c-Cbl-Mediated Neddylation Antagonizes Ubiquitination and Degradation of the TGF-β Type II Receptor

Zuo, W.,Huang, F.,Chiang, Y.,Li, M.,Du, J.,Ding, Y.,Zhang, T.,Lee, H.,Jeong, L.,Chen, Y.,Deng, H.,Feng, X.H.,Luo, S.,Gao, C.,Chen, Y.G. Cell Press 2013 Molecular cell Vol.49 No.3

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is a potent antiproliferative factor in multiple types of cells. Deregulation of TGF-β signaling is associated with the development of many cancers, including leukemia, though the molecular mechanisms are largely unclear. Here, we show that Casitas B-lineage lymphoma (c-Cbl), a known proto-oncogene encoding an ubiquitin E3 ligase, promotes TGF-β signaling by neddylating and stabilizing the type II receptor (TβRII). Knockout of c-Cbl decreases the TβRII protein level and desensitizes hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells to TGF-β stimulation, while c-Cbl overexpression stabilizes TβRII and sensitizes leukemia cells to TGF-β. c-Cbl conjugates neural precursor cell-expressed, developmentally downregulated 8 (NEDD8), a ubiquitin-like protein, to TβRII at Lys556 and Lys567. Neddylation of TβRII promotes its endocytosis to EEA1-positive early endosomes while preventing its endocytosis to caveolin-positive compartments, therefore inhibiting TβRII ubiquitination and degradation. We have also identified a neddylation-activity-defective c-Cbl mutation from leukemia patients, implying a link between aberrant TβRII neddylation and leukemia development.

C₂H <i>N</i> = 1 − 0 and N₂H⁺<i>J</i> = 1 − 0 observations of <i>Planck</i> Galactic cold clumps

Liu, X.-C.,Wu, Y.,Zhang, C.,Liu, T.,Yuan, J.,Qin, S.-L.,Ju, B.-G.,Li, L.-X. EDP Sciences 2019 Astronomy and astrophysics Vol.622 No.-

<P>A survey of C2H <I>N</I> = 1 − 0 and N2H<SUP>+</SUP><I>J</I> = 1 − 0 toward <I>Planck</I> Galactic cold clumps (PGCCs) was performed using the Purple Mountain Observatory’s 13.7 m telescope. C2H and N2H<SUP>+</SUP> were chosen to study the chemical evolutionary states of PGCCs. Among 121 observed molecular cores associated with PGCCs, 71 and 58 are detected with C2H <I>N</I> = 1 − 0 and N2H<SUP>+</SUP><I>J</I> = 1 − 0, respectively. The detected lines of most sources can be fitted with a single component with compatible <I>V</I>LSR and line widths, which confirms that these PGCC cores are very cold (with gas temperatures 9-21 K) and quiescent while still dominanted by turbulence. The ratio between the column densities of C2H and N2H<SUP>+</SUP> (<I>N</I>(C2H)/<I>N</I>(N2H<SUP>+</SUP>)) is found to be a good tracer for the evolutionary states of PGCC cores. Gas-grain chemical model can reproduce the decreasing trend of <I>N</I>(C2H)/<I>N</I>(N2H<SUP>+</SUP>) as a function of time. The cores with the lowest abundances of N2H<SUP>+</SUP> (<I>X</I>[N2H<SUP>+</SUP>] < 10<SUP>−10</SUP>) are the youngest, and have nearly constant abundances of C2H. In evolved cores with <I>X</I>[N2H<SUP>+</SUP>] ~10<SUP>−9</SUP>, abundances of C2H drop quickly as the exhaustion of carbon atoms. Although these PGCC cores are in different evolutionary states, they are all quite young (< 5 × 10<SUP>5</SUP> yr) with <I>N</I>(C2H) > <I>N</I>(N2H<SUP>+</SUP>). Mapping observations are carried out toward 20 PGCC cores. The PGCC cores in Cepheus have lower <I>N</I>(C2H)/<I>N</I>(N2H<SUP>+</SUP>) and larger line widths compared with those in Taurus. This implies that PGCC cores in Taurus are less chemically evolved than those in Cepheus.</P>

Fam83h is Associated with Intracellular Vesicles and ADHCAI

Ding, Y.,Estrella, M.R.P.,Hu, Y.Y.,Chan, H.L.,Zhang, H.D.,Kim, J.-W.,Simmer, J.P.,Hu, J.C.-C. SAGE Publications 2009 Journal of dental research Vol.88 No.11

