Classification of properties and their relation to chemical bonding: Essential steps toward the inverse design of functional materials.

To design advanced functional materials, different concepts are currently pursued, including machine learning and high-throughput calculations. Here, a different approach is presented, which uses the innate structure of the multidimensional property space. Clustering algorithms confirm the intricate structure of property space and relate the different property classes to different chemical bonding mechanisms.

Systematic analysis of membrane contact sites in uncovers modulators of cellular lipid distribution.

Actively maintained close appositions between organelle membranes, also known as contact sites, enable the efficient transfer of biomolecules between cellular compartments. Several such sites have been described as well as their tethering machineries. Despite these advances we are still far from a comprehensive understanding of the function and regulation of most contact sites.

Cysteine cross-linking in native membranes establishes the transmembrane architecture of Ire1.

The ER is a key organelle of membrane biogenesis and crucial for the folding of both membrane and secretory proteins. Sensors of the unfolded protein response (UPR) monitor the unfolded protein load in the ER and convey effector functions for maintaining ER homeostasis. Aberrant compositions of the ER membrane, referred to as lipid bilayer stress, are equally potent activators of the UPR.

A Quantitative Analysis of Cellular Lipid Compositions During Acute Proteotoxic ER Stress Reveals Specificity in the Production of Asymmetric Lipids.

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is central to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis by controlling its size and protein folding capacity. When activated by unfolded proteins in the ER-lumen or aberrant lipid compositions, the UPR adjusts the expression of hundreds of target genes to counteract ER stress. The proteotoxic drugs dithiothreitol (DTT) and tunicamycin (TM) are commonly used to induce misfolding of proteins in the ER and to study the UPR.

High-Fidelity Point-Based Rendering of Large-Scale 3-D Scan Datasets.

Digitalization of three-dimensional (3-D) objects and scenes using modern depth sensors and high-resolution RGB cameras enables the preservation of human cultural artifacts at an unprecedented level of detail. Interactive visualization of these large datasets, however, is challenging without degradation in visual fidelity. A common solution is to fit the dataset into available video memory by downsampling and compression.

Expanding the promoter toolbox of Bacillus megaterium.

Over the past decades, Bacillus megaterium has gained significant interest in the biotechnological industry due to its high capacity for protein production. Although many proteins have been expressed efficiently using the optimized xylose inducible system so far, there is a considerable demand for novel promoters with varying activities, particularly for the adjustment of protein levels in multi-enzyme cascades. Genome-wide microarray analyses of the industrially important B.

Rapid elevation of sodium transport through insulin is mediated by AKT in alveolar cells.

Abstract Alveolar fluid clearance is driven by vectorial Na(+) transport and promotes postnatal lung adaptation. The effect of insulin on alveolar epithelial Na(+) transport was studied in isolated alveolar cells from 18-19-day gestational age rat fetuses. Equivalent short-circuit currents (ISC) were measured in Ussing chambers and different kinase inhibitors were used to determine the pathway of insulin stimulation.

Differential roles of mGlu(7) and mGlu(8) in amygdala-dependent behavior and physiology.

Glutamate transmission and synaptic plasticity in the amygdala are essential for the learning and expression of conditioned fear. Glutamate activates both ionotropic glutamate receptors and eight subtypes of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu1-8). In the present study, we investigated the roles of mGlu7 and mGlu8 in amygdala-dependent behavior and synaptic plasticity.

Nitric oxide synthase gene transfer for erectile dysfunction in a rat model.

Objective: To determine whether over-expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the corpus cavernosum of the penis improves erectile function, as NO is an important transmitter for genitourinary tract function, mediating smooth muscle relaxation and being essential for penile erection.

Materials And Methods: The inducible form of the enzyme NOS (iNOS) was introduced into the corpus cavernosum of adult Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) by injecting a solution of plasmid, adenovirus or adenovirus-transduced myoblast cells (adeno-myoblasts). Plasmid, adenovirus and adeno-myoblasts encoding the expression of the beta-galactosidase reporter gene were also injected into rats.

Nitric oxide synthase gene therapy for erectile dysfunction: comparison of plasmid, adenovirus, and adenovirus-transduced myoblast vectors.

Background And Purpose: Nitric oxide (NO) has been recognized as an important transmitter for genitourinary tract function. This transmitter mediates smooth muscle relaxation and is essential for erection. The objective of our research was to determine whether overexpression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the corpus cavernosum of the penis would correct erectile dysfunction.

Preliminary results of myoblast injection into the urethra and bladder wall: a possible method for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and impaired detrusor contractility.

The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of myoblasts, the precursors of muscle fibers, injected periurethrally as a potential treatment of stress urinary incontinence. We also studied myoblast injection into the bladder wall to potentially improve detrusor contractility. A myoblast cell line was transduced with adenovirus carrying the expression of the beta-galactosidase reporter gene while in culture.

Butyrylcholinesterase: an enzyme antidote for cocaine intoxication.

Cocaine-associated toxicity is the result of effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Since the primary route of cocaine inactivation is enzymatic degradation by butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), we sought to determine if the administration of purified human enzyme would ameliorate the lethal effects of cocaine. While the cardiovascular, autonomic or central nervous systems were unaffected by BChE, the enzyme reduced the adverse effects of cocaine including hypertension, hyperactivity and convulsions.

Therapeutic use of butyrylcholinesterase for cocaine intoxication.

The most common complications of cocaine ingestion are on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems and produce chest pain and generalized seizures. In humans, decreased levels of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) (EC 3.1.

Cocaine detoxification by human plasma butyrylcholinesterase.

The ability of human plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) to detoxify cocaine in vivo was evaluated. Intravenous administration of BChE, at doses sufficient to increase the plasma levels of the enzyme as much as 800-fold, produced no adverse effects on the cardiovascular, autonomic, or central nervous systems of rats. Most of the enzyme could be recovered in the plasma immediately after administration and remained active with a beta-t(1/2) of 21.

Cocaine and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE): determination of enzymatic parameters.

In humans, the plasma enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase (E.C. 3.

20-Hydroxyecdysone stimulates RNA polymerase I activity in silkmoth wing epidermis by increased synthesis and phosphorylation.

The activities of RNA polymerases I and II in the wing epidermis of diapausing silkmoth pupae increased about tenfold during the first day after administration of either 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) or 20E plus juvenile hormone (Katula et al., 1981a). The aim of these studies was to correlate these increases in RNA polymerase I and II activities to their amounts in hormone stimulated wing epidermis.

A modified PABC immunoassay for the quantitation of DNA dependent RNA polymerase I: a procedure applicable to other proteins present in minute amounts and/or isoforms.

An indirect enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA) has been developed to measure the amount of RNA polymerase I (E.C.2.

Ascites produced in recalcitrant hybridomas by backcrossing to a parental myeloma.

Hybridoma lines frequently lose their ability to produce ascites upon extended cultivation in vitro. We have reintroduced genes for tumor formation into three independent hybridoma lines by backcrossing them to the parental myeloma. The parental myeloma cells were eliminated by a brief in vitro selective period in HAT medium, after which the cells were inoculated into pristane-primed mice.