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Ethylene Dichloride Disruption Of Fertility In Male Mice, Harold J. Daigle, Derek N. Cole, J. Andrew Carlson, William R. Lee, Vincent L. Wilson Sep 2009

Ethylene Dichloride Disruption Of Fertility In Male Mice, Harold J. Daigle, Derek N. Cole, J. Andrew Carlson, William R. Lee, Vincent L. Wilson

Faculty Publications

Ethylene dichloride (EDC) is a high use compound in chemical industry today. Although a potent alkylating agent and carcinogen, EDC has not been associated previously with adverse fertility consequences. Intraperitoneal 5 to 40 mg/kg once a day for five days in C57BL/6 mice rendered males infertile for 6 months and longer. Two of three mice treated with EDC at 5 mg/kg recovered to fertility after a 3 and 5-week sterile period, respectively. Significant testicular pathology was evident within 8 days post treatment with EDC, which progressed to resemble Sertoli Cell-Only syndrome. Although the observed effects on Leydig cell populations were …

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Succination Of Thiol Groups In Adipose Tissue Proteins In Diabetes: Succination Inhibits Polymerization And Secretion Of Adiponectin, Norma Frizzell, Mathur Rajesh, Matthew J. Jepson, Ryoji Nagai, James A. Carson, Suzanne R. Thorpe, John W. Baynes Sep 2009

Succination Of Thiol Groups In Adipose Tissue Proteins In Diabetes: Succination Inhibits Polymerization And Secretion Of Adiponectin, Norma Frizzell, Mathur Rajesh, Matthew J. Jepson, Ryoji Nagai, James A. Carson, Suzanne R. Thorpe, John W. Baynes

Faculty Publications

S-(2-Succinyl)cysteine (2SC) is formed by reaction of the Krebs cycle intermediate fumarate with cysteine residues in protein, a process termed succination of protein. Both fumarate and succination of proteins are increased in adipocytes cultured in high glucose medium (Nagai, R., Brock, J. W., Blatnik, M., Baatz, J. E., Bethard, J., Walla, M. D., Thorpe, S. R., Baynes, J. W., and Frizzell, N. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 34219-34228). We show here that succination of protein is also increased in epididymal, mesenteric, and subcutaneous adipose tissue of diabetic (db/db) mice and that adiponectin is a major target for succination in both …

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Identification And Structural Analysis Of A Novel Carboxysome Shell Protein With Implications For Metabolite Transport, Michael G. Klein, Peter Zwart, Sarah C. Bag By, Fei Cai, Sallie W. Chisolm, Sabine Heinhorst, Gordon C. Cannon, Cheryl A. Kerfeld Sep 2009

Identification And Structural Analysis Of A Novel Carboxysome Shell Protein With Implications For Metabolite Transport, Michael G. Klein, Peter Zwart, Sarah C. Bag By, Fei Cai, Sallie W. Chisolm, Sabine Heinhorst, Gordon C. Cannon, Cheryl A. Kerfeld

Faculty Publications

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are polyhedral bodies, composed entirely of proteins, that function as organelles in bacteria; they promote subcellular processes by encapsulating and co-localizing targeted enzymes with their substrates. The best-characterized BMC is the carboxysome, a central part of the carbon-concentrating mechanism that greatly enhances carbon fixation in cyanobacteria and some chemoautotrophs. Here we report the first structural insights into the carboxysome of Prochlorococcus, the numerically dominant cyanobacterium in the world's oligotrophic oceans. Bioinformatic methods, substantiated by analysis of gene expression data, were used to identify a new carboxysome shell component, CsoS1D, in the genome of Prochlorococcus strain MED4; …

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The Continuity Of Protein Structure Space Is An Intrinsic Property Of Proteins, Jeffrey Skolnick, Adrian K. Arakaki, Yup Lee Seung, Michal Brylinski Sep 2009

The Continuity Of Protein Structure Space Is An Intrinsic Property Of Proteins, Jeffrey Skolnick, Adrian K. Arakaki, Yup Lee Seung, Michal Brylinski

