No abstract

Suppression of the cellular apoptotic program by the oncogenic herpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is. We now report that LMP1 drives bfl-1 promoter activity through interactions with components of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR)/CD40 signaling pathway. We present evidence that this process is NF-B dependent, involves the recruitment of TNFR-associated factor 2, and is mediated to a greater extent by the carboxyl-terminal activating region 2 (CTAR2) relative to the CTAR1 domain of LMP1. Activation of CD40 receptor also led to increased bfl-1 mRNA levels and an NF-B-dependent increase in bfl-1 promoter activity in Burkitt's lymphoma-derived cell lines. We have delineated a 95-bp region of the promoter that functions as an LMP1-dependent transcriptional enhancer in this cellular context. This sequence contains a novel NF-B-like binding motif that is essential for transactivation of bfl-1 by LMP1, CD40, and the NF-B subunit protein p65. These findings highlight the role of LMP1 as a mediator of EBV-host cell interactions and may indicate an important route by which it exerts its cellular growth transforming properties.

Cryobanking, the freezing of biological specimens to maintain their integrity for a variety of anticipated and unanticipated uses, offers unique opportunities to advance the basic knowledge of biological systems and their evolution. Notably, cryobanking provides a crucial opportunity to support conservation efforts for endangered species. Historically, cryobanking has been developed mostly in response to human economic and medical needs -these needs must now be extended to biodiversity conservation. Reproduction technologies utilizing cryobanked gametes, embryos and somatic cells are already vital components of endangered species recovery efforts. Advances in modern biological research (e.g. stem cell research, genomics and proteomics) are already drawing heavily on cryobanked specimens, and future needs are anticipated to be immense. The challenges of developing and applying cryobanking for a broader diversity of species were addressed at an international conference held at Trier University (Germany) in June 2008. However, the magnitude of the potential benefits of cryobanking stood in stark contrast to the lack of substantial resources available for this area of strategic interest for biological science -and society at large. The meeting at Trier established a foundation for a strong global incentive to cryobank threatened species. The establishment of an Amphibian Ark cryobanking programme offers the first opportunity for global cooperation to achieve the cryobanking of the threatened species from an entire vertebrate class.

The earth currently suffers from a bout of animal extinctions. The Frozen Ark Project is acting internationally in preserving the genetic resources of threatened wild species before they become extinct. Modern techniques make preservation of this material easier, and costs of sequencing genomes have declined drastically during the past 10 years. The project is vital because the extinction of a species results in the loss of not only the animal but also the genetic information accumulated over millions of years of evolution. It will give us the ability to invigorate conservation‐breeding programmes and conserve material of practical value in the form of tissues, viable somatic cells, gametes, eggs and embryos. The Frozen Ark is not considered a substitute for saving the animals themselves but an essential ‘back‐up’ to this activity. International collaboration between the world's zoos, aquariums, museums and universities is developing to achieve this conservation effort of last resort. Zoos and aquariums are crucial to the project because they increasingly hold the last individuals of the most threatened species.