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Articles 1 - 27 of 27

Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Synchronous Opening And Closing Motions Are Essential For Camp-Dependent Protein Kinase A Signaling, Atul K. Srivastava, Leanna R. Mcdonald, Alessandro Cembran, Jonggul Kim, Larry R. Masterson, Christopher L. Mcclendon, Susan S. Taylor, Gianluigi Veglia Nov 2014

Synchronous Opening And Closing Motions Are Essential For Camp-Dependent Protein Kinase A Signaling, Atul K. Srivastava, Leanna R. Mcdonald, Alessandro Cembran, Jonggul Kim, Larry R. Masterson, Christopher L. Mcclendon, Susan S. Taylor, Gianluigi Veglia

Larry Masterson

Conformational fluctuations play a central role in enzymatic catalysis. However, it is not clear how the rates and the coordination of the motions affect the different catalytic steps. Here, we used NMR spectroscopy to analyze the conformational fluctuations of the catalytic subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA-C), a ubiquitous enzyme involved in a myriad of cell signaling events. We found that the wild-type enzyme undergoes synchronous motions involving several structural elements located in the small lobe of the kinase, which is responsible for nucleotide binding and release. In contrast, a mutation (Y204A) located far from the active site desynchronizes the opening and …


Nuclear Transport Of Single Molecules: Dwell Times At The Nuclear Pore Complex, Ulrich Kubitscheck, David Grunwald, Andreas Hoekstra, Daniel Rohleder, Thorsten Kues, Jan Peter Siebrasse, Reiner Peters Nov 2014

Nuclear Transport Of Single Molecules: Dwell Times At The Nuclear Pore Complex, Ulrich Kubitscheck, David Grunwald, Andreas Hoekstra, Daniel Rohleder, Thorsten Kues, Jan Peter Siebrasse, Reiner Peters

David Grünwald

The mechanism by which macromolecules are selectively translocated through the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is still essentially unresolved. Single molecule methods can provide unique information on topographic properties and kinetic processes of asynchronous supramolecular assemblies with excellent spatial and time resolution. Here, single-molecule far-field fluorescence microscopy was applied to the NPC of permeabilized cells. The nucleoporin Nup358 could be localized at a distance of 70 nm from POM121-GFP along the NPC axis. Binding sites of NTF2, the transport receptor of RanGDP, were observed in cytoplasmic filaments and central framework, but not nucleoplasmic filaments of the NPC. The dwell times of …


Intranuclear Binding Kinetics And Mobility Of Single Native U1 Snrnp Particles In Living Cells, David Grunwald, Beatrice Spottke, Volker Buschmann, Ulrich Kubitscheck Nov 2014

Intranuclear Binding Kinetics And Mobility Of Single Native U1 Snrnp Particles In Living Cells, David Grunwald, Beatrice Spottke, Volker Buschmann, Ulrich Kubitscheck

David Grünwald

Uridine-rich small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (U snRNPs) are splicing factors, which are diffusely distributed in the nucleoplasm and also concentrated in nuclear speckles. Fluorescently labeled, native U1 snRNPs were microinjected into the cytoplasm of living HeLa cells. After nuclear import single U1 snRNPs could be visualized and tracked at a spatial precision of 30 nm at a frame rate of 200 Hz employing a custom-built microscope with single-molecule sensitivity. The single-particle tracks revealed that most U1 snRNPs were bound to specific intranuclear sites, many of those presumably representing pre-mRNA splicing sites. The dissociation kinetics from these sites showed a multiexponential decay …


Conversion Of Red Fluorescent Protein Into A Bright Blue Probe, Oksana M. Subach, Illia S. Gundorov, Masami Yoshimura, Fedor V. Subach, Jinghang Zhang, David Grunwald, Ekaterina A. Souslova, Dmitriy M. Chudakov, Vladislav V. Verkhusha Nov 2014

Conversion Of Red Fluorescent Protein Into A Bright Blue Probe, Oksana M. Subach, Illia S. Gundorov, Masami Yoshimura, Fedor V. Subach, Jinghang Zhang, David Grunwald, Ekaterina A. Souslova, Dmitriy M. Chudakov, Vladislav V. Verkhusha

