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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Immobilization Of The Influenza A M2 Transmembrane Peptide In Virus Envelope−Mimetic Lipid Membranes: A Solid-State Nmr Investigation, Wenbin Luo, Sarah D. Cady, Mei Hong Sep 2019

Immobilization Of The Influenza A M2 Transmembrane Peptide In Virus Envelope−Mimetic Lipid Membranes: A Solid-State Nmr Investigation, Wenbin Luo, Sarah D. Cady, Mei Hong

Sarah Cady

The dynamic and structural properties of membrane proteins are intimately affected by the lipid bilayer. One property of membrane proteins is uniaxial rotational diffusion, which depends on the membrane viscosity and thickness. This rotational diffusion is readily manifested in solid-state NMR spectra as characteristic line shapes and temperature-dependent line narrowing or broadening. We show here that this whole-body uniaxial diffusion is suppressed in lipid bilayers mimicking the composition of eukaryotic cell membranes, which are rich in cholesterol and sphingomyelin. We demonstrate this membrane-induced immobilization on the transmembrane peptide of the influenza A M2 (AM2-TM) proton channel protein. At physiological temperature, …


Pre-Methylation Of Lignin To Improve Storage Stability Of Oil Produced By Solvent Liquefaction, Jae-Young Kim, Parinaz Hafezi-Sefat, Sarah D. Cady, Ryan G. Smith, Robert C. Brown Sep 2019

Pre-Methylation Of Lignin To Improve Storage Stability Of Oil Produced By Solvent Liquefaction, Jae-Young Kim, Parinaz Hafezi-Sefat, Sarah D. Cady, Ryan G. Smith, Robert C. Brown

Sarah Cady

In this study, we methylated hydroxyl groups (phenolic hydroxyl: Phe-OH and aliphatic hydroxyl: Aliph-OH) in soda lignin (SL) prior to solvent liquefaction to improve storage stability of the resulting oil. We investigated two methylating reagents, dimethyl sulfate (DMS) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), for selective Phe-OH and total hydroxyl group (Phe-OH and Aliph-OH) blocking. Samples of SL, DMS-SL, and DMC-SL were depolymerized into oils under supercritical ethanol (350 °C). Both methylated lignins produced higher amounts of oils and smaller amounts of char compared to untreated SL due to suppressed charring reactions. Oil produced from SL had relatively higher functional group contents …