Search results for "Layers"
showing 10 items of 335 documents
Spontaneous growth of 2D coordination polymers on functionalized ferromagnetic surfaces
2018
2D coordination polymers grow spontaneously on reactive surfaces due to surface oxidation. The growth process is observed in real time.
Staphylococcal alpha-toxin, streptolysin-O, and Escherichia coli hemolysin: prototypes of pore-forming bacterial cytolysins.
1996
Staphylococcal alpha-toxin, streptolysin-O, and Escherichia coli hemolysin are well-studied prototypes of pore-forming bacterial cytotoxins. Each is produced as a water-soluble single-chain polypeptide that inserts into target membranes to form aqueous transmembrane pores. This review will compare properties of the three toxin prototypes, highlighting the similarities and also the differences in their structure, mode of binding, mechanism of pore formation, and the responses they elicit in target cells. Pore-forming toxins represent the most potent and versatile weapons with which invading microbes damage the host macroorganism.
Electrophysiological evidence for heptameric stoichiometry of ion channels formed by Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin in planar lipid bilayers.
2000
Staphylococcal alpha-toxin forms homo-oligomeric channels in lipid bilayers and cell membranes. Here, we report that electrophysiological monitoring of single-channel function using a derivatized cysteine substitution mutant allows accurate determination of the subunit stoichiometry of the oligomer in situ. The electrophysiological phenotype of channels formed in planar lipid bilayers with the cysteine replacement mutant I7C is equal to that of the wild type. When pores were formed with I7C, alterations of several channel properties were observed upon modification with SH reagents. Decreases in conductance then occurred that were seen only as negative voltage was applied. At the level of si…
Evaluation of the bending behaviour of laminated glass beams via electronic speckle pattern interferometry
2017
The paper is devoted to the experimental analysis of the kinematical and mechanical behaviour of laminated glass beam structures. In particular, the utilized laminated glass specimens are composed of two glass layers bonded by a polymer layer constituted by Ethylene-vinyl acetate whose thickness has been nominally considered as constant for all the specimens. The experimental behaviour of the analyzed specimens is deduced by applying Electronic Speckle- Pattern Interferometry technique; actually, among optical methods this technique (handled by phase-stepping technique) is very effective to obtain a full-field displacement map and to numerically achieve the longitudinal strain. In particula…
Double-spanning Plant Viral Movement Protein Integration into the Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane Is Signal Recognition Particle-dependent, Translocon…
2005
The current model for cell-to-cell movement of plant viruses holds that transport requires virus-encoded movement proteins that intimately associate with endoplasmic reticulum membranes. We have examined the early stages of the integration into endoplasmic reticulum membranes of a double-spanning viral movement protein using photocross-linking. We have discovered that this process is cotranslational and proceeds in a signal recognition particle-dependent manner. In addition, nascent chain photocross-linking to Sec61alpha and translocating chain-associated membrane protein reveal that viral membrane protein insertion takes place via the translocon, as with most eukaryotic membrane proteins, …
Encapsulation capacity and natural payload delivery of an anticancer drug from boron nitride nanotube.
2016
The behavior of confined anticancer carboplatin (CPT) molecules in a single (10, 10) boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) was studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Our study revealed a very large storage capacity of BNNT. Analysis of the energy profiles depending on the number of confined molecules, and on their spatial organization allowed us to quantify the ability of BNNT to vectorize CPT. Indeed, BNNT despite its small radius presented a large inner volume that favored stable encapsulation of multiple active anticancer molecules. Moreover, in our molecular dynamics simulations, the empty BNNT and the BNNT filled with CPT diffused spontaneously to the cell membrane and were able t…
SMOS REFLEX 2003: L-band emissivity characterization of vineyards
2005
The goal of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission over land is to infer surface soil moisture from multiangular L-band radiometric measurements. As the canopy affects the microwave emission of land, it is necessary to characterize different vegetation layers. This paper presents the Reference Pixel L-Band Experiment (REFLEX), carried out in June-July 2003 at the Vale/spl grave/ncia Anchor Station, Spain, to study the effects of grapevines on the soil emission and on the soil moisture retrieval. A wide range of soil moisture (SM), from saturated to completely dry soil, was measured with the Universitat Polite/spl grave/cnica de Catalunya's L-band Automatic Radiometer (LAURA). Concurre…
Scanning force microscopy based rapid force curve acquisition on supported lipid bilayers: experiments and simulations using pulsed force mode.
2004
In situ pulsed force mode scanning force microscopy (PFM-SFM) images of phase separated solid-supported lipid bilayers are discussed with the help of computer simulations. Simultaneous imaging of material properties and topography in a liquid environment by means of PFM-SFM is severely hampered by hydrodynamic damping of the cantilever. Stiffness and adhesion images of solid-supported membranes consisting of cholesterol, sphingomyelin, and 1,2-dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine obtained in aqueous solution exhibit contrast inversion of adhesion and stiff. ness images depending on parameters such as driving frequency, amplitude, and trigger setting. Simulations using a simple harmonic oscillator mo…
Curvature increases permeability of the plasma membrane for ions, water and the anti-cancer drugs cisplatin and gemcitabine
2019
ABSTRACTIn this work the permeability of a model asymmetric plasma membrane, for ions, water and the anti-cancer drugs cisplatin and gemcitabine is studied by means of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that permeability of the membranes increases from one to three orders of magnitude upon membrane bending depending on the compound and the sign of curvature. Our results show that the membrane curvature is an important factor which should be considered during evaluation of drug translocation.TOC GRAPHICS
Lipid Bilayer Interactions of Peptidic Supramolecular Polymers and Their Impact on Membrane Permeability and Stability.
2020
The synthesis and physicochemical characterization of supramolecular polymers with tunable assembly profiles offer exciting opportunities, involving the development of new biomedical carriers. Because synthetic nanocarriers aim to transport substances across or toward cellular membranes, we evaluated the interactions of amphiphilic peptide-based supramolecular polymers with lipid bilayers. Here, we focused on nanorod-like supramolecular polymers, obtained from two C3-symmetric dendritic peptide amphiphiles with alternating Phe/His sequences, equipped with a peripheral tetraethylene glycol dendron (C3-PH) or charged ethylenediamine end groups (C3-PH+). Triggered by pH changes, these amphiphi…