Antibody News

PIEZO1, and its close homologue PIEZO2, are mechanosensitive ion channel proteins. Mechanosensitive ion channels couple protein conformation to the mechanics of the surrounding membrane, and switch between a closed state and an open state in response to changes in membrane tension, thickness, or curvature. Cells use this information to ensure viability under conditions of osmotic stress or membrane deformation (1).

PIEZO1, also known as FAM38A, is a large (2521 amino acid, 287kDa) protein with multiple transmembrane domains, and bears little resemblance to other ion channel proteins. Using GFP fusion constructs of ion channels with known stoichiometry, Coste et al have shown that PIEZO1 assembles as a homo-tetramer in living cells. This same group used PIEZO1 antibodies to generate Western blot data to support this observation and, additionally, demonstrated that PIEZO1 is...

Hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) are transcription factors that regulate the cellular response to decreases in oxygen levels. Under conditions of hypoxia HIFs activate the transcription of a diverse range of genes, resulting in increased oxygen delivery to the cell or metabolic adaptation.

Like all transcription factors, HIFs require careful regulation. This is mediated by post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, acetylation and hydroxylation. Prolyl hydroxylation is one of the most well studied regulators of HIF levels; this is catalysed by a family of proteins known as the HIF prolyl hydroxylases.

Three mammalian HIF prolyl hydroxylases have been identified (1).  HIF prolyl hydroxylase 1 (also known as PHD1, EGL nine homolog 2, HPH-1) is constitutively expressed, and is pre-dominantly localised to the nucleus where it plays a pivotal role in targeting...

TRF2 (telomeric repeat-binding factor 2) is a homodimeric protein that binds the double-stranded 5'-TTAGGG-3' repeat in telomeres. It plays a critical role in the maintenance of telomeres, protecting telomeres against end-to-end chromosomal fusion, and recruiting a number of factors/enzymes required for telomere protection such as the shelterin complex/telosome (TRF1, TRF2, TIN2, RAP1, ACD and POT1), RAP1 and DCLRE1B. Together with DCLRE1B/Apollo, TRF2 plays a key role in T-loop formation and preventing aberrant telomere topology.

NBS1 (Nijmegen breakage syndrome protein 1) is a component of the MRN complex (Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1) that plays important role in detecting DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and triggering the downstream cascade. DSBs can be caused by ionizing radiation, chemotherapy drugs, metabolic ROS, replication errors, programmed enzymatic activities during meiosis/V(D)J recombination, etc. NBS1 acts as a DSB sensor, co-activator of DSB-induced cell cycle checkpoint signaling, and also the repair-effector via two competing DSB repair pathways - homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). The MRN complex also associates with telomeres at the terminal ends of linear chromosomes and contributes to their maintenance.

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The DYKDDDDK Epitope Tag antibody was raised against a short, artificial sequence that is widely and commonly used as a protein fusion tag. It is pervasively present in a vast amount of scientific studies, and is a very powerful investigative research tool for applications such as immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. The DYKDDDDK Epitope Tag antibody was engineered by Park's group at the Rockefeller University as a more superior antibody for improved detection and sensitivity in a wide variety of methods and investigative analyses (1). This antibody was assessed and validated for efficacy in various immunodetection methods, especially immunofluoresence immmunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.

The cytoskeleton consists of three major types of cytosolic fibers: microtubules, microfilaments (actin filaments), and intermediate filaments. Tubulins are the microtubule building block and exist as globular dimeric proteins of alpha/beta chains. There are five distinct forms: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon tubulin. Alpha and beta tubulins assemble into heterodimers which then multimerize to form the long microtubule filaments. Several fundamental cellular movements require microtubules – the beating of cilia and flagella, cytoplasmic transport of membrane vesicles, chromosome alignment during meiosis/mitosis, nerve-cell axon migration, etc. These movements all result from a balance and dynamic competition between both the...

ZEB1 (Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1) encodes a zinc finger transcription factor that represses T-lymphocyte-specific IL2-gene expression through binding to a small negative regulatory domain within the IL2 transcriptional start site (1). Along with its closely related family member ZEB2, ZEB1 regulates adhesion/migration genes such as E-cadherin and microRNA 200b (miR-200b) in complex developmental processes of organogenesis such as palate formation as shown by use of the ZEB1 antibody in localization profiles (2).

Western Blot: ZEB1 Antibody

Kizuka, et. al. used...

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, which involves the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain and gives rise to tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement. In the majority of cases there is no known cause; however mutations in a number of specific genes have been implicated. Amongst these are mutations in PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) that give rise to a recessively-inherited early-onset form of the disease, which typically begins before the age of 50 (1).

The PINK1 protein is a serine/threonine kinase that is highly expressed in heart, skeletal muscle and testis, and at lower levels in brain, placenta, liver, kidney, pancreas, prostate, ovary and small intestine. It is localized to mitochondria (2), where it is membrane-anchored. Mitochondria provide >90...

CD45, also known as protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, C (PTPRC), was originally known as common leukocyte antigen and is a signal transducer involved in many physiological processes such as growth and differentiation, cancer transformation, and the cell cycle. It is a transmembrane protein tyrosine phosphatase that regulates Src kinases in T- and B-cell receptor signal transduction (1). CD45 isoforms are differentially expressed within different hematopoietic cell lineages depending on their state and level of differentiation (2). CD45 has many isoforms generated through differential splicing to produce a variety of splice variants that show cell-specific patterns of expression. Studies on...

Alpha-synuclein is an abundant presynaptic protein expressed predominantly in brain, concentrated in presynaptic nerve terminals. Alpha-synuclein is deposited as fibrillary aggregates in neurons or glial cells which is a hallmark lesion in a subset of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (all collectively referred to as synucleinopathies). Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive accumulation in selected neurons of protein inclusions containing alpha-synuclein and ubiquitin.

An AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) site, also known as an abasic site, is a region of DNA that is lacking a purine or pyrimidine base. This can occur spontaneously, or as a result of DNA damage. When DNA damage occurs, DNA repair pathways are activated. These pathways are highly conserved and are critical for maintaining genome integrity, however they are potential targets for cancer therapy since up-regulation of DNA repair mechanisms is a major means by which cancer cells can overcome the effects of chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic treatments (1). The majority of cancer treatments exert their effects by damaging DNA, which results in the impairment of cell signaling and subsequent cell death. By knocking down or inhibiting proteins involved in DNA repair, tumor cell sensitivity to DNA-damaging therapeutics could be significantly increased, thereby enhancing the efficacy of cancer treatments.

A number of DNA repair pathways are...

Encoded by the HIF1A gene, HIF-1 alpha has a critical role in cellular response to hypoxia. In hypoxic conditions, HIF-1 alpha activates the transcription of several genes to facilitate metabolic reaction for lack of oxygen. In normoxic conditions, HIF-1 alpha is degraded by the proteasome system.

Learn more about HIF-1 Alpha in our infographic below.

Novus Biologicals offers various HIF-1 alpha reagents for your research needs including:

• HIF-1 alpha antibodies
• HIF-1 alpha antibody packs
• HIF-1 alpha lysates
• HIF-1 alpha peptides and proteins...