Amphioxus is a closest living proxy to the ancestor of cephalochordates with vertebrates, and key animal for novel understanding in the evolutionary origin of vertebrate body plan, genome, tissues and immune system. Reliable analyses using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) for answering these scientific questions is heavily dependent on reliable reference genes (RGs). In this study, we evalu...

Normal cardiovascular development and physiology depend in part upon signalling through G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), such as the angiotensin II type 1 (AT(1)) receptor, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptors and endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptor. Since regulator of G-protein signalling (RGS) proteins function as GTPase-activating proteins for the G alpha subunit of heterotrimeric G-proteins...

Mammalian 'regulators of G protein signaling' (RGS proteins) help shut off G-protein-mediated signaling by GTPase activation. But new evidence shows that RGS proteins can also speed up the activation of signaling. The combined effect is a change in signaling kinetics without a decrease in signaling intensity.

The origin of gas falling from the halo toward the disk of the Milky Way is still largely unclear. Here the amount of gas shed by the (older) halo red giants is estimated. The distribution of red giants (RGs) in the halo is not known but that of a subset of stars in the post RG phase, the sdB stars of the horizontal-branch (HB), is. Using the mid-plane density and z-distribution of sdB stars, t...

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) accelerate guanine triphosphate hydrolysis by Galpha-subunits and profoundly inhibit signaling by G protein-coupled receptors. The distinct expression patterns and pathophysiologic regulation of RGS proteins suggest that inhibitors may have therapeutic potential. We previously reported the design of a constrained peptide inhibitor of RGS4 (1: Ac-Val-Lys-[...

Regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins increase the intrinsic guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) activity of G-protein alpha subunits in vitro, but how specific G-protein-coupled receptor systems are targeted for down-regulation by RGS proteins remains uncharacterized. Here, we describe the GTPase specificity of RGS12 and identify four alternatively spliced forms of human RGS12 mRNA. Tw...

G-protein coupled receptors are a diverse group that are the target of over 50% of marketed drugs. Activation of these receptors results in the exchange of bound GDP for GTP in the Gα subunit of the heterotrimeric G-protein. The Gα subunit dissociates from the β/γ subunits and both proceed to affect downstream signaling targets. The signal terminates by the hydrolysis of GTP to GDP and is tempo...

Selection of proper reference genes (RGs) is an essential step needed for accurate normalization of results from genomic studies. Expression of RGs is regulated by many factors such as species, age, gender, type of tissue, the presence of disease, and the administration of therapeutic treatment. The aim of the present study was to identify optimal RGs in a set of blood samples collected at diff...

Several unusual forms of natural graphite from an alkaline pegmatite that crosscuts rischorrite in the Hackman Valley, Khibiny Massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia are described. The graphite occurs macroscopically in two forms: as spherical aggregates up to 2 cm in diameter of friable, radially-aligned fibers ~20 μm in cross section, and as finegrained surface coatings in cavities covering aegirine,...

Axin, a negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway, contains a canonical regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) core domain. Herein, we demonstrate both in vitro and in cells that this domain interacts with the alpha subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein G12 but not with the closely related Galpha13 or with several other heterotrimeric G proteins. Axin preferentially binds the activated ...