The artery is a dynamic organ capable of changing its geometry in response to atherosclerotic plaque formation. Expansion of the vessel diameter retards luminal narrowing and is considered a compensatory response. However, the expansive remodeling response is a "wolf in sheep's clothes," because expansion is associated with the presence of inflammatory cells, proteolysis, and a thrombotic plaqu...

T here is a worldwide epidemic of obesity. In the USA, the prevalence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) o30 kg?m, has increased among adults aged 20– 74 yrs from ,15% in the late 1970s to ,35% in 2010. Another third of the population is overweight (BMI o25 to ,30 kg?m). The obesity epidemic has impacted both developed and developing nations throughout the world. The World Health Or...

The elegant waveforms of motile cilia derive from temporal and spatial regulation of dynein-driven microtubule sliding. A new study reveals the surprising localization of the channel responsible for waveform switch.

A majority of proteins in the cell can be modified by ubiquitination, thereby altering their function or stability. This ubiquitination is controlled by both ubiquitinating and deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). The number of ubiquitin ligases exceeds that of DUBs by about eightfold, indicating that DUBs may have much broader substrate specificity. Despite this, DUBs have been shown to have quite...