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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Regulation Of Energy Stores And Feeding By Neuronal And Peripheral Creb Activity In Drosophila., Koichi Iijima, Lijuan Zhao, Christopher Shenton, Kanae Iijima-Ando Dec 2009

Regulation Of Energy Stores And Feeding By Neuronal And Peripheral Creb Activity In Drosophila., Koichi Iijima, Lijuan Zhao, Christopher Shenton, Kanae Iijima-Ando

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

The cAMP-responsive transcription factor CREB functions in adipose tissue and liver to regulate glycogen and lipid metabolism in mammals. While Drosophila has a homolog of mammalian CREB, dCREB2, its role in energy metabolism is not fully understood. Using tissue-specific expression of a dominant-negative form of CREB (DN-CREB), we have examined the effect of blocking CREB activity in neurons and in the fat body, the primary energy storage depot with functions of adipose tissue and the liver in flies, on energy balance, stress resistance and feeding behavior. We found that disruption of CREB function in neurons reduced glycogen and lipid stores …


Mcl-1 Degradation During Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis., Howard C. Masuoka, Justin L. Mott, Steven F. Bronk, Nathan W. Werneburg, Yuko Akazawa, Scott H. Kaufmann, Gregory J. Gores Oct 2009

Mcl-1 Degradation During Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis., Howard C. Masuoka, Justin L. Mott, Steven F. Bronk, Nathan W. Werneburg, Yuko Akazawa, Scott H. Kaufmann, Gregory J. Gores

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

The mechanisms of free fatty acid-induced lipoapoptosis are incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that Mcl-1, an anti-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, was rapidly degraded in hepatocytes in response to palmitate and stearate by a proteasome-dependent pathway. Overexpression of a ubiquitin-resistant Mcl-1 mutant in Huh-7 cells attenuated palmitate-mediated Mcl-1 loss and lipoapoptosis; conversely, short hairpin RNA-targeted knockdown of Mcl-1 sensitized these cells to lipoapoptosis. Palmitate-induced Mcl-1 degradation was attenuated by the novel protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor rottlerin. Of the two human novel PKC isozymes, PKCdelta and PKC, only activation of PKC was observed by phospho-immunoblot analysis. As compared with …


Jnk1-Dependent Puma Expression Contributes To Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis., Sophie C. Cazanave, Justin L. Mott, Nafisa A. Elmi, Steven F. Bronk, Nathan W. Werneburg, Yuko Akazawa, Alisan Kahraman, Sean P. Garrison, Gerard P. Zambetti, Michael R. Charlton, Gregory J. Gores Sep 2009

Jnk1-Dependent Puma Expression Contributes To Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis., Sophie C. Cazanave, Justin L. Mott, Nafisa A. Elmi, Steven F. Bronk, Nathan W. Werneburg, Yuko Akazawa, Alisan Kahraman, Sean P. Garrison, Gerard P. Zambetti, Michael R. Charlton, Gregory J. Gores

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Free fatty acids (FFA) induce hepatocyte lipoapoptosis by a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-dependent mechanism. However, the cellular processes by which JNK engages the core apoptotic machinery during lipotoxicity, especially activation of BH3-only proteins, remain incompletely understood. Thus, our aim was to determine whether JNK mediates induction of BH3-only proteins during hepatocyte lipoapoptosis. The saturated FFA palmitate, but not the monounsaturated FFA oleate, induces an increase in PUMA mRNA and protein levels. Palmitate induction of PUMA was JNK1-dependent in primary murine hepatocytes. Palmitate-mediated PUMA expression was inhibited by a dominant negative c-Jun, and direct binding of a phosphorylated c-Jun containing the …


Revisiting Histidine-Dependent Acid Phosphatases: A Distinct Group Of Tyrosine Phosphatases., Suresh Veeramani, Ming-Shyue Lee, Ming-Fong Lin Jun 2009

Revisiting Histidine-Dependent Acid Phosphatases: A Distinct Group Of Tyrosine Phosphatases., Suresh Veeramani, Ming-Shyue Lee, Ming-Fong Lin

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Although classical protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) superfamily members are cysteine-dependent, emerging evidence shows that many acid phosphatases (AcPs) function as histidine-dependent PTPs in vivo. These AcPs dephosphorylate phospho-tyrosine substrates intracellularly and could have roles in development and disease. In contrast to cysteine-dependent PTPs, they utilize histidine, rather than cysteine, for substrate dephosphorylation. Structural analyses reveal that active site histidine, but not cysteine, faces towards the substrate and functions as the phosphate acceptor. Nonetheless, during dephosphorylation, both histidine-dependent and cysteine-dependent PTPs use their active site arginine and aspartate for substrate binding and proton donation, respectively. Thus, we propose that they should …


