DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a complex of DNA-PK catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and the DNA end-binding Ku70/Ku80 heterodimer. DNA-PK is required for DNA double strand break repair by the process of nonhomologous end joining. Nonhomologous end joining is a major mechanism for the repair of DNA double strand breaks in mammalian cells. As such, DNA-PK plays essential roles in the cellul...

XRCC4 (X-ray cross-complementation group 4) is a protein associated with DNA ligase IV, which is thought to join two DNA ends at the final step of DNA double-strand break repair through non-homologous end-joining. It has been shown that, in response to irradiation or treatment with DNA damaging agents, XRCC4 undergoes phosphorylation, requiring DNA-PK. Here we explored possible role of ATM, whi...

To explore electrostatic interactions in ubiquitin, pK(a) values have been determined by NMR for all 12 carboxyl groups in wild-type ubiquitin and in variants where single lysines have been replaced by neutral residues. Aspartate pK(a) values in ubiquitin range from 3.1 to 3.8 and are generally less than model compound values. Most aspartate pK(a) values are within 0.2 pH unit of those predicte...

The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is required for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), such as those caused by ionizing radiation and other DNA-damaging agents. DNA-PK is composed of a large catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and a heterodimer of Ku70 and Ku80 that assemble on the ends of double-stranded DNA to form an active serine/threonine protein kinase complex. Despite in vitro...

One of the most popular and simple models for the calculation of pK(a) s from a protein structure is the semi-macroscopic electrostatic model MEAD. This model requires empirical parameters for each residue to calculate pK(a) s. Analysis of current, widely used empirical parameters for cysteine residues showed that they did not reproduce expected cysteine pK(a) s; thus, we set out to identify pa...

Five native pyrokinin-like peptides (Neb-PK-1, Neb-PK-2, Neb-PVK-1, [L9]Neb-PVK-2, [I9]Neb-PVK-2) identified in the neuropeptidome of the flesh fly Neobellieria bullata were compared for their quantitative and/or qualitative effects on puparium formation (pupariation). In a standard pupariation bioassay, both Neb-PVK-1 and [I9]Neb-PVK-2 proved inactive, whereas [L9]Neb-PVK-2 demonstrated only w...

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of the water extract of Chinese medicine "Pingliu Keli" (PK) on human glioma cell viability and apoptosis and to investigate its mechanisms of action in SHG-44 cells. MTT assay showed that PK had a strong cytotoxic effect on SHG-44 cells. The number of live cells was less than 20% after exposure to 90 μg/mL PK for 24 h. PK increased cyto...

We have established an RNase protection method to quantify the expression of mRNA for the human protein kinase C (PK-C) isoforms alpha, beta 1, beta 2, and gamma. This was used to investigate whether each isoform is differentially expressed during the differentiation of hematopoietic cells. Myeloid and lymphoid cells express PK-C alpha, beta 1, and beta 2 mRNAs in various proportions. PK-C gamm...

DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) plays a central role in the non-homologous end-joining pathway of DNA double strand break repair. Its catalytic subunit (DNA-PK(CS)) functions as a serine/threonine protein kinase. We show that DNA-PK forms a stable complex at DNA termini that blocks the action of exonucleases and ligases. The DNA termini become accessible after autophosphorylation of DNA-P...