The genome sequence of the thermoacidophilic scavenger Thermoplasma acidophilum.

Thermoplasma acidophilum is a thermoacidophilic archaeon that thrives at 59 degrees C and pH 2, which was isolated from self-heating coal refuse piles and solfatara fields. Species of the genus Thermoplasma do not possess a rigid cell wall, but are only delimited by a plasma membrane. Many macromolecular assemblies from Thermoplasma, primarily proteases and chaperones, have been pivotal in elucidating the structure and function of their more complex eukaryotic homologues.

Beta-turn propensities as paradigms for the analysis of structural motifs to engineer protein stability.

The thermodynamic stability of a protein provides an experimental metric for the relationship of protein sequence and native structure. We have investigated an approach based on an analysis of the structural database for stability engineering of an immunoglobulin variable domain. The most frequently occurring residues in specific positions of beta-turn motifs were predicted to increase the folding stability of mutants that were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis.

Efficacy of penbutolol and a fixed combination of penbutolol with furosemide in the treatment of hypertension.

In an open multi-centre study, 51 patients with mild to moderate hypertension were treated with either a single dose of 40 mg penbutolol per day for 8 weeks or changed over at 4 weeks due to inadequate response with penbutolol alone to a single dose (1 tablet) of a fixed combination of 40 mg penbutolol and 20 mg furosemide per day for a further 4 weeks. Thirty-six (70%) of the patients showed an adequate reduction in diastolic blood pressure to 95 mmHg or less on penbutolol alone. Of the 15 patients who did not show the desired response to penbutolol alone, 13 (86.