What Is the State of a Hydrogen Atom Leaving a Stern-Gerlach Interferometer?

We discuss experimental results on Stern-Gerlachinterferometry with atoms. After a theoretical approachsuited for fast atoms, we discuss elementary experimentson the preservation of atomic coherence. Then we examine the action of theinterferometer as producing atoms with new properties,beaded atoms, and their radiative properties.     

Time reversal in matter-wave optics

The evolution of atomic wave packets experiencing so-called comoving potential pulses is examined theoretically, in the framework of the stationary-phase approximation. The negative refraction induced by this potential is a characteristic property of negative-index media, the atomic counterpart of negative-index materials of light optics. A novel process, specific of negative-index for matter waves, is evidenced, namely a narrowing of the wave packet transiently counterbalancing the natural spreading. This is the manifestation of a general property of negative-index media, i.e. a time reversal effect. It is shown that, for a statistical ensemble of wave packets leading to a moderate dispersion of the times of flight, this time reversal phenomenon should be observable.     

The interaction of the antitoxin DM43 with a snake venom metalloproteinase analyzed by mass spectrometry and surface plasmon resonance

DM43 is a circulating dimeric antitoxin isolated from Didelphis aurita, a South American marsupial naturally immune to snake envenomation. This endogenous inhibitor binds non-covalently to jararhagin, the main hemorrhagic metalloproteinase from Bothrops jararaca snake venom, and efficiently neutralizes its toxicity. The aim of this study was to apply mass spectrometry (MS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to improve the molecular characterization of this heterocomplex. The stoichiometry of the interaction was confirmed by nanoelectrospray ionization-quadrupole-time-of-flight MS; from native solution conditions, the complex showed a molecular mass of ~94 kDa, indicating that one molecule of jararhagin (50 kDa) interacts with one monomer of DM43 (43 kDa). Although readily observed in solution, the dimeric structure of the inhibitor was barely preserved in the gas phase. This result suggests that, in contrast to the toxin-antitoxin complex, hydrophobic interactions are the primary driving force for the inhibitor dimerization. For the real-time interaction analysis, the toxin was captured on a sensor chip derivatized with the anti-jararhagin monoclonal antibody MAJar 2. The sensorgrams obtained after successive injections of DM43 in a concentration series were globally fitted to a simple bimolecular interaction, yielding the following kinetic rates for the DM43/jararhagin interaction: k(a) = 3.54 ± 0.03 × 10(4) M(-1) s(-1) and k(d) = 1.16 ± 0.07 × 10(-5) s(-1), resulting in an equilibrium dissociation constant (K(D) ) of 0.33 ± 0.06 nM. Taken together, MS and SPR results show that DM43 binds to its target toxin with high affinity and constitute the first accurate quantitative study on the extent of the interaction between a natural inhibitor and a metalloproteinase toxin, with unequivocal implications for the use of this kind of molecule as template for the rational development of novel antivenom therapies.     

Laurencia sesquiterpene biogenetic-type interconversions

Several aromatic sesquiterpenes from Laurencia algae were prepared from chamigrene skeleton precursors. Chemical evidence was adduced to support a biogenetic-type scheme for the synthesis of perforenol and perforene. By means of x ray analysis the structure and absolute configuration of one of the intermediates was established.