Ca-Mediated Synthetic Biosystems Offer Protein Design Versatility, Signal Specificity, and Pathway Rewiring

Synthetic biosystems have been engineered that enable control of metazoan cell morphology, migration, and death. These systems possess signal specificity, but lack flexibility of input signal. To exploit the potential of Ca²⁺ signaling, we designed RhoA chimeras for reversible, Ca²⁺-dependent control over RhoA morphology and migration. First, we inserted a calmodulin-binding peptide into a RhoA loop that activates or deactivates RhoA in response to Ca²⁺ signals depending on the chosen peptide. Second, we localized the Ca²⁺-activated RhoA chimera to the plasma membrane, where it responded specifically to local Ca²⁺ signals. Third, input control of RhoA morphology was rewired by coexpressing the Ca²⁺-activated RhoA chimera with Ca²⁺-transport proteins using acetylcholine, store-operated Ca²⁺ entry, and blue light. Engineering synthetic biological systems with input versatility and tunable spatiotemporal responses motivates further application of Ca²⁺ signaling in this field.     

Electrodeposited Amorphous Tungsten‐doped Cobalt Oxide as an Efficient Catalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Thin film of amorphous tungsten‐doped cobalt oxide (W:CoO) was successfully grown on a conducting electrode via an electrochemical oxidation process employing a [Co(WS₄)₂]^2? deposition bath. The W:CoO catalyst displays an attractive performance for the oxygen evolution reaction in an alkaline solution. In an NaOH solution of pH 13, W:CoO operates with a moderate onset overpotential of 230 mV and requires 320 mV overpotential to generate a catalytic current density of 10 mA cm^?2. A low Tafel slope of 45 mV decade^?1 was determined, indicating a rapid O₂‐evolving kinetics. The as‐prepared W:CoO belongs to the best cobalt oxide‐based catalysts ever reported for the oxygen evolution (OER) reaction.     

Fast determination of the tin content in cassiterite ores by photon activation method

Photon activation analysis has been success-fully applied to the fast and non-destructive analysis of tin in cassiterite ores based on the 159.7 keV gamma line of^123mSn produced in the¹²⁴Sn/γ, n/^123mSn reaction. In order to improve the accuracy of analytical results, corrections for self-absorption and pile-up effects were performed. Under typical conditions /15 μA electron beam current, 15 MeV bremsstrahlung energy, 5 min irradiation time and 10 min measurement/ the sensitivity of the analysis is 10 ppm. The proposed method can be used for routine analysis of tin in geological samples.     

Specific ion effects on the electrophoretic mobility of small,highly charged peptides: A modeling study

In this work, we use coarse‐grained modeling to study the free solution electrophoretic mobility of small highly charged peptides (lysine, arginine, and short oligos thereof (up to nonapeptides)) in NaCl and Na₂SO₄ aqueous solutions at neutral pH and room temperature. The experimental data are taken from the literature. A bead modeling methodology that treats the electrostatics at the level of the nonlinear Poisson Boltzmann equation developed previously in our laboratory is able to account for the mobility of all peptides in NaCl, but not Na₂SO₄. The peptide mobilities in Na₂SO₄ can be accounted for by including sulfate binding in the model and this is proposed as one possible explanation for the discrepancy. Oligo arginine peptides bind more sulfate than oligo lysines and sulfate binding increases with the oligo length.     

Kinetics of the hydrogen abstraction R?OH + H → R?O• + H2 reaction class

This paper presents an application of the reaction class transition state theory (RC‐TST) to predict thermal rate constants for the hydrogen abstraction R? OH + H → R? O^? + H₂ reaction class, where R is an alkyl group. We have derived all parameters for the RC‐TST method for this reaction class from rate constants of 19 representative reactions, coupling with linear energy relationships (LERs) and the barrier height grouping (BHG) approach. Error analyses indicate that the RC‐TST/LER, where only reaction energy is needed, and RC‐TST/BHG, where no other information is needed, can predict rate constants for any reaction in this reaction class with satisfactory accuracy for combustion modeling. Specifically for this reaction class, the RC‐TST/LER method has less than 25% systematic errors in the predicted rate constants, whereas the RC‐TST/BHG method has less than 35% error when compared to explicit rate calculations. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 414–429, 2010     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10-W average power in a diffraction-limited beam

We present a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10.7-W average output power in a diffraction-limited beam. Stable self-starting mode locking with a pulse duration of 16 ps and a pulse energy of 120 nJ is obtained with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. The laser is directly side pumped with two 20-W diode bars. Single-pass frequency doubling in an external 5-mm-thick KTP crystal yields 3.2-W average power at 532 nm.     

Concentration of sodium ion as the determining factor for the association of dansyl amino acids with the teicoplanin molecule in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

The mechanism of the binding of D,L dansyl amino acids to teicoplanin was investigated. Na+ was used as an indicator of the interactions between the solutes and teicoplanin. The number (n) of sodium ions, Na+, excluded from the solute-teicoplanin interface when analyte transfer occurred was determined. A thermodynamic study and enthalpy-entropy compensation were performed to further explore the interaction mechanism. From these results, it was shown that teicoplanin was balanced between 2 conformational states characterized by distinct enantioselective properties. This approach indicates that liquid chromatography (LC) is a useful tool to extract physicochemical and molecular information from retention data. Thus, LC can be used as a complementary technique with the conventional techniques of molecular interaction analysis.     

Study on the isomeric ratios of (γ,p) photonuclear reactions with isotopes 40 92 Zr and 74 183 W in the giant dipole resonance region

We have carried out the study on the isomeric ratios in (γ,p) photonuclear reactions with isotopes ₄₀ ⁹² Zr and ₇₄ ¹⁸³ W in the giant dipole resonance (GDR) region. The targets were irradiated with bremsstrahlungs produced by electron accelerator Microtron MT-25 of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia. Spectra of the irradiated samples were measured with a spectroscopic system consisting of 8192-channel analyzer CANBERRA and high-energy resolution semiconductor detector CANBERRA. The results were discussed and compared with those of other authors. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Metal-free synthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazoles and 6-(4-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-mercaptobenzothiazoles via microwave-assisted synthesis pathway

Abstract

A simple, efficient, and metal-free methodology for the preparation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and derivatives in excellent yields via microwave-assisted pathway is reported. Our condition provides a convenient protocol for the synthesis of a diverse collection of 2-mercaptobenzothiazoles and 6-(4-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-mercaptobenzothiazoles with a very simple purification process. This report provides an alternative protocol for fast access to the wide range of compounds for sequence synthesis and biological studies.