Sepiapterin reductase (SPR) catalyzes the final step of tetrahydrobiopterin (H(4)B) biosynthesis and the first step of H(4)B regeneration from an exogenous precursor sepiapterin. Despite the potential significance of SPR in regulating H(4)B-dependent nitric oxide (NO(*)) production, the endothelium-specific sequence and functions of SPR remain elusive. We first cloned endothelial SPR cDNA from ...

From active developments and applications of various devices to acquire outside and inside information and to operate based on feedback from that information, the sensor market is growing rapidly. In accordance to this trend, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor, an optical sensor, has been actively developed for high-sensitivity real-time detection. In this study, the fundamentals of SPR...

Presenilin is an essential component of the LIN-12/Notch signaling pathway and also plays a critical role in the genesis of Alzheimer's disease. Previously, a screen for suppressors of the egg-laying defective phenotype caused by partial loss of presenilin activity in Caenorhabditis elegans identified a number of new spr genes that are potentially involved in the regulation of LIN-12/Notch sign...

Substance P (SP) regulates interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production through interaction with the SP receptor NK1 (SPr) on T cells at sites of inflammation. Using murine schistosomiasis, we evaluated whether SPr expression was subject to immunoregulation. Splenocytes from schistosome-infected mice cultured for < or =18 h did not express SPr, as determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction...

The aim of this study is experimental assay of sensitivity and stability of a bimetallic silver/gold SPR sensor chip. This chip utilizes the sensitivity of the silver and the stability of the gold. Moreover, the Silver layer (instead of usual Cr or Ti layer) was used as an adhesive intermediate layer between the Gold layer and the glass substrate. The optimization of the Gold/Silver thickness u...

The lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans is determined by various genetic and environmental factors. In this paper, spr-3, a C. elegans homologous gene of the mammalian neural restrictive silencing factor (NRSF/REST), is reported to be an important gene regulating lifespan of C. elegans. A deletion mutation of spr-3, spr-3(ok2525), or RNAi inhibition of spr-3 expression led to the short lifespan ...

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) is a high-speed mechanical fastening technique which is suitable for point-joining advanced lightweight sheet materials that are dissimilar, coated, and hard to weld. Major advances have been made in recent years in SPR technique. Latest literature relating to finite element analysis (FEA) of SPR joints is reviewed in this paper. The recent development in FEA of SPR...

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors are optical sensors exploiting special electromagnetic waves-surface plasmon-polaritons-to probe interactions between an analyte in solution and a biomolecular recognition element immobilized on the SPR sensor surface. Major application areas include detection of biological analytes and analysis of biomolecular interactions where SPR biosensors provide...

Surfaceplasmonresonance (SPR) methods are surface-sensitive spectroscopic techniques that can be used to characterize a variety of ultrathin organic monolayers and multilayers at gold, silver, and copper surfaces. For example, SPR measurements have been used to study Langmuir-Blodgett films {1-3), selfassembled organic monolayers (4,5), specifically and nonspecifically adsorbed biopolymers (inc...