Conformations within soluble oligomers and insoluble aggregates revealed by resonance energy transfer.

A fluorescently labeled 20-residue polyglutamic acid (polyE) peptide 20 amino acid length polyglutamic acid (E(20)) was used to study structural changes which occur in E(20) as it co-aggregates with other unlabeled polyE peptides. Resonance energy transfer (RET) was performed using an o-aminobenzamide donor at the N-terminus and 3-nitrotyrosine acceptor at the C-terminus of E(20). PolyE aggregates were not defined as amyloid, as they were nonfibrillar and did not bind congo red.

[Some aspects of the skin infestation by Demodex folliculorum].

The importance of demodicids (Demodex folliculorum and D. brevis) infestation and their effect on skin lesions has been described based on literature data and our own clinical and parasitological investigations. Hair follicle mites have been detected in 45% of patients with rosacea, 27% of patients with perioral dermatitis, 28% of patients suffering from seborrhoeic dermatitis and in 3 out of 7 patients with chronic blepharitis.

[Correlation between platelet count and CA-125 in ovarian cancer].

Objective: To determine whether a correlation between platelet count and CA-125 exists, and to compare the mean levels of CA-125 in groups with normal and elevated platelet counts.

Design: A retrospective analysis of the medical records concerning to 31 ovarian cancer inpatients, treated 1998-2002 with primary surgery and subsequent platinum-based chemotherapy at the Division of Gynecology, Department of Perinatology and Gynecology, University Medical School Poznań.

Materials And Methods: 137 serum and whole blood samples collected from 31 ovarian cancer patients during their consecutive hospital stays.

Circadian cycling of a PERIOD-beta-galactosidase fusion protein in Drosophila: evidence for cyclical degradation.

The authors analyzed circadian features of two period-lacZ (per-lacZ) fusion genes in transgenic strains of Drosophila. Both genes manifest circadian fluctuations of mRNA levels, but fluctuations of only the larger chimeric protein are apparent. Fusion protein cycling is indistinguishable from the behavior of wild-type per protein (PER), including apparent temporal regulation of phosphorylation state.