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“Olfactory sensory neurons expose to the inhaled air chemosensory cilia which bind odorants and operate as transduction organelles. Odorant receptors in the ciliary membrane activate a transduction cascade which uses cAMP and Ca(2+) for sensory signaling in the ciliary lumen. Although the canonical transduction pathway is well established, molecular components for more complex aspects of sensory transduction, like adaptation, regulation, and termination of the receptor response have not been systematically identified. Moreover, open questions in olfactory physiology include how the Bromosporine solubility dmso cilia exchange solutes with the surrounding mucus, assemble
their highly polarized set of proteins, and cope with noxious substances in the ambient air. A specific ciliary proteome would promote research efforts in all of these fields. We have improved a method to detach cilia from rat olfactory sensory neurons and have isolated a preparation specifically enriched in ciliary membrane proteins. Using LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis, we identified 377 proteins which constitute the olfactory cilia proteome. These proteins represent a comprehensive data set for olfactory research since more than 80% can be attributed to the characteristic functions of olfactory sensory neurons and their cilia: signal processing, protein targeting, neurogenesis,
solute transport, and cytoprotection. Organellar proteomics thus yielded decisive information about the diverse physiological functions of a sensory organelle.”
“Composites represent a class of materials with properties that are obtained by combining the functions of different components. Combining soft and selleck stiff components without losing toughness is typically very difficult with current synthetic
tools. There are many natural materials for which this problem has been solved. Examples such as wood and Tryptophan synthase seashells have inspired many scientists to seek tougher, stronger and lighter materials. This review describes how genetic engineering can help in building new composites with better properties. Specifically, we emphasize that functional molecules can be engineered by following the design principles of natural composite materials. This field is emerging but has already shown promising results and much progress in the next few years is expected.”
“The aim of this experiment was to examine the preattentive processing of syllables in 9-11-year-old children with dyslexia and matched controls using the Mismatch Negativity (MMN), an auditory Event-Related brain potential (ERP) related to preattentive discrimination. Children were presented with a sequence of syllables that included standards (the syllable “”Ba”") and deviants in vowel frequency, vowel duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT) that were either close to or far from the standard (Small and Large deviants). No between-group differences were found for frequency deviants.