Epistaxis: Diagnosis and treatment.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
John W Hudson
Publications and source records attributed to John W Hudson.
Array of informatics: Applications in modern research.
The advent of microarray technology in the past decade has greatly enhanced gene expression studies and allowed for the acquisition of a vast amount of information simultaneously. Microarrays have been used in numerous scientific fields to identify new genes, to determine the transcriptional activity of cells, and to discover downstream targets of different loci. Recently, DNA microarrays have also been utilized in disease studies to determine outcomes at many levels including diagnosis, prognosis, and drug therapy. The promise of protein microarrays is to allow us to study the molecular interactions of protein, lipids, small molecules, and carbohydrates. They can be exploited to analyze a single protein pair interaction, to address changes in multiple protein levels as a response to treatment (i.e., drug or radiation), or in a pathological condition. Tissue microarrays allow the analysis of numerous tumor samples simultaneously. Finally, live cell-based microarrays provide an opportunity to study the function of the entire proteome en masse within living cells. However, these exciting new areas still have to overcome many inherent problems. In this review, we discuss novel microarray-based approaches that are in development and that have potential in applications for medicine, biotechnology, and basic research.
Animals↗
Plk4 haploinsufficiency causes mitotic infidelity and carcinogenesis.
The polo-like kinase Plk4 (also called Sak) is required for late mitotic progression, cell survival and postgastrulation embryonic development. Here we identified a phenotype resulting from Plk4 haploinsufficiency in Plk4 heterozygous cells and mice. Plk4+/- embryonic fibroblasts had increased centrosomal amplification, multipolar spindle formation and aneuploidy compared with wild-type cells. The incidence of spontaneous liver and lung cancers was approximately 15 times high in elderly Plk4+/- mice than in Plk4+/+ littermates. Using the in vivo model of partial hepatectomy to induce synchronous cell cycle entry, we determined that the precise regulation of cyclins D1, E and B1 and of Cdk1 was impaired in Plk4+/- regenerating liver, and p53 activation and p21 and BubR1 expression were suppressed. These defects were associated with progressive cell cycle delays, increased spindle irregularities and accelerated hepatocellular carcinogenesis in Plk4+/- mice. Loss of heterozygosity occurs frequently (approximately 60%) at polymorphic markers adjacent to the PLK4 locus in human hepatoma. Reduced Plk4 gene dosage increases the probability of mitotic errors and cancer development.
Animals↗
Sak/Plk4 and mitotic fidelity.
Sak/Plk4 differs from other polo-like kinases in having only a single polo box, which assumes a novel dimer fold that localizes to the nucleolus, centrosomes and the cleavage furrow. Sak expression increases gradually in S through M phase, and Sak is destroyed by APC/C dependent proteolysis. Sak-deficient mouse embryos arrest at E7.5 and display an increased incidence of apoptosis and anaphase arrest. Sak(+/-) mice are haploinsufficient for tumor suppression, with spontaneous tumors developing primarily in the liver with advanced age. During liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy, Sak(+/-) hepatocytes display a delay in reaching the first M phase, multipolar spindles, disorganized tissue morphology and loss of acuity for cyclin B1 expression. Similarly, Sak(+/-) MEF cells proliferate slowly, and show a high incidence of centrosome hyper-amplification. We suggest that Sak provides feedback to cell cycle regulators, and thereby precision to the switch-like transitions of centrosome duplication and exit-from-mitosis. Sak binds to p53, and studies are underway to provide a molecular context for the Sak-p53 interaction. Animal models of haploinsufficiency and more comprehensive models of cell cycle regulation should contribute to improvements in cancer risk assessment and novel therapies.
Animals↗
The Sak polo-box comprises a structural domain sufficient for mitotic subcellular localization.
The small family of polo-like kinases (Plks) includes Cdc5 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Plo1 from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Polo from Drosophila melanogaster and the four mammalian genes Plk1, Prk/Fnk, Snk and Sak. These kinases control cell cycle progression through the regulation of centrosome maturation and separation, mitotic entry, metaphase to anaphase transition, mitotic exit and cytokinesis. Plks are characterized by an N-terminal Ser/Thr protein kinase domain and the presence of one or two C-terminal regions of similarity, termed the polo box motifs. These motifs have been demonstrated for Cdc5 and Plk1 to be required for mitotic progression and for subcellular localization to mitotic structures. Here we report the 2.0 A crystal structure of a novel domain composed of the polo box motif of murine Sak. The structure consists of a dimeric fold with a deep interfacial cleft and pocket, suggestive of a ligand-binding site. We show that this domain forms homodimers both in vitro and in vivo, and localizes to centrosomes and the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. The requirement of the polo domain for Plk family function and the unique physical properties of the domain identify it as an attractive target for inhibitor design.
Amino Acid Motifs↗