The SNARE protein syntaxin-1 exists in two conformations during synaptic vesicle fusion, both of which can bind to Munc18-1: the "open" conformation in the SNARE complex and a "closed" conformation outside the SNARE complex.  » Read more

A Japanese research team from the Biotechnology Research Center in Toyama performed a bioinformatic analysis of whole genome sequences in order to find orthologues of the men genes in Escherichia coli. The men genes enable microorganisms to synthesise menaquinone (vitamin K2), an essential component of the electron-transfer pathway. In E. coli it is derived from chorismate by seven enzymes.  » Read more

Pluripotency key factors bind to Xist intron 1 in undifferentiated embryonic stem cells, report research groups from the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the University of Edinburgh, UK. During murine embryogenesis, the imprinted X chromosome inactivation can be reprogrammed in the inner cell mass of a pluripotent female blastocyst. The reversion is triggered by repression of Xist from the paternal X chromosome. The three main genetic factors underlying pluripotency, Nanog, Oct3/4 and Sox2, bind to Xist intron 1.  » Read more

Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) was identified as an enzyme whose activation correlates with reduced ischemic heart damage in rodent models by Che-Hong Chen and colleagues from the Stanford University (USA), using an unbiased proteomic search. The research team wanted to find a drug that limits the severity of ischemia-induced cardiac damage occurring after a myocardial infarction or certain cardiac surgical procedures.  » Read more

The pre-B cell receptor appears to censor the development of certain autoantibody-secreting cells, as Rebecca A. Keenan and her team from The Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK report. The pre-B cell receptor is composed of immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and substitute light chains. It seems to be involved in the negative selection of cells expressing heavy chains bearing the potential to generate autoantibodies. It thus may be an important factor in multifactorial autoimmune diseases.  » Read more