Immobilization of glucose isomerase and its application in continuous production of high fructose syrup

Bilayer glucose isomerase was immobilized in porousp-trimethylamine-polystyrene (TMPS) beads, through a molecular deposition technique. Some of the factors that influence the activity of immobilized glucose isomerase were optimized, with the enzyme concentration of 308 IU/mL, enzyme:matrix ratio of 924 IU/g wet carrier, and hexamethylenebis(trimethylammonium iodine) concentration of 15 mg/mL, giving the maximum catalytic activity (2238 IU/g dry gel) of the immobilized bilayer glucose isomerase, retaining 68.5% of the initially added activity. The half-life of the immobilized bilayer glucose isomerase was approx 45 d at pH 8.5, 60°C, with 50% (w/v) glucose as substrate. The specific productivity of the immobilized bilayer glucose isomerase was 223 g dry D-glucose/g dry immobilized enzyme per day.     

The interaction of helical polypeptides with biological model membranes

Proton-decoupled solid-state ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate helical peptides reconstituted into oriented phospholipid bilayers. Hydrophobic channel peptides such as the N-terminal region of Vpu of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) adopt transmembrane orientations, whereas amphipathic peptide antibiotics are oriented parallel to the bilayer surface. The alignment of helical peptides in lipid membranes was analysed in some detail using model peptides. In particular, peptides with pH-dependent topology and a series of peptides that allow one to study the contributions of specific interactions were designed. The energies of transfer of several amino acids from the in-plane to transmembrane localisation were determined. In addition, the alignment of peptides and phospholipids under conditions of hydrophobic mismatch have been investigated in considerable detail.     

Polypyrrole-poly(3-methylthiophene) bilayer films electrochemically deposited onto tin oxide

We report the electrochemical successive deposition of layers of polypyrrole and poly(3-methylthiophene), forming conjugated polymer heterostructures onto a tin oxide-covered glass substrate. The polymer bilayer thickness and roughness were determined as a function of deposition conditions, varying the sequence of deposition of the conjugated polymer layers. The charge transport characteristics of these bilayer devices were investigated and an effective charge carrier mobility of the order of 10^–10 cm² V^–1 s^–1 was determined. Electronic Publication     

New long alkyl side-chain benzo[a]phenoxazines as micellisation probes

Several novel fluorescent benzo[a]phenoxazinium chlorides possessing a long aliphatic chain substituent at the 5-amino function of the heterocycle were efficiently synthesised. All compounds obtained absorbed and emitted at longer wavelengths with moderate to good fluorescent quantum yields. The photophysics of N-[10-methyl-5-(octylamino)-9H-benzo[a]phenoxazin-9-ylidene]ethanaminium chloride and N-[10-methyl-5-(dodecylamino)-9H-benzo[a]phenoxazin-9-ylidene]ethanaminium chloride was studied in Triton^® X-100 and in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar media, demonstrating the capability of these fluorophores in detecting the micellisation process.     

GridMAT‐MD: A grid‐based membrane analysis tool for use with molecular dynamics

GridMAT‐MD is a new program developed to aid in the analysis of lipid bilayers from molecular dynamics simulations. It reads a GROMACS coordinate file and generates two types of data: a two‐dimensional contour plot depicting membrane thickness, and a polygon‐based tessellation of the individual lipid headgroups. GridMAT‐MD can also account for proteins or small molecules within the headgroups of the lipids, closely approximating their occupied lateral area. The program requires no installation, is fast, and is freely available. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2009     

双层表面活性剂分散制备水基磁流体

Fe₃O₄ magnetic particles were synthesize by chemical co-precipitation. Sodium oleate and poly(ethylene glycol)-4000 were used as bilayer surfactants to envelope the ultra-fine Fe₃O₄ particles. Then stabilized water base magnetic fluid was obtained. Experiments indicated that surfactants and pH value of the solution had great effect on the stability and size of the magnetic fluid when Fe₃O₄ particles were synthesized and enveloped. It was the first time to employ this method to prepare magnetic fluid. Using laser diffraction particle size analyzer we found that the average diameter of magnetic fluid was lessen than 84 nanometer. Its magnetization was measured on magnetic balance and the result amounted to 3.84×10³A·m^-1. Further more， XRD and IR analysis measurements were employed to substantiate the existence of Fe₃O₄ and surfactant structure. The magnetic fluid can be used as tar-geted-part of nanometer targeted drug delivery system.     

