IscX (or YfhJ) is a protein of unknown function which takes part in the iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery, a highly specialized and essential metabolic pathway. IscX binds to iron with low affinity and interacts with IscS, the desulfurase central to cluster assembly. Previous studies have suggested a competition between IscX and CyaY, the bacterial ortholog of frataxin, for the same bindin...

We have exploited the capability of in-cell NMR to selectively observe flexible regions within folded proteins to carry out a comparative study of two members of the highly conserved frataxin family which are found both in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes. They all contain a globular domain which shares more than 50% identity, which in eukaryotes is preceded by an N-terminal tail containing the mi...

The impulse oscillation system (IOS) measures respiratory impedance (Zrs) in terms of resistance (Rrs) and reactance (Xrs) at multiples of 5 Hz. These measurements can be used clinically to help diagnose and monitor respiratory disorders, independent of effort. There is, as yet, no information on reference values for IOS in Iranian adolescents.The predictive equation for resistance and impedanc...

Frataxin, a nuclear encoded protein targeted to the mitochondrial matrix, has recently been implicated as an iron chaperone that delivers Fe(II) to the iron-sulfur assembly enzyme ISU. During transport across the mitochondrial membrane, the N-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence of frataxin is cleaved in a two-step process to produce the "mature" protein found within the matrix; however, N...

In Salmonella enterica, the isc operon contains genes necessary for the synthesis of Fe-S clusters and strains lacking this operon have severe defects in a variety of cellular processes. Other cellular loci that impact Fe-S cluster synthesis to a lesser extent have been described. The cyaY locus encodes a frataxin homolog, and it is shown here that lesions in this locus affect Fe-S cluster meta...

Friedreich ataxia, the most common inherited ataxia, is caused by the transcriptional silencing of the FXN gene, which codes for the 210 amino acid frataxin, a mitochondrial protein involved in iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis. The expansion of the GAA x TTC tract in intron 1 to as many as 1700 repeats elicits the transcriptional silencing by the formation of non-B DNA structures (triplexes or ...

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative disease. It affects primarily the nervous system and the heart. Progressive gait and limb ataxia, dysarthria, loss of vibration and proprioceptive sense are characteristic neurological symptoms in FRDA. In approximately 96% of patients FRDA is caused by a triplet guanine-adenine-adenine expansion within the first intron of th...

Keywords: Friedreich's ataxia Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Interferon gamma Frataxin Freidreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease with a prevalence of about 1 in 30,000, characterized by progressive neurologic impairment [1]. In addition, almost all patients have abnormal echocardiograms and more than 50% develop hypertro-phic cardiomyopathy [2]. Survival in FRDA is de...