Firemaster® 550 (FM550) is a chemical mixture currently used as an additive flame retardant in commercial products, and is comprised of 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tertrabromobenzoate (TBB), bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (TBPH), triphenyl phosphate (TPP), and isopropylated triphenyl phosphate (IPTP). Animal and in vitro studies suggest that FM550, TPP and IPTP may have adipogenic effects and m...

BACKGROUND The adipose tissue renin-angiotensin system (RAS) contributes to regulation of fat mass and may also impact systemic functions such as blood pressure and metabolism. METHODS AND RESULTS A panel of mouse models including mice lacking angiotensinogen, Agt (Agt-KO), mice expressing Agt solely in adipose tissue (aP2-Agt/Agt-KO), and mice overexpressing Agt in adipose tissue (aP2-Agt) w...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-g (PPARg), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, plays an essential role in the mediation of the actions of antidiabetic drugs known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs). PPARg activates many target genes involved in lipid anabolism including the adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2). In this study, induction of aP2 gene expression by PPAR...

Irregular flowering is a serious problem in longan production. Identifying the flower induction-related genes and analyzing their regulation mechanism key to solve this problem. The APETALA2/ethylene responsive factor (AP2/ERF) superfamily members are transcription factors (TFs) that regulate diverse developmental processes, including time, stress responses plants. However, there still no resea...

Proteins that bind to the cytoplasmic tails of AMPA receptors control receptor trafficking and thus the strength of postsynaptic responses. Here we show that AP2, a clathrin adaptor complex important for endocytosis, associates with a region of GluR2 that overlaps the NSF binding site. Peptides used previously to interfere with NSF binding also antagonize GluR2-AP2 interaction. Using GluR2 muta...

We analyzed the 4-kb intragenic control region of the AGAMOUS (AG) gene to gain insight into the mechanisms controlling its expression during early flower development. We identified three major expression patterns conferred by 19 AG::reporter gene constructs: the normal AG pattern, a stamen-specific pattern, and a predominantly carpel pattern. To determine whether these three expression pattern...

AP2 is the best-characterized member of the family of heterotetrameric clathrin adaptor complexes that play pivotal roles in many vesicle trafficking pathways within the cell. AP2 functions in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, the process whereby cargo enters the endosomal system from the plasma membrane. We describe the structure of the 200 kDa AP2 "core" (alpha trunk, beta2 trunk, mu2, and sigma...

A family of apicomplexa-specific proteins containing AP2 DNA-binding domains (ApiAP2s) was identified in malaria parasites. This family includes sequence-specific transcription factors that are key regulators of development. However, functions for the majority of ApiAP2 genes remain unknown. Here, a systematic knockout screen in Plasmodium berghei identified ten ApiAP2 genes that were essential...