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ABSTRACT: Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein contained in milk and other exocrine fluids, and is believed to have multiple biological functions. We investigated the intracellular dynamics of LF taken up by three lines of human enterocytes and the subsequent release of internalized LF by using two-site ELISA and confocal microscopy. LF taken up by Caco-2 cells was kept partially intact within the cells and subsequently released to the medium as degraded fragments of 30-50 kDa. The retention and subsequent release of LF by Caco-2 cells were much more abundant than those of ovalbumin, ovomucoid and lysozyme. Such results characteristic of LF were also similarly observed in C2BBe1 and HT29 cells more markedly. LF was detected as punctate signals and partially colocalized with the lactoferrin receptor, intelectin-1, in the respective cytoplasm and nuclei of Caco-2 and C2BBe1 cells. In contrast, LF within the HT-29 cells was detected as much smaller punctate signals scattered in the cytoplasm.
Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 05/2013; · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Mammary adipose tissue may contribute to breast cancer development and progression by altering neighboring epithelial cell behavior and phenotype through paracrine signaling. Dietary exposure to soy foods is associated with lower mammary tumor risk and reduced body weight and adiposity in humans and in rodent breast cancer models. Despite the suggested linkage between obesity and breast cancer, the local influence of bioactive dietary components on mammary adiposity for anti-tumor effects remains unknown. Herein, we report that post-weaning dietary exposure to soy protein isolate and its bioactive isoflavone genistein lowered mammary adiposity and increased mammary tumor suppressor PTEN and E-cadherin expression in female mice, relative to control casein diet. To ascertain genistein's role in mammary adipose deposition that may affect underlying epithelial cell phenotype, we evaluated genistein's effects on SV40-immortalized mouse mammary stromal fibroblast-like (MSF) cells during differentiation to adipocytes. MSF cultured in differentiation medium with 40 nM genistein showed reductions in mature adipocyte numbers, triglyceride accumulation, and PPARγ and fatty acid synthase transcript levels. Genistein inhibition of adipose differentiation was accompanied by increased estrogen receptor (ER)-β gene expression and was modestly recapitulated by ERβ selective agonist 2,3-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)-propionitrile (DPN). Reduction of ERβ expression by siRNA targeting increased PPARγ transcript levels and stromal fibroblast differentiation into mature adipocytes; the latter was reversed by genistein but not DPN. Conditioned medium from genistein-treated adipocytes diminished anchorage-independent mammosphere formation of human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Our results suggest a mechanistic pathway to support direct regulation by genistein of mammary adiposity for breast cancer prevention.
Journal of Endocrinology 05/2013; · 3.55 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a heterogeneous and complex group of compounds that are formed when reducing sugars, such as dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), react in a non-enzymatic way with amino acids in proteins and other macromolecules. AGEs are prevalent in the diabetic vasculature and contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. The presence and accumulation of AGEs in many different cell types affect the extracellular and intracellular structure and function. In the present study, we studied the immune response to the DHA-derived AGEs and provide multiple lines of evidence suggesting that the AGEs could be an endogenous source of innate epitopes recognized by natural IgM antibodies. Prominent IgM titers to the AGEs were detected in the sera of normal mice and were significantly accelerated by the immunization with the AGEs. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a potentially fatal systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the increased production of autoantibodies, showed significantly higher serum levels of the IgM titer against the AGEs than healthy individuals. A progressive increase in the IgM response against the AGEs was also observed in the SLE-prone mice. Strikingly, a subset of monoclonal antibodies, showing a specificity toward the AGEs, prepared from normal mice immunized with the AGEs and from the SLE mice cross-reacted with the double-stranded DNA. Moreover, they also cross-reacted with several other modified proteins, including the acetylated proteins, suggesting that the multiple specificity of the antibodies might be ascribed, at least in part, to the increased electronegative potential of the proteins. These findings suggest that the protein modification by the endogenous carbonyl compounds, generating electronegative proteins, could be a source of multi-specific natural antibodies.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 03/2013; · 4.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Recent studies have revealed heterogeneity in the structure of eukaryotic cytoplasmic ribosomes, including a difference in protein composition. It has been proposed that this heterogeneity, or the specialized ribosome, contributes to tissue development and homeostasis through selective mRNA translation, although this remains largely unclear. Our previous proteomic survey of rodent ribosomes found the testis-specific ribosomal proteins L10-like and L39-like, which are paralogues of the X-linked ribosomal proteins L10 and L39, respectively. We have hypothesized that the rodent testis provides a good model for examining the possible functional importance of ribosome heterogeneity. In the present study, a new paralogue of X-linked ribosomal protein S4 has been identified in the mouse testis. The gene encoding this paralogue was autosomal, intronless and expressed predominantly in the testis. It appeared that this paralogue was included in polysomes as a component of the ribosome. Although these properties were similar to those of the ribosomal proteins L10-like and L39-like, this S4 paralogue and L10-like showed partially different expression patterns in spermatogenic cells. These findings are discussed in relation to the unique evolution of genes encoding a paralogue of ribosomal protein S4 in mammals and to the significance of testis-specific paralogues of ribosomal proteins in active ribosomes during spermatogenesis.
