The preparation and properties of three geometric isomers of 13-desmethyl retinal (13-dmr) are described. They are analogous to the all-trans, 11-cis, and 9-cis isomers of retinal since two of the cis isomers combine with cattle opsin to form pigments which are spectrally indistinguishable from rhodopsin and isorhodopsin and the all-trans isomer is unreactive.The pigment which resembles rhodops...

DLC2 was identified due to striking sequence homology to DLC1. It localizes to a small region of 13q12.3, which is a locus frequently deleted in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as in other cancers. Physical mapping of DLC2 in human genome revealed that it is in close proximity to the BRCA2 locus and flanked by microsatellite markers D13S171 and D13S267. The human DLC2 gene spans a region...

The kinesin-13 class of motors catalyses microtubule depolymerisation by bending tubulins at microtubule ends. Depolymerisation activity is intrinsic to the kinesin-13 motor core but the activity of the core alone is very low compared with that of constructs that also contain a conserved neck sequence. The full-length dimeric motor is an efficient depolymeriser and also diffuses along the micro...

Placental protein 13 (PP13) was cloned from human term placenta. As sequence analyses, alignments and computational modelling showed its conserved structural and functional homology to members of the galectin family, the protein was designated galectin-13. Similar to human eosinophil Charcot-Leyden crystal protein/galectin-10 but not other galectins, its weak lysophospholipase activity was conf...

BACKGROUND Interleukin (IL) 13 is a key cytokine in asthma, regulating fibrosis, airway remodeling, induction of immunoglobulin E synthesis by B cells, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and mucus production. IL-13 signals through the type II IL-4 receptor (IL-4R), which is composed of the IL-4Ralpha and the IL-13Ralpha1 chains. Another IL-13 binding chain, IL-13Ralpha2, binds IL-13 with high affin...

The interleukin-13 receptor (IL-13R) complex is composed of 2 different chains, IL-13Ralpha1 (also known as IL-13Ralpha') and IL-13Ralpha2 (also known as IL-13Ralpha). For a functional IL-13 receptor, the IL-13Ralpha1 chain forms a productive complex with the primary IL-4 binding protein (IL-4Ralpha also known as IL-4Rbeta). However, the function of the IL-13Ralpha2 chain is not clear even thou...

In minimal change nephrosis (MCN), proteinuria is associated with structural changes of the glomerular visceral epithelial cells (GVEC). The occurrence of MCN has been associated with 2 lymphocyte-dependent conditions. To examine a direct role for type 2 cytokines in GVEC injury, the expression of interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13 receptors by GVEC and direct effects of IL-4 and IL-13 on GVEC were studi...

Interleukin (IL)-13 mediates its activities via a complex receptor system. Interleukin-13 receptor -1 chain (IL-13R 1) binds IL-13 with low affinity, but does not signal. However, when IL-13R 1 combines with IL-4 receptor (IL-4R ), a signaling high affinity receptor complex for IL-13 is generated. In contrast, IL-13R 2 alone binds IL-13 with high affinity, but does not signal and has been postu...