There are many levels of protein function, ranging from atomic reorganizations to changes in the development of an organism, but all of them involve binding to other molecules, large and small. Sometimes this specific molecular recognition is the sole biochemical function of a protein, but in other cases the protein also promotes a chemical transformation in the molecule that it binds. This cha...

Abstract: The role of spinal dorsal horn propriospinal connections in nociceptive processing is not yet established. Recently described, rostrocaudally oriented axon collaterals of lamina I projection and local-circuit neurons (PNs and LCNs) running in the dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) may serve as the anatomical substrate for intersegmental processing. Putative targets of these axons include la...

Studies on the structure and function of caveolae have revealed how this versatile subcellular organelle can influence numerous signalling pathways. This brief review will discuss a few of the key features of caveolae as it relates to signalling and disease processes.

This chapter presents an overview of grapevine structure and function to provide a basic understanding of how grapevines grow. Such understanding is the foundation of good vineyard management, and the practical application of this knowledge is emphasized throughout this book. The reader should consult the references cited in this chapter for more complete coverage of these topics. Much of the c...

In order to delineate functionally important domains in erythropoietin (Epo), we have prepared and tested a series of amino acid replacements at 51 conserved sites predicted to be on the surface of the molecule. Alanine replacements permitted preservation of a-helical structure. Wild type and mutant Epo cDNAs were transiently expressed at high levels in COS1 and COS7 cells. The biological activ...

Small synthetic molecules called growth hormone secretagogues (GHSs) stimulate the release of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary. They act through the GHS-R, a G protein-coupled receptor whose ligand has only been discovered recently. Using a reverse pharmacology paradigm with a stable cell line expressing GHS-R, we purified an endogenous ligand for GHS-R from rat stomach and named it "ghre...

Abstract Integrins are a large family of heterodimeric glycoprotein receptors first discovered over twenty years ago. They exist as two noncovalently bound aand bsubunits that function as adhesion molecules and play key roles in many biological processes including actin cytoskeleton organization and transduction of intracellular signals regulating cellular functions. Integrins bind a variety of...