Gene 03/2013; · 2.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We used recombinant rat dectin-1 proteins to newly establish sandwich ELISA for determining barley β-glucan (BβG). The ELISA method had a working range of 15-4,000 µg/L. Plasma BβG was detectable up to 24 h after an intravenous administration of BβG (1 mg/kg of body weight) to rats. This method may be an effective tool for investigating the immune modulatory effects of BβG.
Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 02/2013; · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Allergenic potential of food proteins is associated with stability to gastric and pancreatic digestive enzymes. However, much attention has not been focused on intracellular digestion of protein antigens during the passage through intestinal epithelia. We report here the degradation and survival of a bis-phosphorylated protein, ovalbumin, in the course of passage through Caco-2 cell monolayers cultured on porous membrane. SDS-PAGE in combination with phosphoprotein staining showed that ovalbumin, which had passed through the cell layers, was almost intact in its polypeptide chain but partly dephosphorylated. By contrast, quantitative analysis using ELISA indicated that complete dephosphorylation in advance by an alkaline phosphatase markedly reduced the ovalbumin passage. The reduced passage was restored in the presence of cathepsin inhibitors, leupeptin and pepstatin-A. Moreover, the complete dephosphorylation increased susceptibility of ovalbumin to in vitro digestion with cathepsin B, which cleaved near an ovalbumin phosphorylation site, Ser345. The susceptibility of ovalbumin to lysosomal proteases may affect its passage through the intestinal epithelia, leading to determination of allergic sensitization and elicitation in egg allergy.
Journal of biochemistry 01/2013; · 1.95 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In lactating mammary glands, milk fat is secreted as fat globules surrounded by a cell plasma membrane containing characteristic membrane-associated proteins. Among these, butyrophilin has been shown to be specific and intrinsic to the fat globule membrane, whereas milk-fat globule EGF-factor VIII (MFG-E8) is uncertain. We characterized in the present study MFG-E8 in milk fat globules and in the culture medium of HC11 mammary epithelial cells. MFG-E8 was immunologically detected in the mammary tissues of both pregnant and lactating mice. Double-immunofluorescence staining for MFG-E8 and butyrophilin showed diversity in the MFG-E8-staining intensity among different fat globules in milk. HC11 cells secreted monomeric MFG-E8 with phosphatidylserine-binding activity, despite no fat globules being detected in the cells. This secretion was upregulated by not only prolactin but also by insulin or EGF. These results suggest that milk MFG-E8 was not equally present among fat globules and not necessarily intrinsic to the fat globules.
Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 11/2012; · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Milk fat globules (MFGs) secreted by lactating mammary gland are unique lipid surrounded by a phospholipid bi-layer. We report here post-weaning changes in milk fat globule EGF factor VIII (MFG-E8) and annexin V-accessible phosphatidylserine on the surface of MFGs. The MFG content in milk markedly decreased to about half within 2 days after forced weaning, despite a slight increase in milk protein content. Immunofluorescence-staining of MFGs using anti-MFG-E8 and annexin V indicated that MFG-E8 was present on some, but not all, MFGs before weaning, whereas most of MFGs were MFG-E8-positive and annexin V-negative after weaning. Free MFG-E8 with binding activity to phosphatidylserine was present abundantly in the post-weaning milk, and indeed exhibited binding to MFGs in pre-weaning milk. MFGs were taken up by HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells in vitro, and those from post-weaning milk were remarkable for such cellular uptake. Moreover, the uptake of MFGs by the cells was inhibited by an anti-MFG-E8 antibody. Taken together, these findings suggest that MFG-E8 plays a critical role in regulation of MFG dynamics after weaning or during the suckling interval through the control of MFG-epithelial cell interaction in lactating mammary glands.
