DNA N6-methyladenine modification plays an important role in regulating a variety of biological functions in bacteria. However, the mechanism of sequence-specific recognition in N6-methyladenine modification remains elusive. M1.HpyAVI, a DNA N6-adenine methyltransferase from Helicobacter pylori, shows more promiscuous substrate specificity than other enzymes. Here, we present the crystal struct...

changes in fluorescence with NP-EGTA-loaded cells persisted for many seconds after the UV stimulus was turned off. Additionally, the size of the fluorescent signal did not decay with subsequent UV stimuli. Our work demonstrates that local stimulation of caged calcium trapped within horizontal cells by ultraviolet light delivered by small optic fibers can be used to increase intracellular levels...

The purpose of these studies was to determine the intracellular signal transduction pathways of bacterial products in murine macrophages from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responder C3H/HeN and LPS-nonresponder C3H/HeJ mice. Both LPS and synthetic lipopeptide CGP 31362 (LPP) induced production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in C3H/HeN macrophages. In C3H/HeJ macrophages, however, TNF-alp...

Upon growth factor stimulation, PAK1 is recruited to the plasma membrane and activated by a mechanism that requires its phosphorylation at Ser-223 by the protein kinase CK2. However, the upstream signaling molecules that regulate this phosphorylation event are not clearly defined. Here, we demonstrate a major role of the CK2α-interacting protein CKIP-1 in activation of PAK1. CK2α, CKIP-1, and P...

1 The detection of the vessels centerlines is a useful preprocessing step for 3D quantification of stenosis, topological representation of the vessel tree and registration with an atlas, virtual endoscopy, and visualization of the vascular network. We propose to compare three classes of algorithms leading to centerline representations of the vessels. The first one relies on a pre-segmentation o...

Choline is an essential nutrient for rats and humans, and its availability during fetal development has long-lasting cognitive effects (Blusztajn, 1998). We investigated the effects of prenatal choline supplementation on memory deficits associated with status epilepticus. Pregnant rats received a control or choline-supplemented diet during days 11-17 of gestation. Male offspring [postnatal day ...