Magainin 1 and magainin 2, originally isolated from African clawed frog Xenopus laevis skin, inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi. Synthetic magainin A (MAG A) and magainin G (MAG G) are more potent against bacteria and protozoa. In order to determine the antitumor activity of these analogues, we have tested these two analogues against six small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines NCI-H82, N...

The function of the vertebrate nervous system is based on the rapid and accurate transmission of electrical impulses. The myelin sheath is a lipid-rich membrane that envelops the axon, preventing the leakage of the nervous impulse to the environment. Myelin is formed when the plasma membrane of a myelinating glial cell differentiates and wraps around an axon. The compaction of myelin leads to t...

R is a process that occurs in many tissues, but in the nervous system it has the special meaning of axon growth, not cell replacement. Axon regeneration is a motile process, and growth cones at the elongating axon tip express receptors that mediate responses to environmental signals. In the peripheral nervous system, regeneration occurs spontaneously after nerve injury. In the central nervous s...

In this work, we develop methods for controlling multiple untethered magnetic micro-robots (Mag-μBots) without the need for a specialized substrate. We investigate Mag-μBots that are geometrically and magnetically designed to respond uniquely to the same input magnetic fields. Designs include: (1) geometrically similar Mag-μBots with different values of magnetization, (2) geometrically dissimil...

We report deep near-infrared and optical observations of the X-ray point source in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, CXO J232327.9+584842. We have identified a J = 21.4 ± 0.3 mag and K s = 20.5 ± 0.3 mag source within the 1-σ error circle, but we believe this source is a foreground Pop II star with T eff = 2600–2800 K at a distance of ≈ 2 kpc, which could not be the X-ray point source. We do ...

Myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) is a sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin (Siglec) which has been characterized as potent myelin-derived inhibitor of neurite outgrowth. Two members of the Nogo-receptor (NgR) family, NgR1 and NgR2, have been identified as neuronal binding proteins of MAG. In addition, gangliosides have been proposed to bind to and confer the inhibitory activity of MAG on neur...

The Nogo-66 receptor (NgR1) is a promiscuous receptor for the myelin inhibitory proteins Nogo/Nogo-66, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), and oligodendrocyte myelin glycoprotein (OMgp). NgR1, an axonal glycoprotein, is the founding member of a protein family composed of the structurally related molecules NgR1, NgR2, and NgR3. Here we show that NgR2 is a novel receptor for MAG and acts select...