Apoptosis

Jumonji domain-containing protein 3 (JMJD3), identified as H3K27me3 demethylase, controls the expression of key regulators and markers of neurogenesis, and is required for commitment to the neural lineage. Nevertheless, the precise molecular targets of JMJD3 remain largely uncharacterized. The regulation of JMJD3 appears to be highly gene- and context- specific, suggesting interplay with specific molecules to promote fine-tuning more than the on/off alternation of methylation status.

Dynamin-related Protein 1 (DRP1) is known to function in mitochondrial and peroxisomal division and mediate membrane fission through oligomerization into ring-like structure and sever the mitochondrial membrane, through a GTP hydrolysis-dependent mechanism.

Beclin 1 is the mammalian orthologue of the yeast Apg6/Vps30 gene. Beclin 1 can complement the defect in autophagy present in apg6 yeast strains and stimulate autophagy when overexpressed in mammalian cells (1) and can bind to Bcl2, an important regulator of apoptosis (2) suggesting a role in two fundamentally important cellular pathways: autophagy and apoptosis.

c-Myc is a well-characterized transcription factor encoded by the c-Myc gene on human chromosome 8q24. This cellular proto-oncogene, also known as p62, is commonly activated in a variety of tumor cells and plays a crucial role in cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression.

Perforin, also known as the pore-forming protein, pfp, is a 70 kD cytolytic protein expressed in the cytoplasmic granules of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer (NK) cells.

Originally identified as autoantigens from a Scleroderma Polymyositis Syndrome patient (1), the Ku protein family consists of nuclear proteins found in eukaryotes. Autoantibodies to both Ku subunits were subsequently found in other autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Epigenetic mechanisms allow distinction between the active and inactive compartments of the genome, allowing proper cell lineage and embryogenesis.

Nucleolin is a multifunctional phosphoprotein ubiquitously distributed in the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm of the cell. Nucleolin has a bipartite nuclear localization signal sequence and is conserved across the species. Nucleolin levels are expressed in abundance in exponentially growing cells and it regulates various aspects of DNA and RNA metabolism, chromatin structure, rDNA transcription, rRNA maturation, cytokinesis, nucleogenesis, cell proliferation and growth (1).

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a downstream effector of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt (protein kinase B) signaling pathway that mediates cell survival and proliferation. It is increasingly apparent that mTOR signaling impacts most major cellular functions.

Ku70 is a 70 kDa protein that was shown to be involved in multiple cellular pathways, mainly involving DNA repair and recombination. Among these are the non-homologus end repairs of DNA double strand breaks. Ku70 was first identified as an autoantigen in the serum of patients with Scleroderma Ploymyosistosis Syndrome (1).