Tropomyosin is a two-stranded alpha-helical, coiled coil protein found in many animal and fungal cells. In animals, it is an important component of the muscular system which works in conjunction with troponin to regulate muscle contraction. It is present in smooth and striated muscle tissues, which can be found in various organs and body systems, including the heart, blood vessels, respiratory system, and digestive system. In fungi, tropomyosin is found in cell walls and helps maintain the structural integrity of cells.
RNA-binding proteins are proteins that bind to the double or single stranded RNA in cells and participate in forming ribonucleoprotein complexes. RBPs contain various structural motifs, such as RNA recognition motif (RRM), dsRNA binding domain, zinc finger and others. They are cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins. However, since most mature RNA is exported from the nucleus relatively quickly, most RBPs in the nucleus exist as complexes of protein and pre-mRNA called heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein particles (hnRNPs). RBPs have crucial roles in various cellular processes such as: cellular function, transport and localization. They especially play a major role in post-transcriptional control of RNAs, such as: splicing, polyadenylation, mRNA stabilization, mRNA localization and translation. Eukaryotic cells express diverse RBPs with unique RNA-binding activity and protein–protein interaction. According to the Eukaryotic RBP Database (EuRBPDB), there are 2961 genes encoding RBPs in humans. During evolution, the diversity of RBPs greatly increased with the increase in the number of introns. Diversity enabled eukaryotic cells to utilize RNA exons in various arrangements, giving rise to a unique RNP (ribonucleoprotein) for each RNA. Although RBPs have a crucial role in post-transcriptional regulation in gene expression, relatively few RBPs have been studied systematically.It has now become clear that RNA–RBP interactions play important roles in many biological processes among organisms.
Pleiotrophin (PTN) also known as heparin-binding brain mitogen (HBBM) or heparin-binding growth factor 8 (HBGF-8) or neurite growth-promoting factor 1 (NEGF1) or heparin affinity regulatory peptide (HARP) or heparin binding growth associated molecule (HB-GAM) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PTN gene. Pleiotrophin is an 18-kDa growth factor that has a high affinity for heparin. It is structurally related to midkine and retinoic acid induced heparin-binding protein.
Hippocalcin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HPCA gene.
A paraneoplastic syndrome is a syndrome that is the consequence of a tumor in the body, specifically due to the production of chemical signaling molecules by tumor cells or by an immune response against the tumor. Unlike a mass effect, it is not due to the local presence of cancer cells.
Nerve tissue is a biological molecule related to the function and maintenance of normal nervous tissue. An example would include, for example, the generation of myelin which insulates and protects nerves. These are typically calcium-binding proteins.
ELAV-like protein 1 or HuR is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ELAVL1 gene.
Glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GRIA2 gene and it is a subunit found in the AMPA receptors.
Nucleolysin TIAR is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TIAL1 gene.
Intercellular adhesion molecule 5 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ICAM5 gene.
Cerebellar degeneration-related protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDR2 gene.
RNA-binding protein Nova-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NOVA1 gene.
ELAV-like protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ELAVL2 gene.
Adenylate-uridylate-rich elements are found in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of many messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that code for proto-oncogenes, nuclear transcription factors, and cytokines. AREs are one of the most common determinants of RNA stability in mammalian cells.
ELAV-like protein 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ELAVL3 gene.
Robert Bernard Darnell is an American neurooncologist and neuroscientist, founding director and former CEO of the New York Genome Center, the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor of Cancer Biology at The Rockefeller University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research into rare autoimmune brain diseases led to the invention of the HITS-CLIP method to study RNA regulation, and he is developing ways to explore the regulatory portions—known as the "dark matter"—of the human genome.
NeuN , a protein which is a homologue to the protein product of a sex-determining gene in Caenorhabditis elegans, is a neuronal nuclear antigen that is commonly used as a biomarker for neurons.
A neuronal lineage marker is an endogenous tag that is expressed in different cells along neurogenesis and differentiated cells such as neurons. It allows detection and identification of cells by using different techniques. A neuronal lineage marker can be either DNA, mRNA or RNA expressed in a cell of interest. It can also be a protein tag, as a partial protein, a protein or an epitope that discriminates between different cell types or different states of a common cell. An ideal marker is specific to a given cell type in normal conditions and/or during injury. Cell markers are very valuable tools for examining the function of cells in normal conditions as well as during disease. The discovery of various proteins specific to certain cells led to the production of cell-type-specific antibodies that have been used to identify cells.
The NTERA-2 cell line is a clonally derived, pluripotent human embryonal carcinoma cell line.
Jack D. Keene is a James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University.
