In this issue, both Dong and Tweardy (page 2637) and Maurer et al (page 2647) offer a detailed functional and biochemical characterization of the Stat5b-RARa fusion protein, which was originally described in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) several years ago (Arnould et al, Hum Mol Genetics. 1999;8:1741-1749). Stat5b is one of 5 genes that have now been identified as fusion par...

Inorganic nitrogen concentrations in soil solutions vary across several orders of magnitude among different soils and as a result of seasonal changes. In order to respond to this heterogeneity, plants have evolved mechanisms to regulate and influx. In addition, efflux analysis using (13)N has revealed that there is a co-ordinated regulation of all component fluxes within the root, including bio...

The role of AtNrt2.1 and AtNrt2.2 genes, encoding putative NO(3)(-) transporters in Arabidopsis, in the regulation of high-affinity NO(3)(-) uptake has been investigated in the atnrt2 mutant, where these two genes are deleted. Our initial analysis of the atnrt2 mutant (S. Filleur, M.F. Dorbe, M. Cerezo, M. Orsel, F. Granier, A. Gojon, F. Daniel-Vedele [2001] FEBS Lett 489: 220-224) demonstrated...

BACKGROUND Elementary schools represent both a source of childhood sun exposure and a setting for educational interventions. METHODS Sun Protection of Florida's Children was a cluster randomized trial promoting hat use at (primary outcome) and outside of schools among fourth-grade students during August 8, 2006, through May 22, 2007. Twenty-two schools were randomly assigned to the interventi...

BACKGROUND   Substernal hand-assisted thoracoscopy (HATS) has been proposed as a reliable surgical method with which to perform a bilateral lung metastasectomy. Herein, we review our 15-year experience with this approach for the purpose of understanding the long-term results in a large study cohort. METHODS   The study cohort was a series of 87 patients that underwent a HATS lung metastasecto...

In papers by Wang et al. (1998), Liu et al. (1999), and Liu and Tsay (2003), it was proposed that Arabidopsis thaliana Nitrate Transporter1.1 (AtNRT1.1; CHL1) encodes a dual-affinity nitrate transporter that “plays a major role in high-affinity nitrate uptake.” Here, we evaluate this concept by reexamining the uptake kinetics of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutant lines defective in NRT1....

Chromatin structure is gaining increasing attention as a potential target in the treatment of cancer. Relaxation of the chromatin fiber facilitates transcription and is regulated by two competing enzymatic activities, histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), which modify the acetylation state of histone proteins and other promoter-bound transcription factors. While HA...