Cancer

LC3B Empowers Protein Quality Control by Autophagy

LC3B, also known as microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta (MAP1LC3B), is an autophagy gene that contributes appreciably to protein degradation. Autophagy is a highly synchronized and dynamic catabolic degradation activity that plays an essential role in cellular maintenance, development, antigen presentation and cell death.

VEGF Receptors, Angiogenesis and Cancer

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1 and 2 (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2) are related family members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family of membrane receptor tyrosine kinases. They are key regulators of physiological angiogenesis during fundamental developmental processes such as embryogenesis, skeletal growth, and reproductive functions.

Analyzing Blood Diseases by Flow Cytometry

Studies on leukemias and other blood related malignancies is one of the most relevant investigational and medicinal applications of flow cytometry. In the bone marrow, normal blood cells undergo a progressive series of differentiation and branch off as myeloid, B and T cells. Hematological disorders can arise at any stage of the cell, while the differentiating cell will express a distinctive marker depending on the stage of differentiation.

Ku70: The DNA's Mr. Fix-it

Ku70, known by several synonyms including X-ray repair cross-complementing, 5'-deoxyribose-5-phosphate lyase Ku70 protein 6, 70 kDa subunit of Ku antigen, XRCC6, and G22P1, is a 70 kDa protein that was shown to be involved in multiple cellular pathways, mainly involving DNA repair and recombination (2).

TrkB: Bridging Ontogenesis and Oncogenesis

Tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) is a member of the Trk receptor tyrosine kinases family consisting of TrkA, TrkB and TrkC. The sequence of these family members is highly conserved.

TLR9: Tollgate to Immunity

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an essential role in the activation of innate immunity, and TLRs are expressed in a large number of immune cells as well as in epithelial cells. TLR9 recognizes synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing unmethylated deoxycytidyl-deoxyguanosine (CpG) motifs and mimics the immunostimulatory activity of bacterial DNA.

Myosin Molecular Motor of Membrane Cargo

The Myosin superfamily is a large and diverse protein family, and its members are grouped into many classes, are involved in a number of cellular pathways (1). Myosins contain actin- and ATP-binding sites in their conserved catalytic head domain and localize to a number of intracellular compartments and participate in many trafficking and anchoring events.

Synaptophysin a Marker Protein in Neuroendocrine Cells

Synaptophysin a Marker Protein in Neuroendocrine Cells Synaptophysin is a major integral membrane glycoprotein of neuronal synaptic vesicles present in virtually all synapses and shows a high degree of evolutionary conservation across the mammals. Synaptophysin has been detected in numerous endocrine cell types and is localized in the membrane of small synaptic-like vesicles.

MYD88 Expression and Tumorigenesis

MyD88, also called myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88, encodes a cytosolic adapter protein that plays an essential role in innate and adaptive immune responses. The innate immune system recognizes the presence of bacterial pathogens through the expression of a family known as Toll-like receptors (TLRs).

Ubiquitin-Mediated Degradation of Cellular Proteins: The Kiss of Death

Ubiquitin is an abundant and essential cellular 9-kd protein that is conserved across evolution from yeast to humans. Ubiquitin is used by cells as a covalent modifier of other proteins both to activate their function and to target them for degradation, depending on the degree of ubiquitination.

Pages