Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.48 (transcriptase)
 9,479 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Purified human pararotavirus obtained from stool samples from a 6-month-old infant was characterized. Electron microscopy of the viral particles subjected to different treatments suggested that the protein shells differed from those described for rotavirus. Treatment with both EDTA or ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid in the presence or absence of Mg2+ seemed to convert the virions into core particles by removal of both the outer and inner shells, and no particles equivalent to single-shelled rotavirus were observed. Different procedures were used to activate the human pararotavirus-associated RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The enzyme was not activated by chelating agents or by thermal shock as in rotavirus. Activation by thermal shock occurred only in the presence of the four ribonucleoside triphosphates and Mg2+. However, the polymerase of pararotavirus was found to be similar to those described for rotaviruses. When in vitro transcripts were analyzed, 11 RNA species having a migration pattern similar to that of the original genomic RNA were detected.
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PMID:In vitro transcription of human pararotavirus. 300 43

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity was detected in both virion and nucleocapsid preparations of wheat rosette stunt virus, a plant rhabdovirus. The presence of nonionic detergent such as Nonidet P40 was essential for activity in reaction mixtures containing virions. The polymerase product was proved to be single-stranded RNA. By two-step controlled dissociation of the nucleocapsids, four subviral fractions (L protein, NS-N-RNA complex, NS protein, and N-RNA complex) were prepared. None of these fractions showed RNA polymerase activity when assayed individually. In experiments combining the various fractions, RNA synthesis was observed only when the L and NS proteins and the N-RNA complex were present in reaction mixtures.
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PMID:In vitro studies on the nucleocapsid-associated RNA polymerase of wheat rosette stunt virus. 318 29

Reverse transcriptase (RT) from the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 has been crystallized in four closely related forms, the best of which diffract X-rays to 2.2 A resolution. The RT was crystallized as a complex with a non-nucleoside inhibitor, either nevirapine or a nevirapine analogue. Crystals grew from 6% PEG 3400 buffered at pH 5. These were of space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with unit cell parameters a = 147 A, b = 112 A, c = 79 A (form A), with one RT heterodimer in the asymmetric unit. Changes in unit cell parameters and degree of crystalline order were observed on soaking pregrown crystals in various solutions, giving three further sets of unit cells. These were a = 143 A, b = 112, A, c = 79 A (form B), a = 141 A, b = 111 A, c = 73 A (form C), a = 143 A, b = 117 A, c = 66.5 A (form D). The last two forms diffract X-rays to 2.2 A resolution. Structure determinations of these latter crystal forms of RT should give a detailed atomic model for this therapeutically important drug target.
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PMID:Crystals of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase diffracting to 2.2 A resolution. 752 79

Leishmania RNA virus 1 produces a short viral RNA transcript corresponding to the 5' end of positive-sense single-stranded RNAs both in virally infected cells and in in vitro polymerase assays. We hypothesized that this short transcript was generated via cleavage of full-length positive-sense single-stranded RNA. A putative cleavage site was mapped by primer extension analysis to nucleotide 320 of the viral genome. To address the hypothesis that the short transcript is generated via cleavage at this site, two substrate RNAs that possessed viral sequence encompassing the putative cleavage site were created. When incubated with sucrose-purified viral particles, these substrate RNAs were site-specifically cleaved. The cleavage site of the in vitro-processed RNAs also mapped to viral nucleotide 320. The short-transcript-generating activity could be specifically abolished by proteinase K treatment of sucrose-purified viral particles and high concentrations of EGTA [ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid], suggesting that the activity requires a proteinaceous factor and possibly intact viral particles. The cleavage activity is directly associated with short-transcript-generating activity, since only viral particle preparations which were capable of generating the short transcript in polymerase assays were also active in the cleavage assay. Furthermore, the short-transcript-generating activity is independent of the viral polymerase's transcriptase and replicase activities. We present a working model whereby cleavage of Leishmaniavirus RNA transcripts functions in the maintenance of a low-level persistent infection.
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PMID:The short transcript of Leishmania RNA virus is generated by RNA cleavage. 774 92

TheL-A virus (LAV) particle is a specialized compartment for the transcription and replication of double-stranded RNA. It is 390 A in diameter and infects yeast. The particle is formed by a capsid containing 120 copies of a 680-residue gene product arranged with T = 1 icosahedral symmetry, approximately two copies of an RNA-directed RNA polymerase, and a 4.6-kb linear, duplex RNA. LAV crystals diffracting to at least 4.5-A resolution were grown in a combination of polyethylene glycol 8000, ethylene glycol, and lithium chloride. Following crystallization the reservoir solution was replaced by a 2x concentrated reservoir solution in order for ethylene glycol to function as a cryoprotectant even though initial crystals would not grow at sufficiently high concentrations of ethylene glycol for cryoprotection. A complete data set was collected to 6-A resolution from a frozen crystal obtained with this procedure. The crystals belong to space group P2(1). The unit cell dimensions are a = 406.7 A, b = 403.3 A, c = 572.5 A, beta = 90.3 degrees with two virus particles in the unit cell. The particle orientation was determined with the rotation function and the particle center was estimated on the basis of packing considerations.
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PMID:Purification, crystallization, and preliminary X-ray analysis of L-A: a dsRNA yeast virus. 1156 60

