Chemical Synthesis of Secretoglobin 3A2 Covalent Homodimer and Photocaged Monomeric Variants.

Secretoglobin (SCGB) 3A2 belongs to an intriguing family of small, secreted proteins present only in mammals. Although members of the SCGB protein family have distinct amino acid sequences, they share structural similarities. Of particularly interest is the not yet fully understood self-assembly ability of SCGBs, which arise from covalent disulfide dimerization and non-covalent oligomerization.

Magnetic structure and spin waves in the frustrated ferro-antiferromagnet PbVO(PO).

Single crystal neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering, and electron spin resonance experiments are used to study the magnetic structure and spin waves in PbVO(PO), a prototypical layered 12 ferromagnet with frustrating next-nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions. The observed excitation spectrum is found to be inconsistent with a simple square lattice model previously proposed for this material. At least four distinct exchange coupling constants are required to reproduce the measured spin wave dispersion.

SYNTAX score II in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous mitral repair with the MitraClip.

Background: Percutaneous mitral valve repair (PMVR) using the MitraClip™ system has become a valuable alternative in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and high surgical risk. We sought to evaluate the prognostic value of the SYNTAX II score (SSII) in patients with concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing a Mitraclip procedure.

Methods: In seventy-five consecutive patients who underwent PMVR at the University Heart Center Zürich and the Cardiocentro Ticino, the SSSII was calculated at baseline.

High-density lipoprotein transport through aortic endothelial cells involves scavenger receptor BI and ATP-binding cassette transporter G1.

Cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells is a rate-limiting step in reverse cholesterol transport. In this process cholesterol acceptors like high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and apolipoprotein (apo)A-I must cross the endothelium to get access to the donor cells in the arterial intima. Previously, we have shown that apoA-I passes a monolayer of aortic endothelial cells (ECs) from the apical to the basolateral side by transcytosis, which is modulated by the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABC)A1.