Effects of temperature on cytochrome oxidase activity in solubilized form and in lipid vesicle systems.

Isolated mammalian cytochrome oxidase gave an Arrhenius plot with a break (Tb) at about 20 degrees C when assayed in a medium containing Emasol. The activation energies above and below 20 degrees C were 9.3 (EH) and 18.9 kcal/mol (EL), respectively. Isolated cytochrome oxidase was also incorporated into vesicles of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC, phase transition temperature Tt = 40 degrees C), dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC, Tt = 23 degrees C) and dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC, Tt = -22 degrees C). The DPPC system showed a nearly linear Arrhenius plot between 9 and 36 degrees C with E = 22.8 kcal/mol. When cytochrome oxidase was resolubilized from the DPPC vesicles and assayed in solution a biphasic plot was obtained again. Cytochrome oxidase-DOPC was more active than the solubilized enzyme and exhibited a biphasic Arrhenius plot with Tb = 23 degrees C. EH and EL were 6.6 and 15.8 kcal/mol, respectively. The plot for the oxidase-DMPC also showed a break (Tb = 26 degrees C) with EH = 6.6 and EL = 26.6 kcal/mol. These results indicate that the break in the Arrhenius plot reflects primarily a structural transition in the cytochrome oxidase molecule between the "hot" and "cold" conformations, as proposed previously. This transition, as well as the molecular state of cytochrome oxidase, is affected by the physical state of the membrane lipids as reflected by changes in the kinetic properties.     

Genes expressed in Blue Fin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) liver and gonads

Blue Fin Tuna (BFT), Thunnus thynnus, has been seriously endangered by global massive overfishing and by the pollution of marine environment. Feeding and fattening of caught tuna in marine cages is a recent resource, but the development of a self-sustained aquaculture activity, being independent from the supply of wild fish, is required from both industrial and conservation perspectives. At this scope, several technical problems have to be solved and the control of reproduction is the cardinal one. Beside the technological developments of farming facilities and protocols, a molecular approach seems promising for the studies of appropriate nutritional strategies, reproduction physiology and animal welfare, as well as lifestyle and response to endocrine disruptor pollutants. In this context, we have started an EST project on this species sequencing 2743, 2907, and 3014 clones from expression libraries of ovary, testis and liver, respectively, and 1499 clones from an ovary normalized library. Thanks to this project, we have identified several sequences with known function in other organisms, but not previously described in this species. Among the new genes, 712 were found only in the expression library of the ovary, 613 in that of the testis and 318 in that of the liver, while 324 additional genes were shared by two or more expression libraries; other 127 genes not found in the expression libraries were obtained from the ovary normalized library. This represents a contribution to the knowledge of the molecular basis of BFT and a necessary step for facilitating further molecular studies on this species. Accession numbers: EC 091633 to EC 093160; EG 629962 to EG 631176; EC 917676 to EC 919417; EG 999340 to EG 999999; EH 000001 to EH 000505; EH 667253 to EH 668984; EL 610526 to EL 611807; EC 42144 to EC 422414; and EH 379568 to EH 380065.     

环境丰容对早期发育阶段许氏平鲉趋礁行为的影响

采用实验生态学方法,观测了不同环境丰容水平下培育的许氏平鲉(Sebastes schlegelii)仔、稚、幼鱼的趋礁行为反应,统计分析了两种结构模型礁对实验鱼的诱集效果,初步探究了环境丰容对实验鱼趋礁行为的影响。结果显示:许氏平鲉仔、稚、幼鱼具有明显不同的行为习性与趋礁行为特性,未放入模型礁前,稚鱼在水槽中分布较分散,仔、幼鱼则集中于水槽四周阴影区域,中央区域分布极少;放入模型礁后,仔、稚鱼在礁区的平均分布率无显著变化(P0.05);幼鱼则由1.11%分别增大至47.78%(塔型礁)和54.44%(管型礁)(P0.01),随着个体生长发育,其趋礁性显著增强。环境丰容25 d(即48日龄的稚鱼),对实验鱼群体重心与模型礁的平均距离D_(gr)、个体与模型礁的平均距离D_(fr)、个体间的平均距离D_(ff)及实验鱼在水槽中央区域(VI区)的平均分布率均无显著影响(P0.05)。环境丰容47 d(即70日龄的幼鱼),未放入模型礁前,高水平丰容组(EH组)幼鱼在VI区的平均分布率显著高于空白对照组(C组)(P0.05),低水平丰容组(EL组)与C组、EH组均无显著差异(P0.05),各处理组D_(gr)与D_(fr)大小顺序为:EL组C组EH组;放入模型礁后,各处理组幼鱼在模型礁区域(VI区)的平均分布率:EL组C组EH组,Dfr与Dff大小顺序为:EL组C组EH组;表明低水平环境丰容可有效增强许氏平鲉幼鱼的趋礁行为,减小幼鱼"胆量",这对于提高放流幼鱼在野外的存活率具有重要意义。旨在探讨环境丰容这一行为驯化手段,对于增强早期发育阶段许氏平鲉趋礁行为的可行性,为增殖放流苗种的高效健康培育及增殖型人工鱼礁的选型提供参考。     

