Search results for "Normal"

Random Forest Analysis: A New Approach for Classification of Beta Thalassemia

2020

In recent years, Thalassemia care providers started classifying patients as transfusion-dependent-Thalassemia (TDT) or non-transfusion-dependent-Thalassemia (NTDT) owing to the established role of transfusion therapy in defining the clinical complication profile, although this classification was also based on expert opinion and is limited by reliance on patients’current transfusion status. Starting from a vast set of variables indicating severity phenotype, through the use of both classification and clustering techniques we want to explore the presence of two (TDT vs NTDT) or more clusters, in order to approaching to a new definition for the classification of Beta-Thalassemia in Thalassemia…

Exciton and multiexciton optical properties of single InAs/GaAs site-controlled quantum dots

2013

We have studied the optical properties of InAs site-controlled quantum dots (SCQDs) grown on pre-patterned GaAs substrates. Since InAs nucleates preferentially on the lithography motifs, the location of the resulting QDs is determined by the pattern, which is fabricated by local oxidation nanolithography. Optical characterization has been performed on such SCQDs to study the fundamental and excited states. At the ground state different exciton complex transitions of about 500 μeV linewidth have been identified and the fine structure splitting of the neutral exciton has been determined (≈65 μeV). The observed electronic structure covers the demands of future quantum information technologies.…

Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Photodimerization of DNA/RNA Nucleobases in the Triplet State

2010

The photoinduced formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in the triplet excited state of the DNA/RNA pyrimidine nucleobases pairs has been studied at the CASPT2 level of theory. A stepwise mechanism through the triplet state of the homodimer is proposed for the pairs of nucleobases cytosine, thymine, and uracil involving a singlet−triplet crossing intermediary structure of biradical character representing the most favorable triplet state conformation of the nucleobases as found in the DNA environment. The efficiency of the mechanism will be modulated by two factors: the effectiveness of the triplet−triplet energy transfer process from a donor photosensitizer molecule, which relates to th…

2015

Study que Stion What are the long term trends in the total (live births, fetal deaths, and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly) and live birth prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in Europe, where many countries have issued recommendations for folic acid supplementation but a policy for mandatory folic acid fortification of food does not exist? Method S This was a population based, observational study using data on 11 353 cases of NTD not associated with chromosomal anomalies, including 4162 cases of anencephaly and 5776 cases of spina bifida from 28 EUROCAT (European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies) registries covering approximately 12.5 million births in 19 countries betwe…

In vivo discovery of a peptide that prevents CUG-RNA hairpin formation and reverses RNA toxicity in myotonic dystrophy models

2011

6 pages, 5 figures. PMID:21730182[PubMed] PMCID: PMC3141925[Available on 2012/1/19]

Methionine in a protein hydrophobic core drives tight interactions required for assembly of spider silk

2019

Web spiders connect silk proteins, so-called spidroins, into fibers of extraordinary toughness. The spidroin N-terminal domain (NTD) plays a pivotal role in this process: it polymerizes spidroins through a complex mechanism of dimerization. Here we analyze sequences of spidroin NTDs and find an unusually high content of the amino acid methionine. We simultaneously mutate all methionines present in the hydrophobic core of a spidroin NTD from a nursery web spider’s dragline silk to leucine. The mutated NTD is strongly stabilized and folds at the theoretical speed limit. The structure of the mutant is preserved, yet its ability to dimerize is substantially impaired. We find that side chains of…

Correction: Daunorubicin reduces MBNL1 sequestration caused by CUG-repeat expansion and rescues cardiac dysfunctions in a Drosophila model of myotoni…

2018

ABSTRACT Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a dominantly inherited neuromuscular disorder caused by expression of mutant myotonin-protein kinase (DMPK) transcripts containing expanded CUG repeats. Pathogenic DMPK RNA sequesters the muscleblind-like (MBNL) proteins, causing alterations in metabolism of various RNAs. Cardiac dysfunction represents the second most common cause of death in DM type 1 (DM1) patients. However, the contribution of MBNL sequestration in DM1 cardiac dysfunction is unclear. We overexpressed Muscleblind (Mbl), the Drosophila MBNL orthologue, in cardiomyocytes of DM1 model flies and observed a rescue of heart dysfunctions, which are characteristic of these model flies and resem…

Investigating REPAIRv2 as a Tool to Edit CFTR mRNA with Premature Stop Codons

2020

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. Some CF patients are compound heterozygous or homozygous for nonsense mutations in the CFTR gene. This implies the presence in the transcript of premature termination codons (PTCs) responsible for a truncated CFTR protein and a more severe form of the disease. Aminoglycoside and PTC124 derivatives have been used for the read-through of PTCs to restore the full-length CFTR protein. However, in a precision medicine framework, the CRISPR/dCas13b-based molecular tool &ldquo

Deregulated Splicing Is a Major Mechanism of RNA-Induced Toxicity in Huntington's Disease.

2019

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, translating into an elongated polyglutamine stretch. In addition to the neurotoxic mutant HTT protein, the mutant CAG repeat RNA can exert toxic functions by trapping RNA-binding proteins. While few examples of proteins that aberrantly bind to mutant HTT RNA and execute abnormal function in conjunction with the CAG repeat RNA have been described, an unbiased approach to identify the interactome of mutant HTT RNA is missing. Here, we describe the analysis of proteins that preferentially bind mutant HTT RNA using a mass spectrometry approach. We show that (I) the majority of proteins captured by mutant…

An efficient Escherichia coli expression system for the production of a functional N-terminal domain of the T1R3 taste receptor.

2012

http://www.landesbioscience.com/; International audience; Sweet taste is mediated by a dimeric receptor composed of two distinct subunits, T1R2 and T1R3, whereas the T1R1/T1R3 receptor is involved in umami taste perception. The T1R1, T1R2, and T1R3 subunits are members of the small family of class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The members of this family are characterized by a large N-terminal domain (NTD), which is structurally similar to bacterial periplasmic-binding proteins and contains the primary ligand-binding site. In a recent study, we described a strategy to produce a functional dimeric human T1R3-NTD. Although the protein was expressed as inclusion bodies (IBs) using the …