BACKGROUND The family of RecQ DNA helicases plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic integrity. Mutations in three of the five known RecQ family members in humans, BLM, WRN and RecQ4, lead to disorders that are characterized by predisposition to cancer and premature aging. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To address the in vivo functions of Drosophila RecQ4 (dRecQ4), we generated m...

Ribbon synapses formed between inner hair cells (IHCs) and afferent dendrites in the mammalian cochlea can sustain high rates of release, placing strong demands on glutamate clearance mechanisms. To investigate the role of transporters in glutamate removal at these synapses, we made whole-cell recordings from IHCs, afferent dendrites, and glial cells adjacent to IHCs [inner phalangeal cells (IP...

Post-mortem analyses of brains from patients with Parkinson disease who received fetal mesencephalic transplants show that α-synuclein-containing (α-syn-containing) Lewy bodies gradually appear in grafted neurons. Here, we explored whether intercellular transfer of α-syn from host to graft, followed by seeding of α-syn aggregation in recipient neurons, can contribute to this phenomenon. We asse...

In vivo green fluorescent protein (GFP)/red fluorescent protein (RFP) double-labeling studies have been hampered by several inconvenient properties of DsRed, the first described RFP. These disadvantages include a very slow (> 24 h) maturation time, emission of contaminating green light, and low solubility. A recently developed variant of DsRed, called DsRed.T4, has a much shorter maturation tim...

Proteins of the GFP (green fluorescent protein) family demonstrate a great spectral and phylogenetic diversity. However, there is still an intense demand for red-shifted GFP-like proteins in both basic and applied science. To obtain GFP-like chromoproteins with red-shifted absorption, we performed a broad search in blue-coloured Anthozoa species. We revealed specimens of Actinia equina (beadlet...

Chloroplasts contain approximately 80% of total leaf nitrogen and represent a major source of recycled nitrogen during leaf senescence. While bulk degradation of the cytosol and organelles in plants is mediated by autophagy, its role in chloroplast catabolism is largely unknown. We investigated the effects of autophagy disruption on the number and size of chloroplasts during senescence. When le...

Eukaryotic cells have evolved signaling pathways that help to restore cellular homeostasis in response to various physiological or pathological conditions. ATF4 is a transcription factor whose mRNA translation is stimulated in response to stress-activated eIF2alpha kinases. Established conditions that activate eIF2alpha phosphorylation and ATF4 translation include excessive stress in the endopl...

Continued advancement of protein array, bioelectrode, and biosensor technologies is necessary to develop methods for higher amount and highly oriented immobilization activity of proteins. In pursuit of these goals, we developed a new immobilization method by combining electrostatic transport and subsequent molecular diffusion of protein molecules. Our developed immobilization method is based on...

We describe efficient polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation systems for a pharmaceutically important basidiomycete fungus, Clitopilus passeckerianus, which produces pleuromutilin, a diterpene antibiotic. Three dominant selectable marker systems based on hygromycin, phleomycin, and carboxin selection were used to study the feasibility of PEG-mediated transf...

Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) is widely distributed throughout various tissues and contributes to insulin-independent basal glucose uptake. Using a split-ubiquitin membrane yeast two-hybrid system, we newly identified 4F2 heavy chain (4F2hc) as a membrane protein interacting with GLUT1. Though 4F2hc reportedly forms heterodimeric complexes between amino acid transporters, such as LAT1 and LAT2,...