Team:Warsaw/Glossary

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<div class="glossary_text">Apoptosis is a natural process of programmed cell death. Apoptosis can be induced by many factors and its function is to remove damaged and unnecessary cells from the organism. In our project we want to induce apoptosis of tumor cells, using [https://2009.igem.org/Team:Warsaw/Glossary#p53 p53] or [https://2009.igem.org/Team:Warsaw/Glossary#bax bax] proteins, both involved in control of this process </div>
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<div class="glossary_text">Apoptosis is a natural process of programmed cell death. Apoptosis can be induced by many factors and its function is to remove damaged and unnecessary cells from the organism. In our project we want to induce apoptosis of tumor cells, using [https://2009.igem.org/Team:Warsaw/Glossary#p53 p53] or [https://2009.igem.org/Team:Warsaw/Glossary#bax bax] proteins, both involved in control of this process<div>
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[[image:Signal transduction pathways.png|thumb|left|390px|Overview of basic signal transduction pathways.]][[Image:Apoptosis stained.jpg|thumb|thumb|290px|A section of mouse liver stained to show cells undergoing apoptosis (orange)]]
====bax====
====bax====

Revision as of 18:00, 6 September 2009


Glossary

apoptosis

Apoptosis is a natural process of programmed cell death. Apoptosis can be induced by many factors and its function is to remove damaged and unnecessary cells from the organism. In our project we want to induce apoptosis of tumor cells, using p53 or bax proteins, both involved in control of this process
Overview of basic signal transduction pathways.
A section of mouse liver stained to show cells undergoing apoptosis (orange)

bax

Bcl-2–associated X protein (bax) is a pro-apoptotic protein. Although it's found mainly in the cytosol, upon initiation of apoptosis it's shifted to organellar membranes. It's believed that bax is responsible for opening special channels in the mitochondrial outer membrane, causing release of pro-apoptotic factors like cytochrome c.

cro

cro-box

endosome

endosome is a membrane-bound compartment inside cells which is responsible for the sorting of ematerial previously endocytosed by the cell, before transport to lysosomes. This allows some material to be returned to the plasma membrane.

invasin

Invasin is one of proteins crucial for pathogenic features of enteropathogenic bacteria like Yersinia sp. or Salmonella sp. Invasin interacts with integrins, receptors occuring on the surface of eukariotic cell membrane, what triggers signalling cascade leading to endocytosis of whole pathogenic bacteria.

lacI

The lac repressor is a bacterial DNA-binding protein which inhibits the expression of genes which encode proteins involved in the metabolism of lactose. It is active in the absence of lactose, ensuring that the bacterium only invests its resources for the synthesis of proteins required for the uptake and metabolism of lactose when this saccharide is found in the environment. When lactose becomes available, it is converted into allolactose, which inhibits the lac repressor's DNA binding ability.

listeriolysin

Listeriolysin O (LLO) is a pore-forming protein from Listeria monocytogenes.The protein is selectively activated within the acidic phagosomes (average pH ~ 5.9) of cells that have phagocytosed L. monocytogenes.After LLO lyses the phagosome, the bacterium escapes into the cytosol, where it can grow intracellularly. Upon release from the phagosome, the toxin has reduced activity in the more basic cytosol.

mgtc gene promoter

This is one of the Salmonella typhimurium PhoP-dependent promoters. MgtC gene is a virulence factor in Salmonella typhimurium that is required for growth at low-Mg2+ concentrations and intramacrophage survival

p53

p53 is a protein well-known for people interested in cancer. p53 is a tumor suppressor and main factor involved in control of cell-cycle, mutated in more than half of tumors. Some data shows that presence of p53 in mitochondria is able to induce apoptosis.

phoP/PhoQ

PhoP/PhoQ is a two-component regulatory system which controls the virulence of Salmonella typhimurium. Under conditions of low pH and/or low metal ions concentration PhoP activates promoters responsible for virulence and sirvival of Salmonella within macrophages, like the promoter of mgtc gene. Whole system will be used to control bacteria escape from endosome

Type I secretion system

Type I secretion system (TOSS) is a simple system, which consists of only three protein subunits: the ABC protein, membrane fusion protein (MFP), and outer membrane protein (OMP). Type I secretion system transports molecules of various size, from ions, drugs to even large proteins. The best characterized proteins secret via TOSS are the RTX toxins and the lipases. Type I secretion is also involved in export of non-proteinaceous substrates like cyclic β-glucans and polysaccharides. Many secreted proteins are particularly important in bacterial pathogenesis.

TetR