The secondary structure of heated whey protein and its hydrolysates antigenicity

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and circular dichroism(CD) were used to investigate the conformational changes of heated whey protein(WP) and the corresponding changes in the hydrolysates immunoreactivity were determined by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results showed that the contents of α-helix and β-sheet of WP did not decrease much under mild heating conditions and the antigenicity was relatively high;when the heating intensity increased(70 ℃ for 25 min or 75 ℃ for 2...     

Light can transform the secondary structure of silk protein

Fibroin is the main component of silk and is expected to be used as a novel functional material in medicine and bioelectronics. The main secondary structures of this protein are of the random-coil and the β-sheet types. In this study, we carried out laser-induced transformation of the secondary structure, from the random-coil type to the β-sheettype, in solid fibroin films. We prepared two types of fibroin films with the random-coil structure. One is a fibroin film doped with a dye as a photosensitizer with a small amount (1 wt %), and the other is a neat fibroin film. The former was excited at 532 nm and the latter was excited at 266 nm. Irradiations were carried out with fluences much lower than each ablation threshold. The excitation of the dye at 532 nm did not affect the secondary structure of the random-coil type. By contrast, 266-nm laser irradiation, which excites tryptophan (an amino-acid residue) involved in fibroin, created the β-sheetdomain in the film. The structural transformation was revealed by infrared absorption spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Received: 1 August 2001 / Accepted: 2 August 2001 / Published online: 2 October 2001     

FTIR analysis of protein secondary structure in cheddar cheese during ripening

Proteolysis is one of the most important biochemical reactions during cheese ripening. Studies on the secondary structure of proteins during ripening would be helpful for characterizing protein changes for assessing cheese quality. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), with self-deconvolution, second derivative analysis and band curve-fitting, was used to characterize the secondary structure of proteins in Cheddar cheese during ripening. The spectra of the amide I region showed great similarity, while the relative contents of the secondary structures underwent a series of changes. As ripening progressed, the alpha-helix content decreased and the beta-sheet content increased. This structural shift was attributed to the strengthening of hydrogen bonds that resulted from hydrolysis of caseins. In summary, FTIR could provide the basis for rapid characterization of cheese that is undergoing ripening.     

The role of auto-ionization transitions in the formation of the extended fine structure of high-energy secondary electron spectra

Extended fine structure (EFS) of secondary electron (SE) spectra has been detected beyond the high-energy (∼720 and ∼840 eV) LVV Auger lines in iron and nickel. Two mechanisms of its formation are considered: 1) direct transitions of electrons to the final state p according to Fermi’s “golden rule” and 2) second-order processes of auto-ionization type, passing through excitation of a core electron to an intermediate state q of the continuum with subsequent filling of the hole formed during this process by a valence electron and transition of the electron from the intermediate state q to the final state p. Interference of the direct wave with the wave reflected from neighboring atoms generates the EFS both in the final (p) and in the intermediate (q) state with two different periods determined by the wave numbers p and q. Comparison of calculated extended fine structures with the experimentally observed ones leads to the conclusion that the structure is formed by second-order auto-ionization processes. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1589–1594 (September 1998)     

The role of secondary reggeons in central meson production

We estimate the contribution of f₂ trajectory exchange to the central and production. It is shown that secondary reggeons may give a large contribution to processes of double diffractive meson production at high energies. Received: 10 May 2000 / Accepted: 4 June 2000     

The secondary structure of RNA under tension

We study the force-induced unfolding of random disordered RNA or single-stranded DNA polymers. The system undergoes a second-order phase transition from a collapsed globular phase at low forces to an extensive necklace phase with a macroscopic end-to-end distance at high forces. At low temperatures, the sequence inhomogeneities modify the critical behaviour. We provide numerical evidence for the universality of the critical exponents which, by extrapolation of the scaling laws to zero force, contain useful information on the ground-state (f = 0) properties. This provides a good method for quantitative studies of scaling exponents characterizing the collapsed globule. In order to get rid of the blurring effect of thermal fluctuations, we restrict ourselves to the ground state at fixed external force. We analyze the statistics of rearrangements, in particular below the critical force, and point out its implications for force-extension experiments on single molecules. Received 18 June 2002 and Received in final form 23 September 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: muller@ipno.in2p3.fr     

