Fluorescent model substances of increasing lipophilicity (Oregon Green) 488, Bodipy, FL C5 and Bodipy 564/570 C5) were selected to enable the visualization in the skin using confocal laser scanning microscopy. After measuring the penetration for 18 h, the nonfixed human scalp skin was imaged from the bottom parallel to the stratum corneum and in a cross-section view perpendicular to the skin su...

Membrane fusion by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is promoted by the refolding of the viral envelope glycoprotein into a fusion-active conformation. The structure of the gp41 ectodomain core in its fusion-active state is a trimer of hairpins in which three antiparallel carboxyl-terminal helices pack into hydrophobic grooves on the surface of an amino-terminal trimeric coiled coil. ...

Na-phosphate (P(i)) cotransporters in the apical membrane of renal proximal tubular cells play a major role in the maintenance of P(i) homeostasis. Although two such cotransporters, Npt1 and Npt2, have been identified, little is known about the function and regulation of Npt1. We cloned and characterized the murine (Npt1) and human (NPT1) genes, isolated the 5'-flanking region of Npt1, and anal...

Biofilms are complex aggregations of microorganisms attached to a surface. The formation of biofilms might facilitate certain survival and virulence characteristics under some situations. This study tested the hypothesis that the ability of Enterococcus faecalis to form biofilms is related to the source of the strains. E. faecalis strains recovered from root canals (n = 33), the oral cavity (n ...

A criticism [Cornish-Bowden (1976) Biochem. J. 159, 167] of an algebraic method for deriving steady-state rate equations [Indge & Childs (1976) Biochem. J. 155, 567-570] is theoretically founded.