A fundamental understanding of behavior requires predicting when and what an individual will choose. However, the actual temporal and sequential dynamics of successive choices made among multiple alternatives remain unclear. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that there is a general bursting property in both the timing and sequential patterns of foraging decisions. We conducted a fo...

Human factor D (FD) is a self-inhibited thrombin-like serine proteinase that is critical for amplification of the complement immune response. FD is activated by its substrate through interactions outside the active site. The substrate-binding, or `exosite', region displays a well defined and rigid conformation in FD. In contrast, remarkable flexibility is observed in thrombin and related protei...

Protein kinases share significant structural similarity; however, structural features alone are insufficient to explain their diverse functions. Thus, bridging the gap between static structure and function requires a more detailed understanding of their dynamic properties. For example, kinase activation may occur via a switch-like mechanism or by shifting a dynamic equilibrium between inactive ...

Gal3p is an allosteric monomeric protein that activates the GAL genetic switch of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in response to galactose. Expression of constitutive mutant of Gal3p or overexpression of wild-type Gal3p activates the GAL switch in the absence of galactose. These data suggest that Gal3p exists as an ensemble of active and inactive conformations. Structural data have indicated that Gal3...

EPAC is a cAMP-dependent guanine nucleotide exchange factor that serves as a prototypical molecular switch for the regulation of essential cellular processes. Although EPAC activation by cAMP has been extensively investigated, the mechanism of EPAC autoinhibition is still not fully understood. The steric clash between the side chains of two conserved residues, L273 and F300 in EPAC1, has been p...

Intact neutrophils exhibit interconverting active and inactive receptor states with half-times for dissociation of 10 s and 2 min, respectively. We examined the effect of guanine nucleotides on ligand-receptor dynamics at 37 degrees C in neutrophils permeabilized with digitonin using continuous fluorometric measurements. The permeabilized cells exhibit a single class of slowly dissociating rece...

Significance Monitoring the real-space motion of electrons directly involved in ultrafast molecular dynamics is a challenging goal, hindered by strong contributions remaining inactive electrons. Molecular quantum coherences can provide direct window into elementary electronic dynamics, but they could not be separately imaged so far. Here, we demonstrate time- and frequency-resolved X-ray diffra...

Fully understanding the mechanisms of signaling proteins such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) will require the characterization of their conformational states and the pathways connecting those states. The recent crystal structures of the beta(2)- and beta(1)-adrenergic receptors in a nominally inactive state constituted a major advance toward this goal, but also raised new questions. Alt...

Two-component signal transduction systems (TCS) are vital for adaptive responses to various environmental stresses in bacteria, fungi and even plants. A TCS typically comprises of a sensor histidine kinase (SK) with its cognate response regulator (RR), which often has two domains-N terminal receiver domain (RD) and C terminal effector domain (ED). The histidine kinase phosphorylates the RD to a...