Most women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) initially present with metastases, but little is known about the regulation of ovarian tumor cell dissemination by the tumor microenvironment. Because ovarian cancer cell dissemination is mostly limited to the peritoneal cavity and often results in the accumulation of malignant ascites, the...
Arsenic trioxide (As<sub>2</sub>0<sub>3</sub>) is an arsenic-derivative that exhibits potent growth inhibitory effects against malignant cells. The remarkable antitumor effects of As<sub>2</sub>0<sub>3</sub> in vitro and in vivo have prompted the development of various clinical trials that established its activity in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). As<sub>2</sub>0<sub>3</sub> is part of the standard treatment...
PilD is an enzyme that processes prepilins that are part of the type II protein secretion apparatus and the type IV piliation machinery. Using a <em>Legionella pneumophila pilDlacZ</em> fusion strain to measure transcription, we observed a 20% increase in beta-galactosidase levels at 30°C vs. 37°C. At 25°C and 17°C vs....
Latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) and LMP2B are viral proteins expressed during Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency in EBV-infected B cells both in cell culture and in vivo. Although Lyn has been shown to be important in mediating LMP2A signaling, it is still unclear if Lyn is used preferentially or if...
Plants, animals, and yeast have the capacity to produce and accumulate neutral lipids, sterol esters and triacylglycerol (TAG). However, their accumulation and the genes underlying their synthesis in intracellular microorganisms are poorly understood.
Plasmodium falciparum is a parasitic protozoan that causes the most virulent form of human malaria. During erythrocytic...
Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is associated with malignancies of lymphoid and epithelial origin. While the precise role of EBV in oncogenesis remains elusive, latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) is detected in all EBV-associated malignancies, implicating LMP2A in their pathogenesis. Interestingly, LMP2A is expressed in EBV-associated malignancies such as Burkitt's Lymphoma,...
PRC is a PGC-1 coactivator family member responsive to serum growth factors and up regulated in proliferating cells. Unlike PGC-1α and PGC-1β, PRC has not been studied extensively and and its function or regulation remains largely unknown. Both PGC-1α and PGC-1β have been shown to be important regulators of mitochondrial...
Early Growth Response genes (Egr1-4) are transcriptional mediators of signals governing growth and differentiation. In sympathetic neuron-derived cell lines, Egr1 is induced by NGF signaling, which is required for sympathetic neuron survival, differentiation and target organ innervation. In the absence of identifiable sympathetic defects in Egr1-deficient mice, we investigated the...
The cause(s) of Aβ overproduction and accumulation in SAD are unknown; however, several lines of evidence indicate that impaired energy metabolism in the brain may be involved. Furthermore, the rate-limiting enzyme in Aβ production, BACE1, is elevated in SAD brains around amyloid plaques, indicating that BACE1 may also play a...
Mechanisms of RNA Mediated Silencing in S. pombe Christina A. Lawrence Heterochromatin of eukaryotic genomes has classically been defined as condensed chromatin that is repressive to transcription and typically resides at highly repetitive regions of the genome. Genetic and molecular analyses have demonstrated that these regions are essential for genome...