Search results for "Microscopy"

Measuring Spatiotemporal Dependencies in Bivariate Temporal Random Sets with Applications to Cell Biology

2008

Analyzing spatiotemporal dependencies between different types of events is highly relevant to many biological phenomena (e.g., signaling and trafficking), especially as advances in probes and microscopy have facilitated the imaging of dynamic processes in living cells. For many types of events, the segmented areas can overlap spatially and temporally, forming random clumps. In this paper, we model the binary image sequences of two different event types as a realization of a bivariate temporal random set and propose a nonparametric approach to quantify spatial and spatiotemporal interrelations using the pair correlation, cross-covariance, and the Ripley K functions. Based on these summary st…

Exploiting Cryo-EM Structural Information and All-Atom Simulations To Decrypt the Molecular Mechanism of Splicing Modulators.

2019

Splicing modulators (SMs) pladienolides, herboxidienes, and spliceostatins exert their antitumor activity by altering the ability of SF3B1 and PHF5A proteins, components of SF3b splicing factor, to recognize distinct intron branching point sequences, thus finely calibrating constitutive/alternative/aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA. Here, by exploiting structural information obtained from cryo-EM data, and by performing multiple μs-long all-atom simulations of SF3b in apo form and in complex with selected SMs, we disclose how these latter seep into the narrow slit at the SF3B1/PHF5A protein interface. This locks the intrinsic open/closed conformational transitions of SFB1's solenoidal structure…

3-D reconstruction of hemocyanins and other invertebrate hemolymph proteins by cryo-TEM: an overview.

2004

Three-dimensional structure of hepatitis B virus core particles determined by electron cryomicroscopy

1994

Human hepatitis B virus core protein expressed in E. coli assembles into two sizes of particle. We have determined their three-dimensional structures by electron cryomicroscopy and image processing. The large and small particles correspond to triangulation number T = 4 and T = 3 dimer clustered packings, containing 240 and 180 protein subunits, respectively. The local packing of subunits is very similar in the two sizes of particle and shows holes or channels through the shell. The native viral core particle packages RNA and is active in reverse transcription to DNA. The holes we observe may provide access for the necessary small molecules. Shells assembled from the intact core protein cont…

Structure of the Cryptosporidium parvum microneme: a metabolically and osmotically labile apicomplexan organelle.

2003

From an EM study of thin sections, the rod-like microneme organelles within conventionally glutaraldehyde fixed Cryptosporidium parvum sporozoites have been shown to undergo a shape change to a more spherical structure when the sporozoites age in vitro for a period of approximately 12 to 24 h. This correlates with the shape change of intact sporozoites, from motile hence viable thin banana-shaped cells to swollen pear-shaped cells, shown by differential interference contrast light microscopy of unstained unfixed and glutaraldehyde-fixed samples, as well as by thin section EM of fixed sporozoites. From negatively stained EM specimens of unfixed and fixed sporozoites the cellular shape change…

Ultrastructure, fractionation and biochemical analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum sporozoites.

1999

Abstract Sporozoites of the apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum were subjected to cell disruption and subcellular fractionation using a sucrose density step gradient. With this procedure, highly enriched preparations of the parasite membrane, the micronemes, dense granules and amylopectin granules were produced. No separate fraction containing rhoptries was obtained, however this organelle was found in defined fractions of the gradient, still associated with the apical tip of the sporozoites. Using negative staining, the internal structure of the micronemes was revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Micronemes and dense granules showed characteristic protein compositions by …

Dislocations in AIIIBVI single crystals

1988

High densities of planar defects are evidenced in various AIIIBVI layer compounds by systematic electron microscopy observations with the dark-field weak-beam image technique. Several samples are analyzed, as obtained from different crystal ingots of InSe grown by the Bridgman-Stockbarger method, and some GaS and GaSe single crystals grown both, from the melt and from the vapour. The observed defects are identified mainly as screw and edge dislocations, the orientation of which is obtained in some cases by the analysis of the Moire fringes. Dislocation densities ranging between 108 and 1010 cm−2 are measured, not uniformly distributed in the various regions of each sample. Finally, the obse…

Radiation damage in zircon

2003

A single, zoned, Sri Lankan zircon exhibits a range of microstructures from crystalline to nearly amorphous that are the result of radiation damage over a dose range of 2.1–10.1·1015 α-decay events/mg (0.16–0.47 dpa). The zones in the crystal were examined at a variety of length scales using optical microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. Birefringence varies linearly with dose: birefringence = −4.71·10−18 /g· D α + 4.86·10−2. Full width at half maximum (FWHM) measurements of the B1g(ν3) peak, as determined by micro-Raman spectroscopy, were used to estimate the extent of radiation damage in each zone. The radiation dose (calc…

Protective Effects of L- and D-Carnosine on R-Crystallin Amyloid Fibril Formation: Implications for Cataract Disease

2009

Mildly denaturing conditions induce bovine ?-crystallin, the major structural lens protein, to self-assemble into fibrillar structures in vitro. The natural dipeptide L-carnosine has been shown to have potential protective and therapeutic significance in many diseases. Carnosine derivatives have been proposed as potent agents for ophthalmic therapies of senile cataracts and diabetic ocular complications. Here we report the inhibitory effect induced by the peptide (L- and D-enantiomeric form) on ?-crystallin fibrillation and the almost complete restoration of the chaperone activity lost after denaturant and/or heat stress. Scanning force microscopy (SFM), thioflavin T, and a turbidimetry ass…

Crystalline subtype of pre-descemetic corneal dystrophy.

2014

Purpose: To report corneal findings in a familial case of the crystalline subtype of pre- Descemetic corneal dystrophy. Case Report: A 19-year-old girl and her 44-year-old mother were found to have asymptomatic, bilateral, punctiform and multi-colored crystalline opacities across the whole posterior layer of the corneas. Endothelial specular microscopy revealed the presence of white round flecks located at different levels anterior to the endothelium. No systemic abnormalities or medications could be related to account for these findings. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the third familial report of this rare corneal disorder. Differential diagnosis may include Schnyder cor…