Adding serial N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide measurements to optimal clinical management in outpatients with systolic heart failure: a multicentre randomized clinical trial (NorthStar monitoring study).

Aims: This study was designed to evaluate a new NT-proBNP monitoring concept in outpatients with systolic heart failure (HF).

Methods And Results: This was a multicentre, prospective randomized open-label blinded endpoint study. A total of 407 systolic HF patients were allocated to either clinical management (n = 208) or clinical management + NT-proBNP monitoring (n = 199) and followed for 2.

Constitutive and hyperresponsive signaling by mutant forms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae amino acid sensor Ssy1.

Sensing of extracellular amino acids results in transcriptional induction of amino acid permease genes in yeast. Ssy1, a membrane protein resembling amino acid permeases, is required for signaling but is apparently unable to transport amino acids and is thus believed to be a sensor. By using a novel genetic screen in which potassium uptake was made dependent on amino acid signaling, we obtained gain-of-function mutations in SSY1.