David Grünwald

We used a red chromophore formation pathway, in which the anionic red chromophore is formed from the neutral blue intermediate, to suggest a rational design strategy to develop blue fluorescent proteins with a tyrosine-based chromophore. The strategy was applied to red fluorescent proteins of the different genetic backgrounds, such as TagRFP, mCherry, HcRed1, M355NA, and mKeima, which all were converted into blue probes. Further improvement of the blue variant of TagRFP by random mutagenesis resulted in an enhanced monomeric protein, mTagBFP, characterized by the substantially higher brightness, the faster chromophore maturation, and the higher pH stability than blue fluorescent proteins …


Autonomy And Robustness Of Translocation Through The Nuclear Pore Complex: A Single-Molecule Study, Thomas Dange, David Grunwald, Antje Grunwald, Reiner Peters, Ulrich Kubitscheck Nov 2014

Autonomy And Robustness Of Translocation Through The Nuclear Pore Complex: A Single-Molecule Study, Thomas Dange, David Grunwald, Antje Grunwald, Reiner Peters, Ulrich Kubitscheck

David Grünwald

All molecular traffic between nucleus and cytoplasm occurs via the nuclear pore complex (NPC) within the nuclear envelope. In this study we analyzed the interactions of the nuclear transport receptors kapalpha2, kapbeta1, kapbeta1DeltaN44, and kapbeta2, and the model transport substrate, BSA-NLS, with NPCs to determine binding sites and kinetics using single-molecule microscopy in living cells. Recombinant transport receptors and BSA-NLS were fluorescently labeled by AlexaFluor 488, and microinjected into the cytoplasm of living HeLa cells expressing POM121-GFP as a nuclear pore marker. After bleaching the dominant GFP fluorescence the interactions of the microinjected molecules could be studied using video microscopy …


Nuclear Pore Component Nup98 Is A Potential Tumor Suppressor And Regulates Posttranscriptional Expression Of Select P53 Target Genes, Stephan Singer, Ruiying Zhao, Anthony M. Barsotti, Anette Ouwehand, Mina Fazollahi, Elias Coutavas, Kai Breuhahn, Olaf Neumann, Thomas Longerich, Tobias Pusterla, Maureen A. Powers, Keith M. Giles, Peter J. Leedman, Jochen Hess, David Grunwald, Harmen J. Bussemaker, Robert H. Singer, Peter Schirmacher, Carol Prives Nov 2014

Nuclear Pore Component Nup98 Is A Potential Tumor Suppressor And Regulates Posttranscriptional Expression Of Select P53 Target Genes, Stephan Singer, Ruiying Zhao, Anthony M. Barsotti, Anette Ouwehand, Mina Fazollahi, Elias Coutavas, Kai Breuhahn, Olaf Neumann, Thomas Longerich, Tobias Pusterla, Maureen A. Powers, Keith M. Giles, Peter J. Leedman, Jochen Hess, David Grunwald, Harmen J. Bussemaker, Robert H. Singer, Peter Schirmacher, Carol Prives

David Grünwald

The p53 tumor suppressor utilizes multiple mechanisms to selectively regulate its myriad target genes, which in turn mediate diverse cellular processes. Here, using conventional and single-molecule mRNA analyses, we demonstrate that the nucleoporin Nup98 is required for full expression of p21, a key effector of the p53 pathway, but not several other p53 target genes. Nup98 regulates p21 mRNA levels by a posttranscriptional mechanism in which a complex containing Nup98 and the p21 mRNA 3'UTR protects p21 mRNA from degradation by the exosome. An in silico approach revealed another p53 target (14-3-3sigma) to be similarly regulated by Nup98. The expression …


The Complexity Of Molecular Interactions And Bindings Between Cyclic Peptide And Inhibit Polymerase A And B1 (Pac-Pb1n) H1n1, Arli A. Parikesit, Harry Noviardi Hn, Djati Kerami Dk, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft Nov 2014

The Complexity Of Molecular Interactions And Bindings Between Cyclic Peptide And Inhibit Polymerase A And B1 (Pac-Pb1n) H1n1, Arli A. Parikesit, Harry Noviardi Hn, Djati Kerami Dk, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft

Arli A Parikesit

The influenza/H1N1 virus has caused hazard in the public health of many countries. Hence, existing influenza drugs could not cope with H1N1 infection due to the high mutation rate of the virus. In this respect, new method to block the virus was devised. The polymerase pac-pb1n enzyme is responsible for the replication of H1N1 virus. Thus, novel inhibitors were developed to ward off the functionality of the enzyme. In this research, cyclic peptides has been chosen to inhibit PAc-PB1n due to its proven stability in reaching the drug target. Thus, computational method for elucidating the molecular interaction between cyclic peptides …