Faculty Publications

The classical view of the space of protein structures is that it is populated by a discrete set of protein folds. For proteins up to 200 residues long, by using structural alignments and building upon ideas of the completeness and continuity of structure space, we show that nearly any structure is significantly related to any other using a transitive set of no more than 7 intermediate structurally related proteins. This result holds for all structures in the Protein Data Bank, even when structural relationships between evolutionary related proteins (as detected by threading or functional analyses) are excluded. A similar picture …

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Identification Of An Antisense Transcript To Zim2 In The Primate Lineage, Jennifer M. Huang, Sungryul Yu, Joomyeong Kim Sep 2009

Identification Of An Antisense Transcript To Zim2 In The Primate Lineage, Jennifer M. Huang, Sungryul Yu, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

In this study, we identified an antisense transcript to ZIM2 (zinc finger imprinted gene 2) in the human, called ZIM2as. Sequence analysis of the 110 kb region spanned by this transcript revealed a cluster of tandemly repeated sequence in the human, orangutan, and chimpanzee as well as a loss of approximately 70 kb from the corresponding region in the rhesus. The homologous region in most mammals contains a cluster of olfactory receptor (OLFR) genes, but this gene cluster has been lost from the primate lineage. Expression analyses confirmed that ZIM2as is expressed in the human brain and testis. Two CpG …

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Complex Evolution Of A Highly-Conserved Microsatellite Locus In Several Fish Species, J.-X. Liu, Bert Ely Sep 2009

Complex Evolution Of A Highly-Conserved Microsatellite Locus In Several Fish Species, J.-X. Liu, Bert Ely

Faculty Publications

The evolutionary dynamics of a highly conserved microsatellite locus (Dla 11) were studied in several fish species. The data indicated that multiple types of compound microsatellites arose through point mutations that were sometimes followed by expansion of the derived motif. Furthermore, extensive length variation was detected among species in the regions immediately flanking the repeat region.

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High Efficiency Lipid-Based Sirna Transfection Of Adipocytes In Suspension, Gail Kilroy, David H. Burk, Z. Elizabeth Floyd Sep 2009

High Efficiency Lipid-Based Sirna Transfection Of Adipocytes In Suspension, Gail Kilroy, David H. Burk, Z. Elizabeth Floyd

Faculty Publications

Background: Fully differentiated adipocytes are considered to be refractory to introduction of siRNA via lipid-based transfection. However, large scale siRNA-based loss-of-function screening of adipocytes using either electroporation or virally-mediated transfection approaches can be prohibitively complex and expensive. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a method for introducing small interfering RNA (siRNA) into differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes and primary human adipocytes using an approach based on forming the siRNA/ cell complex with the adipocytes in suspension rather than as an adherent monolayer, a variation of "reverse transfection". Conclusions/Significance: Transfection of adipocytes with siRNA by this method is economical, highly efficient, has a simple workflow, …

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The Binding Of Analogs Of Porphyrins And Chlorins With Elongated Side Chains To Albumin, Shimshon Ben Dror, Irena Bronshtein, Hana Weitman, Kevin M. Smith, William G. O'Neal, Peter A. Jacobi, Benjamin Ehrenberg Sep 2009

The Binding Of Analogs Of Porphyrins And Chlorins With Elongated Side Chains To Albumin, Shimshon Ben Dror, Irena Bronshtein, Hana Weitman, Kevin M. Smith, William G. O'Neal, Peter A. Jacobi, Benjamin Ehrenberg

Faculty Publications

In previous studies, we demonstrated that elongation of side chains of several sensitizers endowed them with higher affinity for artificial and natural membranes and caused their deeper localization in membranes. In the present study, we employed eight hematoporphyrin and protoporphyrin analogs and four groups containing three chlorin analogs each, all synthesized with variable numbers of methylenes in their alkyl carboxylic chains. We show that these tetrapyrroles' affinity for bovine serum albumin (BSA) and their localization in the binding site are also modulated by chain lengths. The binding constants of the hematoporphyrins and protoporphyrins to BSA increased as the number of …

