The term "cryptome" refers to the subset of cryptic peptides with bioactivities that are often unpredictable and very different from the parent protein. These cryptic peptides are generated by proteolytic cleavage of proteases, whose identification in vivo can be very challenging. In this work, we show that insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is able to degrade specific amino acid sequences present ...

We have developed a differential display screening approach to identify mesoderm-specific genes, relying upon the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells in vitro. Using this strategy, we have isolated a novel murine gene that encodes a secreted molecule containing a variant epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) motif. We named this gene Cryptic, based on its predicted protein sequence simila...

Angular momentum changing collisions can be suppressed in atoms whose valence electrons are submerged beneath filled shells of higher principle quantum number. To determine whether spin-exchange collisions are suppressed in these "submerged shell" atoms, we measured collisional rates for six hyperfine states of Mn at T < 1 K. Although the 3d valence electrons in Mn are submerged beneath a fille...

DNA barcodes can be used to identify cryptic species of skipper butterflies previously detected by classic taxonomic methods and to provide first clues to the existence of yet other cryptic species. A striking case is the common geographically and ecologically widespread neotropical skipper butterfly Perichares philetes (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae), described in 1775, which barcoding splits into ...

Research on intertidal community structure and recovery in the California Current System has largely focused macrophytes invertebrates occupying two-dimensional, readily studied “open” rock surfaces. However, most rocky shores have a “third” dimension that includes channels, cracks, crevices, overhangs whose organismal assemblages, termed “cryptic communities,” are poorly studied. Cryptic commu...

Woodland vernal pools are important, small, cryptic, ephemeral wetland ecosystems that are vulnerable to a changing climate and anthropogenic influences. To conserve woodland vernal pools for the state of Michigan USA, vernal pool detection and mapping methods were sought that would be efficient, cost-effective, repeatable and accurate. Satellite-based L-band radar data from the high (10 m) res...

The formation of amphibole cumulates beneath arc volcanoes is a key control on magma geochemistry, and generates a hydrous lower crust. Despite being widely inferred from trace element geochemistry as a major lower crustal phase, amphibole is neither abundant nor common as a phenocryst phase in arc lavas and erupted pyroclasts, prompting some authors to refer to it as a 'cryptic' fractionating ...

Observations of 22 orb-weaving species of the family Uloboridae show that these spiders assum e one of four basic resting postures as they hang beneath the web's hub . The primitive pattern found in Tangaroa and Octonoba is characterized by all legs being spread and about equally flexed, whereas i n Zosis the protracted first legs grasp the web at nearly the same point . Uloborus species typica...

Allosteric drugs, which bind to proteins in regions other than their main ligand-binding or active sites, make it possible to target proteins considered "undruggable" and to develop new therapies that circumvent existing resistance. Despite growing interest in allosteric drug discovery, rational design is limited by a lack of sufficient structural information about alternative binding sites in ...