简介：Ithasbeenshownthattheprogressinthedeterminationofmembraneproteinstructuregrowsexponentially,withapproximatelythesamegrowthrateasthatofthewater-solubleproteins.Inordertoinvestigatetheeffectofthis,ontheperformanceofpredictionalgorithmsforbothα-helicalandβ-barrelmembraneproteins,weconductedaprospectivestudybasedonhistoricalrecords.WetrainedseparatehiddenMarkovmodelswithdifferentsizedtrainingsetsandevaluatedtheirperformanceontopologypredictionforthetwoclassesoftransmembraneproteins.Weshowthattheexistingtop-scoringalgorithmsforpredictingthetransmembranesegmentsofα-helicalmembraneproteinsperformslightlybetterthanthatofβ-barreloutermembraneproteinsinallmeasuresofaccuracy.Withthesamerationale,ameta-analysisoftheperformanceofthesecondarystructurepredictionalgorithmsindicatesthatexistingalgorithmictechniquescannotbefurtherimprovedbyjustaddingmorenon-homologoussequencestothetrainingsets.Theupperlimitforsecondarystructurepredictionisestimatedtobenomorethan70%and80%ofcorrectlypredictedresiduesforsinglesequencebasedmethodsandmultiplesequencebasedones,respectively.Therefore,weshouldconcentrateoureffortsonutilizingnewtechniquesforthedevelopmentofevenbetterscoringpredictors.

简介：Werecentlyreportedtheuseofagene-trappingapproachtoisolatecellclonesinwhichareportergenehadintegratedintogenesmodulatedbyT-cellactivation.WehavenowtestedapanelofclonesfromthatreportandidentifiedtheonethatrespondstoavarietyofG-proteincoupledreceptors(GPCR).TheβlactamasetaggedEGR-3JurkatcellwasusedtodissectspecificGPCRsignalinginvivo.ThreeGPCRswerestudied,includingthechemokinereceptorCXCR4(Gicoupled)thatwasendogenouslyexpressed,theplateletactivationfactor(PAF)receptor(Gq-coupled),andβ2adrenergicreceptor(Gs-coupled)thatwasbothstablytransfected.Agonistsforeachreceptoractivatedtranscriptionoftheβ-lactamasetaggedEGR-3gene.InductionofEGR-3throughCXCR4wasblockedbypertussistoxinandPD58059,aspecificinhibitorofMEK(MAPK/ERKkinase).NeitheroftheseinhibitorsblockedisoproterenolorPAF-mediatedactivationofEGR-3.Conversely,β2-andPAF-mediatedEGR-3activationwasblockedbythep38,specificinhibitorSB580.Inaddition,bothβ2-andPAF-mediatedEGR-3activationcouldbesynergisticallyactivatedbyCXCR4activation.ThiscombinedresultindicatesthatEGR-3canbeactivatedthroughdistinctsignaltransductionpathwaysbydifferentGPCRsandthatsignalscanbeintegratedandamplifiedtoefficientlytunethelevelofactivation.