Glutamatergic inputs clustered over approximately 20-40 microm can elicit local N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) spike/plateau potentials in terminal dendrites of cortical pyramidal neurons, inspiring the notion that a single terminal dendrite can function as a decision-making computational subunit. A typical terminal basal dendrite is approximately 100-200 microm long: could it function as multiple...

Koshland’s four-point location model is applied to consider some enzymatic reactions of deracemization. The sequential a theory describing the cooperativity protein subunits. It postulates that conformation changes with each binding ligand, thus sequentially changing its affinity ligands at adjacent sites. When substrate binds active site one subunit enzyme, remaining subunits are activated. po...

UNLABELLED An essential component of goal-directed decision-making is the ability to maintain flexible responding based on the value of a given reward, or "reinforcer." The medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), a subregion of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, is uniquely positioned to regulate this process. We trained mice to nose poke for food reinforcers and then stimulated this region using ...

Evidence is presented suggesting that streptomycin binds to 16S RNA or to 30S ribosomal subunits at the same topographical site located on the RNA chain. The equally bactericidal dihydrostreptomycin binds to the same site as streptomycin but with lower affinity. The effect of drug binding to 16S RNA (measured by reconstitution inhibition) is readily reversible, while that of drug binding to 30S...

The determination of the high-resolution structures of ribosomal subunits in the year 2000 and of the entire ribosome a few years later are revolutionizing our understanding of the role of the ribosome in translation. In the present article, I summarize the main contributions from our laboratory to this worldwide effort. These include the determination of the structure of the 30S ribosomal subu...

We introduce a method for discriminating correctly folded proteins from well designed decoy structures using atom-atom and atom-solvent contact surfaces. The measure used to quantify contact surfaces integrates the solvent accessible surface and interatomic contacts into one quantity, allowing solvent to be treated as an atom contact. A scoring function was derived from statistical contact pref...

It was previously reported that unlike the other obg/cgtA GTPases, the Vibrio harveyi cgtAV is not essential. Here we show that cgtAV was not disrupted in these studies and is, in fact, essential for viability. Depletion of CgtAV did not result in cell elongation. CgtAV is associated with the large ribosomal particle. In light of our results, we predict that the V. harveyi CgtAV protein plays a...

It is generally accepted that globular proteins fold with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic exterior. Might the spatial distribution of amino acid hydrophobicity exhibit common features? The hydrophobic profile detailing this distribution from the protein interior to exterior has been examined for 30 relatively diverse structures obtained from the Protein Data Bank, for 3 proteins of the 30S...

Rod phosphodiesterase (PDE6) is the central effector enzyme in vertebrate visual transduction. Holo-PDE6 consists of two similar catalytic subunits (P ) and two identical inhibitory subunits (P ). P is the only heterodimer in the PDE superfamily, yet its significance for the function of PDE6 is poorly understood. An unequal interaction of P with P as compared with P in the PDE6 complex has not ...