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Biomedical subjects

W C Barker

Publications and source records attributed to W C Barker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

The precision of positron emission tomography: theory and measurement.

The limits of quantitation with positron emission tomography (PET) are examined with respect to the noise propagation resulting from radioactive decay and other sources of random error. Theoretical methods for evaluating the statistical error have been devised but seldom applied to experimental data obtained on human subjects. This paper extends the analysis in several ways: (1) A Monte Carlo method is described for tracking the propagation of statistical error through the analysis of in vivo measurements; (2) Experimental data, obtained in phantoms, validating the Monte Carlo method and other methods are presented; (3) A difference in activation paradigm, performed on regional CBF (rCBF) data from five human subjects, was analyzed on 1.6-cm diameter regions of interest to determine the mean fractional statistical error in PET tissue concentration and in rCBF before and after stereotactic transformation; and (4) A linear statistical model and calculations of the various statistical errors were used to estimate the magnitude of the subject-specific fluctuations under various conditions. In this specific example, the root mean squared (RMS) noise in flow measurements was about three times higher than the RMS noise in the concentration measurements. In addition, the total random error was almost equally partitioned between statistical error and random fluctuations due to all other sources.

Brain↗
PubMed1990

Escherichia coli K12 genomic database.

We have compiled the genomic nucleic acid sequence data of Escherichia coli K12 available from the existing major data collections and from the literature. The collected data are structured as a database for easy access and analysis. The sequence segments in the database are ordered by genetic map position. Sequence redundancy has been completely removed by combining overlapping sequences; therefore, our sequence data are amenable to statistical analysis. We have specified with a plus or minus (+ or -) on which of the two DNA strands the segment exists. The database currently contains a total of 954,392 bp, which corresponds to about 20% of the entire genome size. The sequence data are available on request.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Selective inhibition of protein disulfide isomerase by estrogens.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a multifunctional microsomal enzyme that participates in the formation of protein disulfide bonds. PDI catalyzes the reduction of protein disulfide bonds in the presence of excess reduced glutathione and has been implicated in the reductive degradation of insulin; E. coli thioredoxin is homologous to two regions in PDI and can also degrade insulin. PDI activity, measured by 125I-insulin degradation or reactivation of randomly oxidized RNase in the presence of reduced glutathione, is non-competitively inhibited by estrogens; half-maximal inhibition was observed at approximately 100 nM estrogen. Other steroid hormones at 1 microM had little or no effect. PDI segment 120-163 (which corresponds to exon 3 of the PDI gene) and 182-230 have significant similarity with estrogen receptor segments 350-392 and 304-349, respectively, located in the estrogen binding domain but not with the steroid domains of the progesterone and glucocorticoid receptors or with thioredoxin, which is insensitive to estrogens. We propose the hypothesis that enzymes can acquire sensitivity to a hormone via exon shuffling to the enzyme gene from the DNA region coding for the hormone binding domain of the hormone's receptor.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Homologues of catalytic domains of Cellulomonas glucanases found in fungal and Bacillus glycosidases.

We demonstrate homology between the catalytic domains of exoglucanase (1,4-beta-D-glucan cellobiohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.91) from Cellulomonas fimi and those of endoxylanases (1,4-beta-D-xylan xylanohydrolases, EC 3.2.1.8) from Bacillus sp. strain C-125 and the fungus Cryptococcus albidus; and between the catalytic domains of endoglucanase (1,4-(1,3:1,4)-beta-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.4) from Cellulomonas fimi and exoglucanase II from Trichoderma reesei. These five enzymes apparently evolved by reshuffling of two catalytic domains and several substrate-binding domains.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed1989

Avidin-like domain in an epidermal growth factor homolog from a sea urchin.

We have found that a protein from the purple sea urchin has a carboxyl-terminal domain with striking sequence similarity to chicken avidin and bacterial streptavidin. All our evidence supports the homology of these sequences. Tetramers of avidin and streptavidin bind biotin strongly; the biotin binding site involves two to four tryptophans and probably an adjacent lysine in each chain. The presence of four tryptophans at equivalent positions in the sea urchin protein domain suggests that it may also be able to bind biotin and inhibit cell growth, as do the two other proteins. Alternatively, this domain may have acquired a new role as part of a multidomain protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Striking sequence similarity among sialic acid-binding lectin, pancreatic ribonucleases, and angiogenin: possible structural and functional relationships.

We found that a sialic acid-binding lectin (SABL) from bullfrog egg bears a remarkable degree of similarity with human angiogenin and the pancreatic ribonucleases (EC 3.1.27.5). Based on (1) the conservation of several disulfide bond-forming cysteines, (2) a cluster of nonpolar residues, and (3) a number of active-site residues of bovine ribonuclease, we propose that SABL has essentially the same secondary and tertiary structures and very likely has ribonuclease activity. Other possible physiological roles are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