Heterogeneity of cardiac rat and human elongation factor 2

Elongation factor 2 (EF-2) catalyses the last step of the elongation cycle, translocation, in the course of protein biosynthesis. A system for analyzing post-translational modifications of EF-2, which is a single polypeptide of 857 amino acids, is reported and its application to cytosolic extracts of cultured neonatal rat heart myocytes, neonatal and adult rat cardiac tissue, and extracts of human left ventricular myocardium is described. Comparing different pH ranges in immobilized pH gradient-isoelectric focusing (IPG-IEF), a range of pH 3 - 10 and 4 - 9 resulted in a highly defined and reproducible resolution of six different EF-2 variants of all extracts in the first dimension. These six variants were detected by the "imaging plate" (phosphor radiation image sensor) after specific labeling with Pseudomonas exotoxin A catalyzed [32P]ADP-ribosylation. This finding could be confirmed in Western blot analysis with a specific polyclonal rabbit antibody. Using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D-PAGE), five to six EF-2 variants could be demonstrated in all extracts. By application of a second IPG indicator strip to the 2-D gel, they could be aligned with corresponding spots in a silver-stained 2-D separation of human myocardial tissue, revealing that the EF-2 variants belong to the group of low-abundance proteins.     

Nucleotide. XV. Synthese und Eigenschaften von 2′-O-t-Butyldimethylsilyl-5′-O-monomethoxytritylribonucleosid-3′-phosphotriestern,Ausgangssubstanzen für Oligonucleotid-Synthesen

Nucleotides. XV. Synthesis and Properties of 2′O-t-Butyldimethylsilyl-5′-O-monomethoxytritylribonucleoside-3′-phosphotriesters, Starting Materials for Oligonucleotide Syntheses The syntheses of two types of fully blocked ribonucleoside 3′-phosphotriesters 6–14 have been achieved in excellent yields from 2′-O-t-butyldimethylsilyl-5′-O-monomethoxytrityl-ribonucleosides 1–5 by phosphorylation with 2-chloro- and 2,5-dichlorophenylphosphorodichloridate respectively and subsequent treatment by cyanoethanol to 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 and 14 and by p-nitrophenylethanol to 7 , 9 , 11 and 13 . These phosphotriesters are valuable starting materials for oligonucleotide syntheses due to the fact that the corresponding phosphotriesters 15–23 with free HO? C(5′) could be obtained by detritylation and the 3′-phosphodiester triethylammonium salts 24–32 by deblocking of the cyanoethyl and the 2,5-dichlorophenyl group respectively. All newly synthesized compounds have been characterized by UV.-and NMR.-spectra as well as C, H, N elementary analyses.     

Enzymatic oxidation of tert-butylcatechol in the presence of sulfhydryl compounds: Application to the amperometric detection of penicillamine

The high sensitivity that can be attained using an enzymatic system and mediated by 4-tert-butylcatechol (4-TBC) has been verified by on-line interfacing of a rotating biosensor and continuous flow/stopped-flow/continuous-flow processing. Horseradish peroxidase, HRP, [EC 1.11.1.7], immobilized on a rotating disk, in presence of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed the oxidation of 4-TBC, whose back electrochemical reduction was detected on glassy carbon electrode surface at −150 mV. Thus, when penicillamine (PA) was added to the solution, these thiol-containing compounds participate in Michael type addition reactions with 4-TBC to form the corresponding thioquinone derivatives, decreasing the peak current obtained proportionally to the increase of its concentration. The highest response for PA was obtained around pH 7. This method could be used to determine PA concentration in the range 0.02-80 μM (r = 0.998). The determination of PA was possible with a limit of detection of 7 nM, in the processing of as many as 50 samples per hour. The HRP-rotating biosensor was successfully applied to the determination of PA in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Broken symmetries and pattern formation in two-frequency forced faraday waves

We exploit the approximate (broken) symmetries of time translation, time reversal, and Hamiltonian structure to obtain general scaling laws governing the process of pattern formation in weakly damped Faraday waves. Using explicit parameter symmetries we determine, for the case of two-frequency forcing, how the strength of observed three-wave interactions depends on the frequency ratio and on the relative phase of the two driving terms. These symmetry-based predictions are verified for numerically calculated coefficients, and help explain the results of recent experiments.     