<P>Defects in <I>FAM83H</I> on human chromosome 8q24.3 cause autosomal-dominant hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta (ADHCAI). <I>FAM83H</I> does not encode a recognizable signal peptide, so we predicted that the Fam83h protein functions within the cell. We tested this hypothesis by constitutively expressing mouse Fam83h with green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to its C-terminus in HEK293 and HeLa cell lines. Green fluorescent signal from the Fam83h-GFP fusion protein was associated with perinuclear vesicles, usually in the vicinity of the Golgi apparatus. No signal was observed within the nucleus. In addition, we identified <I> FAM83H</I> nonsense mutations in Hispanic (C1330C>T; p.Q444X) and Caucasian (c.1192C>T; p.Q398X) families with ADHCAI. We conclude that Fam83h localizes in the intracellular environment, is associated with vesicles, and plays an important role in dental enamel formation. <I>FAM83H</I> is the first gene involved in the etiology of amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) that does not encode a secreted protein.</P>

Optical properties of amorphous $Si_xC_yN_z$ ternary thin films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Zhang, Z.H.,Fan, X.J.,Guo, H.X.,Zhang, W.,Zhang, C.Y.,Luo, F.Y. The Korean Vacuum Society 1998 Applied Science and Convergence Technology Vol.7 No.1

Amorphous ternary $Si_xC_yN-z$ thin films were obtained by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) using $N_2, SiH_4 \;and \;C_2H_4$ as the reaction sources. The chemical state were characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The optical properties of the thin films were investigated by UV-visible spectrophotometer and ellipsometer, and the optical band gaps of thin films were determined from corresponding transmittance spectra following Tauc equation.

The high thermal stability induced by a synergistic effect of ZrC nanoparticles and Re solution in W matrix in hot rolled tungsten alloy

Zhang T.,Du W.Y.,Zhan C.Y.,Wang M.M.,Deng H.W.,Xie Z.M.,Li H. 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.8

The synergistic effect of ZrC nanoparticle pining and Re solution in W matrix on the thermal stability of tungsten was studied by investigating the evolution of the microstructure, hardness and tensile properties after annealing in a temperature range of 1000e1700 C. The results of metallography, electron backscatter diffraction pattern and Vickers micro-hardness indicate that the rolled W-1wt%Re-0.5 wt% ZrC alloy has a higher recrystallization temperature (1600 Ce1700 C) than that of the rolled pure W (1200 C), W-0.5 wt%ZrC (1300 C), W-0.5 wt%HfC (1400e1500 C) and WeK-3wt%Re alloy fabricated by the same technology. The molecular dynamics simulation results indicated that solution Re atoms in W matrix can slow down the self-diffusion of W atoms and form dragging effect to delay the growth of W grain, moreover, the diffusion coefficient decrease with increasing Re content. In addition, the ZrC nanoparticles can pin the grain boundaries and dislocations effectively, preventing the recrystallization. Therefore, synergistic effect of solid solution Re element and dispersed ZrC nanoparticles significantly increase recrystallization temperature

cDNA Cloning, Tissue Expression and Association of Porcine Pleiomorphic Adenoma Gene-like 1 (PLAGL1) Gene with Carcass Traits

Zhang, F.W.,Cheng, H.C.,Deng, C.Y.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Li, F.E.,Lei, M.G. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2006 Animal Bioscience Vol.19 No.9

Pleiomorphic adenoma gene-like1 (PLAGL1) encodes a zinc-finger (ZF) protein with seven ZFs of the C2H2-type which is a regulator of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and also regulates the secretion of insulin. In both human and mouse, PLAGL1 is a candidate gene for tumor suppressor and transient neonatal diabetes mellitus (TNDM). In this study, a 2,238 bp fragment covering the complete coding region was obtained and deposited to GenBank (accession number: DQ288899). The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that PLAGL1 was expressed almost equally in heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach, small intestine, skeletal muscle, fat, uterus and ovary. Comparing the sequences of Large White and Meishan pigs, a C-T transition in exon 6 was found. The polymorphism could be detected by TaqI and was genotyped in five purebreds (Large White, Landrace, Meishan, Tongcheng and Bamei). Association analysis was performed between the polymorphism and carcass traits in 276 pigs of a "Large White${\times}$Meishan" F2 resource population. As a consequence, significant associations of the genotypes with shoulder backfat thickness (SFT) and internal fat rate (IFR) were observed. Pigs with TT genotype had low SFT and high IFR compared with TC or CC genotypes.

