Sequence verification of human creatine kinase (43 kDa) isozymes by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry.

Amino acid sequencing by recombinant DNA technology, although dramatically useful, is subject to base reading errors, is indirect, and is insensitive to posttranslational processing. Mass spectrometry techniques can provide molecular weight data from even relatively large proteins for such cDNA sequences and can serve as a check of an enzyme's purity and sequence integrity. Multiply-charged ions from electrospray ionization can be dissociated to yield structural information by tandem mass spectrometry, providing a second method for gaining additional confidence in primary sequence confirmation. Here, accurate (+/- 1 Da) molecular weight and molecular ion dissociation information for human muscle and brain creatine kinases has been obtained by electrospray ionization coupled with Fourier-transform mass spectrometry to help distinguish which of several published amino acid sequences for both enzymes are correct. The results herein are consistent with one published sequence for each isozyme, and the heterogeneity indicated by isoelectric focusing due to 1-Da deamidation changes. This approach appears generally useful for detailed sequence verification of recombinant proteins.

Commercial applications of speech interface technology: an industry at the threshold.

Speech interface technology, which includes automatic speech recognition, synthetic speech, and natural language processing, is beginning to have a significant impact on business and personal computer use. Today, powerful and inexpensive microprocessors and improved algorithms are driving commercial applications in computer command, consumer, data entry, speech-to-text, telephone, and voice verification. Robust speaker-independent recognition systems for command and navigation in personal computers are now available; telephone-based transaction and database inquiry systems using both speech synthesis and recognition are coming into use. Large-vocabulary speech interface systems for document creation and read-aloud proofing are expanding beyond niche markets. Today's applications represent a small preview of a rich future for speech interface technology that will eventually replace keyboards with microphones and loud-speakers to give easy accessibility to increasingly intelligent machines.

Olfactory transduction is intrinsically noisy.

The sources of noise that limit olfactory signal detection were investigated in dissociated rat olfactory receptor cells. Near-threshold odorant-evoked currents exhibited large random fluctuation. However, similar fluctuations were observed in the absence of applied odorants when currents were induced by elevating the intracellular cyclic AMP concentration. This suggests that the fluctuations reflect noise intrinsic to the transduction mechanism, rather than the quantal nature of an odorant stimulus. For many odorants, this intrinsic noise may preclude the reliable detection of single odorant molecules.