Models of protein evolution are used to describe evolutionary processes, for phylogenetic analyses and homology detection. Widely used general models of protein evolution are biased toward globular domains and lack resolution to describe evolutionary processes for other protein types. As three-dimensional structure is a major constraint to protein evolution, specific models have been proposed f...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to report the morbidity, mortality, and angiographic results of coiling of asymptomatic incidental aneurysms and compare the characteristics of these aneurysms with other asymptomatic incidental aneurysms that were not treated. PATIENTS AND METHODS During a 10-year period, 97 patients without previous subarachnoid hemorrhage, presented with ...

Allophanate/oxalurate-induced gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires at least five transcription factors, four of which act positively (Gln3p, Gat1p, Dal81p, and Dal82p) and one negatively (Dal80p). Gln3p binds to and Gat1p is proposed to bind to single GATA sequences; Dal80p binds to pairs of specifically oriented and spaced GATA sequences, and Dal82p binds to a pathway-specific ...

Guide wires are frequently used in various endourologic procedures to access the upper as well as lower urinary tract. Flexible guide wires have lesser complication rate of tissue injury as compared to stiff guide wires. Flexible guide wires are however more prone to bending and kinking due to their mechanical properties. We report an unusual complication of knotting of flexible guide wires dur...

Coiled-coil motifs play essential roles in protein assembly and molecular recognition, and are therefore the targets of many ongoing structural and functional studies. However, owing to the dynamic nature of many of the smaller coiled-coil domains, crystallization for X-ray studies is very challenging. Determination of elongated structures using standard NMR approaches is inefficient and usuall...

Coiled coils are well suited to drive subunit oligomerization and are widely used in applications ranging from basic research to medicine. The optimization of these applications requires a detailed understanding of the molecular determinants that control of coiled-coil formation. Although many of these determinants have been identified and characterized in great detail, a puzzling observation i...

CtIP is a transcriptional co-regulator that binds a number of proteins involved in cell cycle control and cell development, such as CtBP (C terminus-binding protein), BRCA1 (breast cancer-associated protein-1), and LMO4 (LIM-only protein-4). The only recognizable structural motifs within CtIP are two putative coiled-coil domains located near the N and C termini of the protein. We now show that ...

The recovery stress of martensitic shape-memory alloy [SMA] wires can be used to confine concrete, and the confining effectiveness of the SMA wires was previously proved through experimental tests. However, the behavior of SMA wires under recovery stress has not been seriously investigated. Thus, this study conducted a series of tests of NiTiNb martensitic SMA wires under recovery stress with v...

Computational methods can frequently identify protein-interaction motifs in otherwise uncharacterized open reading frames. However, the identification of candidate ligands for these motifs (e.g., so that partnering can be determined experimentally in a directed manner) is often beyond the scope of current computational capabilities. One exception is provided by the coiled-coil interaction motif...

The functional switch of glutamine/asparagine (Q/N)-rich prions and the neurotoxicity of polyQ-expanded proteins involve complex aggregation-prone structural transitions, commonly presumed to be forming β sheets. By analyzing sequences of interaction partners of these proteins, we discovered a recurrent presence of coiled-coil domains both in the partners and in segments that flank or overlap Q...