TY - JOUR A1 - Rieck, Christoph Paul Kurt A1 - Geiger, Daniel A1 - Munkert, Jennifer A1 - Messerschmidt, Katrin A1 - Petersen, Jan A1 - Strasser, Juliane A1 - Meitinger, Nadine A1 - Kreis, Wolfgang T1 - Biosynthetic approach to combine the first steps of cardenolide formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae JF - Microbiologyopen N2 - A yeast expression plasmid was constructed containing a cardenolide biosynthetic module, referred to as CARD II, using the AssemblX toolkit, which enables the assembly of large DNA constructs. The genes cloned into the vector were (a) a Δ5‐3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase gene from Digitalis lanata, (b) a steroid Δ5‐isomerase gene from Comamonas testosteronii, (c) a mutated steroid‐5β‐reductase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana, and (d) a steroid 21‐hydroxylase gene from Mus musculus. A second plasmid bearing an ADR/ADX fusion gene from Bos taurus was also constructed. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain bearing these two plasmids was generated. This strain, termed “CARD II yeast”, was capable of producing 5β‐pregnane‐3β,21‐diol‐20‐one, a central intermediate in 5β‐cardenolide biosynthesis, starting from pregnenolone which was added to the culture medium. Using this approach, five consecutive steps in cardenolide biosynthesis were realized in baker's yeast. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.925 SN - 2045-8827 VL - 8 IS - 12 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geiger, Daniel L. A1 - Kocyan, Alexander T1 - Studies on Oberonia 3. Aberrant flowers and other floral modifications in the orchid genus Oberonia JF - Nordic Journal of botany N2 - Orchid flowers are amongst the most conspicuous attractions that plants have generated over evolutionary epochs. However, organ homology in particular of androecium and gynoecium of orchid flowers have been, and are still, the subject of long-term discussion. Studies of aberrant - teratologic - flowers have traditionally helped to clarify organ identity in orchids. We here present for the first time teratological flowers within the florally smallest and inconspicuous orchid genus Oberonia and illustrate them by light and scanning electron microscopy. Pseudopeloria with half of a lateral petal transformed into a lip was found in O. costeriana J.J.Sm. and O. mucronata (D.Don) Ormerod & Seidenf. A supernumerary lip is known from O. mucronata. Oberonia rufilabris Lindl. is documented with multiple aberrations: triple gynostemium and a total of 10 tepals, twin flowers, and duplicate lips. We interpret these aberrations in light of known floral developmental and organ identity information. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.01699 SN - 0107-055X SN - 1756-1051 VL - 36 IS - 1-2 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zirafi, Onofrio A1 - Kim, Kyeong-Ae A1 - Ständker, Ludger A1 - Mohr, Katharina B. A1 - Sauter, Daniel A1 - Heigele, Anke A1 - Kluge, Silvia F. A1 - Wiercinska, Eliza A1 - Chudziak, Doreen A1 - Richter, Rudolf A1 - Möpps, Barbara A1 - Gierschik, Peter A1 - Vas, Virag A1 - Geiger, Hartmut A1 - Lamla, Markus A1 - Weil, Tanja A1 - Burster, Timo A1 - Zgraja, Andreas A1 - Daubeuf, Francois A1 - Frossard, Nelly A1 - Hachet-Haas, Muriel A1 - Heunisch, Fabian A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Galzi, Jean-Luc A1 - Perez-Castells, Javier A1 - Canales-Mayordomo, Angeles A1 - Jimenez-Barbero, Jesus A1 - Gimenez-Gallego, Guillermo A1 - Schneider, Marion A1 - Shorter, James A1 - Telenti, Amalio A1 - Hocher, Berthold A1 - Forssmann, Wolf-Georg A1 - Bonig, Halvard A1 - Kirchhoff, Frank A1 - Münch, Jan T1 - Discovery and Characterization of an Endogenous CXCR4 Antagonist JF - Cell reports N2 - CXCL12-CXCR4 signaling controls multiple physiological processes and its dysregulation is associated with cancers and inflammatory diseases. To discover as-yet-unknown endogenous ligands of CXCR4, we screened a blood-derived peptide library for inhibitors of CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 strains. This approach identified a 16 amino acid fragment of serum albumin as an effective and highly specific CXCR4 antagonist. The endogenous peptide, termed EPI-X4, is evolutionarily conserved and generated from the highly abundant albumin precursor by pH-regulated proteases. EPI-X4 forms an unusual lasso-like structure and antagonizes CXCL12-induced tumor cell migration, mobilizes stem cells, and suppresses inflammatory responses in mice. Furthermore, the peptide is abundant in the urine of patients with inflammatory kidney diseases and may serve as a biomarker. Our results identify EPI-X4 as a key regulator of CXCR4 signaling and introduce proteolysis of an abundant precursor protein as an alternative concept for chemokine receptor regulation. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.03.061 SN - 2211-1247 VL - 11 IS - 5 SP - 737 EP - 747 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER -