A Chimeric DNA/RNA Antiparallel Quadruplex with Improved Stability

Nucleic acid quadruplexes are proposed to play a role in the regulation of gene expression, are often present in aptamers selected for specific binding functions and have potential applications in medicine and biotechnology. Therefore, understanding their structure and thermodynamic properties and designing highly stable quadruplexes is desirable for a variety of applications. Here, we evaluate DNA→RNA substitutions in the context of a monomolecular, antiparallel quadruplex, the thrombin-binding aptamer (TBA, GGTTGGTGTGGTTGG) in the presence of either K⁺ or Sr²⁺. TBA predominantly folds into a chair-type configuration containing two G-tetrads, with G residues in both syn and anti conformation. All chimeras with DNA→RNA substitutions (G→g) at G residues requiring the syn conformation demonstrated strong destabilization. In contrast, G→g substitutions at Gs with anti conformation increased stability without affecting the monomolecular chair-type topology. None of the DNA→RNA substitutions in loop positions affected the quadruplex topology; however, these substitutions varied widely in their stabilizing or destabilizing effects in an unpredictable manner. This analysis allowed us to design a chimeric DNA/RNA TBA construct that demonstrated substantially improved stability relative to the all-DNA construct. These results have implications for a variety of quadruplex-based applications including for the design of dynamic nanomachines.     

Representation formulae of general solutions in the theory of hemitropic elasticity

We consider the steady state oscillation equations of the theoryof elasticity of hemitropic materials. We derive general representationformulae for the displacement and microrotation vectors by meansof six scalar metaharmonic functions. These formulae are veryconvenient and useful in many particular problems for domainswith concrete geometry. Here we consider two canonical transmissionproblems for piecewise homogeneous bodies with spherical interfacesand with the help of the representation formulae construct explicitsolutions in the form of absolutely and uniformly convergentseries. The representations can also be applied to multi-layeredbodies with spherical and cylindrical interfaces.     

The nuclear spin-echo signals under combined action of magnetic field and RF pulses

The effect of a pulse magnetic field on formation of the single-pulse echo signal in some magnetic materials has been studied. The signals of nuclear-spin echo formed by the combined action of radio frequency and magnetic pulses have been observed. The duration of the magnetic pulse was only limited by the length of the radio frequency pulse. The echo signal formed by the two magnetic pulses, the edges of a long magnetic pulse, and other situations that allowed us to reproduce the analogue of multipulse action, were observed as well.     

Traceless chemical ligations from O-acyl serine sites

Chemical ligation via O- to N-acyl transfer of O-acylated serine containing peptides affords serine containing native peptides via 8- and 11-membered cyclic transition states opening the door to a wide variety of potential applications to peptide elaboration. The feasibility of these traceless chemical ligations is feasible as supported by computation.     

Denitrocyclization in synthesis of dibenzo[b,f][1,4]thiazepin‐11(10h)‐ones and their derivatives

A convenient synthesis of the novel dibenzo[b,f][1,4]thiazepin‐11(10H)‐ones is reported. As a key step, the synthetic route includes intramolecular aromatic denitrocyclization of 2‐(2,4‐dinitro‐phenylsulfanyl)‐benzoic acid amides. Efficient procedures for denitrocyclization in the presence of different bases are developed. Reduction of the nitro group in the obtained heterocycles resulted in formation of primary amines, which were transformed into amides by acylation with different carboxylic acids. The synthesized compounds have a great potential of bioactivity and are useful objects for biomedicinal screening.     

Effect of macropore convection on mass transfer in a bidisperse adsorbent particle

The importance of adsorption induced convection in the macropores of a bidisperse adsorbent particle is studied for a step change in mole fraction or total pressure at the surface of the particle. Material balance equations for a binary gas mixture are written for both the macropores and the macropores with allowance for convection in the macropores, which is described by Darcy's law. The coupled set o1' partial differential equations is solved by orthogonal collocation. The enhancement in mass transfer as a result of convection is assessed by comparing the fractional uptake curves obtained with and without allowance for convection. Both equilibrium-based and kinetic-based separation processes are considered. The effect of the presence of convection in determining the controlling diffusional resistance (macropore or micropore) is also examined. Due to inclusion of convection no single non-dimensional group alone can determine the relative importance of macropore and micropore resistances. Results show that convection can significantly affect the performance of an equilibrium-based macropore diffusion controlled process and that the enhancement in mass transfer is more for a particle with a high value of Darcy permeability.     

Orthogonal decompositions for wavelets

Decompositions of Hilbert spaces in terms of reducing subspaces for wavelets operators, as well decompositions of these operators themselves, are investigated. In particular, it is shown on which reducing subspaces these operators act as bilateral shifts of multiplicity 1. We also exhibit the unitary transformation that performs the unitary equivalence between restrictions of them to appropriate reducing subspaces.