for Bruton ́s tyrosine kinase (Btk) lead to a lymphocyte differentiation block, which results in an extreme deficiency of B cells and plasma cells in the blood. These mutations are one cause of the hereditary immunodeficiency Xlinked agammaglobulinemia. Evolutionarily, Btk belongs to the Tec family of nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinases. Members of this family share...

The GTPase dynamin plays an essential role in clathrin-mediated endocytosis [1] [2] [3]. Substantial evidence suggests that dynamin oligomerisation around the necks of endocytosing vesicles and subsequent dynamin-catalysed GTP hydrolysis is responsible for membrane fission [4] [5]. The pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of dynamin has previously been shown to interact with phosphoinositides, but i...

Proline is a proteogenic amino acid and accumulates both under stress and non-stress conditions as a beneficial solute in plants. Recent discoveries point out that proline plays an important role in plant growth and differentiation across life cycle. It is a key determinant of many cell wall proteins that plays important roles in plant development. The role of extensins, arabinogalactan protein...

The nucleotide sequence of gene PBI, the putative translational product of which is homologous to salivary proline-rich protein P-B, has been determined. PBI is 6.4 kb long and contains 3 exons. PBI appears to code for the precursor of a proline-rich protein which we have designated P-B1. The P-B1 precursor is composed of 134 amino acid residues including 22 residues of signal sequence, 23 resi...

CHRNA1 gene, encoding the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha subunit, harbors an inframe exon P3A. Inclusion of exon P3A disables assembly of the acetylcholine receptor subunits. A single nucleotide mutation in exon P3A identified in congenital myasthenic syndrome causes exclusive inclusion of exon P3A. The mutation gains a de novo binding affinity for a splicing enhancing RNA-bindin...

Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2) is a small adapter protein composed of a single SH2 domain flanked by two SH3 domains. The N-terminal SH3 (nSH3) domain of Grb2 binds a proline-rich region present in the guanine nucleotide releasing factor, son of sevenless (Sos). Using NMR relaxation dispersion and chemical shift analysis methods, we investigated the conformational change of the S...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is anchored onto cell membranes by the transmembrane protein PRiMA (proline-rich membrane anchor) as a tetrameric globular form that is prominently expressed in vertebrate brain. In parallel, the PRiMA-linked tetrameric butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is also found in the brain. A single type of AChE-BChE hybrid tetramer was formed in cell cultures by co-transfection of...