The tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) resistance gene Tm-1 encodes a protein that shows no sequence homology to functionally characterized proteins. Tm-1 binds ToMV replication proteins and thereby inhibits replication complex formation. ToMV mutants that overcome this resistance have amino acid substitutions in the helicase domain of the replication proteins (ToMV-Hel). A small region of Tm-1 in the ...

The tympanic membrane (TM) has a key role in transmitting sounds to the inner ear, but a concise description of how the TM performs this function remains elusive. This paper probes TM operation by applying a free field click stimulus to the gerbil ear and exploring the consequent motions of the TM and umbo. Motions of the TM were measured both on radial tracks starting close to the umbo and on ...

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells resistant to the antibiotic tunicamycin (TM) have been isolated by a stepwise selection procedure with progressive increments of TM added to the medium. TM inhibits asparagine-linked glycoprotein biosynthesis by blocking the transfer of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine to the lipid carrier. The TM-resistant cells exhibited a 200-fold...

Superantigens stimulate T cells bearing certain TCR beta-chain variable regions when bound to MHC II molecules. We investigated whether the superantigen toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST1) could induce an antitumor immune response when anchored onto MHC II-negative tumor cells. Our approach was to facilitate association of TSST1 with cell membranes by fusing its coding region to the transmembr...

Highly toxic organophosphorus compounds (OPs) were originally developed for warfare or as agricultural pesticides. Today, OPs represent a serious threat to military personnel and civilians. This study investigates the in vivo decontamination of male Wistar rats percutaneously exposed to paraoxon and two potent nerve agents--soman (GD) and VX. Four commercial detergents were tested as decontamin...

Tympanic membrane (TM) perforation, in particular chronic otitis media, is one of the most common clinical problems in the world and can present with sensorineural healing loss. Here, we explored an approach for TM regeneration where the latent progenitor or stem cells within TM epithelial layers may play an important regulatory role. We showed that potential TM stem cells present highly positi...

Tropomyosin (Tm) is a conserved dimeric coiled-coil protein, which forms polymers that curl around actin filaments in order to regulate actomyosin function. Acetylation of the Tm N-terminal methionine strengthens end-to-end bonds, which enhances actin binding as well as the ability of Tm to regulate myosin motor activity in both muscle and non-muscle cells. In this study we explore the function...

Thrombomodulin (TM), a critical component of the protein C anticoagulant pathway, has previously been localized to endothelial cells (EC), but not smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the blood vessel wall. We demonstrate that cultured rat, bovine, as well as human SMC, but not blood vessel wall smooth muscle tissue, possess significant functional levels of TM and TM mRNA. Cyclic adenosine monophosphat...