scholarly journals TUBB Variants Underlying Different Phenotypes Result in Altered Vesicle Trafficking and Microtubule Dynamics

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Sferra ◽  
Stefania Petrini ◽  
Emanuele Bellacchio ◽  
Francesco Nicita ◽  
Francesco Scibelli ◽  
...  

Tubulinopathies are rare neurological disorders caused by alterations in tubulin structure and function, giving rise to a wide range of brain abnormalities involving neuronal proliferation, migration, differentiation and axon guidance. TUBB is one of the ten β-tubulin encoding genes present in the human genome and is broadly expressed in the developing central nervous system and the skin. Mutations in TUBB are responsible for two distinct pathological conditions: the first is characterized by microcephaly and complex structural brain malformations and the second, also known as “circumferential skin creases Kunze type” (CSC-KT), is associated to neurological features, excess skin folding and growth retardation. We used a combination of immunocytochemical and cellular approaches to explore, on patients’ derived fibroblasts, the functional consequences of two TUBB variants: the novel mutation (p.N52S), associated with basal ganglia and cerebellar dysgenesis, and the previously reported variant (p.M73T), linked to microcephaly, corpus callosum agenesis and CSC-KT skin phenotype. Our results demonstrate that these variants impair microtubule (MT) function and dynamics. Most importantly, our studies show an altered epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transferrin (Tf) intracellular vesicle trafficking in both patients’ fibroblasts, suggesting a specific role of TUBB in MT-dependent vesicular transport.

2016 ◽  
pp. 126-129
Author(s):  
M. Makarenko ◽  
◽  
D. Hovsyeyev ◽  
L. Sydoryk ◽  
◽  
...  

Different kinds of physiological stress cause mass changes in the cells, including the changes in the structure and function of the protein complexes and in separate molecules. The protein functions is determined by its folding (the spatial conclusion), which depends on the functioning of proteins of thermal shock- molecular chaperons (HSPs) or depends on the stress proteins, that are high-conservative; specialized proteins that are responsible for the correct proteinaceous folding. The family of the molecular chaperones/ chaperonins/ Hsp60 has a special place due to the its unique properties of activating the signaling cascades through the system of Toll-like receptors; it also stimulates the cells to produce anti- inflammatory cytokines, defensins, molecules of cell adhesion and the molecules of MHC; it functions as the intercellular signaling molecule. The pathological role of Hsp60 is established in a wide range of illnesses, from diabetes to atherosclerosis, where Hsp60 takes part in the regulation of both apoptosis and the autoimmune processes. The presence of the HSPs was found in different tissues that are related to the reproductive system. Key words: molecular chaperons (HSPs), Toll-like receptors, reproductive function, natural auto antibody.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 243-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohan Yoo

This article demonstrates the need for the iconic status and function of Buddhist scripture to receive more attention by illuminating how lay Korean Buddhists try to appropriate the power of sutras. The oral and aural aspects of scripture, explained by Wilfred Cantwell Smith, provide only a limited understanding of the characteristics of scripture. It should be noted that, before modern times, most lay people, not only in Buddhist cultures but also in Christian and other traditions, neither had the chance to recite scriptures nor to listen to their recitations regularly. Several clear examples demonstrate contemporary Korean Buddhists’ acceptance of the iconic status of sutras and their attempt to appropriate the power and status of those sacred texts. In contemporary Korea, lay Buddhists try to claim the power of scriptures in their daily lives by repeating and possessing them. Twenty-first century lay believers who cannot read or recite in a traditional style have found new methods of repetition, such as internet programs for copying sacred texts and for playing recordings of their recitations. In addition, many Korean Buddhists consider the act of having sutras in one’s possession to be an effective way of accessing the sacred status and power of these texts. Hence, various ways of possessing them have been developed in a wide range of products, from fancy gilded sutras to sneakers embroidered with mantras.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher John ◽  
Greg M. Swain ◽  
Robert P. Hausinger ◽  
Denis A. Proshlyakov

