207 research outputs found
Observation of a charged charmoniumlike structure in at GeV
We study the process at a
center-of-mass energy of 4.26GeV using a 827pb data sample obtained with
the BESIII detector at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider. Based on a
partial reconstruction technique, the Born cross section is measured to be
pb. We observe a structure near the
threshold in the recoil mass spectrum, which we denote as the
. The measured mass and width of the structure are
MeV/c and MeV, respectively. Its
production ratio is determined to be . The first uncertainties
are statistical and the second are systematic.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; version accepted to be published in PR
Precision Measurement of the Mass of the Lepton
An energy scan near the pair production threshold has been performed
using the BESIII detector. About pb of data, distributed over four
scan points, was collected. This analysis is based on pair decays to
, , , , , , , and
final states, where denotes a charged or . The mass of the
lepton is measured from a maximum likelihood fit to the pair production
cross section data to be )
MeV/, which is currently the most precise value in a single measurement.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Search for the radiative transitions and
By using a 2.92 fb data sample taken at GeV with
the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, we search for the
radiative transitions and
through the hadronic decays . No
significant excess of signal events above background is observed. We set upper
limits at a 90% confidence level for the product branching fractions to be
and
. Combining our result with world-average
values of , we find the
branching fractions
and at a 90%
confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Observation of at BESIII
Using events collected with the BESIII detector
at the BEPCII storage rings, we observe for the first time the process
,
with a significance of ( including systematic
uncertainties). The product branching fraction of is measured to be
, where the first error is statistical and the
second is systematic. This measurement provides information on the
production near threshold coupling to and improves the understanding
of the dynamics of decays to four body processes.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Expression profiling of clonal lymphocyte cell cultures from Rett syndrome patients
BACKGROUND: More than 85% of Rett syndrome (RTT) patients have heterozygous mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene which encodes methyl-CpG-binding protein 2, a transcriptional repressor that binds methylated CpG sites. Because MECP2 is subject to X chromosome inactivation (XCI), girls with RTT express either the wild type or mutant MECP2 in each of their cells. To test the hypothesis that MECP2 mutations result in genome-wide transcriptional deregulation and identify its target genes in a system that circumvents the functional mosaicism resulting from XCI, we performed gene expression profiling of pure populations of untransformed T-lymphocytes that express either a mutant or a wild-type allele. METHODS: Single T lymphocytes from a patient with a c.473C>T (p.T158M) mutation and one with a c.1308-1309delTC mutation were subcloned and subjected to short term culture. Gene expression profiles of wild-type and mutant clones were compared by oligonucleotide expression microarray analysis. RESULTS: Expression profiling yielded 44 upregulated genes and 77 downregulated genes. We compared this gene list with expression profiles of independent microarray experiments in cells and tissues of RTT patients and mouse models with Mecp2 mutations. These comparisons identified a candidate MeCP2 target gene, SPOCK1, downregulated in two independent microarray experiments, but its expression was not altered by quantitative RT-PCR analysis on brain tissues from a RTT mouse model. CONCLUSION: Initial expression profiling from T-cell clones of RTT patients identified a list of potential MeCP2 target genes. Further detailed analysis and comparison to independent microarray experiments did not confirm significantly altered expression of most candidate genes. These results are consistent with other reported data
DNA methylation and methyl-CpG binding proteins: developmental requirements and function
DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification in the genomes of higher eukaryotes. In vertebrates, DNA methylation occurs predominantly on the CpG dinucleotide, and approximately 60% to 90% of these dinucleotides are modified. Distinct DNA methylation patterns, which can vary between different tissues and developmental stages, exist on specific loci. Sites of DNA methylation are occupied by various proteins, including methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) proteins which recruit the enzymatic machinery to establish silent chromatin. Mutations in the MBD family member MeCP2 are the cause of Rett syndrome, a severe neurodevelopmental disorder, whereas other MBDs are known to bind sites of hypermethylation in human cancer cell lines. Here, we review the advances in our understanding of the function of DNA methylation, DNA methyltransferases, and methyl-CpG binding proteins in vertebrate embryonic development. MBDs function in transcriptional repression and long-range interactions in chromatin and also appear to play a role in genomic stability, neural signaling, and transcriptional activation. DNA methylation makes an essential and versatile epigenetic contribution to genome integrity and function
MicroRNA-mediated drug resistance in breast cancer
Chemoresistance is one of the major hurdles to overcome for the successful treatment of breast cancer. At present, there are several mechanisms proposed to explain drug resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, including decreased intracellular drug concentrations, mediated by drug transporters and metabolic enzymes; impaired cellular responses that affect cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and DNA repair; the induction of signaling pathways that promote the progression of cancer cell populations; perturbations in DNA methylation and histone modifications; and alterations in the availability of drug targets. Both genetic and epigenetic theories have been put forward to explain the mechanisms of drug resistance. Recently, a small non-coding class of RNAs, known as microRNAs, has been identified as master regulators of key genes implicated in mechanisms of chemoresistance. This article reviews the role of microRNAs in regulating chemoresistance and highlights potential therapeutic targets for reversing miRNA-mediated drug resistance. In the future, microRNA-based treatments, in combination with traditional chemotherapy, may be a new strategy for the clinical management of drug-resistant breast cancers
Precision measurements of , the pseudoscalar decay constant , and the quark mixing matrix element
We report a measurement of the branching fraction based
on 2.92 of data accumulated at GeV with the
BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. This measurement, in conjunction with
the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element determined from a
global Standard Model fit, implies a value for the weak decay constant
MeV. Additionally, using this branching
fraction measurement together with a Lattice QCD prediction for , we
find . In either case, these are the
most precise results for these quantities to date.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Measurement of the branching fraction for
With events collected with the BESIII
detector, the branching fraction of is measured
to be . This is the most precise
result to date, due to the largest sample, improved signal
reconstruction efficiency, good simulation of the detector performance, and a
more accurate knowledge of the continuum contribution. Using the branching
fraction of , the ratio is determined to be . This constitutes a significantly improved test of the rule,
with the uncertainty now dominated by the branching fraction
Study of ee in the Vicinity of the
The process has been studied by
analyzing data collected at GeV, at GeV, and
during a line shape scan with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII
collider. The Born cross section of in the vicinity of
the is measured and the Born cross section of
is extracted considering
interference between resonant and continuum production amplitudes. Two
solutions with the same probability and a significance of 1.5 are
found, and the Born cross section of is determined to be less than 0.22 pb at 90% confidence level and
pb, respectively. Using the estimated cross section and a
constant decay amplitude approximation, the cross section is calculated for the kinematic situation of the
planned experiment. The maximum cross section
corresponding to the two solutions is expected to be less than nb at 90%
confidence level and nb at a center of mass energy of 5.26 GeV
- …