The blistering skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) results from dominant mutations in keratin 5 (K5) or keratin 14 (K14) genes, encoding the intermediate filament (IF) network of basal epidermal keratinocytes. The mechanisms governing keratin network formation and collapse due to EBS mutations remain incompletely understood. Drosophila lacks cytoplasmic IFs, providing a 'null' env...

Interest in the biodegradation mechanisms and environmental fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is prompted by their ubiquitous distribution and their potentially deleterious effects on human health. PAHs constitute a large and diverse class of organic compounds and are generally described as molecules which consist of three or more fused aromatic rings in various structural configu...

Aerobic biodegradation behaviour of nonylphenol propoxylates was investigated in two tests with different sewage sludge as inocula. The samples containing target compounds were pre-concentrated using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and analysed with the use of high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Both primary biodegradation and formation of different bi...

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of culture conditions on biodegradation of crude oil by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa was isolated from sea water using Bushnell Haas agar supplemented with 0.1% crude oil. The strain was cultured at different temperature, pH a salinity and crude oil concentrations. Maximum growth and biodegradation occurred at 38C, pH 8.0, 35‰ an...

When tumour cells are fused with normal ones, malignancy is suppressed. It has been shown that this suppression is associated with the imposition on the hybrid cell of the terminal differentiation programme of the normal parent cell. We report here the consequences of imposing the synthesis of keratin 1 and keratin 10, markers of terminal differentiation in the epidermal keratinocyte, on malign...

introduction to evaluate the expression patterns of cytokeratin (k) 12, 13, and 19 in normal epithelium of the human ocular surface to determine whether k13 could be used as a marker for conjunctival epithelium. methods: total rna was isolated from the human conjunctiva and central cornea. those transcripts that had threefolds or higher expression levels in the conjunctiva than the cornea were ...

background: hydrocarbons degradation is principally achieved by microorganisms in natural environments. the extent of hydrocarbons biodegradation is mainly conditioned by environmental factors and its success depends on the optimal condition for the crude oil degrading isolates. objectives: the aims of the current study was to isolate and identify crude oil degrading bacterium from surface sedi...

Actin filament and microtubule growth characteristics are defined by their different plus and minus ends. In contrast, intermediate filaments lack this type of polarity. Yet, intermediate filament network growth occurs by selective addition of newly formed and polymerizing keratin particles at peripheral network domains thereby allowing polarized network reorganization. To examine this process ...

In addition to containing microtubule and microfilament systems, vertebrate epithelial cells contain an elaborate keratin intermediate-filament cytoskeleton. Little is known about its structural organization or function. Using indirect immunofluorescence microscopy with an antikeratin antiserum probe, we found that destabilization of microtubules and microfilaments with cytostatic drugs induces...

Biodegradation of chloroethene compounds has been a matter of intense scientific investigation since these compounds were first identified in the late 1970s as common contaminants in groundwater systems. Over this period, perspectives on chloroethene biodegradation and on the role of organochlorine compounds in the environment have changed substantially. Before 1980, chloroethene contaminants w...