Label-Free Fluorescent Kinase and Phosphatase Enzyme Assays with Supramolecular Host-Dye Pairs

The combination of the macrocyclic hosts p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene and cucurbit[7]uril with the fluorescent dyes lucigenin and berberine affords two label-free enzyme assays for the detection of kinase and phosphatase activity by fluorescence monitoring. In contrast to established assays, no substrate labeling is required. Since phosphorylation is one of the most important regulatory mechanisms in biological signal transduction, the assays should be useful for identification of inhibitors and activators in high-throughput screening (HTS) format for drug discovery.     

Insights into the Structure and Energy of DNA Nanoassemblies

Since the pioneering work of Ned Seeman in the early 1980s, the use of the DNA molecule as a construction material experienced a rapid growth and led to the establishment of a new field of science, nowadays called structural DNA nanotechnology. Here, the self-recognition properties of DNA are employed to build micrometer-large molecular objects with nanometer-sized features, thus bridging the nano- to the microscopic world in a programmable fashion. Distinct design strategies and experimental procedures have been developed over the years, enabling the realization of extremely sophisticated structures with a level of control that approaches that of natural macromolecular assemblies. Nevertheless, our understanding of the building process, i.e., what defines the route that goes from the initial mixture of DNA strands to the final intertwined superstructure, is, in some cases, still limited. In this review, we describe the main structural and energetic features of DNA nanoconstructs, from the simple Holliday junction to more complicated DNA architectures, and present the theoretical frameworks that have been formulated until now to explain their self-assembly. Deeper insights into the underlying principles of DNA self-assembly may certainly help us to overcome current experimental challenges and foster the development of original strategies inspired to dissipative and evolutive assembly processes occurring in nature.     

Radial flow velocity profiles of a yield stress fluid between smooth parallel disks

In rock grouting, idealized 2D-radial laminar flow of yield stress fluids (YSF) is a fundamental flow configuration that is used for cement grout spread estimation. A limited amount of works have presented analytical and numerical solutions on the radial velocity profiles between parallel disks. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no experimental work that has presented measured velocity profiles for this geometry. In this paper, we present velocity profiles of Carbopol (a simple YSF), measured by pulsed ultrasound velocimetry within a radial flow model. We describe the design of the physical model and then present the measured velocity profiles while highlighting the plug-flow region and slip effects observed for three different apertures and volumetric flow rates. Although the measured velocity profiles exhibited wall slip, there was a reasonably good agreement with the analytical solution. We then discuss the major implications of our work on radial flow.