This is the first study to explore the ability of an enzyme to recognize and repair
spontaneous age-dependent damage to its own sequence. Protein (D-aspartyl/L-isoaspartyl)
carboxyl methyltransferase (PCM) is known to repair damage that arises
from a spontaneous isomerization of aspartyl and asparaginyl residues in other proteins
during aging. As...
Blood vessel injury was found to release intracellular pools of protein
D-aspartyl/L-isoaspartyl carboxyl methyltransferase (PIMT) into the extracellular
milieu, where it became trapped. Trapped PIMT was able to utilize radiolabeled
S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) introduced into the circulation to methylate
blood vessel proteins containing altered aspartyl residues specifically at the site
of...
Every cell is faced continuously with the task of transducing a vast number of external signals into appropriate intracellular responses. In mammalian cells, membrane bound receptors modulate the production of secondary messenger molecules, such as cyclic AMP (cAMP). Cell signaling through second messengers relies on the diffusion of such second...
Methodologies that detect biologically active substances have important potential applications for medical diagnostics, drug discovery, and chemical and biological anti-terrorism efforts. The wide spectrum of potential analytes that induce a physiological response dictates that novel techniques be developed to more rapidly screen and characterize agents that are more economical and...