125Sb高自旋态: 粒子-核芯激发耦合

利用在束γ谱学方法, 通过¹²⁴Sn (⁷Li, α2n)反应研究了¹²⁵Sb的激发态, 首次建立了¹²⁵Sb的高自旋能级纲图, 其中包括21条新 γ 跃迁和14个新能级. 发现1970, 2110和2470 keV 3个能级为同质异能态, 基于延迟符合测量确定了它们的寿命范围, 并确定其自旋、宇称分别为15/2^-, 19/2^-和23/2⁺. 根据粒子-核芯耦合图像和经验壳模型计算解释了¹²⁵Sb的能级结构, 3个同质异能态的组态分别被指定为πg_7/2 Ä^{v(h_11/2s_1/2)_5-} , πg_7/2 Ä v(h_11/2d_3/2)_7^-, 和πg_7/2 Äv(h²_11/2)_10⁺     

Glycolipid transfer protein and intracellular traffic of glucosylceramide

Summary Glycolipid transfer protein (GL-TP), a nonglycosylated protein with a molecular weight of 22,000 K, has been purified from pig brain. The protein transfers, by a carrier mechanism, glycolipids with a -glucosyl or -galactosyl residue directly linked to either ceramide or diacylglycerol. GL-TP appears to be present in most animal cells, and evidence has been obtained which indicates that it is a cytoplasmic protein. Little is known about the function of GL-TP. Current evidence indicates that glycosphingolipid glycosylation occurs at the luminal side of the Golgi apparatus, except for the glucosylation of ceramide, which has been shown to occur at the cytoplasmic side of the Golgi or endoplasmic membrane. It appears most likely that GL-TP participates in the intracellular traffic of glucosylceramide.     

Perceptual learning without perception.

The brain is able to adapt rapidly and continually to the surrounding environment, becoming increasingly sensitive to important and frequently encountered stimuli. It is often claimed that this adaptive learning is highly task-specific, that is, we become more sensitive to the critical signals in the tasks we attend to. Here, we show a new type of perceptual learning, which occurs without attention, without awareness and without any task relevance. Subjects were repeatedly presented with a background motion signal so weak that its direction was not visible; the invisible motion was an irrelevant background to the central task that engaged the subject's attention. Despite being below the threshold of visibility and being irrelevant to the central task, the repetitive exposure improved performance specifically for the direction of the exposed motion when tested in a subsequent suprathreshold test. These results suggest that a frequently presented feature sensitizes the visual system merely owing to its frequency, not its relevance or salience.     

High-throughput oncogene mutation profiling in human cancer

Systematic efforts are underway to decipher the genetic changes associated with tumor initiation and progression. However, widespread clinical application of this information is hampered by an inability to identify critical genetic events across the spectrum of human tumors with adequate sensitivity and scalability. Here, we have adapted high-throughput genotyping to query 238 known oncogene mutations across 1,000 human tumor samples. This approach established robust mutation distributions spanning 17 cancer types. Of 17 oncogenes analyzed, we found 14 to be mutated at least once, and 298 (30%) samples carried at least one mutation. Moreover, we identified previously unrecognized oncogene mutations in several tumor types and observed an unexpectedly high number of co-occurring mutations. These results offer a new dimension in tumor genetics, where mutations involving multiple cancer genes may be interrogated simultaneously and in 'real time' to guide cancer classification and rational therapeutic intervention.     

X-ray analysis of glucagon and its relationship to receptor binding.

X-ray analysis of the pancreatic hormone glucagon shows that in crystals the polypeptide adopts a mainly helical conformation, which is stabilised by hydrophobic interactions between molecules related by threefold symmetry. A model is presented in which the glucagon molecule exists in dilute solutions as an equilibrium population of conformers with little retention of conformers with little retention of structure, and in which the helical conformation is stablised by hydrophobic interactions either as an oligomer or as a complex with the receptor.     

Essential role for de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a in paternal and maternal imprinting

Imprinted genes are epigenetically marked during gametogenesis so that they are exclusively expressed from either the paternal or the maternal allele in offspring. Imprinting prevents parthenogenesis in mammals and is often disrupted in congenital malformation syndromes, tumours and cloned animals. Although de novo DNA methyltransferases of the Dnmt3 family are implicated in maternal imprinting, the lethality of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b knockout mice has precluded further studies. We here report the disruption of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b in germ cells, with their preservation in somatic cells, by conditional knockout technology. Offspring from Dnmt3a conditional mutant females die in utero and lack methylation and allele-specific expression at all maternally imprinted loci examined. Dnmt3a conditional mutant males show impaired spermatogenesis and lack methylation at two of three paternally imprinted loci examined in spermatogonia. By contrast, Dnmt3b conditional mutants and their offspring show no apparent phenotype. The phenotype of Dnmt3a conditional mutants is indistinguishable from that of Dnmt3L knockout mice, except for the discrepancy in methylation at one locus. These results indicate that both Dnmt3a and Dnmt3L are required for methylation of most imprinted loci in germ cells, but also suggest the involvement of other factors.