Genome Based Cell Population Heterogeneity Promotes Tumorigenicity: The Evolutionary Mechanism Of Cancer., Christine J. Ye, Joshua B. Stevens, Guo Liu, Steven W. Bremer, Aruna S. Jaiswal, Karen J. Ye, Ming-Fong Lin, Lesley Lawrenson, Wayne D. Lancaster, Markku Kurkinen, Joshua D. Liao, C. Gary Gairola, Malathy P. V. Shekhar, Satya Narayan, Fred R. Miller, Henry H. Q. Heng May 2009

Genome Based Cell Population Heterogeneity Promotes Tumorigenicity: The Evolutionary Mechanism Of Cancer., Christine J. Ye, Joshua B. Stevens, Guo Liu, Steven W. Bremer, Aruna S. Jaiswal, Karen J. Ye, Ming-Fong Lin, Lesley Lawrenson, Wayne D. Lancaster, Markku Kurkinen, Joshua D. Liao, C. Gary Gairola, Malathy P. V. Shekhar, Satya Narayan, Fred R. Miller, Henry H. Q. Heng

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Cancer progression represents an evolutionary process where overall genome level changes reflect system instability and serve as a driving force for evolving new systems. To illustrate this principle it must be demonstrated that karyotypic heterogeneity (population diversity) directly contributes to tumorigenicity. Five well characterized in vitro tumor progression models representing various types of cancers were selected for such an analysis. The tumorigenicity of each model has been linked to different molecular pathways, and there is no common molecular mechanism shared among them. According to our hypothesis that genome level heterogeneity is a key to cancer evolution, we expect to reveal …


Upregulation Of Pip3-Dependent Rac Exchanger 1 (P-Rex1) Promotes Prostate Cancer Metastasis., Jianbing Qin, Yan Xie, Bo Wang, Mikio Hoshino, Dennis W. Wolff, Jing Zhao, Margaret A. Scofield, Frank J. Dowd, Ming-Fong Lin, Yaping Tu Apr 2009

Upregulation Of Pip3-Dependent Rac Exchanger 1 (P-Rex1) Promotes Prostate Cancer Metastasis., Jianbing Qin, Yan Xie, Bo Wang, Mikio Hoshino, Dennis W. Wolff, Jing Zhao, Margaret A. Scofield, Frank J. Dowd, Ming-Fong Lin, Yaping Tu

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Excessive activation of G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways has been linked to prostate cancer metastasis. Rac activation by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) plays an important role in directional cell migration, a critical step of tumor metastasis cascades. We found that the upregulation of P-Rex1, a Rac-selective GEF synergistically activated by Gbetagamma freed during GPCR signaling, and PIP3, generated during either RTK or GPCR signaling, strongly correlates with metastatic phenotypes in both prostate cancer cell lines and human prostate cancer specimens. Silencing endogenous P-Rex1 in metastatic prostate cancer PC-3 cells selectively inhibited Rac activity and reduced …


Paracrine Sonic Hedgehog Signalling By Prostate Cancer Cells Induces Osteoblast Differentiation, Samantha M Zunich, Taneka Douglas, Maria Valdovinos, Tiffany Chang Mar 2009

Paracrine Sonic Hedgehog Signalling By Prostate Cancer Cells Induces Osteoblast Differentiation, Samantha M Zunich, Taneka Douglas, Maria Valdovinos, Tiffany Chang

Dartmouth Scholarship

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and components of its signalling pathway have been identified in human prostate carcinoma and increased levels of their expression appear to correlate with disease progression and metastasis. The mechanism through which Shh signalling could promote metastasis in bone, the most common site for prostate carcinoma metastasis, has not yet been investigated. The present study determined the effect of Shh signalling between prostate cancer cells and pre-osteoblasts on osteoblast differentiation, a requisite process for new bone formation that characterizes prostate carcinoma metastasis.


Micrornas: Key Modulators Of Posttranscriptional Gene Expression., Steven P. O'Hara, Justin L. Mott, Patrick L. Splinter, Gregory J. Gores, Nicholas F. Larusso Jan 2009

Micrornas: Key Modulators Of Posttranscriptional Gene Expression., Steven P. O'Hara, Justin L. Mott, Patrick L. Splinter, Gregory J. Gores, Nicholas F. Larusso

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

No abstract provided.