A conductometric biosensor for the estimation of the number of cleaving sites in peptides and proteins

A conductometric enzyme biosensor using proteinase K was developed and then tested to relate its electrical signal to the number of proteinase K hydrolysis sites in bovine serum albumin (BSA) and angiotensin, a ten amino acid peptide, with one cleaving site.The conductometric sensor presents a large linear range of response for BSA and angiotensin ranging from 0.5 to 8 mg/l and from 4 to 8 mg/l, respectively. For a same tested concentration (mg/l), the response for native BSA is 12 times higher than for angiotensin. Aspartam was used as negative test and no response was obtained with the proteinase K biosensor. The conductometric sensor permitted also to detect difference on enzyme activity on native and non-native BSA, a response three times higher was obtained for non-native BSA.     

Topological structure of solution sets for impulsive differential inclusions in Fréchet spaces

In this paper, we consider the existence of solutions as well as the topological and geometric structure of solution sets for first-order impulsive differential inclusions in some Fréchet spaces. Both the initial and terminal problems are considered. Using ingredients from topology and homology, the topological structures of solution sets (closedness and compactness) as well as some geometric properties (contractibility, acyclicity, AR and R_δ) are investigated. Some of our existence results are obtained via the method of taking the inverse system limit on noncompact intervals.     

Feuilletages des espaces temps globalement hyperboliques par des hypersurfaces à courbure moyenne constante

We announce the following result: every maximal globally hyperbolic 3-dimensional spacetime with compact Cauchy surface, and with nonpositive constant curvature admits a unique time function whose fibers are constant mean curvature surfaces. We discuss the extension of this result in higher dimensions. To cite this article: T. Barbot et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 336 (2003).     

Charge Transfer Salts of BO with Paramagnetic Isothiocyanato Complex Anions: (BO)[M(isoq)2(NCS)4]; M=Cr or Fe, isoq=isoquinoline and BO=Bis(ethylenedioxo)tetrathiafulvalene

The preparation, X-ray structures and magnetic properties of two isostructural new charge transfer salts: (BO)[M(isoq)₂(NCS)₄]; M=Cr^III(1), Fe^III(2) and isoq=isoquinoline are reported. Their structure consists of alternate organic and inorganic layers, each layer being formed by mixed columns of BO radical cations and paramagnetic metal complex anions. There are short intermolecular contacts between donor and anion (S2_anion· · ·S4_BO<3.5 Å) and between adjacent BO molecules (O· · · O1<3.2 Å). The two compounds are insulators. ESR measurements show single signal without separating the donor and anion spins. The magnetic measurements obey the Curie-Weiss law and revealed dominant antiferromagnetic interactions between anion spin and donor spin, but long-range magnetic ordering did not occur down to 2 K. This is directly related to structural reasons which were deduced from a comparison of the title compounds with other 1:1 salts containing same anion complexes and different donors.     

Labeled magnetic nanoparticles assembly on polypyrrole film for biosensor applications

In recent years, conducting polymers combined with metallic nanoparticles have been paid more attention due to their potential applications in microelectronics, microsystems, optical sensors and photoelectronic chemistry. The work presented in this paper describes the preparation and characterization of a nanocomposite composed by a thin polypyrrole (PPy) film covered with an assembly of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs). The magnetic particles were immobilized on PPy films under appropriate magnetic field in order to control their organization on the PPy film and finally to improve the sensitivity of the system in potential sensing applications. The electrical properties and morphology of the resulting PPy film and the PPy film/NPs composite were characterized with cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy (IS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and infra-red spectroscopy (IR). By using streptavidin labeled magnetic particles it was possible to functionalize the NPs assembly with biotin-Fab fragment K47 antibody. The designed biosensor had been successfully applied in rapid, simple, and accurate measurements of atrazine concentrations, with a significantly low detection limit of 5 ng/ml.     

Structure and absorption volume for hydrogen of ultramicroporous coordination polymers of copper(II) with 4,4′-bipyridine

It was shown that the crystal structure, formed from a polymeric chain, consisting of copper(II) ions or binuclear complexes of copper(II) bonded with 4,4′-bipyridine, can contain pores, suitable for hydrogen molecules. An analysis of the sorption properties of such compounds with respect to hydrogen showed that these depend on the parameters of the pores. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 233–239, July–August, 2008.