Molecular Biology Commons^™

The NF-kappaB/c-Rel proteins are a family of evolutionarily conserved transcription factors activated during development that in the adult, mediate many processes including the immune response. A high degree of sequence similarity is shared between the NF-kappaB/c-Rel family of transcription factors and the Drosophila Dorsal protein as well as between its cytoplasmic inhibitor, IkappaBalpha, and the Drosophila Cactus protein. Genetic analyses of Dorsal have defined components of a signaling pathway for Dorsal activation, including a serine/threonine kinase, Pelle, placed upstream of Dorsal and Cactus. We demonstrate that this pathway is likely to be conserved in mammals by the isolation of a …

The protease, a-thrombin (aTh), affects myocardial cell contractility, a feature common among agents that induce hypertrophy. However, it is not known whether cardiac myocytes possess aTh receptors (aTh-R), or if long term treatment with aTh can enhance growth and gene expression. In the present study primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes expressed a 3.6-kilobase mRNA species that hybridized with a rat aTh-R-specific probe. After 48 h, aTh induced hypertrophy, sarcomeric organization, and enhanced atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) expression, all of which were blocked by the aTh-selective protease inhibitor, D-Phe-Pro-Argchloromethyl ketone. The aTh-R agonist peptide, SFLLRNPND, was a potent activator of ANF …