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Introduction: Asthma is a complex, heterogeneous and mutifactorial disease and represents a major health problem in Westernised countries. The airway epithelium, with its direct physical contact with luminal triggers, has a major role in determining the nature of inflammation that develops in asthmatic airways. Objective: The present review aims to provide a brief overview of the numerous ways the

BACKGROUND: Rye and wheat bran were treated with several xylanases and endoglucanases, and the effects on physicochemical properties such as solubility, viscosity, water-holding capacity and particle size as well as the chemical composition of the soluble and insoluble fractions of the bran were studied. A large number of enzymes with well-defined activities were used. This enabled a comparison be

Myoglobin (Mb) binds diatomic ligands, like O2, CO, and NO, in a cavity that is only transiently accessible. Crystallography and molecular simulations show that the ligands can migrate through an extensive network of transiently connected cavities but disagree on the locations and occupancy of internal hydration sites. Here, we use water (2)H and (17)O magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD) to chara

The Human Variome Project (HVP) is a world organization working towards facilitating the collection, curation, interpretation and free and open sharing of genetic variation information. A key component of HVP activities is the development of standards and guidelines. HVP Standards are systems, procedures and technologies that the HVP Consortium has determined must be used by HVP-affiliated data sh

Recently, the anticancer activity of human a-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells (HAMLET) has been linked to its increased membrane affinity in vitro, at neutral pH, and ability to cause leakage relative to the inactive native bovine alpha-lactalbumin (BLA) protein. In this study, atomic force microscopy resolved membrane distortions and annular oligomers (AOs) produced by HAMLET when deposited

To probe internal motions in proteins on the 10−8−10−5 s time scale by NMR relaxation, it is necessary to eliminate protein tumbling. Here, we examine to what extent magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD) experiments on the water 1H resonance report on protein motions in this time window. We also perform a critical test of two physically distinct mechanisms that have been proposed to explain and int

The normal flora furnishes the host with ecological barriers that prevent pathogen attack while maintaining tissue homeostasis. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) constitute a highly relevant model of microbial adaptation in which some patients infected with Escherichia coil develop acute pyelonephritis, while other patients with bacteriuria exhibit an asymptomatic carrier state similar to bacterial

Limited information about the relationship between specific mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) and cancer risk exists.

Adsorption of mixed polymer solutions in good solvent containing polymers of different chain length has been studied by applying simulation techniques on a coarse-grained bead-spring polymer model. Fully flexible polymers at varying bead-surface interaction strength and different combinations of flexible, semiflexible, and stiff polymers at a single bead-surface interaction strength have been exam

A key question in Huntington's disease (HD) is what underlies the early cognitive deficits that precede the motor symptoms and the characteristic neuronal death observed in HD. The mechanisms underlying cognitive symptoms in HD remain unknown. Postmortem HD brain and animal model studies demonstrate pathologies in dendritic spines and abnormal synaptic plasticity before motor symptoms and neurodeg

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in regulating multiple processes during brain development in various species. However, the function of miRNAs in human brain development remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of miRNA expression of regionalized neural progenitor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells and human foetal brain. We found miR-92b-3p and miR-1

Affinity proteomics, represented by antibody arrays, is a multiplex technology for high-throughput protein expression profiling of crude proteomes in a highly specific, sensitive, and miniaturized manner. The antibodies are individually deposited in an ordered pattern, an array, onto a solid support. Next, the sample is added, and any specifically bound proteins are detected and quantified using m

TP53 mutations in the absence of 17p-deletion correlate with rapid disease progression and poor survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Herein, we determined the TP53 mutation frequency in 268 newly diagnosed CLL patients from a population-based material. Overall, we detected TP53 mutations in 3.7% of patients (n = 10), where 7/10 cases showed a concomitant 17p-deletion, confirming the hig

This paper examines lip and jaw kinematics in the production of labial stop and fricative consonants where the duration of the oral closure/constriction is varied for linguistic purposes. The subjects were speakers of Japanese and Swedish, two languages that have a contrast between short and long consonants. Lip and jaw movements were recorded using a magnetometer system. Based on earlier work sho