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Releases, Distribution And Abundance Of Gratiana Boliviana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), A Biological Control Agent Of Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum Viarum, Solanaceae) In Florida, W. A. Overholt, R. Diaz, K. L. Hibbard, A. L. Roda, D. Amalin, A. J. Fox, S. D. Hight, J. C. Medal, P. A. Stansly, B. Carlisle, J. H. Walter, P. J. Hogue, L. A. Gary, L. F. Wiggins, C. L. Kirby, S. C. Crawford Sep 2009

Releases, Distribution And Abundance Of Gratiana Boliviana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), A Biological Control Agent Of Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum Viarum, Solanaceae) In Florida, W. A. Overholt, R. Diaz, K. L. Hibbard, A. L. Roda, D. Amalin, A. J. Fox, S. D. Hight, J. C. Medal, P. A. Stansly, B. Carlisle, J. H. Walter, P. J. Hogue, L. A. Gary, L. F. Wiggins, C. L. Kirby, S. C. Crawford

Faculty Publications

From 2003 to 2008, 176,643 Gratiana boliviana Spaeth (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) were released in Florida as part of a biological control program targeting tropical soda apple (TSA) Solanum viarum Dunal (Solanaceae). The spatial distribution of releases was clustered with more beetles released in south/central Florida than further north. A survey conducted in the fall of 2008 found G. bolviana present at >70% of randomly selected locations between 26° and 29° latitude, but no beetles were found at sites further north. The presence of beetles and beetle damage were associated with smaller TSA plants and fewer fruits per plant. The absence of …

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Evaluation Of Rhodamine B As An Orally Delivered Biomarker For Rodents And A Feed-Through Transtadial Biomarker For Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), T. M. Mascari, L. D. Foil Sep 2009

Evaluation Of Rhodamine B As An Orally Delivered Biomarker For Rodents And A Feed-Through Transtadial Biomarker For Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), T. M. Mascari, L. D. Foil

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of rhodamine B as an orally delivered biomarker for rodents and a feed-through transtadial biomarker for phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae ). Rhodamine B-treated hamsters were visibly marked for up to 8 wk, and their feces were fluorescent when examined under a fluorescence microscope. The development and survival of sand fly larvae fed feces of rhodamine B-treated hamsters were not significantly different from control sand flies. Adult male and female sand flies, that had been fed as larvae the feces of rhodamine B-treated hamsters, were fluorescent when examined using fluorescent …

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Loss Of Halophytism By Interference With Sos1 Expression, Dong Ha Oh, Eduardo Leidi, Quan Zhang, Sung Min Hwang, Youzhi Li, Francisco J. Quintero, Xingyu Jiang, Matilde Paino D'Urzo, Sang Yeol Lee, Yanxiu Zhao, Jeong Dong Bahk, Ray A. Bressan, Dae Jin Yun, José M. Pardo, Hans J. Bohnert Sep 2009

Loss Of Halophytism By Interference With Sos1 Expression, Dong Ha Oh, Eduardo Leidi, Quan Zhang, Sung Min Hwang, Youzhi Li, Francisco J. Quintero, Xingyu Jiang, Matilde Paino D'Urzo, Sang Yeol Lee, Yanxiu Zhao, Jeong Dong Bahk, Ray A. Bressan, Dae Jin Yun, José M. Pardo, Hans J. Bohnert

Faculty Publications

The contribution of SOS1 (for Salt Overly Sensitive 1), encoding a sodium/proton antiporter, to plant salinity tolerance was analyzed in wild-type and RNA interference (RNAi) lines of the halophytic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)-relative Thellungiella salsuginea. Under all conditions, SOS1 mRNA abundance was higher in Thellungiella than in Arabidopsis. Ectopic expression of the Thellungiella homolog ThSOS1 suppressed the salt-sensitive phenotype of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain lacking sodium ion (Na+) efflux transporters and increased salt tolerance of wild-type Arabidopsis. thsos1-RNAi lines of Thellungiella were highly salt sensitive. A representative line, thsos1-4, showed faster Na+ accumulation, more severe water loss in shoots under salt …

