Enrichment of low-abundant serum proteins by albumin/immunoglobulin G immunoaffinity depletion under partly denaturing conditions

We present a simple protocol for affinity depletion to remove the two most abundant serum proteins, albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Under native conditions, albumin/IgG were efficiently removed and several proteins were enriched as shown by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Besides that, partly denaturing conditions were established by adding 5 or 20% acetonitrile (ACN) in order to disrupt the binding of low-molecular-weight (LMW) proteins to the carrier proteins albumin/IgG. 2-DE results showed that the total number of detected LMW proteins increased under denaturing conditions when compared to native conditions. Interestingly, the presence of 5% ACN in serum revealed better enrichment of LMW proteins when compared to 20% ACN condition. Seven randomly distributed spots in albumin/IgG depleted serum samples under 5% ACN condition were picked from the 2-DE gels and identified by mass spectrometry (MS). The intensity of five LMW protein spots increased under denaturing conditions when compared to native conditions. Three of the seven identified spots (serum amyloid P, vitamin D-binding protein, and transthyretin) belong to a group of relatively low-abundant proteins, which make up only 1% of all serum proteins. The method presented here improves the resolution of the serum proteome by increasing the number of visualized spots on 2-D gels and allowing the detection and MS identification of LMW proteins and proteins of lower abundance.     

The electric field gradient for Gd in gadolinium metal

We have examined the temperture dependence of the efg for GdGd above the Curie point. Using anI =10⁺ isomer in¹⁴⁴Gd as a probe nucleus, we find a weakT ^3/2 dependence withB=(1.5±0.4) 10^–5 K^–3/2. The absolute value of the efg at 332 K was measured by Coulomb excitation of 2⁺ states in^{156, 158, 160}Gd, yielding |eq(332 K)|=(3.43±0.14) 10¹⁷ V/cm². A possible small deviation from theT ^3/2 temperature dependence of the efg for ferromagnetic Gd is discussed.     

Synthesis and Antioxidant Activity Evaluation of Novel 5,7-dimethyl-3H-Thiazolo[4,5-B]Pyridines

Abstract

5,7-Dimethyl-3H-thiazolo[4,5-b]pyridine-2-one was obtained under the reaction of 4-iminothiazolidin-2-one with acetylacetone. Further structural modifications include the introduction of diversity at the N³ and C⁶ positions. The antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated in vitro by the method of scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals.

[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements to view the following free supplemental files: Additional figures]     

Resolving Atomic-Scale Defects in Conjugated Polymers On-Surfaces

Atomic scale defects significantly affect the mechanical, electronic, and optical properties of π-conjugated polymers. Here, isolated atomic-scale defects are deliberately introduced into a prototypical anthracene-ethynylene π-conjugated polymer, and its local density of states is carefully examined on the atomic scale to show how individual defects modify the inherent electronic and magnetic properties of this one-dimensional systems. Scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy experiments, supplemented with density functional theory calculations, reveal the existence of a sharp electronic resonance at the Fermi energy around certain defects, which is associated with the formation of a local magnetic moment accompanied by substantial mitigation of the mobility of charge carriers. While defects in traditionally synthesized polymers lead to arbitrary conformations, the presented results clearly reflect the preferential formation of low dimensional defects at specific polymer sites, which may introduce the possibility of engineering macroscopic defects in surface-synthesized conjugated polymers.     

Advances in vibrational configuration interaction theory - part 2: Fast screening of the correlation space

For larger molecules, the computational demands of configuration selective vibrational configuration interaction theory (cs-VCI) are usually dominated by the configuration selection process, which commonly is based on second order vibrational Møller-Plesset perturbation (VMP2) theory. Here we present two techniques, which lead to substantial accelerations of such calculations while retaining the desired high accuracy of the final results. The first one introduces the concept of configuration classes, which allows for a highly efficient exploitation of the analogs of the Slater-Condon rules in vibrational structure calculations with large correlation spaces. The second approach uses a VMP2 like vector for augmenting the targeted vibrational wavefunction within the selection of configurations and thus avoids any intermediate diagonalization steps. The underlying theory is outlined and benchmark calculations are provided for highly correlated vibrational states of several molecules.     

o-Boundedness of free topological groups

Assuming the absence of Q-points (which is consistent with ZFC) we prove that the free topological group F(X) over a Tychonov space X is o-bounded if and only if every continuous metrizable image T of X satisfies the selection principle fin_?(O,Ω) (the latter means that for every sequence 〈un〉_n∈ω of open covers of T there exists a sequence 〈vn〉_n∈ω such that vn∈[un]^<ω and for every F∈[X]^<ω there exists n∈ω with F⊂?vn). This characterization gives a consistent answer to a problem posed by C. Hernándes, D. Robbie, and M. Tkachenko in 2000.