Architecture, electronic structure and stability of TM@Ge(n) (TM = Ti, Zr and Hf; n = 1-20) clusters: a density functional modeling

The present study reports the geometry, electronic structure and properties of neutral and anionic transition metal (TM = Ti, Zr and Hf)) doped germanium clusters containing 1 to 20 germanium atoms within the framework of linear combination of atomic orbitals density functional theory under spin polarized generalized gradient approximation. Different parameters, like, binding energy (BE), embedding energy (EE), energy gap between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO), ionization energy (IP), electron affinity (EA), chemical potential etc. of the energetically stable clusters (ground state cluster) in each size are calculated. From the variation of these parameters with the size of the clusters the most stable cluster within the range of calculation is identified. It is found that the clusters having 20 valence electrons turn out to be relatively more stable in both the neutral and the anionic series. The sharp drop in IP as the valence electron count increases from 20 to 21 in neutral cluster is in agreement with predictions of shell models. To study the vibrational nature of the clusters, IR and Raman spectrum of some selected TM@Ge_n (n = 15,16,17) clusters are also calculated and compared. In the end, relevance of calculated results to the design of Ge-based super-atoms is discussed.     

Transcriptome analysis of the endometrium from Chinese Erhualian sows that differ in calcium ion concentration and litter size

Embryonic survival rate, an important factor in the fecundity of sows, is affected by endometrium‐secreting histotroph. A higher concentration of calcium ion has been observed in the uterus of highly prolific Erhualian sows (EH) compared with those of less prolific (EL) sows. This suggests that EH sows have better establishment and maintenance of pregnancies, thus increasing embryonic survival rate during the peri‐implantation period. To understand the mechanisms of how the endometrium‐secreting histotroph affects embryonic survival rate during the Erhualian peri‐implantation period, the expression patterns of endometrial mRNA in the EH and EL sows on day 12 of gestation were analyzed using RNA sequencing technology. A total of 164 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified (P_adj < 0.05, |log₂(FC)| ≥ 1), including 46 upregulated and 118 downregulated genes in EH compared to EL. Gene Ontology enrichment indicated that a subset of DEGs was involved in calcium ion binding and cell adhesion. Solute carrier family 8 member A3 and solute carrier family 24 member 4, identified as upregulated genes (P_adj < 0.05) in EH, were considered key candidate genes expressed in the endometrium affecting embryonic survival rate during the peri‐implantation period. The results improve understanding of the genetic mechanism underlying the variation in litter size of Erhualian pigs during the peri‐implantation period.     

Catalysis of diaphorase reactions by Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoamide dehydrogenase occurs at the EH4 level

