6,961 research outputs found
Examination of actin and microtubule dependent APC localisations in living mammalian cells
Abstract (provisional)
Background
The trafficking of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumour suppressor protein in mammalian cells is a perennially controversial topic. Immunostaining evidence for an actin-associated APC localisation at intercellular junctions has been previously presented, though live imaging of mammalian junctional APC has not been documented.
Results
Using live imaging of transfected COS-7 cells we observed intercellular junction-associated pools of GFP-APC in addition to previously documented microtubule-associated GFP-APC and a variety of minor localisations. Although both microtubule and junction-associated populations could co-exist within individual cells, they differed in their subcellular location, dynamic behaviour and sensitivity to cytoskeletal poisons. GFP-APC deletion mutant analysis indicated that a protein truncated immediately after the APC armadillo repeat domain retained the ability to localise to adhesive membranes in transfected cells. Supporting this, we also observed junctional APC immunostaining in cultures of human colorectal cancer cell line that express truncated forms of APC.
Conclusions
Our data indicate that APC can be found in two spatially separate populations at the cell periphery and these populations can co-exist in the same cell. The first localisation is highly dynamic and associated with microtubules near free edges and in cell vertices, while the second is comparatively static and is closely associated with actin at sites of cell-cell contact. Our imaging confirms that human GFP-APC possesses many of the localisations and behaviours previously seen by live imaging of Xenopus GFP-APC. However, we report the novel finding that GFP-APC puncta can remain associated with the ends of shrinking microtubules. Deletion analysis indicated that the N-terminal region of the APC protein mediated its junctional localisation, consistent with our observation that truncated APC proteins in colon cancer cell lines are still capable of localising to the cell cortex. This may have implications for the development of colorectal cancer
Optical Spectroscopy to Determine Intermediate Combustion Product Radicals in a Hydrocarbon Fueled Rocket Engine Exhaust Plume
With the prospect of hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engines, such as Rocket Propellant 1 (RP-1) or methane (CH4) fueled engines being considered for use in future space flight systems, the contributions of intermediate or final combustion products resulting from these hydrocarbon fuels are of great interest. The effect of several diatomic molecular radicals, such as Carbon Monoxide, Molecular Carbon, Methylene Radical, Cyanide or Cyano Radical, Hydroxyl, and Nitric Oxide, needs to be identified and the effects of their band systems on the spectral region from 300 nm to 850 nm determined. This work shows the effect of different engine operating parameters, oxidizer-to-fuel ratio and chamber pressure, and different optical alignments, different lines-of-sight and fields-ofview, on the spectral signature of the engine exhaust plume of a small hydrocarbonfueled test engine. Computational results, along with experimental results of an extensive test program are presented
Optical Spectroscopy to Determine Intermediate Combustion Product Radicals in a Hydrocarbon Fueled Rocket Engine Exhaust Plume
With the prospect of hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engines, such as Rocket Propellant 1 (RP-1) or methane (CH4) fueled engines being considered for use in future space flight systems, the contributions of intermediate or final combustion products resulting from these hydrocarbon fuels are of great interest. The effect of several diatomic molecular radicals, such as Carbon Monoxide, Molecular Carbon, Methylene Radical, Cyanide or Cyano Radical, Hydroxyl, and Nitric Oxide, needs to be identified and the effects of their band systems on the spectral region from 300 nm to 850 nm determined. This work shows the effect of different engine operating parameters, oxidizer-to-fuel ratio and chamber pressure, and different optical alignments, different lines-of-sight and fields-ofview, on the spectral signature of the engine exhaust plume of a small hydrocarbonfueled test engine. Computational results, along with experimental results of an extensive test program are presented
Generation of Hyperentangled Photons Pairs
We experimentally demonstrate the first quantum system entangled in every
degree of freedom (hyperentangled). Using pairs of photons produced in
spontaneous parametric downconversion, we verify entanglement by observing a
Bell-type inequality violation in each degree of freedom: polarization, spatial
mode and time-energy. We also produce and characterize maximally hyperentangled
states and novel states simultaneously exhibiting both quantum and classical
correlations. Finally, we report the tomography of a 2x2x3x3 system
(36-dimensional Hilbert space), which we believe is the first reported photonic
entangled system of this size to be so characterized.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, published versio
Modelling trade offs between public and private conservation policies
To reduce global biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need to determine the
most efficient allocation of conservation resources. Recently, there has been a
growing trend for many governments to supplement public ownership and
management of reserves with incentive programs for conservation on private
land. At the same time, policies to promote conservation on private land are
rarely evaluated in terms of their ecological consequences. This raises
important questions, such as the extent to which private land conservation can
improve conservation outcomes, and how it should be mixed with more traditional
public land conservation. We address these questions, using a general framework
for modelling environmental policies and a case study examining the
conservation of endangered native grasslands to the west of Melbourne,
Australia. Specifically, we examine three policies that involve: i) spending
all resources on creating public conservation areas; ii) spending all resources
on an ongoing incentive program where private landholders are paid to manage
vegetation on their property with 5-year contracts; and iii) splitting
resources between these two approaches. The performance of each strategy is
quantified with a vegetation condition change model that predicts future
changes in grassland quality. Of the policies tested, no one policy was always
best and policy performance depended on the objectives of those enacting the
policy. This work demonstrates a general method for evaluating environmental
policies and highlights the utility of a model which combines ecological and
socioeconomic processes.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
Distance measures to compare real and ideal quantum processes
With growing success in experimental implementations it is critical to
identify a "gold standard" for quantum information processing, a single measure
of distance that can be used to compare and contrast different experiments. We
enumerate a set of criteria such a distance measure must satisfy to be both
experimentally and theoretically meaningful. We then assess a wide range of
possible measures against these criteria, before making a recommendation as to
the best measures to use in characterizing quantum information processing.Comment: 15 pages; this version in line with published versio
Structure of MnO nanoparticles embedded into channel-type matrices
X-ray diffraction experiments were performed on MnO confined in mesoporous
silica SBA-15 and MCM-41 matrices with different channel diameters. The
measured patterns were analyzed by profile analysis and compared to numerical
simulations of the diffraction from confined nanoparticles. From the lineshape
and the specific shift of the diffraction reflections it was shown that the
embedded objects form ribbon-like structures in the SBA-15 matrices with
channels diameters of 47-87 {\AA}, and nanowire-like structures in the MCM-41
matrices with channels diameters of 24-35 {\AA}. In the latter case the
confined nanoparticles appear to be narrower than the channel diameters. The
physical reasons for the two different shapes of the confined nanoparticles are
discussed.Comment: 8 pages, including 9 postscript figures, uses revtex4.cl
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