BACKGROUND Analysis of global changes in gene transcription and translation by systems-based genomics and proteomics approaches provides only indirect information about protein function. In many cases, enzymatic activity fails to correlate with transcription or translation levels. Therefore, a direct method for broadly determining activities of an entire class of enzymes on a genome-wide scale ...

UNLABELLED Chromatin-modifying enzymes are predominantly nuclear; however, these factors are also localized to the cytoplasm, and very little is known about their role in this compartment. In this report, we reveal a non-chromatin-linked role for the lysine-specific demethylase KDM4A. We demonstrate that KDM4A interacts with the translation initiation complex and affects the distribution of tra...

A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, non-endospore-forming, mycelium-forming actinobacterium (04-St-002(T)) was isolated from the wall of an indoor environment colonized with moulds. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies, strain 04-St-002(T) was shown to belong to the family Pseudonocardiaceae, and to be most closely related to Pseudonocardia antarctica (99.2 %) and Pseudonocardia a...

Objective To explore genetic association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and neurodegenerative diseases investigate mechanisms behind the association. Background Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's (PD) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) involves accumulation tau (neurofibrillary tangles) amyloid-ß-rich (amyloid plaques) aggregates in AD, a-synuclein-rich (Lewy bodie...

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is considered as a model for an autoantibody-mediated organ-specific autoimmune disorder. IgG autoantibodies directed against the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein 3 (Dsg3), the major autoantigen in PV, cause loss of epidermal keratinocyte adhesion, resulting in blisters and erosions of the skin and mucous membranes. The association of human autoimmune diseases with distinc...

In the rat sciatic nerve, the relationship between Schwann cells, axons, the extracellular matrix and perineurial sheath cells undergoes extensive modification between embryo day 15 and the onset of myelination during the first postnatal day. Little is known about molecular changes in Schwann cells in this important prenatal period. In the present paper, we use immunofluorescence to study the p...

BACKGROUND & AIMS To examine the effect of supplementation with probiotics on respiratory and gastrointestinal illness in healthy active men and women. METHODS A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted. Four hundred and sixty five participants (241 males; age 35 ± 12 y (mean ± SD) and 224 females; age 36 ± 12 y) were assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 - Bifidobact...

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of HLA polymorphism in the susceptibility to tuberculosis in Syria. METHODS We used the polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primer method to study the DRB1* locus in 147 Syrian patients with positive sputum smear or sputum culture for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis strains, and 209 Syrian healthy matching individuals with negative tuberculin skin test. Pa...