The In Silico Molecular Interaction Of Organoboron Compounds As Curative Measure Toward Cervical Cancer, Ridla Bakri Rb, Arli A. Parikesit, Cipta Prio Satryanto Cps, Djati Kerami Dk, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft Nov 2014

The In Silico Molecular Interaction Of Organoboron Compounds As Curative Measure Toward Cervical Cancer, Ridla Bakri Rb, Arli A. Parikesit, Cipta Prio Satryanto Cps, Djati Kerami Dk, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft

Arli A Parikesit

No abstract provided.


The Chevrolet Cruze Luv 1.4 Engine, Gabriel Leiner Aug 2014

The Chevrolet Cruze Luv 1.4 Engine, Gabriel Leiner

Gabriel Leiner

In the future, this research suggests that designing highways and cars with features built into the structures of the roads themselves that implicitly influence typical drivers to achieve better fuel economy without making an active effort. These types of “intuitively” fuel efficient highways and cars are proposed, defined and modeled within the scope of this paper.


Characterization Of A Recently Purified Thermophilic Dnase From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin Jul 2014

Characterization Of A Recently Purified Thermophilic Dnase From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

A newly isolated thermophilic fungus was found to produce a partially inducible extracellular DNase. This manuscript focuses on the characterization of this novel thermophilic DNase in terms of optimal enzyme conditions, molecular weight, and certain kinetic properties. The DNase was found to be inactivated by the presence of EDTA demonstrating its dependence on metal cofactors for activity. Maximum activity occurred at pH 6.0 with no activity at pH 2.0 or 10.0. The optimal temperature for the purified DNase was 65 °C. The thermophilic DNase was found to be an exonuclease with an estimated molecular weight of 56 kDa.


Experimental Demonstration Of Bindingless Signal Delivery In Human Cells Via Microfluidics, Fang-Tzu Chuang Jul 2014

Experimental Demonstration Of Bindingless Signal Delivery In Human Cells Via Microfluidics, Fang-Tzu Chuang

Fang-Tzu Chuang

The cellular signal transduction is commonly believed to rely on the direct “contact” or “binding” of the participating molecule reaction that depends positively on the corresponding molecule concentrations. In living systems, however, it is somewhat difficult to precisely match the corresponding rapid “binding,” depending on the probability of molecular collision, existing in the cellular receptor-ligand interactions. Thus, a question arises that if there is another mechanism (i.e., bindingless) that could promote this signal communication. According to this hypothesis, we report a cellular model based on the examination of intracellular calcium concentration to explore whether the unidentified signal delivery in cells …


An Improved Predictive Recognition Model For Cys2-His2 Zinc Finger Proteins, Ankit Gupta, Ryan G. Christensen, Heather A. Bell, Mathew Goodwin, Ronak Y. Patel, Manishi Pandey, Metewo Selase Enuameh, Amy L. Rayla, Cong Zhu, Stacey Thibodeau-Beganny, Michael H. Brodsky, J. Keith Joung, Scot A. Wolfe, Gary D. Stormo Jul 2014

An Improved Predictive Recognition Model For Cys2-His2 Zinc Finger Proteins, Ankit Gupta, Ryan G. Christensen, Heather A. Bell, Mathew Goodwin, Ronak Y. Patel, Manishi Pandey, Metewo Selase Enuameh, Amy L. Rayla, Cong Zhu, Stacey Thibodeau-Beganny, Michael H. Brodsky, J. Keith Joung, Scot A. Wolfe, Gary D. Stormo

Michael Brodsky

Cys2-His2 zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are the largest family of transcription factors in higher metazoans. They also represent the most diverse family with regards to the composition of their recognition sequences. Although there are a number of ZFPs with characterized DNA-binding preferences, the specificity of the vast majority of ZFPs is unknown and cannot be directly inferred by homology due to the diversity of recognition residues present within individual fingers. Given the large number of unique zinc fingers and assemblies present across eukaryotes, a comprehensive predictive recognition model that could accurately estimate the DNA-binding specificity of any ZFP based on …


Crystal Structure And Functional Assignment Of Yfau, A Metal Ion Dependent Class Ii Aldolase From Escherichia Coli K12, Dean Rea, Rebecca Hovington, John Rakus, John Gerlt, Vilmos Fu¨Lo¨P, Timothy Bugg, David Roper Jun 2014

