Probing the kinetic landscape of transient peptide-protein interactions by use of peptide (15)n NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy: binding of an antithrombin peptide to human prothrombin

Protein-ligand interactions may lead to the formation of multiple molecular complexes in dynamic exchange, affecting the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of the binding equilibrium. We followed the dissociation kinetics of the transient and specific complex of an antithrombotic peptide N-acetyl-Asp(55)-Phe-Glu-Glu-Ile-Pro(60)-Glu-Glu-Tyr-Leu-Gln(65) with human prothrombin by use of (15)N NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy of the peptide. Every one of the five (15)N-labeled adjacent residues of the peptide exhibited apparently different kinetic exchange and relaxation behaviors, which were especially evident at different concentrations of prothrombin. Binding-induced (15)N relaxation dispersion of residues Phe(56), Glu(57), Glu(58), and Ile(59) can be fitted phenomenologically to a two-site on-and-off exchange mechanism with physically feasible relaxation and kinetic parameters obtained for residues Phe(56), Glu(58), and Ile(59), independent of the prothrombin concentration. The apparent kinetic parameters of Glu(57) show some dependence on the concentration of prothrombin and the extracted transverse relaxation rate for Glu(57) in the bound state was severalfold higher than that expected for a protein-peptide complex with a size of approximately 72 kDa. In addition, the equilibrium population of the bound peptide obtained for Glu(57) was inconsistent with those for Phe(56), Glu(58), and Ile(59) and with the prothrombin/peptide ratios used in the experiments. These discrepancies can be explained by the presence of two conformations for the peptide-protein complex exchanging at a rate of approximately 100 s(-)(1). In all, our study shows that fast dissociation of protein-peptide complexes can be studied quantitatively using peptide (15)N NMR relaxation dispersion measurements without a precise knowledge of the peptide and protein concentrations. In addition, protein titration was found to improve the accuracy of quantitative analysis and may make it possible to determine the rate of conformational changes within the protein-peptide complex.     

Growth and characterization of Si doped vapor phase epitaxial GaAs for mesfet

This paper describes the Si-doping of GaAs that was grown using the AsCl₃:H₂:GaAs, Ga Chemical vapor deposition process. The doping sources were AsCl₃:SiCl₄ liquid solutions which proved to be highly reproducible for Si doping within the range, 1×1O¹⁶ to 2×10¹⁹ cm^?3. Incorporation of Si into the GaAs apparently occurs under near equilibrium conditions. This point is considered in detail and the consequences experimentally utilized to grow n, n+ bilayers using a single AsCl₃:SiCl₄ doping solution. Si impurity profiles based upon differential capacitance and SIMS data are presented. These can be very abrupt for n, n⁺ structures with order of magnitude changes occurring within 500 Å. For the 1×10₁₆ to 8×l0¹⁸ cm^?3 doped samples the mobilities at 78 and 298°K are comparable to the higher values reported for GaAs thin films grown by CVD. Power FET devices made from this material have demonstrated an output density of 0.86 watts/mm at 10 GHz.     

Organic functionalization of the sidewalls of carbon nanotubes by diels-alder reactions: a theoretical prediction

[structure: see text] The viability of the Diels-Alder (DA) cycloaddition of conjugated dienes onto the sidewalls of single-wall carbon nanotubes is assessed by means of a two-layered ONIOM(B3LYP/6-31G:AM1) approach. Whereas the DA reaction of 1,3-butadiene on the sidewall of an armchair (5,5) nanotube is found to be unfavorable, the cycloaddition of quinodimethane is predicted to be viable due to the aromaticity stabilization at the corresponding transition states and products.     

Optical field concentration in low-index waveguides

We present a highly efficient optical field concentrator that is capable of confining optical field in nanometer-thin low-index media with very high optical confinement factor. The structure is made of multiple-layered low-index nanolayers embedded in high-index silicon waveguides. By creating multiple high-index-contrast interfaces, the normal field in the low-index nanolayer regions is significantly enhanced. It subsequently results in a very high optical confinement and power density in these regions. With the help of numerical simulation tools, the guiding and propagating characteristics of the new structure are studied and presented. The optimal structures have demonstrated confinement factors and normalized power densities in the range of 30%-60% and 20-160 /spl mu/m/sup -2/ for the 5-20-nm thin low-index multiple nanolayers.     

The transistor laser

A research team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a new, more powerful kind of device, called the transistor laser. The transistor puts out both electrical signals and a laser beam, which can be directly modulated to send optical signals at the rate of 10 billion bits per second. With some further modification, the transistor laser will eventually send a staggering 100 billion bits per second or more. Instead of using relatively slow wires to connect chips stacked together in packages, transistor lasers can be used as optical interconnects, which would let data flow instantaneously to and from memory chips, graphics processors, and microprocessors. There is much work ahead, but unlike the host of self-assembling, blue-sky nanotechnologies currently being touted as the next big thing in optoelectronics, transistor lasers do not need an entirely new fabrication infrastructure for further development or even to go into production.     

Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Endocyclic Enones:the Solution to a Historical Problem

The enantioselective hydrogenation of endocyclic enones has been a historical problem for homogeneous catalysis.We herein report an efficient method to reduce e...     

锗元素测定方法综述

锗在国防工业、航空航天和通信等领域中的战略性,锗含量的测定对于保证材料质量和满足国际标准至关重要。本文综述了锗含量测定方法的多种技术,包括分光光度法、原子荧光光谱法、原子吸收光谱法、电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法、电感耦合等离子体质谱法以及滴定法。在每个检测方法的介绍中,详细探讨了方法的原理、前处理步骤以及应用范围,并分别总结了各个方法的优势和不足。最后,强调了锗含量测定方法的意义,特别是在满足出口监管和促进科学研究方面的作用。同时对锗元素的测定方法进行了展望,为未来的发展提供了参考方向。