Journal of biochemistry 10/2012; · 1.95 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The vertebrate egg coat corresponding to mammalian zona pellucida is a filamentous matrix composed of highly and heterogeneously glycosylated proteins designated ZP glycoproteins including ZP1 to 4, ZPD and ZPAX, and play important roles in species-specific egg-sperm interactions. Recent advance in structural biology of chicken ZP3 provided new insights into molecular mechanisms of the egg-coat function involving its carbohydrate moieties. In this study, chicken ZP3 was separated into four major and distinct isoforms with different pI in 2D-PAGE. To investigate the meanings of the ZP3 heterogeneity in egg-sperm interactions, we preliminary analyzed glycan diversity on the molecules by using lectin-staining assays. The four major ZP3 isoforms 4-7 (from acidic to basic) were recognized equally with PNA (Galβ1-3GalNAc), but the isoforms 5-7 were recognized dominantly with WGA ((β-GlcNAc)n, clustered Sia), PHA-E (bi- and triantennary N-glycan containing Galβ1-4GlcNAcβ1-2Manα1-6) and RCA I (terminal Galβ1-4GlcNAc), respectively. Despite such sugar chain diversity among the ZP3 isoforms, a partner in the egg coat, ZP1, showed specific binding to each isoform equally. Localization of ZP1 and ZP3 in the egg-coat matrix were also analyzed.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 07/2012; 424(3):586-92. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Microtubules form flexible fibers, which are utilized in cell proliferation and differentiation. Although the flexibility of microtubules was shown to be regulated by various microtubule-associated proteins, this regulation is still far from complete understanding. Here, we report a new potential regulator of microtubules in mammals. Gcap14 colocalizes with microtubules in mammalian cells transfected with Gcap14 expression vector. Association of Gcap14 with microtubules was confirmed by biochemical subcellular fractionation. Recombinant Gcap14 protein cosedimented with pure microtubules, indicating a direct binding between the two. Furthermore, recombinant Gcap14 was shown to have the ability of inducing microtubule bundling in vitro.
FEBS letters 05/2012; 586(10):1426-30. · 3.54 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Phagocytes engulf pathogenic microbes, kill them and degrade their cellular macromolecules by hydrolytic enzymes in phagolysosomes. However, such enzymes are unable to degrade some microbial polysaccharides, and fate of such indigestible polysaccharides in phagocytes remains uncertain. Using the extracellular domain of Dectin-1 as β-glucan-specific probes, we succeeded in detection of soluble and Dectin-1-reactive β-glucan discharged from mouse RAW 264.7 and human THP-1 macrophage cell lines as well as mouse peritoneal macrophages, which had phagocytized insoluble β-glucan particles. The RAW 264.7 cell culture-supernatant containing the discharged β-glucan stimulated naïve RAW 264.7 cells, resulting in the induction of cytokine expression. Such discharge of Dectin-1-reactive β-glucan from macrophage cells was inhibited by either NADPH oxidase inhibitors (apocynin and diphenylene iodonium) or radical scavengers (N-acetyl cysteine and MCI-186). Moreover, reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by a Cu(2+)/ascorbic acid system solubilized insoluble β-glucan particles in vitro, and a part of the solubilized β-glucan was Dectin-1 reactive and biologically active in macrophage activation. The soluble and biologically active β-glucan was degraded further during prolonged exposure to ROS. These results suggest that degraded but Dectin-1-reactive β-glucan is discharged from macrophage cells phagocytizing insoluble β-glucan particles and stimulates not only themselves again but also the other naïve phagocytes, leading to the effective elimination of infecting microbes and the ultimate breakdown and inactivation of metabolically resistant β-glucan.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 04/2012; 421(2):329-34. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: O-linked-β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification is a unique cytoplasmic and nuclear protein modification that is common in nearly all eukaryotes, including filamentous fungi, plants, and animals. We had recently reported that epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats of Notch and Dumpy are O-GlcNAcylated by an atypical O-GlcNAc transferase, EOGT, in Drosophila. However, no study has yet shown whether O-GlcNAcylation of extracellular proteins is limited to insects such as Drosophila or whether it occurs in other organisms, including mammals. Here, we report the characterization of A130022J15Rik, a mouse gene homolog of Drosophila Eogt (Eogt 1). Enzymatic analysis revealed that Eogt1 has a substrate specificity similar to that of Drosophila EOGT, wherein the Thr residue located between the fifth and sixth conserved cysteines of the folded EGF-like domains is modified. This observation is supported by the fact that the expression of Eogt1 in Drosophila rescued the cell-adhesion defect caused by Eogt downregulation. In HEK293T cells, Eogt1 expression promoted modification of Notch1 EGF repeats by O-GlcNAc, which was further modified, at least in part, by galactose to generate a novel O-linked-N-acetyllactosamine structure. These results suggest that Eogt1 encodes EGF domain O-GlcNAc transferase and that O-GlcNAcylation reaction in the secretory pathway is a fundamental biochemical process conserved through evolution.