Crystal Structure And Functional Assignment Of Yfau, A Metal Ion Dependent Class Ii Aldolase From Escherichia Coli K12, Dean Rea, Rebecca Hovington, John Rakus, John Gerlt, Vilmos Fu¨Lo¨P, Timothy Bugg, David Roper

John F. Rakus

One of the major challenges in the postgenomic era is the functional assignment of proteins using sequence- and structure-based predictive methods coupled with experimental validation. We have used these approaches to investigate the structure and function of theEscherichia coli K-12 protein YfaU, annotated as a putative 4-hydroxy-2-ketoheptane-1,7-dioate aldolase (HpcH) in the sequence databases. HpcH is the final enzyme in the degradation pathway of the aromatic compound homoprotocatechuate. We have determined the crystal structure of apo-YfaU and the Mg2+−pyruvate product complex. Despite greater sequence and structural similarity to HpcH, genomic context suggests YfaU is instead a 2-keto-3-deoxy sugar aldolase like the …


Biokimia Dan Teknologi Farmasi: Desain Obat Dan Vaksin Dengan Pendekatan Biomedis Molekular, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft, Arli A. Parikesit Aap Jun 2014

Biokimia Dan Teknologi Farmasi: Desain Obat Dan Vaksin Dengan Pendekatan Biomedis Molekular, Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan Usft, Arli A. Parikesit Aap

Arli A Parikesit

No abstract provided.


2-Acylamido Analogues Of N-Acetylglucosamine Prime Formation Of Chitin Oligosaccharides By Yeast Chitin Synthase 2, Jacob Gyore, Archana R. Parameswar, Carleigh F. F. Hebbard, Younghoon Oh, Erfei Bi, Alexei V. Demchenko, Neil P. Price, Peter Orlean May 2014

2-Acylamido Analogues Of N-Acetylglucosamine Prime Formation Of Chitin Oligosaccharides By Yeast Chitin Synthase 2, Jacob Gyore, Archana R. Parameswar, Carleigh F. F. Hebbard, Younghoon Oh, Erfei Bi, Alexei V. Demchenko, Neil P. Price, Peter Orlean

Alexei Demchenko

Chitin, a homopolymer of β1,4-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues, is a key component of the cell walls of fungi and the exoskeletons of arthropods. Chitin synthases transfer GlcNAc from UDP-GlcNAc to preexisting chitin chains in reactions that are typically stimulated by free GlcNAc. The effect of GlcNAc was probed by using a yeast strain expressing a single chitin synthase, Chs2, by examining formation of chitin oligosaccharides (COs) and insoluble chitin, and by replacing GlcNAc with 2-acylamido analogues of GlcNAc. Synthesis of COs was strongly dependent on inclusion of GlcNAc in chitin synthase incubations, and N,N′-diacetylchitobiose (GlcNAc2) was the major reaction product. …


Molecular Engineering Of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers By Living Polymerizations, Coleen Pugh, Alan L. Kiste Apr 2014

Molecular Engineering Of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers By Living Polymerizations, Coleen Pugh, Alan L. Kiste

Coleen Pugh

“Living” anionic, cationic, metalloporphyrin and ring-opening metathesis polymerizations have been used to prepare well-defined side-chain liquid crystalline homopolymers, block and graft copolymers and statistical copolymers. This paper analyzes their successes and failures by reviewing the mechanistic aspects and experimental conditions of each type of polymerization, and identifies other classes of mesogenic monomers that could be polymerized in a controlled manner in the future. The emerging structure/property relationships are then identified using well-defined SCLCPs in which only one structural feature is varied while all others remain constant. The thermal transitions of liquid crystalline polymethacrylates, polynorbomenes and poly(viny1 ether)s reach their limiting …


Draft Genome Sequence Of A Stable Mucoid Strain Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pao581 With A Muca25 Mutation, Yeshi Yin, T. Ryan Withers, John R. W. Govan, Shannon L. Johnson, Hongwei D. Yu Apr 2014

Draft Genome Sequence Of A Stable Mucoid Strain Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pao581 With A Muca25 Mutation, Yeshi Yin, T. Ryan Withers, John R. W. Govan, Shannon L. Johnson, Hongwei D. Yu

Hongwei Yu

A mutation in the mucA gene, which encodes a negative regulator of alginate production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is the main mechanism underlying the conversion to mucoidy in clinical isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, we announce the draft genome sequence of the stable alginate-overproducing mucoid strain P. aeruginosa PAO581 with a mucA25 mutation, a derivative from the nonmucoid strains P. aeruginosa PAO381 and PAO1.


