The aim of this study was to pattern macroscopically, by use of computational tools, the number and distribution of the medullary striae (MS) of fourth ventricle. After removing 71 fresh human brain stems, each respective rhomboid fossa was photographed. The MS were carefully identified to be shaped and fulfilled by means of a digital pen, using the Adobe Photoshop CS3® program. For absolute an...

Enzymatic cleavage of transmembrane anchors to release proteins from the membrane controls diverse signaling pathways and is implicated in more than a dozen diseases. How catalysis works within the viscous, water-excluding, two-dimensional membrane is unknown. We developed an inducible reconstitution system to interrogate rhomboid proteolysis quantitatively within the membrane in real time. Rem...

Trichomonas vaginalis is an extracellular eukaryotic parasite that causes the most common, non-viral sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Although disease burden is high, molecular mechanisms underlying T. vaginalis pathogenesis are poorly understood. Here, we identify a family of putative T. vaginalis rhomboid proteases and demonstrate catalytic activity for two, TvROM1 and TvROM3, using ...

The morphology of mitochondria in mammalian cells is regulated by proteolytic cleavage of OPA1, a dynamin-like GTPase of the mitochondrial inner membrane. The mitochondrial rhomboid protease PARL, and paraplegin, a subunit of the ATP-dependent m-AAA protease, were proposed to be involved in this process. Here, we characterized individual OPA1 isoforms by mass spectrometry, and we reconstituted ...

Erratum Erratum to "Alternate functions of the single-minded and rhomboid genes in development of the Drosophila ventral neuroectoderm"