Enhanced TGFβ activity contributes to the accumulation of matrix proteins including collagen I (α2) by proximal tubular epithelial cells in progressive kidney disease. Although TGFβ rapidly activates its canonical Smad signaling pathway, it also recruits noncanonical pathway involving mTOR kinase to regulate renal matrix expansion. The mechanism by which chronic TGFβ treatment maintains increas...

AIMS Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase (NKA) is essential in regulating [Na(+)](i), and thus cardiac myocyte Ca(2+) and contractility via Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange. Different NKA-α subunit isoforms are present in the heart and may differ functionally, depending on specific membrane localization. In smooth muscle and astrocytes, NKA-α2 is located at the junctions with the endo(sarco)plasmic reticulum, where they co...

The Na,K-ATPase α2 isoform is the predominant Na,K-ATPase in adult skeletal muscle and the sole Na,K-ATPase in the transverse tubules (T-tubules). In quiescent muscles, the α2 isozyme operates substantially below its maximal transport capacity. Unlike the α1 isoform, the α2 isoform is not required for maintaining resting ion gradients or the resting membrane potential, canonical roles of the Na...

Escherichia coli class I ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) catalyzes the conversion of nucleotides to deoxynucleotides and is composed of two subunits: α2 and β2. β2 contains a stable di-iron tyrosyl radical (Y122 •) cofactor required to generate a thiyl radical (C439 •) in α2 over a distance of 35 Å, which in turn initiates the chemistry of the reduction process. The radical transfer process is p...

During apoptosis, Bak and Bax are activated by BH3-only proteins binding to the α2-α5 hydrophobic groove; Bax is also activated via a rear pocket. Here we report that antibodies can directly activate Bak and mitochondrial Bax by binding to the α1-α2 loop. A monoclonal antibody (clone 7D10) binds close to α1 in non-activated Bak to induce conformational change, oligomerization, and cytochrome c ...

microRNAs (miRNAs) are widespread regulators of gene expression, but little is known of their potential roles in congenital muscular dystrophy type 1A (MDC1A). MDC1A is a severe form of muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the gene encoding laminin α2 chain. To gain insight into the pathophysiological roles of miRNAs associated with MDC1A pathology, laminin α2 chain-deficient mice were eva...

A graph is k-degenerate if every subgraph has minimum degree at most k. We provide lower bounds on the size of a maximum induced 2-degenerate subgraph in a triangle-free planar graph. We denote the size of a maximum induced 2-degenerate subgraph of a graph G by α2(G). We prove that if G is a connected triangle-free planar graph with n vertices and m edges, then α2(G) ≥ 6n−m−1 5 . By Euler’s For...

i=1 H(ri); (5) HΨ(r1, r2, · · · ) = EΨ(r1, r2, · · · ). (6) (Note: For simplicity, unless necessary, we often write r as r.) Since there is no interaction between particles, the Schrodinger equation is separable. Assume Ψ(r1, r2, · · · , rN ) = φ(r1)φ(r2) · · ·φ(rN ), (7) then Hφαi(ri) = εαiφαi(ri), i = 1, 2, · · ·N. (8) Manybody eigenstate is a product of 1-particle states, Ψα1,α2,···(r1, r2, ...

|α|=2 2! α! aσ(α)(x)∂ α +~b(x) · ∇+ c(x), ∂t = ∂/∂t, ∂j = ∂/∂xj , ∂ = ∇ = (∂1, ∂2), p(ξ) = ξ1ξ2(ξ1 + ξ2), α = (α1, α2) is a multi-index, |α| = α1 + α2, α! = α1!α2!, σ(α) = (α1 − α2)/2, ~b(x) = (b1(x), b2(x)), and aσ(α), bj(x), c(x) are real-valued smooth functions on T2. Such operators arise in the study of gravity wave of deep water. See [1], [3], [4] and the references therein. The purpose of...

The evolution of classical swine influenza viruses receptor specificity preceding the emergence of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus was analyzed in glycan microarrays. Classical swine influenza viruses from the α, β, and γ antigenic clusters isolated between 1945 and 2009 revealed a binding profile very similar to that of 2009 pandemic H1N1 viruses, with selectivity for α2-6-linked sialosides and v...