Search results for "Biophysic"

Comparative analysis of the coordinated motion of Hsp70s from different organelles observed by single-molecule three-color FRET.

2021

Cellular function depends on the correct folding of proteins inside the cell. Heat-shock proteins 70 (Hsp70s), being among the first molecular chaperones binding to nascently translated proteins, aid in protein folding and transport. They undergo large, coordinated intra- and interdomain structural rearrangements mediated by allosteric interactions. Here, we applied a three-color single-molecule Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) combined with three-color photon distribution analysis to compare the conformational cycle of the Hsp70 chaperones DnaK, Ssc1, and BiP. By capturing three distances simultaneously, we can identify coordinated structural changes during the functional cycle. Be…

Design of bioactive and structurally well-defined peptides from conformationally restricted libraries

2004

Libraries of peptides and proteins can be categorized according to the function of their origin in gene- and synthetic-based libraries. Both kinds of libraries have the potential to generate the same grade of molecular diversity, although the limits imposed by the synthetic methods have been lately a matter of discussion. However, the use of synthetic strategies allows incorporation of non-natural amino acids. The development of canfonnallonally restricted synthetic peptide libraries can be considered as a point of convergence of the two methodologies. In these libraries the diversity is grafted into scaffolds that are defined by stable secondary structural motifs, and the deconvolution pro…

Incorporation of Membrane Proteins in Solid-Supported Lipid Layers

1995

Electrical conductivity and permittivity of water-AOT-n-heptane microemulsions

1995

Measurements of the electrical conductivity and of the complex permittivity of water-sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)-n-heptane microemulsions are reported. The experimental results are rationalized in terms of a hopping mechanism of AOT anions within clusters of reversed micelles. The dependence of the hopping rate and of the cluster dimensions upon the ratio [water]/[AOT] and temperature is discussed.

Effects of solvent perturbation on gelation driven by spinodal demixing

1999

We study effects of solvent perturbation on kinetic competition between spinodal demixing and gelation in agarose solutions at a concentration of 5 g/l. Two different cosolutes (tert-butyl alcohol and trimethyl amine N-oxide) known for altering in opposite way solvent-mediated interactions are chosen. By rheometry, static and dynamic light scattering experiments, we show that the cosolute presence shifts the boundary of the instability region of solution leaving unaffected temperature and polymer concentration values required for percolation. Results suggest that an appropriate choice of quenching temperature and solvent allows controlling the gelation time and the gel structural properties.

Moss cell cultures as sources of arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids

1986

AbstractLipid classes from tissue cultures of the moss Leptobryum pyriforme (Hedw.) Wils. were analyzed. In the total lipid fraction, this species contained 20% arachidonic acid and about 7% eicosapentaenoic acid. The distribution of these fatty acids showed a preference for the phospholipid fraction. In particular, the phosphatidylethanolamine fraction was enriched in arachidonic acid. The arachidonic acid content of Leptobryum could be altered by transferring the cultures to different culture conditions. Mosses show high organic mass production in tissue cultures in relatively simple media. The great potential of using mosses as sources for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids is…

Ligand requirement for LHC I reconstitution

1998

Knowledge of the structure of photosynthetic light harvesting complexes is essential for understanding their function. Reconstitution of light harvesting complexes proved to be a very powerful tool for such structure analyses. In this way evidence was obtained for the central role of lutein and chlorophylls for LHCII structure (1) which was later confirmed by electron crystallographic analyses (2). Employing mutated, bacterial overexpressed LHCII apoproteins, amino acids could be identified which are involved in trimerization of LHCII and probably in binding of phosphatidylglycerol (3).

Photoaffinity labeling of the coupling factor 1 from the thermophilic bacterum PS3 by 8-azido ATP

1984

AbstractTo localize the nucleotide binding sites of the F1ATPase (TF1) from the thermophilic bacterium PS3 we have used 14C-labeled 8-azido ATP (8-N3ATP) as photoaffmity label. 8-N3ATP is hydrolyzed by the F,ATPase in the absence of ultraviolet light. Irradiation by ultraviolet light of the enzyme in the presence of 8-N3ATP results in reduction of ATPase activity and in preferential nucleotide specific labeling of the α subunits (0.8–0.9 mol 8-N3ATP/TF1,α:β = 4:1). Inactivation and labeling do not depend on the presence of Mg2+. Both effects decrease upon addition of various nucleotide di- or triphosphates.

Multiple Short Term Effects of UV-B Radiation on the Diatom Phaeodactylum Tricornutum

1998

Increases in UV-B irradiance lead to many specific damaging effects upon the plants including damage of the thylakoid membrane, partial inhibition of PS II, decrease of chloroplast ATPase activity, loss of enzyme activities in the calvin cycle and alterations in pigment synthesis (1). Under natural conditions enhanced UV-B light is always accompanied by high intensities of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Damaging effects due to photoinhibitory PAR and UV-B light which lead to several oxygen radical species (2) could be reduced by photoprotection mechanisms. One of these protection mechanisms is the xanthophyll cycle. In higher plants and green algae violaxanthin is converted to zeaxa…

Static and dynamic properties of supercooled thin polymer films

2004

The dynamic and static properties of a supercooled (non-entangled) polymer melt are investigated via molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations. The system is confined between two completely smooth and purely repulsive walls. The wall-to-wall separation (film thickness), D, is varied from about 3 to about 14 times the bulk radius of gyration. Despite the geometric confinement, the supercooled films exhibit many qualitative features which were also observed in the bulk and could be analyzed in terms of mode-coupling theory (MCT). Examples are the two-step relaxation of the incoherent intermediate scattering function, the time-temperature superposition property of the late time alpha-process and the…