1,751 research outputs found
Mucin glycosylation and sulphation in airway epithelial cells is not influenced by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator expression
Abnormalities in mucus properties and clearance make a major contribution to the pathology of cystic fibrosis (CF). Our aim was to test the hypothesis that the defects in CF mucus are a direct result of mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. We evaluated a single mucin molecule MUC1F/5ACTR that carries tandem repeat sequence from MUC5AC, a major secreted airway mucin, in a MUC1 mucin vector. To establish whether the presence of mutant or normal CFTR directly influences the O-glycosylation and sulphation of mucins in airway epithelial cells, we used the CFT1-LC3 (DeltaF508 CFTR mutant) and CFT1-LCFSN (wild-type CFTR corrected) human airway epithelial cell lines. MUC1F/5ACTR mucin was immunoprecipitated, centricon purified, and O-glycosylation was evaluated by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry to determine the composition of different carbohydrate structures. Mass spectrometry data showed the same O-glycans in both CFTR mutant and wild-type CFTR corrected cells. Metabolic labeling assays were performed to evaluate gross glycosylation and sulphation of the mucins and showed no significant difference in mucin synthesized in six independent clones of these cell lines. Our results show that the absence of functional CFTR protein causes neither an abnormality in mucin O-glycosylation nor an increase in mucin sulphation
A Rapid Technique for the Detection of Nicotine in Developing Tobacco Seedlings
Author Institution: Department of Botany and Institute of Polar Studies and Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State UniversityA rapid and sensitive method for detecting alkaloids, in particular nicotine, from Nicotiana rustica tobacco seedlings up to 2 mm in length has been developed. Growing tissue is applied (squashed) directly onto silica gel plates for thin-layer chromotographic analysis. The sensitivity of this method permits the detection of quantities of nicotine as small as 0.4 microgram
A New Large Super-Fast Rotator: (335433) 2005 UW163
Asteroids of size larger than 150 m generally do not have rotation periods
smaller than 2.2 hours. This spin cutoff is believed to be due to the
gravitationally bound rubble-pile structures of the asteroids. Rotation with
periods exceeding this critical value will cause asteroid breakup. Up until
now, only one object, 2001 OE84, has been found to be an exception to this spin
cutoff. We report the discovery of a new super-fast rotator, (335433) 2005
UW163, spinning with a period of 1.290 hours and a lightcurve variation of
mag from the observations made at the P48 telescope and the P200
telescope of the Palomar Observatory. Its mag and
multi-band colors (i.e., mag, mag
and SDSS mag) show it is a V-type asteroid with a diameter of
km. This indicates (335433) 2005 UW163 is a super-fast rotator
beyond the regime of the small monolithic asteroid.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Accepted by ApJ
Impacts Of Exchange Rate Fluctuations And Government Debt On Economic Performance For A Latin American Country
Applying the autoregressive conditional heteroskedascity (ARCH) model as developed by Professor Robert F. Engle (1982, 2001) and based on a 1970-2002 sample, real GDP was found positively affected by the peso depreciation, the U.S. economy, real M2 money, government spending and the expected inflation rate, and negatively influenced by government debt.Ā The gradual recovery of the U.S. economy is expected to help the Colombian economy.Ā An increase in government spending helps raise real output, but increasing government debt to finance rising budget deficits would reduce national output
Eigenmodes of Decay and Discrete Fragmentation Processes
Linear rate equations are used to describe the cascading decay of an initial
heavy cluster into fragments. This representation is based upon a triangular
matrix of transition rates. We expand the state vector of mass multiplicities,
which describes the process, into the biorthonormal basis of eigenmodes
provided by the triangular matrix. When the transition rates have a scaling
property in terms of mass ratios at binary fragmentation vertices, we obtain
solvable models with explicit mathematical properties for the eigenmodes. A
suitable continuous limit provides an interpolation between the solvable
models. It gives a general relationship between the decay products and the
elementary transition rates.Comment: 6 pages, plain TEX, 2 figures available from the author
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