Proteins can adjust their structure and function in response to shifting environments. Functional diversity is created not only by the sequence but by changes in tertiary structure. Here we present evidence that lipid cofactors may enable otherwise unstable protein folding variants to maintain their conformation and to form novel, biologically active complexes. We have identified unsaturated C18 f

This paper describes a method, utilizing acoustic force manipulation of suspended particles, in which particles in a laminar flow microchannel are continuously translated from one medium to another with virtually no mixing of the two media. During the study, 5-mum polyamide spheres suspended in distilled water, spiked (contaminated) with Evans blue, were switched over to clean distilled water. Mor

Electrokinetic measurements such as electrophoresis may show an inversion of the effective surface charge of colloidal particle called overcharging. This phenomenon has been studied by various theoretical approaches but up to now very few attempts of confrontation between theory and experiment have been conducted. In this work we report electrophoretic measurements as well as Monte Carlo simulatio

We have studied the biosynthesis of mucins in organ cultures of human colon using isopycnic density-gradient centrifugation following pulse labelling with [35S]sulphate and [3H]-D-glucosamine. A high-density [35S]sulphate labelled component, of larger size than MUC2 monomers, appeared in the tissue and also in the medium. It was not degraded by reduction, trypsin digestion, digestion with chondroi

The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes caused by chronic diabetes in the rat ventral prostate and to establish a correlation between diabetes and the development of prostatic lesions. Male rats received alloxan (42 mg/kg b.w.) to induce diabetes. Ninety days after diabetes diagnosis, animals were sacrificed and the ventral prostate was removed and prepared for general and immunohistoche

Currently, the mechanism by which anesthesia occurs is thought to involve the direct binding of inhaled anesthetics to ligand-gated ion channels. This hypothesis is being studied using four--helix bundles as model systems for the transmembrane domains of the natural "receptor" proteins. This study concerns the role in anesthetic binding played by aromatic side chains in the binding cavity of a fou

Magnetic resonance imaging with chemical shift resolution is demonstrated to provide detailed information about molecular transport on the macroscopic scale in complex colloidal systems. The concentrations of species with distinct 1 H resonance lines can be quantified from spatially resolved, high-resolution, H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The method is demonstrated by experiments on thre

Pressurized hot liquid water and steam were used to investigate the possibilities of extracting insecticides (carbofuran, carbosulfan, and imidacloprid) from contaminated process dust remaining from seed-pellet production. Extraction temperature was the most important parameter in influencing the extraction efficiency and rate of extraction, while varying the pressure had no profound effect. A cle

We have studied double Auger decay after C 1s→2 photoexcitation in gas phase carbon monoxide. Two distinct processes, namely direct double Auger decay and cascade double Auger decay, are identified and studied in detail using multiple coincidence techniques. Cascade Auger decay is shown to be the overall dominant process. Decay channels involving the dissociation of the molecule followed by autoio

PURPOSE: There is considerable evidence that the presence of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-like gene sequences in human breast cancer is highly associated with human breast carcinoma. Previous studies have found MMTV-like gene sequences in 38% of breast cancer tissue from United States women. The prevalence of these sequences in Australian and Vietnamese women has never been reported. EXPERIMEN

The hottest developments in the fields of cancer research, neuroscience, genomics and proteomics, anti-virals and more, with a pick of the key research papers in these areas.

OBJECTIVES: Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), was recently identified in the stomach. Ghrelin is produced in a population of endocrine cells in the gastric mucosa, but expression in intestine, hypothalamus and testis has also been reported. Recent data indicate that ghrelin affects insulin secretion and plays a direct role in metabolic regulation an

The dissolution and surface complexation of a non-stoichiometric hydroxyapatite (Ca-8.4(HPO4)(1.6)(PO4)(4.4)(OH)(0.4)), (HAP) was studied in the pH range 3.5-10.5, at 25 degrees C in 0.1 M Na(Cl). The results from well-equilibrated batch experiments, potentiometric titrations, and zeta-potential measurements were combined with information provided by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform

The Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is represented in Sweden by two different subspecies; the northern well-established abietinus and the southern recently established collybita which has expanded its range northward during the past two decades. At present, an area approximately 500 km wide separates the two subspecies. In order to document differences between the northern and southern populatio

Exogenous soluble human alpha 3 noncollagenous (NC1) domain of collagen IV inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth. These biological functions are attributed to the binding of alpha 3NC1 to integrin alpha v beta 3. However, in some tumor cells that express integrin alpha v beta 3, the alpha 3NC1 domain does not inhibit proliferation, suggesting that integrin alpha v beta 3 expression is not suffici

The freeze-drying tolerance of Pseudomonas chlororaphis, an antifungal bacterium used as biocontrol agent was investigated. P. chlororaphis is freeze-drying sensitive and the viability drops more than 3 log units in the absence of protective freeze-drying medium. Of the freeze-drying media tested, lactose, sucrose, trehalose, glutamate, sucrose with glutamate, skimmed milk, and skimmed milk with t

Background: Whether correction of anemia in patients with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease improves cardiovascular outcomes is not established. Methods: We randomly assigned 603 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 15.0 to 35.0 ml per minute per 1.73 m(sup 2) of body-surface area and mild-to-moderate anemia (hemoglobin level, 11.0 to 12.5 g per deciliter) to a target h