Activation in vitro of NF-kappa B by phosphorylation of its inhibitor I kappa B.
Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B), which was first detected by its binding to the kappa B site in the immunoglobulin kappa-gene enhancer, is important for the regulated expression of the kappa-gene and is partly responsible for the induction in appropriate cells of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-2 alpha receptor, beta-interferon and serum amyloid A protein. NF-kappa B is present as a nuclear DNA-binding protein in B lymphocytes and mature macrophages, but is found in the cytoplasm of many cells in a form unable to bind to DNA. The cytoplasmic form is bound to an inhibitor protein, I kappa B, from which it can be released in vitro by deoxycholate and other agents. Activation of cells by various agents, notably the phorbol esters that stimulate protein kinase C (PKC), leads to dissociation in vivo of the NF-kappa B/I kappa B complex and migration of NF-kappa B to the nucleus. Therefore, it acts as a second messenger system, transducing activation signals from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. To elucidate the mechanism of signal transfer, we have used an in vitro system in which addition of purified protein kinases to a partially purified NF-kappa B/I kappa B complex leads to the activation of the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappa B. Using gel retardation assays we found that PKC, cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and a haem-regulated eIF-2 kinase (HRI) could activate NF-kappa B in vitro, whereas casein kinase II was ineffective. To determine the target for the protein kinases we purified and characterized both NF-kappa B and I kappa B and found that I kappa B is phosphorylated and inactivated in the presence of PKC and HRI but not PKA.

title: Cloning of the p50 DNA binding subunit of NF-kappa B: homology to rel and dorsal.
abstract: The DNA binding subunit of the transcription factor NF-kappa B, p50, has been cloned. p50 appears to be synthesized as a larger protein that is then processed to its functional size. Sequence analysis reveals remarkable homology for over 300 amino acids at the amino-terminal end to the oncogene v-rel, its cellular homolog c-rel, and the Drosophila maternal effect gene dorsal. This establishes NF-kappa B as a member of the rel family of proteins, all of which display nuclear-cytosolic translocation. Protein sequence from the p65 polypeptide has established that it is not encoded in the same mRNA as p50. However, p65 appears homologous to c-rel, suggesting that c-rel may form heterodimers with p50 and rel may include a homodimerization motif.

title: New regulators of NF-κB in inflammation
abstract: Research on the biological function of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a key mediator of inducible transcription in the immune system, has traditionally focused on its role in the initiation of innate and adaptive immune responses. These studies have largely concentrated on the mechanisms of signalling that lead to NF-κB activation and on the positive role of NF-κB in both physiological immunity and pathological inflammation. More recently, there has been growing interest in the mechanisms that directly regulate the NF-κB transcriptional programmes. As a result, several new NF-κB regulatory components have been identified and some of the known components have been assigned new roles. In this Review, we discuss these new insights into the regulation of NF-κB.

title: Regulation of inducible gene expression by the transcription factor NF-kappaB.
abstract: The transcription factor NF-kappaB plays a critical role in regulating inducible gene expression in immune responses. The activation of NF-kappaB is regulated at multiple levels, probably reflecting a need to maintain a tight control of its activity. We have recently discovered that direct phosphorylation of NF-kappaB itself is essential for its transcriptional activity and that phosphorylation acts as a switch to determine association of nuclear NF-kappaB with histone acetylases vs deacetylases.

title: Missing Pieces in the NF-κB Puzzle
abstract: The regulation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB activity occurs at several levels including controlled cytoplasmic-nuclear shuttling and modulation of its transcriptional activity. A critical component in NF-kappaB regulation is the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex. This review is focused on recent progress as well as unanswered questions regarding the regulation and function of NF-kappaB and IKK.

title: Macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and metabolic diseases: critical role of cholesteryl ester mobilization
abstract: Atherogenic dyslipidemia, including low HDL levels, is the major contributor of residual risk of cardiovascular disease that remains even after aggressive statin therapy to reduce LDL-cholesterol. Currently, distinction is not made between HDL-cholesterol and HDL, which is a lipoprotein consisting of several proteins and a core containing cholesteryl esters (CEs). The importance of assessing HDL functionality, specifically its role in facilitating cholesterol efflux from foam cells, is relevant to atherogenesis. Since HDLs can only remove unesterified cholesterol from macrophages while cholesterol is stored as CEs within foam cells, intracellular CE hydrolysis by CE hydrolase is vital. Reduction in macrophage lipid burden not only attenuates atherosclerosis but also reduces inflammation and linked pathologies such as Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Targeting reduction in macrophage CE levels and focusing on enhancing cholesterol flux from peripheral tissues to liver for final elimination is proposed.

