The metabolism of environmentally occurring methylated polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons by human cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes has not been examined previously. We compared the metabolism of the tobacco smoke constituents 5-methylchrysene (5-MeC), a strong carcinogen, and 6-MeC, a weak carcinogen, in 18 hepatic and 11 pulmonary human microsomes. Major metabolites of 5-MeC were its proximate c...

Caenorhabditis eleganssenses gentle touch via a mechanotransduction channel formed from the DEG/ENaC proteins MEC-4 and MEC-10. An additional protein, the paraoxonase-like protein MEC-6, is essential for transduction, and previous work suggested that MEC-6 was part of the transduction complex. We found that MEC-6 and a similar protein, POML-1, reside primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum and d...

Staphylococcal species acquire antibiotic resistance by incorporating the mobile-genetic element SCCmec. We previously found that SCCmec-encoded psm-mec RNA suppresses exotoxin production as a regulatory RNA, and the psm-mec translation product increases biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus. Here, we examined whether the regulatory role of psm-mec on host bacterial virulence properties is...

The ion channel formed by the homologous proteins MEC-4 and MEC-10 forms the core of a sensory mechanotransduction channel in Caenorhabditis elegans. Although the products of other mec genes are key players in the biophysics of transduction, the mechanism by which they contribute to the properties of the channel is unknown. Here, we investigate the role of two auxiliary channel subunits, MEC-2 ...

Mobile edge computing (MEC) allows the use of its services with low latency, location awareness and mobility support to make up for the disadvantages of cloud computing. But an overloaded MEC system or any MEC system failure significantly degrades quality of experience (QoE) and negates the advantages of MEC. In this paper, we propose two different recovery schemes for overloaded or broken MEC....

The stereochemistry of diol epoxide formation in mouse epidermis upon topical applicationof [3H]-l/f,2A-dihydroxy-l,2-dihydro-5-methylchrysene (|3H|-5-MeC-l/f,2A-diol)and |3Hl-6-MeC-lÄ,2Ä-diol, and the tumorigenicityin mouse skin and in newborn mice of the R,S,S,R and S,R,K,S enantiomers of l,2-dihydroxy-3,4-epoxy-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-5methylchrysene (5-MeC-l,2-diol-3,4-epoxide), 5-MeC-7,8-diol...

The mec-3 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a homeodomain protein and is expressed in one of two cells upon asymmetric cell division. As a result of asymmetric mec-3 expression, the two sister cells express different fates, so mec-3 is a likely target for the machinery that mediates asymmetric cell division. The unc-86 gene encodes a homeodomain protein of the POU family, which activates m...

The contribution of mammary epithelial cells (MEC) to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in breast milk remains largely unknown. While breast milk contains CD4(+) cells throughout the breast-feeding period, it is not known whether MEC directly support HIV-1 infection or facilitate infection of CD4(+) cells in the breast compartment. This study evaluated primary human MEC for direct inf...

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses six morphologically similar neurons that are responsible for sensing gentle touch to the body. Previous genetic studies identified genes that are necessary for the production and differentiation of these touch cells. In particular, unc-86 encodes a POU-type homeodomain protein needed for the production of the touch cells, while mec-3 encodes a LIM-t...