Draft Genome Sequence Of A Mucoid Isolate Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Strain C7447m From A Patient With Cystic Fibrosis, Yeshi Yin, T. Ryan Withers, Shannon L. Johnson, Hongwei D. Yu Apr 2014

Draft Genome Sequence Of A Mucoid Isolate Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Strain C7447m From A Patient With Cystic Fibrosis, Yeshi Yin, T. Ryan Withers, Shannon L. Johnson, Hongwei D. Yu

Hongwei Yu

Alginate overproduction by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or mucoidy, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Here we report the draft genome sequence of a clinical isolate of mucoid P. aeruginosa strain C7447m from a CF patient with chronic lung infection.


Structural Insights Into The Interaction Between A Potent Anti-Inflammatory Protein, Viral Cc Chemokine Inhibitor (Vcci), And The Human Cc Chemokine, Eotaxin-1, Nai-Wei Kuo, Yong-Guang Gao, Megan S. Schill, Nancy Isern, Cynthia M. Dupureur, Patricia J. Liwang Mar 2014

Structural Insights Into The Interaction Between A Potent Anti-Inflammatory Protein, Viral Cc Chemokine Inhibitor (Vcci), And The Human Cc Chemokine, Eotaxin-1, Nai-Wei Kuo, Yong-Guang Gao, Megan S. Schill, Nancy Isern, Cynthia M. Dupureur, Patricia J. Liwang

Cynthia Dupureur

Chemokines play important roles in the immune system, not only recruiting leukocytes to the site of infection and inflammation but also guiding cell homing and cell development. The soluble poxvirus-encoded protein viral CC chemokine inhibitor (vCCI), a CC chemokine inhibitor, can bind to human CC chemokines tightly to impair the host immune defense. This protein has no known homologs in eukaryotes and may represent a potent method to stop inflammation. Previously, our structure of the vCCI·MIP-1β (macrophage inflammatory protein-1β) complex indicated that vCCI uses negatively charged residues in β-sheet II to interact with positively charged residues in the MIP-1β N …


Functional Analysis Of The Acetic Acid Resistance (Aar) Gene Cluster In Acetobacter Aceti Strain 1023, Elwood Mullins, T Joseph Kappock Feb 2014

Functional Analysis Of The Acetic Acid Resistance (Aar) Gene Cluster In Acetobacter Aceti Strain 1023, Elwood Mullins, T Joseph Kappock

T. Joseph Kappock

Vinegar production requires acetic acid bacteria that produce, tolerate, and conserve high levels of acetic acid. When ethanol is depleted, aerobic acetate overoxidation to carbon dioxide ensues. The resulting diauxic growth pattern has two logarithmic growth phases, the first associated with ethanol oxidation and the second associated with acetate overoxidation. The vinegar factory isolate Acetobacter aceti strain 1023 has a long intermediate stationary phase that persists at elevated acetic acid levels. Strain 1023 conserves acetic acid despite possessing a complete set of citric acid cycle (CAC) enzymes, including succinyl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase (SCACT), the product of the acetic acid resistance (aar …


Development Of A Novel Affinity Membrane Purification System For Deoxyribonuclease, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin Jan 2014

Development Of A Novel Affinity Membrane Purification System For Deoxyribonuclease, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

A membrane based affinity purification system was developed for the purification of the DNA specific nuclease, DNase I. Single stranded DNA was bound to unmodified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes which were used to purify DNase I from a solution of bovine serum albumin. Using coated membranes, a 6-fold increase in specific activity was achieved with 80 % enzyme recovery. This method provides a simple yet effective way to purify DNase I and can be very useful for the purification of other DNA specific enzymes.


