Expression of elongation factor 1 beta' in Escherichia coli and its interaction with elongation factor 1 alpha from silk gland. (1/396)

Silk gland elongation factor 1 (EF-1) consists of four subunits: alpha, beta, beta', and gamma. EF-1 beta beta' gamma catalyzes the exchange of GDP for GTP on EF-1 alpha and stimulates the binding of EF-1 alpha-dependent aminoacyl-tRNA to ribosomes. The carboxy-terminal regions of the EF-1 beta subunits from various species are highly conserved. We examined the region of EF-1 beta' that binds to EF-1 alpha by in vitro binding assays, and examined the GDP/GTP exchange activity using deletion mutants of a GST-EF1 beta' fusion protein. We thereby suggested a pivotal amino acid region, residues 189-222, of EF-1 beta' for binding to EF-1 alpha.  (+info)

Estrogen deficiency accelerates autoimmune exocrinopathy in murine Sjogren's syndrome through fas-mediated apoptosis. (2/396)

Estrogenic action has been suggested to be responsible for the strong female preponderance of autoimmune diseases, but the role of estrogens in the female has not been well characterized. We evaluated the effects of estrogen deficiency in a murine model for autoimmune exocrinopathy of Sjogren's syndrome (SS). Severe destructive autoimmune lesions developed in the salivary and lacrimal glands in estrogen-deficient mice, and these lesions were recovered by estrogen administration. We detected an intense estrogen receptor in splenic CD8(+) T cells compared with that in CD4(+) T cells, and concanavalin-A-stimulated blastogenesis of splenic CD8(+) T cells with estrogens was much higher than that of CD4(+) T cells. We found a significant increase in serum autoantibody production against the organ-specific autoantigen alpha-fodrin. Moreover, an increased proportion of TUNEL+ apoptotic epithelial duct cells was observed in estrogen-deficient mice. It was demonstrated that Fas-mediated apoptosis in cultured salivary gland cells was clearly inhibited by estrogens in vitro. These results indicate that dysfunction of regulatory T cells by estrogen deficiency may play a crucial role on acceleration of organ-specific autoimmune lesions, and estrogenic action further influences target epithelial cells through Fas-mediated apoptosis in a murine model for SS.  (+info)

Induction of estrus in grouped female mice (Mus domesticus) by synthetic analogues of preputial gland constituents. (3/396)

Two major volatile constituents of the male mouse preputial gland, E,E-alpha-farnesene and E-beta-farnesene, were examined for their role in inducing estrous cycles in grouped female mice. The results indicated that the mixture of the farnesenes was as effective as the homogenate of the intact preputial gland, while the extract of the castrate preputial tissue did not show a pronounced response.  (+info)

Expression of amylase and glucose oxidase in the hypopharyngeal gland with an age-dependent role change of the worker honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). (4/396)

Worker honeybees change their behaviour from the role of nurse to that of forager with age. We have isolated cDNA clones for two honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) genes, encoding alpha-amylase and glucose oxidase homologues, that are expressed in the hypopharyngeal gland of forager bees. The predicted amino acid sequence of the putative Apis amylase showed 60.5% identity with Drosophila melanogaster alpha-amylase, whereas that of Apis glucose oxidase showed 23.8% identity with Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase. To determine whether the isolated cDNAs actually encode these enzymes, we purified amylase and glucose oxidase from homogenized forager-bee hypopharyngeal glands. We sequenced the N-terminal regions of the purified enzymes and found that they matched the corresponding cDNAs. mRNAs for both enzymes were detected by Northern blotting in the hypopharyngeal gland of the forager bee but not in the nurse-bee gland. These results clearly indicate that expression of the genes for these carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes, which are needed to process nectar into honey, in the hypopharyngeal gland is associated with the age-dependent role change of the worker.  (+info)

Submucosal gland development in the airway is controlled by lymphoid enhancer binding factor 1 (LEF1). (5/396)

