The single-stranded DNA-binding protein, Replication Protein A (RPA), is a heterotrimeric complex with subunits of 70, 32 and 14 kDa involved in DNA metabolism. RPA may be a target for cellular regulation; the 32 kDa subunit (RPA32) is phosphorylated by several cellular kinases including the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). We have purified a mutant hRPA complex lacking amino acids 1-33 o...

We have analyzed SV40 specific RNA sequences which are associated with purified viral chromatin. Three discrete size classes of large unprocessed transcripts were identified: 4.8, 3.6 and 3.0 kb. Furthermore, two polyadenylated species of 2.6 and 1.6 kb were found, the latter of which representing mature 16 S mRNA. S1 analysis revealed both the presence of spliced and unspliced RNA sequences in...

The interaction between simian virus 40(SV40)-induced endocytotic vacuoles and the nuclear membrane was investigated using cationized ferritin (CF) and concanavalin A (Con A) as cell membrane markers. These markers bound to the cell surfaces of CV-1 cells together with SV40 at 4 degrees C. Following incubation of these modified cells at 37 degrees C in serum-free medium, the cell membranes show...

Propensity score (Pscore) matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) can remove bias due to observed confounders, if the Pscore is correctly specified. Genetic Matching (GenMatch) matches on the Pscore and individual covariates using an automated search algorithm to balance covariates. This paper compares common ways of implementing Pscore matching and IPTW, with Genmatch fo...

Mammalian replication protein A (RPA) undergoes DNA damage-dependent phosphorylation at numerous sites on the N terminus of the RPA2 subunit. To understand the functional significance of RPA phosphorylation, we expressed RPA2 variants in which the phosphorylation sites were converted to aspartate (RPA2(D)) or alanine (RPA2(A)). Although RPA2(D) was incorporated into RPA heterotrimers and suppor...

The carcinogen, 7r,8t-dihydroxy-9t,10t-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene, and a number of its noncarcinogenic derivatives form a reversible physical complex with DNA in vitro. The absorbance spectrum of the hydrocarbon in the complex shifts approximately 10 nm to the red. Fluorescence from the physically bound hydrocarbon is significantly quenched, and binding levels are decreased by the ...

We have constructed 14 independent point mutations in the conserved AAUAAA element of the SV40 late polyadenylation signal in order to study the recognition and function of alternative polyadenylation signals. A variant RNA containing an AUUAAA was polyadenylated at 20% the level of wild-type substrate RNA, while all other derivatives tested were not functional in vitro. The AUUAAA variant RNA ...

BACKGROUND Most statistical design and analysis methods for clinical trials have been developed and evaluated where at least several hundreds of patients could be recruited. These methods may not be suitable to evaluate therapies if the sample size is unavoidably small, which is usually termed by small populations. The specific sample size cut off, where the standard methods fail, needs to be i...

Frequentist sample size determination for binary outcome data in a two-arm clinical trial requires initial guesses of the event probabilities for the two treatments. Misspecification of these event rates may lead to a poor estimate of the necessary sample size. In contrast, the Bayesian approach that considers the treatment effect to be random variable having some distribution may offer a bette...

Co-sleeping has been considered as a dangerous sleeping practice for infants by some parents and pediatricians. However, past research found that co-sleeping in early childhood has a positive influence on both physical and mental development as well as the parent-child relationship, which suggests that co-sleeping may have a positive influence on self-regulation development. This study aims to ...