Page 7 - Scientific Library

Ubiquitin (Ub) is an 8 kDa  highly conserved polypeptide, commonly expressed in eukaryotic cells. Ub is added to lysine residues of the target proteins. This post-translational modification (known as ubiquitination)

Celastrol is a biologically active substance initially described in the traditional Chinese medicine. Celastrol (or (9ß,13α,14ß,20α)-3-Hydroxy-9,13-dimethyl-2-oxo-24,25,26-trinoroleana-1(10),3,5,7-tetraen-29-oic

Deak AT et al. decipher the mechanisms by which mitochondria contribute to Ca2+ intracellular signaling. In their recent paper (1), they show that mitochondrial "Ca2+ buffering" close to the Endoplasmic Reticulum predominately shapes cytosolic Ca2+ micro-domains. To perform their studies, the authors used stable knock-down (KD) HeLa cellular models optimized for loss-of-function analysis.

Two proteins known to be essential for mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake (Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter (MCU) or Uncoupling Protein 2 (UCP2)) have thus been stably silenced with sh-RNA engineered HeLa cell lines (MCU-KD and UCP2-KD HeLa cell lines). This shRNA technology has already been used in Drug Discovery approaches (ex. PARP inhibitors efficiency by Synthetic Lethality in Hypoxic conditions). (2)

Finally, the authors present two diagrams illustrating the role of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake for Stromal Interacting Molecule 1 (STIM1) oligomerization and Store-Operated Ca2+ Entry (SOCE) maintainance in their HeLa cellular models.

Want to know more?

(1) Deak AT et al. "Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-mediated STIM1 oligomerization requires intact mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake" (2014) J Cell Sci. 2014 May 7. DOI: 10.1242/?jcs.149807

(2) Mennesson

In Pharma screening departments there is a strong need for Ca²⁺ measurement methods.

Why is this?

Following on from my previous post on biosimilars and biotherapeutics (or biologics), let's now take a look at some of the specific

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Velcade (Bortezomib) for the retreatment of adult patients with Multiple Myeloma who had previously responded to Velcade therapy and relapsed at

DNA topoisomerase I and DNA topoisomerase II (Topo I and Topo II) are nuclear enzymes which regulate the topological state of the DNA helix by transiently breaking and rejoining DNA strands. They also

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Cytoskeleton modeling molecules are relevant when trying to improve one's understanding of cytoskeletal molecular modeling and associated mechanisms. Together with actin binding proteins, tubulin-based

With more than 100 types of cancers affecting any part of the body, cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. It has an enormous impact on well-being, both for those with the diagnosis

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The Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channel family participates in numerous functions of the Nervous System. A recent publication tends to indicate that TRP might also be of interest for therapeutical