Continuous efforts are vital to develop new treatment strategies to improve sustained response rates, especially for difficult to treat patients infected with the hepatitis C virus. Despite the introduction of ribavirin, more than 50% of the patients do not eliminate the virus with the current standard therapy of interferon-a (IFN) and ribavirin. Options to further enhance response rates include modification of the IFN-dosing schedule with daily dosing of IFN, new IFN such as consensus interferon or modified IFN with longer half-life and more favourable pharmacokinetics such as pegylated IFN (PEG-IFN). Clinical trials with new IFN showed that consensus IFN may improve response rates in unsuccessfully pre-treated patients and patients with HCV-genotype-1. Treatments with PEG-IFN will double response rates achieved with standard IFN monotherapy. The combination of PEG-IFN and ribavirin improves the virological response to more than 50% and even to more than 80% in patients with genotype 2 or 3. By now, standard therapy of chronic hepatitis C has been changed to the combination of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin. Future anti-viral drugs may comprise molecules that directly inhibit HCV proteins and interfere with viral replication. NS3/4A serine protease, ribonucleic acid (RNA) helicase, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase may be potential targets for new drugs. Furthermore antisense oligonucleotides or ribozymes may become new treatment options to inhibit HCV replication. Finally, immunotherapies to enhance HCV-specific immune responses are also attractive strategies to control HCV infection and to prevent chronic liver disease.
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PMID:Hepatitis C: therapeutic perspectives. 1194 60

Arom gene, encoding a single polypeptide that catalyses steps two to six of the aromatic amino acid (phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan) biosynthetic pathway, has been amplified from Scleortinia sclerotiorum genomic DNA by PCR and sequenced. In order to identify the fragment encoding AROM protein experimentally and search a method of obtaining the enzyme in a large amount, the open reading frame of arom gene of S. sclerotiorum was amplified by Pyrobest DNA Polymerase and inserted between Kpn I and Not I sites of the vector pYES2 to construct the expression vector pYES2-arom. The construct was transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae H158 by the method of LiAc/ SSDNA/PEG. The rate of transformation was 2 x 10(2)/microg DNA, which was enough for the selection of the positive transformants. PCR using the extracted plasmids as the templates and restriction enzyme analysis of the plasmids extracted from E. coli cells transformed by the above plasmids were performed respectively to screen the positive S. cerevisiae transformants since the copy number of the plasmid in S. cerevisiae was low. Subsequently, the transformant activated by the SC-U medium containing 2% raffinose was inoculated into the SC-U medium containing 2% galactose and the SC-U medium containing 2% glucose respectively to induce and depress the expression of the foreign arom gene. The results of RT-PCR analysis showed: there was not any DNA band in the negative control without the anti-transcriptase, which indicated there was no DNA contamination in the extracted total RNA; there was an expected DNA band in the positive control using the expression vector pYES2-arom as the template, which indicated the used amplification condition was proper; there was not any DNA band in the negative control using total RNA from the depressed transformant as the template, which indicated the DNA bands amplified from total RNA of the induced transformant were not false; there were the expected DNA bands in the samples using total RNA of the transformant induced for 48h, 60h, 72h or 84h as the templates, which indicated the heterogeneous arom gene was transcribed in S. cerevisiae H158 cells. The result of Northern hybridization was consistent with that of RT-PCR, and showed that arom gene of S. sclerotiorum had been transcribed in S. cerevisiae H158 cells when the cells were induced for 48h in the SC-U medium containing 2% galactose at 30 degrees C at 180r/min. 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase activity of the transformant, which was one of AROM protein activities, was measured by estimating the rate of Pi release to check the expressed AROM protein was active or not. The results of enzyme assay in the different culture period indicated that the transformant had 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase activity and the activity reached the peak when the transformant was induced for 72h in SC-U medium at 30 degrees C at 180r/min. The molecular weight of AROM protein is high, it exists in cytoplasm as a dimmer and its expression is controlled by the amounts of amino acids. Therefore, it is very difficult to purify the enzyme. A great lot protein can be obtained by heterogeneous expression. S. cerevisiae expression system has the merits of safe status, authentic posttranslational modification, fast cultivation etc. and usually is the first choice eukaryotic expression system. S. cerevisiae expression system of AROM protein from S. sclerotiorum was successfully constructed for the first time, which provided the basis for the research on the catalysis mechanism of the enzyme and an economical means of simultaneously synthesizing five aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway enzymes.
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PMID:[Cloning and expression of arom gene of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum]. 1657 63