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Mobile Elements Create Structural Variation: Analysis Of A Complete Human Genome, Jinchuan Xing, Yuhua Zhang, Kyudong Han, Abdel Halim Salem, Shurjo K. Sen, Chad D. Huff, Qiong Zhou, Ewen F. Kirkness, Samuel Levy, Mark A. Batzer, Lynn B. Jorde Sep 2009

Mobile Elements Create Structural Variation: Analysis Of A Complete Human Genome, Jinchuan Xing, Yuhua Zhang, Kyudong Han, Abdel Halim Salem, Shurjo K. Sen, Chad D. Huff, Qiong Zhou, Ewen F. Kirkness, Samuel Levy, Mark A. Batzer, Lynn B. Jorde

Faculty Publications

Structural variants (SVs) are common in the human genome. Because approximately half of the human genome consists of repetitive, transposable DNA sequences, it is plausible that these elements play an important role in generating SVs in humans. Sequencing of the diploid genome of one individual human (HuRef) affords us the opportunity to assess, for the first time, the impact of mobile elements on SVs in an individual in a thorough and unbiased fashion. In this study, we systematically evaluated more than 8000 SVs to identify mobile element-associated SVs as small as 100 bp and specific to the HuRef genome. Combining …

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Transcriptome Analysis Of Frog Virus 3, The Type Species Of The Genus Ranavirus, Family Iridoviridae, Sai Majji, V. Thodima, R. Sample, D. Whitley, Y. Deng, J. Mao, V. Gregory Chinchar Sep 2009

Transcriptome Analysis Of Frog Virus 3, The Type Species Of The Genus Ranavirus, Family Iridoviridae, Sai Majji, V. Thodima, R. Sample, D. Whitley, Y. Deng, J. Mao, V. Gregory Chinchar

Faculty Publications

Frog virus 3 is the best characterized species within the genus Ranavirus, family Iridoviridae. FV3's large (similar to 105 kbp) dsDNA genome encodes 98 putative open reading frames (ORFs) that are expressed in a coordinated fashion leading to the sequential appearance of immediate early (IE), delayed early (DE) and late (L) viral transcripts. As a step toward elucidating molecular events in FV3 replication, we sought to identify the temporal Class Of Viral messages. To accomplish this objective an oligonucleotide microarray containing 70-mer probes corresponding to each of the 98 FV3 ORFs was designed and used to examine viral gene expression. …

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R A Fisher, Design Theory, And The Indian Connection, A. R.P. Rau Sep 2009

R A Fisher, Design Theory, And The Indian Connection, A. R.P. Rau

Faculty Publications

Design Theory, a branch of mathematics, was born out of the experimental statistics research of the population geneticist R A Fisher and of Indian mathematical statisticians in the 1930s. The field combines elements of combinatorics, finite projective geometries, Latin squares, and a variety of further mathematical structures, brought together in surprising ways. This essay will present these structures and ideas as well as how the field came together, in itself an interesting story. © Indian Academy of Sciences.

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Remote Sensing And Mapping Of Tamarisk Along The Colorado River, Usa: A Comparative Use Of Summer-Acquired Hyperion, Thematic Mapper And Quickbird Data, Gregory A. Carter, Kelly L. Lucas, Gabriel A. Blossom, Cheryl L. Lassitter, Dan M. Holiday, David S. Mooneyhan, Danielle R. Fastring, Tracy R. Holcombe, Jerry A. Griffith Sep 2009

Remote Sensing And Mapping Of Tamarisk Along The Colorado River, Usa: A Comparative Use Of Summer-Acquired Hyperion, Thematic Mapper And Quickbird Data, Gregory A. Carter, Kelly L. Lucas, Gabriel A. Blossom, Cheryl L. Lassitter, Dan M. Holiday, David S. Mooneyhan, Danielle R. Fastring, Tracy R. Holcombe, Jerry A. Griffith