2-Oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent dioxygenases catalyze C-H activation while performing a wide range of chemical transformations. In contrast to their heme analogues, non-heme iron centers afford greater structural flexibility with important implications for their diverse catalytic mechanisms. We characterize an <i>in situ</i> structural model of the putative transient ferric intermediate of 2OG:taurine dioxygenase (TauD) by using a combination of spectroelectrochemical and semi-empirical computational methods, demonstrating that the Fe (III/II) transition involves a substantial, fully reversible, redox-linked conformational change at the active site. This rearrangement alters the apparent redox potential of the active site between -127 mV for reduction of the ferric state and 171 mV for oxidation of the ferrous state of the 2OG-Fe-TauD complex. Structural perturbations exhibit limited sensitivity to mediator concentrations and potential pulse duration. Similar changes were observed in the Fe-TauD and taurine-2OG-Fe-TauD complexes, thus attributing the reorganization to the protein moiety rather than the cosubstrates. Redox difference infrared spectra indicate a reorganization of the protein backbone in addition to the involvement of carboxylate and histidine ligands. Quantitative modeling of the transient redox response using two alternative reaction schemes across a variety of experimental conditions strongly supports the proposal for intrinsic protein reorganization as the origin of the experimental observations.


Author(s):  
Erik Gray

Love begets poetry; poetry begets love. These two propositions have seemed evident to thinkers and poets across the Western literary tradition. Plato writes that “anyone that love touches instantly becomes a poet.” And even today, when poetry has largely disappeared from the mainstream of popular culture, it retains its romantic associations. But why should this be so—what are the connections between poetry and erotic love that lead us to associate them so strongly with one another? An examination of different theories of both love and poetry across the centuries reveals that the connection between them is not merely an accident of cultural history—the result of our having grown up hearing, or hearing about, love poetry—but something more intrinsic. Even as definitions of them have changed, the two phenomena have consistently been described in parallel terms. Love is characterized by paradox. Above all, it is both necessarily public, because interpersonal, and intensely private; hence it both requires expression and resists it. In poetry, especially lyric poetry, which features its own characteristic paradoxes and silences, love finds a natural outlet. This study considers both the theories and the love poems themselves, bringing together a wide range of examples from different eras in order to examine the major structures that love and poetry share. It does not aim to be a comprehensive history of Western love poetry, but an investigation into the meaning and function of recurrent tropes, forms, and images employed by poets to express and describe erotic love.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 3219-3228
Author(s):  
Koray Benli ◽  
Jonathan Luntz ◽  
Diann Brei ◽  
Wonhee Kim ◽  
Paul Alexander ◽  
...  

AbstractPneumatically activated systems enable myriad types of highly functional inflatables employing a wide range of architectural approaches affecting their form and function, making systematic conceptual design difficult. A new architectural class of pneumatically activated systems, constrained layer inflatable systems, consists of hierarchically architected flat layers of thin airtight bladders that are internally and/or externally constrained to generate a variety of functionalities. The highly hierarchical architectural structure of constrained layer inflatable systems coincides with the hierarchy of produced functions, providing an opportunity for the development of a functional architectural decomposition, capturing the inherent relationship between architectural and functional hierarchies. The basis of the approach is conveyed through the design of an example constrained layer inflatable system. This approach empowers the systematic understanding of the interrelated architectural and functional breakdown of constrained layer inflatable systems, enabling designers to iteratively analyze, synthesize, and re-synthesize the components of the system improving existing designs and exploring new concepts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4626
Author(s):  
Clément Barbereau ◽  
Nicolas Cubedo ◽  
Tangui Maurice ◽  
Mireille Rossel

