Lead poisoning is the most common environmentally-caused disease in the United States and is threat to human health worldwide. Although efforts to prevent lead exposure have increased throughout the years, lead poisoning still remains a common problem. Lead toxicity is more prevalent in children, who suffer from permanent neurodevelopment and...
Influenza virus assembly and budding is a complex process involving the organization of viral membrane proteins on the cell surface, incorporation of the segmented RNA genome, and formation of viral particles that must bud from the cell by pinching off from the plasma membrane. Interactions between the soluble influenza virus...
Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) play a fundamental role in cell growth, metabolism and survival. Altered cell surface expression of RTKs has profound effects on organismal physiology and is associated with both metabolic disease and neoplasia. The insulin receptor (IR) is a prototypical RTK that regulates metabolism and lifespan and as...
The neural crest is a population of multipotent precursors that are found only in vertebrate embryos. These cells migrate extensively throughout the body and give rise to diverse derivatives, including craniofacial bone and cartilage, melanocytes, and the enteric nervous system. There is a large network of factors involved in neural...
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the cause of infectious mononucleosis and is associated with the etiology of several human cancers of lymphoid and epithelial cell origin, including Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It is an extremely prevalent virus in human populations worldwide. All herpesviruses, including EBV, infect cells by fusing the...
Packaging of DNA into nucleosomes and chromatin not only enables DNA to fit within the nucleus, but it also protects and organizes DNA. However, the wrapping of DNA around histones occludes DNA from binding proteins in solution. Proteins that regulate, express and repair DNA are able to function only when...
Activin, a member of the TGF-b superfamily, controls a variety of physiological events from the cell cycle to reproductive health. Activin activates the Smad signaling pathway through ActRII/B and ALK4 receptors. The regulation of activin signaling is carried out in part by the inhibitor protein follistatin. The mechanistic details of...
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 20 million people already have CKD, and another 20 million are at risk for developing CKD. The primary causes of kidney disease are diabetes followed closely by...
Hypoxia is a reduction in the normal level of oxygen tension and occurs during acute and chronic vascular disease, pulmonary disease, and cancer. The key transcription factor that regulates the cellular responses to hypoxia is hypoxia-inducible-factor-1 (HIF-1). Understanding how HIF-1 is regulated is fundamental for understanding the biology of tumor...
The detection of bio-molecules (e.g. nucleic acids and proteins) is the bedrock upon which research in the life sciences and diagnostic medicine rests. For nucleic acids, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the ultimate in terms of target detection sensitivity (10s - 100s of copies/sample). For proteins, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent...