The TRPC2 channel forms protein-protein interactions with Homer and RTP in the rat vomeronasal organ

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The signal transduction cascade operational in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) of the olfactory system detects odorants important for prey localization, mating, and social recognition. While the protein machinery transducing these external cues has been individually well characterized, little attention has been paid to the role of protein-protein interactions among these molecules. Development of an <it>in vitro </it>expression system for the transient receptor potential 2 channel (TRPC2), which establishes the first electrical signal in the pheromone transduction pathway, led to the discovery of two protein partners that couple with the channel in the native VNO.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Homer family proteins were expressed in both male and female adult VNO, particularly Homer 1b/c and Homer 3. In addition to this family of scaffolding proteins, the chaperones receptor transporting protein 1 (RTP1) and receptor expression enhancing protein 1 (REEP1) were also expressed. RTP1 was localized broadly across the VNO sensory epithelium, goblet cells, and the soft palate. Both Homer and RTP1 formed protein-protein interactions with TRPC2 in native reciprocal pull-down assays and RTP1 increased surface expression of TRPC2 in <it>in vitro </it>assays. The RTP1-dependent TRPC2 surface expression was paralleled with an increase in ATP-stimulated whole-cell current in an <it>in vitro </it>patch-clamp electrophysiological assay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TRPC2 expression and channel activity is regulated by chaperone- and scaffolding-associated proteins, which could modulate the transduction of chemosignals. The developed <it>in vitro </it>expression system, as described here, will be advantageous for detailed investigations into TRPC2 channel activity and cell signalling, for a channel protein that was traditionally difficult to physiologically assess.</p

KKbar photoproduction from protons

We study the contribution of the Drell mechanism driven by K^+ and K^- exchange to the reaction gamma N -> KKbar N. Our calculation implements the full KN and KbarN reaction amplitudes in the form of partial wave amplitudes taken from a meson-exchange model (KN) and a partial wave analysis (KbarN), respectively. Comparing our results to data of the LAMP2 collaboration we observe that the Drell mechanism alone cannot describe the large Lambda(1520) photoproduction rate observed experimentally. We argue that the discrepancy could be due to significant contributions from K*-meson exchange with subsequent excitation of the Lambda(1520) resonance. After adding such contributions to our model a good agreement of the LAMP2 experiment is achieved. When applying the same model to the recent SAPHIR data we find an excellent description of the K^+p spectrum and can determine the parameters of the Lambda(1600) P01 resonance, M_R = 1617 +/- 2 MeV and Gamma_R = 117 +/- 4 MeV, from the K^-p mass distribution.Comment: updated version, analysis of new CLAS data included, 11 pages, 11 figure

Atomic oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere derived from SABER : Algorithm theoretical basis and measurement uncertainty

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Testing the nature of the Λ(1520)\Lambda(1520) resonance in proton-induced production

The $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance has been recently studied in a unitarized coupled channel formalism with $\pi\Sigma(1385)$, $K\Xi(1530)$, $\bar{K}N$ and $\pi\Sigma$ as constituents blocks. We provide a theoretical study of the predictions of this model in physical observables of the $pp\to pK^+K^-p$ and $pp\to pK^+\pi^0\pi^0\Lambda$ reactions. In particular, we show that the ratio between the $\pi^0\pi^0\Lambda$ and $K^-p$ mass distributions can provide valuable information on the ratio of the couplings of the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance to $\pi\Sigma(1385)$ and $\bar{K}N$ that the theory predicts. Calculations are done for energies which are accessible in an experimental facility like COSY at J\"ulich or the developing CSR facility at Lanzhou.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Eur.Phys.J.

Urban living in healthy Tanzanians is associated with an inflammatory status driven by dietary and metabolic changes

Sub-Saharan Africa currently experiences an unprecedented wave of urbanization, which has important consequences for health and disease patterns. This study aimed to investigate and integrate the immune and metabolic consequences of rural or urban lifestyles and the role of nutritional changes associated with urban living. In a cohort of 323 healthy Tanzanians, urban as compared to rural living was associated with a pro-inflammatory immune phenotype, both at the transcript and protein levels. We identified different food-derived and endogenous circulating metabolites accounting for these differences. Serum from urban dwellers induced reprogramming of innate immune cells with higher tumor necrosis factor production upon microbial re-stimulation in an in vitro model of trained immunity. These data demonstrate important shifts toward an inflammatory phenotype associated with an urban lifestyle and provide new insights into the underlying dietary and metabolic factors, which may affect disease epidemiology in sub-Sahara African countries. Rapid urbanization can be associated with adverse health implications. de Mast and colleagues compare urban and rural Tanzanian populations using multi-omics and observe that urbanization is associated with an elevated but reversible inflammatory state

