Side chain contributions to the stability of alpha-helical structure in peptides

Short peptides that contain significant alpha-helical structure in aqueous solution allow the investigation of the role of amino acid side chains in stabilizing or destabilizing alpha-helix structure. A host-guest system of soluble synthetic peptides was designed that consisted of chains with the block sequence TyrSerGlu4Lys4X3Glu4Lys4, denoted EXK, in which X represents any "guest" amino acid residue. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicates that the extent of helicity of these peptides follows the order Ala greater than Leu greater than Met greater than Gln greater than Ile greater than Val greater than Ser greater than Thr greater than Asn greater than Gly. This order differs from both host-guest copolymer values (Met greater than Ile greater than Leu greater than Ala greater than Gln greater than Val greater than Thr greater than Asn greater than Ser greater than Gly) and the tendencies of these amino acids to occur in helices in globular proteins (Ala greater than Met greater than Leu greater than Gln greater than Ile greater than Val greater than Asn, Thr greater than Ser greater than Gly), but matches the order found in a series of synthetic coiled-coil alpha helices, except for Ser. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of several EXK peptides indicates that these peptides are partially helical, with the helical residues favoring the amino terminus.     

抗菌肽产生菌的推理选育及抑菌特性分析

对一株抗菌肽产生菌GL08进行选育,采用紫外诱变结合次级代谢产物抗菌肽作为筛选因子的方法,筛选出一株效价比出发菌株提高30%的突变菌株。将筛选出的高产菌株进行发酵研究,发现其分泌的抗菌肽不仅效价稳定,而且抗菌谱广,对多种革兰氏阳性和阴性菌均有较好的杀菌活性。将此菌发酵产物制成粉末制剂,用不同的温度、pH、蛋白酶和有机溶剂处理,发现其热稳定性好,对不同的pH、蛋白酶和有机溶剂均有一定的耐受性,且在室温可长期储存且效价不变。通过菌种选育和对抗菌肽制剂的特性分析,发现该抗菌肽制剂可有望开发成新型饲料添加剂。     

美拉德反应修饰改善猪血浆蛋白抗氧化肽功能特性的研究

研究主要探讨美拉德反应修饰对猪血浆蛋白抗氧化肽功能特性的影响。采用D-半乳糖对猪血浆蛋白抗氧化肽进行美拉德修饰,蛋白质和糖的比例为1??3(W/W),在90℃水浴中分别加热0、1和6 h,得到美拉德反应产物(MRPs),测定其溶解性、表面疏水性、乳化性及乳化稳定性、起泡性及起泡稳定性。结果表明,经美拉德反应修饰后猪血浆蛋白抗氧化肽的功能特性有明显改善,其溶解性、乳化及乳化稳定性、起泡及起泡稳定性均随反应时间增加而逐渐增大(P0.05),表面疏水性则随反应时间增加而降低(P0.05)。同时,MRPs功能特性随体系中p H的改变而显著变化(P0.05)。因此,采用美拉德修饰改善猪血浆蛋白抗氧化肽功能特性,可使其广泛应用于食品加工业。     

喜树形成层的发育及周年活动

喜树Camptotheca acuminata具非叠生形成层。形成层在进一步发育的过程中,纺锤状原始细胞的长度随着枝龄的增加而变长,射线原始细胞的长度随着枝龄的增加而变短。其形成层活动与大多数散孔材树种相似,具有明显的周期性。3月份芽萌动以后,形成层开始活动,4~5月份形成层活动最为旺盛,10月份以后进入休眠状态。淀粉储量的消长与形成层活动周期有很强的相关关系。3~4月份形成层恢复活动以后,淀粉储量逐渐减少甚至消失。8月份淀粉开始积累,9月份淀粉很快消失。11月份又重新积累,直到翌年3月份以后才开始消失。图1表1参12     

Catalytic nanoarchitectures--the importance of nothing and the unimportance of periodicity

Heterogeneous catalysis has always been an inherently nanoscopic phenomenon with important technological and societal consequences for energy conversion and the production of chemicals. New opportunities for improved performance arise when the multifunctionality inherent in catalytic processes, including molecular transport of reactants and products, is rethought in light of architectures designed and fabricated from the appropriate nanoscale building blocks, including the use of "nothing" (void space) and deliberate disorder as design components. Architectures with all of the appropriate electrochemical and catalytic requirements, including large surface areas readily accessible to molecules, may now be assembled on the benchtop. Designing catalytic nanoarchitectures that depart from the hegemony of periodicity and order offers the promise of even higher activity.     

In vivo function and membrane binding properties are correlated for Escherichia coli lamB signal peptides

Wild-type and pseudorevertant signal peptides of the lamB gene product of Escherichia coli interact with lipid systems whereas a nonfunctional deletion mutant signal peptide does not. This conclusion is based on interaction of synthetic signal peptides with a lipid monolayer-water surface, conformational changes induced by presence of lipid vesicles in an aqueous solution of signal peptide, and capacities of the peptides to promote vesicle aggregation. Analysis of the signal sequences and previous conformational studies suggest that these lipid interaction properties may be attributable to the tendency of the functional signal peptides to adopt alpha-helical conformations. Although the possibility of direct interaction between the signal peptide and membrane lipids during protein secretion is controversial, the results suggest that conformationally related amphiphilicity and consequent membrane affinity of signal sequences are important for function in vivo.     

