Search results for "actions"

Insects and fungi: ecological interactions and functional biodiversity

Electronic aspects of the hydride transfer mechanism. Ab initio analytical gradient studies of the cyclopropenyl‐cation/lithium hydride model reactan…

1985

The electronic mechanisms of a model hydride transfer reaction are theoretically studied with ab inito RHF and UHF SCF MO procedures at the 4‐31G basis set level and analytical gradient methods. The model system describes the reduction of cyclopropenyl cation to cyclopropene by the oxidation of lithium hydride to lithium cation. The molecular fragments corresponding to the asymptotic reactive channels characterizing the stepwise mechanisms currently discussed in the literature have been characterized. The binding energy between the fragments is estimated within a simple electrostatic approximate scheme. The results show that a hydride‐ion mechanism is a likely pathway for this particular sy…

Hydrophobic mismatch of mobile transmembrane helices: Merging theory and experiments

2012

Abstract Hydrophobic mismatch still represents a puzzle for transmembrane peptides, despite the apparent simplicity of this concept and its demonstrated validity in natural membranes. Using a wealth of available experimental 2 H NMR data, we provide here a comprehensive explanation of the orientation and dynamics of model peptides in lipid bilayers, which shows how they can adapt to membranes of different thickness. The orientational adjustment of transmembrane α-helices can be understood as the result of a competition between the thermodynamically unfavorable lipid repacking associated with peptide tilting and the optimization of peptide/membrane hydrophobic coupling. In the positive misma…

Retinyl ester hydrolases in retinal pigment epithelium.

1991

In bovine retinal pigment epithelium membranes we have found three hydrolases which were active against trans-retinyl palmitate. This was possible by assaying different subcellular fractions as a function of pH in the range 3-9. Detection of these activities has been favored by the use in the enzyme assay of Triton X-100, which has an activating effect up to a concentration of 0.03% at a detergent-protein ratio of about 1.5-3.0. Apparent kinetic parameters for the retinyl ester hydrolases have been determined after a study of the optimization of assay conditions. Vmax values for hydrolases acting at pH 4.5, 6.0, and 7.0 were, respectively, 156, 55, and 70 nmol/h/mg. To identify the subcellu…

Biosensor Analysis of β2-Glycoprotein I–Reactive Autoantibodies: Evidence for Isotype-Specific Binding and Differentiation of Pathogenic from Infecti…

2007

Abstract Background: For the laboratory diagnosis of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) we developed a biosensor with the ability to distinguish between disease-relevant anti-β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI) autoantibodies (anti-β2GPI) and pathogen-specific β2GPI cross-reactive antibodies that occur transiently during infections. Methods: We used a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor device. For the detection of anti-β2GPI in serum samples, affinity-purified human β2GPI was covalently attached to a functionalized n-alkanethiol self-assembling monolayer on the biosensor chip. After verifying the specificity of the biosensor system with a panel of monoclonal antibodies to β2GPI, we analyzed s…

Real-time measurements of Hg0 and H2S at La Solfatara Crater (Campi Flegrei, Southern Italy) and Mt. Amiata volcano (Siena, Central Italy): a new geo…

2014

Biphenyl-4-yl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate

2017

Molecules of the title compound, C19H16O3S, are composed of a biphenyl moiety substituted with a toluene-4-sulfonate group. The dihedral angle between the two coplanar biphenyl rings and the toluene ring is 52.72 (6)°.

Susceptibility of eye fluke-infected fish to predation by bird hosts.

2005

Host manipulation by trophically transmitted parasites may predispose infected hosts to predation and in this way enhance parasite transmission. In most study systems, however, the evidence comes from laboratory studies, and therefore knowledge of the effect of manipulation on parasite transmission efficiency in the wild is still limited. Here we examined the effect ofDiplostomum spathaceum(Trematoda) eye flukes on the susceptibility of fish intermediate hosts to predation by bird definitive hosts. Our earlier studies have shown that the parasite alters fish phenotype and increases their susceptibility to artificial predation under laboratory conditions. In the present field study, we allow…

Structure-activity relationship of staurosporine analogs in regulating expression of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase gene.

2000

In human umbilical vein endothelial cells and in human umbilical vein endothelial cell-derived EA.hy 926 cells, staurosporine (Stsp) and its glycosidic indolocarbazole analogs 7-hydroxystaurosporine (UCN-01) and 4'-N-benzoyl staurosporine (CGP 41251) enhanced nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) III mRNA expression (analyzed by RNase protection assay), protein expression (determined by Western blot), and activity [measured by rat fetal lung fibroblast (RFL-6) reporter cell assay] in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In contrast, the bisindolylmaleimide analogs GF 109203X, Ro 31-8220 and Go 6983 had no effect on NOS III expression, and Go 6976, a methyl- and cyanoalkyl-substituted nonglycos…

Host–virus evolutionary dynamics with specialist and generalist infection strategies: Bifurcations, bistability, and chaos

2019

In this work, we have investigated the evolutionary dynamics of a generalist pathogen, e.g., a virus population, that evolves toward specialization in an environment with multiple host types. We have particularly explored under which conditions generalist viral strains may rise in frequency and coexist with specialist strains or even dominate the population. By means of a nonlinear mathematical model and bifurcation analysis, we have determined the theoretical conditions for stability of nine identified equilibria and provided biological interpretation in terms of the infection rates for the viral specialist and generalist strains. By means of a stability diagram, we identified stable fixed…