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Small RNA existed in commercial reverse transcriptase: primary evidence of functional small RNAs
Jie Xu,Xi Chen,Donghai Li,Qun Chen,Zhen Zhou,Dongxia Hou,Jin Wang,Qipeng Zhang,Ke Zen,Chen-Yu Zhang
Protein Cell. 2015, 6 (1 ): 1-5.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-014-0116-2
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H9N2 influenza virus in China: a cause of concern
Yipeng Sun,Jinhua Liu
Protein Cell. 2015, 6 (1 ): 18-25.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-014-0111-7
The recent human infection with avian influenza virus revealed that H9N2 influenza virus is the gene donor for H7N9 and H10N8 viruses infecting humans. The crucial role of H9N2 viruses at the animal-human interface might be due to the wide host range, adaptation in both poultry and mammalian, and extensive gene reassortment. As the most prevalent subtype of influenza viruses in chickens in China, H9N2 also causes a great economic loss for the poultry industry, even under the long-term vaccination programs. The history, epidemiology, biological characteristics, and molecular determinants of H9N2 influenza virus are reviewed in this paper. The contribution of H9N2 genes, especially RNP genes, to the infection of humans needs to be investigated in the future.
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Proteomic identification and functional characterization of MYH9, Hsc70, and DNAJA1 as novel substrates of HDAC6 deacetylase activity
Linlin Zhang,Shanshan Liu,Ningning Liu,Yong Zhang,Min Liu,Dengwen Li,Edward Seto,Tso-Pang Yao,Wenqing Shui,Jun Zhou
Protein Cell. 2015, 6 (1 ): 42-54.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-014-0102-8
Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), a predominantly cytoplasmic protein deacetylase, participates in a wide range of cellular processes through its deacetylase activity. However, the diverse functions of HDAC6 cannot be fully elucidated with its known substrates. In an attempt to explore the substrate diversity of HDAC6, we performed quantitative proteomic analyses to monitor changes in the abundance of protein lysine acetylation in response to HDAC6 deficiency. We identified 107 proteins with elevated acetylation in the liver of HDAC6 knockout mice. Three cytoplasmic proteins, including myosin heavy chain 9 (MYH9), heat shock cognate protein 70 (Hsc70), and dnaJ homolog subfamily A member 1 (DNAJA1), were verified to interact with HDAC6. The acetylation levels of these proteins were negatively regulated by HDAC6 both in the mouse liver and in cultured cells. Functional studies reveal that HDAC6-mediated deacetylation modulates the actin-binding ability of MYH9 and the interaction between Hsc70 and DNAJA1. These findings consolidate the notion that HDAC6 serves as a critical regulator of protein acetylation with the capability of coordinating various cellular functions.
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Structural insights into the catalytic mechanism of aldehyde-deformylating oxygenases
Chenjun Jia,Mei Li,Jianjun Li,Jingjing Zhang,Hongmei Zhang,Peng Cao,Xiaowei Pan,Xuefeng Lu,Wenrui Chang
Protein Cell. 2015, 6 (1 ): 55-67.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-014-0108-2
The fatty alk(a/e)ne biosynthesis pathway found in cyanobacteria gained tremendous attention in recent years as a promising alternative approach for biofuel production. Cyanobacterial aldehyde-deformylating oxygenase (cADO), which catalyzes the conversion of Cn fatty aldehyde to its corresponding Cn-1 alk(a/e)ne, is a key enzyme in that pathway. Due to its low activity, alk(a/e)ne production by cADO is an inefficient process. Previous biochemical and structural investigations of cADO have provided some information on its catalytic reaction. However, the details of its catalytic processes remain unclear. Here we report five crystal structures of cADO from the Synechococcus elongates strain PCC7942 in both its iron-free and iron-bound forms, representing different states during its catalytic process. Structural comparisons and functional enzyme assays indicate that Glu144, one of the iron-coordinating residues, plays a vital role in the catalytic reaction of cADO. Moreover, the helix where Glu144 resides exhibits two distinct conformations that correlates with the different binding states of the di-iron center in cADO structures. Therefore, our results provide a structural explanation for the highly labile feature of cADO di-iron center, which we proposed to be related to its low enzymatic activity. On the basis of our structural and biochemical data, a possible catalytic process of cADO was proposed, which could aid the design of cADO with improved activity.
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The homeodomain of Eyeless regulates cell growth and antagonizes the paired domain-dependent retinal differentiation function
Miho Tanaka-Matakatsu,John Miller,Wei Du
Protein Cell. 2015, 6 (1 ): 68-78.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-014-0101-9
Pax6 and its Drosophila homolog Eyeless (Ey) play essential roles during eye development. Ey/Pax6 contains two distinct DNA binding domains, a Paired domain (PD) and a Homeodomain (HD). While Ey/Pax6 PD is required for the expression of key regulators of retinal development, relatively little is known about the HD-dependent Ey function. In this study, we used the UAS/GAL4 system to determine the functions of different Ey domains on cell growth and on retinal development. We showed that Ey can promote cell growth, which requires the HD but not the PD. In contrast, the ability of Ey to activate Ato expression and induce ectopic eye formation requires the PD but not the HD. Interestingly, deletion of the HD enhanced Ey-dependent ectopic eye induction while overexpression of the HD only Ey forms antagonizes ectopic eye induction. These studies revealed a novel function of Ey HD on cell growth and a novel antagonistic effect of Ey HD on Ey PD-dependent eye induction. We further show the third helix of the Ey HD can directly interact with the RED subdomain in Ey PD and that deletion of the HD increased the binding of Ey PD to its target. These results suggest that the direct interaction between the HD and the PD potentially mediates their antagonistic effects. Since different Ey splicing forms are expressed in overlapping regions during normal development, we speculate that the expression ratios of the different Ey splice forms potentially contribute to the regulation of growth and differentiation of these tissues.
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8 articles