Free Superoxide is an Intermediate in the Production of H2O2 by Copper(I)‐Aβ Peptide and O2

Oxidative stress is considered as an important factor and an early event in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cu bound to the peptide amyloid‐β (Aβ) is found in AD brains, and Cu‐Aβ could contribute to this oxidative stress, as it is able to produce in vitro H₂O₂ and HO^. in the presence of oxygen and biological reducing agents such as ascorbate. The mechanism of Cu‐Aβ‐catalyzed H₂O₂ production is however not known, although it was proposed that H₂O₂ is directly formed from O₂ via a 2‐electron process. Here, we implement an electrochemical setup and use the specificity of superoxide dismutase‐1 (SOD1) to show, for the first time, that H₂O₂ production by Cu‐Aβ in the presence of ascorbate occurs mainly via a free O₂^.? intermediate. This finding radically changes the view on the catalytic mechanism of H₂O₂ production by Cu‐Aβ, and opens the possibility that Cu‐Aβ‐catalyzed O₂^.? contributes to oxidative stress in AD, and hence may be of interest.     

Evaluation of the pH- and thermal stability of the recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the presence of sodium chloride

The thermal stability of recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFP) in sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions at different concentrations, pH, and temperatures was evaluated by assaying the loss of fluorescence intensity as a measure of denaturation. GFP, extracted from Escherichia coli cells by the three-phase partitioning method and purified through a butyl hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) column, was diluted in water for injection (WFI) (pH 6.0-7.0) and in 10 mM buffer solutions (acetate, pH 5.0; phosphate, pH 7.0; and Tris-EDTA, pH 8.0) with 0.9-30% NaCl or without and incubated at 80-95 degrees C. The extent of protein denaturation was expressed as a percentage of the calculated decimal reduction time (D-value). In acetate buffer (pH 4.84+/-0.12), the mean D-values for 90% reduction in GFP fluorescence ranged from 2.3 to 3.6 min, independent of NaCl concentration and temperature. GFP thermal stability diluted in WFI (pH 5.94+/-0.60) was half that observed in phosphate buffer (pH 6.08+/-0.60); but in both systems, D-values decreased linearly with increasing NaCl concentration, with D-values (at 80 degrees C) ranging from 3.44, min (WFI) to 6.1 min (phosphate buffer), both with 30% NaCl. However, D-values in Tris-EDTA (pH 7.65+/-0.17) were directly dependent on the NaCl concentration and 5-10 times higher than D-values for GFP in WFI at 80 degrees C. GFP pH- and thermal stability can be easily monitored by the convenient measure of fluorescence intensity and potentially be used as an indicator to monitor that processing times and temperatures were attained.     

A dynamic density functional theory for particles in a flowing solvent

We present a dynamic density functional theory (dDFT) which takes into account the advection of the particles by a flowing solvent. For potential flows, we can use the same closure as in the absence of solvent flow. The structure of the resulting advected dDFT suggests that it could be used for nonpotential flows as well. We apply this dDFT to Brownian particles (e.g., polymer coils) in a solvent flowing around a spherical obstacle (e.g., a colloid) and compare the results with direct simulations of the underlying Brownian dynamics. Although numerical limitations do not allow for an accurate quantitative check of the advected dDFT both show the same qualitative features. In contrast to previous works which neglected the deformation of the flow by the obstacle, we find that the bow wave in the density distribution of particles in front of the obstacle as well as the wake behind it are reduced dramatically. As a consequence, the friction force exerted by the (polymer) particles on the colloid can be reduced drastically.     

A sound quality-based investigation of the HVAC system noise of an automobile model

Using methods and techniques of sound quality engineering, the noise of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system (HVAC) of an automobile model was studied. Such noise has a great influence on vehicle acoustical comfort and on overall quality perception of a vehicle. The study was divided into two steps. The first step aimed to identify the most significant attributes that contribute to the perception of similarity or dissimilarity of this kind of noise, using the paired comparison technique and correlation of the results with psychoacoustic models. Loudness, spectral composition and tonality, represented by the psychoacoustic models of loudness, sharpness, tone-to-noise ratio and prominence were found to be the most important dimensions for the perception of similarity and dissimilarity of HVAC-noise.In the second step of the study a model to predict subjective response to HVAC sounds using the semantic differential technique was developed. In particular the perception of annoyance was studied and it is shown that the annoyance caused by the HVAC noise can be satisfactorily described by Zwicker’s stationary loudness model, provided that the HVAC noises do not present tonal components. The loudness model also predicts scores on a quiet/loud scale. Both results confirm the power of the loudness dimension and its model introduced by Zwicker for the overall quality of stationary broadband sounds without slow fluctuations or tonal components. From the annoyance model developed in this study a maximum acceptable loudness level for HVAC-systems can be determined.     

