Search results for "Specificity."
showing 10 items of 2232 documents
MyRIP, a novel Rab effector, enables myosin VIIa recruitment to retinal melanosomes
2002
Defects of the myosin VIIa motor protein cause deafness and retinal anomalies in humans and mice. We report on the identification of a novel myosin-VIIa-interacting protein that we have named MyRIP (myosin-VIIa- and Rab-interacting protein), since it also binds to Rab27A in a GTP-dependent manner. In the retinal pigment epithelium cells, MyRIP, myosin VIIa and Rab27A are associated with melanosomes. In transfected PC12 cells, overexpression of MyRIP was shown to interfere with the myosin VIIa tail localization. We propose that a molecular complex composed of Rab27A, MyRIP and myosin VIIa bridges retinal melanosomes to the actin cytoskeleton and thereby mediates the local trafficking of thes…
Suitability ofMMGBSAfor the selection of correct ligand binding modes from docking results
2018
The estimation of the correct binding mode and affinity of a ligand into a target protein using computational methods is challenging. However, docking can introduce poses from which the correct binding mode could be identified using other methods. Here, we analyzed the reliability of binding energy estimation using the molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MMGBSA) method without and with energy minimization to identify the likely ligand binding modes within docking results. MMGBSA workflow (a) outperformed docking in recognizing the correct binding modes of androgen receptor ligands and (b) improved the correlation coefficient of computational and experimental results of rescor…
Novel Hydrazine Molecules as Tools To Understand the Flexibility of Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 Ligand-Binding Site: Toward More Selective Inhibitors
2011
Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) belongs to a family of amine oxidases. It plays a role in leukocyte trafficking and in amine compound metabolism. VAP-1 is linked to various diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, psoriasis, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Accordingly, selective inhibitors of VAP-1 could potentially be used to treat those diseases. In this study, eight novel VAP-1 hydrazine derivatives were synthesized and their VAP-1 and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition ability was determined in vitro. MD simulations of VAP-1 with these new molecules reveal that the VAP-1 ligand-binding pocket is flexible and capable of fitting substantially larger ligands than was previously believ…
Characterization of monoclonal antibodies generated against bovine and porcine prostacyclin synthase and quantitation of bovine prostacyclin synthase
1994
AbstractMonoclonal antibodies were raised against prostacyclin synthases purified from bovine and porcine aortae, respectively. Two monoclonal antibodies, RS1 and RS2, were purified and characterized. As shown by enzyme activity precipitation and Western blot analysis, in solubilized bovine and porcine aortae microsomes the monoclonal antibodies reacted only with prostacyclin synthase. The monoclonal antibody RS1 cross-reacts with partially purified prostacyclin synthase from human umbilical veins in an ELISA-based assay. None of the antibodies inhibited the enzyme activity. By combination of the monoclonal antibody RS2 with a polyclonal antibody we established an enzyme-linked immunosorben…
The Essential Oil Compositions of Three Teucrium Taxa Growing Wild in Sicily: HCA and PCA Analyses
2021
The chemical composition and the qualitative and quantitative variability of the essential oils of three taxa belonging to the Teucrium genus were studied. The investigated taxa, that grow wild in Sicily, were Teucrium flavum L. (section Chamaedrys (Mill.) Scheb.), Teucrium montanum and Teucrium capitatum L. of section Polium (Mill.) Scheb. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. In total, 74 compounds were identified. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were found to be the main group for T. flavum (48.3%). T. capitatum consisted essentially of monoterpene hydrocarbons (72.7%), with &alpha
Isolation of the left atrial surface from cardiac multi-detector CT images based on marker controlled watershed segmentation
2006
The delineation of left atrium (LA) and pulmonary veins (PVs) anatomy from high resolution images holds importance for atrial fibrillation (AF) investigation and treatment. In this study, a semiautomatic segmentation procedure for LA and PVs inner surface from contrast enhanced CT data was developed. The procedure consists of a three dimensional marker controlled watershed segmentation applied to the external morphological gradient, followed by variable threshold surface extraction from the original intensity image. A preliminary anisotropic non-linear filtering was implemented to improve the S/N ratio of CT images. The performance of segmentation was evaluated on cardiac CT scans of 12 AF …
Functional adaptations in the craniofacial morphology of Malagasy primates: shape variations associated with gummivory in the family Cheirogaleidae.
2005
Summary The infraorder Lemuriformes is characterized by a high level of homoplasy that clouds the evolutionary signal. The analysis of the morphological disparity of the Malagasy primates' crania and mandibles demonstrates the high determinism of functional specializations and developmental constraints, regardless of the phylogeny. In the present work, the weight of functional constraints linked to diet — a putative source of homoplasy — is analyzed first at the level of the infraorder Lemuriformes as a whole, and secondly at the level of a single family, the Cheirogaleidae, chosen because it contains taxa with two different diets (omnivory and gummivory). Malagasy primates are characterize…
Phenotypic plasticity in haptoral structures of Ligophorus cephali (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) on the flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus): A Geometric M…
2015
Abstract Evaluating phenotypic plasticity in attachment organs of parasites can provide information on the capacity to colonise new hosts and illuminate evolutionary processes driving host specificity. We analysed the variability in shape and size of the dorsal and ventral anchors of Ligophorus cephali from Mugil cephalus by means of geometric morphometrics and multivariate statistics. We also assessed the morphological integration between anchors and between the roots and points in order to gain insight into their functional morphology. Dorsal and ventral anchors showed a similar gradient of overall shape variation, but the amount of localised changes was much higher in the former. Statist…
Phenotypes of intermediate forms of Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica in buffaloes from Central Punjab, Pakistan.
2013
AbstractFascioliasis is an important food-borne parasitic disease caused by the two trematode species, Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The phenotypic features of fasciolid adults and eggs infecting buffaloes inhabiting the Central Punjab area, Pakistan, have been studied to characterize fasciolid populations involved. Morphometric analyses were made with a computer image analysis system (CIAS) applied on the basis of standardized measurements. Since it is the first study of this kind undertaken in Pakistan, the results are compared to pure fasciolid populations: (a) F. hepatica from the European Mediterranean area; and (b) F. gigantica from Burkina Faso; i.e. geographical areas wh…
Strain-specific development of the mossy fiber system in organotypic cultures of the mouse hippocampus
1988
Abstract The postnatal development of the hippocampus of the inbred mice strains BALB/c, C57BL/6, and DBA/2 was studied in organotypic explant cultures using the roller-tube technique. In vivo, mice exhibit strain-specific mossy fiber distribution patterns. As a main result we found, that after cultivation of 3–4 weeks, similar strain-specific patterns became apparent in vitro, as visualized by a modified Timm staining. From this experiment we can conclude that a postnatal extrinsic influence cannot be the cause of the strain-specific hippocampal features.