We discuss putative mechanisms of membrane protein transport in photoreceptors based on Pde6d and Gucy2e/Gucy2f knockout mice. Knockout of the Pde6d gene encoding PrBP/delta, a prenyl binding protein present in the retina at relatively high levels, was shown to impair transport of G-protein coupled receptor kinase 1 (GRK1) and cone phosphodiesterase alpha' subunit (PDE6alpha') to the rod and co...

I propose to study languages that can precisely and concisely represent biological processes such as the one described below. I give a very specific example, for concreteness and for shock value. But the range of phenomena and problems that fit in this endeavor is much larger. The domain is that of systems biology [13], which aims to represent not only cellularlevel phenomena, such as the one b...

Background The NO/cGMP signaling cascade has been proposed to play a role in long-term potentiation (LTP) and the modulation of synaptic transmission. Nitric oxide is formed enzymatically by NO synthases (NOS); two NOS, the endothelial and neuronal isoform (eNOS, nNOS) produce NO as a signalling molecule. Functionally, NO has been reported to act as a retrograde messenger that is generated post...

In this paper, we present the exact Hausdorff distance between the offset curve of quadratic Bézier curve and its quadratic GC1 approximation. To illustrate the formula for the Hausdorff distance, we give an example of the quadratic GC1 approximation of the offset curve of a quadratic Bézier curve. 1. Preliminaries Quadratic Bézier curves and their offset curves are widely used in CAD/CAM or Co...

Vitamin D pathway gene polymorphisms may influence breast cancer risk by altering potential anticarcinogenic effects of vitamin D. The association between polymorphisms in the vitamin D binding protein (Gc) and postmenopausal breast cancer risk, with additional focus on the influence of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], the biomarker for vitamin D status in humans, has not been examined thus...

OBJECTIVES To determine the context and location of antibiotic resistance genes in carbapenem- and aminoglycoside-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii global clone 2 (GC2) isolates carrying a class 1 integron. METHODS Isolates were from Sydney hospitals. Resistance to antibiotics was determined by disc diffusion. BLAST searches identified relevant DNA fragments in a draft genome sequence. PCR wa...

Synonymous codon usage (SCU) bias in oil-tea camellia cpDNAs was determined by examining 13 South Chinese samples and performing bioinformatics analysis using GenBank sequence information, revealing conserved among the samples. GC content at third position (GC3) lowest, with a preference for A or T, suggesting weak SCU bias. The contents first two positions (GC1 GC2) were extremely significantl...

THE MEMBRANE GUANYLATE CYCLASE FAMILY HAS BEEN BRANCHED INTO THREE SUBFAMILIES: natriuretic peptide hormone surface receptors, Ca(2+)-modulated neuronal ROS-GC, and Ca(2+)-modulated odorant surface receptor ONE-GC. The first subfamily is solely modulated by the extracellularly generated hormonal signals; the second, by the intracellularly generated sensory and sensory-linked signals; and the th...

Chronic exposure of β-cells to metabolic stresses impairs their function and potentially induces apoptosis. Mitochondria play a central role in coupling glucose metabolism to insulin secretion. However, little is known on mitochondrial responses to specific stresses; i.e. low versus high glucose, saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids, or oxidative stress. INS-1E cells were exposed for 3 days...