ATP mediates rapid microglial response to local brain injury in vivo
Published in Nature Neuroscience
Views of helical peptides: a proposal for the position of 3(10)-helix along the thermodynamic folding pathway.
Published in Biochemistry
A Proximal Bisnitroxide Initiator: Studies in Low-Temperature Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerizations.
Published in Macromolecules
Nitroxide-mediated "living" radical polymerization with bisalkoxyamine 2,5,5,8,8,11-hexamethyl-4,9-(1-phenylethoxy)-3,10-diphenyl-4,9-diazadodecane produces polymers of controlled length and narrow molecular weight distributions at temperatures ranging from 70 to 110 °C. Polymerizations were run successfully with styrene (St), tert-butyl acrylate (...
Selective placement of electron spin resonance spin labels: new structural methods for peptides and proteins.
Published in Trends in Biochemical Sciences
Electron spin resonance (ESR) is more powerful than ever as a technique for solving biochemical and biophysical problems. Part of the great utility of ESR arises from the use of modern biochemical methods to place spin labels at important positions along the primary sequence of a peptide or protein.
A function for kinesin I in the posterior transport of oskar mRNA and Staufen protein.
Published in Science
The asymmetric localization of messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein determinants plays an important role in the establishment of complex body plans. In Drosophila oocytes, the anterior localization of bicoid mRNA and the posterior localization of oskar mRNA are key events in establishing the anterior-posterior axis. Although the mechanisms that drive b...
Manganese targets m-aconitase and activates iron regulatory protein 2 in AF5 GABAergic cells.
Published in Journal of Neuroscience Research
Studies suggest that disturbances of amino acid metabolism and cellular iron regulation are important mechanisms underlying manganese (Mn) neurotoxicity, although the targets underlying these disturbances are poorly defined. Using the AF5 neural-derived cell line, which displays GABAergic properties, we showed that Mn significantly increased glutam...
Structural transitions and elasticity from torque measurements on DNA.
Published in Nature
Knowledge of the elastic properties of DNA is required to understand the structural dynamics of cellular processes such as replication and transcription. Measurements of force and extension on single molecules of DNA have allowed direct determination of the molecule s mechanical properties, provided rigorous tests of theories of polymer elasticity,...
The telomerase essential N-terminal domain promotes DNA synthesis by stabilizing short RNA-DNA hybrids.
Published in Nucleic Acids Research
Telomerase is an enzyme that adds repetitive DNA sequences to the ends of chromosomes and consists of two main subunits: the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) protein and an associated telomerase RNA (TER). The telomerase essential N-terminal (TEN) domain is a conserved region of TERT proposed to mediate DNA substrate interactions. Here, we h...
PrP overdrive: does inhibition of α-cleavage contribute to PrP(C) toxicity and prion disease?
Published in Prion
Knockout of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) in mice is tolerated, as is complete elimination of the protein s N-terminal domain. However, deletion of select short segments between the N- and C-terminal domains is lethal. How can one reconcile this apparent paradox? Research over the last few years demonstrates that PrP(C) undergoes α-cleavage i...
Susceptibility to Paget s disease of bone is influenced by a common polymorphic variant of osteoprotegerin.
Published in Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
