Dystroglycan (DG) is a cell surface glycoprotein that connects extracellular matrix molecules to the intracellular cytoskeleton, functioning as mechanical and signaling axes in various physiological events. Since the ligand-binding activity of DG strictly depends on O-mannosyl glycans attached to its extracellular α-DG subunit, aberrant glycosylation causes dystroglycanopathy, a subclass of con...

α-dystroglycan is a highly O-glycosylated extracellular matrix receptor that is required for anchoring of the basement membrane to the cell surface and for the entry of Old World arenaviruses into cells. Like-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (LARGE) is a key molecule that binds to the N-terminal domain of α-dystroglycan and attaches ligand-binding moieties to phosphorylated O-mannose on α-dystrogl...

The effects of the thiol group reagent 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) on D2 dopamine receptors have been examined in three brain regions (caudate nucleus, putamen and olfactory tubercle), and in the anterior and neurointermediate lobes of the pituitary gland. Whereas the receptors in brain were insensitive to DTNB, a dose-dependent inhibition of [3H]spiperone binding to D2 receptor...

The powerfulness of a combinatorial approach in the discovery of novel chiral catalyst systems, particularly for the development of highly efficient, enantioselective, and practical catalysts for asymmetric reactions, was demonstrated by screening modular chiral catalyst libraries created by the strategy of two-component ligand modification of metal ions on the basis of molecular recognition an...

In this issue, Garcia-Bassets et al. (2007) show that spurious transcriptional activation by unliganded nuclear receptors is inhibited by histone lysine methylation. This inhibitory histone modification code is efficiently countered by the ligand-dependent recruitment of histone lysine demethylases, including lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), which appear to be used for this purpose by a nu...

Pikachurin, the most recently identified ligand of dystroglycan, plays a crucial role in the formation of the photoreceptor ribbon synapse. It is known that glycosylation of dystroglycan is necessary for its ligand binding activity, and hypoglycosylation is associated with a group of muscular dystrophies that often involve eye abnormalities. Because little is known about the interaction between...

We have investigated the interactions of a novel anionic ryanoid, 10-O-succinoylryanodol, with individual mammalian cardiac muscle ryanodine receptor channels under voltage clamp conditions. As is the case for all ryanoids so far examined, the interaction of 10-O-succinoylryanodol with an individual RyR channel produces profound alterations in both channel gating and rates of ion translocation....

4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) is a reactive α,β-unsaturated aldehyde produced during oxidative stress and subsequent lipid peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The reactivity of 4-HNE towards DNA and nucleophilic amino acids has been well established. In this report, using proteomic approaches, liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is identified as a target for modification by 4-HNE. Thi...

The simplest model that can account for the existence of a system in which allosteric activation of an enzyme results in modification of its V,,, (V-system) is a twostate model where the enzyme exists in either of two preferred conformations: one termed zero (O) state that predominates in the absence of ligand and the other termed prime (‘) state that predominates in the presence of ligand. Ana...

A series of hybrid adsorbents were produced by surface modification with amino polycarboxylate ligands industrially available microparticles (MP) Kromasil® mesoporous nanostructured silica beads, bearing grafted propyl ligands. Produced materials, covalently bonded functions as EDTA and TTHA, original Kromasil®, ligands, bare particles, obtained thermal treatment in air, characterized SEM-EDS, ...