227 research outputs found
El Tabalet (nueva edición): Número 12 - 18 julio 1847
<!--Microfilme. Valencia : BV, ca. 199
El Tabalet (nueva edición): Número 11 - 11 julio 1847
<!--Microfilme. Valencia : BV, ca. 199
Differential Affinity and Catalytic Activity of CheZ in E. coli Chemotaxis
Push–pull networks, in which two antagonistic enzymes control the
activity of a messenger protein, are ubiquitous in signal transduction pathways.
A classical example is the chemotaxis system of the bacterium
Escherichia coli, in which the kinase CheA and the
phosphatase CheZ regulate the phosphorylation level of the messenger protein
CheY. Recent experiments suggest that both the kinase and the phosphatase are
localized at the receptor cluster, and Vaknin and Berg recently demonstrated
that the spatial distribution of the phosphatase can markedly affect the
dose–response curves. We argue, using mathematical modeling, that the
canonical model of the chemotaxis network cannot explain the experimental
observations of Vaknin and Berg. We present a new model, in which a small
fraction of the phosphatase is localized at the receptor cluster, while the
remainder freely diffuses in the cytoplasm; moreover, the phosphatase at the
cluster has a higher binding affinity for the messenger protein and a higher
catalytic activity than the phosphatase in the cytoplasm. This model is
consistent with a large body of experimental data and can explain many of the
experimental observations of Vaknin and Berg. More generally, the combination of
differential affinity and catalytic activity provides a generic mechanism for
amplifying signals that could be exploited in other two-component signaling
systems. If this model is correct, then a number of recent modeling studies,
which aim to explain the chemotactic gain in terms of the activity of the
receptor cluster, should be reconsidered
Linear-response theory and lattice dynamics: a muffin-tin orbital approach
A detailed description of a method for calculating static linear-response
functions in the problem of lattice dynamics is presented. The method is based
on density functional theory and it uses linear muffin-tin orbitals as a basis
for representing first-order corrections to the one-electron wave functions. As
an application we calculate phonon dispersions in Si and NbC and find good
agreement with experiments.Comment: 18 pages, Revtex, 2 ps figures, uuencoded, gzip'ed, tar'ed fil
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