Universiti Sains Malaysia

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

JoVE Journal

Peptide-based Identification of Functional Motifs and their Binding Partners

Martin N. Shelton^1,2, Ming Bo Huang¹, Syed Ali^1,3, Kateena Johnson¹, William Roth¹, Michael Powell¹, Vincent Bond¹

¹Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, ²Institute for Systems Biology, ³Advanced Medical & Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Techniques to dissect the mechanisms underlying the secretion of HIV-1 Nef in exosomes are described. Specific short peptides derived from Nef and protein transfection were exploited to determine the structure, function, and binding partners of Nef’s Secretion Modification Region. These procedures have general relevance in many mechanistic studies.

Medicine

Improved Method for the Establishment of an In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Model Based on Porcine Brain Endothelial Cells

Simone S. E. Nielsen¹, Piotr Siupka¹, Ana Georgian², Jane E. Preston², Andrea E. Tóth¹, Siti R. Yusof^2,3, N. Joan Abbott², Morten S. Nielsen¹

¹Lundbeck Foundation Research Initiative on Brain Barriers and Drug Delivery, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, ²Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London, ³HICoE Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia

The aim of the protocol is to present an optimized procedure for the establishment of an in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) model based on primary porcine brain endothelial cells (pBECs). The model shows high reproducibility, high tightness, and is suitable for studies of transport and intracellular trafficking in drug discovery.

Biology

Eyestalk Ablation to Increase Ovarian Maturation in Mud Crabs

Mohammad Asmat-Ullah¹, Rusydi Rozaimi¹, Hanafiah Fazhan^1,2,3, Alexander Chong Shu-Chien^2,4, Youji Wang⁵, Khor Waiho^1,2,3

¹Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, ²Centre for Chemical Biology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, ³Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, ⁴School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, ⁵International Research Center for Marine Biosciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University

Two eyestalk ablation protocols (i.e., cauterization and surgery approaches) were performed on anesthetized female crabs. The eyestalk ablation of mud crabs hastened the ripening of ovaries without decreasing the survival rate.