Micropatterning of DNA-tagged vesicles

We present a novel concept for the creation of lipid vesicle microarrays based on a patterning approach termed Molecular Assembly Patterning by Lift-off (MAPL). A homogeneous MAPL-based single-stranded DNA microarray was converted into a vesicle array by the use of vesicles tagged with complementary DNAs, permitting sequence-specific coupling of vesicles to predefined surface regions through complementary DNA hybridization. In the multistep process utilized to fulfill this achievement, active spots consisting of PLL-g-PEGbiotin with a resistant PLL-g-PEG background, as provided by the MAPL process, was converted into a DNA array by addition of complexes of biotin-terminated DNA and NeutrAvidin. This was then followed by addition of POPC vesicles tagged with complementary cholesterol-terminated DNA, thus providing specific coupling of vesicles to the surface through complementary DNA hybridization. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy monitoring were used to optimize the multistep surface modification process. It was found that the amount of adsorbed biotinDNA-NeutrAvidin complexes decreases with increasing molar ratio of biotinDNA to NeutrAvidin and decreasing ionic strength of the buffer solution. Modeling of the QCM-D data showed that the shape of the immobilized vesicles depends on the amount of available anchoring groups between the vesicles and the surface. Fluorescent microscopy images confirmed the possibility to create well-defined patterns of DNA-tagged, fluorescently labeled vesicles in the micrometer range.     

Investigation of Al diffusion in different oxide thin-film layers by SNMS/HFM method

Depth profiles of Ga₂O₃/a-SiO₂/Al₂O₃- substrate, Ga₂O₃/a-Si₃N₄/Al₂O₃- substrate, and Ga₂O₃/Al₂O₃ substrate thin layers were determined by the SNMS/HFM method. Al diffusion from the Al₂O₃ substrate was investigated after 50, and in some cases after 600 hours of heat treatment time at different temperatures (600 °C,850 °C,950 °C,1050 °C and 1150 °C). The diffusion coefficient of Al at 850 °C was found to be D _Al=8.7 * 10^–18 cm²/s in amorphous SiO₂; D _Al=1.5*10^–17 cm²/s in amorphous Si₃N₄ and D _Al=5.5* 10^–16 cm²/s in Ga₂O₃ at 600 °C, respectively. The possible diffusion mechanism is explained in terms of the metal-oxygen bond-strengths. Although the studied materials have high resistivity at room temperature, the applied SNMS/HFM method has proven to be an efficient surface analytical tool even in these cases.Dedicated to Professor Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h.c. Hubertus Nickel on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Immobilization of the enzyme beta-lactamase on biotin-derivatized poly(L-lysine)-g-poly(ethylene glycol)-coated sensor chips: a study on oriented attachment and surface activity by enzyme kinetics and in situ optical sensing

Understanding the conformation, orientation, and specific activity of proteins bound to surfaces is crucial for the development and optimization of highly specific and sensitive biosensors. In this study, the very efficient enzyme beta-lactamase is used as a model protein. The wild-type form was genetically engineered by site-directed mutagenesis to introduce single cysteine residues on the surface of the enzyme. The cysteine thiol group is subsequently biotinylated with a dithiothreitol (DTT)-cleavable biotinylation reagent. beta-Lactamase is then immobilized site-specifically via the biotin group on neutral avidin-covered surfaces with the aim to control the orientation of the enzyme molecule at the surface and study its effect on enzymatic activity using Nitrocefin as the substrate. The DTT-cleavable spacer allows the release of the specifically bound enzyme from the surface. Immobilization of the enzyme is performed on a monolayer of the polycationic, biotinylated polymer PLL-g-PEG/PEG-biotin assembled on niobium oxide (Nb2O5) surfaces via neutral avidin as the docking site. Two different assembly protocols, the sequential adsorption of avidin and biotinylated beta-lactamase and the immobilization of preformed complexes of beta-lactamase and avidin, are compared in terms of immobilization efficiency. In situ optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy and colorimetric analysis of enzymatic activity were used to distinguish between specific and unspecific enzyme adsorption, to sense quantitatively the amount of immobilized enzyme, and to determine Michaelis-Menten kinetics. All tested enzyme variants turned out to be active upon immobilization at the polymeric surface. However, the efficiency of immobilized enzymes relative to the soluble enzymes was reduced about sevenfold, mainly because of impaired substrate (Nitrocefin) diffusion or restricted accessibility of the active site. No significant effect of different enzyme orientations could be detected, probably because the enzymes were attached to the surface through long, flexible PEG chain linkers.     

Die Penicilliumsäure und ihre Tautomerie

Zusammenfassung Penicilliumsäure wurde aus einem einer Tropfsteinhöhle entstammendenPénicillium-Thomii-Stamm in kristalliner Form isoliert. Die Tautomerie des Wirkstoffes wurde durch UV-spektroskopische Messungen eingehend untersucht und diskutiert.

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Summary Penieillic acid was isolated in crystalline form from aPenicillium-Thomii- strain coming from a dripstone cave. The tautomerism of the active material was thoroughly studied by UV spectroscopic measurements and discussed.

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Résumé On a isolé l'acide pénioillique sous forme cristalline à partir d'une souche dePénicillium-Thornii provenant d'une grotte de stalactites.On a étudié d'une manière approfondie et discuté la tautomérie du constituant actif par des mesures en spectroscopie ultraviolette.

     

Practical Syntheses of Functionalized 1-Oxo-L,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic Acid Esters

Three methods have been proposed for the preparation of functionalized 1-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3 carboxylates (3) from which the “acylazide formation-Curtius rearrangement-acid catalyzed ring closure” sequence starling from hemi-ester hemi-acids (8) seemed to be quite general.     

Operator preconditioning with efficient applications for nonlinear elliptic problems

This paper is devoted to the numerical solution of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations. Such problems describe various phenomena in science. An approach that exploits Hilbert space theory in the numerical study of elliptic PDEs is the idea of preconditioning operators. In this survey paper we briefly summarize the main lines of this theory with various applications.     

A branch-and-bound algorithm for the coupled task problem

The coupled task problem is to schedule jobs on a single machine where each job consists of two subtasks and where the second subtask has to be started after a given time interval with respect to the first one. The problem has several applications and is NP-hard. In this paper we present a branch-and-bound algorithm for this problem and compare its performance with four integer programming models.     

Diastereoselective trimolecular condensation between indole,Meldrum’s acid and chiral sugar-derived aldehydes

The trimolecular condensation of indole, Meldrum’s acid and chiral, sugar-derived aldehydes took place in good yield and high diastereoselectivity. The absolute configuration of the α-carbon of the chiral aldehydes ensured a predictable diastereocontrol of the newly created stereogenic centre except for (3aR,5S,6S,6aR)-6-benzyloxy-2,2-dimethyl-tetrahydrofuro[3,2-d][1,3]dioxole-5-carbaldehyde 3i. In this case, the opposite stereochemistry may be explained by a less congested conformer of the Knoevenagel-adduct intermediate.