The crystal structure of Staphylococcus aureus cytidine monophosphate kinase (CMK) in complex with cytidine 5'-monophosphate (CMP) has been determined at 2.3 angstroms resolution. The active site reveals novel features when compared with two orthologues of known structure. Compared with the Streptococcus pneumoniae CMK solution structure of the enzyme alone, S. aureus CMK adopts a more closed c...

To utilize the high specific capacity of SnO2 as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries, one has to overcome its poor cycling performance and rate capability, which result from large volume expansion (∼300%) of SnO2 during charging-discharging cycles. Hence, to accommodate the volume change during cycling, SnO2 nanoparticles of 6 nm diameter were synthesized specifically only on the outer s...

A gene encoding a polypeptide of 25 kDa is located immediately upstream of the gene for ribosomal protein S1, rpsA. In high gene copy number, this gene, mssA, was previously found to suppress defects in smbA, which is now known to be identical to pyrH, encoding UMP kinase. We show here that the 25-kDa polypeptide comprises CMP kinase and propose that the gene be designated cmk. In a strain dele...

Through encounters with predators, competitors, and noxious stimuli, animals have evolved defensive responses that minimize injury and are essential for survival. Physiological adaptation modulates the stimulus intensities that trigger such nocifensive behaviors, but the molecular networks that define their operating range are largely unknown. Here, we identify a gain-of-function allele of the ...

CMK-8, a mesoporous carbon material, was activated using different methods for the adsorption of low-concentration airborne formaldehyde. KOH and ammonia treatments were used to activate CMK-8. A CMK-8 sample was treated with KOH first followed by an ammonia-treatment at 700 degrees C to determine the effect of a combination of the two treatment methods. The adsorbents prepared were characteriz...

"Carbon-based material" has demonstrated a great potential on water purification due to its strong physical adsorption to organic pollutants in the water. Three-dimensional cubic ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-8), one of the well-known ordered mesoporous carbons, was prepared by using nanocasting method with mesoporous silica (KIT-6) as the template. In this study, CMK-8 blended with Nafion pol...

Regulation of synaptic AMPA receptor levels is a major mechanism underlying homeostatic synaptic scaling. While in vitro studies have implicated several molecules in synaptic scaling, the in vivo mechanisms linking chronic changes in synaptic activity to alterations in AMPA receptor expression are not well understood. Here we use a genetic approach in C. elegans to dissect a negative feedback p...

Murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) Lym-1 is an immunoglobulin G2a specific for certain human leukocyte antigen-DR variants expressed on the surface of malignant B cells. It has been proposed for serotherapy in patients with B lymphomas. We have previously shown that mAb Lym-1 synergizes with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor to promote Raji B-lymphoid cell lysis by human neutrophil...

Children with Down syndrome (DS) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have significantly higher event-free survival rates compared to those with non-DS AML, linked to greater cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) sensitivity and higher transcript levels of the chromosome 21-localized gene, cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS), in DS myeloblasts. In this study, we examined the transcriptional regulation of the...