Search results for "Biophysics"
showing 10 items of 3515 documents
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…
Interactions in water-alcohol mixtures: Conductance of lithium picrate in solutions of water and isomeric pentanols at 25�C
1982
Conductance measurements of lithium picrate in solutions of water in n-pentanol, 2-pentanol, 3-pentanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol have been carried out at 25°C. Ionic association and conductance were found to change with water content and with the molecular structure of the alcohols (i.e. position of the OH group and degree of branching of the alkyl chain). These results indicate that both conductance and ion pair formation are not the consequence of the simple motion of ions in the electrical field as required by the continuum model. A more realistic approach, involving the internal structure of the solvent mixtures, has been considered.
Use of two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography for the components study of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose)
1990
Two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography on cellulose plates has been used for separating and quantifying the three adenosine derivatives: AMP, phosphoribosyl AMP (PRAMP), and (PR)2AMP obtained by venom phosphodiesterase digestion of poly(ADP-ribose). In vitro synthesized polymer, up to 300 derivatives in length were studied. Some parameters of the complexity of poly(ADP-ribose) could be deduced from our results: (i) The first branching point appears in fragments of approximately 21 derivatives in length. (ii) The branching points are located at regular distances of approximately 41 derivatives from each other.
Poly-l-Lysine-Poly[HPMA] Block Copolymers Obtained by RAFT Polymerization as Polyplex-Transfection Reagents with Minimal Toxicity
2015
Herein we describe the synthesis of poly-L-lysine-b-poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-metha-crylamide)] (poly[HPMA]) block copolymers by combination of solid phase peptide synthesis or polymerization of α-amino acid-N-carboxy-anhydrides (NCA-polymerization) with the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT). In the presence of p-DNA, these polymers form polyplex micelles with a size of 100-200 nm in diameter (monitored by SDS-PAGE and FCS). Primary in vitro studies with HEK-293T cells reveal their cellular uptake (FACS studies and CLSM) and proof successful transfection with efficiencies depending on the length of polylysine. Moreover, these polyplexes display minimal to…