Previously, we reported that fenvalerate (Fen) promotes proliferation of human uterine leiomyoma (UtLM) cells by enhancing progression of cells from G(0)-G(1) to S phase through molecular mechanisms independent of estrogen receptor-α and -β. The cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p27, which blocks G(1) to S phase transitions and is an important regulator of CDK2, is often decreased in horm...

Flap EndoNuclease-1 (FEN-1) and the processivity factor proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) are central to DNA replication and repair. To clarify the molecular basis of FEN-1 specificity and PCNA activation, we report here structures of FEN-1:DNA and PCNA:FEN-1-peptide complexes, along with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and mutational results. FEN-1 binds the unpaired 3' D...

Restarting stalled replication forks partly depends on the break-induced recombination pathway, in which a DNA double-stranded break (DSB) is created on the stalled replication fork to initiate the downstream recombination cascades. Single-stranded DNA gaps accumulating on stalled replication forks are potential targets for endonucleases to generate DSBs. However, it is unclear how this process...

The annual rate of CH4 release and potential CH4 production has recently been studied in the Salmisuo fen in eastern Finland but the microbiota responsible for the CH4 production has not been examined. The diversity of the methane producing Archaea was analysed, at different depths, in the most representative microsite (Eriophorum lawn) of the fen. Methanogen populations were studied using prim...

The interaction between flap endonuclease 1 (FEN-1) and proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is critical for faithful and efficient Okazaki fragment maturation. In a living cell, this interaction is probably important for PCNA to load FEN-1 to the replication fork, to coordinate the sequential functions of FEN-1 and other enzymes, and to stimulate its enzyme activity. The FEN-1/PCNA intera...

Flap endonuclease-1 or FEN-1 is a structure-specific and multifunctional nuclease critical for DNA replication, repair, and recombination; however, its interaction with DNA substrates has not been fully understood. In the current study, we have defined the borders of the interaction between the FEN-1 protein and its DNA substrates and identified six clusters of conserved positively charged amin...

NEUROSCIENCE Correction for “Neural correlates of interindividual differences in the subjective experience of pain,” by Robert C. Coghill, John G. McHaffie, and Ye-Fen Yen, which was first published June 24, 2003; 10.1073/pnas.1430684100 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:8538–8542). The authors note that the author name Ye-Fen Yen should instead appear as Yi-Fen Yen. The corrected author line appears...

D-Fenfluramine (D-Fen) increases serotonin (5-HT) content in the synaptic cleft and exerts anorexigenic effects in animals and humans. However, the neural circuits that mediate these effects are not fully identified. To address this issue, we assessed the efficacy of D-Fen-induced hypophagia in mouse models with manipulations of several genes in selective populations of neurons. Expectedly, we ...

Leaves of tomato cultivars that contain the Pto bacterial resistance locus develop small necrotic lesions within 24 hr after exposure to fenthion, an organophosphorous insecticide. Recently, the Pto gene was isolated and shown to be a putative serine/threonine protein kinase. Pto is one member of a multigene family that is clustered within a 400-kb region on chromosome 5. Here, we report that a...

FENs (flap endonucleases) play essential roles in DNA replication, pivotally in the resolution of Okazaki fragments. In eubacteria, DNA PolI (polymerase I) contains a flap processing domain, the N-terminal 5'-->3' exonuclease. We present evidence of paralogous FEN-encoding genes present in many eubacteria. Two distinct classes of these independent FEN-encoding genes exist with four groups of eu...