T HE RECENTLY RECOGNIZED blood coagulation factor, Factor XIII, or fibrin stabilizing factor (FSF), is considered currently to be an macfive precursor which on activation by thrombin, in the presence of calcium ions, is changed to an active enzyme, a transamidase. The active principle acts through a transamidation process at the terminal stages of blood clotting to convert a soluble fibrin into...

A strict gluten-free diet (GFD) is the only currently available therapeutic treatment for patients with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine associated with a permanent intolerance to gluten proteins. The complete elimination of gluten proteins contained in cereals from the diet is the key to celiac disease management. However, this generates numerous social and economi...

Tissue transglutaminase (TGase) has been implicated in a number of cellular processes and disease states, where the enzymatic actions of TGase may serve in both, cell survival and apoptosis. To date, the precise functional properties of TGase in cell survival or cell death mechanisms still remain elusive. TGase-mediated cross-linking has been reported to account for the formation of insoluble l...

The incidence of celiac disease is increasing worldwide, and human tissue transglutaminase has long been considered the autoantigen of celiac disease. Concomitantly, the food industry has introduced ingredients such as microbial transglutaminase, which acts as a food glue, thereby revolutionizing food qualities. Several observations have led to the hypothesis that microbial transglutaminase is ...

All transglutaminases share the common enzymatic activity of transamidation, or the cross-linking of glutamine and lysine residues to form N epsilon (gamma-glutamyl) lysyl isopeptide bonds. The plasma proenzyme factor XIII is responsible for stabilizing the fibrin clot against physical and fibrinolytic disruption. Another member of the transglutaminase family, tissue transglutaminase or TG2 is ...

Accurate aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis is essential for faithful translation of the genetic code and consequently has been intensively studied for over three decades. Until recently, the study of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis in archaea had received little attention. However, as in so many areas of molecular biology, the advent of archaeal genome sequencing has now drawn researchers to this field. Invest...

Yeast mitochondrial Gln-mtRNAGln is synthesized by the transamidation of mischarged Glu-mtRNAGln by a non-canonical heterotrimeric tRNA-dependent amidotransferase (AdT). The GatA and GatB subunits of the yeast AdT (GatFAB) are well conserved among bacteria and eukaryota, but the GatF subunit is a fungi-specific ortholog of the GatC subunit found in all other known heterotrimeric AdTs (GatCAB). ...

Mathieu Frechin, Bruno Senger, Mélanie Brayé, Daniel Kern, Robert Pierre Martin, and Hubert Dominique Becker UPR 9002, ‘‘Architecture et Réactivité de l’ARN,’’ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, F-67084 Strasbourg Cédex, France; UMR 7156, ‘‘Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique, Microbiologie,’’ Department of Molecular and Cellular Genetics, CNRS, Univers...