👤 Jing-Jing Tang

Human protein kinases make up a large superfamily of homologous proteins, which are related by virtue of their kinase domains (also known as catalytic domains). Here we report the cloning and characterization of a novel human MAST4 (microtubule associated serine/threonine kinase family member 4) gene, which locates on human chromosome 5q13. The MAST4 cDNA is 7587 base pairs in length and encodes a putative protein of 2435 amino acids which contains a serine/threonine kinase domain and a PDZ domain. MAST4 protein has 64%, 63%, 59% and 39% identical aminoacid residues with MAST1, MAST2, MAST3 and MASTL respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed relatively high expression level of MAST4 in most normal human tissues, with an exception of in testis, small intestine, colon and peripheral blood leukocyte. Show less

To study the genetic control of plant responses to cold stress, Arabidopsis thaliana mutants were isolated by a screen for mutations that impair cold-induced transcription of the CBF3-LUC reporter gene. We report here the characterization and cloning of a mutated gene, atnup160-1, which causes reduced CBF3-LUC induction under cold stress. atnup160-1 mutant plants display altered cold-responsive gene expression and are sensitive to chilling stress and defective in acquired freezing tolerance. AtNUP160 was isolated through positional cloning and shown to encode a putative homolog of the animal nucleoporin Nup160. In addition to the impaired expression of CBF genes, microarray analysis revealed that a number of other genes important for plant cold tolerance were also affected in the mutants. The atnup160 mutants flower early and show retarded seedling growth, especially at low temperatures. AtNUP160 protein is localized at the nuclear rim, and poly(A)-mRNA in situ hybridization shows that mRNA export is defective in the atnup160-1 mutant plants. Our study suggests that Arabidopsis AtNUP160 is critical for the nucleocytoplasmic transport of mRNAs and that it plays important roles in plant growth and flowering time regulation and is required for cold stress tolerance. Show less

To investigate the relationship between apolipoprotein A5(apoA5) - 1131T > C polymorphism and the susceptibility of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Chinese. The restriction fragment length polymorphism of apoA5 gene - 1131T > C was studied using PCR in a case-control study which enrolled 235 patients with CAD diagnosed by angiography and 262 healthy controls from Jiangsu province. The frequencies of T, C allele were 59.57%ì40.43% and 65.65%, 34.35% in CAD group and control group respectively. There was statistically significant difference in allele frequencies between CAD group and control group (P < 0.05). The susceptibility to CAD for the CC genotype was much higher than that for wild type TT (OR = 1.872, 95% CI = 1.039 - 3.376, P = 0.037), even after the use of Logistic regression models (OR = 2.285, 95% CI = 1.222 - 4.274, P = 0.012). In control group, there was significant difference in TG levels among different genotypes, the C allele carriers had higher serum TG concentration (P = 0.007). apoA5 - 1131T > C polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of CAD and is also in strong association with serum TG levels. Show less

In order to clarify the relationship of apolipoprotein CIII (APOC3) polymorphism and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Chinese, 165 sporadic AD patients and 174 age-matched elderly individuals were genotyped for the APOC3 SstI and apolipoprotein E (APOE) HhaI polymorphisms. As the result, the APOC3 3017G allele was found to be associated with AD in APOE epsilon4 allele noncarriers (chi2=4.433, P=0.035), and the risk estimate of allele C versus G resulted in an OR of 1.56 (95% CI: 1.03-2.37), although in total no significant differences of allelic or genotypic frequencies between patients and controls were found. Assessment of interaction between APOE epsilon4 and APOC3 3017G status presented an adjusted odds ratio of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.37-1.03) with a borderline significant P-value (P=0.066). Therefore, we conclude that the rare APOC3 G allele may offer some protection against the development of sporadic AD in APOE epsilon4 noncarriers in Chinese. Show less