The role of cardiac tissue structure in defibrillation

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between cardiac tissue structure, applied electric field, and the transmembrane potential induced in the process of defibrillation. It outlines a general understanding of the structural mechanisms that contribute to the outcome of a defibrillation shock. Electric shocks defibrillate by changing the transmembrane potential throughout the myocardium. In this process first and foremost the shock current must access the bulk of myocardial mass. The exogenous current traverses the myocardium along convoluted intracellular and extracellular pathways channeled by the tissue structure. Since individual fibers follow curved pathways in the heart, and the fiber direction rotates across the ventricular wall, the applied current perpetually engages in redistribution between the intra- and extracellular domains. This redistribution results in changes in transmembrane potential (membrane polarization): regions of membrane hyper- and depolarization of extent larger than a single cell are induced in the myocardium by the defibrillation shock. Tissue inhomogeneities also contribute to local membrane polarization in the myocardium which is superimposed over the large-scale polarization associated with the fibrous organization of the myocardium. The paper presents simulation results that illustrate various mechanisms by which cardiac tissue structure assists the changes in transmembrane potential throughout the myocardium. (c) 1998 American Institute of Physics.     

The role of mammalian autophagy in protein metabolism

Autophagy is in principle a non-selective degradation system within cells, which is conserved in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy is usually suppressed at low levels but can be upregulated during periods of nutrient starvation, which facilitates cell survival. In addition to this fundamental role, basal autophagy was recently revealed to be important for constitutive turnover of intracellular proteins and organelles. Autophagy has been considered to be involved also in presentation of endogenous antigens, degradation of invasive bacteria, tumor suppression, cell death and development. This review will discuss the biological significance of autophagy, particularly focusing on its implications in protein metabolism in mammals.     

FTIR分析共价偶联对抗体蛋白二级结构的影响

用共价偶联的方法制备了免疫胶乳,并利用傅里叶变换红外光谱技术,结合差谱、去卷积、二阶导和曲线拟合等计算机辅助分析方法,研究免疫胶乳中抗体蛋白的二级结构。结果表明,随着pH值的升高以及胶乳浓度的增大,抗体蛋白的有序结构含量增加。由此认为共价偶联会对抗体蛋白的二级结构产生较为显著的影响。     

The role of the plasmon mechanism in the secondary electron emission in LiF

Energy distributions of secondary electrons emitted by LiF monocrystals were measured for various energies and angles of incidence of the primary electron beam. The analysis has shown the dominating role of the plasmon mechanism of secondary electron generation. On this base a simple model to calculate the secondary electron yield has been developed. This model made it possible to estimate the contribution of each mechanism of secondary electron generation to the total yield. Good agreement between experimental and calculated data was found. It has been also shown that in LiF the plasmon mechanism can produce up to 90 percent of the total number of escaped secondary electrons.     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure on secondary structure and emulsifying behavior of sweet potato protein

In this study, secondary structures of sweet potato protein (SPP) after high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment (200–600?MPa) were evaluated and emulsifying properties of emulsions with HHP-treated SPP solutions in different pH values (3, 6, and 9) were investigated. Circular dichroism analysis confirmed the modification of the SPP secondary structure. Surface hydrophobicity increased at pH 3 and decreased at 6 and 9. Emulsifying activity index at pH 6 increased with an increase in pressure, whereas emulsifying stability index increased at pH 6 and 9. Oil droplet sizes decreased, while volume frequency distribution of the smaller droplets increased at pH 3 and 6 with the HHP treatment. Emulsion viscosity increased at pH 6 and 9 and pseudo-plastic flow behaviors were not altered for all emulsions produced with HHP-treated SPP. These results suggested that HHP could modify the SPP structure for better emulsifying properties, which could increase the use of SPP emulsion in the food industry.     

