Along with the development of the thermotargetron method for thermophiles, targetron technology becomes increasingly important for the metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms aiming at biofuel/chemical production. To summarize the current progress of targetron technology and provide new insights on the use of the technology, this paper reviews the retrohoming mechanisms of both mesophilic and thermophilic targetron methods based on various group II introns, investigates the improvement of targetron tools for high target efficiency and specificity, and discusses the current applications in the metabolic engineering for

bacterial producers. Although there are still intellectual property and technical restrictions in targetron applications, IPI-549 chemical structure we propose that targetron technology will contribute to both biochemistry research and the metabolic engineering for industrial productions.”
“Cross-presentation is an important function of immune competent cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages, and an organ-resident liver cell population, i.e., Smoothened Agonist liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs). Here, we characterize in direct comparison to DCs the distinct dynamics and kinetics of cross-presentation

employed by LSECs, which promote tolerance induction in CD8 T cells. We found that LSECs were as competent in cross-presenting circulating soluble antigen ex vivo as DCs at a per-cell basis. However, antigen uptake in vivo was 100-fold more pronounced in LSECs, indicating distinct mechanisms of cross-presentation. In contrast to mannose-receptor-mediated antigen uptake and routing into stable endosomes dedicated to cross-presentation in DCs, we observed distinct antigen-uptake and endosomal routing with high antigen turnover in LSECs that resulted in short-lived cross-presentation. Receptor-mediated endocytosis did not always lead to cross-presentation, because immune-complexed GSK461364 antigen taken up by the Fc-receptor was not cross-presented by LSECs, indicating that

induction of CD8 T cell tolerance by LSECs is impaired in the presence of preexisting immunity. Conclusion: These results provide a mechanistic explanation how organ-resident LSECs accommodate continuous scavenger function with the capacity to cross-present circulating antigens using distinct kinetics and dynamics of antigen-uptake, routing and cross-presentation compared to DCs. (HEPATOLOGY 2009;50:909-919.)”
“Activation of the sarcolemmal Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (NHE) 1 is increasingly documented as a process involved in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. However, whether NHE1 activation alone is sufficient to induce such remodeling remains unknown. We generated transgenic mice that overexpress a human NHE1 with high activity in hearts.