No abstract

Palmitoylation is a dynamic process that regulates the activity of the modified proteins. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells play pivotal roles in the visual cycle and maintaining healthy photoreceptor cells. Dysfunctional RPE cells are often associated with degenerative retinal diseases. The aim of the study was to identify potentially palmitoylated proteins in human RPE cells. By using the detergent-resistant membrane, we found 312 potentially palmitoylated peptides which corresponded to 192 proteins in RPE cells, including 55 new candidate proteins which were not reported before. Gene enrichment analysis highlighted significant enrichment of palmitoylated proteins in cell-matrix adhesion, cell-cell recognition, protein cellular localization, and translation, among others. We further studied the effect of 3 potential palmitoylation sites (Cys 799, 900, and 816) of Niemann-Pick type C1 protein (NPC1) on cholesterol accumulation. We found that mutation of any single Cys alone had no significant effect on intracellular cholesterol accumulation while simultaneous mutation of Cys799 and 800 caused significant cholesterol accumulation in the late endosome. No further cholesterol accumulation was observed by adding another mutation at Cys 816. However, the mutation did not alter the cellular localization of the protein. Conclusion: PRE cells have an abundant number of palmitoylated proteins which are involved in cellular processes critical to visual function. The palmitoylation at Cys799 and 800 was needed for cholesterol export, but not the intracellular localization of NPC1.

The effects of Bi flux and pressure of AsH 3 on Bi incorporation, surface morphology and optical properties of In-GaAsBi grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy are studied. It is found that using relatively low pressure of AsH 3 and high Bi flux can strengthen the effect on the incorporation of Bi and increase its content linearly with Bi flux until it nearly reaches a saturation value. The result from Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) confirms that the Bi incorporation can increase up to 1.13%. By adjusting Bi and As flux, we could improve the surface morphology of InGaAsBi sample. Room temperature photoluminescence shows strong and broad light emission at energy levels much smaller than the InGaAs bandgap.