The role of screening corrections in smallx-behaviour of structure functions

We consider the influence of shadowing effects on the proton structure function in the small-x interval. The gluon-gluon shadowing are noticeable in the HERA kinematical region while the screening of the quark component of the structure function effects negligibly the gluon distribution. The only noticeable effect is the decreasing of sea quark densities at small-x. The explicit form of the gluon distribution in the proton depends significantly on the form of used boundary condition atQ ²=Q ₀ ² . We consider also difference of results obtained with the help of Kuraev-Lipatov-Fadin and Altarelli-Parisi evolution equations.     

The role of gluon-gluon shadowing in smallx-behaviour of structure functions

We consider influence of gluon shadowing effects on the proton structure function in the smallx interval. These effects are noticeable in the HERA kinematical region. The explicit form of the gluon distribution in the proton depend significantly on the form of used boundary condition atQ ²=Q ₀ ² . We consider also difference of results obtained with the help of Kuraev-Lipatov-Fadin and Altarelli-Parisi evolution equations.     

DANGLE: A Bayesian inferential method for predicting protein backbone dihedral angles and secondary structure

This paper introduces DANGLE, a new algorithm that employs Bayesian inference to estimate the likelihood of all possible values of the backbone dihedral angles ? and ψ for each residue in a query protein, based on observed chemical shifts and the conformational preferences of each amino acid type. The method provides robust estimates of ? and ψ within realistic boundary ranges, an indication of the degeneracy in the relationship between shift measurements and conformation at each site, and faithful secondary structure state assignments. When a simple degeneracy-based filtering procedure is applied, DANGLE offers an ideal compromise between accuracy and coverage when compared with other shift-based dihedral angle prediction methods. In addition, per residue analysis of shift/structure degeneracy has potential to be a useful new approach for studying the properties of unfolded proteins, with sufficient sensitivity to identify regions of residual structure in the acid denatured state of apomyoglobin.     

The structure of multi-electrode-pair pulse laser and discharge pulse time selection

Applying multi-electrode-pair pulse TEA CO₂ laser to one optical resonance cavity will have several advantages over traditional method, including higher gain, shorter pulse discharge time interval, and in particular, continuous adjustable time interval of multi-pulse laser output can be achieved without high vacuum condition. To improve laser's working stabilization, we proposed new approaches to optimize laser structure design and discharge pulse time interval selection.     

The role of continuous and discrete water structures in protein function

Proteins have evolved to perform numerous roles as specific catalysts and nano-machines. Some of the mechanisms exploited by evolution are clear. Hydrophobicity drives the stabilization energy of folding, charges mediate long-range interactions and facilitate catalysis, and specific geometries and hydrogen bonding patterns facilitate molecular recognition and catalysis. In this work, we examine the energy landscape of protein dynamics in terms of the continuous and discrete water structures that control protein dynamics. We observe that the internal structures at the active site of proteins are constantly shaped by strong interactions with hydration shell and bulk water motions. By describing the energy landscape of proteins in terms of its three component motions; conformational, hydration and protonation, and electronic structure, it is possible to systematically understand protein function.     

The role of daughter nuclei excitation in a structure of photonuclear resonances

The results of microscopic calculations of dipole resonances in ³²S and ³⁴S nuclei obtained on the basis of a “particle-finite nucleus state” using the spectroscopic factors of a nucleon pick-up reaction are presented. The conditions for the applicability of this approach to obtaining a realistic picture of a photo-excitation cross section are discussed.     

The role of surface variables in the vacuum structure of Yang-Mills theory

The structure of the vacuum in the SU(2) Yang-Mills theory is discussed for general gauges. The original discussions given by Callan et al. and Jackiw and Rebbi are restricted to a particular class of gauge conditions. We show that the periodic vacua and the “vacuum seizing” in the presence of massless fermions can be realized in any gauge by recognizing the independent dynamical role of surface variables defined at spatial infinity.