Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Hormone-Induced 14-3-3Γ Adaptor Protein Regulates Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein Activity And Steroid Biosynthesis In Ma-10 Leydig Cells, Yasaman Aghazadeh, Malena B. Rone, Josip Blonder, Xiaoying Ye, Timothy D. Veenstra, D. Buck Hales, Martine Culty, Vassilios Papadopoulos

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Cholesterol is the sole precursor of steroid hormones in the body. The import of cholesterol to the inner mitochondrial membrane, the rate-limiting step in steroid biosynthesis, relies on the formation of a protein complex that assembles at the outer mitochondrial membrane called the transduceosome. The transduceosome contains several mitochondrial and cytosolic components, including the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (STAR). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) induces de novo synthesis of STAR, a process shown to parallel maximal steroid production. In the hCG-dependent steroidogenic MA-10 mouse Leydig cell line, the 14-3-3γ protein was identified in native mitochondrial complexes by mass spectrometry and immunoblotting, …

Regulation Of Microtubule-Based Microtubule Nucleation By Mammalian Polo-Like Kinase 1, Yoshikazu Johmura, Nak-Kyun Soung, Jung-Eun Park, Li-Rong Yu, Ming Zhou, Jeong K. Bang, Bo-Yeon Kim, Timothy D. Veenstra, Raymond L. Erikson, Kyung S. Lee

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Bipolar spindle formation is pivotal for accurate segregation of mitotic chromosomes during cell division. A growing body of evidence suggests that, in addition to centrosome- and chromatin-based microtubule (MT) nucleation, MT-based MT nucleation plays an important role for proper bipolar spindle formation in various eukaryotic organisms. Although a recently discovered Augmin complex appears to play a central role in this event, how Augmin is regulated remains unknown. Here we provide evidence that a mammalian polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) localizes to mitotic spindles and promotes MT-based MT nucleation by directly regulating Augmin. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that Cdc2-dependent phosphorylation on a γ-tubulin …

An Insight Into The Sialome Of The Oriental Rat Flea, Xenopsylla Cheopis (Rots), John F. Andersen, B. Joseph Hinnebusch, David A. Lucas, Thomas P. Conrads, Timothy D. Veenstra, Van M. Pham, José M.C. Ribeiro

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The salivary glands of hematophagous animals contain a complex cocktail that interferes with the host hemostasis and inflammation pathways, thus increasing feeding success. Fleas represent a relatively recent group of insects that evolved hematophagy independently of other insect orders.

RESULTS: Analysis of the salivary transcriptome of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis, the vector of human plague, indicates that gene duplication events have led to a large expansion of a family of acidic phosphatases that are probably inactive, and to the expansion of the FS family of peptides that are unique to fleas. Several other unique polypeptides were also uncovered. Additionally, …