University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

About: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is a healthcare organization based out in Dallas, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 39107 authors who have published 75242 publications receiving 4497256 citations. The organization is also known as: UT Southwestern & UT Southwestern Medical School.

Structural and biochemical basis of apoptotic activation by Smac/DIABLO.

Abstract: Apoptosis (programmed cell death), an essential process in the development and homeostasis of metazoans, is carried out by caspases. The mitochondrial protein Smac/DIABLO performs a critical function in apoptosis by eliminating the inhibitory effect of IAPs (inhibitor of apoptosis proteins) on caspases. Here we show that Smac/DIABLO promotes not only the proteolytic activation of procaspase-3 but also the enzymatic activity of mature caspase-3, both of which depend upon its ability to interact physically with IAPs. The crystal structure of Smac/DIABLO at 2.2 A resolution reveals that it homodimerizes through an extensive hydrophobic interface. Missense mutations inactivating this dimeric interface significantly compromise the function of Smac/DIABLO. As in the Drosophila proteins Reaper, Grim and Hid, the amino-terminal amino acids of Smac/DIABLO are indispensable for its function, and a seven-residue peptide derived from the amino terminus promotes procaspase-3 activation in vitro. These results establish an evolutionarily conserved structural and biochemical basis for the activation of apoptosis by Smac/DIABLO.

Unveiling the roles of autophagy in innate and adaptive immunity

Abstract: Cells digest portions of their interiors in a process known as autophagy to recycle nutrients, remodel and dispose of unwanted cytoplasmic constituents. This ancient pathway, conserved from yeast to humans, is now emerging as a central player in the immunological control of bacterial, parasitic and viral infections. The process of autophagy may degrade intracellular pathogens, deliver endogenous antigens to MHC-class-II-loading compartments, direct viral nucleic acids to Toll-like receptors and regulate T-cell homeostasis. This Review describes the mechanisms of autophagy and highlights recent advances relevant to the role of autophagy in innate and adaptive immunity.

Cholesterol metabolism in the brain

Abstract: The central nervous system accounts for only 2% of the whole body mass but contains almost a quarter of the unesterified cholesterol present in the whole individual. This sterol is largely present in two pools comprised of the cholesterol in the plasma membranes of glial cells and neurons and the ch

Advanced multiplexed analysis with the FlowMetrixTM system

Abstract: The FlowMetrixTM System is a multiplexed data acquisition and analysis platform for flow cytometric analysis of microsphere-based assays that performs simultaneous measurement of up to 64 different analytes The system consists of 64 distinct sets of fluorescent microspheres and a standard benchtop flow cytometer interfaced with a personal computer containing a digital signal processing board and Windows95®-based software Individual sets of microspheres can be modified with reactive components such as antigens, antibodies, or oligonucleotides, and then mixed to form a multiplexed assay set The digital signal-processing hardware and Windows95-based software provide complete control of the flow cytometer and perform real-time data processing, allowing multiple independent reactions to be analyzed simultaneously The system has been used to perform qualitative and quantitative immunoassays for multiple serum proteins in both capture and competitive inhibition assay formats The system has also been used to perform DNA sequence analysis by multiplexed competitive hybridization with 16 different sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes