53,699 research outputs found
Domain interactions within Fzo1 oligomers are essential for mitochondrial fusion
Mitofusins are conserved GTPases essential for the fusion of mitochondria. These mitochondrial outer membrane proteins contain a GTPase domain and two or three regions with hydrophobic heptad repeats, but little is known about how these domains interact to mediate mitochondrial fusion. To address this issue, we have analyzed the yeast mitofusin Fzo1p and find that mutation of any of the three heptad repeat regions (HRN, HR1, and HR2) leads to a null allele. Specific pairs of null alleles show robust complementation, indicating that functional domains need not exist on the same molecule. Biochemical analysis indicates that this complementation is due to Fzo1p oligomerization mediated by multiple domain interactions. Moreover, we find that two non-overlapping protein fragments, one consisting of HRN/GTPase and the other consisting of HR1/HR2, can form a complex that reconstitutes Fzo1p fusion activity. Each of the null alleles disrupts the interaction of these two fragments, suggesting that we have identified a key interaction involving the GTPase domain and heptad repeats essential for fusion
The WD40 protein Caf4p is a component of the mitochondrial fission machinery and recruits Dnm1p to mitochondria
The mitochondrial division machinery regulates mitochondrial dynamics and consists of Fis1p, Mdv1p, and Dnm1p. Mitochondrial division relies on the recruitment of the dynamin-related protein Dnm1p to mitochondria. Dnm1p recruitment depends on the mitochondrial outer membrane protein Fis1p. Mdv1p interacts with Fis1p and Dnm1p, but is thought to act at a late step during fission because Mdv1p is dispensable for Dnm1p localization. We identify the WD40 repeat protein Caf4p as a Fis1p-associated protein that localizes to mitochondria in a Fis1p-dependent manner. Caf4p interacts with each component of the fission apparatus: with Fis1p and Mdv1p through its NH2-terminal half and with Dnm1p through its COOH-terminal WD40 domain. We demonstrate that mdv1{Delta} yeast contain residual mitochondrial fission due to the redundant activity of Caf4p. Moreover, recruitment of Dnm1p to mitochondria is disrupted in mdv1{Delta} caf4{Delta} yeast, demonstrating that Mdv1p and Caf4p are molecular adaptors that recruit Dnm1p to mitochondrial fission sites. Our studies support a revised model for assembly of the mitochondrial fission apparatus
The signature of the magnetorotational instability in the Reynolds and Maxwell stress tensors in accretion discs
The magnetorotational instability is thought to be responsible for the
generation of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence that leads to enhanced outward
angular momentum transport in accretion discs. Here, we present the first
formal analytical proof showing that, during the exponential growth of the
instability, the mean (averaged over the disc scale-height) Reynolds stress is
always positive, the mean Maxwell stress is always negative, and hence the mean
total stress is positive and leads to a net outward flux of angular momentum.
More importantly, we show that the ratio of the Maxwell to the Reynolds
stresses during the late times of the exponential growth of the instability is
determined only by the local shear and does not depend on the initial spectrum
of perturbations or the strength of the seed magnetic. Even though we derived
these properties of the stress tensors for the exponential growth of the
instability in incompressible flows, numerical simulations of shearing boxes
show that this characteristic is qualitatively preserved under more general
conditions, even during the saturated turbulent state generated by the
instability.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Minor revisions. Accepted for publication in
MNRA
Instability of three dimensional conformally dressed black hole
The three dimensional black hole solution of Einstein equations with negative
cosmological constant coupled to a conformal scalar field is proved to be
unstable against linear circularly symmetric perturbations.Comment: 5 pages, REVTe
Quark Loop Contributions to Neutron, Deuteron, and Mercury EDMs from Supersymmetry without R parity
We present a detailed analysis of the neutron, deuteron and mercury electric
dipole moment from supersymmetry without R parity, focusing on the quark-scalar
loop contributions. Being proportional to top Yukawa and top mass, such
contributions are often large. Analytical expressions illustrating the explicit
role of the R-parity violating parameters are given following perturbative
diagonalization of mass-squared matrices for the scalars. Dominant
contributions come from the combinations for which
we obtain robust bounds. It turns out that neutron and deuteron EDMs receive
much stronger contributions than mercury EDM and any null result at the future
deuteron EDM experiment or Los Alamos neutron EDM experiment can lead to
extra-ordinary constraints on RPV parameter space. Even if R-parity violating
couplings are real, CKM phase does induce RPV contribution and for some cases
such a contribution is as strong as contribution from phases in the R-parity
violating couplings.Hence, we have bounds directly on even if the RPV parameters are all real.
Interestingly, even if slepton mass and/or is as high as 1 TeV, it
still leads to neutron EDM that is an order of magnitude larger than the
sensitivity at Los Alamos experiment. Since the results are not much sensitive
to , our constraints will survive even if other observables tighten
the constraints on .Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Statistical variability in implant-free quantum-well MOSFETs with InGaAs and Ge: a comparative 3D simulation study
Introduction of high mobility channel materials including III-Vs and Ge into future CMOS generations offer the
potential for enhanced transport properties compared to Si. The Implant Free Quantum Well (IFQW) architecture
offers an attractive design to introduce these materials, providing excellent electrostatic integrity. Statistical variability introduced by the discreteness of charge and granularity of matter has become a key factor for current and future generations of MOSFETs and in this work numerical simulations are used to critically assess the statistical
variability in IFQW transistors and compare results with equivalent conventional Si ‘bulk’ MOSFETs
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