A normal pregnancy results in a number of important physiological and hormonal changes that alter thyroid function. These changes mean that laboratory tests of thyroid function must be interpreted with caution during pregnancy. Levels of thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) and production of T3 and T4 hormones and the daily requirement of iodine in pregnancy are increased to 50%, TSH receptor stimu...

CD8+ T cells induced by Plasmodium yoelii sporozoites develop into protective memory cells without undergoing changes in interleukin-7 receptor alpha (IL-7Ralpha) expression, differing from the development of memory CD8+ T cells against viruses, which is associated with enhanced IL-7Ralpha expression. This suggests a microbe-dependent diversity in the signals determining the development of memo...

Removal of the mRNA 5' cap is an important step in the regulation of mRNA stability. mRNAs are degraded by at least two distinct exonucleolytic decay pathways, one from the 5' end, and the second from the 3' end. Two major cellular decapping enzymes have been identified, and each primarily functions in one of the two decay pathways. The Dcp2 decapping enzyme utilizes capped mRNA as substrate an...