Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recent research suggests that the collapse of the immune system that accompanies acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) stems largely from a single defect: a reduction in the number and a change in the function of the T4 lymphocytes. This knowledge may make it possible to lessen the effects of AIDS, and eventually to prevent and cure it. The loss of T4 lymphocytes from the blood, lymph nodes, spleen, and other tissues in which they are normally concentrated is a consistent finding in AIDS patients. Without the help of T4 cells, B cells are unable to produce adequate quantities of antibody to the AIDS virus or to any other infection. Infected T4 cells are also the source of soluble suppressor factor, which blocks T-cell-dependent immune responses. The drug suramin has been found to be capable of preventing the AIDS virus from infecting and damaging T cells in vitro. Other drugs that counteract reverse transcriptase or interfere with later stages in the viral life cycle may also prove useful. Under investigation are antiviral drugs that have the added effect of stimulating the host's immune system. These drugs seem to work by inhibiting enzymes that are crucial to the synthesis of viral RNA and DNA. The genetic variability of the AIDS virus complicates vaccine development, although it may be possible to identify invariant regions of the viral envelope to which antibody can bind effectively. The genome of the AIDS virus has been found to contain a sequence known as tat, which encodes a similar regulatory protein. If the AIDS virus could be modified genetically by deletion of tat or the sequence with which the tat protein interacts, it could serve as a safe vaccine.
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PMID:The immune system in AIDS. 299 72

Interferon treatment of NIH 3T3 cells chronically infected with Moloney murine leukemia virus inhibited about 95% of virus release. This inhibition was accompanied by a three- to twofold accumulation of intracellular virions. However, this accumulation could be demonstrated only be exogenous reverse transcriptase reaction assay or radioactive labeling of the assembled viral proteins. It could not be shown by the endogenous reverse transcriptase reaction assay, which depended on endogenous viral RNA, or by labeling the encapsidated viral RNA. It was therefore evident that most of the intracellular virions accumulated in interferon-treated cells were RNA deficient. Hybridization analysis revealed that these virions were deficient of genomic viral RNA, whereas size analysis by gel electrophoresis suggested that the deficiency of 4S RNA normally packaged in Moloney murine leukemia virus was even stronger. Our data also suggested that this RNA deficiency was not due to degradation of the encapsidated RNA, but more likely to a defect in virus assembly. RNA-lacking intracellular virions were unstable; they were found to collapse before being released.
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PMID:Accumulation and breakdown of RNA-deficient intracellular virus particles in interferon-treated NIH 3T3 cells chronically producing Moloney murine leukemia virus. 618 33

The fluid movements that arise during blastocyst formation (cavitation) are, at least in part, driven by the Na/K-ATPase. In this study, the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to survey bovine pre-attachment embryos for transcripts encoding known isoforms of the Na/K-ATPase alpha- and beta-subunits, including isoforms not previously detected during the first week of mammalian development. Transcripts encoding the Na-K-ATPase alpha 1, alpha 2, alpha 3 and beta 2 isoforms were detected throughout bovine preattachment development. This is the first indication that alpha 2, alpha 3 and beta 2 mRNAs are expressed during this early developmental interval. As in the mouse, beta 1-subunit transcripts were not detected until the morula stage and were also present in blastocysts. Thus, in two mammalian species an increase in abundance of beta 1 isoform transcripts in the morula stage is coincident with the onset of cavitation. Transcripts encoding the recently characterized alpha 4 isoform were not detected. The sensitivity of bovine blastocysts to ouabain (a potent inhibitor of Na/K-ATPase) was determined by assessing the ability of bovine blastocysts to recover in ouabain supplemental culture medium following cytochalasin-induced blastocyst collapse. Re-expansion of bovine blastocysts was inhibited in all ouabain concentrations down to 10(-9) M. Mouse blastocysts, in contrast, were sensitive to ouabain at or above 10(-3)M. These results have established that transcripts encoding multiple isoforms of both the alpha and beta subunits of the Na/K-ATPase are expressed throughout early bovine development and that bovine blastocysts display a greater sensitivity to ouabain than murine blastocysts. Future analysis will determine the possible individual and collective roles of these isoforms during blastocyst formation.
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PMID:Ouabain sensitivity and expression of Na/K-ATPase alpha- and beta-subunit isoform genes during bovine early development. 902 43