Faculty Publications

Tamarisk (Tamarix spp., saltcedar) is a well-known invasive phreatophyte introduced from Asia to North America in the 1800s. This report compares the efficacy of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM5), QuickBird (QB) and EO-1 Hyperion data in discriminating tamarisk populations near De Beque, Colorado, USA. As a result of highly correlated reflectance among the spectral bands provided by each sensor, relatively standard image analysis methods were employed. Multispectral data at high spatial resolution (QB, 2.5 m Ground Spatial Distance or GSD) proved more effective in tamarisk delineation than either multispectral (TM5) or hyperspectral (Hyperion) data at moderate spatial resolution (30 m …

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Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Lacking P38Α And P38Δ Can Differentiate To Endothelial Cells, Smooth Muscle Cells, And Epithelial Cells, Samujjwal Chakraborty, Baobin Kang, Faqing Huang, Yan-Lin Guo Sep 2009

Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Lacking P38Α And P38Δ Can Differentiate To Endothelial Cells, Smooth Muscle Cells, And Epithelial Cells, Samujjwal Chakraborty, Baobin Kang, Faqing Huang, Yan-Lin Guo

Faculty Publications

The p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases (p38) are important signaling molecules that regulate various cellular processes. Four isoforms of p38 family, p38α, p38β, p38γ, and p38δ, have been identified in mammalian cells. Previous studies have shown that p38α knockout is embryonic lethal in mice. At the cellular level, p38α is abundantly expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), but p38α knockout (p38α-/-) ESCs can differentiate to endothelial cells (ECs), smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and neurons. We speculate that the lost function of p38α in p38α-/- ESCs may be compensated for by the redundant function of other isoforms. To test this …

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Detecting Proteins In Highly Autofluorescent Cells Using Quantum Dot Antibody Conjugates, Karen M. Orcutt, Shanshan Ren, Kjell Gundersen Sep 2009

Detecting Proteins In Highly Autofluorescent Cells Using Quantum Dot Antibody Conjugates, Karen M. Orcutt, Shanshan Ren, Kjell Gundersen

Faculty Publications

We have applied quantum dot (Qdot) antibody conjugates as a biomolecular probe for cellular proteins important in biogeochemical cycling in the sea. Conventional immunological methods have been hampered by the strong autofluorescence found in cyanobacteria cells. Qdot conjugates provide an ideal alternative for studies that require long-term imaging of cells such as detection of low abundance cellular antigens by fluorescence microscopy. The advantage of Qdot labeled probes over conventional immunological methods is the photostability of the probe. Phycoerythrin bleaches in cyanobacterial cells under prolonged UV or blue light excitation, which means that the semiconducting nanocrystal probe, the Qdot, can yield …

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Effects Of Temperature And Uv Light On Degradation Of Α-Tocopherol In Free And Dissolved Form, Cristina M. Sabliov, C. Fronczek, C. E. Astete, M. Khachaturyan, L. Khachatryan, C. Leonardi Sep 2009

Effects Of Temperature And Uv Light On Degradation Of Α-Tocopherol In Free And Dissolved Form, Cristina M. Sabliov, C. Fronczek, C. E. Astete, M. Khachaturyan, L. Khachatryan, C. Leonardi

Faculty Publications

The effects of heat and UV exposure on the degradation of free α-tocopherol (oil form), α-tocopherol dissolved in methanol, and α-tocopherol dissolved in hexane were measured. Results showed that degradation of free α-tocopherol due to heat followed first order kinetics, with the samples held at 180 °C showing the greatest degradation rate. Free α-tocopherol degraded faster at high temperatures than dissolved α-tocopherol. In contrast, free α-tocopherol did not degrade when exposed to UV light for as long as 6 h, but the hexane and methanol samples degraded significantly as a matter of time. The α-tocopherol dissolved in hexane and methanol …

