Objective:To search for proteins interacting with ARA267-? with the yeast two-hybrid system in order to further investigate the function of ARA267-?. Methods:We screened a pretransformed human brain cDNA library with the pGBKT7-PHD-SET recombinant plasmid as a bait which express four PHD(plant homeodomain) and one SET[Su(var)3-9, Enhancer-of-zeste, Trithorax] conserved domains in ARA267-?.The plasmids in positive yeast clones were selectively identified by restriction analysis and DNA sequencing. The interactions were retested by yeast two-hybrid assay. Results: There were about six hundreds positive yeast clones on SD/-Ade/-His/-Leu/-Trp/2.5 mmol/L 3-AT/ X-?-Gal high-stringency selection plates. The pACT2-cDNA plasmids in sixty-five yeast clones were isolated and thirty-five cDNA inserts were sequenced. Sixteen different genes,including DR6(death receptor-6), PIAS3 (protein inhibitor of activated STAT3)and RanBPM(Ran-binding protein in the microtubule-organizing center), were identified after BLAST in GenBank. The yeast two-hybrid retest showed that all but RanBPM were true interactors of ARA267-?-PHD-SET. Conclusion: The ARA267-?-PHD-SET can interact with several distinct proteins. This suggests that ARA267-? is a protein having multiple functions. RanBPM might be a transcriptional factor.

Pyroptosis is a newly discovered form of cell death.Through the activation of inflammasome complexes,pyroptosis induces the production of interleukin (IL)-1 β and IL-18,and the osmotic swelling of cells,thus induces cellular rupture and death.It plays a role in the pathological process of a variety of human diseases.The death of retinal cells including photoreceptor cells and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells is the main reason leading to visual dysfunction in the pathogenesis in ocular fundus diseases.Researches have demonstrated that pyroptosis is closely related to the onset and progression of various retinal diseases.In age-related macular degeneration,pyroptosis directly causes apoptosis of RPE cells and upregulation of proinflammatory factors,enhancing toxic effect of lipofuscin.For retinitis pigmentosa,pyroptosis is the leading manner of death of secondary cone photoreceptor cells.In cytomegalovirus retinitis,pyroptosis is the main responding way to infection.This review presented the molecular mechanism of pyroptosis and its role in age-related macular degeneration,retinitis pigmentosa and cytomegalovirus retinitis and other retinal diseases.