title: Domain specific association of small fluorescent probe trans-3-(4-monomethylaminophenyl)-acrylonitrile (MMAPA) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and its dissociation from protein binding sites by Ag nanoparticles: spectroscopic and molecular docking study.
abstract: Photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer produced a polar excited state in trans-3-(4-monomethylaminophenyl)acrylonitrile (MMAPA), rendering the resulting emission sensitive to the medium polarity. Strong binding interaction of silver nanoparticles with the probe was observed, causing fluorescence quenching through the static quenching process. The probe MMAPA was found to bind to the less polar hydrophobic, restricted proteinous environment of bovine serum albumin (BSA) resulting in the blue shift of the emission maximum with an increase in emission intensity and fluorescence anisotropy. Studies using site markers of flufenamic acid and phenylbutazone coupled with molecular docking results predicted that the binding site of the probe is in between subdomains IIIA and IB of BSA and is different from the conventional Sudlow sites. The denaturation of the probe-bound BSA by urea or heat released the probe from this proteinous environment to water marked by exactly reverse spectral changes. On the interaction of silver nanoparticles with the probe bound protein, the probe was observed to move from its binding site in the protein to the Ag(0) nanoparticle surface involving conformational changes of the protein near the probe binding site.

title: Spectroscopic and electronic structure studies of phenolate Cu(II) complexes: phenolate ring orientation and activation related to cofactor biogenesis.
abstract: A combination of spectroscopies and DFT calculations have been used to define the electronic structures of two crystallographically defined Cu(II)-phenolate complexes. These complexes differ in the orientation of the phenolate ring which results in different bonding interactions of the phenolate donor orbitals with the Cu(II), which are reflected in the very different spectroscopic properties of the two complexes. These differences in electronic structures lead to significant differences in DFT calculated reactivities with oxygen. These calculations suggest that oxygen activation via a Cu(I) phenoxyl ligand-to-metal charge transfer complex is highly endergonic (>50 kcal/mol), hence an unlikely pathway. Rather, the two-electron oxidation of the phenolate forming a bridging Cu(II) peroxoquinone complex is more favorable (11.3 kcal/mol). The role of the oxidized metal in mediating this two-electron oxidation of the coordinated phenolate and its relevance to the biogenesis of the covalently bound topa quinone in amine oxidase are discussed.

title: Evidence for interstate transmission and increase in prevalence of bovine group B rotavirus strains with a novel VP7 genotype among diarrhoeic calves in Eastern and Northern states of India.
abstract: During a surveillance study (2003-2005) in a cattle market in Kolkata city, state of West Bengal, Eastern India, 34 (13.0%) of 260 calves with diarrhoea were positive for group B rotaviruses (GBR) by RNA electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. Analysis of the partial VP7 gene sequence of 28 of the 34 GBR strains revealed maximum identities (97.7-99.5% at nucleotide level and 97.8-100% at amino-acid level) with the novel bovine GBR 'Kolkata strains' reported in an earlier surveillance study (1.5%, n=192, 2001-2002) from the same cattle market, and shared low identities of 73.7-78.9% and 80.8-89.6%; 62.6-66.2% and 59.8-65.4%; 58.9-62.2% and 48.6-54.9% at nucleotide and amino-acid level with other bovine, human, and murine GBR. The GBR-infected calves were traced to districts in neighbouring states of West Bengal. Therefore, the present study reports a rapid increase in prevalence (13.0% in 2003-2005 against 1.5% in 2001-2002) of novel GBR strains among calves with diarrhoea, and provides evidence for interstate transmission of GBR.

title: A Role of CREB in BRCA1 Constitutive Promoter Activity and Aromatase Basal Expression
abstract: Aromatase is the rate-limiting enzyme in estrogen biosynthesis and a key target in breast cancer treatment. Its ovary-specific promoter, pII, is induced in response to protein kinase A (PKA) activation. It has been proposed that breast cancer susceptibility gene 1, BRCA1, is involved in negative regulation of aromatase pII activity. Surprisingly, inhibition of PKA pathway by inhibitor H89 elevates basal aromatase expression while abolishes cAMP-mediated aromatase induction in an ovarian granulosa cell line, KGN. In this report, we decipher the mechanism by which the PKA pathway negatively regulates aromatase basal expression. We show that PKA pathway plays a positive role in the expression of BRCA1. H89 effectively reduces endogenous BRCA1 mRNA levels as well as reporter gene expression from a BRCA1 promoter. Mutation of a cAMP-responsive element (CRE) in the BRCA1 promoter reduces BRCA1 expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) shows that CRE-binding protein, CREB, binds to the BRCA1 promoter. Furthermore, knockdown of CREB in KGN cells leads to decreased BRCA1 level as well as elevated basal aromatase mRNA expression. These data demonstrate that both the CRE site in the BRCA1 promoter and CREB are required for BRCA1 constitutive expression. Our study suggests that PKA pathway exerts its negative impact on basal aromatase expression indirectly by contributing to the constitutive expression of BRCA1.