In vitro evaluation of potential complexation between bovine insulin and bovine serum albumin

The objective of this study was to examine the possible binding of bovine insulin (BI) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form a new potential diabetogenic irreversible complex protein. Several preparations of BSA and BI were prepared. Both capillary electrophoresis and spectrophotometric analysis were undertaken to test the possibility of complexation between BI and BSA. HPLC was used to test whether the potential complex of BI and BSA is reversible or irreversible. The optimum deviation between the real and calculated absorbances was observed at a BI/BSA ratio of 2. Moreover, the migration time of BI decreased substantially with increasing ratio of BI to BSA until it became almost constant at equal molar ratio of BI/BSA. While the majority of the 2:1 BI–BSA sample detached during the HPLC analysis, which confirms the reversible character of BI–BSA binding, the HPLC chromatogram also emphasizes the formation of an irreversible complexation between the two proteins. This study provides evidence of the formation of reversible and irreversible new BI–BSA complexes under physiological conditions. This highlights the importance of examining the possible diabetogenicity of BI–BSA complex in genetically susceptible people. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dispersion of polymeric-coated–silica aerogel particles in unsaturated polyester composites: Effects on thermal-mechanical properties

The thermal-mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester (UP) composite were enhanced by the dispersion of silica aerogel (SA) with preserved pores. Low-cost SA was prepared from rice husk via the sol-gel process and ambient pressure drying. A new method was proposed to encapsulate the hydrophobic aerogel surface pores with hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film using the fluidized-bed coating process. The dispersion of PVA-coated aerogel with preserved pores in the polyester matrix resulted in an increase of specific compressive strength (44.1?MPa?·?cm³?g^?1), thermal insulation (0.23?W?m^?1?K^?1), and thermal stability (T_onset?=?310°C), but decreased the glass transition temperature (T_g?=?260°C).     

On-line liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry to investigate acrylamide adducts with cysteine residues: implications for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separations of proteins

Adduction between acrylamide and cysteine residues is a post-translational modification associated with proteins separated by gel electrophoresis. In the present article, three model peptides containing 2–4 cysteine residues were reduced with dithiothreitol, incubated with acrylamide monomers and examined by on-line liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Each of the solutions examined in this work revealed the presence of four distinct components: the free peptide, two different peptide–acrylamide 1:1 adducts involving two cysteine residues at different positions within the same sequence, and peptide–acrylamide 1:2 adducts. The use of liquid chromatography allowed the separation of components which differed only by the site of complexation of acrylamide, while the application of tandem mass spectrometry furnished reliable sequencing information permitting the identification of most cysteine residues involved in such complexation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of a dielectric microdroplet thermal interface material with dispersed nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles (NPs) with a size close to 1.5?nm, coated with organic ligands bearing Si(OEt)₃ groups, were synthesized and used to obtain self-standing films by a sol?Cgel process catalyzed by formic acid. Using FESEM images, FTIR, and UV?Cvisible spectra, it was observed that very small gold NPs self-assembled by Si?CO?CSi covalent bonds forming crosslinked clusters with sizes up to about 50?nm in which NPs preserve their individuality. The possibility of fixing very small gold NPs in a crosslinked film opens a variety of potential applications based on the specific properties of small-size particles. As an example, we illustrated the way in which one can take advantage of the low melting temperature of these NPs to generate tiny gold crystals partially embedded at the surface, a process that might be used for the development of catalysts or sensors. Besides, the shift and change in the intensity of the plasmon band produced by heating to 100?°C may be employed to develop an irreversible sensor of undesirable temperature excursions during the life-time of a specific product.     

Theoretical study with rovibrational and dipole moment calculation of sextet states of the CrCl molecule

The potential energy curves have been investigated for the 13 lowest sextet electronic states in the representation below 53,000 cm^?1 of the molecule CrCl via CASSCF and MRCI (single and double excitation with Davidson correction) calculations. The harmonic frequency ω_e, the internuclear distance r_e, the rotational constant B_e, the electronic energy with respect to the ground state T_e, and the permanent dipole moment μ have been calculated. By using the canonical functions approach, the eigenvalues E_v, the rotational constant B_v, and the abscissas of the turning points r_min and r_max have been calculated for the considered electronic states up to the vibrational level v = 16. Nine electronic states have been studied theoretically here for the first time. The comparison of these values with the theoretical and experimental results available in the literature shows a good agreement. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012     

The double von Mises transformation in the study of two-phase fluid flow over curved boundaries: Theory and analysis

Three kinds of grid system based on C-type grid are examined in order to reveal their relative flow characteristics of the turbomachinery cascade, especially near the trailing edge and wake. Here, a semi-conservative interpolation technique to treat the discontinuous boundary condition along the periodic boundary is proposed and is applied on the patched-type grid structure. Computational results are presented to see the influence of trailing-edge grid structure on the Navier-Stokes solutions for the high-turning transonic turbine cascade.     

Proteomic profiling of pancreatic ductal carcinoma cell lines treated with trichostatin-A

A pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line (Paca44) was treated with trichostatin-A (TSA), a potent inhibitor of histone deacetylases, in order to evaluate the effect of this drug on protein expression. Master maps of control and treated Paca44 cells were generated by analysis with the PDQuest software. The comparison between such maps showed up- and downregulation of 51 polypeptide chains, out of a total of 700 spots detected by a medium-sensitivity stain, micellar Coomassie Brilliant Blue. Fingerprinting by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF)-mass spectrometry analysis enabled the identification of 22 of these spots. Among these proteins, of particular interest are the two downregulated proteins nucleophosmin and translationally controlled tumor protein, as well as the upregulated proteins programmed cell death protein 5 (also designated as TFAR19) and stathmin (oncoprotein 18). The modulation of these four proteins is consistent with our observation that TSA is able to inhibit cell growth of Paca44 by causing cell cycle arrest at the G2 phase and apoptotic cell death.     

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry of commercial bovine milk

Proteins in commercial bovine milk have been separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and examined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry. Gel separation was conducted in two different pH gradients, 3-10 and 6-11; the latter range resulted in a higher spot resolution and favoured the basic proteins. We have limited the time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis to the linear mode to examine the capability of reliable relative molecular masses of the intact proteins in their characterisation. The present study draws attention to the difficulty of identifying basic proteins with low molecular masses (below 12000 Da) that are commonly encountered in milk samples.