has extensive and well-developed Golgi apparatus. This is particularly important in the application of C23/11 as a fusion partner in human monoclonal antibody production. The electron micrograph studies also confirmed this excentric nucleation pattern. lrnmunohistochemical analysis of the paraproteins secreted by C23/11 showed that both K and 1 chains were present. Some reports have shown that ...

BACKGROUND KIAA1549-BRAF fusion is the most common genetic event in pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), and leads to activation of the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Fusions of BRAF with other partner genes, as well as other genetic alterations not involving BRAF but also leading to MAPK pathway activation have been described rarely. CASE PRESENTATION We present a new fusi...

Membrane fusion in eukaryotic cells is thought to be mediated by a highly conserved family of proteins called SNAREs (soluble N-ethyl maleimide sensitive-factor attachment protein receptors). The vesicle-associated v-SNARE engages with its partner t-SNAREs on the target membrane to form a coiled coil that bridges two membranes and facilitates fusion. As demonstrated by recent findings on the he...

ore models of membrane fusion postulate that cylinders of integral membrane proteins can initiate a fusion pore after conformational rearrangement of pore subunits. In the fusion of yeast vacuoles, V-ATPase V 0 sectors, which contain a central cylinder of membrane integral proteolipid subunits, associate to form a transcomplex that might resemble an intermediate postulated in some pore models. ...

Organization of lipids into membrane microdomains is a vital mechanism of protein processing. Here we show that overexpression of ERG6, a gene involved in ergosterol synthesis, elevates sterol levels 1.5-fold on the vacuole membrane and enhances their homotypic fusion. The mechanism of sterol-enhanced fusion is not via more efficient sorting, but instead promotes increased kinetics of fusion su...