scholarly journals Structure-function relationships in the free insulin monomer

1986 ◽  
Vol 237 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Hefford ◽  
G Oda ◽  
H Kaplan

The chemical properties of the functional groups of insulin were determined at a concentration (0.5 microM) where the predominant species of insulin is the free (unassociated) monomeric unit. The glycine N-terminus and the four tyrosine phenolic groups had the same properties as in the associated forms of insulin. On the other hand the lysine epsilon-amino group and the two histidine imidazole groups had substantially altered properties. Some alteration in the properties of the phenylalanine N-terminus was also observed. The reactivity-pH profile for the imidazole groups showed a second ionization with a pKa of 10.1 in addition to an ionization with a pKa of 6.8. On the basis of the X-ray-crystallographic structure of hexameric insulin the observed changes can be accounted for by disruption of monomer-monomer or dimer-dimer interactions in the associated states of insulin. It is concluded that the conformation of the monomeric unit of insulin is essentially the same in its free and associated states in solution.

1972 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry B. F. Dixon

Valylhistidine (Val-His) reacts with glucose (Glc) in a mixture of pyridine and acetic acid to form glucosylvalylhistidine (Glc-Val-His). The pK of the α-amino group is thereby lowered to about 5.6 as judged by electrophoretic mobility. The reaction: [Formula: see text] also occurs in an aqueous solution of pyridine and acetic acid of pH6.2 at 50°C, in which it exhibits a half-time of about 30h and a dissociation constant of about 0.3m. Isoleucyltyrosine and glucose react similarly in aqueous solution. The Glc-Val-His has the chromatographic, electrophoretic and chemical properties reported by Holmquist & Schroeder (1966a) for the substance released by proteolysis from the N-terminus of the β-chains of haemoglobin AIc; the value of the dissociation constant means that the concentration of haemoglobin AIc found naturally could be explained by reaction of haemoglobin A with the blood glucose.


2012 ◽  
Vol 576 ◽  
pp. 268-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.I. Ahmad Fitrie ◽  
Hazleen Anuar ◽  
M.N. Nur Aisyah ◽  
M.N. Nur Aimi ◽  
Seeni Mohamed Nurhafizah ◽  
...  

Kenaf is categorized as one of the natural fibre which is used as replacement to man-made fibre due to its various advantages. It is a natural fibre of low density, low cost, recyclable and biodegradable. This paper presents the surface modification of kenaf biomass in terms of its morphology, chemical properties and crystallinity, as observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Peak at 1600 cm-1 to 1200 cm-1 FTIR shows the disappearance of lignin in the treated kenaf. On the other hand, crystallinity indexes (CI) for untreated and treated kenaf are determined by XRD that show 83.3 % and 67.7 % accordingly.


2021 ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Mikhaylovna Mikhailidi ◽  
Nina Yefimovna Kotelnikova

An efficient process for recycling paper and cardboard wastes via dissolution in N,N-dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl) system and regeneration from solutions to obtain hydrogels has been developed. Pretreatment of waste paper has been carried out by thermal defibrillation of waste paper in water and homogenization to obtain fibre samples. The dissolution of fibre materials has been performed in two ways varying the process temperature and the way the reagents have been introduced. Regeneration from solutions has been carried out by spontaneous gelation without the use of antisolvents, at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. As a result, hydrogels were obtained which differed in color and transparency depending on feedstock. The physico-chemical properties of the hydrogels have been characterized. It has been shown that they were stable in an aqueous medium, capable of retaining a significant amount of water (over 4000 wt.%), and were porous systems which has been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. According to a wide-angle X-ray scattering, the crystallographic structure of the pristine waste paper samples corresponded to a structural modification of cellulose I. Regenerated samples as freeze-dried hydrogels had the structure of cellulose II. A functional and an elemental composition studied with FTIR spectroscopy and an energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis characterized these hydrogels as the cellulose samples containing small amount of inorganic impurities. The resulting hydrogels had a system of through pores of different sizes, and this predetermined their use as adsorbents and active matrices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Tracz ◽  
Wojciech Bialek

AbstractProtein ubiquitination has become one of the most extensively studied post-translational modifications. Originally discovered as a critical element in highly regulated proteolysis, ubiquitination is now regarded as essential for many other cellular processes. This results from the unique features of ubiquitin (Ub) and its ability to form various homo- and heterotypic linkage types involving one of the seven different lysine residues or the free amino group located at its N-terminus. While K48- and K63-linked chains are broadly covered in the literature, the other types of chains assembled through K6, K11, K27, K29, and K33 residues deserve equal attention in the light of the latest discoveries. Here, we provide a concise summary of recent advances in the field of these poorly understood Ub linkages and their possible roles in vivo.


Author(s):  
P. Ingram

It is well established that unique physiological information can be obtained by rapidly freezing cells in various functional states and analyzing the cell element content and distribution by electron probe x-ray microanalysis. (The other techniques of microanalysis that are amenable to imaging, such as electron energy loss spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, particle induced x-ray emission etc., are not addressed in this tutorial.) However, the usual processes of data acquisition are labor intensive and lengthy, requiring that x-ray counts be collected from individually selected regions of each cell in question and that data analysis be performed subsequent to data collection. A judicious combination of quantitative elemental maps and static raster probes adds not only an additional overall perception of what is occurring during a particular biological manipulation or event, but substantially increases data productivity. Recent advances in microcomputer instrumentation and software have made readily feasible the acquisition and processing of digital quantitative x-ray maps of one to several cells.


