Current Genomics - Volume 6, Issue 5, 2005

Caveolae are microdomains of the plasma membrane enriched in cholesterol and glycosphingolipids. Caveolin- 3 is the structural protein component of caveolar membranes in muscle cells. The functional role of caveolin-3 in muscle cells has become more apparent over the last few years as several mutations of the caveolin-3 gene have been linked to muscle diseases, and animal models lacking or over-expressing c Read More

Ocular neovascularization in the form of retinopathy, choroidal neovascularization, and age-related macular degeneration can be sight-threatening. Therapies have been directed at tissue ablation consisting of laser surgery and cryotherapy as well as medical therapies to reduce intraocular pressure. These therapies occur later in the course of many kinds of ocular neovascularization. Advances in the field of angiogenesis bio Read More

Neuroblastoma, one of the common malignant childhood tumors, arises from neuroblast cells derived from the neural crest and destined for the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic nervous system and shows remarkable biological heterogeneity, resulting in favorable or unfavorable outcomes. Some neuroblastomas tend to regress spontaneously in infants or to differentiate into a benign ganglioneuroma in older pati Read More

The aberrant expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) is correlated with the malignant progression of many tumors. MUC18/CD146/A32/MelCAM/S-endo, an integral membrane glycoprotein, is a CAM in the immunoglobulin gene superfamily. MUC18 has often been mistaken as a mucin because of the misleading nomenclature. Based on its biological functions and other known biochemical properties Read More

Jun dimerization protein 2 (JDP2) forms a dimeric complex that can include members of the Jun, Fos, ATF-2, Maf and other families of AP-1 proteins. JDP2 acts as a repressor that binds to the AP-1 site in promoters and is a possible tumor-suppressor. We describe here how the transactivation of the c-Jun gene by p300 and ATF-2 involves recruitment of the histone deacetylase complex (HDAC3), with repression of retinoic acid-ind Read More