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 03/2012; 419(1):14-9. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The interaction between mammary epithelial and stromal tissue is considered to be important in breast tissue development. In this study, we developed a transplantation procedure for the mammary stromal fibroblastic cell line (MSF) to examine its life in vivo. First we established MSF cells which stably expressed lacZ (lacZ/MSF) and had characteristics of mammary stromal cells. The lacZ/MSF cells were then transplanted into a cleared mammary fat pad of syngenic mice with and without mammary primary epithelial organoids. Whole mount X-gal and carmine staining of the transplants revealed that a number of undifferentiated lacZ/MSF cells survived around the mammary epithelial tissue when transplanted with organoids. These results indicate that transplantation of MSF cells into mammary fat pad was accomplished by co-transplantation with primary mammary organoids. Finally, we discuss the application of transplantation procedure for in vivo studies of the mammary stromal tissue development and stromal-epithelial interactions.
Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 03/2011; 75(3):550-5. · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The effects of ω-5 gliadin on wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA) were investigated by using a mouse model. The gliadin fraction was prepared as a 70% ethanol-soluble solution, and ω-5 gliadin was purified by chromatography. Purified ω-5 gliadin was run on SDS-PAGE gel to reveal three bands with a molecular mass of 53-60 kDa and had the characteristic N-terminal sequence of ω-5 gliadin. The mice were sensitized to the gliadin fraction, and the anaphylactic response was assessed by measuring the body temperature and voluntary physical activity. An oral administration of ω-5 gliadin evoked a significant drop in both the body temperature and voluntary physical activity, similar to the effects of the whole gliadin fraction. ELISA and immunoblotting analyses revealed that the IgE expression from sensitized mice reacted most strongly to ω-5 gliadin. Taken together, these results indicate ω-5 gliadin to be a major allergen responsible for stimulating WDEIA in mice, with the characteristic potential for stimulating IgE production.
Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 02/2011; 75(2):313-7. · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The mammary epithelium produces numerous lipid droplets during lactation and secretes them in plasma membrane-enclosed vesicles known as milk fat globules. The biogenesis of such fat globules is considered to provide a model for clarifying the mechanisms of lipogenesis in mammals. In the present study, we identified acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase, ATP citrate lyase, and fatty acid synthase in mouse milk. Fractionation of milk showed that these three enzymes were located predominantly in milk fat globules. The three enzymes were resistant to trypsin digestion without Triton X-100, indicating that they were not located on the outer surface of the globules and thus associated with the precursors of the globules before secretion. When a low dose of rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), was injected into lactating mice, the levels of the three enzymes in milk were decreased within 3h after injection. Since the protein levels of the three enzymes in tissues were not obviously altered by this short-term treatment, known transcriptional control by mTOR signaling was unlikely to account for this decrease in their levels in milk. Our findings suggest a new, putatively mTOR-dependent localization of the three enzymes for de novo lipogenesis.
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 01/2011; 508(1):87-92. · 2.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification of cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins regulates basic cellular functions and is involved in the aetiology of diabetes and neurodegeneration. This intracellular O-GlcNAcylation is catalyzed by a single O-GlcNAc transferase, OGT. Here we report a novel OGT, EOGT, responsible for extracellular O-GlcNAcylation. Although both OGT and EOGT are regulated by hexosamine flux, EOGT localizes to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum and transfers GlcNAc to epidermal growth factor-like domains in an OGT-independent manner. Loss of Eogt gives phenotypes similar to those caused by defects in the apical extracellular matrix. Dumpy (Dp), a membrane-anchored extracellular protein, is O-GlcNAcylated, and EOGT is required for Dp-dependent epithelial cell-matrix interactions. Thus, O-GlcNAcylation of secreted and membrane glycoproteins is a novel mediator of cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions at the cell surface.
