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Seismic imaging is used to show that the isotropic and anisotropic structure of the Earth's mantle is rotated beneath the East Pacific Rise. The segmentation of the rise crest between transform faults correlates with the inferred distribution of mantle melt and indicates that this skewing of asthenospheric upwelling and transport governs segmentation of the East Pacific rise and variations in the intensity of ridge crest processes.
Genetic marking is used to perform a non-invasive cell tracing technique, labelling cells of the definitive haematopoetic system and observed the migration of haematopoetic progenitors from the yolks sac to the fetal liver and thymus.
The evolution of the three tiny bones for the mammalian middle ear from components of the reptilian lower jaw is seen clearly in this primitive fossil mammal, in which the middle-ear bones remain connected to the lower jaw by Meckel's cartilage, a transition associated with a corresponding remodelling of the lumbar region.
518 protein kinase genes in the human genome have been sequenced in a large sample of tumours, providing a global view of the patterns of mutations found and the variations in the number and type of mutations between individual tumours.
A genome-wide, high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism array analysis of a large number of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia samples identifies a number of genomic changes. These include alterations in the genes encoding Pax5 and other regulators of B-cell development and differentiation.
Clostridium difficile is the major cause of antibiotic-induced diarrhoea. It has been suggested that one of C. difficile's virulence factors, toxin B, is activated by a host protease upon cell entry. This study demonstrates that toxin cleavage is an autocatalytic process induced by host inositolphosphate.
How did humans learn who they are related to, to avoid inbreeding and mate with someone outside their family? This paper proposes that humans use evidence from their environment to compute a 'kinship index' and use it to estimate genetic relatedness to another human.
The structure of TPP1's oligonucleotide binding fold contains features that are particularly characteristic of TEBPβ. When the POT1–TPP1 complex is bound to telomeric DNA, it does not inhibit telomerase activity, as other telomere binding proteins do. Instead, the presence of POT1–TPP1 unexpectedly stimulates telomerase activity and processivity.
By overcoming the molecular weight limitations that have traditionally hampered quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) studies, the dynamics of the 670-kilodalton 20S proteasome core particle have been explored. A selective isotope labelling scheme along with experiments that preserve the lifetimes of the resulting NMR signals reveal functionally important motions and interactions by recording spectra on complexes with molecular weights up to 1 MDa.
The structure of the enzyme E1 bound to its four substrates is described, showing how a thioester switch toggles E1-E2 affinities. Transferring the Ubl's thioester linkage between successive conjugation enzymes induces striking conformational changes and alters interaction networks to drive consecutive steps in Ubl cascades.
A new approach to determine nitrogen fixation rates in the world's oceans is used; it involves interpreting nutrient distributions in the context of an ocean circulation model.