An endonuclease named DNase gamma has been purified from the nuclei of apoptotic rat thymocytes [Shiokawa, Ohyama, Yamada and Tanuma (1997) Biochem. J. 326, 675-681]. Here we report the molecular cloning of a cDNA encoding a 35 kDa precursor protein for rat DNase gamma. A 1.6 kb mRNA coding for the DNase gamma precursor is detected at high levels in spleen, lymph nodes, thymus and liver. By using reverse transcriptase-mediated PCR, expression of DNase gamma mRNA is observed in kidney and testis but not in brain or heart. Analysis of recombinant DNase gamma reveals that full-length DNase gamma, including the N-terminal precursor, is an inactive proenzyme. The mature form of recombinant DNase gamma, from which the N-terminal precursor has been removed, has the same properties as purified DNase gamma: requirement for divalent cations, dependence on pH, sensitivity to Zn2+, and cleavage of chromosome DNA to nucleosomal units. In HeLa S3 cells stably transfected with the DNase gamma cDNA, exogenously introduced DNase gamma is activated by apoptotic stimuli; enhancement of DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation and nuclear collapse are observed. These findings provide evidence for the involvement of DNase gamma in DNA fragmentation and nuclear structural changes during apoptosis.
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PMID:Molecular cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding an apoptotic endonuclease DNase gamma. 962 Aug 74

We investigated the expression and the subcellular localization of S100A1 and S100B, two Ca(2+)-binding proteins of the EF-hand type, in replicating myoblasts and fused myotubes. Northern blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed the presence of S100A1 mRNA and S100B mRNA respectively, in myoblasts. Immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy were used to localize individual proteins in myoblasts and myotubes. In the present report we document that: (1) in replicating myoblasts S100B is localized to intracellular membranes, including Golgi membranes, vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs) and microtubule (MT) structures; (2) in the same cells S100A1 is found associated with intracellular membranes; (3) following treatment of replicating myoblasts with colchicine, a fraction of S100B remains colocalized with bundled and collapsed vimentin IFs, whereas another fraction follows the destiny of endoplasmic membranes; (4) under the same conditions S100A1, like a fraction of S100B, follows the collapse of the endoplasmic reticulum around the nucleus; and (5) in fused myotubes S100A1 is found diffusely in the cytoplasm, whereas S100B is mostly found associated with vimentin IFs. These data suggest that in the skeletal myogenic cell line used in the present study S100A1 and S100B might share binding sites on or close to intracellular membranes, but display a significant degree of target specificity with respect of IFs and MTs. The results of these analyses suggest that expression of S100B in skeletal muscle cells may be developmentally regulated and lend support to the possibility that S100B might regulate the MT and IF dynamics.
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PMID:Replicating myoblasts and fused myotubes express the calcium-regulated proteins S100A1 and S100B. 1032 76

Renal failure is a known complication of HIV infection. The most common form is HIV-associated nephropathy, or HIVAN. It is characterized by high-grade proteinuria with rapid progression to end-stage renal disease. The kidneys of affected patients appear enlarged on ultrasonography. Histopathologically, there is focal segmental glomerulosclerosis with glomerular collapse. Before the era of HAART, patients with HIVAN had limited survival, although in some cases this was prolonged if dialysis was instituted. Over the past few years, isolated case reports have shown that patients with HIVAN will recover renal function following initiation of HAART. We report 3 patients believed to have HIVAN who exhibited marked improvement in renal function after treatment with a regimen comprising 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and a protease inhibitor.
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PMID:Resolution of renal failure after initiation of HAART: 3 cases and a discussion of the literature. 1196 39

Seven neonates required intensive care at our institution with enterovirus myocarditis, 2001-2003. Presentation was at a median age of 9 days. All had ischaemic electrocardiograms, poor ventricular function, raised creatine kinase, and enterovirus RNA detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Four survived. Enterovirus myocarditis may be an under recognised cause of neonatal collapse.
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PMID:Enterovirus myocarditis as a cause of neonatal collapse. 1532 71