Influence of anionic and cationic reverse micelles on nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction between 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and piperidine

The nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S(N)Ar) reaction between 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and piperidine (PIP) were studied in two different reverse micellar interfaces: benzene/sodium 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/water and benzene/benzyl-n-hexadecyl dimethylammonium chloride (BHDC)/water reverse micellar media. The kinetic profiles of the reactions were investigated as a function of variables such as surfactant and amine concentration and the amount of water dispersed in the reverse micelles, W0 = [H2O]/[surfactant]. In the AOT system at W0 = 0, no micellar effect was observed and the reaction takes place almost entirely in the benzene pseudophase, at every AOT and PIP concentration. At W0 = 10, a slight increment of the reaction rate was observed at low [PIP] with AOT concentration, probably due to the increase of micropolarity of the medium. However, at [PIP] > or = 0.07 M the reaction rates are always higher in pure benzene than in the micellar medium because the catalytic effect of the amine predominates in the organic solvent. In the BHDC system the reaction is faster in the micellar medium than in the pure solvent. Increasing the BHDC concentration accelerates the overall reaction, and the saturation of the micellar interface is never reached. In addition, the reaction is not base-catalyzed in this micellar medium. Thus, despite the partition of the reactants in both pseudophases the reactions effectively take place at the interface of the aggregates. The kinetic behavior can be quantitatively explained taking into account the distribution of the substrate and the nucleophile between the bulk solvent and the micelle interface. The results were used to evaluate the amine distribution constant between the micellar pseudophase and organic solvent and the second-order rate coefficient of S(N)Ar reaction in the interface. A mechanism to rationalize the kinetic results in both interfaces is proposed.     

Quantum-degenerate mixture of fermionic lithium and bosonic rubidium gases

We report on the observation of sympathetic cooling of a cloud of fermionic 6Li atoms which are thermally coupled to evaporatively cooled bosonic 87Rb. Using this technique we obtain a mixture of quantum-degenerate gases, where the Rb cloud is colder than the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation and the Li cloud is colder than the Fermi temperature. From measurements of the thermalization velocity we estimate the interspecies s-wave triplet scattering length |amx|=20(+9)(-6)aB. We found that the presence of residual rubidium atoms in the |2, 1> and the |1, -1> Zeeman substates gives rise to important losses due to inelastic collisions.     

Distribution of amines in water/AOT/n-hexane reverse micelles: influence of the amine chemical structure

The distribution of different aliphatic and aromatic amines: n-butylamine (n-BA), isobutylamine (i-BA), tert-butylamine (t-BA), piperidine (PIP), N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) and N-methylaniline (MA) in water/sodium 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate(AOT)/n-hexane reverse micelles was investigated by steady-state fluorescence measurements. The partition constants were measured by an indirect method based on the effect that amine partitioning exert on the bimolecular rate of the reaction between a microphase incorporated fluorophore (Ru(bpy)2+(3)) and the quencher, (Fe(CN)3-(6)). For MA, that can act as a quencher of the fluorophore a direct method was used. The results show that primary amines have larger partition constants than the secondary ones. For tertiary amines the distribution constants were practically negligible. Laser flash photolysis experiments confirmed that tertiary amines, both aliphatic and aromatic, are not incorporated to the micellar pseudophase. The effect of the amine structure on the partition constant was analyzed through linear solvation free energy relationships (LSER) using solute parameters and compared with those obtained for alcohols. Hydrogen bond interactions with the AOT polar heads appear to be the main driving force for the distribution of amines between the organic and micellar pseudophases, whereas the size of the alkyl or aromatic group tends to hinder it.