The fungal macrocyclic lactone brefeldin A (BFA) has proved to be of great value as an inhibitor of protein trafficking in the endomembrane system of mammalian cells (Sciaky et al., 1997). BFA has also often been used as an inhibitor of secretion and vacuolar protein transport in plant cells, but just exactly how BFA achieves these effects has been a matter of debate for some time (e.g. Satiat-...

Brefeldin A (BFA) causes a block in the secretory system of eukaryotic cells. In the scaly green flagellate Scherffelia dubia, BFA also interfered with the function of the contractile vacuoles (CVs). The CV is an osmoregulatory organelle which periodically expels fluid from the cell in many freshwater protists. Fusion of the CV membrane with the plasma membrane is apparently blocked by BFA in S...

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) is mainly vectorially targeted to the apical surface in MDCK cells. BFA was found to abolish the apical targeting of DPPIV. This BFA effect could be achieved under conditions where the ER to Golgi transport and the total surface expression of DPPIV were essentially unaffected. BFA executed its effect during the transport from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the ...

Binary Factor Analysis (BFA, also known as Boolean Factor Analysis) may help with understanding collections of binary data. Since we can take collections of text documents as binary data too, the BFA can be used to analyse such collections. Unfortunately, exact solving of BFA is not easy. This article shows two BFA methods based on exact computing, boolean algebra and the theory of formal conce...

The specific pathway of tropoelastin secretion was investigated in fetal calf ligamentum nuchae (FCL) cells using brefeldin A (BFA) to disrupt the secretory pathway. Electron microscopic studies of BFA-treated FCL cells showed ultrastructural changes consistent with the reported effects of BFA on intracellular organelles. When FCL cells were labeled with [3H]leucine in the presence of BFA, radi...

The fungal macrocyclic lactone brefeldin A (BFA) has proved to be of great value as an inhibitor of protein trafficking in the endomembrane system of mammalian cells (Sciaky et al., 1997). BFA has also often been used as an inhibitor of secretion and vacuolar protein transport in plant cells, but just exactly how BFA achieves these effects has been a matter of debate for some time (e.g. Satiat-...

22 CHOBFY (BFY) cell lines were isolated at a frequency 2-30 x 10(-7) from mutagenized populations on the basis of their ability to grow in the presence of 1 microgram/ml brefeldin A (BFA). Four of the five mutant lines tested are genetically stable and none of the mutant lines characterized degrade this drug. Immunofluorescence studies reveal that whereas early endosomes and the Golgi complex ...

We have studied the effects of brefeldin A (BFA) on endocytosis and intracellular traffic in polarized MDCK cells by using the galactose-binding protein toxin ricin as a membrane marker and HRP as a marker of fluid phase transport. We found that BFA treatment rapidly increased apical endocytosis of both ricin and HRP, whereas basolateral endocytosis was unaffected, as was endocytosis of HRP in ...

Recent reports indicate that the replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) depends on the GBF1-Arf1-COP-I pathway. We generated Huh-7-derived cell lines resistant to brefeldin A (BFA), which is an inhibitor of this pathway. The resistant cell lines could be sorted into two phenotypes regarding BFA-induced toxicity, inhibition of albumin secretion, and inhibition of HCV infection. Two cell lines we...