Previous studies have demonstrated that transcription of the lymphoid enhancer binding factor 1 (Lef1) gene is upregulated in submucosal gland progenitor cells just prior to gland bud formation in the developing ferret trachea. In the current report, several animal models were utilized to functionally investigate the role of LEF1 in initiating and supporting gland development in the airway. Studies on Lef1-deficient mice and antisense oligonucleotides in a ferret xenograft model demonstrate that LEF1 is functionally required for submucosal gland formation in the nasal and tracheal mucosa. To determine whether LEF1 expression was sufficient for the induction of airway submucosal glands, two additional model systems were utilized. In the first, recombinant adeno-associated virus was used to overexpress the human LEF1 gene in a human bronchial xenograft model of regenerative gland development in the adult airway. In a second model, the LEF1 gene was ectopically overexpressed under the direction of the proximal airway-specific CC10 promoter in transgenic mice. In both of these models, morphometric analyses revealed no increase in the number or size of airway submucosal glands, indicating that ectopic LEF1 expression alone is insufficient to induce submucosal gland development. In summary, these studies demonstrate that LEF1 expression is required, but in and of itself is insufficient, for the initiation and continued morphogenesis of submucosal glands in the airway.  (+info)

Xpitx-1: a homeobox gene expressed during pituitary and cement gland formation of Xenopus embryos. (6/396)

Pitx-1 is a member of the family of bicoid-related vertebrate homeobox genes; it was originally identified as a tissue-specific transcriptional regulator of the proopiomelacortin gene. Here we report on the embryonic expression of Xpitx-1, which is expressed in the anterior neural ridge and in the cement gland Anlage during late gastrulation/early neurulation. In tadpole stage embryos Xpitx-1 transcripts are primarily detected in the cement gland, stomodeal-hypophyseal Anlage, oral epithelia and lens placode. Therefore, Xpitx-1 may be part of the genetic network that controls the early development of these structures.  (+info)

Shewanella pealeana sp. nov., a member of the microbial community associated with the accessory nidamental gland of the squid Loligo pealei. (7/396)

A new, mesophillic, facultatively anaerobic, psychrotolerant bacterium, strain ANG-SQ1T (T = type strain), was isolated from a microbial community colonizing the accessory nidamental gland of the squid Loligo pealei. It was selected from the community on the basis of its ability to reduce elemental sulfur. The cells are motile, Gram-negative rods (2.0-3.0 microns long, 0.4-0.6 micron wide). ANG-SQ1T grows optimally over the temperature range of 25-30 degrees C and a pH range of 6.5-7.5 degrees C in media containing 0.5 M NaCl. 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that this organism belongs to the gamma-3 subclass of the Proteobacteria. The closest relative of ANG-SQ1T is Shewanella gelidimarina, with a 16S rRNA sequence similarity of 97.0%. Growth occurs with glucose, lactate, acetate, pyruvate, glutamate, citrate, succinate, Casamino acids, yeast extract or peptone as sole energy source under aerobic conditions. The isolate grows anaerobically by the reduction of iron, manganese, nitrate, fumarate, trimethylamine-N-oxide, thiosulfate or elemental sulfur as terminal electron acceptor with lactate. Growth of ANG-SQ1T was enhanced by the addition of choline chloride to growth media lacking Casamino acids. The addition of leucine or valine also enhanced growth in minimal growth media supplemented with choline. The results of both phenotypic and genetic characterization indicate that ANG-SQ1T is a Shewanella species. Thus it is proposed that this new isolate be assigned to the genus Shewanella and that it should be named Shewanella pealeana sp. nov., in recognition of its association with L. pealei.  (+info)

Coincidence of otx2 and BMP4 signaling correlates with Xenopus cement gland formation. (8/396)

We previously showed that otx2 activates ectopic formation of the Xenopus cement gland only in ventrolateral ectoderm, defining a region of the embryo permissive for cement gland formation. In this paper, we explore the molecular identity of this permissive area. One candidate permissive factor is BMP4, whose putative graded inhibition by factors such as noggin has been proposed to activate both cement gland and neural fates. Several lines of evidence are presented to suggest that BMP signaling and otx2 work together to activate cement gland formation. First, BMP4 is highly expressed in the cement gland primordium together with otx2. Second, cement gland formation in isolated ectoderm is always accompanied by coexpression of otx2 and BMP4 RNA, whether cement gland is induced by otx2 or by the BMP protein inhibitor noggin. Third, BMP signaling can modulate otx2 activity, such that increasing BMP signaling preferentially inhibits neural induction by otx2, while decreasing BMP signaling prevents cement gland formation. In addition, we show that a hormone-inducible otx2 activates both ectopic neural and cement gland formation within the cement gland permissive region, in a pattern reminiscent of that found in the embryo. We discuss this observation in view of a model that BMP4 and otx2 work together to promote cement gland formation.  (+info)