Biological applications of infrared spectrometry

Summary A brief overview of infrared studies of biological systems is presented. Relevant studies of the four classes of biomolecules, the proteins, the lipids, the carbohydrates and the nucleic acids are exemplified with results from the recent literature. The great potential of infrared spectrometry for biological studies is demonstrated.

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Biologische Anwendungen der Infrarot-Spektrometrie

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein kurzer Überblick über infrarotspektroskopische Untersuchungen von biologischen Systemen gegeben. Die wesentlichen Studien der vier Klassen von Biomolekülen, nämlich Proteine, Lipide, Kohlenhydrate und Nucleinsäuren, werden mit exemplarischen Ergebnissen aus der neueren Literatur vorgestellt. Das hohe Potential der Infrarot-Spektroskopie für biologische Untersuchungen wird demonstriert.

     

Studies on photoinduced effects in pulse-electrodeposited Ag/Hg-1212/CdSe hetero-nanostructures

Metal/superconductor/semiconductor (Ag/Hg-1212/CdSe) hetero-nanostructures have been fabricated using pulse-electrodeposition technique and are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The junction capacitance of Ag/Hg-1212, Hg-1212/CdSe and Ag/Hg-1212/CdSe heterojunctions is measured in dark and under laser irradiation at room temperature. The nature of the junction formed and built-in-junction potentials were determined. The increase in carrier concentration across the junction due to photo-irradiation has been observed.     

Effect of laser irradiation of C-V characteristics of electrodeposited Ag/Tl-2223/CdSe hetero-nanostructures

One of the innovative technological directions for the high-temperature superconductors has been persued by fabricating the heteroepitaxial multilayer structures such as superconductor-semiconductor heterostructures. In the present investigation, metal/superconductor/semiconductor (Ag/Tl-2223/CdSe) hetero-nanostructures have successfully been fabricated using dc electrodeposition technique and were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The measurement of junction capacitance as a function of biasing voltage was used for the estimation of junction built-in-potential (V _D) and to study the charge distribution in a heterojunction. The Mott-Schottky plots were measured for each junction in dark and under the photo-irradiation. The effect of laser irradiation on C-V characteristics of hetero-nanostructure has been studied.     

A measurement of the energy dependence of the inclusive yield of high-Pt events triggered by a large solid angle calorimeter

Large aperture calorimeter measurements of high transverse momentum events from 100, 200 and 340 GeV pp collisions are reported. Yields are higher by one to two orders of magnitude than the yield expected from uncorrelated statistical fluctuations in multiparticle events. The exponential slopes of the yields versus x_t exhibited a systematic change with $\text{s}\text{(x}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>t</mtext>}}\text{= 2P}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>t</mtext>}}\text{/}\text{s}\text{)}$. The events are shown to be more diffuse than pure jets as produced in e⁺e^? collisions. However, these events are consistent with a QCD-inspired 4-jet model.     

Glycopeptide and Oligosaccharide Libraries

Despite the burgeoning interest in the various biological functions and consequent therapeutic potential of the vast number of oligosaccharides found in nature on glycoproteins and cell surfaces, the development of combinatorial carbohydrate chemistry has not progressed as rapidly as expected. The reason for this imbalance is rooted in the difficulty of oligosaccharide assembly and analysis that renders synthesis a rather cumbersome endeavor. Parallel approaches that generate series of analogous compounds rather than real libraries have therefore typically been used. Since generally low affinity is obtained for interactions between carbohydrate receptors and modified oligosaccharides designed as mimetics of natural carbohydrate ligands, glycopeptides have been explored as alternative mimics. Glycopeptides have been proven in many cases to be superior ligands with higher affinity for a receptor than the natural carbohydrate ligand. High-affinity glycopeptide ligands have been found for several types of receptors including the E-, P-, and L-selectins, toxins, glycohydrolases, bacterial adhesins, and the mannose-6-phosphate receptor. Furthermore, the assembly of glycopeptides is considerably more facile than that of oligosaccharides and the process can be adapted to combinatorial synthesis with either glycosylated amino acid building blocks or by direct glycosylation of peptide templates. The application of the split and combine approach using ladder synthesis has allowed the generation of very large numbers of compounds which could be analyzed and screened for binding of receptors on solid phase. This powerful technique can be used generally for the identification and analysis of the complex interaction between the carbohydrates and their receptors.