Evidence for a single butyrylcholinesterase gene in individuals carrying the C5 plasma cholinesterase variant (CHE2)

DNA of 3 unrelated individuals carrying the human plasma butyrylcholinesterase C5 variant (CHE2) was isolated from white blood cells. Southern blot patterns of DNA restriction fragments probed with each of the 4 butyrylcholinesterase exons provided evidence that the production of C5 is not directed by a second butyrylcholinesterase gene. This finding supports the suggestion that the C5 variant is a hybrid enzyme resulting from the association of butyrylcholinesterase subunits with a non-cholinesterase protein.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28681/1/0000498.pd

LEAP2 Impairs the Capability of the Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor to Regulate the Dopamine 2 Receptor Signaling

The growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) signals in response to ghrelin, but also acts via ligand-independent mechanisms that include either constitutive activation or interaction with other G protein-coupled receptors, such as the dopamine 2 receptor (D2R). A key target of GHSR in neurons is voltage-gated calcium channels type 2.2 (CaV2.2). Recently, the liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP2) was recognized as a novel GHSR ligand, but the mechanism of action of LEAP2 on GHSR is not well understood. Here, we investigated the role of LEAP2 on the canonical and non-canonical modes of action of GHSR on CaV2.2 function. Using a heterologous expression system and patch-clamp recordings, we found that LEAP2 impairs the reduction of CaV2.2 currents induced by ghrelin-evoked and constitutive GHSR activities, acting as a GHSR antagonist and inverse agonist, respectively. We also found that LEAP2 prevents GHSR from modulating the effects of D2R signaling on CaV2.2 currents, and that the GHSRbinding N-terminal region LEAP2 underlies these effects. Using purified labeled receptors assembled into lipid nanodiscs and Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) assessments, we found that the N-terminal region of LEAP2 stabilizes an inactive conformation of GHSR that is dissociated from Gq protein and, consequently, reverses the effect of GHSR on D2R-dependent Gi activation. Thus, our results provide critical molecular insights into the mechanism mediating LEAP2 modulation of GHSR.Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celula

Minority youth, crime, conflict, and belonging in Australia

In recent decades, the size and diversity of the minority population of contemporary western societies has increased significantly. To the critics of immigration, minority youth have been increasingly linked to crime, criminal gangs, anti-social behaviour, and riots. In this article, we draw on fieldwork conducted in Sydney, Australia's largest and most ethnically diverse city, to probe aspects of the criminality, anti-social behaviour, national identity, and belonging of ethnic minority youth in Australia. We conclude that the evidence on minority youth criminality is weak and that the panic about immigrant youth crime and immigrant youth gangs is disproportionate to the reality, drawing on and in turn creating racist stereotypes, particularly with youth of 'Middle Eastern appearance'. A review of the events leading up to the Sydney Cronulla Beach riots of December 2005 suggests that the underlying cause of the riots were many years of international, national, and local anti-Arab, anti-Muslim media discourse, and political opportunism, embedded in changing but persistent racist attitudes and practises. Our argument is that such inter-ethnic conflict between minority and majority youth in Sydney is the exception, not the rule. Finally, we draw on a hitherto unpublished survey of youth in Sydney to explore issues of national identity and belonging among young people of diverse ethnic and religious background. We conclude that minority youth in Sydney do not live 'parallel lives' but contradictory, inter-connected cosmopolitan lives. They are connected to family and local place, have inter-ethnic friendships but are often disconnected to the nation and the flag. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Examination of the Effect of N‐terminal Diproline and Charged Side Chains on the Stabilization of Helical Conformation in Alanine–based Short Peptides: A Molecular Dynamics Study

The effect of N‐terminal diproline segment and charged side chains on the stabilization of helical conformation in alanine‐based short peptides are examined using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The cationic peptides, Ac–Pro1–Pro2–Ala3–Lys4–Ala5–Lys6–Ala7–Lys8–Ala9–NH2 (Ia) and Ac–DPro1–Pro2–Ala3–Lys4–Ala5–Lys6–Ala7–Lys8–Ala9–NH2 (IIa) are examined for the role of lysine side chains on the inducement of helical conformation in alanine‐based short peptides. To examine the influence of lysine and glutamic acid in the i, i + 4 arrangement on the stabilization of helical conformation, cationic peptides, Ia and IIa, are modified as ion‐pair peptides, Ac–Pro1–Pro2–Glu3–Glu4–Ala5–Ala6–Lys7–Lys8–Ala9–NH2 (Ib) and Ac–DPro1–Pro2–Glu3–Glu4–Ala5–Ala6–Lys7–Lys8–Ala9–NH2 (IIb), respectively. MD simulations manifest enhanced occupancies in the α basin of ϕ, ψ space for ion‐pair peptides as compare to cationic peptides. The radial distribution function (RDF) analysis highlight that large side chain substituents of lysine and glutamic acid assist in helix formation by blocking water molecules from solvating backbone CO and NH groups.N‐terminal diproline of homochiral structure, LPro–LPro, and large side chain substituents of lysine and glutamic acid residues in the i, i + 4 arrangement stabilize the helical conformation in alanine‐based nonapeptide, Ac–Pro1–Pro2–Glu3–Glu4–Ala5–Ala6–Lys7–Lys8–Ala9–NH2 (Ib), as observed in the second most‐populated microstate, m2, during molecular dynamics in explicit‐water.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135318/1/slct201601381-sup-0001-misc_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135318/2/slct201601381_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135318/3/slct201601381.pd

Maria de Lourdes Belchior Pontes, Frei António das Chagas, Um homem e um estilo do século XVII.

Cantel Raymond. Maria de Lourdes Belchior Pontes, Frei António das Chagas, Um homem e um estilo do século XVII. . In: Bulletin Hispanique, tome 57, n°1-2, 1955. pp. 191-193

De la Sicile au Texas, au Mexique et au Brésil, quelques complaintes sur la mort de John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Cantel R. De la Sicile au Texas, au Mexique et au Brésil, quelques complaintes sur la mort de John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In: Caravelle, n°5, 1965. numéro spécial consacré au Brésil. pp. 45-60

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1 mapa reproduit per il·lustrar el text. - Títol original: La principaute de Catalogne avec les comtez de Roussillon et de Cerdagne divisée en Vieille et Nouvelle et en vegueries. - La data estimada de publicació de la Geografia general és entre el 1908 i el 1918

C. R. Boxer, Two pioneers of Tropical Medecine : Garcia d'Orta and Nicolas Monardes

Cantel Raymond. C. R. Boxer, Two pioneers of Tropical Medecine : Garcia d'Orta and Nicolas Monardes. In: Bulletin Hispanique, tome 67, n°1-2, 1965. pp. 200-201