In this study we tried to find the role of some waterborne viruses in repeated abortion of women. The study includes maternal blood serum and fetal tissue. The serum of full-term delivered women was taken as a control. All collected samples were inoculated on BGM and Hep2G cells to detect entero and Hepatitis E viruses. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was also carried out for IgM and IgG antibodies against HEV in all serum samples. HEV-Ag was determined by dot-ELISA, which used also for enterovirus typing. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used for detection of entero and HE virus RNAs in the collected serum samples. To follow up the source of virus transmission, the wastewater treatment plant which serves the area of samples population was studied at the intake and the final effluent for the presence of hepatitis E virus and enteroviruses with special reference to coxsackieviruses. Wastewater samples were collected for 1 year and for enterovirus concentration the adsorption-elution on nitrocellulose membrane was used and for HEV, two methods of virus concentration were used, urea arginine phosphate buffer (U-APB) and PEG8000. The results of HEV investigation of aborted women sera was 22% for IgG, 3% for IgM, 20% HEV-Ag, and 16% of HEV-RNA by RT-PCR. For fetal tissue, HEV-Ag was detected in 5% of the collected samples. The detected enteroviruses were coxsackieviruses types 2, 3,4 and 5 in all serum samples and wastewater samples. The results showed also, that virus concentration by U-APB is much better than PEG-8000 but not highly efficient.
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PMID:Waterborne viruses associated with repeated abortion. 1721 39

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) persists chronically in most infected patients, eventually causing chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and in some cases hepatocellular carcinoma. The combination therapy of PEG-IFN and ribavirin improves efficacy in many patients, although it does not lead to sufficient achievements in genotype 1b patients. To aid in invention of new anti-HCV reagents, we focused on host factors that contributed to HCV lifecycle. We identified serine palmitoyltransferase inhibitor as an anti-HCV reagent through high-throughput screening using HCV replicon cells. We investigated the mechanism of anti-HCV effect of SPT inhibitor. It has been reported that sphingolipids and cholesterol compose the lipid raft where replication of HCV occurs. We investigated the influence of SPT inhibitor to lipid rafts by analyzing the detergent-resistant membrane (DRM). The analysis showed that SPT inhibitor moved HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B) to detergent-soluble fraction from DRM, and Biacore analysis indicated binding of sphingomyelin to NS5B. These results suggest that SPT inhibitor disrupts the interaction between NS5B and sphingomyelin. Moreover, we evaluated the anti-HCV effect of SPT inhibitor in vivo with humanized chimeric mice. SPT inhibitor led to rapid decline in serum HCV-RNA of about 1-2 log within 8 days. Furthermore, combination therapy of SPT inhibitor and PEG-IFN achieved about 3 log reduction in serum HCV-RNA.
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PMID:[Suppression of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication with serine palmitoyltransferase inhibitor]. 2011 37

In this study we have compared the effects of negative and positive fixed charges on chondrocyte behavior in vitro. Electrical charges have been incorporated into oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate) (OPF) using small charged monomers such as sodium methacrylate (SMA) and (2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl)-trimethyl ammonium chloride (MAETAC) to produce negatively and positively charged hydrogels, respectively. The physical and electrical properties of the hydrogels were characterized by measuring and calculating the swelling ratio and zeta potential, respectively. Our results revealed that the properties of these OPF modified hydrogels varied according to the concentration of charged monomers. Zeta potential measurements demonstrated that the electrical properties of the OPF hydrogel surfaces changed on incorporation of SMA and MAETAC and that these changes in electrical properties were dose-dependent. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to determine the hydrogel surface composition. To assess the effects of surface properties on chondrocyte behavior primary chondrocytes isolated from rabbit ears were seeded as a monolayer on top of the hydrogels. We demonstrated that the cells remained viable over 7 days and began to proliferate while seeded on top of the hydrogels. Collagen type II staining was positive in all samples, however, the staining intensity was higher on negatively charged hydrogels. Similarly, glycosaminoglycan production was significantly higher on negatively charged hydrogels compared with a neutral hydrogel. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction showed up-regulation of collagen type II and down-regulation of collagen type I on the negatively charged hydrogels. These findings indicate that charge plays an important role in establishing an appropriate environment for chondrocytes and, hence, in the engineering of cartilage. Thus, further investigations into charged hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering is merited.
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PMID:The effects of fixed electrical charge on chondrocyte behavior. 2126 95


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