Inherited mutations in BRCA1 confer susceptibility to breast and ovarian neoplasms. However, the function of BRCA1 and the role of BRCA1 in noninherited cancer remain unknown. Characterization of alternately spliced forms of BRCA1 may identify functional regions; thus, we constructed expression vectors of BRCA1 and a splice variant lacking exon 11, designated BRCA1 delta 672-4095. Immunofluores...

Human mismatch repair proteins MSH2-MSH6 play an essential role in maintaining genetic stability and preventing disease. While protein functions have been extensively studied, the substantial amino-terminal region (NTR*) of MSH6 that is unique to eukaryotic proteins, has mostly evaded functional characterization. We demonstrate that a cluster of three nuclear localization signals (NLS) in the N...

Introduction Bacterial infection is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Nuclear medicine has an important role in helping the diagnosis of deep-seated infections by developing more specific radiopharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to evaluate 99mTc-labeling ceftriaxone as a new radiopharmaceutical for Staphylococcus aureus infection imag...

Two genes, period (per) and timeless (tim), are essential for circadian rhythmicity in Drosophila. The encoded proteins (PER and TIM) physically interact. Here, it is shown that TIM and PER accumulate in the cytoplasm when independently expressed in cultured (S2) Drosophila cells. However, the proteins move to the nuclei of these cells if coexpressed. Domains of PER and TIM have been identified...

The importance of the hematopoietic protooncogene Vav1 in immune cell function is widely recognized, although its regulatory mechanisms are not completely understood. Here, we examined whether Vav1 has a nuclear function, as past studies have reported its nuclear localization. Our findings provide a definitive demonstration of Vav1 nuclear localization in a receptor stimulation-dependent manner...

The importin alpha family of nuclear-cytoplasmic transport factors mediates the nuclear localization of proteins containing classical nuclear localization signals. Metazoan animals express multiple importin alpha proteins, suggesting their possible roles in cell differentiation and development. Adult Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites express three importin alpha proteins, IMA-1, IMA-2, and ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE The differentially expressed nuclear matrix proteins have great effects on canceration and regulation of cell differentiation. This study was to explore the existence and distribution of ribonucleoprotein hnRNP A2/B1 in nuclear matrix and its co-localization with Actin and Prohibitin in human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells before and after hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) trea...

The first 17 amino acids of Huntington's disease (HD) protein, huntingtin, comprise an amphipathic alpha-helical domain that can target huntingtin to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). N17 is phosphorylated at two serines, shown to be important for disease development in genetic mouse models, and shown to be modified by agents that reverse the disease phenotype in an HD mouse model. Here, we show ...

In wild-type Drosophila, the period protein (PER) is found in nuclei of the eyes and brain, and PER immunoreactivity oscillates with a circadian rhythm. The studies described here indicate that the nuclear localization of PER is blocked by timeless (tim), a second chromosome mutation that, like per null mutations, abolishes circadian rhythms. PER fusion proteins without a conserved domain (PAS)...

Mammalian development begins with fertilization of an oocyte by the sperm followed by genome-wide epigenetic reprogramming. This involves de novo establishment of chromatin domains, including the formation of pericentric heterochromatin. We dissected the spatiotemporal kinetics of the first acquisition of heterochromatic signatures of pericentromeric chromatin and found that the heterochromatic...