EL WAKIL , Abeer

Signaling by the Wnt family of secreted glycolipoproteins plays key roles in embryonic development of organisms ranging from nematodes to mammals and is also implicated in several types of human cancers. Canonical Wnt signaling functions by regulating the translocation of β-catenin to the nucleus, where it controls key gene expression programs...

Upon uptake of toxins, insects launch a detoxification program. This program is deployed in multiple organs and cells to raise their tolerance against the toxin. The molecular mechanisms of this program inside the insect body have been studied and understood in detail. Here, we report on a yet unexplored extra -corporeal detoxification of...

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The coat protein II (COPII) complex consists of five primary soluble proteins, namely the small GTP-binding protein Sar1, the inner coat Sec23/Sec24 heterodimers, and the outer coat Sec13/Sec31 heterotetramers. COPII is essential for cellular protein and lipid trafficking through cargo sorting and vesicle formation at the endoplasmic reticulum....

Syntaxin5 (Syx5) belongs to SNAREs family, which play important roles in fusion of vesicles to target membranes. Most of what we know about functions of Syx5 originates from studies in fungal or vertebrate cells, how Syx5 operates during the development of insects is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the role of LmSyx5 in the...

Adrenocortical tumors in children are usually diagnosed because of signs of virilization and their prognosis is poor. They possess several distinct pathological features compared to adrenocortical tumors in adults and have an exceptional prevalence in southern Brazil, where they are nearly invariably linked to the presence of a germline...

Abstract The polysaccharide chitin is a major scaffolding molecule in the insect cuticle. In order to be functional, both chitin amounts and chitin organization have been shown to be important parameters. Despite great advances in the past decade, the molecular mechanisms of chitin synthesis and organization are not fully understood. Here, we...

Primary aldosteronism (PA, autonomous aldosterone production from the adrenal cortex) causes the most common form of secondary arterial hypertension (HT), which is also the most common curable form of HT. Recent studies have highlighted an important role of mutations in genes encoding potassium channels in the pathogenesis of PA, both in human...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act at the posttranscriptional level to control gene expression in virtually every biological process, including oncogenesis. Here, we report the identification of a set of miRNAs that are differentially regulated in childhood adrenocortical tumors (ACT), including miR-99a and miR-100. Functional analysis of these miRNAs in...

Task1 and Task3 potassium channels (Task: tandem of P domains in a weak inward rectifying K(+) channel-related acid-sensitive K(+) channel) are believed to control the membrane voltage of aldosterone-producing adrenal glomerulosa cells. This study aimed at understanding the role of Task3 for the control of aldosterone secretion. The adrenal...

TASK1 (KCNK3) and TASK3 (KCNK9) are two-pore domain potassium channels highly expressed in adrenal glands. TASK1/TASK3 heterodimers are believed to contribute to the background conductance whose inhibition by angiotensin II stimulates aldosterone secretion. We used task1-/- mice to analyze the role of this channel in adrenal gland function....