Author(s):  
Snehamol Mathew ◽  
Priyanka Ganguly ◽  
Stephen Rhatigan ◽  
Vignesh Kumaravel ◽  
Ciara Byrne ◽  
...  

Indoor surface contamination by microbes is a major public health concern. A damp environment is one potential sources for microbe proliferation. Smart photocatalytic coatings on building surfaces using semiconductors like titania (TiO<sub>2</sub>) can effectively curb this growing threat.<b> </b>Metal-doped titania in anatase phase has been proved as a promising candidate for energy and environmental applications. In this present work, the antimicrobial efficacy of copper (Cu) doped TiO<sub>2 </sub>(Cu-TiO<sub>2</sub>) was evaluated against <i>Escherichia coli</i> (Gram-negative) and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (Gram-positive) under visible light irradiation. Doping of a minute fraction of Cu (0.5 mol %) in TiO<sub>2 </sub>was carried out <i>via</i> sol-gel technique. Cu-TiO<sub>2</sub> further calcined at various temperatures (in the range of 500 °C – 700 °C) to evaluate the thermal stability of TiO<sub>2</sub> anatase phase. The physico-chemical properties of the samples were characterised through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-visible spectroscopy techniques. XRD results revealed that the anatase phase of TiO<sub>2</sub> was maintained well, up to 650 °C, by the Cu dopant. UV-DRS results suggested that the visible light absorption property of Cu-TiO<sub>2 </sub>was enhanced and the band gap is reduced to 2.8 eV. Density functional theory (DFT) studies emphasises the introduction of Cu<sup>+</sup> and Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions by replacing Ti<sup>4+</sup> ions in the TiO<sub>2</sub> lattice, creating oxygen vacancies. These further promoted the photocatalytic efficiency. A significantly high bacterial inactivation (99.9%) was attained in 30 mins of visible light irradiation by Cu-TiO<sub>2</sub>.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 862-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Taha ◽  
Eric Nezerwa ◽  
Hyun-Joo Nam

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1139-1147
Author(s):  
Yang Mingyan ◽  
Wang Daoquan ◽  
Wang Mingan

2-Phenylcyclododecanone and 2-cyclohexylcyclododecanone derivatives were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HR-ESI-MS and X-ray diffraction. Their preferred conformations were analyzed by the coupling constants in the 1H NMR spectra and X-ray diffraction, which showed the skeleton ring of these derivatives containing [3333]-2-one conformation, and the phenyl groups were located at the side-exo position of [3333]-2-one conformation due to the strong π-π repulsive interaction between the π- electron of benzene ring and π-electron of carbonyl group. The cyclohexyl groups were located at the corner-syn or the side-exo position of [3333]-2-one conformation depending on the hindrance of the other substituted groups. The π-π electron effect played a crucial role in efficiently controlling the preferred conformation of 2-aromatic cyclododecanone and the other 2-aromatic macrocyclic derivatives with the similar preferred square and rectangular conformations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sathish Mohan Botsa ◽  
Ramadevi Dharmasoth ◽  
Keloth Basavaiah

Background: During past two decades, functional nanomaterials have received great attention for many technological applications such as catalysis, energy, environment, medical and sensor due to their unique properties at nanoscale. However, copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) such as CuO and Cu2O have most widely investigated for many potential applications due to their wide bandgap, high TC, high optical absorption and non-toxic in nature. The physical and chemical properties of CuO and Cu2O NPs are critically depending on their size, morphology and phase purity. Therefore, lots of efforts have been done to prepare phase CuO and Cu2O NPs with different morphology and size. Method: The synthesis of cupric oxide (CuO) and cuprous oxide (Cu2O) NPs using copper acetate as a precursor by varying the reducing agents such as hydrazine sulphate and hydrazine hydrate via sonochemical method. The phase, morphology and crystalline structure of a prepared CuO and Cu2O NPs were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) and UV-Visible Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Results: The phase of NPs was tuned as a function of reducing agents.XRD patterns confirmed the formation of pure phase crystalline CuO and Cu2O NPs. FTIR peak at 621 cm-1 confirmed Cu(I)-O vibrations, while CuO vibrations confirmed by the presence of two peaks at 536 and 586 cm-1. Further investigation was done by Raman, which clearly indicates the presence of peaks at 290, 336, 302 cm-1 and 173, 241 cm-1 for CuO and Cu2O NPs, respectively. The FESEM images revealed rod-like morphology of the CuO NPs while octahedral like shape for Cu2O NPs. The presence of elemental Cu and O in stoichiometric ratios in EDS spectra confirms the formation of both CuO and Cu2O NPs. In summary, CuO and Cu2O NPs were successfully synthesized by a sonochemical method using copper acetate as a precursor at different reducing agents. The bandgap of CuO and Cu2O NPs was 2.38 and 1.82, respectively. Furthermore, the phase purity critically depends on reducing agents.


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