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47-Channel Burst-Mode Recording Hydrophone System Enabling Measurements Of The Dynamic Echolocation Behavior Of Free-Swimming Dolphins, Josefin Starkhammar, Mats Amundin, Johan Nilsson, Stan A. Kuczaj, Monica Almqvist, Hans W. Persson Sep 2009

47-Channel Burst-Mode Recording Hydrophone System Enabling Measurements Of The Dynamic Echolocation Behavior Of Free-Swimming Dolphins, Josefin Starkhammar, Mats Amundin, Johan Nilsson, Stan A. Kuczaj, Monica Almqvist, Hans W. Persson

Faculty Publications

Detailed echolocation behavior studies on free-swimming dolphins require a measurement system that incorporates multiple hydrophones (often > 16). However, the high data flow rate of previous systems has limited their usefulness since only minute long recordings have been manageable. To address this problem, this report describes a 47-channel burst-mode recording hydrophone system that enables highly resolved full beamwidth measurements on multiple free-swimming dolphins during prolonged recording periods. The system facilitates a wide range of biosonar studies since it eliminates the need to restrict the movement of animals in order to study the fine details of their sonar beams. (C) 2009 Acoustical …

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Sibship Reconstruction Demonstrates The Extremely Low Effective Population Size Of Striped Bass Morone Saxatilis In The Santee-Cooper System, South Carolina, Usa, Jin-Xian Liu, Bert Ely Sep 2009

Sibship Reconstruction Demonstrates The Extremely Low Effective Population Size Of Striped Bass Morone Saxatilis In The Santee-Cooper System, South Carolina, Usa, Jin-Xian Liu, Bert Ely

Faculty Publications

For organisms with great fecundity and high mortality in early life stages, such as shellfish or fishes, the need to match reproductive activity with environmental conditions conducive to spawning, fertilization, larval development and recruitment may result in extreme variance in reproductive success among individuals. The main objective of this study was to investigate evidence of large variance in the reproductive success of the striped bass Morone saxatilis in the Santee-Cooper system, South Carolina, USA. Seven microsatellite loci were analysed in 603 recruits representing three yearly cohorts from 1992 to 1994, and a group analysis was performed to identify full-sib families. …

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Evaluation Of Cay-1, An Experimental, Natural Fungicide, For Control Of Strawberry Pathogens, Kenneth J. Curry, Maritza Abril, Anthony J. Delucca, Stephen M. Boue, Barbara J. Smith, David E. Wedge Sep 2009

Evaluation Of Cay-1, An Experimental, Natural Fungicide, For Control Of Strawberry Pathogens, Kenneth J. Curry, Maritza Abril, Anthony J. Delucca, Stephen M. Boue, Barbara J. Smith, David E. Wedge

Faculty Publications

CAY-1 is an experimental, natural product being tested as a potential fungicide. This saponin isolated from Capsicum frutescens interacts with membrane sterols causing leakage of cell components and ultimately cell death in a variety of fungi. CAY-1 and the commercial fungicide captan were tested in an in vitro doseresponse dilution-broth assay. They caused at least 85% growth inhibition of the fungal pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C fragariae and C. gloeosporioides when tested at 3.0 μM. Even though CAY-1 strongly reduced the growth of these fungal pathogens in laboratory assays and prevented anthracnose development in detached leaf assays, it did not …

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Performance Flight Testing Of Small Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Jon N. Ostler, W. Jerry Bowman, Deryl O. Snyder, Timothy W. Mclain Sep 2009

Performance Flight Testing Of Small Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Jon N. Ostler, W. Jerry Bowman, Deryl O. Snyder, Timothy W. Mclain

Faculty Publications

Flight testing methods are developed to find the drag polar for small unmanned aerial vehicles powered by electric motors with fixed-pitch propellers. Wind tunnel testing was used to characterize the propeller-motor efficiency. The drag polar was constructed using data from flight tests. This drag polar was then used to find the following performance parameters: maximum velocity, minimum velocity, velocity for maximum range, velocity for maximum endurance, maximum rate of climb, maximum climb angle, minimum turn radius, maximum turn rate, and maximum bank angle. The developed flight testing methods are used to characterize the performance of a small UAV.