Modelling And Optimal Control Of A Time-Delayed Switched System In Fed-Batch Process, Chongyang Liu, Zhaohua Gong Jan 2014

Modelling And Optimal Control Of A Time-Delayed Switched System In Fed-Batch Process, Chongyang Liu, Zhaohua Gong

Chongyang Liu

The main control goal of the fed-batch process is to maximize the yield of target product as well as to minimize the operation costs simultaneously. Considering the existence of time delay and the switching nature in the fed-batch process, a time-delayed switched system is proposed to formulate the 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) production process. Some important properties of the system are also discussed. Taking the switching instants and the terminal time as the control variables, a free terminal time delayed optimal control problem is then presented. Using a time-scaling transformation and parameterizing the switching instants into new parameters, an equivalently optimal control …


Evolution Of A Plant-Specific Copper Chaperone Family For Chloroplast Copper Homeostasis., José Argüello, Crysten Blaby-Haas, Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Roland Stube, Sabeeha Merchant Dec 2013

Evolution Of A Plant-Specific Copper Chaperone Family For Chloroplast Copper Homeostasis., José Argüello, Crysten Blaby-Haas, Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Roland Stube, Sabeeha Merchant

José M. Argüello

Metallochaperones traffic copper (Cu(+)) from its point of entry at the plasma membrane to its destination. In plants, one destination is the chloroplast, which houses plastocyanin, a Cu-dependent electron transfer protein involved in photosynthesis. We present a previously unidentified Cu(+) chaperone that evolved early in the plant lineage by an alternative-splicing event of the pre-mRNA encoding the chloroplast P-type ATPase in Arabidopsis 1 (PAA1). In several land plants, recent duplication events created a separate chaperone-encoding gene coincident with loss of alternative splicing. The plant-specific Cu(+) chaperone delivers Cu(+) with specificity for PAA1, which is flipped in the envelope relative to …


Insights Into The Cation Permeation Pathway Of Channelrhodopsin-2, Robert Dempski, Ryan Richards Dec 2013

Insights Into The Cation Permeation Pathway Of Channelrhodopsin-2, Robert Dempski, Ryan Richards

Robert E. Dempski

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is a light-activated, non-selective cation channel endogenous to the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The unique properties of ChR2 have made it a useful tool in the field of optogenetics. However, the mechanism of ion conductance is not well resolved. Elucidation of the crystal structure of the channelrhodopsin chimera C1C2 has provided structural insight on the putative ChR2 ion conductance pathway. However, it is not clear how the chimeric structure correlates to ChR2 function.


Purification Of An Inducible Dnase From A Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Andrea Vu, Robert Levin Dec 2013

Purification Of An Inducible Dnase From A Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Andrea Vu, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

The ability to induce an extracellular DNase from a novel thermophilic fungus was studied and the DNAse purified using both traditional and innovative purification techniques. The isolate produced sterile hyphae under all attempted growing conditions, with an average diameter of 2 μm and was found to have an optimal temperature of 45 °C and a maximum of 65 °C. Sequencing of the internal transcribed region resulted in a 91% match with Chaetomium sp., suggesting a new species, but further clarification on this point is needed. The optimal temperature for DNase production was found to be 55 °C and was induced by the …


Purification And Characterization Of Iso-Ribonucleases From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin Dec 2013

Purification And Characterization Of Iso-Ribonucleases From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

A thermophilic fungus previously isolated from composted horse manure was found to produce extracellular iso-RNases that were purified 127.6-fold using a combination of size exclusion chromatography and a novel affinity membrane purification system. The extent of purification was determined electrophoretically using 4%–15% gradient polyacrylamide gels. RNase activity was dependent on the presence of a metal co-factor with significantly more activity with Zn2+ or Mn2+ than Mg2+. The RNases exhibited maximum activity at both pH 3.0 and pH 7.0 with no activity at pH 2.0 or 10.0. The optimal temperature for the iso-RNase was 70 °C. The …


Intrinsic Delocalization During The Decay Of Excitons In Polymeric Solar Cells, Thomas F. George, W. Chen, D. Jiang, R. Chen, S. Li Dec 2013

Intrinsic Delocalization During The Decay Of Excitons In Polymeric Solar Cells, Thomas F. George, W. Chen, D. Jiang, R. Chen, S. Li

Thomas George

In bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells, external photoexcitation results in localized excitons in the polymer chain. After hot exciton formation and subsequent relaxation, the dipole moment drives the electron to partially transfer to extended orbitals from the original localized ones, leading to self-delocalization. Based on the dynamic fluorescence spectra, the delocalization of excitons is revealed to be an intrinsic property dominated by exciton decay, acting as a bridge for the exciton to diffuse in the polymeric solar cell. The modification of the dipole moment enhances the efficiency of polymer solar cells.