SummaryTandem repeats are basic building blocks for constructing proteins with diverse structures and functions. Compared with extensively studied α-helix-based tandem repeats such as ankyrin, tetratricopeptide, armadillo, and HEAT repeat proteins, relatively little is known about tandem repeat...

A microenvironment-sensitive probe SCD is developed with a thiol-activated functional group, which could identify specific proteins containing free cysteine residues, such as human serum albumin (HSA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and β-lactoglobulin. The probe displays good selectivity and sens...

The rules governing sequence-specific DNA–protein recognition are under a long-standing debate regarding the prevalence of base versus shape readout mechanisms to explain sequence specificity and of the conformational selection versus induced fit binding paradigms to explain binding-related con...

When the wild-type green fluorescent protein (wtGFP) chromophore, p-hydroxybenzylidene-imidazolinone (p-HBDI), was modified into various analogues, its fluorescent state and relaxation pathways were also changed dramatically. In contrast to p-HBDI and its various analogues, such as the o-hydroxy...

BackgroundProteins change their conformation depending on function. Although a vast number of static pictures of proteins have been accumulated, information regarding their dynamics in function is limited. Diffracted X-ray tracking (DXT) is a good candidate to obtain the missing data.

Amyloid fibrils have traditionally been considered only as pathological aggregates in human neurodegenerative diseases, but it is increasingly becoming clear that the propensity to form amyloid fibrils is a generic property for all proteins, including food proteins. Differently from the patholog...

The twist gene was characterized in Drosophila as being necessary at gastrulation for the establishment of the mesodermal germ layer. It codes for a nuclear DNA-binding protein that is probably a transcription factor. We have cloned and sequenced the M-twist gene of Mus musculus. The deduced pro...

Mammalian hairs are internally patterned from both a morphological and proteomic perspective to exhibit specific functional traits, including curvature, which is important for coat structure affecting thermo-insulation. Most functional traits in mammalian coats are complex emergent phenomena ass...

SummaryA protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA) for detecting and localizing intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs) was built by bisection of miniSOG, a fluorescent flavoprotein derived from the light, oxygen, voltage (LOV)-2 domain of Arabidopsis phototropin. When brought toget...

Strain differences in immobility time in the forced swimming test were investigated in five strains of mice, namely, ICR, ddY, C57BL/6, DBA/2 and BALB/c mice. There were significant strain differences. The immobility times of ICR, ddY and C57BL/6 mice were longer than those of DBA/2 and BALB/c m...

Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors have shown to produce antinociceptive effects in several animal models of neuropathic pain. In the present work, we have analyzed the density of brain and spinal serotonin and noradrenaline transporters (5-HTT and NAT) in a rat model of neuropathic...

Baseline sympathetic activity was found to be elevated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and it is related to increased cardiovascular risk in these patients. Although many studies have highlighted the association between RA and increased cardiac sympathetic activity, the underlying mechanis...

Lymphocytes possess transporters of serotonin and dopamine, and also contain monoamines. The objective of this work was to determine the presence of noradrenaline transporters, the turnover rate of noradrenaline and serotonin in lymphocytes of major depression patients, and to correlate the bioc...

A petroleum ether extract (FP) from Fructus Psoraleae, seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L. (Leguminosae), was found to strongly inhibit dopamine (DA) uptake by dopamine transporter (DAT) heterogeneously expressed cells (D8 cells) and noradrenaline (NE) uptake by noradrenaline transporter (NET) hete...

A stereoselective 10-step synthesis of iodophenoxy analogues of (2R,3S)-reboxetine has been developed with the aim of generating a new SPECT imaging agent for the noradrenaline transporter (NAT). In vitro testing of these compounds against various mono-amine transporters showed an ortho-iodophen...

Amantadine is an established antiparkinsonian drug with a still unclear molecular site of action. In vivo studies on rodents, in vitro studies on tissue of rodents as well as binding studies on post mortem human tissue implicate monoamine transporters and NMDA receptors. In order to re-examine i...

Experimental animal work has demonstrated that dopamine and noradrenaline play an essential role in modulating prefrontal cortex-mediated networks underlying working memory performance. Studies of functional connectivity have been instrumental in extending such notions to humans but, so far, hav...

A new route for the stereoselective synthesis of iodinated reboxetine analogues has been developed for the generation of SPECT imaging agents for the noradrenaline transporter (NAT). (2S,3S)- and (2R,3R)-iodoreboxetine were prepared and biological testing against various mono-amine transporters ...

The brain noradrenaline (NA) system, particularly NA transporters (NAT), are thought to play an important role in modulating impulsive behavior. Impaired impulsivity is implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions; however, an in vivo link between central NAT availability and human imp...

Arsenic poisoning is a major problem in today's life. To reduce its concentration in drinking water, different metal based compounds were explored as arsenic adsorbents. In the present study, copper (II) oxide nanoparticles were prepared by thermal refluxing technique and used as an adsorbe...