Transcriptional regulation of the interferon-β (IFN-β) gene is characterized by strict constitutive repression and virus-specific activation. Previous studies have shown that the IFN-β promoter is constitutively repressed by a negative regulatory element (NRE). Isolated NRE acts as a constitutive and positionindependent silencer on the NF-κB-binding sites. Here, we describe the identification a...

SKN-1/Nrf plays multiple essential roles in development and cellular homeostasis. We demonstrate that SKN-1 executes a specific and appropriate transcriptional response to changes in available nutrients, leading to metabolic adaptation. We isolated gain-of-function (gf) alleles of skn-1, affecting a domain of SKN-1 that binds the transcription factor MXL-3 and the mitochondrial outer membrane p...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell dysfunction. In high-risk subjects, the earliest detectable abnormality is insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Impaired insulin-mediated signaling, gene expression, glycogen synthesis, and accumulation of intramyocellular triglycerides have all been linked with insulin resistance, but no specific de...

Tributyltin (TBT), which has been widely used as an antifouling agent in paints, is a common environmental pollutant. Although the toxicity of high-dose TBT has been extensively reported, the effects of low concentrations of TBT are relatively less well studied. We have previously reported that low-concentration TBT decreases α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA)-type glut...

Neuronal activity and energy metabolism are tightly coupled processes. Regions high in neuronal activity, especially of the glutamatergic type, have high levels of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). Perturbations in neuronal activity affect the expressions of COX and glutamatergic NMDA receptor subunit 1 (NR1). The present study sought to test our hypothesis that the coupling extends to the transcript...