Traveling Time of a translating ribosome along messenger RNA monitored directly on a quartz crystal microbalance

During translation, the biosynthesis of polypeptides is dynamically regulated. The translation rate along messenger RNA (mRNA), which is dependent on the codon, structure, and sequence, is not always constant. However, methods for measuring the duration required for polypeptide elongation on an mRNA of interest have not been developed. In this work, we used a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique to monitor mRNA translation in an Escherichia coli cell-free translation system in real time. This method permitted us to evaluate the translation of proteins of interest fused upstream of a streptavidin-binding peptide (SBP) fusion protein. The translation of mRNA encoding the SBP fusion protein alone was observed as a mass increase on a streptavidin-modified QCM plate. Addition of the protein of interest resulted in a delay in the mass change corresponding to the traveling time of the ribosome along the coding region of the protein of interest. With this technique, the lengths of coding sequences, codon usages, influences of unique sequences, and various protein-coding sequences were evaluated. The results showed that the traveling time of the translating ribosome depends on the length of the coding region translated but is also affected by the sequence itself. Differences in the time lags for various proteins imply that mRNA coding sequences may regulate gene expression.     

Precise measurement of magnetic moment of short-lived β-emitting nuclei ~(12)B (I~π=1~+,T_(1/2)=20.18 ms)

1 Introduction The production of nuclear spin polarization and the maintenance of the nuclear po-larization in a stopper are the essential requirement for the measurement of nuclear magnetic and electric quadrupole moments of the b-emitting nuclei by the ?NMR and b-NQR (b-ray detected Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and b-ray detected Nuclear Quad-rupole Resonance) technique. This requirement can be realized by the selection tech-nique of the incident particle energy of the nuclear reaction th…     

Sampling modulation technique in radio-frequency helium glow discharge emission source by use of pulsed laser ablation

An emission excitation source comprising a high-frequency diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a radio-frequency powered glow discharge lamp is proposed. In this system sample atoms ablated by the laser irradiation are introduced into the lamp chamber and subsequently excited by the helium glow discharge plasma. The pulsed operation of the laser can produce a cyclic variation in the emission intensities of the sample atoms whereas the plasma gas species emit the radiation continuously. The salient feature of the proposed technique is the selective detection of the laser modulation signal from the rest of the continuous background emissions, which can be achieved with the phase sensitive detection of the lock-in amplifier. The arrangement may be used to estimate the emission intensity of the laser ablated atom, free from the interference of other species present in the plasma. The experiments were conducted with a 13.56 MHz radio-frequency (rf) generator operated at 80 W power to produce plasma and the laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm (pulse duration:34 ns, repetition rate:7 kHz and average pulse energy of about 0.36 mJ) was employed for sample ablation. The measurements resulted in almost complete removal of nitrogen molecular bands (N₂⁺ 391.44 nm). Considerable reduction (about 75%) in the emission intensity of a carbon atomic line (C I 193.03 nm) was also observed.     

Ring transformation of 3-hydroxy-1,2,5- and -1,2,4-thiadiazoles and -isothiazoles into isothiazole,thiazole and thiophene derivatives

Ring transformation of 3-hydroxy-1,2,5-thiadiazole ( 1 ), 3-hydroxy-1,2,4-thiadiazole ( 14 ), and 3-hydroxyiso-thiazole ( 18 ) by the reaction with acetic anhydride in the presence of DBU afforded isothiazoles 2-5 and 13 , thiazoles 15 and 16 and thiophenes 21-25 , respectively. The reaction of 1 with propionic anhydride gave isothiazole 13 . The formation pathway of the products is mentioned.     

Time component of the mirror beta decays of12B and12N

Beta-ray angular distributions from aligned¹²B and¹²N have been observed in order to study the meson-exchange effect in a nucleus. Alignment-correlation coefficients for¹²B and¹²N were determined to be _–=–(0.0174±0.0059)%/MeV and ₊=–(0.2774±0.0086)%/MeV, respectively. These values are fairly consistent with the previous values, while the reliability was greatly improved. From these coefficients, the nuclear parametery, i.e. the ratio of the time component of the axial vector currents of the Gamow-Teller matrix element, was determined to bey=4.13±0.15. The value is enhanced by 33% from that calculated by use of the impulse approximation, which clearly shows a considerable effect due to meson-exchange currents.     

Giant quadrupole moment andproton halo discovered in8B

The nuclear quadrupole moment of⁸B(I =2⁺,T _1/2=769 ms) has been determined by use of a modified -NMR detection as |Q(⁸B)|=68.3±2.1 mb, which is twice the prediction of the Cohen-Kurath shell model calculation. The anomalous quadrupole moment which is carried mainly by the protons in the nucleus, has been accounted for by the proton halo effect.     

Sign of the quadrupole moment of proton drip-line nucleus 8B

The sign of the quadrupole coupling constant eqQ of ⁸B in ZrB₂ is determined to be positive through the β-delayed α-ray anisotropy measurement combined with the spin manipulation technique by use of the β-NMR. According to the theoretical calculation of the electric field gradient in ZrB₂, the sign of the quadrupole moment of ⁸B is deduced to be positive. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of the driving frequency on the emission characteristics of a radio-frequency glow discharge excitation source boosted by the introduction of a d. c. bias current.

In a radio-frequency-powered glow discharge lamp, a d.c. bias current which is driven by a self-bias voltage can lead to an enhancement of the emission intensities excited by the plasma. The driving frequency of the r.f. plasma is an important parameter to determine the self-bias voltage; lower r.f. frequencies induce greater self-bias voltages. The effects of the bias current introduction on the emission characteristics were compared between a 13.56-MHz plasma and a 6.78-MHz plasma. As a result, the 6.78-MHz plasma offered a better analytical performance, probably due to higher self-bias voltages, if the introduced Ar pressure was optimized. This method was applied to a Mo determination in Fe-matrix alloy samples. At bias currents of 40 - 50 mA, the emission intensities of the Mo I 379.82-nm line were about 10-times larger than those obtained with the conventional plasma when the 6.78-MHz plasma was produced at an r.f. power of 60 W. The detection limit obtained for this calibration was 2.0 x 10(-4) mass % Mo at an 80-W r.f. power and at a d.c. bias current of 68 mA.     

Behavior of Boron Implanted in Semiconductor Si

Using β-NMR with ¹²B nuclei the temperature dependence of the lattice locations of boron implanted in Si is studied. At low temperature almost 100% of the implanted B is in either substitutional site or nonsubstitutional site. Above 260 K, the nonsubstitutional B rapidly becomes undetectable and disappears at a temperature higher than 325 K due to the fast spin-lattice relaxation. Above 450 K, the fraction of substitutional B increases to 100%. These experimental results are consistently explained by the thermal atomic jump and the dissociation of the defect associated with the nonsubstitutional B. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.