Tauopathies represent a vast family of neurodegenerative diseases, the most well-known of which is Alzheimer’s disease. The symptoms observed in patients include cognitive deficits and locomotor problems and can lead ultimately to dementia. The common point found in all these pathologies is the accumulation in neural and/or glial cells of abnormal forms of Tau protein, leading to its aggregation and neurofibrillary tangles. Zebrafish transgenic models have been generated with different overexpression strategies of human Tau protein. These transgenic lines have made it possible to highlight Tau interacting factors or factors which may limit the neurotoxicity induced by mutations and hyperphosphorylation of the Tau protein in neurons. Several studies have tested neuroprotective pharmacological approaches. On few-days-old larvae, modulation of various signaling or degradation pathways reversed the deleterious effects of Tau mutations, mainly hTauP301L and hTauA152T. Live imaging and live tracking techniques as well as behavioral follow-up enable the analysis of the wide range of Tau-related phenotypes from synaptic loss to cognitive functional consequences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2732
Author(s):  
Nadine Reichhart ◽  
Vladimir M. Milenkovic ◽  
Christian H. Wetzel ◽  
Olaf Strauß

The anoctamin (TMEM16) family of transmembrane protein consists of ten members in vertebrates, which act as Ca2+-dependent ion channels and/or Ca2+-dependent scramblases. ANO4 which is primarily expressed in the CNS and certain endocrine glands, has been associated with various neuronal disorders. Therefore, we focused our study on prioritizing missense mutations that are assumed to alter the structure and stability of ANO4 protein. We employed a wide array of evolution and structure based in silico prediction methods to identify potentially deleterious missense mutations in the ANO4 gene. Identified pathogenic mutations were then mapped to the modeled human ANO4 structure and the effects of missense mutations were studied on the atomic level using molecular dynamics simulations. Our data show that the G80A and A500T mutations significantly alter the stability of the mutant proteins, thus providing new perspective on the role of missense mutations in ANO4 gene. Results obtained in this study may help to identify disease associated mutations which affect ANO4 protein structure and function and might facilitate future functional characterization of ANO4.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117955652199235
Author(s):  
Jessica Maria Forero-Delgadillo ◽  
Vanessa Ochoa ◽  
Natalia Duque ◽  
Jaime Manuel Restrepo ◽  
Hernando Londoño ◽  
...  

Background: Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the leading cause of end stage renal disease in children. Diagnosis by genetic testing has proven challenging due to its genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, as well as incomplete penetrance. We report a case on a 16-months old female with a history of renal cysts and a PAX2 mutation. Case presentation: The patient presented with a prenatal diagnosis of Potter sequence and a postnatal diagnosis of renal cysts. An ultrasound at 20 weeks gestation revealed right renal agenesis and possible left renal dysplasia. Post natal genetic analyses identified a novel mutation in PAX2. Conclusion: Cystic kidney disease is often underdiagnosed due to its variable expressivity and wide range of clinical manifestations; PAX2 genetic screening should be considered for all patients with CAKUT.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (13) ◽  
pp. 2645-2657 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Spielman ◽  
D. Preuss ◽  
F.L. Li ◽  
W.E. Browne ◽  
R.J. Scott ◽  
...  

In flowering plants, male meiosis occurs in the microsporocyte to produce four microspores, each of which develops into a pollen grain. Here we describe four mutant alleles of TETRASPORE (TES), a gene essential for microsporocyte cytokinesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Following failure of male meiotic cytokinesis in tes mutants, all four microspore nuclei remain within the same cytoplasm, with some completing their developmental programmes to form functional pollen nuclei. Both of the mitotic divisions seen in normal pollen development take place in tes mutants, including the asymmetric division required for the differentiation of gametes; some tes grains perform multiple asymmetric divisions in the same cytoplasm. tes pollen shows a variety of abnormalities subsequent to the cytokinetic defect, including fusion of nuclei, formation of ectopic internal walls, and disruptions to external wall patterning. In addition, ovules fertilized by tes pollen often abort, possibly because of excess paternal genomes in the endosperm. Thus tes mutants not only reveal a gene specific to male meiosis, but aid investigation of a wide range of processes in pollen development and function.


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