A synthetic mimic of human Fc receptors: defined chemical modification of cell surfaces enables efficient endocytic uptake of human immunoglobulin-G

Binding of ligands to macromolecular receptors on the surface of mammalian cells often results in ligand uptake through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Certain human leukocytes and epithelial cells express Fc receptors (FcRs) that bind and internalize antibodies through this mechanism. To mimic this process, we synthesized an artificial FcR comprising the membrane anchor N-alkyl-3beta-amino-5alpha-cholestane linked to a disulfide-constrained cyclic peptide, termed FcIII, known to exhibit high affinity and specificity for the Fc region of human IgG. Treatment of human Jurkat lymphocytes that lack natural FcRs with the synthetic FcR (1 microM, 1 h) installed an average of approximately 6.2 x 10(5) synthetic receptor molecules per cell surface. These treated cells gained the capacity to internalize human IgG at levels greater than human THP-1 cells that express the natural receptors FcgammaRI and FcgammaRII. By linking binding motifs for circulating ligands to membrane anchors that cycle between the cell surface and intracellular endosomes, minimalistic cell surface receptors can be used to destroy targeted ligands by endocytosis. These small mimics of macromolecular receptors may be useful for controlling the extracellular abundance of ligands involved in disease.     

Layered heterometallic iodoplumbate containing a novel Pb3Cu6I16 net: structure and optical properties

A new heterometallic iodoplumbate was synthesized solvothermally. The complex, [Co(phen)3][Pb3Cu6I16].C2H5OH, contains a novel Pb3Cu6I16 net made up of linked Pb3I11 and Cu6I11 clusters. The clusters form a BN-type layer, where the Pb3I11 and Cu6I11 clusters take the place of B and N. The layers, which are separated by [Co(phen)3]2+ cations, contain cavities in which ethanol molecules are located.     

A posteriori error estimates for general numerical methods for Hamilton-Jacobi equations. Part I: The steady state case

A new upper bound is provided for the L-norm of the difference between the viscosity solution of a model steady state Hamilton-Jacobi equation, , and any given approximation, . This upper bound is independent of the method used to compute the approximation ; it depends solely on the values that the residual takes on a subset of the domain which can be easily computed in terms of . Numerical experiments investigating the sharpness of the a posteriori error estimate are given.

     

The thermal resistance between electrons and phonons in copper

The thermal impedance between the electron and phonon systems in copper at low temperature is found to be in reasonable agreement with existing theory.     

Observation of parity nonconservation in møller scattering

We report a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (M?ller) scattering: A(PV)=[-175+/-30(stat)+/-20(syst)] x 10(-9). This first direct observation of parity nonconservation in M?ller scattering leads to a measurement of the electron's weak charge at low energy Q(e)(W)=-0.053+/-0.011. This is consistent with the standard model expectation at the current level of precision: sin((2)theta(W)(M(Z))((-)MS)=0.2293+/-0.0024(stat)+/-0.0016(syst)+/-0.0006(theory).