Human and murine IL2 receptors differentially respond to the human-IL2 component of immunocytokines.

The humanized immunocytokine, hu14.18-IL2 (ICp), leads to the immune cell-mediated destruction of GD2-expressing tumors in mouse models, resulting in potent antitumor effects with negligible IL2-related toxicity. In contrast, when ICp is used clinically, antitumor activity is accompanied by dose-limiting IL2-related toxicities.

Flea abundance, diversity, and plague in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in northern New Mexico.

Plague, a flea-transmitted infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is a primary threat to the persistence of prairie dog populations (Cynomys spp.). We conducted a 3-yr survey (2004-2006) of fleas from Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico.

Dihedral psi angle dependence of the amide III vibration: a uniquely sensitive UV resonance Raman secondary structural probe.

UV resonance Raman studies of peptide and protein secondary structure demonstrate an extraordinary sensitivity of the amide III (Am III) vibration and the C(alpha)H bending vibration to the amide backbone conformation. We demonstrate that this sensitivity results from a Ramachandran dihedral psi angle dependent coupling of the amide N-H motion to (C)C(alpha)H motion, which results in a psi dependent mixing of the Am III and the (C)C(alpha)H bending motions. The vibrations are intimately mixed at psi approximately 120 degrees, which is associated with both the beta-sheet conformation and random coil conformations.

UV Raman studies of peptide conformation demonstrate that betanova does not cooperatively unfold.

We used UV resonance Raman spectroscopy (UVRR) excited within the peptide bond pi --> pi* electronic transitions and within the aromatic amino acid pi --> pi* electronic transitions to examine the temperature dependence of the solution conformation of betanova, a 20-residue beta-sheet polypeptide [Kortemme, T., Ramirez-Alvarado, M., and Serrano, L.