Mixtures of strongly interacting bosons in optical lattices

We investigate the properties of strongly interacting heteronuclear boson-boson mixtures loaded in realistic optical lattices, with particular emphasis on the physics of interfaces. In particular, we numerically reproduce the recent experimental observation that the addition of a small fraction of 41K induces a significant loss of coherence in 87Rb, providing a simple explanation. We then investigate the robustness against the inhomogeneity typical of realistic experimental realizations of the glassy quantum emulsions recently predicted to occur in strongly interacting boson-boson mixtures on ideal homogeneous lattices.     

Modelling Protein Plasticity: The Example of Frataxin and Its Variants

Frataxin (FXN) is a protein involved in storage and delivery of iron in the mitochondria. Single-point mutations in the FXN gene lead to reduced production of functional frataxin, with the consequent dyshomeostasis of iron. FXN variants are at the basis of neurological impairment (the Friedreich’s ataxia) and several types of cancer. By using altruistic metadynamics in conjunction with the maximal constrained entropy principle, we estimate the change of free energy in the protein unfolding of frataxin and of some of its pathological mutants. The sampled configurations highlight differences between the wild-type and mutated sequences in the stability of the folded state. In partial agreement with thermodynamic experiments, where most of the analyzed variants are characterized by lower thermal stability compared to wild type, the D104G variant is found with a stability comparable to the wild-type sequence and a lower water-accessible surface area. These observations, obtained with the new approach we propose in our work, point to a functional switch, affected by single-point mutations, of frataxin from iron storage to iron release. The method is suitable to investigate wide structural changes in proteins in general, after a proper tuning of the chosen collective variable used to perform the transition.     

Production of nisin by Lactococcus lactis in media with skimmed milk

Nisin is a bacteriocin that inhibits the germination and growth of Gram-positive bacteria. With nisin expression related to growth conditions of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, the effects of growth parameters, media components, and incubation time were studied to optimize expression. L. lactis ATCC 11454 was grown (100 rpm at 30°C for 36 h) in both M17 and MRS standard broth media (pH 6.0–7.0) supplemented with sucrose (1.0–12.5 g/L), potassium phosphate (0.13 g/L), asparagine (0.5 g/L), and sucrose (0.24 g/L), and diluted 1:1 with liquid nonfat milk. Liquid nonfat milk, undiluted, was also used as another medium (9% total solids, pH 6.5). Nisin production was assayed by agar diffusion using Lactobacillus sake ATCC 15521 (30°C for 24 h) as the sensitive test organism. The titers of nisin expressed and released in culture media were quantified and expressed in arbitrary units (AU/L of medium) and converted into known concentrations of “standard nisin” (Nisaplin®, g/L). The detection of nisin activity was <0.01 AU/L in M17 and MRS broths, and 7.5 AU/L in M17 with 0.14% sucrose or 0.13% other supplements, and the activity increased to 142.5 AU/L in M17 diluted with liquid nonfat milk (1:1). The 25% milk added to either 25% M17 or 25% MRS provided the highest levels of nisin assayed.     

Photodamaging Effects of Porphyrin in a Human Carcinoma Cell Line

A convenient procedure to visualize the photodynamic effect of porphyrins on cell lines is shown. 5,10,15,20-Tetra(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin (TMP) was used as photosensitizer. The culture flasks bearing a Hep-2 cell line were incubated for 24 h with 1 M of TMP. Under these conditions saturation of the TMP intracellular concentration is obtained. The irradiation of cell cultures for 30 min produces 90% cell mortality, while no toxicity was observed under dark conditions or under irradiation without TMP. This methodology can be used to demonstrate the photodynamic therapy (PDT) process in a laboratory experiment.     

Caseinate protects stallion sperm during semen cooling and freezing

Extenders with a defined composition containing only components with clearly protective effects on sperm during storage would be an advantage. The aims of the present work were to assess whether caseinate, improves cooled and frozen equine semen quality. Semen from six stallions were suspended with four different cooling extenders C1) Kenney extender; C2) 0.6 % caseinate; C3) 2.7 % caseinate ; and C4) C1 + 2.1 % caseinate, and frozen extenders: F1) INRA 82 extender; F2) 1.35 % caseinate; and F3) 2.7 % caseinate. Although there was no significant difference between the motility rate among the cooled (C1:45.0, C2:36.7, C3:38.3 and C4:48.3) and frozen extenders (F1:16.9, F2:21.1 and F3:18.6), significant higher values of sperm velocity variables were observed with the 1.35 % caseinate extender compared to the control (VSL: 40.8 x 18.9 and VAP: 46.8 x 25.0 μm/s), respectively. Caseinate seemed to be responsible for sperm protection during preservation and showed to be as efficient as milk.