scholarly journals A Thermostable Protein Matrix for Spectroscopic Analysis of Organic Semiconductors

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (32) ◽  
pp. 13898-13907
Author(s):  
George A. Sutherland ◽  
Daniel Polak ◽  
David J. K. Swainsbury ◽  
Shuangqing Wang ◽  
Frank C. Spano ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
James R. Gaylor ◽  
Fredda Schafer ◽  
Robert E. Nordquist

Several theories on the origin of the melanosome exist. These include the Golgi origin theory, in which a tyrosinase-rich protein is "packaged" by the Golgi apparatus, thus forming the early form of the melanosome. A second theory postulates a mitochondrial origin of melanosomes. Its author contends that the melanosome is a modified mitochondria which acquires melanin during its development. A third theory states that a pre-melanosome is formed in the smooth or rough endoplasmic reticulum. Protein aggregation is suggested by one author as a possible source of the melanosome. This fourth theory postulates that the melanosome originates when the protein products of several genetic loci aggregate in the cytoplasm of the melanocyte. It is this protein matrix on which the melanin is deposited. It was with these theories in mind that this project was undertaken.


Author(s):  
B. J. Grenon ◽  
A. J. Tousimis

Ever since the introduction of glutaraldehyde as a fixative in electron microscopy of biological specimens, the identification of impurities and consequently their effects on biologic ultrastructure have been under investigation. Several reports postulate that the impurities of glutaraldehyde, used as a fixative, are glutaric acid, glutaraldehyde polymer, acrolein and glutaraldoxime.Analysis of commercially available biological or technical grade glutaraldehyde revealed two major impurity components, none of which has been reported. The first compound is a colorless, water-soluble liquid with a boiling point of 42°C at 16 mm. Utilizing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis, this compound has been identified to be — dihydro-2-ethoxy 2H-pyran. This impurity component of the glutaraldehyde biological or technical grades has an UV absorption peak at 235nm. The second compound is a white amorphous solid which is insoluble in water and has a melting point of 80-82°C. Initial chemical analysis indicates that this compound is an aldol condensation product(s) of glutaraldehyde.


Author(s):  
James M. Slavicek ◽  
Melissa J. Mercer ◽  
Mary Ellen Kelly

Nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPV, family Baculoviridae) produce two morphological forms, a budded virus form and a viral form that is occluded into a paracrystalline protein matrix. This structure is termed a polyhedron and is composed primarily of the protein polyhedrin. Insects are infected by NPVs after ingestion of the polyhedron and release of the occluded virions through dissolution of the polyhedron in the alkaline environment of the insect midgut. Early after infection the budded virus form is produced. It buds through the plasma membrane and then infects other cells. Later in the infection cycle the occluded form of the virus is generated (reviewed by Blissard and Rohrmann, 1990).The processes of polyhedron formation and virion occlusion are likely to involve a number of viral gene products. However, only two genes, the polyhedrin gene and 25K FP gene, have been identified to date that are necessary for the wild type number of polyhedra to be formed and viral particles occluded.


Author(s):  
S. A. Livesey ◽  
A. A. del Campo ◽  
E. S. Griffey ◽  
D. Ohlmer ◽  
T. Schifani ◽  
...  

The aim of this study is to compare methods of sample preparation for elemental analysis. The model system which is used is the human erythrocyte. Energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis has been previously reported for cryofixed and cryosectioned erythrocytes. Such work represents the reference point for this study. The use of plastic embedded samples for elemental analysis has also been documented. The work which is presented here is based on human erythrocytes which have been either chemically fixed and embedded or cryofixed and subsequently processed by a variety of techniques which culminated in plastic embedded samples.Heparinized and washed erythrocytes were prepared by the following methods for this study :(1). Chemical fixation in 4% paraformaldehyde/0.25% glutaraldehyde/0.2 M sucrose in 0.1 M Na cacodylate, pH 7.3 for 30 min, followed by ethanol dehydration, infiltration and embedding in Lowicryl K4M at -20° C.


2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 449-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Grygierczyk ◽  
Walter Fischer ◽  
M. Sajewicz ◽  
P. Kuś ◽  
R. Wrzalik ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Giovannitti ◽  
Reem B. Rashid ◽  
Quentin Thiburce ◽  
Bryan D. Paulsen ◽  
Camila Cendra ◽  
...  

