Do we already know how spectrin attracts ankyrin?

The interaction of ankyrin and spectrin yields the major anchor between the membrane skeleton and the lipid bilayer. It is critical for red cell deformability and stability, and it is also involved in the cellular localization of several proteins, in cell differentiation, and in neuron activity. Therefore, its nature is of great interest, and recently, several researchers have had varying degrees of success in elucidating the structural basis of ankyrin–spectrin recognition. In this short paper, we briefly summarize the data obtained and compare the resulting conclusions.     

Towards a proteome-scale map of the human protein-protein interaction network

Systematic mapping of protein-protein interactions, or 'interactome' mapping, was initiated in model organisms, starting with defined biological processes and then expanding to the scale of the proteome. Although far from complete, such maps have revealed global topological and dynamic features of interactome networks that relate to known biological properties, suggesting that a human interactome map will provide insight into development and disease mechanisms at a systems level. Here we describe an initial version of a proteome-scale map of human binary protein-protein interactions. Using a stringent, high-throughput yeast two-hybrid system, we tested pairwise interactions among the products of approximately 8,100 currently available Gateway-cloned open reading frames and detected approximately 2,800 interactions. This data set, called CCSB-HI1, has a verification rate of approximately 78% as revealed by an independent co-affinity purification assay, and correlates significantly with other biological attributes. The CCSB-HI1 data set increases by approximately 70% the set of available binary interactions within the tested space and reveals more than 300 new connections to over 100 disease-associated proteins. This work represents an important step towards a systematic and comprehensive human interactome project.     

Spectrin and calpain: a ‘target’ and a ‘sniper’ in the pathology of neuronal cells

It is well documented that activation of calpain, a calcium-sensitive cysteine protease, marks the pathology of naturally and experimentally occuring neurodegenerative conditions. Calpain-mediated proteolysis of major membrane-skeletal protein, αII-spectrin, results in the appearance of two unique and highly stable breakdown products, which is an early event in neural cell pathology. This review focuses on spectrin degradation by calpain within neurons induced by diverse conditions, emphasizing a current picture of multi-pattern neuronal death and a recent success in the development of spectrin-based biomarkers. The issue is presented in the context of the major structural and functional properties of the two proteins.Received 7 March 2005; received after revision 22 April 2005; accepted 13 May 2005     

高光谱数据组分信息的盲分解方法

将基于独立成分分析(independent component analysis,ICA)技术的盲分解方法(blind signal separation,BSS)应用于遥感混合像元的定量分解,解决了幅度不确定性问题,实现了从高光谱数据中同时得到定量的组分光谱信息和组分权重信息。通过数值模拟实验提出了光谱反演区间的选择方法,进一步完善了该算法,且讨论了算法的稳健性。以陕西省横山县为试验区,从HYPERION高光谱影像中反演了各像元的植被覆盖度,并利用SPOT5影像进行了精度验证,结果表明该方法具有较高的精度。