HUMAN LIVER METABOLISM BRITISN infiltration of the organ by carcinoma or leukaemia. Such functional disturbances quite likely initiate the gross structural changes in the liver. Anaesthesia used during biopsy does not modify liver cell metabolism.

The variability within calculated protein residue pKa values calculated using Poisson-Boltzmann continuum theory with respect to small conformational fluctuations is investigated. As a general rule, sites buried in the protein core have the largest pKa fluctuations but the least amount of conformational variability; conversely, sites on the protein surface generally have large conformational fluctuations but very small pKa fluctuations. These results occur because of the heterogeneous or uniform nature of the electrostatic microenvironments at the protein core or surface, respectively. Atypical surface sites with large pKa fluctuations occur at the interfaces between significant anionic and cationic potentials.

Since the cloning of the first γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter (GAT1; SLC6A1) from rat brain in 1990, more than 50 published studies have provided structure–function information on investigator-designed rat and mouse GAT1 mutants. To date, more than 200 of 599 GAT1 residues have been subjected to mutagenesis experiments by substitution with different amino acids, and the resulting transporter functional properties have significantly advanced our understanding of the mechanism of Na+- and Cl–-coupled GABA transport by this important member of the neurotransmitter:sodium symporter family. Moreover, many studies have addressed the functional consequences of amino acid deletion or insertion at various positions along the primary sequence. The enormity of this growing body of structure–function information has prompted us to develop GABA Transporter Mutagenesis Database (GATMD), a web-accessible, relational database of manually annotated biochemical, functional and pharmacological data reported on GAT1—the most intensely studied GABA transporter isoform. As of the last update of GATMD, 52 GAT1 mutagenesis papers have yielded 3360 experimental records, which collectively contain a total of ∼100 000 annotated parameters.Database URL: http://physiology.sci.csupomona.edu/GATMD/

Background: Efforts to predict functional sites from globular proteins is increasingly common; however, the most successful of these methods generally require structural insight. Unfortunately, despite several recent technological advances, structural coverage of membrane integral proteins continues to be sparse. ConSequently, sequence-based methods represent an important alternative to illuminate functional roles. In this report, we critically examine the ability of several computational methods to provide functional insight within two specific areas. First, can phylogenomic methods accurately describe the functional diversity across a membrane integral protein family? And second, can sequence-based strategies accurately predict key functional sites? Due to the presence of a recently solved structure and a vast amount of experimental mutagenesis data, the neurotransmitter/Na + symporter (NSS) family is an ideal model system to assess the quality of our predictions.

Seven commercial composite filling materials were studied as regards 1) differences in their ability to take a smooth polish as measured by an electronic roughness gauge and 2) their relative loss in smoothness due to toothbrushing. A series of test formulations indicated that polishability and ability to retain a good polish are interrelated and are functions of filler particle size and filler hardness. Optimization in the filler particles from the point of view of polishability also results in improved wear resistance to toothbrushing.