Four dead canine pups (5-12 days old) from 3 litters in Douglas County of north central Colorado were submitted to the Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory for necropsy. Pups were originally presented to the referring clinics for respiratory tract illness, with or without diarrhea. At necropsy, the lungs from all pups had similar lesions, including random foci of hemorrhage and failure to collapse on opening of the thoracic cavity. The lungs were histologically characterized by subacute interstitial pneumonia, with alveolar septa expanded by a histiocyte-rich infiltrate with a few lymphocytes and neutrophils. The alveolar spaces were filled with moderate amounts of proteinaceous fluid, foamy macrophages, and a few neutrophils. Lungs from 3 of the 4 pups were test positive for canine distemper virus (CDV) by use of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Immunohistochemically stained lungs, including those from the pup that were CDV negative, by use of RT-PCR analysis, were test positive for CDV antigen in bronchial and bronchiolar epithelial cells and in a few alveolar macrophages. Central nervous system lesions were not observed in any of the 4 pups. These cases represent an unusual presentation of canine distemper in neonatal pups marked by respiratory tract lesions without central nervous system involvement. Canine distemper should be considered in the differential diagnosis of neonatal canine respiratory tract illness.
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PMID:Interstitial pneumonia in neonatal canine pups with evidence of canine distemper virus infection. 1661 3

Although overall pollinator populations have declined over the last couple of decades, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) malady, colony collapse disorder (CCD), has caused major concern in the agricultural community. Among honey bee pathogens, RNA viruses are emerging as a serious threat and are suspected as major contributors to CCD. Recent detection of these viral species in bumble bees suggests a possible wider environmental spread of these viruses with potential broader impact. It is therefore vital to study the ecology and epidemiology of these viruses in the hymenopteran pollinator community as a whole. We studied the viral distribution in honey bees, in their pollen loads, and in other non-Apis hymenopteran pollinators collected from flowering plants in Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois in the United States. Viruses in the samples were detected using reverse transcriptase-PCR and confirmed by sequencing. For the first time, we report the molecular detection of picorna-like RNA viruses (deformed wing virus, sacbrood virus and black queen cell virus) in pollen pellets collected directly from forager bees. Pollen pellets from several uninfected forager bees were detected with virus, indicating that pollen itself may harbor viruses. The viruses in the pollen and honey stored in the hive were demonstrated to be infective, with the queen becoming infected and laying infected eggs after these virus-contaminated foods were given to virus-free colonies. These viruses were detected in eleven other non-Apis hymenopteran species, ranging from many solitary bees to bumble bees and wasps. This finding further expands the viral host range and implies a possible deeper impact on the health of our ecosystem. Phylogenetic analyses support that these viruses are disseminating freely among the pollinators via the flower pollen itself. Notably, in cases where honey bee apiaries affected by CCD harbored honey bees with Israeli Acute Paralysis virus (IAPV), nearby non-Apis hymenopteran pollinators also had IAPV, while those near apiaries without IAPV did not. In containment greenhouse experiments, IAPV moved from infected honey bees to bumble bees and from infected bumble bees to honey bees within a week, demonstrating that the viruses could be transmitted from one species to another. This study adds to our present understanding of virus epidemiology and may help explain bee disease patterns and pollinator population decline in general.
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PMID:RNA viruses in hymenopteran pollinators: evidence of inter-Taxa virus transmission via pollen and potential impact on non-Apis hymenopteran species. 2120 4

Chinese sacbrood virus (CSBV) has emerged as an important etiologic agent of honeybee infections and is lethal for individual bees, even causing the collapse of entire colonies. Although diagnostic methods for CSBV have been established in many clinical laboratories, application of these methods is largely restricted by the apparatus needed to carry out the reaction and by cost, therefore a simpler and less expensive diagnostic method for CSBV infection is required. In this study a simple and inexpensive system is described that is based on the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. The LAMP and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods were compared for their ability to detect CSBV in 31 clinical samples, in purified CSBV-LNQY strains or to be able to discriminate between cDNA samples from other viruses. The detection limit of the LAMP method was 1pg, showing that LAMP is as sensitive as reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR for CSBV detection. In addition, no DNA band from other related viruses samples was amplified by either method, suggesting that this LAMP assay is as specific as RT-PCR for CSBV detection. All 31 clinical samples that were LAMP assay-positive were also amplified by RT-PCR, however the LAMP assay was faster, more cost effective, and easier to perform as the target gene amplified rapidly, within 2h, and only a standard laboratory water bath or heat block was required for the reaction. The results demonstrate clearly that this LAMP-based assay is a useful tool for the rapid and sensitive diagnosis of CSBV infection of bees.
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PMID:Loop-mediated isothermal amplification for rapid detection of Chinese sacbrood virus. 2164 Jul 58


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