Proteomic analysis of transducin beta-subunit structural heterogeneity

Partially purified transducin was resolved using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Peptide mass fingerprinting of several different spots believed to correspond to the 37 kDa beta-subunit of transducin (T(beta)) was performed. Spots were excised and proteolyzed using modified trypsin. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) was performed on the peptide mixture resulting from each spot. As many as six spots with different pI, ranging from 5.2 to 6.1, were observed when separated using 2-DE. MALDI peptide mass fingerprinting determined with high probability that all of the spots were the same gene product, guanine nucleotide-binding protein G(I)/G(S)/G(T) beta-subunit 1 (GNB1; T(beta1)). This suggested that post-translational modification was responsible for the differences in pI. Phosphorylation experiments showed that at least one T(beta1) spot was phosphorylated in vitro with [gamma-(32)P]ATP by an endogenous kinase. Treatment of T(beta) with alkaline phosphatase caused a large change in the spot pattern of T(beta), suggesting that phosphorylated T(beta) is a substrate for alkaline phosphatase. We conclude that T(beta1) constitutes over 99% of the T(beta) expressed in bovine rod outer segments and displays structural heterogeneity that is due to post-translational modification. We also conclude that some, but not all, of the heterogeneity observed is due to phosphorylation of Tb1.     

An extension of the adsorption relation of J. J. Thomson

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Evidence for the existence of methyl hypofluorite: methanolysis of xenon difluoride

Methyl hypofluorite is indicated as an intermediate in the reaction of xenon difluoride with alkenes in methanol as solvent.     

Abnormal grain growth in Ni-5at.%W

The growth of abnormally large grains in textured Ni-5at.%W substrates for high-temperature superconductors deteriorates the sharp texture of these materials and thus has to be avoided. Therefore the growth of abnormal grains is investigated and how it is influenced by the grain orientation and the annealing atmosphere. Texture measurements and grain growth simulations show that the grain orientation only matters so far that a high-angle grain boundary exists between an abnormally growing grain and the Cube-orientated matrix grains. The annealing atmosphere has a large influence on abnormal grain growth which is attributed to the differences in oxygen partial pressure.     

Competitive binding to the oligopeptide binding protein, OppA: In-trap cleanup in an fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer

This communication demonstrates that gentle infrared laser heating can remove unwanted buffer adducts from a gas-phase protein complex without dissociating the complex itself. Specifically, noncovalent complexes of the oligopeptide-binding protein, OppA, bound to either (Ala)3 or LysTrpLys were electrosprayed from aqueous buffer solution into a 9.4 tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. In addition to the intact complexes, several additional buffer adduct species were produced under the conditions of the experiment. Irradiation of the trapped ion population with a continuous-wave infrared CO2 laser at relatively low power (2.5 W) for 1 s dissociated the buffer adducts but retained the intact protein:peptide complexes. Adduct-free complex(es) were then readily identified, and signal-to-noise ratio also increased by an order of magnitude because the same number of protein ions are distributed over fewer species. Higher IR power (5 W for 1 s) dissociated the adduct-free complex(es) without internal fragmentation. The present in-trap clean-up technique may prove especially useful for identifying and screening the combinatorial library ligands most strongly bound to a receptor in the gas phase.     

On the determination of the stored optical energy of an atomic iodine laser amplifier from the energy measured in the free running mode

An exact determination of the stored optical energy of an amplifier from the energy measured in the free running mode has been difficult for the iodine laser because of the influence of the recombination of ground state iodine atoms with radicals to the parent molecule on the population of the lower laser level. A formula is derived relating the stored optical energy to the one measured in the free running mode with due consideration of this effect.     

Novel C2-symmetric planar chiral diphosphine ligands and their application in pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions

Novel C(2)-symmetric diphosphine ligands possessing only the planar chirality of ruthenocene, 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2'-disubstituted-ruthenocenes (4), were prepared. With this kind of ligands, excellent enantioselectivity and especially highly catalytic activity in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions of rac-1,3-diphenyl-2-propenyl acetate (9) were observed, compared to their ferrocene analogues 1. Good enantioselectivity and highly catalytic activity were also obtained with 4 in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions of cyclohexen-1-yl acetate (12). Further study on the effect of R in ester group on enantioselectivity of 4 showed an opposite trend compared with their ferrocene analogues 1 in asymmetric allylic substitutions. For ruthenocene ligands 4, the one with the smaller R in the ester group gave higher enantioselectivity for the palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions of 9, while a converse trend had been observed with 1. However, for the palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions of 12, ligand 4 with a larger R in the ester group resulted in somewhat higher enantioselectivity but still an opposite trend with ligand 1. The X-ray diffraction study of crystal structures of 4 and 1 with Pd(II) was carried out and showed that the enantioselectivity was correlated to the twist angle existing in the palladium complex.