The spatial and temporal activity of the actin cytoskeleton is precisely regulated during cell motility by several microfilament-associated proteins of which profilin plays an essential role. We have analysed the distribution of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged profilins in cultured and in Listeria-infected cells. Among the different GFP-profilin fusion proteins studied, only the construc...

idea that profilin sensitization and profilin hypersensitivity prevalence in a particular area have the potential to predict the allergic inflammation level associated with grass pollinosis. Due to its association with the progression of grass pollinosis, profilin was thought to have limited clinical relevance in pediatric patients. In the paper by Asero et al. in this issue of International Ar...

Acanthamoebe profilin has a native molecular weight of 11,700 as measured by sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation and an extinction coefficient at 280 nm of 1.4 X 10(4) M-1cm-1. Rabbit antibodies against Acanthamoeba profilin react only with the 11,700 Mr polypeptide among all other ameba polypeptides separated by electrophoresis. These antibodies react with a 11,700 Mr polypeptide in ...

Differential display screening was used to reveal differential gene expression between the tumorigenic breast cancer cell line CAL51 and nontumorigenic microcell hybrids obtained after transfer of human chromosome 17 into CAL51. The human profilin 1 (PFN1) gene was found overexpressed in the microcell hybrid clones compared with the parental line, which displayed a low profilin 1 level. A compa...

Differential display screening was used to reveal differential gene expression between the tumorigenic breast cancer cell line CAL51 and nontumorigenic microcell hybrids obtained after transfer of human chromosome 17 into CAL51. The human profilin 1 (PFN1) gene was found overexpressed in the microcell hybrid clones compared with the parental line, which displayed a low profilin 1 level. A compa...

Thirty years after its initial characterization and more than 1000 publications listed in PubMed describing its properties, the small (ca 15 kDa) protein profilin continues to surprise us with new, recently discovered functions. Originally described as an actin-binding protein, profilin has now been shown to interact with more than a dozen proteins in mammalian cells. Some of the more recently ...

Profilin controls actin nucleation and assembly processes in eukaryotic cells. Actin nucleation and elongation promoting factors (NEPFs) such as Ena/VASP, formins, and WASP-family proteins recruit profilin:actin for filament formation. Some of these are found to be microtubule associated, making actin polymerization from microtubule-associated platforms possible. Microtubules are implicated in ...

Background Panallergens like profilin are proteins that have very similar sequences and structure. People can develop IgE specific to these highly cross reactive panallergens. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of profilin sensitivity and the contribution to multiple allergen skin test responses. Sensitivity to profilin was established by IgE binding to purified profilins...

On starvation, Dictyostelium cells aggregate to form multicellular fruiting bodies containing spores that germinate when transferred to nutrient-rich medium. This developmental cycle correlates with the extent of actin phosphorylation at Tyr-53 (pY53-actin), which is low in vegetative cells but high in viable mature spores. Here we describe high-resolution crystal structures of pY53-actin and u...

Profilin is an actin monomer binding protein that provides ATP-actin for incorporation into actin filaments. In contrast to higher eukaryotic cells with their large filamentous actin structures, apicomplexan parasites typically contain only short and highly dynamic microfilaments. In apicomplexans, profilin appears to be the main monomer-sequestering protein. Compared to classical profilins, ap...