arrow encodes an LDL-receptor-related protein essential for Wingless signalling

The Wnt family of secreted molecules functions in cell-fate determination and morphogenesis during development in both vertebrates and invertebrates (reviewed in ref. 1). Drosophila Wingless is a founding member of this family, and many components of its signal transduction cascade have been identified, including the Frizzled class of receptor. But the mechanism by which the Wingless signal is received and transduced across the membrane is not completely understood. Here we describe a gene that is necessary for all Wingless signalling events in Drosophila. We show that arrow gene function is essential in cells receiving Wingless input and that it acts upstream of Dishevelled. arrow encodes a single-pass transmembrane protein, indicating that it may be part of a receptor complex with Frizzled class proteins. Arrow is a low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-receptor-related protein (LRP), strikingly homologous to murine and human LRP5 and LRP6. Thus, our data suggests a new and conserved function for this LRP subfamily in Wingless/Wnt signal reception.     

一种简单的生物化学比例在鉴别上和下胃肠道出血上的价值

我们回顾了59例出血来源在初期不清楚,但经后来观察诊断明确的胃肠道出血的患者,证实入院时血浆尿素与肌酐浓度比例在区别上和下胃肠道来源的出血时准确性很高。不论丢失的血液体积多少,38例上胃肠道出血患者中有33例(占87％)其比值为100或超过100,21例下胃肠道出血患者中20例(占95％)其比值低于100,全部准确性达90％。这比值的增高与临床证明的血容量减少的程度无相关系。这一简单的比值在未证实胃肠道出血来源的病人决定观察结果时可能是有价值的。     

火星的表面(上)

“海盗”宇宙飞船通过火星轨道站和火星登陆器为我们提供了一幅关于火星的前所未有的图景,证实了火星表面曾经历过火山活动,陨石的撞击,以及水和风的侵蚀。     

Na+ binding to meizothrombin desF1

Meizothrombin is the physiologically active intermediate generated by a single cleavage of prothrombin at R320 to separate the A and B chains. Recent evidence has suggested that meizothrombin, like thrombin, is a Na(+)-activated enzyme. In this study we present the first X-ray crystal structure of human meizothrombin desF1 solved in the presence of the active site inhibitor PPACK at 2.1 A resolution. The structure reveals a Na(+) binding site whose architecture is practically identical to that of human thrombin. Stopped-flow measurements of Na(+) binding to meizothrombin desF1 document a slow phase of fluorescence change with a k(obs) decreasing hyperbolically with increasing [Na(+)], consistent with the existence of three conformations in equilibrium, E*, E and E:Na(+), as for human thrombin. Evidence that meizothrombin exists in multiple conformations provides valuable new information for studies of the mechanism of prothrombin activation.     

Membrane traffic in the secretory pathway

It is generally thought that microtubule-associated motors insure long-range movements of the secretory vesicles from the center of the cell to its periphery, while myosins insure short-range movements at the cell periphery. However, several of the myosins that have been reported during the last decade to be involved in the exocytic pathway are not processive, meaning that they do not have the ability to move cargos along actin polymers. We will review here the possible mechanisms by which these myosins could contribute to the traffic of secretory proteins from the Golgi complex to the plasma membrane.     

Deep levels,transport and THz emission properties of SiGe/Si quantum-well structures

In coal mines in such countries as China and Russia,most of the coal mine methane(CMM) generated during mining is emitted to the atmosphere without any effective usage,because the methane concentration of CMM is relatively low and not allowed to be used as fuel for safety reasons.Methane is one of the greenhouse gases.Therefore,if it becomes possible to concentrate CMM to an acceptable level for use as fuel,this will greatly contribute to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.With the aim of gaining approva...