337 research outputs found
Quantitative Prediction of miRNA-mRNA Interaction Based on Equilibrium Concentrations
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) suppress gene expression by forming a duplex with a target messenger RNA (mRNA), blocking translation or initiating cleavage. Computational approaches have proven valuable for predicting which mRNAs can be targeted by a given miRNA, but currently available prediction methods do not address the extent of duplex formation under physiological conditions. Some miRNAs can at low concentrations bind to target mRNAs, whereas others are unlikely to bind within a physiologically relevant concentration range. Here we present a novel approach in which we find potential target sites on mRNA that minimize the calculated free energy of duplex formation, compute the free energy change involved in unfolding these sites, and use these energies to estimate the extent of duplex formation at specified initial concentrations of both species. We compare our predictions to experimentally confirmed miRNA-mRNA interactions (and non-interactions) in Drosophila melanogaster and in human. Although our method does not predict whether the targeted mRNA is degraded and/or its translation to protein inhibited, our quantitative estimates generally track experimentally supported results, indicating that this approach can be used to predict whether an interaction occurs at specified concentrations. Our approach offers a more-quantitative understanding of post-translational regulation in different cell types, tissues, and developmental condition
Comparison among Various Expressions of Complex Admittance for Quantum System in Contact with Heat Reservoir
Relation among various expressions of the complex admittance for quantum
systems in contact with heat reservoir is studied. Exact expressions of the
complex admittance are derived in various types of formulations of equations of
motion under contact with heat reservoir. Namely, the complex admittance is
studied in the relaxation method and the external-field method. In the former
method, the admittance is calculated using the Kubo formula for quantum systems
in contact with heat reservoir in no external driving fields, while in the
latter method the admittance is directly calculated from equations of motion
with external driving terms. In each method, two types of equation of motions
are considered, i.e., the time-convolution (TC) equation and
time-convolutionless (TCL) equation. That is, the full of the four cases are
studied. It is turned out that the expression of the complex admittance
obtained by using the relaxation method with the TC equation exactly coincides
with that obtained by using the external-field method with the TC equation,
while other two methods give different forms. It is also explicitly
demonstrated that all the expressions of the complex admittance coincide with
each other in the lowest Born approximation for the systemreservoir
interaction. The formulae necessary for the higher order expansions in powers
of the system-reservoir interaction are derived, and also the expressions of
the admittance in the n-th order approximation are given. To characterize the
TC and TCL methods, we study the expressions of the admittances of two exactly
solvable models. Each exact form of admittance is compared with the results of
the two methods in the lowest Born approximation. It is found that depending on
the model, either of TC and TCL would be the better method.Comment: 34pages, no figur
Star Formation in the Most Distant Molecular Cloud in the Extreme Outer Galaxy: A Laboratory of Star Formation in an Early Epoch of the Galaxy's Formation
We report the discovery of active star formation in Digel's Cloud 2, which is
one of the most distant giant molecular clouds known in the extreme outer
Galaxy (EOG). At the probable Galactic radius of ~20 kpc, Cloud 2 has a quite
different environment from that in the solar neighborhood, including lower
metallicity, much lower gas density, and small or no perturbation from spiral
arms. With new wide-field near-infrared (NIR) imaging that covers the entire
Cloud 2, we discovered two young embedded star clusters located in the two
dense cores of the cloud. Using our NIR and 12CO data as well as HI, radio
continuum, and IRAS data in the archives, we discuss the detailed star
formation processes in this unique environment. We show clear evidences of a
sequential star formation triggered by the nearby huge supernova remnant, GSH
138-01-94. The two embedded clusters show a distinct morphology difference: the
one in the northern molecular cloud core is a loose association with
isolated-mode star formation, while the other in the southern molecular cloud
core is a dense cluster with cluster-mode star formation. We propose that high
compression by the combination of the SNR shell and an adjacent shell caused
the dense cluster formation in the southern core. Along with the low
metallicity range of the EOG, we suggest that EOG could be an excellent
laboratory for the study of star formation processes, such as those triggered
by supernovae, that occured during an early epoch of the Galaxy's formation. In
particular, the study of the EOG may shed light on the origin and role of the
thick disk, whose metallicity range matches with that of the EOG well.Comment: Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal (18 pages, 9 figures; a version
w/full-resolution color figures is available at
http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~naoto/papers/apj.cl2_quirc/ms2p_final.pdf
Tables of Hyperonic Matter Equation of State for Core-Collapse Supernovae
We present sets of equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter including
hyperons using an SU_f(3) extended relativistic mean field (RMF) model with a
wide coverage of density, temperature, and charge fraction for numerical
simulations of core collapse supernovae. Coupling constants of Sigma and Xi
hyperons with the sigma meson are determined to fit the hyperon potential
depths in nuclear matter, U_Sigma(rho_0) ~ +30 MeV and U_Xi(rho_0) ~ -15 MeV,
which are suggested from recent analyses of hyperon production reactions. At
low densities, the EOS of uniform matter is connected with the EOS by Shen et
al., in which formation of finite nuclei is included in the Thomas-Fermi
approximation. In the present EOS, the maximum mass of neutron stars decreases
from 2.17 M_sun (Ne mu) to 1.63 M_sun (NYe mu) when hyperons are included. In a
spherical, adiabatic collapse of a 15 star by the hydrodynamics
without neutrino transfer, hyperon effects are found to be small, since the
temperature and density do not reach the region of hyperon mixture, where the
hyperon fraction is above 1 % (T > 40 MeV or rho_B > 0.4 fm^{-3}).Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures (Fig.3 and related comments on pion potential are
corrected in v3.
TGF-β type II receptor expression in thymic epithelial cells inhibits the development of Hassall's corpuscles in mice
TGF-βRII signaling prevents the development of Hassall's corpuscle
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