Exotoxin A-eEF2 complex structure indicates ADP ribosylation by ribosome mimicry

The bacteria causing diphtheria, whooping cough, cholera and other diseases secrete mono-ADP-ribosylating toxins that modify intracellular proteins. Here, we describe four structures of a catalytically active complex between a fragment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) and its protein substrate, translation elongation factor 2 (eEF2). The target residue in eEF2, diphthamide (a modified histidine), spans across a cleft and faces the two phosphates and a ribose of the non-hydrolysable NAD+ analogue, betaTAD. This suggests that the diphthamide is involved in triggering NAD+ cleavage and interacting with the proposed oxacarbenium intermediate during the nucleophilic substitution reaction, explaining the requirement of diphthamide for ADP ribosylation. Diphtheria toxin may recognize eEF2 in a manner similar to ETA. Notably, the toxin-bound betaTAD phosphates mimic the phosphate backbone of two nucleotides in a conformational switch of 18S rRNA, thereby achieving universal recognition of eEF2 by ETA.     

简析中西思维方式的差异

思维方式的差异是中西方之间最根本的差异之一。文中就中西方在思维方式上的差异,怎样正确认识中西交流中思维方式的差异进行了阐述,为中西方文化冲突的解决提供参考。     

Mechanism of colour discrimination by a bacterial sensory rhodopsin

A photosensitive protein resembling the visual pigments of invertebrates enables phototactic archaebacteria to distinguish colour. This protein exists in two spectrally-distinct forms, one of which is a transient photoproduct of the other and each of which undergoes photochemical reactions controlling the cell's swimming behaviour. Activation of a single pigment molecule in the cell is sufficient to signal the flagellar motor. This signal-transduction mechanism makes evident a colour-sensing capability inherent in the retinal/protein chromophore.     

柔性隔离层下单漏斗散体矿岩流动规律

同步充填留矿法因柔性隔离层的存在,其散体矿岩流动规律突破传统放矿理论的描述范围,因此开展柔性隔离层下单漏斗散体矿岩流动规律研究对于丰富放矿学理论具有重要意义。基于相似原理建立物理试验模型,以标记颗粒刻画出放出体和松动体形态,采用高清摄像机记录试验基础数据。基于试验数据,对柔性隔离层下单漏斗放矿放出体、松动体、空腔等演化规律进行分析。最高层位矿石未放出前,放出体呈完整封闭的近似椭球体形态;放出后,放出体呈现为陀螺体。最高层位矿石产生沉降前,松动体为完整封闭的近似椭球体形态;产生沉降后,松动体形态整体上呈喇叭状,喇叭状松动体上部为指数曲线,下部为近似部分椭球体。空腔在最高层位矿石产生沉降瞬间开始形成;隔离层边界与矿石层边界相切于空腔边界,切角随着隔离层下降深度的增大而增大,至散体自然安息角后保持不变,切点位置随着隔离层下沉由中间逐渐向两侧发展至放矿终止。     

创伤后急性胆囊炎

本文指出:“创伤后的急性胆囊炎为急性结石性胆囊炎,是创伤后的一种严重并发症”。“一旦确诊应尽快手术治疗”。本组5例经胆囊切除后均痊愈。     

Photoreceptor-specific degeneration caused by tunicamycin

The antibiotic tunicamycin inhibits the biosynthesis of N-acetylglucosaminylpyrophosphoryl polyisoprenol, a key intermediate in the formation of the asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins. The effects of tunicamycin have been studied in various biological systems, primarily with the aim of elucidating the role of the carbohydrate moieties in the cellular function of glycoproteins. Rhodopsin, the visual pigment of retinal rod photoreceptor cells, is a membrane glycoprotein which consists of a single polypeptide chain (opsin) to which a chromophoric prosthetic group (II-cis-retinaldehyde) and two asparagine-linked oligosaccharide chains are covalently attached. The glycosylation of opsin can be blocked with tunicamycin in vitro in conditions where polypeptide synthesis is only slightly decreased. We have reported that tunicamycin can disrupt the normal assembly of rod outer segment membranes in vitro without significantly inhibiting the biosynthesis or intracellular transport of opsin. Here we report that intraocular injection of tunicamycin produces a photoreceptor-specific degeneration characterized by progressive shortening of rod outer segment, decreased membrane assembly, and eventual photoreceptor cell death.     

Recursive syntactic pattern learning by songbirds

Humans regularly produce new utterances that are understood by other members of the same language community. Linguistic theories account for this ability through the use of syntactic rules (or generative grammars) that describe the acceptable structure of utterances. The recursive, hierarchical embedding of language units (for example, words or phrases within shorter sentences) that is part of the ability to construct new utterances minimally requires a 'context-free' grammar that is more complex than the 'finite-state' grammars thought sufficient to specify the structure of all non-human communication signals. Recent hypotheses make the central claim that the capacity for syntactic recursion forms the computational core of a uniquely human language faculty. Here we show that European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) accurately recognize acoustic patterns defined by a recursive, self-embedding, context-free grammar. They are also able to classify new patterns defined by the grammar and reliably exclude agrammatical patterns. Thus, the capacity to classify sequences from recursive, centre-embedded grammars is not uniquely human. This finding opens a new range of complex syntactic processing mechanisms to physiological investigation.     

蠕变引起的疲劳裂纹扩展

为了保证火电厂的蒸汽管道、汽轮机转子等零件的安全运行，确定疲劳裂纹的扩展率有重要意义。根据时间相关断裂力学的理论，提供了一种计算蠕变扩展率的方法。介绍了时间相关断裂力学有关的裂纹尖端参数，指出用参数Ｃｔ，ａｖ作为衡量蠕变裂纹扩展的参数是适宜的；讨论了疲劳对蠕变裂纹扩展的影响，指出材料的疲劳屈服极限和抗蠕变能力是决定这种影响大小的主要因素；并给出了蠕变裂纹扩展率的计算公式     

Serial translocation by means of circular intermediates underlies colour sidedness in cattle

Colour sidedness is a dominantly inherited phenotype of cattle characterized by the polarization of pigmented sectors on the flanks, snout and ear tips. It is also referred to as 'lineback' or 'witrik' (which means white back), as colour-sided animals typically display a white band along their spine. Colour sidedness is documented at least since the Middle Ages and is presently segregating in several cattle breeds around the globe, including in Belgian blue and brown Swiss. Here we report that colour sidedness is determined by a first allele on chromosome 29 (Cs(29)), which results from the translocation of a 492-kilobase chromosome 6 segment encompassing KIT to chromosome 29, and a second allele on chromosome 6 (Cs(6)), derived from the first by repatriation of fused 575-kilobase chromosome 6 and 29 sequences to the KIT locus. We provide evidence that both translocation events involved circular intermediates. This is the first example, to our knowledge, of a phenotype determined by homologous yet non-syntenic alleles that result from a novel copy-number-variant-generating mechanism.     

运用"情境·问题"教学模式优化课堂教学

这篇论文从如何优化高中数学课堂教学为主线 ,结合笔者从教 2 0多年的实践经验 ,从三个方面 :创设问题情境 ;提出问题情境 ;解决问题情境进行了详细论述。