Antibody News

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, which involves the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain and gives rise to tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement. In the majority of cases there is no known cause; however mutations in a number of specific genes have been implicated. Amongst these are mutations in PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) that give rise to a recessively-inherited early-onset form of the disease, which typically begins before the age of 50 (1).

The PINK1 protein is a serine/threonine kinase that is highly expressed in heart, skeletal muscle and testis, and at lower levels in brain, placenta, liver, kidney, pancreas, prostate, ovary and small intestine. It is localized to mitochondria (2), where it is membrane-anchored. Mitochondria provide >90...

CD45, also known as protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, C (PTPRC), was originally known as common leukocyte antigen and is a signal transducer involved in many physiological processes such as growth and differentiation, cancer transformation, and the cell cycle. It is a transmembrane protein tyrosine phosphatase that regulates Src kinases in T- and B-cell receptor signal transduction (1). CD45 isoforms are differentially expressed within different hematopoietic cell lineages depending on their state and level of differentiation (2). CD45 has many isoforms generated through differential splicing to produce a variety of splice variants that show cell-specific patterns of expression. Studies on...

Alpha-synuclein is an abundant presynaptic protein expressed predominantly in brain, concentrated in presynaptic nerve terminals. Alpha-synuclein is deposited as fibrillary aggregates in neurons or glial cells which is a hallmark lesion in a subset of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (all collectively referred to as synucleinopathies). Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive accumulation in selected neurons of protein inclusions containing alpha-synuclein and ubiquitin.

An AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) site, also known as an abasic site, is a region of DNA that is lacking a purine or pyrimidine base. This can occur spontaneously, or as a result of DNA damage. When DNA damage occurs, DNA repair pathways are activated. These pathways are highly conserved and are critical for maintaining genome integrity, however they are potential targets for cancer therapy since up-regulation of DNA repair mechanisms is a major means by which cancer cells can overcome the effects of chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic treatments (1). The majority of cancer treatments exert their effects by damaging DNA, which results in the impairment of cell signaling and subsequent cell death. By knocking down or inhibiting proteins involved in DNA repair, tumor cell sensitivity to DNA-damaging therapeutics could be significantly increased, thereby enhancing the efficacy of cancer treatments.

A number of DNA repair pathways are...

Encoded by the HIF1A gene, HIF-1 alpha has a critical role in cellular response to hypoxia. In hypoxic conditions, HIF-1 alpha activates the transcription of several genes to facilitate metabolic reaction for lack of oxygen. In normoxic conditions, HIF-1 alpha is degraded by the proteasome system.

Learn more about HIF-1 Alpha in our infographic below.

Novus Biologicals offers various HIF-1 alpha reagents for your research needs including:

• HIF-1 alpha antibodies
• HIF-1 alpha antibody packs
• HIF-1 alpha lysates
• HIF-1 alpha peptides and proteins...

ARF1 (ADP-ribosylation factor 1) is a protein in the ARF gene family that is responsible for vesicular trafficking within the cell through its activation of phospholipase D. It is found in the cells golgi apparatus and its main function is intra-Golgi transport within the cell. Arf1 is a GTP-binding protein and is known to activate ArfGEF (guanine nucleotide exchange factor) which is a cholera toxin catalytic subunit. Arf1 also modulates budding and uncoating within the Golgi complex. When Arf1 is deactivated, the entire Golgi complex is redistributed to the endoplasmic reticulum, which shows that it plays a major role in protein trafficking in the cell.

ARF1 is found on the 1q47 chromosome region, and has been involved in several interesting studies...

CXCR4 (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4) is a member of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR1) family. It is expressed as a multipass membrane protein in several tissues where it acts as the receptor for the C-X-C chemokine CXCL12/SDF-1. This ligand increases intracellular calcium ion levels and enhances activation of the MAPK1/MAPK3 cascade. CXCR4 also acts as a receptor for extracellular ubiquitin, which physiologically results in enhanced intracellular calcium and reduced cellular cAMP levels. CXCR4 is involved in a wide variety of functions ranging from hematopoiesis to cardiac ventricular septum formation, and plays an essential role in vascularization of the gastrointestinal tract by regulating vascular branching and remodeling processes in endothelial cells.

8-hydroxyguanine is a form of oxidative DNA damage where free radicals cause G:C to T:A transversions within the backbone. In E. coli, three DNA repair enzymes exist to prevent the mutagenic effects of 8-hydroxyguanine mutations. One of these enzymes, Ogg1, was found to have both functional yeast (yOgg1) and human (hOgg1) homologues. These hOgg1 proteins efficiently release the 8-hydroxyguanine through cleavage. Genetic backgrounds in control of repair of damaged DNA are involved in the susceptibility of affected cells to cancer development. Recent work with the Ogg1 antibody has helped establish the role of a p53-mediated cascade in activation of melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) downstream signaling and the...

Sodium Potassium ATPase alpha 1 (ATP1A1) belongs to the P-type ATPase family and is the catalytic component of the active enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of ATP coupled with exchange of sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+ ) ions across cellular plasma membranes. This creation of an electrochemical gradient comprised of Na+ and K+ ions provides the energy for nutrient active transport. Phosphorylation at Tyrosine 10 decreases pump activity; conversely, dephosphorylation through protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) increases intracellular Na+ and increases catalytic activity.

Carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP) is a transcription factor involved in activating genes that encode enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis in liver and adipose. It is believed to be a key controller of hepatic lipogenesis and has a partner MLX. One study used ChREBP antibodies to better understand the mechanisms of ChREBP transcription via promoter binding studies (1). They found that Oct1 is a transcriptional repressor of ChREBP via the POU binding site. The ChREBP antibody was used to identify a novel role for the MondaA (chREBP paralog) in liver intracellular phosphate homeostasis via its recruitment to the protein targeting to glycogen (PTG) promoter (2).

Fibronectin is a glycoprotein found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) that binds to integrins and other components of the ECM such as collagen and fibrin. Under normal physiological conditions, fibronectin is an important factor in cell adhesion, growth, differentiation, and migration. Binding of integrin receptors to fibronectin converts it to an active form, which through interactions with other fibronectin dimers, leads to the formation of a fibrin-fibronectin matrix. Formation of this matrix facilitates epidermal cell migration and proliferation that is required for a number of processes, including wound healing (1, 2). Conversely, under pathophysiological conditions, the fibrin-fibronectin matrix can be disrupted, leading to cell dispersal. Such dispersal resulting from alterations...

The TARDBP gene codes for a transcriptional repressor protein known as TDP-43. The protein encoded by the TARDBP gene binds TAR DNA and functions to regulate translation. TDP-43 can also bind RNA which leads to transcriptional repression and the formation of splice variants encoding alternate forms of proteins. Additionally, the TARDBP gene plays an important role in mRNA transport. This gene is particularly active during fetal and neuronal development, where the rate of tissue production is very high.

Immunohistochemistry: TARDBP Antibody

Mutations in the TARDBP gene are associated with the expression of aberrant forms of TDP-43 including the hyper-...