The C-terminal domain (CTD) of the RNA polymerase II largest subunit consists of multiple heptad repeats (consensus Tyr1-Ser2-Pro3-Thr4-Ser5-Pro6-Ser7), varying in number from 26 in yeast to 52 in vertebrates. The CTD functions to help couple transcription and processing of the nascent RNA and also plays roles in transcription elongation and termination. The CTD is subject to extensive post-tra...

The human tumor suppressor neurofibromin contains a cysteine and serine-rich domain/Ras-GTPase activating protein domain (CSRD/RasGAP) and a C-terminal domain (CTD). Domain studies of neurofibromin suggest it has other functions in addition to being a RasGAP, but the mechanisms underlying its tumor suppressor activity are not well understood. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a good...

BRCA1 has been implicated in numerous DNA repair pathways that maintain genome integrity, however the function responsible for its tumor suppressor activity in breast cancer remains obscure. To identify the most highly conserved of the many BRCA1 functions, we screened the evolutionarily distant eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae for mutants that suppressed the G1 checkpoint arrest and lethalit...

BACKGROUND Although the association of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) with connective tissue disease (CTD) has been noted for a long time, there are few series reported. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to describe clinical features and prognosis of PCP infections in patients with CTD in China. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the characteristics, clinical features, and pr...

Large-conductance, voltage-, and Ca²⁺-dependent K⁺ (BK) channels are broadly expressed in various tissues to modulate neuronal activity, smooth muscle contraction, and secretion. BK channel activation depends on the interactions among the voltage sensing domain (VSD), the cytosolic domain (CTD), and the pore gate domain (PGD) of the Slo1 α-subunit, and is further regulated by accessory β subuni...

Pre-mRNA splicing is frequently coupled to transcription by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). This coupling requires the C-terminal domain of the RNAPII largest subunit (CTD), although the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Using a biochemical complementation assay, we previously identified an activity that stimulates CTD-dependent splicing in vitro. We purified this activity and found that i...

Fifty percent of all cancer cases result from mutations of the TP53 gene, which encodes the tumor suppressor p53, and it is hypothesized that the p53-mediated checkpoint pathway is compromised in most of the remaining cases. The p53 C-terminal domain (CTD) is an important site of p53 regulation but by nature is difficult to study, as it is intrinsically disordered. In this study, we performed m...

The carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II plays an important role in transcription and processing of the nascent transcript by interacting with both transcription and RNA processing factors. We show here that the cleavagey polyadenylation factor IA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae directly contacts CTD. First by affinity chromatography experiments with yeast extr...

Patched (Ptc) is a membrane protein whose function in Hedgehog (Hh) signal transduction has been conserved among metazoans and whose malfunction has been implicated in human cancers. Genetic analysis has shown that Ptc negatively regulates Hh signal transduction, but its activity and structure are not known. We investigated the functional and structural properties of Drosophila Ptc and its C-te...

Transcription by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) is accompanied by a conserved pattern of histone modifications that plays important roles in regulating gene expression. The establishment of this pattern requires phosphorylation of both Rpb1 (the largest RNAPII subunit) and the elongation factor Spt5 on their respective C-terminal domains (CTDs). Here we interrogated the roles of individual Rpb1 and...