3,119 research outputs found
Influence of solvent in controlling peptide−surface interactions
Protein binding to surfaces is an important phenomenon in biology and in modern technological applications. Extensive experimental and theoretical research has been focused in recent years on revealing the factors that govern binding affinity to surfaces. Theoretical studies mainly focus on examining the contribution of the individual amino acids or, alternatively, the binding potential energies of the full peptide, which are unable to capture entropic contributions and neglect the dynamic nature of the system. We present here a methodology that involves the combination of nonequilibrium dynamics simulations with strategic mutation of polar residues to reveal the different factors governing the binding free energy of a peptide to a surface. Using a gold-binding peptide as an example, we show that relative binding free energies are a consequence of the balance between strong interactions of the peptide with the surface and the ability for the bulk solvent to stabilize the peptide
Occipital Nerve Block Rapidly Eliminates Allodynia far from the Site of Headache: A Case Report
Stripes, Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior, and High-Tc Superconductivity
The electronic structure of the high-Tc cuprates is studied in terms of
"large-U" and "small-U" orbitals. A striped structure and three types of
quasiparticles are obtained, polaron-like "stripons" carrying charge, "svivons"
carrying spin, and "quasielectrons" carrying both. The anomalous properties are
explained, and specifically the behavior of the resistivity, Hall constant, and
thermoelectric power. High-temperature superconductivity results from
transitions between pair states of quasielectrons and stripons.Comment: 4 page
Hemicrania continua-like headache associated with carotid dissection may respond to indomethacin
Hemicrania continua (HC) is an idiopathic, chronic disorder characterized by a continuous, strictly unilateral headache associated with ipsilateral cranial autonomic symptoms. The symptoms of HC typically respond dramatically to indomethacin therapy. We describe a patient with traumatic internal carotid artery (ICA) dissection, who presented with a clinical picture mimicking HC that initially responded to indomethacin. Patients with a clinical picture similar to HC should be managed with a high index of suspicion for a possible cervical arterial dissection
On the evolution of decoys in plant immune systems
The Guard-Guardee model for plant immunity describes how resistance proteins
(guards) in host cells monitor host target proteins (guardees) that are
manipulated by pathogen effector proteins. A recently suggested extension of
this model includes decoys, which are duplicated copies of guardee proteins,
and which have the sole function to attract the effector and, when modified by
the effector, trigger the plant immune response. Here we present a
proof-of-principle model for the functioning of decoys in plant immunity,
quantitatively developing this experimentally-derived concept. Our model links
the basic cellular chemistry to the outcomes of pathogen infection and
resulting fitness costs for the host. In particular, the model allows
identification of conditions under which it is optimal for decoys to act as
triggers for the plant immune response, and of conditions under which it is
optimal for decoys to act as sinks that bind the pathogen effectors but do not
trigger an immune response.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Delivery of sTRAIL variants by MSCs in combination with cytotoxic drug treatment leads to p53-independent enhanced antitumor effects
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are able to infiltrate tumor tissues and thereby effectively deliver gene therapeutic payloads. Here, we engineered murine MSCs (mMSCs) to express a secreted form of the TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which is a potent inducer of apoptosis in tumor cells, and tested these MSCs, termed MSC.sTRAIL, in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic drug treatment in colon cancer models. When we pretreated human colorectal cancer HCT116 cells with low doses of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and added MSC.sTRAIL, we found significantly increased apoptosis as compared with single-agent treatment. Moreover, HCT116 xenografts, which were cotreated with 5-FU and systemically delivered MSC.sTRAIL, went into remission. Noteworthy, this effect was protein 53 (p53) independent and was mediated by TRAIL-receptor 2 (TRAIL-R2) upregulation, demonstrating the applicability of this approach in p53-defective tumors. Consequently, when we generated MSCs that secreted TRAIL-R2-specific variants of soluble TRAIL (sTRAIL), we found that such engineered MSCs, labeled MSC.sTRAIL DR5, had enhanced antitumor activity in combination with 5-FU when compared with MSC.sTRAIL. In contrast, TRAIL-resistant pancreatic carcinoma PancTu1 cells responded better to MSC.sTRAIL DR4 when the antiapoptotic protein XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein) was silenced concomitantly. Taken together, our results demonstrate that TRAIL-receptor selective variants can potentially enhance the therapeutic efficacy of MSC-delivered TRAIL as part of individualized and tumor-specific combination treatments. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved
Effect of Magnetic Impurity Correlations on Josephson Tunneling
The ordering trend of magnetic impurities at low temperature results in the
frustration of the pair-breaking effect and induces a ``recovery'' of
superconducting properties. We show that this effect manifests itself in the
deviation of the Josephson current amplitude from the values obtained within
the Ambegaokar-Baratoff and the Abrikosov-Gor'kov models. We consider both weak
and strong-coupling cases. The theory is applied to describe the experimental
data obtained for the low- superconductor SmRhB. We further
predict a ``recovery'' effect of the Josephson current in high-temperature
superconductors.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Physica
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