Sniffing for Mr. Right

jerry submitted, created time 4 months 3 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

Weight gain and moodiness top the list of the unpleasant side effects of birth control pills. But could the pill also desensitize a woman's sniffer? New research suggests that oral contraceptives can reduce a woman's ability to smell the best mate. Although birth control can't be blamed for every bad relationship, the findings could help explain how people find their ideal love.

Most guys splash on a little cologne before a first date, but past research shows that their natural scent may be the better attractant

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Broadly neutralizing anti-hepatitis B virus antibody reveals a complementarity determining region H3 lid-opening mechanism

Reviver submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.pnas.org)

"The humanized monoclonal antibody HzKR127 recognizes the preS1 domain of the human hepatitis B virus surface proteins with a broadly neutralizing activity in vivo. Researchers present the crystal structures of HzKR127 Fab and its complex with a major epitope peptide. In the complex structure, the bound peptide forms a type IV beta-turn followed by 310 helical turn, the looped-out conformation of which provides a structural basis for broad neutralization. Upon peptide binding, the antibody undergoes a dramatic complementarity determining region H3 lid opening

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Fluorogenic probes for monitoring peptide binding to class II MHC proteins in living cells

collapsar submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.nature.com)

"A crucial step in the immune response is the binding of antigenic peptides to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins. Class II MHC proteins present their bound peptides to CD4+ T cells, thereby helping to activate both the humoral and the cellular arms of the adaptive immune response. Peptide loading onto class II MHC proteins is regulated temporally, spatially and developmentally in antigen-presenting cells1

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: major histocompatibility complex monocyte-derived dendritic cells