Recent advancements in toxin and antitoxin systems involved in bacterial programmed cell death.

Programmed cell death (PCD) systems have been extensively studied for their significant role in a variety of biological processes in eukaryotic organisms. Recently, more and more researches have revealed the existence of similar systems employed by bacteria in response to various environmental stresses. This paper summarized the recent researching advancements in toxin/antitoxin systems located on plasmids or chromosomes and their regulatory roles in bacterial PCD.

Disassembly intermediates of RbsD protein remain oligomeric despite the loss of an intact secondary structure.

Many proteins exist as homo-oligomers in living organisms wherein the change of oligomeric status apparently serves as an effective means for modulating their biological activities. We have previously reported that the homo-decameric RbsD from Escherichia coli undergoes stepwise disassembly and non-stepwise reassembly. Here the structural status of the urea-induced RbsD disassembly intermediates was examined, mainly using urea-containing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and chemical cross-linking.

[The application of the reverse engineering and rapid prototyping technology in the design of respiratory masks].

The application of the reverse engineering and rapid prototyping technologies in the design of respiratory masks is introduced in this paper. Practice indicates that the technologies can reduce the cost and save the time in product developments.