Nature Communications 01/2011; 2:583. · 7.40 Impact Factor
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Journal of Biological Chemistry 10/2010; 285(42):32678. · 4.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: ZP3, a major component of the zona pellucida (ZP) matrix coating mammalian eggs, is essential for fertilization by acting as sperm receptor. By retaining a propeptide that contains a polymerization-blocking external hydrophobic patch (EHP), we determined the crystal structure of an avian homolog of ZP3 at 2.0 Å resolution. The structure unveils the fold of a complete ZP domain module in a homodimeric arrangement required for secretion and reveals how EHP prevents premature incorporation of ZP3 into the ZP. This suggests mechanisms underlying polymerization and how local structural differences, reflected by alternative disulfide patterns, control the specificity of ZP subunit interaction. Close relative positioning of a conserved O-glycan important for sperm binding and the hypervariable, positively selected C-terminal region of ZP3 suggests a concerted role in the regulation of species-restricted gamete recognition. Alternative conformations of the area around the O-glycan indicate how sperm binding could trigger downstream events via intramolecular signaling.
Cell 10/2010; 143(3):404-15. · 32.40 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Few common carbohydrate epitopes consisting of terminal beta-(1,2)-xylose and/or alpha-(1,3)-fucose residues are shared by a variety of glycoproteins from plants, insects and parasitic worms, termed cross-reactive carbohydrate determinant (CCD), and frequently recognized by IgE antibodies of patients with food and/or respiratory allergy, though clinical relevancy of such CCD-specific IgE is still controversial. Attention has also been focused on CCDs from the undesired post-translational modification of recombinant therapeutic proteins produced by transgenic plants and insects. In the present study, to clarify immunogenic potentials of CCD-bearing glycoproteins, the antibody response to a model plant glycoprotein, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was investigated in a mouse model. C3H/He mice were immunized with HRP plus Al(OH)(3) or Freund's adjuvant, and IgG and IgE responses to CCDs in addition to HRP were analyzed by ELISA using some distinct glycoproteins with known N-glycan structures. IgE response to HRP was induced remarkably, whereas that to CCD was weaker and delayed. Moreover, apparent ratio of the CCD-specific antibodies to HRP-specific ones tended to be higher in IgG2a and IgG2b isotypes than IgG1, IgG3 and IgE. In contrast to rabbit antibodies, the CCD-specific antibodies from the mice gave poor reactivity with bromelain and honeybee phospholipase A2, suggesting the critical role of both beta-(1,2)-xylose and alpha-(1,3)-mannose in the CCD-recognition by the mouse antibodies. Moreover, the mouse antibodies showed weaker cross-reactivity to pollen- and insect-derived glycoproteins than the rabbit ones. Thus, in this mouse model, not only IgE but also IgG2 antibody responses to CCDs were induced by immunizing with a CCD-bearing glycoprotein, suggesting that CCDs affected not only Th2-type but also Th1-type antibody response at least in C3H/He mice.
Immunology letters 09/2010; 133(1):28-34. · 2.91 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Involution of the mammary gland is a regressive phase that occurs after lactation, and requires reprogramming of gene expression for the tissue to return to a pre-pregnant state. Although the transcriptome of the mammary gland demonstrates complex changes at the mRNA level, the molecular mechanisms governing post-transcriptional control remain obscure. In the present study, we isolated cytoplasmic mRNA-protein complexes (mRNPs) from the mouse mammary gland at the early involution stage using discontinuous sucrose density ultracentrifugation. mRNPs including untranslated mRNAs were then purified with oligo(dT) immobilized on cellulose or paramagnetic beads. Proteins in the purified complexes were subjected to one/two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry. This identified heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A/B (Hnrpab), along with three other heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins. Hnrpab in the mRNPs reproducibly increased within 48 h after weaning and became one of the major components. When a vector expressing Hnrpab was transfected into two different cell lines, their growth was suppressed, demonstrating that this protein has cytostatic activity. These results suggest that early involution can be used as a model for understanding the mechanism of post-transcriptional control of gene expression, responsible for modulation of cell function.
Cell Biochemistry and Function 06/2010; 28(4):321-8. · 1.77 Impact Factor