大豆分离蛋白与壳聚糖复合材料的制备

蛋白质与多糖的静电作用是生物体内一个基本医学-化学现象,是实现自组装的主要驱动力,可利用这种非共价作用设计和构筑理想的微结构。 以大豆分离蛋白(Soybean Protein Isolates,SPI)和壳聚糖(Chitosan,CS)为原料,采用浊度法考察了配比、溶液pH值、离子强度和温度对SPI与CS在溶液中相互作用的影响。 结果显示,由于pH值影响静电作用强度,从而成为影响SPI与CS相互作用的主要因素,其中,当pH值为5.5~6.6时,SPI与CS可以实现有效结合。在较低的离子强度下,有利于形成具有紧凑结构的CS/SPI聚集体,较高离子强度下聚集体发生解离。 蛋白质受热发生变性,多肽链上的疏水氨基酸残基暴露在溶液中,导致与壳聚糖链的疏水作用增强。 DLS结果显示,CS与SPI自组装形成了分布均一的纳米粒子,变性后的SPI与CS形成的纳米粒子粒径有所增大,分布均一;经戊二醛交联,粒径有所减小。 SEM显示,壳聚糖单层膜表面存在龟裂现象,与SPI形成双层膜后龟裂消失;同时,单层膜厚度约为300 nm,双层膜厚度约为500 nm。     

Synthesis and properties of poly(acrylamide)s containing both long chain alkyl groups and phosphatidylcholine analogues in the side chains

A series of new phospholipid analogous acrylamide monomers ( 4a–e ) containing long alkyl chains as hydrophobic groups and containing phosphatidylcholine analogues as hydrophilic group were synthesized in high yields. The homopolymerizations and copolymerization ( 4b with 4e ) were carried out in the presence of a radical initiator. The structures and thermal properties of these polymers were investigated by x-ray diffraction analysis, DSC, and polarizing microscopy measurements. It has been revealed that these homopolymers ( 5b, 5c , and 5d ) which bear saturated long-hydrocarbon chains in the side chains exhibited not only orderly stacked bilayer structures at room temperature but also clear liquid crystalline behavior within a wide temperature range. The viscosity behavior of all polymers was found similar to usual polyelectrolytes in porlar solvent. The polymers obtained were also characterized by ¹H-NMR, IR, and melting point, respectively. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

直流偏压对于在玻碳电极上双层类脂膜成膜过程的影响

应用循环伏安法和电化学阻抗谱研究了直流偏压对卵磷脂在玻碳电极表面自组装成膜过程及其结构的影响.实验发现:无论在正偏压还是负偏压条件下,卵磷脂在玻碳电极上均可组装成膜.施加正偏压时,由于玻碳电极表面所带的正电荷与卵磷脂端基之间的静电作用,使得卵磷脂在电极表面倾向于形成双层的类脂膜,并在0.4V偏压下电极阻抗达到最大值.继续增大电极正向偏压,s-BLM缺陷增加,以至趋于被击穿.提出了适宜的等效电路,并据此非线性拟合电极过程,求得部分阻抗的模型参数.研究发现:膜电容和电荷传递电阻呈现良好的互补效应.     

DNA-Mediated Stack Formation of Nanodiscs

Membrane-scaffolding proteins (MSPs) derived from apolipoprotein A-1 have become a versatile tool in generating nano-sized discoidal membrane mimetics (nanodiscs) for membrane protein research. Recent efforts have aimed at exploiting their controlled lipid protein ratio and size distribution to arrange membrane proteins in regular supramolecular structures for diffraction studies. Thereby, direct membrane protein crystallization, which has remained the limiting factor in structure determination of membrane proteins, would be circumvented. We describe here the formation of multimers of membrane-scaffolding protein MSP1D1-bounded nanodiscs using the thiol reactivity of engineered cysteines. The mutated positions N42 and K163 in MSP1D1 were chosen to support chemical modification as evidenced by fluorescent labeling with pyrene. Minimal interference with the nanodisc formation and structure was demonstrated by circular dichroism spectroscopy, differential light scattering and size exclusion chromatography. The direct disulphide bond formation of nanodiscs formed by the MSP1D1_N42C variant led to dimers and trimers with low yield. In contrast, transmission electron microscopy revealed that the attachment of oligonucleotides to the engineered cysteines of MSP1D1 allowed the growth of submicron-sized tracts of stacked nanodiscs through the hybridization of nanodisc populations carrying complementary strands and a flexible spacer.