Nat Rev Immunol
August 2025
In 1975, Köhler and Milstein invented hybridoma technology for the generation of murine monoclonal antibodies with predetermined antigen-binding specificity. The transformative impact of monoclonal antibodies is demonstrated by their ubiquitous use as biomedical research reagents and the worldwide approval of at least 212 antibody therapeutics with tens of millions of patients treated to date. Advances in antibody technologies, such as humanization and robust methods for human antibody generation, mitigated the major limitations of murine antibodies as therapeutics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondria have a non-energy-conserving alternative oxidase (AOX) proposed to support photosynthesis, perhaps by promoting energy balance under varying growth conditions. To investigate this, wild-type (WT) Nicotiana tabacum were compared with AOX knockdown and overexpression lines. In addition, the amount of AOX protein in WT plants was compared with that of chloroplast light-harvesting complex II (LHCB2), whose amount is known to respond to chloroplast energy status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotosynthesis and respiration are the hubs of energy metabolism in plants. Drought strongly perturbs photosynthesis as a result of both diffusive limitations resulting from stomatal closure, and in some cases biochemical limitations that are associated with a reduced abundance of key photosynthetic components. The effects of drought on respiration, particularly respiration in the light (RL ), are less understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChloroplasts have means to manage excess reducing power but these mechanisms may become restricted by rates of ATP turnover. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a mitochondrial terminal oxidase that uncouples the consumption of reducing power from ATP synthesis. Physiological and biochemical analyses were used to compare respiration and photosynthesis of Nicotiana tabacum wild-type (WT) plants with that of transgenic lines overexpressing AOX, under both well-watered and drought stress conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mitochondrial electron transport chain includes an alternative oxidase (AOX) that is hypothesized to aid photosynthetic metabolism, perhaps by acting as an additional electron sink for photogenerated reductant or by dampening the generation of reactive oxygen species. Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosystem I (PSI) absorbance, and biochemical and protein analyses were used to compare respiration and photosynthesis of Nicotiana tabacum 'Petit Havana SR1' wild-type plants with that of transgenic AOX knockdown (RNA interference) and overexpression lines, under both well-watered and moderate drought-stressed conditions. During drought, AOX knockdown lines displayed a lower rate of respiration in the light than the wild type, as confirmed by two independent methods.
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