as axon guidance cues. Both plexin B1 and plexin B2 are expressed during mouse kidney development. Inbred plexin B2 knockout (PB2 KO) mice die prenatally with defects in olfactory bulb development, neuronal proliferation and neural tube closure (exencephaly). We report here that these PB2 KO mice have defects also in kidney morphogenesis. In PB2 / embryos the kidneys are smaller and the number ...

The influenza virus polymerase is formed by the PB1, PB2 and PA subunits and is required for virus transcription and replication in the nucleus of infected cells. As PB2 is a relevant host-range determinant we expressed a TAP-tagged PB2 in human cells and isolated intracellular complexes. Alpha-importin was identified as a PB2-associated factor by proteomic analyses. To study the relevance of t...

Childhood lead (Pb2+) intoxication is a global public health problem and accounts for 0.6% of the global burden of disease associated with intellectual disabilities. Despite the recognition that childhood Pb2+ intoxication contributes significantly to intellectual disabilities, there is a fundamental lack of knowledge on presynaptic mechanisms by which Pb2+ disrupts synaptic function. In this s...

Addition of 2 mg of Pb2+/g of soil concident with or after amendment with starch or maltose resulted in 75 and 50% decreases in net synthesis of amylase and alpha-glucosidase, respectively. Invertase synthesis in sucrose-amended soil was transiently reduced after Pb2+ addition. Amylase activity was several times less sensitive to Pb2+ inhibition than was enzyme synthesis. In most cases, the rat...

We developed an optrode sensing device that utilizes a polymerized colloidal array (PCCA) photonic crystal material. This array diffracts light in the visible spectral region due to the periodic spacing of colloidal particles. The PCCA changes diffraction wavelength due to binding of Pb2+ to an 18-crown-6 ether molecular recognition agent. This optrode consists of a probe assembly that contains...

Novel avian H7N9 virus emerged in China in 2013 resulting in a case fatality rate of around 39% and continues to pose zoonotic and pandemic risk. Amino acid substitutions in PB2 protein were shown to influence the pathogenicity and transmissibility of H7N9 following experimental infection of ferrets and mice. In this study, we evaluated the role of amino acid substitution PB2-627K or compensato...

Influenza virus A/Hong Kong/483/97 (H5N1) (HK483-K) has the PB2 with lysine at position 627 (PB2-627K) and is highly pathogenic in chickens and mice. On the other hand, the pathogenicity of mutant virus (HK483-E), which was generated by substituting lysine with glutamic acid at the position of the PB2, is lower than that of HK483-K in mice, but is highly pathogenic in chickens. The PB2 is one o...

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are emerging as fundamental players in the regulation of neural plasticity and in pathological conditions. Here we showed that lead (Pb2+), a well known neurotoxic metal ion, reversibly and concentration-dependently inhibited ASIC currents in the acutely dissociated spinal dorsal horn and hippocampal CA1 neurons of rats. In vitro expression of ASIC subunits in ...

UNLABELLED Mutations in the polymerase genes are known to play a major role in avian influenza virus adaptation to mammalian hosts. Despite having avian origin PA and PB2, the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus (pH1N1) can replicate well in mammalian respiratory tracts, suggesting that these proteins have acquired mutations for efficient growth in humans. We have previously shown that PA from the pH1N1 v...

Lead (Pb) has been shown to perturb Ca-mediated cellular processes. However, to date, a direct effect of Pb on intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) has not been demonstrated. 19F NMR in combination with 1,2-bis(2-amino-5-fluorophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (5F-BAPTA) was used to simultaneously measure [Ca2+]i and intracellular free Pb2+ concentration ([Pb2+]i) in the rat ...