The rhesus macaque is an important animal model for HIV-related research. Among the MHC I alleles of the rhesus macaque, Mamu-A*02 is prevalent, presenting in >= 20% of macaques. In this study, we determined the crystal structure of Mamu-A*02, the second structure-determined MHC I from the rhesus macaque after Mamu-A*01. The peptide presentation characteristics of Mamu-A*02 are exhibited in complex structures with two typical Mamu-A*02-restricted CD8(+) T-cell epitopes, YY9 (Nef159 to -167; YTSGPGIRY) and GY9 (Gag71 to -79; GSENLKSLY), derived from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). These two peptides utilize similar primary anchor

residues (Ser or Thr) at position 2 and Tyr at position 9. However, the central region of YY9 is different from that of GY9, a difference that may correlate with the immunogenic variance of these peptides. Further analysis

indicated that the distinct conformations SRT1720 chemical structure of these two peptides are modulated by four flexible residues in the Mamu-A*02 peptide-binding groove. The rare combination of these four residues in Mamu-A*02 leads to a variant presentation for YM155 ic50 peptides with different residues in their central regions. Additionally, in the two structures of the Mamu-A*02 complex, we compared the binding of rhesus and human beta(2) microglobulin (beta(2)m) to Mamu-A*02. We found that the peptide presentation of Mamu-A*02 is not affected by the interspecies interaction with human much beta(2)m. Our work broadens the understanding of CD8(+) T-cell-specific immunity against SIV in the rhesus macaque.”
“Nociceptin/orphanin FQ(N/OFQ) and nocistatin are derived from the same precursor peptide, prepronociceptin. N/OFQ and nocistatin have been postulated to participate in pain modulation. In this study, we investigated whether the prepronociceptin, N/OFQ and nocistatin concentrations in the brain and spinal cord would be altered in chronic constriction injury and diabetic rat

neuropathic pain models. Total brain and spinal cord lysates as well as serum from rats that had undergone chronic constriction injury and streptozocin-induced diabetic neuropathy were used to determine the concentrations of three peptides using competitive radioimmunoassay. We found that N/OFQ and prepronociceptin concentrations were significantly raised in both rat neuropathic pain models. Nocistatin was raised in the brains of post traumatic neuropathy pain rats. Overall, our data have demonstrated for the first time that prepronociceptin. N/OFQ and nocistatin concentrations are significantly altered at different tissues of two rat neuropathy pain models. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Integrin-mediated cell attachment to the extracellular matrix is an established regulator of the cell cycle, and the best-characterized targets of this process are the cyclin D1 gene and members of the cip and kip (cip/kip) family of cdk inhibitors.