Vertebrate segmentation is characterized by the periodic formation of epithelial somites from the mesenchymal presomitic mesoderm (PSM). How the rhythmic signaling pulse delivered by the segmentation clock is translated into the periodic morphogenesis of somites remains poorly understood. Here, we focused on the role of paraxial protocadherin (PAPC/Pcdh8) in this process. We showed that in chic...

OBJECTIVE We have previously shown that phospholipid oxidation products of 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (ox-PAPC) inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced E-selectin expression and neutrophil binding in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). The current studies identify specific phospholipids that inhibit chemokine induction by Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) and -2 (T...

Objective—We have previously shown that phospholipid oxidation products of 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3phosphorylcholine (ox-PAPC) inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced E-selectin expression and neutrophil binding in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). The current studies identify specific phospholipids that inhibit chemokine induction by Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) and -2 (TL...

Oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (Ox-PAPC) upregulates a spectrum of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules different from those induced by classic inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) or lipopolysaccharide. Interestingly, Ox-PAPC also induces the expression of a set of proteins similar to those induced by TNF-alpha or l...

Paraxial protocadherin (PAPC) has been shown to be involved in gastrulation cell movements during early embryogenesis. It is first expressed in the dorsal marginal zone at the early gastrula stage and subsequently restricted to the paraxial mesoderm in Xenopus and zebrafish. Using Xenopus embryos, we found that PAPC is also regulated at the protein level and is degraded and excluded from the pl...

P pili are highly ordered composite structures consisting of thin fibrillar tips joined end-to-end to rigid helical rods. The production of these virulence-associated structures requires a periplasmic chaperone (PapD) and an outer membrane protein (PapC) that is the prototype member of a newly recognized class of proteins that we have named "molecular ushers." Two in vitro assays showed that th...

Paraxial Protocadherin (PAPC) encodes a transmembrane protein expressed initially in Spemann's organizer and then in paraxial mesoderm. Together with another member of the protocadherin family, Axial Protocadherin (AXPC), it subdivides gastrulating mesoderm into paraxial and axial domains. PAPC has potent homotypic cell adhesion activity in cell dissociation and reaggregation assays. Gain- and ...

Pilus biogenesis on the surface of uropathogenic Escherichia coli requires the chaperone/usher pathway, a terminal branch of the general secretory pathway. In this pathway, periplasmic chaperone-subunit complexes target an outer membrane (OM) usher for subunit assembly into pili and secretion to the cell surface. The molecular mechanisms of protein secretion across the OM are not well understoo...

Accumulating lines of evidence have indicated that hyperlipidemia not only is a well-established etiological factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but also plays an active role in regulating bone metabolism. As a mixture of oxidized phospholipids derived from the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL), oxidized 1-palmitoyl2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (ox-PAPC) is report...

Protein kinase C (PKC) and CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT) are two examples of enzymes that are regulated by reversible binding to membranes, and this binding is influenced by membrane physical properties. CT activation by oxidized phosphatidylcholines was recently demonstrated and was linked to the acyl chain disordering effect of the oxidized species (Biochemistry 38, 15606). In ...