Equation for Condensed Matter Phase Transitions

Russian Physics Journal - A unified equation for the pressure drop in the apparatus with the stationary and fluidized granular layers is derived. The resulting recurrent equation is used to...     

Sequestration within biomolecular condensates inhibits Aβ-42 amyloid formation

Biomolecular condensates are emerging as an efficient strategy developed by cells to control biochemical reactions in space and time by locally modifying composition and environment. Yet, local increase in protein concentration within these compartments could promote aberrant aggregation events, including the nucleation and growth of amyloid fibrils. Understanding protein stability within the crowded and heterogeneous environment of biological condensates is therefore crucial, not only when the aggregation-prone protein is the scaffold element of the condensates but also when proteins are recruited as client molecules within the compartments. Here, we investigate the partitioning and aggregation kinetics of the amyloidogenic peptide Abeta42 (Aβ-42), the peptide strongly associated with Alzheimer''s disease, recruited into condensates based on low complexity domains (LCDs) derived from the DEAD-box proteins Laf1, Dbp1 and Ddx4, which are associated with biological membraneless organelles. We show that interactions between Aβ-42 and the scaffold proteins promote sequestration and local increase of the peptide concentration within the condensates. Yet, heterotypic interactions within the condensates inhibit the formation of amyloid fibrils. These results demonstrate that biomolecular condensates could sequester aggregation-prone proteins and prevent aberrant aggregation events, despite the local increase in their concentration. Biomolecular condensates could therefore work not only as hot-spots of protein aggregation but also as protective reservoirs, since the heterogenous composition of the condensates could prevent the formation of ordered fibrillar aggregates.

Biomolecular condensates sequester an aggregation-prone peptide and prevent its aggregation, showing that heterotypic interactions within the condensates can prevent the formation of amyloid fibrils, despite the local increase in concentration.     

PMR spectroscopic study of the kinetics of H/D exchange in methyl groups in a series of heterocyclic azines

The rate of H/D exchange among methyl group protons in a series of substituted 3-hydroxypyridines, 5-hydroxypyrimidines, and their N-oxides has been shown to increase with increasing acidity of the medium. The most reactive form of these molecules is the cationic form at pH<2. The rate of H/D exchange of CH₃ group protons in 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives has also been found to be several orders of magnitude lower than the rates of exchange for methyl-substituted 5-hydroxypyrimidine and its N-oxide. Effective rate constants for methyl group proton exchange have been estimated. In the case of methyl-substituted 5-hydroxypyrimidine N-oxide derivatives it has been established that the rate of proton exchange is greater for an ortho-methyl group than for a methyl group in the para-position relative to the N-oxide site.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 93–96, January, 1991.     

Synthesis and properties of polycondensation polymers from compounds with asymmetric functional groups

The effect of conditions of polycondensation on the structure of polymers formed from monomers with symmetric and asymmetric functional groups by nonequilibrium polycondensation has been studied for the system with acceptor-catalytic polyesterification of β-hydroxyethyl ethers of bisphenols and terephthalic acid chloride in the presence of triethylamine. Polymers with statistical or regular arrangement of diol residues in the chain can be produced in such systems, depending on the way in which starting compounds are introduced in the reactor. A difference in the reactivity of functional groups in an asymmetric monomer is not sufficient to produce polycondensation polymers with a regular structure. Gradual introduction of the symmetric monomer is essential to yield polymers with predominant “head-to-head” (“tail-to-tail”) configurations. Some properties of the resulting polymers have been studied. Polymers with ordered residues of the asymmetric monomers in the macromolecules have higher softening temperatures and an increased tendency for crystallization than the statistic polymers.     

Research in the isoxazole series. 38. Polarographic reduction of 4-arylazoisoxazoles

The indicated compounds are reduced on a dropping-mercury electrode in aqueous alcohol solutions at pH > 7 in one two-electron wave to 1,2-disubstituted hydrazines; four-electron reduction with the formation of amines takes place in acidic media. Two one-electron reduction waves are observed in dimethylformamide (DMF). Satisfactory E_1/2– correlation equations were obtained for 4-arylazo-3,5-dimethyloxazoles.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1320–1323, October, 1980.     

Evaluation of the thermochemical changes in agricultural by-products and in the carbon adsorbents obtained from them

The thermochemical decomposition of waste products from a coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), a nut (Juglans regia L.) an apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris L.), an almond (Amygdalus communis L.var amara DC.), a grape (Vitis vinifera L.) and a cherry (Prunus avium L.), as raw materials for producing carbon adsorbents, was investigated by DTA and TG. The thermo-oxidative and decomposition processes resulting in increased number of oxygen-containing functional groups of phenolic and carbonyl type are responsible for the high adsorption capacities of the carbon adsorbents. The thermochemical changes in adsorbents based on agricultural wastes are similar to those in commercial activated carbons. The adsorbents derived from apricot stones have the highest overall thermal stability.     

ICP-MS determination of heavy metals in submerged cultures of wood-rotting fungi

Accumulation of five heavy metal ions by five species of wood-rotting basidiomycetes during a 9-day cultivation was studied. Contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were measured using ICP-MS; the amount of mercury was determined directly in solid samples using the Advanced Mercury Analyser. A standard operation procedure for the sample preparation and determination of metal content was developed and validated. Presence of Cd, Cu, Hg, and Pb decreased the accumulation of zinc by the fungi. The basidiomycete Pycnoporus cinnabarinus exhibited the highest metal binding capacity of all fungi tested.