Inactivation and Activity of Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysins: What Structural Studies Tell Us

What planar lipid membranes tell us about the pore-forming activity of cholesterol-dependent cytolysins.

Pore-forming toxins are an important group of natural molecules that damage cellular membranes by forming transmembrane pores. They are used by many organisms for attack or defense and similar proteins are employed in the immune system of vertebrates. Various biophysical approaches have been used to understand how these proteins act at the molecular level. One of the most useful, in terms of mo...

The cholesterol-dependent cytolysins.

In view of the recent studies on the CDCs, a reasonable schematic of the stages leading to membrane insertion of the CDCs can be assembled. As shown in Fig. 3, we propose that the CDC first binds to the membrane as a monomer. These monomers then diffuse laterally on the membrane surface to encounter other monomers or incomplete oligomeric complexes. Presumably, once the requisite oligomer size ...

What Studies of Retractions Tell Us

The retraction is receiving a growing amount of attention as an important event in scientific and scholarly publishing. Not only are some journals becoming increasingly open in their handling of the articles they withdraw-allowing researchers to gain important insights into the work of their colleagues-but scholars, too, have greater access to the reasons for retractions, information that is dr...

What can genetic studies of left ventricular mass tell us?

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), whether measured by electrocardiography, echocardiography, or at autopsy, is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.1,2 Although LVH has been associated with several clinical characteristics such as age, sex, body mass index, and hypertension, the effects and their directionality have varied according to the criteria for LVH....

Risks from CT scans--what do recent studies tell us?