Pharmacological activity of metal binding agents that alter copper bioavailability

Pharmacological agents that directly modulate insulin secretion.

Blood glucose levels are sensed and controlled by the release of hormones from the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The beta-cell, the insulin-secreting cell in the islet, can detect subtle increases in circulating glucose levels and a cascade of molecular events spanning the initial depolarization of the beta-cell membrane culminates in exocytosis and optimal insulin secretion. Here we re...

Pharmacological and Therapeutics agents that Target DNA Replication

Tn5 transposase mutants that alter DNA binding specificity.

Tn5 transposase (Tnp) binds to Tn5 and IS50 end inverted repeats, the outside end (OE) and the inside end (IE), to initiate transposition. We report the isolation of four Tnp mutants (YH41, TP47, EK54 and EV54) that increase the OE-mediated transposition frequency and enhance the binding affinity of Tnp for OE DNA. In addition, two of the Tnp mutants (TP47 and EK54) appear to be change-of-speci...

Developmental aspects of fracture healing and the use of pharmacological agents to alter healing.

Fracture healing is a specialized postnatal repair process that recapitulates many aspects of embryological skeletal development. While many of the molecular mechanisms that control cellular differentiation and growth during embryogenesis recur during fracture healing, these processes take place in a postnatal environment that is unique and distinct from those which exist during embryogenesis. ...

Microbial reporters of metal bioavailability

When attempting to assess the extent and the implications of environmental pollution, it is often essential to quantify not only the total concentration of the studied contaminant but also its bioavailable fraction: higher bioavailability, often correlated with increased mobility, signifies enhanced risk but may also facilitate bioremediation. Genetically engineered microorganisms, tailored to ...