Catalytic RNA nano-objects formed by self-assembly of group I ribozyme dimers serving as unit structures.

Ribozymes with modular structures are attractive platforms for the construction of nanoscale RNA objects with biological functions. We designed group I ribozyme dimers as unit ribozyme dimers (Urds), which self-assembled to form their polymeric states and also oligomeric states with defined numbers of Urds. Assembly of Urds yielded catalytic ability of a pair of distinct ribozyme units to cleave two distinct substrates.

Timely manner application of hand orthoses to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report.

Background: In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the atrophy of hand muscles often causes impairment of thumb/finger motion and disabilities in their activities of daily living. Hand orthoses are effective for such impairment and disabilities; however, there are some difficulties in their application.

Case Description And Methods: In this case report, we present the timely application of hand orthoses and introduce our clinical algorithm for the application of hand orthoses to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Functional stability of unliganded envelope glycoprotein spikes among isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) spike is challenging to study at the molecular level, due in part to its genetic variability, structural heterogeneity and lability. However, the extent of lability in Env function, particularly for primary isolates across clades, has not been explored. Here, we probe stability of function for variant Envs of a range of isolates from chronic and acute infection, and from clades A, B and C, all on a constant virus backbone.

Identifying key components of the PrPC-PrPSc replicative interface.

In prion disease, direct interaction between the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) and its misfolded disease-associated conformer PrP(Sc) is a crucial, although poorly understood step promoting the formation of nascent PrP(Sc) and prion infectivity. Recently, we hypothesized that three regions of PrP (corresponding to amino acid residues 23-33, 98-110, and 136-158) interacting specifically and robustly with PrP(Sc), likely represent peptidic components of one flank of the prion replicative interface. In this study, we created epitope-tagged mouse PrP(C) molecules in which the PrP sequences 23-33, 98-110, and 136-158 were modified.

Transport and toxic mechanism for aluminum citrate in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.

Aluminum (Al) is thought to be a risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders, but the molecular mechanism has been not clarified yet. In this study, we examined how a transport system handled transport of Al citrate, the major Al species in brain, and effect of Al citrate treatment on expression of the transporter and on susceptibility to oxidative stress in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Uptake of Al citrate by the cells was temperature- and concentration-dependent, and inwardly-directed Na(+)-gradient-independent.

Anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds by magnetospirillum strains: isolation and degradation genes.

Four Magnetospirillum strains degrading toluene, phenol, benzoate, and other aromatic compounds under anaerobic conditions were isolated from denitrifying enrichment cultures. One of the isolates, toluene-degrading strain TS-6, contained genes that are homologous to those encoding benzylsuccinate synthase (Bss) and benzoyl-CoA reductase (Bcr), two key enzymes of anaerobic toluene and benzoate degradation respectively in known denitrifying bacteria. Transcription of the genes was confirmed.