A simple protocol for assessing inter-trial and inter-examiner reliability for two noninvasive measures of limb muscle strength.

Noninvasive measures of limb muscle strength are quite useful in preclinical translational studies that use mouse models of muscle disease, peripheral nerve disease, and movement disorders. The present study uses a simple protocol for assessing both inter-trial and inter-examiner reliability for two noninvasive methods of assessing limb strength in dystrophic (mdx) and wild type mice. One method, termed the whole body tension (WBT) method or escape test, measures the total phasic pulling tension exerted by the fore- and hindlimbs while a mouse attempts to escape into a darkened tube.

Targeted chemical wedges reveal the role of allosteric DNA modulation in protein-DNA assembly.

The cooperative assembly of multiprotein complexes results from allosteric modulations of DNA structure as well as direct intermolecular contacts between proteins. Such cooperative binding plays a critical role in imparting exquisite sequence specificity on the homeobox transcription factor (Hox) family of developmental transcription factors. A well-characterized example includes the interaction of Hox proteins with extradenticle (Exd), a highly conserved DNA binding transcription factor.