LasX regulates the transcription of the divergent operons lasXY and lasA-W, which specify the production of lactocin S in Lactobacillus sakei L45. Using histidine-tagged LasX, and a DNA fragment containing the complete intergenic lasA-lasX region, electrophoresis mobility-shift (EMSA) analyses were employed to demonstrate that LasX binds to the lasA-lasX intergenic DNA. Two direct heptanucleoti...

Unnatural L-2'-deoxyribonucleosides L-T, L-dC, L-dA and L-dG were prepared from L-arabinose and assembled, by solution or solid phase synthesis, to give L-oligonucleotides (L-DNAs), which contain all four natural bases. The affinity of these modified oligomers for complementary D-ribo- and D-deoxyribo-oligomers was studied with NMR, UV and CD spectroscopies and mobility shift assay on native PA...

RAG1 and RAG2 proteins catalyze site-specific DNA cleavage reactions in V(D)J recombination, a process that assembles antigen receptor genes from component gene segments during lymphocyte development. The first step towards the DNA cleavage reaction is the sequence-specific association of the RAG proteins with the conserved recombination signal sequence (RSS), which flanks each gene segment in ...

Ocular enucleation produces significant morphological and physiological changes in central visual areas. However, our knowledge of the molecular events resulting from eye enucleation in visual brain areas remains elusive. We characterized here the transcription nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation induced by ocular enucleation in the rat superior colliculus (SC). We also tested the effecti...

Nanomaterial particles exhibit a wide range of sizes through the formation of agglomerates/aggregates. To assess nanomaterial exposure in the workplace, accurate measurements of particle concentration and size distribution are needed. In this study, we evaluated the performance of two recently commercialized instruments: a portable scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) (NanoScan, TSI Inc.), w...

The KI and KII sites play a crucial role in kappa-chain gene rearrangement, which was investigated in mice deficient for these sites. Previously, we found that Pax-5 can bind to the KI and KII sites; however, the function of Pax-5 in kappa-chain gene rearrangement has not been investigated. Here, we have used an in vitro culture system in which differentiation from pre-B cells to immature B cel...

Conjugation of DNA intercalators to triple helix forming oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN's) can enhance ODN binding properties and consequently their potential ability to modulate gene expression. To test the hypothesis that linkage structure could strongly influence the binding enhancement of intercalator conjugation with triplex forming ODN's, we have used a model system to investigate binding avi...

The telomere repeat units of Candida species are substantially longer and more complex than those in other organisms, raising interesting questions concerning the recognition mechanisms of telomere-binding proteins. Herein we characterized the properties of Candida parapsilosis Cdc13A and Cdc13B, two paralogs that are responsible for binding and protecting the telomere G-strand tails. We found ...

Recent studies on the use of portable audio listening devices indicate that while sustained listening at the maximum output volume of the unit is potentially hazardous with most devices, personal habits and listening preferences during actual use are such that only a 5-10% fraction of users may be at high risk of developing permanent hearing damage. Given the explosive increase in sales for the...

The identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) such as height and their underlying causative variants is still challenging and often requires large sample sizes. In humans hundreds of loci with small effects control the heritable portion of height variability. In domestic animals, typically only a few loci with comparatively large effects explain a major fraction of the heritability. We in...