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Frank Herrmann

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Herrmann.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Accurate evolution of orbiting binary black holes.

We present a detailed analysis of binary black hole evolutions in the last orbit and demonstrate consistent and convergent results for the trajectories of the individual bodies. The gauge choice can significantly affect the overall accuracy of the evolution. It is possible to reconcile certain gauge-dependent discrepancies by examining the convergence limit. We illustrate these results using an initial data set recently evolved by Brügmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 211101 (2004)10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.211101]. For our highest resolution and most accurate gauge, we estimate the duration of this data set's last orbit to be approximately 59MADM.

Journal Article↗

Dynamics of human protein arginine methyltransferase 1(PRMT1) in vivo.

Arginine methylation is a posttranslational protein modification catalyzed by a family of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMT), the predominant member of which is PRMT1. Despite its major role in arginine methylation of nuclear proteins, surprisingly little is known about the subcellular localization and dynamics of PRMT1. We show here that only a fraction of PRMT1 is located in the nucleus, but the protein is predominantly cytoplasmic. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments reveal that PRMT1 is highly mobile both in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. However, inhibition of methylation leads to a significant nuclear accumulation of PRMT1, concomitant with the appearance of an immobile fraction of the protein in the nucleus, but not the cytoplasm. Both the accumulation and immobility of PRMT1 is reversed when re-methylation is allowed, suggesting a mechanism where PRMT1 is trapped by unmethylated substrates such as core histones and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein proteins until it has executed the methylation reaction.

Cell Nucleus↗

Arginine methylation of scaffold attachment factor A by heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle-associated PRMT1.

Components of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) complex and other nucleic acid-binding proteins are subject to methylation on specific arginine residues by the catalytic activity of arginine methyltransferases. The methylation has been implicated in transcriptional regulation and RNA and protein trafficking and signal transduction, but the mechanism by which these functions are achieved has remained undetermined. We show here that the predominant arginine methyltransferase in human cells, protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1), is associated with hnRNP complexes, dependent on the methylation status of the cell, and that it methylates its preferred substrates in situ. Binding of PRMT1 occurs through physical interaction with scaffold attachment factor A (SAF-A), also known as hnRNP-U, which is quantitatively methylated by PRMT1 in all investigated cell lines as determined by a novel, highly specific, methylation-sensitive antibody.

Animals↗

Nuclear scaffold/matrix attached region modules linked to a transcription unit are sufficient for replication and maintenance of a mammalian episome.

The activation of mammalian origins of replication depends so far on ill understood epigenetic events, such as binding of transcription factors, chromatin structure, and nuclear localization. Understanding these mechanisms is not only a scientific challenge but also represents a prerequisite for the rational design of nonviral episomal vectors for mammalian cells. In this paper, we demonstrate that a tetramer of a 155-bp minimal nuclear scaffold/matrix attached region DNA module linked to an upstream transcription unit is sufficient for replication and mitotic stability of a mammalian episome in the absence of selection. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses, crosslinking with cis-diammineplatinum(II)-dichloride and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrate that this vector associates with the nuclear matrix or scaffold in vivo by means of specific interaction of the nuclear scaffold/matrix attached region with the nuclear matrix protein SAF-A. Results presented in this paper define the minimal requirements of an episomal vector for mammalian cells on the molecular level.

Animals↗