Search results for "biophysic"
showing 10 items of 3565 documents
Single nanogranules preserve intracrystalline amorphicity in biominerals.
2015
We revisit the ultrastructural features of different calcareous biominerals and identify remarkable similarities: taxonomically very distant species show a common nanogranular structure, even if different extracellular secretion patterns are employed or calcium carbonate polymorphs formed. By these analyses, we elucidate the locus of the small fraction of intracrystalline organic matrix revealing its intergranular character and localize the intracrystalline amorphous calcium carbonate moiety commonly found in mesocrystalline biominerals and provide a first explanation for the pathway by which it is preserved.
The collagen type I segment long spacing (SLS) and fibrillar forms: Formation by ATP and sulphonated diazo dyes.
2016
The collagen type I segment long spacing (SLS) crystallite is a well-ordered rod-like molecular aggregate, ∼300nm in length, which is produced in vitro under mildly acidic conditions (pH 2.5-3.5) in the presence of 1mM ATP. The formation of the SLS crystallite amplifies the inherent linear structural features of individual collagen heterotrimers, due to the punctate linear distribution and summation of the bulkier amino acid side chains along the length of individual collagen heterotrimers. This can be correlated structurally with the 67nm D-banded collagen fibril that is found in vivo, and formed in vitro. Although first described many years ago, the range of conditions required for ATP-in…
The effects of pressure on the energy landscape of proteins
2018
AbstractProtein dynamics is characterized by fluctuations among different conformational substates, i.e. the different minima of their energy landscape. At temperatures above ~200 K, these fluctuations lead to a steep increase in the thermal dependence of all dynamical properties, phenomenon known as Protein Dynamical Transition. In spite of the intense studies, little is known about the effects of pressure on these processes, investigated mostly near room temperature. We studied by neutron scattering the dynamics of myoglobin in a wide temperature and pressure range. Our results show that high pressure reduces protein motions, but does not affect the onset temperature for the Protein Dynam…
Ranolazine-Mediated Attenuation of Mechanoelectric Feedback in Atrial Myocyte Monolayers.
2020
[EN] Background Mechanical stretch increases Na(+)inflow into myocytes, related to mechanisms including stretch-activated channels or Na+/H(+)exchanger activation, involving Ca(2+)increase that leads to changes in electrophysiological properties favoring arrhythmia induction. Ranolazine is an antianginal drug with confirmed beneficial effects against cardiac arrhythmias associated with the augmentation ofI(NaL)current and Ca(2+)overload. Objective This study investigates the effects of mechanical stretch on activation patterns in atrial cell monolayers and its pharmacological response to ranolazine. Methods Confluent HL-1 cells were cultured in silicone membrane plates and were stretched to…
Mg2+ binding triggers rearrangement of the IM30 ring structure, resulting in augmented exposure of hydrophobic surfaces competent for membrane binding
2018
The "inner membrane-associated protein of 30 kDa" (IM30), also known as "vesicle-inducing protein in plastids 1" (Vipp1), is found in the majority of photosynthetic organisms that use oxygen as an energy source, and its occurrence appears to be coupled to the existence of thylakoid membranes in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. IM30 is most likely involved in thylakoid membrane biogenesis and/or maintenance, and has recently been shown to function as a membrane fusion protein in presence of Mg2+ However, the precise role of Mg2+ in this process and its impact on the structure and function of IM30 remains unknown. Here, we show that Mg2+ binds directly to IM30 with a binding affinity of ∼1 mm …
The interplay between genetic and bioelectrical signaling permits a spatial regionalisation of membrane potentials in model multicellular ensembles
2016
AbstractThe single cell-centred approach emphasises ion channels as specific proteins that determine individual properties, disregarding their contribution to multicellular outcomes. We simulate the interplay between genetic and bioelectrical signals in non-excitable cells from the local single-cell level to the long range multicellular ensemble. The single-cell genetic regulation is based on mean-field kinetic equations involving the mRNA and protein concentrations. The transcription rate factor is assumed to depend on the absolute value of the cell potential, which is dictated by the voltage-gated cell ion channels and the intercellular gap junctions. The interplay between genetic and ele…
Cell-cell bioelectrical interactions and local heterogeneities in genetic networks: a model for the stabilization of single-cell states and multicell…
2018
Genetic networks operate in the presence of local heterogeneities in single-cell transcription and translation rates. Bioelectrical networks and spatio-temporal maps of cell electric potentials can influence multicellular ensembles. Could cell-cell bioelectrical interactions mediated by intercellular gap junctions contribute to the stabilization of multicellular states against local genetic heterogeneities? We theoretically analyze this question on the basis of two well-established experimental facts: (i) the membrane potential is a reliable read-out of the single-cell electrical state and (ii) when the cells are coupled together, their individual cell potentials can be influenced by ensemb…
Physical–chemical properties of biogenic selenium nanostructures produced by stenotrophomonas maltophilia SeITE02 and ochrobactrum sp. MPV1
2018
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia SeITE02 and Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1 were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of the selenium-hyperaccumulator legume Astragalus bisulcatus and waste material from a dumping site for roasted pyrites, respectively. Here, these bacterial strains were studied as cell factories to generate selenium-nanostructures (SeNS) under metabolically controlled growth conditions. Thus, a defined medium (DM) containing either glucose or pyruvate as carbon and energy source along with selenite (SeO23−) was tested to evaluate bacterial growth, oxyanion bioconversion and changes occurring in SeNS features with respect to those generated by these strains grown on rich media. Transmissi…
Diverse relations between ABC transporters and lipids: An overview.
2016
It was first discovered in 1992 that P-glycoprotein (Pgp, ABCB1), an ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter, can transport phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine, -ethanolamine and -serine as well as glucosylceramide and glycosphingolipids. Subsequently, many other ABC transporters were identified to act as lipid transporters. For substrate transport by ABC transporters, typically a classic, alternating access model with an ATP-dependent conformational switch between a high and a low affinity substrate binding site is evoked. Transport of small hydrophilic substrates can easily be imagined this way, as the molecule can in principle enter and exit the transporter in the same orientation. …
Biological insertion of computationally designed short transmembrane segments
2016
The great majority of helical membrane proteins are inserted co-translationally into the ER membrane through a continuous ribosome-translocon channel. The efficiency of membrane insertion depends on transmembrane (TM) helix amino acid composition, the helix length and the position of the amino acids within the helix. In this work, we conducted a computational analysis of the composition and location of amino acids in transmembrane helices found in membrane proteins of known structure to obtain an extensive set of designed polypeptide segments with naturally occurring amino acid distributions. Then, using an in vitro translation system in the presence of biological membranes, we experimental…