Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Alterations In Platelet Secretion Differentially Affect Thrombosis And Hemostasis, Smita Joshi, Meenakshi Banerjee, Jinchao Zhang, Akhil Kesaraju, Irina D. Pokrovskaya, Brian Storrie, Sidney W. Whiteheart

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We genetically manipulated the major platelet vesicle-associated membrane proteins (VAMP2, VAMP3, and VAMP8) to create mice with varying degrees of disrupted platelet secretion. As previously shown, loss of VAMP8 reduced granule secretion, and this defect was exacerbated by further deletion of VAMP2 and VAMP3. VAMP2^Δ3^Δ8^−/− platelets also had reduced VAMP7. Loss of VAMP2 and VAMP3 (VAMP2^Δ3^Δ) had a minimal impact on secretion when VAMP7 and VAMP8 were present. Integrin αIIbβ3 activation and aggregation were not affected, although spreading was reduced in VAMP2^Δ3^Δ8^−/− platelets. Using these mice …

Bioprospecting Deep-Sea Actinobacteria For Novel Anti-Infective Natural Products, Dongbo Xu, Linna Han, Chunhui Li, Qi Cao, Duolong Zhu, Nolan H. Barrett, Dedra Harmody, Jing Chen, Haining Zhu, Peter J. Mccarthy, Xingmin Sun, Guojun Wang

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The global prevalence of drug resistance has created an urgent need for the discovery of novel anti-infective drugs. The major source of antibiotics in current clinical practice is terrestrial actinobacteria; the less-exploited deep-sea actinobacteria may serve as an unprecedented source of novel natural products. In this study, we evaluated 50 actinobacteria strains derived from diverse deep water sponges and environmental niches for their anti-microbial activities against a panel of pathogens including Candida albicans, Clostridium difficile, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. More than half of the tested strains (27) were identified as …

Efficient Activation Of Reconstructed Rat Embryos By Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors, Robin L. Webb, Kirk A. Findlay, Michael A. Green, Tina L. Beckett, M. Paul Murphy

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Background

Over the last decade a number of species, from farm animals to rodents, have been cloned using somatic cell nuclear transfer technology (SCNT). This technique has the potential to revolutionize the way that genetically modified animals are made. In its current state, the process of SCNT is very inefficient (<5% success rate), with several technical and biological hurdles hindering development. Yet, SCNT provides investigators with powerful advantages over other approaches, such as allowing for prescreening for the desired level of transgene expression and eliminating the excess production of undesirable wild-type animals. The rat plays a significant role in biomedical research, but SCNT has been problematic for this species. In this study, we address one aspect of the problem by evaluating methods of activation in artificially constructed rat embryos.

Principal Findings

We demonstrate that treatment with a calcium ionophore (ionomycin) combined with a variety of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors is an effective way to activate rat embryos. This is in contrast to methods developed for the mouse embryo, which tolerates much less specific chemical treatments. Methods developed to activate …