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Yy1 Is Autoregulated Through Its Own Dna-Binding Sites, Jeong D. Kim, Sungryul Yu, Joomyeong Kim Aug 2009

Yy1 Is Autoregulated Through Its Own Dna-Binding Sites, Jeong D. Kim, Sungryul Yu, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

Background: The transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) is a ubiquitously expressed, multifunctional protein that controls a large number of genes and biological processes in vertebrates. As a general transcription factor, the proper levels of YY1 protein need to be maintained for the normal function of cells and organisms. However, the mechanism for the YY1 homeostasis is currently unknown. Results: The current study reports that the YY1 gene locus of all vertebrates contains a cluster of its own DNA-binding sites within the 1st intron. The intact structure of these DNA-binding sites is absolutely necessary for transcriptional activity of the YY1 …

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The 1.85 Å Structure Of An 8r-Lipoxygenase Suggests A General Model For Lipoxygenase Product Specificity, David B. Neau, Nathaniel C. Gilbert, Sue G. Bartlett, William Boeglin, Alan R. Brash, Marcia E. Newcomer Aug 2009

The 1.85 Å Structure Of An 8r-Lipoxygenase Suggests A General Model For Lipoxygenase Product Specificity, David B. Neau, Nathaniel C. Gilbert, Sue G. Bartlett, William Boeglin, Alan R. Brash, Marcia E. Newcomer

Faculty Publications

Lipoxygenases (LOX) play pivotal roles in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes and other biologically active eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid. A mechanistic understanding of substrate recognition, when lipoxygenases that recognize the same substrate generate different products, can be used to help guide the design of enzyme-specific inhibitors. We report here the 1.85 A ° resolution structure of an 8R-lipoxygenase from Plexaura homomalla, an enzyme with a sequence ∼40% identical to that of human 5-LOX. The structure reveals a U-shaped channel, defined by invariant amino acids, that would allow substrate access to the catalytic iron. We demonstrate that mutations within the channel …

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Memristive Model Of Amoeba Learning, Yuriy V. Pershin Dr, Steven La Fontaine, Massimiliano Di Ventra Aug 2009

Memristive Model Of Amoeba Learning, Yuriy V. Pershin Dr, Steven La Fontaine, Massimiliano Di Ventra

Faculty Publications

Recently, it was shown that the amoebalike cell Physarum polycephalum when exposed to a pattern of periodic environmental changes learns and adapts its behavior in anticipation of the next stimulus to come. Here we show that such behavior can be mapped into the response of a simple electronic circuit consisting of a LC contour and a memory-resistor (a memristor) to a train of voltage pulses that mimic environment changes. We also identify a possible biological origin of the memristive behavior in the cell. These biological memory features are likely to occur in other unicellular as well as mutlicellular organisms, albeit …

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On Immunotherapies And Cancer Vaccination Protocols: A Mathematical Modelling Approach, Badal Joshi, Xueying Wang, Sayanti Banerjee, Haiyan Y. Tian, Anastasios Matzavinos, Mark A.J. Chaplain Aug 2009

On Immunotherapies And Cancer Vaccination Protocols: A Mathematical Modelling Approach, Badal Joshi, Xueying Wang, Sayanti Banerjee, Haiyan Y. Tian, Anastasios Matzavinos, Mark A.J. Chaplain

Faculty Publications

In this paper we develop a new mathematical model of immunotherapy and cancer vaccination, focusing on the role of antigen presentation and co-stimulatory signaling pathways in cancer immunology. We investigate the effect of different cancer vaccination protocols on the well-documented phenomena of cancer dormancy and recurrence, and we provide a possible explanation of why adoptive (i.e. passive) immunotherapy protocols can sometimes actually promote tumour growth instead of inhibiting it (a phenomenon called immunostimulation), as opposed to active vaccination protocols based on tumour-antigen pulsed dendritic cells. Significantly, the results of our computational simulations suggest that elevated numbers of professional antigen presenting …

