We were all taught that proteins have to fold correctly to be active and that the primary sequence of amino acids acts as the ’blueprint‘ for successful, productive folding. in recent years, we have also learnt how sensitive that blueprint is to change. For example, a single amino-acid change in the protein sequence, or a subtle change in temperature at which folding takes place, can lead to th...

Proof Fix a satisfying assignment a. Define the distance of r to a, denoted dist(r, a), as the number of coordinates where ri 6= ai (this is called Hamming distance). Let r = r, r, r, · · · be the assignments generated by the algorithm, and let di = dist(r , a). Note that as we only change one bit of the assignment, di+1 = di + ∆i where ∆i ∈ {−1, 1}. We claim that Pr[∆i = −1] ≥ 1/2. Once this i...

The neuronal function of Cys-loop neurotransmitter receptors is established; however, their role in non-neuronal cells is poorly defined. As brain tumors are enriched in the neurotransmitter glycine, we studied the expression and function of glycine receptors (GlyRs) in glioma cells. Human brain tumor biopsies selectively expressed the GlyR α1 and α3 subunits, which have nuclear localization si...

Microtubule-associated proteins of the MAP1 family (MAP1A, MAP1B, and MAP1S) share, among other features, a highly conserved COOH-terminal domain approximately 125 amino acids in length. We conducted a yeast 2-hybrid screen to search for proteins interacting with this domain and identified α1-syntrophin, a member of a multigene family of adapter proteins involved in signal transduction. We furt...

PURPOSE Whereas many studies have focused on the vesical changes of the α1 adrenergic receptor (AR) subtypes in partial outlet obstruction, few studies have addressed the modulation of the α1 AR subtypes after spinal cord injury (SCI). Therefore, we studied the modulation of the α1 ARs in urinary bladder in a rat SCI model. METHODS Four weeks after a SCI, the whole vesical bodies from eight f...

Immunoglobulin A deficiency (IgAD) is the most common immunodeficiency, but the pathogenesis of most cases of IgAD is poorly understood. The gene and protein expression levels of members of the IgA subclasses in IgAD patients were analyzed by a reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR method that could differentiate between α1 and α2 gene expression. Three selective, 5 partial and 2 secondary IgAD patien...

A method for the large scale hormone α1 and α2 extraction from agar cultures of A1 and A2 mating types of Phytophthora parasitica has been developed. Using a total of 240 L of organic solvents to extract 40 L of the agar medium, sufficient amounts of α hormones were obtained to permit characterization of their physical and chemical properties. Activities of both hormones were in the neutral fra...

Optical metabolic imaging measures fluorescence intensity and lifetimes from metabolic cofactors nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). These molecular level measurements provide unique biomarkers for early cellular responses to cancer treatments. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an attractive target for optical imaging because of easy ac...

We examine the stability of mixed-symmetry superconducting states with broken time-reversal symmetry in spatial-symmetry-broken systems, including chiral states, on basis free-energy functional derived weak-coupling theory. consider a generic α1 + iα2 wave state, and α2 being different indices such as \((\alpha _{1},\alpha _{2}) = (\text{d},\text{s})\), \((\text{p}_{x},\text{p}_{y})\), \((\text...

Decreases in cardiac Na/K-ATPase have been documented in patients with heart failure. Reduction of Na/K-ATPase α1 also contributes to the deficiency in cardiac contractility in animal models. Our previous studies demonstrate that reduction of cellular Na/K-ATPase causes cell growth inhibition and cell death in renal proximal tubule cells. To test whether reduction of Na/K-ATPase in combination ...