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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry
Mechanisms Of Calcium Phosphate Mineralization On Biological Interfaces And Their Engineering Applications, Doyoon Kim
Mechanisms Of Calcium Phosphate Mineralization On Biological Interfaces And Their Engineering Applications, Doyoon Kim
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
All living organisms utilize phosphorus (P) as an essential component of their cell membranes, DNA and RNA, and adenosine triphosphate. Bones, in addition to bearing loads, play an important role in balancing P levels in our bodies. In bones, a network of collagen templates and calcium phosphate (CaP) nanocrystals builds hierarchical levels, from nano- to macroscale. Within this architecture, the thermodynamic properties of CaP minerals are influential. Despite the importance of nucleation, growth, and crystallization in collagen structures for tissue development, little kinetic study of these processes has been conducted due to the limited in situ techniques for monitoring these …
Kcnq1/Kcne1 Interaction In The Cardiac Iks Channel And Its Physiological Consequences, Jiajing Xu
Kcnq1/Kcne1 Interaction In The Cardiac Iks Channel And Its Physiological Consequences, Jiajing Xu
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Dynamic conformational changes of ion channel proteins during activation gating determine their function as carriers of current. The relationship between these molecular movements and channel function over the physiological timescale of the action potential (AP) has not been fully established due to limitations of existing techniques. We constructed a library of possible cardiac IKs protein conformations and applied a combination of protein segmentation and energy linearization to study this relationship computationally. Simulations reproduced the effects of the beta-subunit (KCNE1) on the alpha-subunit (KCNQ1) dynamics and function, observed in experiments. Mechanistically, KCNE1 increased the probability of “visiting” conducting pore conformations on …