A 100,000-year periodicity in the accretion rate of interplanetary dust

Numerical modeling of the orbital evolution of interplanetary dust particles revealed that, over the past 1.2 million years, the rate of accretion of dust by Earth has varied by a factor of 2 to 3. These variations display a 100,000-year periodicity and are anticorrelated with Earth's changing orbital eccentricity. Extraterrestrial helium-3 concentrations in a deep-sea sediment core display a similar periodicity but are 50,000 years out of phase with the predicted variations. Also, because collisions between large bodies in the asteroid belt are inevitable, it is expected that large-amplitude stochastic variations on 10(7)- to 10(8)-year time scales would be superimposed on the 10(5)-year periodic variations.     

Planktonic foraminifera of the California Current reflect 20th-century warming

It is currently unclear whether observed pelagic ecosystem responses to ocean warming, such as a mid-1970s change in the eastern North Pacific, depart from typical ocean variability. We report variations in planktonic foraminifera from varved sediments off southern California spanning the past 1400 years. Increasing abundances of tropical/subtropical species throughout the 20th century reflect a warming trend superimposed on decadal-scale fluctuations. Decreasing abundances of temperate/subpolar species in the late 20th century indicate a deep, penetrative warming not observed in previous centuries. These results imply that 20th-century warming, apparently anthropogenic, has already affected lower trophic levels of the California Current.     

河北省粮食生产波动与周期特征的实证分析

利用1949--2006年河北省粮食产量的统计数据,采用3种方法分别测度了河北省粮食产量波动规律,系统分析了河北省粮食生产的波动周期,并在此基础上考察了河北省粮食生产波动的主要特征,分析其波动的主要原因,最后提出稳定粮食生产,保障河北省粮食安全的政策建议。     

Diel periodicity of photosynthesis in polar phytoplankton: influence on primary production

In the Southern Ocean, primary production estimated from seasonal chemical and geochemical changes is two to four times greater than the value calculated from carbon-14 uptake. Since carbon uptake had typically been measured only during midday incubations, the influence of diel periodicity of photosynthesis on daily productions was not considered. Phytoplankton from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, exhibited distinct, but seasonally variable diel patterns of light-saturated and light-limited photosynthesis. Maximum photosynthetic capacity occurred about noon in early September, and its occurrence progressively shifted to about midnight by late October. This shift was accompanied by a concomitant phase shift in the occurrence of minimum photosynthetic capacity from midnight to midday. Daily production estimated from time-of-day corrected photosynthetic characteristics and from 24-hour incubations was 2.5 to 4 times greater than that predicted from 6-hour midday incubations. If similar diel periodicity in photosynthesis occurs in other polar oceans, primary production would be significantly higher than previously estimated from carbon-14 uptake measurements.     

Reduction of theta rhythm dissociates grid cell spatial periodicity from directional tuning

Grid cells recorded in the medial entorhinal cortex of freely moving rats exhibit firing at regular spatial locations and temporal modulation with theta rhythm oscillations (4 to 11 hertz). We analyzed grid cell spatial coding during reduction of network theta rhythm oscillations caused by medial septum (MS) inactivation with muscimol. During MS inactivation, grid cells lost their spatial periodicity, whereas head-direction cells maintained their selectivity. Conjunctive grid-by-head-direction cells lost grid cell spatial periodicity but retained head-direction specificity. All cells showed reduced rhythmicity in autocorrelations and cross-correlations. This supports the hypothesis that spatial coding by grid cells requires theta oscillations, and dissociates the mechanisms underlying the generation of entorhinal grid cell periodicity and head-direction selectivity.     

R-phycoerythrin标记抗猪瘟病毒荧光抗体的制备及其与FITC标记荧光抗体检测的比较研究

用摩尔比100∶1的化学交联剂SPDP分别将RPE、抗猪瘟病毒抗体衍生,两种衍生物再以摩尔比1∶1液相交联,HPLC纯化制备出RPE标记的抗猪瘟病毒荧光抗体.对制备的荧光抗体从荧光特性、抗体活性、稳定性及纯度等方面进行鉴定.以澳化氰活化的琼脂糖微球为固相载体,采用固相免疫荧光检测法,以制备的RPE、FITC分别标记的荧光抗体检测猪瘟病毒细胞毒.结果表明,RPE标记的荧光抗体检测阳性微球在蓝绿光激发下发射桔黄色荧光,荧光明亮,无本底光干扰,检测灵敏度高达2.67×10-6mg·mL-1,是FITC标记的荧光抗体检测灵敏度的10倍.RPE可替代FTTC或与FITC等荧光染料一起用于多色荧光免疫检测.     

Fluorescence spectroscopy of single biomolecules

Recent advances in single-molecule detection and single-molecule spectroscopy at room temperature by laser-induced fluorescence offer new tools for the study of individual macromolecules under physiological conditions. These tools relay conformational states, conformational dynamics, and activity of single biological molecules to physical observables, unmasked by ensemble averaging. Distributions and time trajectories of these observables can therefore be measured during a reaction without the impossible need to synchronize all the molecules in the ensemble. The progress in applying these tools to biological studies with the use of fluorophores that are site-specifically attached to macromolecules is reviewed.