The Rho GTPases play a critical role in initiating actin polymerization during phagocytosis. In contrast, the factors directing the disassembly of F-actin required for fission of the phagocytic vacuole are ill defined. We used fluorescent chimeric proteins to monitor the dynamics of association of actin and active Cdc42 and Rac1 with the forming phagosome. Although actin was found to disappear from the base of the forming phagosome before sealing was complete, Rac1/Cdc42 activity persisted, suggesting that termination of GTPase activity is not the main determinant of actin disassembly. Furthermore, fully internalized phagosomes engineered to associate constitutively with active Rac1 showed little associated F-actin. The disappearance of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2) from the phagosomal membrane closely paralleled the course of actin disassembly. Furthermore, inhibition of PI(4,5)P2 hydrolysis or increased PI(4,5)P2 generation by overexpression of phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase I prevented the actin disassembly necessary for the completion of phagocytosis. These observations suggest that hydrolysis of PI(4,5)P2 dictates the remodeling of actin necessary for completion of phagocytosis.

BackgroundRNA processing plays a critical role in the replication of HIV-1, regulated in part through the action of host SR proteins. To explore the impact of modulating SR protein activity on virus replication, the effect of increasing or inhibiting the activity of the Cdc2-like kinase (CLK) family of SR protein kinases on HIV-1 expression and RNA processing was examined.ResultsDespite their high homology, increasing individual CLK expression had distinct effects on HIV-1, CLK1 enhancing Gag production while CLK2 inhibited the virus. Parallel studies on the anti-HIV-1 activity of CLK inhibitors revealed a similar discrepant effect on HIV-1 expression. TG003, an inhibitor of CLK1, 2 and 4, had no effect on viral Gag synthesis while chlorhexidine, a CLK2, 3 and 4 inhibitor, blocked virus production. Chlorhexidine treatment altered viral RNA processing, decreasing levels of unspliced and single spliced viral RNAs, and reduced Rev accumulation. Subsequent experiments in the context of HIV-1 replication in PBMCs confirmed the capacity of chlorhexidine to suppress virus replication.ConclusionsTogether, these findings establish that HIV-1 RNA processing can be targeted to suppress virus replication as demonstrated by manipulating individual CLK function and identified chlorhexidine as a lead compound in the development of novel anti-viral therapies.

No abstract

No abstract

DURING CHINA'S TWO and a half decades of economic reform, it has often been observed that the bank-dominated financial system is the economy's Achilles' heel. Since 2003, China's central government has reformed the largest state-owned commercial banks to improve their competitiveness before opening the banking industry to foreign competitors, as mandated as part of the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Reform of these banks has markedly improved their performance, but the process has been gradual, and underlying problems remain. One can assess these developments in two contrasting ways. The first is optimistic: the Chinese authorities can afford to reform the state-owned banks gradually because of the economy's growth momentum, the small public sector debt-to-GDP ratio, the size of China's foreign exchange reserves, and the large volume of domestic savings. 1 A complementary 103