Current Genomics - Volume 7, Issue 6, 2006

A number of mechanistic and predictive genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) comprising dozens of genes have already been characterized at the level of cis-regulatory interactions. Reconstructions of networks of 100's to 1000's of genes and their interactions are currently underway. Understanding the organizational and functional principles underlying these networks is probably the single greatest challenge facing ge Read More

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a lipophilic component of the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme chain, which transfers electrons to complex III (cytochrome bc1 complex) from complex I (NADH-CoQ reductase), complex II (succinate dehydrogenase), and from the oxidation of fatty acids and branched-chain amino acids via flavin-linked dehydrogenases. Additional cellular functions of CoQ10 have been described. Deficiency of Read More

Lassa virus (LASV), the most dangerous human pathogen among the Arenaviridae, belongs to a complex of genetically related virus strains responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in West Africa each year. The virus has a bi-segmented (L and S) single-stranded RNA genome. Each segment contains two genes in ambisense orientation. The L RNA encodes a large protein, L, or RdRp and a small zinc-binding, Z p Read More

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the loss of upper and/or lower motor neurons. SMA is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality with an incidence of 1 in 6000 live births and a carrier frequency of about 1 in 50. Different types of disease (from SMAI to SMAV) have been described based on clinical severity and age of onset. The SMA-determining gene, Survival of M Read More

DNA helicases have historically been implicated in the initiation or elongation phases of DNA replication; however, elegant studies in prokaryotic systems have suggested more specialized functions of helicases to stabilize the replication fork when DNA replication is impeded. More recently, it has become increasingly evident that eukaryotic DNA helicases function at replication forks to participate in processes that include DNA Read More