Only about half of the M. tuberculosis genes identified as being important for in vivo growth have any biochemical function assigned to them. The structure of one of the unknown proteins, Rv0216, was recently determined to a resolution of 1.9Å using multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion from a SeMet-substituted protein. Rv0216 features two almost identical subunits packed to form a double ho...

Little is known about the reorganization capacity of water molecules at the active sites of enzymes and how this couples to the catalytic reaction. Here, we study the dynamics of water molecules at the active site of a highly proficient enzyme, Δ(5)-3-ketosteroid isomerase (KSI), during a light-activated mimic of its catalytic cycle. Photoexcitation of a nitrile-containing photoacid, coumarin18...

Rhizobial FixK-like proteins play essential roles in activating genes for endosymbiotic life in legume root nodules, such as genes for micro-oxic respiration. In the facultative soybean symbiont, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the FixK(2) protein is the key player in a complex regulatory network. The fixK(2) gene itself is activated by the 2-component regulatory system FixLJ in response to a moderat...

In previous studies (Malissard et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. (1993) 110, 101-106), the alginate lyase AlxM of the marine bacterium ATCC 433367 was produced in Escherichia coli TC4/pAL-A3 with a yield of 50 micrograms per litre of culture. The polypeptide chain was cleaved between two cysteine residues, C169 and C183, themselves linked by a disulphide bridge. AlxM has now been overproduced in E....

Interleukin 11 is a class-1 helical cytokine, having the four-helix bundle structure, possessing pleiotropic characteristics involved in physiological processes including blood production, bone formation and placentation. The interleukin 11 paralogues (IL11a and IL11b) have been identified in fish with only IL11a from carp and trout have been characterized and analyzed for its expression thus f...

Powell, D. W., R. C. Mifflin, J. D. Valentich, S. E. Crowe, J. I. Saada, and A. B. West. Myofibroblasts. II. Intestinal subepithelial myofibroblasts. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Cell Physiol. 46): C183–C201, 1999.—Intestinal subepithelial myofibroblasts (ISEMF) and the interstitial cells of Cajal are the two types of myofibroblasts identified in the intestine. Intestinal myofibroblasts are activated a...

A number of case reports and case series of patients with Wegener’s granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis and Churg-Strauss syndrome have supported the use of rituximab (RTX) for the treatment of refractory ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Whether B cell depletion with RTX could replace cyclophosphamide as a first-line therapy for patients with severe AAV remains to be proven. Two studies, ...

A number of case reports and case series of patients with Wegener’s granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis and Churg-Strauss syndrome have supported the use of rituximab (RTX) for the treatment of refractory ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Whether B cell depletion with RTX could replace cyclophosphamide as a first-line therapy for patients with severe AAV remains to be proven. Two studies, ...