The involvement of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and fatty acid release in the regulation of sodium-dependent high-affinity choline uptake in rat brain was assessed in vitro through the use of the specific binding of 3H-hemicholinium-3 (3H-HCh-3). Addition of arachidonic acid and other unsaturated fatty acids to rat striatal membranes in vitro resulted in a dose-dependent, temperature-independent act...

Osmolytes are small molecules that are exploited by cells as a protective system against stress conditions. They favour compact protein states which makes them stabilize globular proteins in vitro and promote folding. Conversely, this preference for compact states promotes aggregation of unstructured proteins. Here we combine a brief review of the effect of osmolytes on protein fibrillation wit...

Wnts are the major ligands responsible for activating Wnt signaling pathway through binding to Frizzled proteins (Fzd) as the receptors. Among these ligands, Wnt2 plays the main role in the tumorigenesis of several human cancers especially colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, it can be considered as a potential drug target.The aim of this study was to identify potential drug candidates ...

The agonist properties of acetylcholine (ACh), tetramethylammonium, ethyl-trimethylammonium and choline were evaluated for muscle and neuronal nicotinic receptors in Xenopus oocytes. The only essential feature for a neuronal receptor agonist appears to be the charged nitrogen. For specific receptor subtypes, other structural elements appear permissive (neither increasing nor decreasing activity...

The instability of Hoogsteen base pairs relative to Watson-Crick base pairs has limited biological applications of triplex-forming oligonucleotides. Hydrated ionic liquids (ILs) provide favourable environments for a wide range of chemical reactions and are known to impact the stabilities of Watson-Crick base pairs. We found that DNA triplex formation was significantly stabilized in hydrated cho...

The Legionella pneumophila protein AnkX that is injected into infected cells by a Type IV secretion system transfers a phosphocholine group from CDP-choline to a serine in the Rab1 and Rab35 GTPase Switch II regions. We show here that the consequences of phosphocholination on the interaction of Rab1/Rab35 with various partner proteins are quite distinct. Activation of phosphocholinated Rabs by ...

       The binding of drugs by plasma proteins is an important phenomenon, because it influences the size of the free fraction of the drugs in plasma. In this study the influence of dipyridamole (DP) on the protein binding of propranolol (PL) and PL on the protein binding of DP were studied alone and in the presence of nicotine (NC).        The equilibrium dialysis was employed for protein bin...

Background: Male infertility has many causes, including genetic infertility. The NOP2/Sun domain family, member7 (Nsun7) gene, which encodes putative methyltransferase Nsun7, has a role in sperm motility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the T26248G polymorphism on Nsun7 protein function and its role in male infertility. Materials and Methods: Semen samples were col...