Changes in the soil sorption complex of forest soils in Poland over the past 27 years

Soil acidification due to natural factors and acid deposition is expressed in changes in soil properties such as pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and Al saturation. The aim of this work was to establish whether the soil sorption complex of forest soils in Poland was subject to changes over the period 1978-2005. The removal of base cations from the soil sorption complex was observed. The intensity of cation leaching depends, inter alia, on the soil type and vegetation cover. Changes occurring over the past 27 years are best recognized in the saturation of CEC with base and acid cations. The composition of CEC, expressed as series of decreasing proportions of cations, showed replacement of Ca with H ions in the Rustic Podzol; a shift of Ca and Mg towards lower percentages and an increase in the proportion of H in the Eutric Cambisol and a drastic decrease in the Mg contribution in the Haplic Podzol. This suggests that the ion composition of CEC may be used as an efficient index for evaluating the acidification process.     

Surface characterization and cytocompatibility evaluation of silanized magnesium alloy AZ91 for biomedical applications

Mg alloys with high Al contents have superior corrosion resistance in aqueous environments, but poor cytocompatibility compared to that of pure Mg. We have silanized the cast AZ91 alloy to improve its cytocompatibility using five different silanes: ethyltriethoxysilane (S1), 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (S2), 3-isocyanatopyltriethoxysilane (S3), phenyltriethoxysilane (S4) and octadecyltriethoxysilane (S5). The surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity was evaluated by water contact angle measurements. X-ray photoelectron analysis was performed to investigate the changes in surface states and chemical composition. All silane reagents increased adsorption of the albumin to the modified surface. In vitro cytocompatibility evaluation revealed that silanization improved cell growth on AZ91 modified by silane S1. Measurement of the concentration of Mg²⁺ ions released during the cell culture indicated that silanization does not affect substrate degradation.     

The Role of Trp79 in β-Actin on Histidine Methyltransferase SETD3 Catalysis

N^τ-methylation of His73 in actin by histidine methyltransferase SETD3 plays an important role in stabilising actin filaments in eukaryotes. Mutations in actin and overexpression of SETD3 have been related to human diseases, including cancer. Here, we investigated the importance of Trp79 in β-actin on productive human SETD3 catalysis. Substitution of Trp79 in β-actin peptides by its chemically diverse analogues reveals that the hydrophobic Trp79 binding pocket modulates the catalytic activity of SETD3, and that retaining a bulky and hydrophobic amino acid at position 79 is important for efficient His73 methylation by SETD3. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the Trp79 binding pocket of SETD3 is ideally shaped to accommodate large and hydrophobic Trp79, contributing to the favourable release of water molecules upon binding. Our results demonstrate that the distant Trp79 binding site plays an important role in efficient SETD3 catalysis, contributing to the identification of new SETD3 substrates and the development of chemical probes targeting the biomedically important SETD3.