Please send web site recommendations to ahernk@orst.edu.
Full Text (PDF)
Like the M&M candies that keep the chocolate mess off your hands with a candy coating outside, the Minimotif Miner (MnM) takes the mess of identifying short functional motifs in protein sequence out of your hands, thanks to a nifty search engine. Specifically, MnM excels at identifying “posttranslational modifications, binding to other proteins, nucleic acids, or small molecules or proteins trafficking.” Use of the search algorithm couldn't be easier. Visitors enter a RefSeq number or paste in a sequence into a text box and the server does the rest, returning results in seconds. That's certainly a treat you can enjoy, and it's not even fattening.
@ sms.engr.uconn.edu/servlet/SMSSearchServlet
Cellular Stick-UpsWithout molecular links to bind component cells together, multicellular organisms would be, well, unicellular. For no other reason than that, proteins involved in cellular adhesion, like the cadherins at this site, would be of interest. There is so much more, though, to the cadherin story to make them fascinating research targets, and you'll learn a lot about them at The Cadherin Resource. For example, cadherins are glycosylated, phosphorylated, calcium-binding membrane proteins that interact with each other (mostly) and with other proteins to help link cells during development. If you're wondering whether your own protein sequence is cadherin-like, you're in luck. A database search engine is available to help answer the question by identifying cadherin-like domains. From sequence searches to classifications to external links, The Cadherin Resource is a one-stop shop for information on cell-cell connections.
@ calcium.uhnres.utoronto.ca/cadherin/flash.htm
Bigger than LifeThe technique of photomacrography—extreme closeups of tiny subjects—brings views of little worlds to eyes that would otherwise struggle to glimpse them. As a product of this technology, surprising images of beauty jump out and almost grab the viewer. The Dutch masters had nothing on the awe-inspiring sights to be seen at this site. Can it really be that beetles and crab spiders are beautiful? You'll get strong arguments out of photographers Doug Breda and Rik Littlefield (among others) that they are. It is difficult to imagine anyone would argue after clicking through the pages. Via a photographic method that gives meaning to the phrase “feast for the eyes,” the photomacrographers are poised to change how we look at the world.
The Ears Have It
For our ability to appreciate the majesty of the symphony, the rustling of the wind through the leaves of trees, and the cry of the baby, we have our ears to thank. More specifically, a hollow, spiral, tiny bone known as the cochlea makes possible all that we refer to today as audio, and it is on this structure that the collection of informative pages at the URL below is focused. With a shape that partly resembles that of a snail, the cochlea contains fluid that moves when disturbed by sound waves, stimulating hair cells to fire neural messages to the brain, which, in turn, interprets the signal as the phenomenon we know as sound. At Renato Nobili's informative site, you'll discover more about the fascinating cochlea complex and the mechanisms of sound.
@ www.vimm.it/cochlea/index.htm
Gone with the WntThe conversion of a fertilized egg to an embryo is one of the most magical events in the field of biology. Helping to orchestrate the cell-cell interactions necessary at the molecular level for this process to occur are an interesting group of proteins known by the name of Wnt. Intercellular communication requires messenger molecules, and it is here that Wnt functions. Acting by being secreted from cells, Wnt proteins signal through β-catenin and have far reaching effects in development and cancer. Learn more about these important proteins at The Wnt Homepage.
@ www.stanford.edu/rnusse/wntwindow.html
