OBJECTIVE To examine whether in vitro exposure of mouse middle ear epithelial cells (mMEECs) to conditions that mimic physiologic reflux upregulates Muc5b gene expression and alters cell viability. DESIGN In vitro mMEEC model. SETTING Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC. PARTICIPANTS Cells from the immortalized mMEEC line. MAIN OUTCOM...

G2A (from G2 accumulation) receptor is a member of the proton-sensing G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family and induces signal transduction events that regulate the cell cycle, proliferation, oncogenesis, and immunity. The mechanism by which G2A-mediated signal transduction is regulated by the extracellular pH remains unresolved. Here, we first visualize the pH-dependent G2A distribution cha...

The overexpression of BI-1 induces an acidic extracellular pH due to alterations of mitochondrial function, leading to cancer metastasis through anaerobic glucose metabolism. In this study, ion transporters such as sodium hydrogen exchangers (NHE) and monoamine carboxylate transporters (MCTs) were studied in BI-1-overexpressing HT1080 cells (BI-1 cells). The extracellular pH became acidic as cu...

BACKGROUND Ligninolytic peroxidases are divided into three families: manganese peroxidases (MnPs), lignin peroxidases (LiPs), and versatile peroxidases (VPs). The latter two are able to degrade intact lignins, as shown using nonphenolic lignin model compounds, with VP oxidizing the widest range of recalcitrant substrates. One of the main limiting issues for the use of these two enzymes in ligno...

Depending on the pH of the growth medium, the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica secretes an acidic protease or an alkaline protease, the synthesis of which is also controlled by carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur availability, as well as by the presence of extracellular proteins. Previous results have indicated that the alkaline protease response to pH was dependent on YlRim101p, YlRim8p/YlPalF, and YlRim21p...

Immature dengue virus particles undergo a dramatic conformational change upon exposure to the acidic environment of the late secretory pathway. The interactions of the E fusion proteins and prM chaperone proteins on the virus envelope are reorganized to permit prM processing by a host protease, furin, thus priming virus for fusion and infection. Here we identify a pH-dependent toggle switch tha...

Lysosomes are traditionally defined by their acidic interior, their content of degradative 'acid hydrolases', and the presence of distinctive membrane proteins. Terminal degradation of the N-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins takes place in lysosomes, and involves several hydrolases, many of which are known to have acidic pH optima. However, a sialic acid-specific 9-O-acetyl-esterase and ...

Although it is now well known that some diseased areas, such as cancer nests, inflammation loci, and infarction areas, are acidified, little is known about cellular signal transduction, gene expression, and cellular functions under acidic conditions. Our group showed that different signal proteins were activated under acidic conditions compared with those observed in a typical medium of around ...

gradient for activation, both the wt and the pH-shifted G338S variant exhibit highly symmetrical transport activity with bell shaped pH dependencies, but the optimal pH was shifted 1.8 pH units to the acidic range in the variant. In both strains the pH dependence was associated with a systematic increase of the Km for Na + at acidic pH. Under symmetrical Na + concentration with a pH gradient fo...

Acidic deposition can leach essential pools of calcium (Ca) directly from plant foliage. Because of the central role of Ca in environmental signal transduction, disruptions of labile foliar Ca pools could impair physiological responses to a variety of environmental stimuli and stressors. We investigated the possibility that acidic mist-induced depletion of membrane-associated Ca (mCa), which is...