The role of the cytoplasmic loops and C-terminal region of bovine rhodopsin (Rho) in binding and activating rhodopsin kinase was investigated. The ability of various enzymatically truncated forms of photolyzed rhodopsin (Rho*) to stimulate rhodopsin kinase activity was quantified. Following endopeptidase Asp-N cleavage of all phosphorylation sites on the C-terminal, the resulting truncated Rho*...

Rhodopsin (Rho) resides within internal membrane structures called disc membranes that are found in the rod outer segments (ROS) of photoreceptors in the retina. Rho expression is essential for formation of ROS, which are absent in knockout Rho-/- mice. ROS of mice heterozygous for the Rho gene deletion (Rho+/-) may have a lower Rho density than wild type (WT) membranes, or the ROS structure ma...

The present study aimed to investigate the changes of Rho-associated kinase (Rho-kinase) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression in age-associated erectile dysfunction (ED) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. A total of 100 intact male SD rats were divided into 20 groups according to their age (5-24 months; rats that were the same age in months were in the same group). Erectile response m...

Two strand-specific origins of replication appear to be required for mammalian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication. Structural equivalents of these origins are found in the rep sequences of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mtDNA. These striking similarities have contributed to a universal model for the initiation of mtDNA replication in which a primer is created by cleavage of an origin region transc...

Simulations of the Lebowitz length, xiL (T, rho), are reported for the restricted primitive model hard-core (diameter a) 1:1 electrolyte for densities rho approximately < 4rho(c) and T(c) approximately < T approximately < 40T(c). Finite-size effects are elucidated for the charge fluctuations in various subdomains that serve to evaluate xiL. On extrapolation to the bulk limit for T approximately...