THE TAOS PROJECT: RESULTS FROM SEVEN YEARS OF SURVEY DATA

Zhang, Z.-W.,Lehner, M. J.,Wang, J.-H.,Wen, C.-Y.,Wang, S.-Y.,King, S.-K.,Granados, Á,. P.,Alcock, C.,Axelrod, T.,Bianco, F. B.,Byun, Y.-I.,Chen, W. P.,Coehlo, N. K.,Cook, K. H.,de Pater, I.,Kim American Institute of Physics 2013 The Astronomical journal Vol.146 No.1

<P>The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) aims to detect serendipitous occultations of stars by small (~1 km diameter) objects in the Kuiper Belt and beyond. Such events are very rare (<10<SUP>–3</SUP> events per star per year) and short in duration (~200 ms), so many stars must be monitored at a high readout cadence. TAOS monitors typically ~500 stars simultaneously at a 5 Hz readout cadence with four telescopes located at Lulin Observatory in central Taiwan. In this paper, we report the results of the search for small Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in seven years of data. No occultation events were found, resulting in a 95% c.l. upper limit on the slope of the faint end of the KBO size distribution of q = 3.34-3.82, depending on the surface density at the break in the size distribution at a diameter of about 90 km.</P>

An immunoblot-based optical biosensor for screening of osteoarthritis using a smartphone-embedded illuminometer

Park, Y.,Han, Y.,Kim, K.,Zhang, C.,Yoon, H. Royal Society of Chemistry 2015 Analytical methods Vol.7 No.15

<P>We report a new smartphone-based immunosensing system that integrates an immunoblotting assay and a built-in illumination sensor to assay an osteoarthritis marker. The simple optical biosensing system developed in this study effectively uses smartphone-embedded components such as a white ligh-temitting diode and an illumination sensor as the light source and optical receiver, respectively. In contrast to conventional optical sensors, which utilize a specific spectrum and focused wavelength, the illumination sensor sensitively responds to the variations in external light intensity over a wide range of wavelengths. This functionality of the illumination sensor in the smartphone was employed as a signal transducer in the optical system. The immunoblotting technique, which uniformly changes the intensity of light because of the precipitation reaction, was introduced into the developed optical system. The horseradish peroxidase-induced insoluble precipitate interferes with the penetration of incident light, thereby facilitating the variation of applied light intensity. Subsequently, the quantity of light passing through the biosensing channel was immediately analysed using a lux meter in the mobile application. Herein, the urinary C-terminal telopeptide fragment of type II collagen (uCTX-II) was selected as an osteoarthritis biomarker and analysed to demonstrate the feasibility of the developed illumination sensor. The results indicate an obvious change in the lux value in accordance with the uCTX-II concentration ranging from 0 to 10 ng mL(-1). The results were highly reproducible and sensitive to the variations in the concentration of the analyte. This suggests the potential use of the developed illumination sensor as a promising tool for the quantitative diagnosis of target analytes and point-of-care testing.</P>

Notch effect on creep damage for Hastelloy C276-BNi2 brazing joint

Luo, Y.,Jiang, W.,Zhang, W.,Zhang, Y.C.,Woo, W.,Tu, S.T. Scientific and Technical Press ; Elsevier Science 2015 Materials & Design Vol.84 No.-

The brazed structures have geometrical discontinuities like fillets working as notches. These notches have great effect on creep crack initiation and propagation. This paper studies the notch effect on creep damage for Hastelloy C276-BNi2 brazed joint, and the effects of notch type, notch radius and notch angle on creep damage have been investigated. The results show that the creep damage initiates in the filler metal. Different notch types bring different stress states, and generate different stress triaxialities and equivalent creep strains (CEEQs), leading to different creep damages. The maximum creep damage is generated in the notch tip for V-type notch, while the maximum creep damage is located at 0.4mm away from the notch tip for C-type notch. For U-type notch, the location of the maximum creep damage moves from the notch tip to the inside gradually as the notch radius increases. With the increase of notch radius and notch angle, the failure time of creep damage increases for U-type and V-type notches, while it decreases for C-type notch. The creep failure is prone to happen to V-type notch because it belongs to sharp notch.

Expression Analysis of the Mx Gene and Its Genome Structure in Chickens

Yin, C.G.,Du, L.X.,Li, S.G.,Zhao, G.P.,Zhang, J.,Wei, C.H.,Xu, L.Y.,Liu, T.,Li, H.B. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2010 Animal Bioscience Vol.23 No.7

Among the known interferon-induced antiviral mechanisms, the Mx pathway is one of the most powerful pathways. The Mx protein has direct antiviral activity and inhibits a wide range of viruses by blocking an early stage of the viral replication cycle. Cloning, characterization, and expression of Mx in vivo and in vitro have been conducted. The chicken Mx gene spans 21 kb and is made up of 14 exons and 13 introns, of which the promoter region was analyzed. The real-time PCR results showed that Mx expression was increased in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) after 12- and 24-h induction with polyI: C. Induction of Mx expression by poly I: C in vivo revealed tissue-specific patterns among the chicken tissues tested. A trace expression of Mx was detected in healthy chicken liver tissues from adult chickens without inducement; the expression levels in the liver, heart, and gizzard were higher than in the muscle and kidney. This is the first report to demonstrate the expression of a glutathione-S-transferase-tagged-Mx fusion protein of 75 KDa, as well as the biological activity tested by SDS-PAGE and western blotting.