Ontogeny of myosin isoform expression and prehensile function in the tail of the gray short-tailed opossum ().

Terrestrial opossums use their semiprehensile tail for grasping nesting materials as opposed to arboreal maneuvering. We relate the development of this adaptive behavior with ontogenetic changes in myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform expression from 21 days to adulthood. is expected to demonstrate a progressive ability to flex the distal tail up to age 7 mo, when it should exhibit routine nest construction.

Capillary electrophoresis for protein profiling of the dimorphic, Pathogenic Fungus, Penicillium marneffei.

Penicillium marneffei is an endemic, dimorphic fungus that exhibits very significant morbidity among immune compromised persons living or having traveled in Southeast Asia. The dimorphic nature of P. marneffei, which is believed to be a major contributing factor to infection by this fungus, is thermally regulated.

Protein profiling of the dimorphic, pathogenic fungus, Penicillium marneffei.

Background: Penicillium marneffei is a pathogenic fungus that afflicts immunocompromised individuals having lived or traveled in Southeast Asia. This species is unique in that it is the only dimorphic member of the genus. Dimorphism results from a process, termed phase transition, which is regulated by temperature of incubation.

Identification of skeletal muscle autoantigens by expression library screening using sera from autoimmune rippling muscle disease (ARMD) patients.

Novel forms of contractile regulation observed in skeletal muscle are evident in neuromuscular diseases like rippling muscle disease (RMD). Previous studies of an autoimmune form of RMD (ARMD) identified a very high molecular weight skeletal muscle protein antigen recognized by ARMD patient antisera. This study utilized ARMD and myasthenia gravis (MG) patient antisera, to screen a human skeletal muscle cDNA library that subsequently identified proteins that could play a role in ARMD.