<p>Avoiding faradaic side reactions during the operation of electrochemical devices is important to enhance the device stability, to achieve low power consumption, and to prevent the formation of reactive side‑products. This is particularly important for bioelectronic devices which are designed to operate in biological systems. While redox‑active materials based on conducting and semiconducting polymers represent an exciting class of materials for bioelectronic devices, they are susceptible to electrochemical side‑reactions with molecular oxygen during device operation. We show that this electrochemical side reaction yields hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), a reactive side‑product, which may be harmful to the local biological environment and may also accelerate device degradation. We report a design strategy for the development of redox-active organic semiconductors based on donor-acceptor copolymers that prevent the formation of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> during device operation. This study elucidates the previously overlooked side-reactions between redox-active conjugated polymers and molecular oxygen in electrochemical devices for bioelectronics, which is critical for the operation of electrolyte‑gated devices in application-relevant environments.</p>


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weikun Zhu ◽  
Erfan Mohammadi ◽  
Ying Diao

Morphology modulation offers significant control over organic electronic device performance. However, morphology quantification has been rarely carried out via image analysis. In this work, we designed a MATLAB program to evaluate two key parameters describing morphology of small molecule semiconductor thin films: fractal dimension and film coverage. We then employ this program in a case study of meniscus-guided coating of 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C<sub>8</sub>-BTBT) under various conditions to analyze a diverse and complex morphology set. The evolution of morphology in terms of fractal dimension and film coverage was studied as a function of coating speed. We discovered that combined fractal dimension and film coverage can quantitatively capture the key characteristics of C<sub>8</sub>-BTBT thin film morphology; change of these two parameters further inform morphology transition. Furthermore, fractal dimension could potentially shed light on thin film growth mechanisms.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simil Thomas ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Raghunath R. Dasari ◽  
Austin Evans ◽  
William Dichtel ◽  
...  

<p>We have considered three two-dimensional (2D) π-conjugated polymer networks (i.e., covalent organic frameworks, COFs) materials based on pyrene, porphyrin, and zinc-porphyrin cores connected <i>via</i> diacetylenic linkers. Their electronic structures, investigated at the density functional theory global-hybrid level, are indicative of valence and conduction bands that have large widths, ranging between 1 and 2 eV. Using a molecular approach to derive the electronic couplings between adjacent core units and the electron-vibration couplings, the three π-conjugated 2D COFs are predicted to have ambipolar charge-transport characteristics with electron and hole mobilities in the range of 65-95 cm<sup>2</sup>V<sup>-1</sup>s<sup>-1</sup>. Such predicted values rank these 2D COFs among the highest-mobility organic semiconductors. In addition, we have synthesized the zinc-porphyrin based 2D COF and carried out structural characterization via powder X-ray diffraction and surface area analysis, which demonstrates the feasability of these electroactive networks.</p>


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jumpei Morimoto ◽  
Yasuhiro Fukuda ◽  
Takumu Watanabe ◽  
Daisuke Kuroda ◽  
Kouhei Tsumoto ◽  
...  

<div> <div> <div> <p>“Peptoids” was proposed, over decades ago, as a term describing analogs of peptides that exhibit better physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties than peptides. Oligo-(N-substituted glycines) (oligo-NSG) was previously proposed as a peptoid due to its high proteolytic resistance and membrane permeability. However, oligo-NSG is conformationally flexible and is difficult to achieve a defined shape in water. This conformational flexibility is severely limiting biological application of oligo-NSG. Here, we propose oligo-(N-substituted alanines) (oligo-NSA) as a new peptoid that forms a defined shape in water. A synthetic method established in this study enabled the first isolation and conformational study of optically pure oligo-NSA. Computational simulations, crystallographic studies and spectroscopic analysis demonstrated the well-defined extended shape of oligo-NSA realized by backbone steric effects. The new class of peptoid achieves the constrained conformation without any assistance of N-substituents and serves as an ideal scaffold for displaying functional groups in well-defined three-dimensional space, which leads to effective biomolecular recognition. </p> </div> </div> </div>


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