A survey of performance enhancement of transmission control protocol (TCP) in wireless ad hoc networks

This Article is provided by the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2011 Springer OpenTransmission control protocol (TCP), which provides reliable end-to-end data delivery, performs well in traditional wired network environments, while in wireless ad hoc networks, it does not perform well. Compared to wired networks, wireless ad hoc networks have some specific characteristics such as node mobility and a shared medium. Owing to these specific characteristics of wireless ad hoc networks, TCP faces particular problems with, for example, route failure, channel contention and high bit error rates. These factors are responsible for the performance degradation of TCP in wireless ad hoc networks. The research community has produced a wide range of proposals to improve the performance of TCP in wireless ad hoc networks. This article presents a survey of these proposals (approaches). A classification of TCP improvement proposals for wireless ad hoc networks is presented, which makes it easy to compare the proposals falling under the same category. Tables which summarize the approaches for quick overview are provided. Possible directions for further improvements in this area are suggested in the conclusions. The aim of the article is to enable the reader to quickly acquire an overview of the state of TCP in wireless ad hoc networks.This study is partly funded by Kohat University of Science & Technology (KUST), Pakistan, and the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan

The Netherlands Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Registry:design and status update

BACKGROUND: Clinical research on arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is typically limited by small patient numbers, retrospective study designs, and inconsistent definitions. AIM: To create a large national ACM patient cohort with a vast amount of uniformly collected high-quality data that is readily available for future research. METHODS: This is a multicentre, longitudinal, observational cohort study that includes (1) patients with a definite ACM diagnosis, (2) at-risk relatives of ACM patients, and (3) ACM-associated mutation carriers. At baseline and every follow-up visit, a medical history as well information regarding (non-)invasive tests is collected (e. g. electrocardiograms, Holter recordings, imaging and electrophysiological studies, pathology reports, etc.). Outcome data include (non-)sustained ventricular and atrial arrhythmias, heart failure, and (cardiac) death. Data are collected on a research electronic data capture (REDCap) platform in which every participating centre has its own restricted data access group, thus empowering local studies while facilitating data sharing. DISCUSSION: The Netherlands ACM Registry is a national observational cohort study of ACM patients and relatives. Prospective and retrospective data are obtained at multiple time points, enabling both cross-sectional and longitudinal research in a hypothesis-generating approach that extends beyond one specific research question. In so doing, this registry aims to (1) increase the scientific knowledge base on disease mechanisms, genetics, and novel diagnostic and treatment strategies of ACM; and (2) provide education for physicians and patients concerning ACM, e. g. through our website ( www.acmregistry.nl ) and patient conferences

Meningococcal, influenza virus, and hepatitis B virus vaccination coverage level among health care workers in Hajj

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to assess the compliance of health care workers (HCWs) employed in Hajj in receiving the meningococcal, influenza, and hepatitis B vaccines. Methods A cross-sectional survey of doctors and nurses working in all Mena and Arafat hospitals and primary health care centers who attended Hajj-medicine training programs immediately before the beginning of Hajj of the lunar Islamic year 1423 (2003) using self-administered structured questionnaire which included demographic data and data on vaccination history. Results A total of 392 HCWs were studied including 215 (54.8%) nurses and 177 (45.2%) doctors. One hundred and sixty four (41.8%) HCWs were from Makkah and the rest were recruited from other regions in Saudi Arabia. Three hundred and twenty three (82.4%) HCWs received the quadrivalent (ACYW135) meningococcal meningitis vaccine with 271 (83.9%) HCWs receiving it at least 2 weeks before coming to Hajj, whereas the remaining 52 (16.1%) HCWs received it within Conclusion The meningococcal and hepatitis B vaccination coverage level among HCWs in Hajj was suboptimal and the influenza vaccination level was notably low. Strategies to improve vaccination coverage among HCWs should be adopted by all health care facilities in Saudi Arabia.</p