The sigma-2 receptor, whose gene remains to be cloned, has been validated as a biomarker for tumour cell proliferation. Here we report the use of a novel photoaffinity probe, WC-21, to identify the sigma-2 receptor-binding site. WC-21, a sigma-2 ligand containing both a photoactive azide moiety and a fluorescein isothiocyanate group, irreversibly labels sigma-2 receptors in rat liver; the membr...

Accessory sigma factors, which reprogram RNA polymerase to transcribe specific gene sets, activate bacterial adaptive responses to noxious environments. Here we reconstruct the complete sigma factor regulatory network of the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis by an integrated approach. The approach combines identification of direct regulatory interactions between M. tuberculosis sigma fa...

Despite the central role of alternative sigma factors in bacterial stress response and virulence their regulation remains incompletely understood. Here we investigate one of the best-studied examples of alternative sigma factors: the σB network that controls the general stress response of Bacillus subtilis to uncover widely relevant general design principles that describe the structure-function...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the contributions of six sigma methodology to the improvement of service quality. Since its development in the late 1980s, six sigma has been extensively applied in manufacturing and quasi-manufacturing settings. This study aims to explore the challenges of six sigma in reaching a much wider field of application. Design/methodology/a...

The control of bacterial transcription initiation depends on a primary sigma factor for housekeeping functions, as well as alternative sigma factors that control regulons in response to environmental stresses. The largest and most diverse subgroup of alternative sigma factors, the group IV extracytoplasmic function sigma factors, directs the transcription of genes that regulate a wide variety o...

The geometries, chemical shifts, aromaticity, and reactivity of finite-length open-ended armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been studied within density functional theory. The widely used model of capping hydrogen atoms at the open ends of a SWCNT changes the chemical activity of the SWCNT and destabilizes the frontier molecular orbitals. The edge pi-orbital of the open ends e...

The onset of thermal convection in a rotating spherical shell of intermediate radius ratio eta=0.4 is studied numerically for Taylor numbers Ta > or = 10(11) and the Prandtl number of the liquid sodium (sigma=0.01). For the first time, it is shown that at very high Taylor numbers the first unstable mode can be antisymmetric with respect to the equator and confined inside a cylinder tangent to t...

The acquisition of resistance to apoptosis, the cell's intrinsic suicide program, is essential for cancers to arise and progress and is a major reason behind treatment failures. We show in this article that small molecule antagonists of the sigma-1 receptor inhibit tumor cell survival to reveal caspase-dependent apoptosis. sigma antagonist-mediated caspase activation and cell death are substant...

Extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factors play a key role in the regulation of vital functions in the bacterial response to the environment. In Gram-negative bacteria, activity of these sigma factors is often controlled by cell-surface signalling (CSS), a regulatory system that also involves an outer membrane receptor and a transmembrane anti-sigma factor. To get more insight into the molec...

Bacteria core RNA polymerase (RNAP) must associate with a sigma factor to recognize promoter sequences. Promoters recognized by the sigma(54) (or sigma(N)) associated RNA polymerase are unique in having conserved positions around -24 and -12 nucleotides upstream from the transcriptional start site. Using DNA microarrays representing the entire Escherichia coli genome and promoter validation app...