Search results for "Biophysics"

New Biodegradable Hydrogels Based on Inulin and α,β-Polyaspartylhydrazide Designed for Colonic Drug Delivery: In Vitro Release of Glutathione and Oxy…

2010

Succinic derivatives of inulin (INU-SA) with two different degrees of derivatization (20% and 30%, mol/mol) were cross-linked with α,β-polyaspartylhydrazide (PAHy) to obtain INUPAHy hydrogels. Cross-linking was performed using N-ethyl-N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (NHSS) as coupling agents and by varying the reaction time (4 h, 8 h and 24 h). All samples prepared were characterized by FT-IR analysis and swelling measurements in different media. In vitro assays, performed in the presence of inulinase, demonstrated the degradability of the prepared hydrogels. Cell compatibility was evaluated using Caco-2 cells through both direct and …

Equilibrium coverage fluctuations: a new approach to quantify reversible adsorption of proteins.

2005

Respiratory mechanics measured by forced oscillations during mechanical ventilation through a tracheal tube

2011

The forced oscillation technique (FOT) allows the measurement of respiratory mechanics in the intensive care setting. The aim of this study was to compare the FOT with a reference method during mechanical ventilation through a tracheal tube. The respiratory impedance spectra were measured by FOT in nine anaesthetized pigs, and resistance and compliance were estimated on the basis of a linear resistance-compliance inertance model. In comparison, resistance and compliance were quantified by the multiple linear regression analysis (LSF) of conventional ventilator waveforms to the equation of motion. The resistance of the sample was found to range from 6 to 21 cmH(2)O s l(-1) and the compliance…

Effect of environmental conditions on the durability of polycarbonate for the protection of cultural heritage sites.

2019

Polycarbonate is a good material for covering and protecting cultural heritage sites because of its durability, mechanical properties, and transparency. However, polycarbonate degrades under environmental weathering with a significant decrease of physical and mechanical properties and loss of transparency. In this work, the contemporary presence of ultraviolet irradiation and different temperature and moisture conditions have been taken into account to study the environmental degradation of this polymer with regard to its mechanical and optical properties. The photo-oxidation reactions cause a decrease in the molecular weight and the formation of many oxygenated species. The hydrolytic sci…

Ultrafast excitation dynamics of low energy pigments in reconstituted peripheral light-harvesting complexes of photosystem I

2000

AbstractUltrafast dynamics of a reconstituted Lhca4 subunit from the peripheral LHCI-730 antenna of photosystem I of higher plants were probed by femtosecond absorption spectroscopy at 77 K. Intramonomeric energy transfer from chlorophyll (Chl) b to Chl a and energy equilibration between Chl a molecules observed on the subpicosecond time scale are largely similar to subpicosecond energy equilibration processes within LHCII monomers. However, a 5 ps equilibration process in Lhca4 involves unique low energy Chls in LHCI absorbing at 705 nm. These pigments localize the excitation both in the Lhca4 subunit and in LHCI-730 heterodimers. An additional 30–50 ps equilibration process involving red …

Selective labelling of melittin with a fluorescent dansylcadaverine probe using guinea-pig liver transglutaminase

1991

Abstract Melittin, a C-terminal peptide, incorporated the fluorescent probe monodansylcadaverine (DNC) when catalysed by guinea-pig liver transglutaminase and Ca2+, as determined by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A 1:1 adduct DNC-melittin was identified in which a single glutamine residue out of two, i.e. Gln25, acts as acyl donor. Incubation of melittin with transglutaminase in the absence of DNC originated high molecular mass complexes indicative that the peptide lysine residue can act as an acyl acceptor. The DNC-melittin was about 3 times more active in the lysis of red cell membranes than native melittin. Fluorescence study of the lab…

Addressing substrate glutamine requirements for tissue transglutaminase using substance P analogues

1999

AbstractWe have investigated the effect on the substrate requirements for guinea pig liver (tissue) transglutaminase of a set of 11 synthetic glutamine substitution analogues making up the full sequence of the naturally occurring tissue transglutaminase substrate substance P. While a number of peptide sequences derived from proteins that are well-recognized as tissue transglutaminase substrates have been studied, the enzyme activity using substitution analogues of full-length natural substrates has not been investigated as thoroughly. Thus, our set of substance P analogues only differs from one to other by one amino acid mutation while the length (of the peptide) is maintained as in the nat…

Proteasome comprising a beta1 inducible subunit acts as a negative regulator of NADPH oxidase during elicitation of plant defense reactions.

2005

Elicitation of defense reactions in tobacco by cryptogein, triggered a production of active oxygen species (AOS) via the NADPH oxidase, NtrbohD, and an accumulation of beta1din, a defense induced beta-type subunit of 20S proteasome. The proteasome inhibitor, MG132, stimulated this AOS production. Tobacco cells transformed with sense constructs of beta1din showed an inhibition of the AOS production following elicitin treatment, whereas the antisense transformed cells showed a strongly enhanced AOS production. In cells transformed with sense construct of beta1din, the NtrbohD transcripts failed to be induced by cryptogein as observed in control and antisense transformed cells. Conversely, in …

Chloroplast signal length requirement reflects the outer membrane and TOC complex dimension

2015

Background and Purpose: The evolution of an efficient preprotein targeting and translocation system was a central prerequisite for the endosymbiotic integration of a -proteobacteria and cyanobacteria as cellular organelles. Today, it is widely accepted that during evolution most (pre-)proteins destined for these two organelles were equipped with an N-terminal targeting signal for localization. While multiple modes of evolution of these extensions are currently discussed, all evolved signals serve the same function – forming a signal for targeting to the correct organelle and translocation across both membranes. We aimed to generalize the current idea for the length requirement of the N-term…

Binding, Interaction, and Organization of Proteins with Lipid Model Membranes

1991

Model membrane systems are used to investigate protein recognition and binding at interfaces. Fluorescence microscopy results are presented for interactions of the proteins, phospholipase A2 and antifluorescyl IgG, at lipid monolayer interfaces. Total internal reflection fluorescence measurements are used to quantify albumin and IgG adsorption to supported lipid monolayers.