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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry
High Order Structures Formed By The Natural Aromatic Amino Acids, Gabriel Alexander Kupovics, Zeina Alraawi
High Order Structures Formed By The Natural Aromatic Amino Acids, Gabriel Alexander Kupovics, Zeina Alraawi
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
Excessive concentrations of the natural aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine are characteristic of the severe genetic abnormalities known as phenylketonuria (PKU) and tyrosinemia, respectively. Within this context, this feature article authenticates claims that tryptophan can form amyloid-like supramolecular structures in vitro and is the first to propose potential mechanisms of tryptophan self-assembly, including hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence kinetics and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data suggest the formation of amyloid-like fibrillar structures by natural aromatic amino acids in vitro. Additionally, the propensity of amino acid aggregation increases in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The …
Computational Study Of A Novel Dinuclear Metal Complex, Dragos Seghete
Computational Study Of A Novel Dinuclear Metal Complex, Dragos Seghete
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
The first compound containing an M-H-M was recently reported by Vicic et al. With recent availability of large computational resources, molecular modeling has become a reliable tool for confirming experimental results. The novel dinuclear Ni complex [( dippm)2Ni2Br2]( 0 -H) was investigated in this work from a theoretical perspective. Full geometry optimization was carried on the dinuclear Ni complex at the DFT/B3LYP with the 6-31G* basis set. The result verifies the linear Ni-H-Ni bond. Two different starting structures that converged to the same geometry confirm that a global minimum was reached. The computed structure differs from the experimentally determined one …
The Effects Of Multiple Mutations In The Hydrophobic Core Upon The Stability Of Staphylococcal Nuclease, Rebecca L. Danforth
The Effects Of Multiple Mutations In The Hydrophobic Core Upon The Stability Of Staphylococcal Nuclease, Rebecca L. Danforth
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
Previous work in the laboratory of my research advisor, Dr. Wesley Stites, has investigated the core packing of the protein staphylococcal nuclease. The core of a protein is critical in determining a protein's structure and stability. The hydrophobicity of the core has long been thought to be the principal driving force for folding, but recent work in the Stites lab has shown that optimization of van der Waals contacts and minimization of cavities, in our shorthand term, packing, is at least as energetically important. We are building upon this information in our attempt to better pack the protein core. If …
On The Existence And Stability Of Liquid Water On The Martian Surface, Justin Thompson
On The Existence And Stability Of Liquid Water On The Martian Surface, Justin Thompson
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
Present-day Mars is thought to be a frozen desert on which liquid water is not likely to be found. The prevailing assumption has been that due to average temperatures below 273 K and atmospheric pressures at or below water's triple-point vapor pressure of 6.1 mbar, the existence of liquid water as an equilibrium phase at or near the surface is impossible at the present epoch. However, there is substantial evidence that liquid water has existed in the past and may presently still exist on or directly below the Martian surface. I conducted simulation experiments in the Andromeda planetary environmental chamber …
Synthesis And Chemistry Of Naphthalene Annulated Trienyl Iron Complexes: Potential Anticancer Dna Alkylation Reagents, Traci Means
Synthesis And Chemistry Of Naphthalene Annulated Trienyl Iron Complexes: Potential Anticancer Dna Alkylation Reagents, Traci Means
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
Iron complex chemistry that opens a new door to the medicinal and pharmaceutical worlds is the aim of this research. Specifically, ortho-quinone methide moieties are intermediates in several antitumor drugs and have been identified as bioreductive alkylators of DNA. In our research, a class of iron compounds has been targeted to resemble these quinone methides. It is hoped that these new compounds could be modified to provide a window of opportunity toward the discovery of a selective mode of drug delivery. We have focused our efforts on generating a reactive transition metal complexed 5-membered ring analog of o-quinone methide based …
Stimulation And Modeling Of Pond Formations On The Asteroid 433 Eros, Justin Thompson
Stimulation And Modeling Of Pond Formations On The Asteroid 433 Eros, Justin Thompson
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
"Ponds" are surface features that appear to be the result of the deposition of finer material on the asteroid's regolith, the layer of loose sediment that blankets the entire asteroid. Ponds were discovered by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft in January, 2001, on the asteroid 433 Eros. The objective of experimentation is to simulate the development of these ponds in the Andromeda planetary sciences environmental chamber. The Andromeda Chamber offers a unique ability to simulate surface environments that occur on Eros. The chamber was used to simulate the processes that occur as Eros emits gas through its outer surface, including the …
Double Cysteine Mutations In Staphylococcal Nuclease: The Effect Of Artificially Introduced Disulfide Bonds On Protein Structure And Stability, Anna Terry
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
Since a protein's function depends on its structure, basic research in protein structure facilitates the solution of many practical problems, such as the synthesis of more effective medicines. With this larger goal in sight, the purpose of this research project is to understand better the chemical principles that underlie protein structure and stability. Disulfide bonds are a potentially stabilizing feature of many proteins. They may form between cysteine residues in close proximity to one another if the orientation is favorable. Often found in proteins produced by organisms that grow at high temperatures, disulfide bonds may anchor side chains together, making …
Studies Of Tryptophans In Membrane- Spanning "Walp" Peptides By Deuterium Nmr Spectroscopy, Nichole Reed
Studies Of Tryptophans In Membrane- Spanning "Walp" Peptides By Deuterium Nmr Spectroscopy, Nichole Reed
Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal
WALP pep tides of sequence acetyl-Gly-Trp-Trp-(Leu-Ala)-Trp-Trp-Ala-ethanolamine insert into lipid bilayers as membrane-spanning a-helices and modulate the lipid phase behavior as functions of n and the lipid acyl chain length. A key feature of the WALP peptides is the positioning of tryptophan (Trp) indole rings at the membrane/water interface. For the examples WALP19 with n = 6.5 and WALP23 with n = 8.5, we have labeled individual indoles with deuterium and incorporated the labeled peptides in oriented, hydrated bilayers of Dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC). Deuterium NMR spectra from these samples show sharp resonances when the membrane normal is aligned either parallel (Beta = …