The present study was aimed to construct a fusion plasmid harboring the extracellular domain of the influenza A M2-protein (M2e), which was fused to the N-terminus of the truncated HSP70 (HSP70359–610) molecule as a new approach for future vaccine research against influenza A. The amplified fragments, M2e and HSP70359-610 genes, were gel-purified. The products were then single digested with Bam...

Mammalian Sterile 20-like kinase 3 (Mst3), the physiological functions of which are unknown, is a member of the germinal center kinase-III family. It contains a conserved kinase domain at its NH(2) terminus, whereas there is a regulatory domain at its COOH terminus. In this study we demonstrate that endogenous Mst3 is specifically cleaved when Jurkat cells were treated with anti-Fas antibody or...

Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) fiber receptor was investigated using reverse antibody biopanning of a phage-displayed hexapeptide library, and virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs 1D6.3 and 7A2.7) raised against recombinant Ad5 fiber knob. Both mAbs inhibited attachment of Ad5 to HeLa cells. Mimotopes of 1D6.3 showed homology with the C-terminal segment of the alpha2 domain of the heavy ...

To assess the relative importance of the glycoprotein (GP) Ib binding domain and the RGDS binding site in platelet adhesion to isolated von Willebrand factor (vWF) and to collagen preincubated with vWF, we deleted the A1 domain yielding delta A1-vWF and introduced an aspartate-to-glycine substitution in the RGDS sequence by site-directed mutagenesis (RGGS-vWF). Recombinant delta A1-vWF and RGGS...

A cDNA (1.6 kb) encoding a platelet protein receptor that binds type I collagen has been isolated from a human bone marrow cDNA library by using a degenerate oligonucleotide probe derived from the amino acid sequence of a CNBr fragment of the purified receptor. Computer search revealed that this cDNA represents the coding sequence of a unique protein. Using the prokaryotic expression system pKK...

The molecular organization of the replication complex in archaea is similar to that in eukaryotes. Only two proteins homologous to subunits of eukaryotic replication factor C (RFC) have been detected in Pyrococcus abyssi (Pab). The genes encoding these two proteins are arranged in tandem. We cloned these two genes and co-expressed the corresponding recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. Two ...

Tenascin, together with thrombospondin and SPARC, form a family of matrix proteins that, when added to bovine aortic endothelial cells, caused a dose-dependent reduction in the number of focal adhesion-positive cells to approximately 50% of albumin-treated controls. For tenascin, a maximum response was obtained with 20-60 micrograms/ml of protein. The reduction in focal adhesions in tenascin-tr...

BACKGROUND Dengue is a global public health problem for which no drug or vaccine is available. Currently, there is increasing interest in developing non-replicating dengue vaccines based on a discrete antigenic domain of the major structural protein of dengue viruses (DENVs), known as envelope domain III (EDIII). The use of bio-nanoparticles consisting of recombinant viral structural polypeptid...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) normally assembles into particles of 100 to 120 nm in diameter by budding through the plasma membrane of the cell. The Gag polyprotein is the only viral protein that is required for the formation of these particles. We have used an in vitro assembly system to examine the assembly properties of purified, recombinant HIV-1 Gag protein and of Gag missing...