N-glycosylation of mouse TRAIL-R and human TRAIL-R1 enhances TRAIL-induced death.

APO2L/TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) induces death of tumor cells through two agonist receptors, TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2. We demonstrate here that N-linked glycosylation (N-glyc) plays also an important regulatory role for TRAIL-R1-mediated and mouse TRAIL receptor (mTRAIL-R)-mediated apoptosis, but not for TRAIL-R2, which is devoid of N-glycans. Cells expressing N-glyc-defective mutants of TRAIL-R1 and mouse TRAIL-R were less sensitive to TRAIL than their wild-type counterparts. Defective apoptotic signaling by N-glyc-deficient TRAIL receptors was associated with lower TRAIL receptor aggregation and reduced DISC formation, but not with reduced TRAIL-binding affinity. Our results also indicate that TRAIL receptor N-glyc impacts immune evasion strategies. The cytomegalovirus (CMV) UL141 protein, which restricts cell-surface expression of human TRAIL death receptors, binds with significant higher affinity TRAIL-R1 lacking N-glyc, suggesting that this sugar modification may have evolved as a counterstrategy to prevent receptor inhibition by UL141. Altogether our findings demonstrate that N-glyc of TRAIL-R1 promotes TRAIL signaling and restricts virus-mediated inhibition

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) and Mainstream Anammox for Domestic Wastewater Treatment

This work investigates the adoption of novel technologies including anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and mainstream anammox for domestic wastewater treatment in order to minimize environmental impacts and costs. Based on these two novel technologies, a novel treatment train was designed and implemented in a pilot-scale in Brisbane, Australia to evaluate and optimize their performance. This is the largest pilot-scale AnMBR and first mainstream anammox pilot plant in Australia. This novel treatment train has the potential to significantly decrease the overall costs of wastewater treatment and increase its environmental benefits

Advances in 2D semiconductor photonic crystals

Two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) in thin-slab or waveguide structures open new possibilities in optoelectronic devices. We present experiments on a variety of structures and devices, as well as modelling tools, which show that 2D-PCs etched through waveguides supported by substrates are a viable route to high-performance PC-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs). (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.</p