Adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue on mesoporous metallosilicates

Mesoporous silica and mesoporous metallosilicates with Al, Ti and Fe as foreign metal species were successfully synthesized by the rapid room temperature method. Mesoporous metallosilicates with low contents of foreign metals possessed high surface area (S_a), large mesopore volume (V_mp) and highly ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure. Increases in foreign metal contents caused disordering the mesoporous structures and lowering the S_a and V_mp values. Bleaching of aqueous methylene blue (MB) by mesoporous silica and metallosilicates was investigated. Mesoporous aluminosilicate and ferrosilicate with cation-exchangeable ability showed the excellent property for the adsorption of MB of cationic dye, while mesoporous ferrosilicate and titanosilicate which absorbed UV lights catalyzed the photocatalytic decomposition of MB under UV-illumination.     

Alpha1-adrenergic stimulation of sarcolemmal Na+-H+ exchanger activity in rat ventricular myocytes: evidence for selective mediation by the alpha1A-adrenoceptor subtype

Alpha1-adrenoceptor (alpha1-AR) stimulation increases sarcolemmal Na+-H+ exchanger (NHE) activity. The present study was designed to determine the role(s) of alpha1-AR subtype(s) in mediating this response. As an index of NHE activity, acid efflux rates (JHs) were determined in single rat ventricular myocytes loaded with the pH-sensitive fluoroprobe carboxy-seminaphthorhodafluor-1 after 2 consecutive intracellular acid pulses in bicarbonate-free medium. JH at pHi 6.90 did not change significantly during the second pulse relative to the first in control cells but increased in a dose-dependent manner when the second pulse occurred in the presence of phenylephrine (nonselective alpha1-AR agonist) or A61603 (alpha1A-AR-selective agonist), with EC50 values of 1.24 micromol/L and 3.6 nmol/L, respectively (both agonists given together with 1 micromol/L atenolol). Stimulation of NHE activity by 10 micromol/L phenylephrine was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by the competitive antagonists prazosin, WB4101, and 5-methylurapidil, with IC50 values of 12, 32, and 149 nmol/L, respectively. Analyses of the relative EC50 and IC50 values obtained (and Ki values estimated from the antagonist IC50s) in relation to the relative potencies of these agents at native rat alpha1-AR subtypes and their relative affinities for recombinant rat alpha1-ARs suggest that alpha1-adrenergic stimulation of sarcolemmal NHE activity is likely to be mediated selectively by the alpha1A-AR.     

Production of soluble ICAM-1 by mononuclear cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis patients

This work was undertaken to evaluate the effect of soaking, sprouting, cooking and fermentation or their combinations on the nutrient and antinutrient contents of pearl millet seeds. Standard assay procedures were adopted to determine both the nutrient and the antinutrient concentrations of the products. The synergistic effect of cooking and fermentation improved the nutrient quality. The antinutrients were reduced to safe levels to a greater extent than did any of the other processing techniques or their combinations employed.     

Single molecular orientation switching of an endohedral metallofullerene

The single molecular orientation switching of the Tb@C82 endohedral metallofullerene has been studied by using low-temperature ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). An octanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was introduced between Tb@C82 and the Au111 substrate to control the thermal rotational states of Tb@C82. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of Tb@C82 on an octanethiol SAM at 13 K demonstrated hysteresis including negative differential conductance (NDC). This observed hysteresis and NDC is interpreted in terms of a switching of the Tb@C82 molecular orientation caused by the interaction between its electric dipole moment and an external electric field.     

Identification of HLA-A24-restricted epitopes with high affinities to Hsp70 using peptide arrays

Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) family members are known as facilitators of immune responses by interacting with receptors on antigen-presenting cells leading to Hsp70-peptide uptake and antigen cross priming. Here, identification of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A24-restricted epitopes was achieved using peptide arrays for evaluation of their affinities to Hsp70 and HLA-A24 binding prediction tools. Using Hsp70 as the model antigen, the GYPVTNAVI and VFQHGKVEI peptides were identified as antigens. These peptides actually bound to HLA-A24 in the stabilization assay using T2-A*2402 cells, and induced a strong peptide-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in HLA-A24 transgenic mice after vaccination.     

A motif detection and classification method for peptide sequences using genetic programming

An exploration of common rules (property motifs) in amino acid sequences has been required for the design of novel sequences and elucidation of the interactions between molecules controlled by the structural or physical environment. In the present study, we developed a new method to search property motifs that are common in peptide sequence data. Our method comprises the following two characteristics: (i) the automatic determination of the position and length of common property motifs by calculating the physicochemical similarity of amino acids, and (ii) the quick and effective exploration of motif candidates that discriminates the positives and negatives by the introduction of genetic programming (GP). Our method was evaluated by two types of model data sets. First, the intentionally buried property motifs were searched in the artificially derived peptide data containing intentionally buried property motifs. As a result, the expected property motifs were correctly extracted by our algorithm. Second, the peptide data that interact with MHC class II molecules were analyzed as one of the models of biologically active peptides with buried motifs in various lengths. Twofold MHC class II binding peptides were identified with the rule using our method, compared to the existing scoring matrix method. In conclusion, our GP based motif searching approach enabled to obtain knowledge of functional aspects of the peptides without any prior knowledge.     

Analysis of Transglucosylation Products of Aspergillus niger α-Glucosidase that Catalyzes the Formation of α-1,2- and α-1,3-Linked Oligosaccharides

According to whole-genome sequencing, Aspergillus niger produces multiple enzymes of glycoside hydrolases (GH) 31. Here we focus on a GH31 α-glucosidase, AgdB, from A. niger . AgdB has also previously been reported as being expressed in the yeast species, Pichia pastoris ; while the recombinant enzyme (rAgdB) has been shown to catalyze tranglycosylation via a complex mechanism. We constructed an expression system for A. niger AgdB using Aspergillus nidulans . To better elucidate the complicated mechanism employed by AgdB for transglucosylation, we also established a method to quantify glucosidic linkages in the transglucosylation products using 2D NMR spectroscopy. Results from the enzyme activity analysis indicated that the optimum temperature was 65 °C and optimum pH range was 6.0–7.0. Further, the NMR results showed that when maltose or maltopentaose served as the substrate, α-1,2-, α-1,3-, and small amount of α-1,1-β-linked oligosaccharides are present throughout the transglucosylation products of AgdB. These results suggest that AgdB is an α-glucosidase that serves as a transglucosylase capable of effectively producing oligosaccharides with α-1,2-, α-1,3-glucosidic linkages.     

Note: direct measurement of the point-to-point resolution for microns-thick specimens in the ultrahigh-voltage electron microscope

We report on a direct measurement method and results of the point-to-point resolution for microns-thick amorphous specimens in the ultrahigh-voltage electron microscope (ultra-HVEM). We first obtain the ultra-HVEM images of nanometer gold particles with different sizes on the top surfaces of the thick epoxy-resin specimens. Based on the Rayleigh criterion, the point-to-point resolution is then determined as the minimum distance between centers of two resolvable tangent gold particles. Some values of resolution are accordingly acquired for the specimens with different thicknesses at the accelerating voltage of 2 MV, for example, 18.5 nm and 28.4 nm for the 5 μm and 8 μm thick epoxy-resin specimens, respectively. The presented method and results provide a reliable and useful approach to quantifying and comparing the achievable spatial resolution for the thick specimens imaged in the mode of transmission electron including the scanning transmission electron microscope.