Search results for "CARBONATE"
showing 10 items of 920 documents
Protein-induced, previously unidentified twin form of calcite.
2007
Using single-crystal x-ray diffraction, we found a formerly unknown twin form in calcite crystals grown from solution to which a mollusc shell-derived 17-kDa protein, Caspartin, was added. This intracrystalline protein was extracted from the calcitic prisms of the Pinna nobilis shells. The observed twin form is characterized by the twinning plane of the (108)-type, which is in addition to the known four twin laws of calcite identified during 150 years of investigations. The established twin forms in calcite have twinning planes of the (001)-, (012)-, (104)-, and (018)-types. Our discovery provides additional evidence on the crucial role of biological macromolecules in biomineralization.
Protein mapping of calcium carbonate biominerals by immunogold
2007
The construction of metazoan calcium carbonate skeletons is finely regulated by a proteinaceous extracellular matrix, which remains embedded within the exoskeleton. In spite of numerous biochemical studies, the precise localization of skeletal proteins has remained for a long time as an elusive goal. In this paper, we describe a technique for visualizing shell matrix proteins on the surface of calcium carbonate crystals or within the biominerals. The technique is as follows: freshly broken pieces of biominerals or NaOCl then EDTA-etched polished surfaces are incubated with an antibody elicited against one matrix protein, then with a secondary gold-coupled antibody. After silver enhancement,…
Caspartin and calprismin, two proteins of the shell calcitic prisms of the Mediterranean fan mussel Pinna nobilis.
2005
We used the combination of preparative electrophoresis and immunological detection to isolate two new proteins from the shell calcitic prisms of Pinna nobilis, the Mediterranean fan mussel. The amino acid composition of these proteins was determined. Both proteins are soluble, intracrystalline, and acidic. The 38-kDa protein is glycosylated; the 17-kDa one is not. Ala, Asx, Thr, and Pro represent the dominant residues of the 38-kDa protein, named calprismin. An N-terminal sequence was obtained from calprismin. This sequence, which comprises a pattern of 4 cysteine residues, is not related to any known protein. The second protein, named caspartin, exhibits an unusual amino acid composition, …
Two end-members of carbonate slope evolution during the Late Cretaceous in the peri-Tethyan domain (Western Sicily and Southern Albania)
2019
Climatic and tectonic processes are major mechanisms influencing tropical carbonate platform development, sediment production and sediment export. Mass transport deposits (including slides, slumps and debrites) and calciturbidites are some of the sediment export products resulting from the interplay of aforementioned redeposition mechanisms. They reflect distinct variations in both production and export of sediments from the carbonate factories. The gravitary export deposits provide information on their sediment source and result in sedimentary sequences with specific porosity / permeability properties prone to host hydrocarbon resources. Climate-controlled sea-level variations are well-con…
Slope Failures and MTDs along a Cretaceous Escarpment in Western Sicily (Italy)
2018
In the last decades, many contributions have examined the Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs) in both modern and ancient examples for the comprehension of the sedimentary dynamics along the carbonate escarpments. Such sedimentary bodies have a great economic significance, since they are widely considered prone to the development of petroleum systems. In particular, MTDs from Cretaceous escarpments are well known from many regions of the world, since they are typically rich in rudists aragonite fragments determining high percentages of porosity. In these respect the deep knowledge on the facies architecture of these depositional systems is of broad interest as can offer examples for the predictio…
Carbonate-coordinated metal complexes precede the formation of liquid amorphous mineral emulsions of divalent metal carbonates†
2011
During the mineralisation of metal carbonates MCO3 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba, Mn, Cd, Pb) liquid-like amorphous intermediates emerge. These intermediates that form via a liquid/liquid phase separation behave like a classical emulsion and are stabilized electrostatically. The occurrence of these intermediates is attributed to the formation of highly hydrated networks whose stability is mainly based on weak interactions and the variability of the metal-containing pre-critical clusters. Their existence and compositional freedom are evidenced by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Liquid intermediates in non-classical crystallisation pathways seem to be more common than assumed.
Convergent synthesis and preliminary biological evaluations of the stilbenolignan (±)-aiphanol and various congeners
2003
Treatment of an equimolar mixture of stilbene 7 and cinnamyl alcohol 8 with silver carbonate in acetone–benzene afforded a ca. 2 : 1 : 2 : 1 mixture of the stilbenolignan (±)-aiphanol (1) and congeners 2–4 each of which show significant anti-angiogenic and COX-2 inhibitory properties.
Pegylated nanoparticles based on a polyaspartamide. Preparation, physico-chemical characterization and intracellular uptake
2006
Nanoparticles with different surface PEGylation degree were prepared by using as starting material alpha,beta-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-d,l-aspartamide (PHEA). PHEA was functionalized with a PEG amino-derivative for obtaining PHEA-PEG(2000) copolymer. Both PHEA and PHEA-PEG(2000) were derivatized with methacrylic anhydride (MA) for obtaining poly(hydroxyethylaspartamide methacrylated) (PHM) and poly(hydroxyethylaspartamide methacrylated)-PEGylated (PHM-PEG(2000)), respectively. Nanoparticles were obtained by UV irradiation of an inverse microemulsion, using as internal phase an aqueous solution of PHM alone or of the PHM/PHM-PEG(2000) mixture at different weight ratio and as external phase a m…
Glycosidic juvenogens: derivatives bearing alpha,beta-unsaturated ester functionalities.
2007
Abstract A series of the protected alkyl glycosides 5a / 5b – 12a / 12b was synthesized from the parent isomeric alcohols (insect juvenile hormone bioanalogs; juvenoids), 4-[4′-(2″-hydroxycyclohexyl)methylphenoxy]-3-methyl-but-2-enoic acid ethyl ester ( 1a / 1b – 4a / 4b ; racemic structures) and ( 1a – 4a ; enantiopure structures). Cadmium carbonate was used as a promoter of this Koenigs–Knorr reaction, and the products were obtained in 82–92% yields. Deprotection of the carbohydrate functionality of 5a / 5b – 12a / 12b was carefully performed using ethanolysis in the presence of zinc acetate, due to the presence of another ester functionality in the aglycone part of the molecule of protec…
Comparison of speed-vacuum method and heat-drying method to measure brain water content of small brain samples
2016
Abstract Background A reliable measurement of brain water content (wet-to-dry ratio) is an important prerequisite for conducting research on mechanisms of brain edema formation. The conventionally used oven-drying method suffers from several limitations, especially in small samples. A technically demanding and time-consuming alternative is freeze-drying. New method Centrifugal vacuum concentrators (e.g. SpeedVac/speed-vacuum drying) are a combination of vacuum-drying and centrifugation, used to reduce the boiling temperature. These concentrators have the key advantages of improving the freeze-drying speed and maintaining the integrity of dried samples, thus, allowing e.g. DNA analyses. In t…