Whole genome association studies of complex human diseases represent a new paradigm in the postgenomic era. In this study, we report application of the Affymetrix, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array containing 11,555 SNPs in a pilot case-control study of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) that included the analysis of germ line samples from 50 ESCC patients and 50 matched controls. The average genotyping call rate for the 100 samples analyzed was 96%. Using the generalized linear model (GLM) with adjustment for potential confounders and multiple comparisons, we identified 37 SNPs associated with disease, assuming a recessive mode of transmission; similarly, 48 SNPs were identified assuming a dominant mode and 53 SNPs in a continuous mode. When the 37 SNPs identified from the GLM recessive mode were used in a principal components analysis, the first principal component correctly predicted 46 of 50 cases and 47 of 50 controls. Among all the SNPs selected from GLMs for the three modes of transmission, 39 could be mapped to 1 of 33 genes. Many of these genes are involved in various cancers, including GASC1, shown previously to be amplified in ESCCs, and EPHB1 and PIK3C3. In conclusion, we have shown the feasibility of the Affymetrix 10K SNP array in genome-wide association studies of common cancers and identified new candidate loci to study in ESCC. Show less

The hallmark of a type I polyketide synthase (PKS), such as the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase (DEBS), is the presence of catalytic modules comprised of covalently fused domains acting together to catalyze one round of chain elongation. In addition to an obligate ketosynthase (KS), acyl transferase (AT), and acyl carrier protein (ACP), a module may also include a ketoreductase (KR), dehydratase (DH), and/or enoyl reductase (ER) domain. The size, flexibility, and fixed domain-domain stoichiometry of these PKS modules present challenges for structural, mechanistic, and protein-engineering studies. Here, we have harnessed the power of limited proteolysis and heterologous protein expression to isolate and characterize individual domains of module 3 of DEBS, a 150-kD protein consisting of a KS, an AT, an ACP, and an inactive KR domain. Two interdomain boundaries were identified via limited proteolysis, which led to the production of a 90-kD KS-AT, a 142-kD KS-AT-KR(0), and a 10-kD ACP as structurally stable stand-alone proteins. Each protein was shown to possess the requisite catalytic properties. In the presence of the ACP, both the KS-AT and the KS-AT-KR(0) proteins were able to catalyze chain elongation as well as the intact parent module. Separation of the KS from the ACP enabled direct interrogation of the KS specificity for both the nucleophilic substrate and the partner ACP. Malonyl and methylmalonyl extender units were found to be equivalent substrates for chain elongation. Whereas ACP2 and ACP4 of DEBS could be exchanged for ACP3, ACP6 was a substantially poorer partner for the KS. Remarkably, the newly identified proteolytic sites were conserved in many PKS modules, raising the prospect of developing improved methods for the construction of hybrid PKS modules by engineering domain fusions at these interdomain junctions. Show less

Accurate chromosome segregation is achieved by a series of highly regulated processes that culminate in the metaphase-to-anaphase transition of the cell cycle. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the degradation of the securin protein Pds1 reverses the binding and inhibition of the separase protein Esp1. Esp1 cleaves Scc1. That cleavage promotes the dissociation of the cohesin complex from the chromosomes and leads the separation of sister chromatids. Proteolysis of Pds1 is regulated by the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), a large multi-subunit E3 ubiquitin ligase whose activity is regulated by Cdc20/Fizzy. We have previously shown that the Caenorhabditis elegans genes mdf-1/MAD1 and mdf-2/MAD2 encode key members of the spindle checkpoint. Loss of function of either gene leads to an accumulation of somatic and heritable defects and ultimately results in death. Here we show that a missense mutation in fzy-1/CDC20/Fizzy suppresses mdf-1 lethality. We identified a FZY-1-interacting protein, IFY-1, a novel destruction-box protein. IFY-1 accumulates in one-cell-arrested emb-30/APC4 embryos and interacts with SEP-1, a C. elegans separase, suggesting that IFY-1 functions as a C. elegans securin. Show less

U1C is one of the three human U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP)-specific proteins and is important for efficient complex formation between U1 snRNP and the pre-mRNA 5' splice site. We identified a hypothetical open reading frame in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the yeast homolog of the human U1C protein. The gene is essential, and its product, YU1C, is associated with U1 snRNP. YU1C depletion gives rise to normal levels of U1 snRNP and does not have any detectable effect on U1 snRNP assembly. YU1C depletion and YU1C ts mutants affect pre-mRNA splicing in vivo, and extracts from these strains form low levels of commitment complexes and spliceosomes in vitro. These experiments indicate a role for YU1C in snRNP function. Structure probing with RNases shows that only the U1 snRNA 5' arm is hypersensitive to RNase I digestion when YU1C is depleted. Similar results were obtained with YU1C ts mutants, indicating that U1C contributes to a proper 5' arm structure prior to its base pairing interaction with the pre-mRNA 5' splice site. Show less