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An Efficient And Economic Asymmetric Synthesis Of (+)-Nootkatone, Tetrahydronootkatone, And Derivatives, Anne M. Sauer, William E. Crowe, Gregg Henderson, Roger A. Laine Aug 2009

An Efficient And Economic Asymmetric Synthesis Of (+)-Nootkatone, Tetrahydronootkatone, And Derivatives, Anne M. Sauer, William E. Crowe, Gregg Henderson, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

Image Persented A facile route to enantiomerically pure (+)-nootkatone and derivatives has been established through conjunctive stereoselective Grignard/anionic oxy-Cope (AOC) reactions. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

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Variable Temperature Sensitivity Of Soil Organic Carbon In North American Forests, Cinzia Fissore, Christian P. Giardina, Christopher W. Swanston, Gary M. King, Randall K. Kolka Aug 2009

Variable Temperature Sensitivity Of Soil Organic Carbon In North American Forests, Cinzia Fissore, Christian P. Giardina, Christopher W. Swanston, Gary M. King, Randall K. Kolka

Faculty Publications

We investigated mean residence time (MRT) for soil organic carbon (SOC) sampled from paired hardwood and pine forests located along a 22 °C mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient in North America. We used acid hydrolysis fractionation, radiocarbon analyses, long-term laboratory incubations (525-d), and a three-pool model to describe the size and kinetics of the acid insoluble C (AIC), active and slow SOC fractions in soil. We found that active SOC was 2 ± 0.2% (mean ± SE) of total SOC, with an MRT of 33 ± 6 days that decreased strongly with increasing MAT. In contrast, MRT for slow SOC …

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Coordination Of Ribosomal Protein And Ribosomal Rna Gene Expression In Response To Tor Signaling, Li Juan Xiao, Anne Grove Aug 2009

Coordination Of Ribosomal Protein And Ribosomal Rna Gene Expression In Response To Tor Signaling, Li Juan Xiao, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

Cells grow in response to nutrients or growth factors, whose presence is detected and communicated by elaborate signaling pathways. Protein kinases play crucial roles in processes such as cell cycle progression and gene expression, and misregulation of such pathways has been correlated with various diseased states. Signals intended to promote cell growth converge on ribosome biogenesis, as the ability to produce cellular proteins is intimately tied to cell growth. Part of the response to growth signals is therefore the coordinate expression of genes encoding ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and ribosomal proteins (RP). A key player in regulating cell growth is the …

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Mechanistic Investigation Of N-Homocysteinylation-Mediated Protein-Gold Nanoconjugate Assembly, Arther T. Gates, Leonard Moore, Monica R. Sylvain, Christina M. Jones, Mark Lowry, Bilal El-Zahab, James W. Robinson, Robert M. Strongin, Isiah M. Warner Aug 2009

Mechanistic Investigation Of N-Homocysteinylation-Mediated Protein-Gold Nanoconjugate Assembly, Arther T. Gates, Leonard Moore, Monica R. Sylvain, Christina M. Jones, Mark Lowry, Bilal El-Zahab, James W. Robinson, Robert M. Strongin, Isiah M. Warner

Faculty Publications

Herein we report the use of protein-gold nanoconjugate (PGNs) as probes for elucidating mechanistic events involved in protein homocystamide detection with gold nanoparticles (GNPs), as was previously reported by our laboratory. Three different PGN probes are synthesized by direct adsorption of cytochrome c, albumin, or human serum onto citrate-capped GNPs. The PGNs are subsequently purified and treated to confer N-homocysteinylation. Individual PGN systems are evaluated to assess the effect of modification on (1) surface plasmon resonance (SPR), (2) protein structural conformation, and (3) assembly-association. The degree of PGN assembly and colorimetric signal observed postmodification varies based on the type of …

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