A minK-HERG complex regulates the cardiac potassium current I(Kr).

MinK is a widely expressed protein of relative molecular mass approximately 15K that forms potassium channels by aggregation with other membrane proteins. MinK governs ion channel activation, regulation by second messengers, and the function and structure of the ion conduction pathway. Association of minK with a channel protein known as KvLQT1 produces a voltage-gated outward K+ current (I[sK]) resembling the slow cardiac repolarization current (I[Ks]). HERG, a human homologue of the ether-a-go-go gene of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, encodes a protein that produces the rapidly activating cardiac delayed rectifier (I[Kr]). These two potassium currents, I(Ks) and I(Kr), provide the principal repolarizing currents in cardiac myocytes for the termination of action potentials. Although heterologously expressed HERG channels are largely indistinguishable from native cardiac I(Kr), a role for minK in this current is suggested by the diminished I(Kr) in an atrial tumour line subjected to minK antisense suppression. Here we show that HERG and minK form a stable complex, and that this heteromultimerization regulates I(Kr) activity. MinK, through the formation of heteromeric channel complexes, is thus central to the control of the heart rate and rhythm

Anomalous transport in lattice and continuum percolating systems

Author name used in this publication: K. W. YuVersion of RecordPublishe

Anomalous transport in random superconducting composite systems

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Application of PGA on optimization of distribution of shopping centers

Series: Lecture notes in computer scienceAuthor name used in this publication: Chun-Tian ChengAuthor name used in this publication: Kwokwing Chau2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

The Economics of Construction Price Inflation in the UK: Measurement, Output and Productivity

This thesis evaluates the UK construction price and cost indices and their use in measuring inflation, construction output and productivity. It proposes theoretically grounded and econometrically sound models for construction demand and supply. This study reviews the compilation methods of the published tender price indices (TPIs) in the UK and finds that they have distinct advantages. However, some components (M&E trades), some procurement methods (design and build), and some sub-sectors (private commercial and housing) are disproportionally under-represented or absent from the sampling of projects that underpins the TPIs. The TPIs are found to be very likely biased upwards. The review of the construction cost indices in the UK, measures of the input prices facing contractors, finds that the measure of labour cost is based on increasingly unrepresentative national wage agreements, and appears to be biased upwards. The construction new orders series published by ONS are reviewed as a possible measure of demand and predictor of quantity of construction output, and are shown to be unfit for either purpose. Grounded on a simple demand-and-supply theoretical model, the method proposed by Haynes and Stone (1985) is applied to estimate a system of demand-and-supply equations for new construction work in the UK, which is tested against and supported by the results of the data-driven vector autoregressive model. Findings from EU-KLEMS show that the rate of productivity growth of the construction sector is lower than that of the whole economy. Applying Baumol’s two sector unbalanced growth model, econometric studies are undertaken for the UK and other European countries. Results confirm the proposition that the relative rate of growth of labour productivity of the construction sector determines the long-run relative price movement of its outputs. The positive productivity growth in UK construction industry explains the differential between its (higher) input price growth and (lower) output price growth

Comment on "Are periodic solar wind number density structures formed in the solar corona?" by N. M. Viall et al., 2009, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L23102, doi:10.1029/2009GL041191

Location of formation of periodic solar wind number density structures is discussed. Observation of proton and alpha anticorrelation in these structures [Viall et al., 2009] indicates that taking into account that bulk velocity of aplha-particles is higher than that of proton the place of formation for these structures should be located at distance less 0.002 AU from place of observation.Comment: 6 pages, submitted in GR

Insulin-like growth factor I promotes cord blood T cell maturation through monocytes and inhibits their apoptosis in part through interleukin-6

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The functional immaturity of T cells contributes to the susceptibility of neonates to infections and the less severe graft-versus-host disease associated with cord blood (CB) transplantation. We have previously reported that insulin-like growth factor – I (IGF-I) promotes the phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced CB T cell maturation and inhibits their apoptosis in mononuclear cell (MC) culture. We hypothesized that the effects of IGF-I may be mediated by accessory cells and soluble factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study showed that the kinetics of PHA-induced maturation in purified CD3+ T cell was delayed compared to that in CBMC. The addition of autologous CD14+ monocytes increased T cell maturation and potentiated the effect of IGF-I. The addition of IL-6 had no effect on CB T cell maturation but it reduced PHA-induced apoptosis significantly. We further demonstrated that the neutralisation of IL-6 in CBMC culture partially abrogated the anti-apoptotic effect of IGF-1 on T cells. The anti-apoptotic effect of IL-6 was not mediated via the reduction of Fas expression in T cell subsets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggested that the maturation effect of IGF-1 is partially mediated by monocytes and the anti-apoptotic effect in part via IL-6. Further investigation is needed to explore the therapeutic use of IGF-I in enhancing neonatal immunity.</p

Magnons and factons in diluted antiferromagnets (invited)

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Development of human single-chain antibodies against SARS-associated coronavirus.

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a distinct coronavirus, in 2003 greatly threatened public health in China, Southeast Asia as well as North America. Over 1,000 patients died of the SARS virus, representing 10% of infected people. Like other coronaviruses, the SARS virus also utilizes a surface glycoprotein, namely the spike protein, to infect host cells. The spike protein of SARS virus consists of 1,255 amino acid residues and can be divided into two sub-domains, S1 and S2. The S1 domain mediates the binding of the virus to its receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is abundantly distributed on the surface of human lung cells. The S2 domain mediates membrane fusion between the virus and the host cell. Hence two strategies can be used to block the infection of the SARS virus, either by interfering with the binding of the S1 domain to the receptor or by blocking the fusion of the virus with the cell membrane mediated by the S2 domain. Several antibodies against the S1 domain have been generated and all of them are able to neutralize the virus in vitro and in vivo using animal models. Unfortunately, point mutations have been identified in the S1 domain, so that the virus isolated in the future may not be recognized by these antibodies. As no mutation has been found in the S2 domain indicating that this region is more conserved than the S1 domain, it may be a better target for antibody binding. After predicting the immunogenicity of the epitopes of the S2 domain, we chemically synthesized two peptides and also expressed one of them using a recombinant DNA method. We screened a phage displaying library of human single-chain antibodies (ScFv) against the predicted epitopes and obtained a human ScFv which can recognize the SARS virus in vitro

The effects of stent porosity on the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms located near a bifurcation

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