134 research outputs found
A Computational Strategy for Protein Function Assignment Which Addresses the Multidomain Problem
A method for assigning functions to unknown sequences based on finding correlations between short signals and functional annotations in a protein database is presented.
This approach is based on keyword (KW) and feature (FT) information stored in
the SWISS-PROT database. The former refers to particular protein characteristics
and the latter locates these characteristics at a specific sequence position. In this way,
a certain keyword is only assigned to a sequence if sequence similarity is found in
the position described by the FT field. Exhaustive tests performed over sequences
with homologues (cluster set) and without homologues (singleton set) in the database
show that assigning functions is much âcleanerâ when information about domains (FT
field) is used, than when only the keywords are used
Vascular and plaque imaging with ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide
Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) has become a primary tool for non-invasive assessment of cardiovascular anatomy, pathology and function. Existing contrast agents have been utilised for the identification of infarction, fibrosis, perfusion deficits and for angiography. Novel ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) contrast agents that are taken up by inflammatory cells can detect cellular inflammation non-invasively using CMR, potentially aiding the diagnosis of inflammatory medical conditions, guiding their treatment and giving insight into their pathophysiology. In this review we describe the utilization of USPIO as a novel contrast agent in vascular disease
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