Lipoamide dehydrogenase catalyzes the reversible NAD(+)-dependent oxidation of the dihydrolipoyl cofactors that are covalently attached to the acyltransferase components of the pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and glycine reductase multienzyme complexes. It contains two redox centers: a tightly, but noncovalently, bound FAD and an enzymic disulfide, each of which can accommodate two electrons. In the two-electron-reduced enzyme (EH(2)), the disulfide is reduced while the FAD cofactor is oxidized. In the four-electron-reduced enzyme (EH(4)), both redox centers are reduced. Lipoamide dehydrogenase can also catalyze the NADH-dependent reduction of alternative electron acceptors such as 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol, ferricyanide, quinones, and molecular oxygen (O(2)). To determine the mechanism of these "diaphorase" reactions, we generated the EH(2) and EH(4) forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoamide dehydrogenase and rapidly mixed these enzyme forms with d,l-lipoylpentanoate, 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone, and O(2), in a stopped-flow spectrophotometer at pH 7.5 and 4 degrees C. EH(2) reduced d,l-lipoylpentanoate >/=100 times faster than EH(4) did. Conversely, EH(4) reduced 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone and molecular oxygen 90 and 40 times faster than EH(2), respectively. Comparison of the rates of reduction of the above substrates by EH(2) and EH(4) with their corresponding steady-state kinetic parameters for kinetic competence leads to the conclusion that reduction of lipoyl substrates occurs with EH(2) while reduction of diaphorase substrates occurs with EH(4).     

Electronic structure and stabilities of Ni-doped germanium nanoclusters: a density functional modeling study

The present study reports the geometry, electronic structure, growth behavior and stability of neutral and ionized nickel encapsulated germanium clusters containing 1–20 germanium atoms within the framework of a linear combination of atomic orbital density functional theory (DFT) under a spin polarized generalized gradient approximation. In the growth pattern, Ni-capped Ge_n and Ni-encapsulated Ge_n clusters appear mostly as theoretical ground state at a particular size. To explain the relative stability of the ground state clusters, variation of different parameters, such as average binding energy per atom (BE), embedding energy (EE) and fragmentation energy (FE) of the clusters, were studied together with the size of the cluster. To explain the chemical stability of the clusters, different parameters, e.g., energy gap between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO–LUMO gap), ionization energy (IP), electron affinity (EA), chemical potential (μ), chemical hardness (η), and polarizability etc. were calculated and are discussed. Finally, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was applied to understand the electron counting rule applied in the most stable Ge₁₀Ni cluster. The importance of the calculated results in the design of Ge-based superatoms is discussed.

Orbital based electronic structural signatures of the guanine keto G-7H/G-9H tautomer pair as studied using dual space analysis

Electronic structural signatures of the guanine-7H and guanine-9H tautomers have been investigated on an orbital by orbital basis using dual space analysis. A combination of density functional theory (B3LYP/TZVP), the statistical average of model orbital potentials (SAOP/TZ2P) method and outer valence Green's function theory (OVGF/TZVP) has been used to generate optimal tautomer geometries and accurate ionization energy spectra for the guanine tautomer pair. The present work found that the non-planar form for both of the guanine keto pair possesses lower energies than their corresponding planar counterparts, and that the canonical form of the guanine-7H tautomer has slightly lower total energy than guanine-9H. This latter result is in agreement with previous experimental and theoretical findings. In the planar guanine pair the geometric parameters and anisotropic molecular properties are compared, focusing on changes caused by the mobile proton transfer. It is demonstrated that the mobile proton only causes limited disturbance to isotropic properties, such as geometry and the energetics, of the guanine keto tautomer pair. The exception to this general statement is for related local changes such as the N((7))-C((8)) and C((8))-N((9)) bond length resonance between the single and double bonds, reflecting the nitrogen atom being bonded with the mobile proton in the tautomers. The mobile proton distorts the electron distribution of the tautomers, which leads to significant changes in the molecular anisotropic properties. The dipole moment of guanine-7H is altered by about a factor of three, from 2.23 to 7.05 D (guanine-9H), and the molecular electrostatic potentials also reflect significant electron charge distortion. The outer valence orbital momentum distributions, which were obtained using the plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA), have demonstrated quantitatively that the outer valence orbitals of the tautomer pair can be divided into three groups. That is orbitals 1a'-7a' and 18a', which do not have visible alternations in the tautomeric process (which consist of either pi orbitals or are close to the inner valence shell); a second group comprising orbitals 19a'-22a', 25a', 26a', 28a', 29a' and 31a', which show small perturbations as a result of the mobile hydrogen locations; and group three, orbitals 23a', 24a', 27a', 30a' and 32a', which demonstrate significant changes due to the mobile proton transfer and are therefore considered as signature orbitals of the G-7H/G-9H keto tautomeric process.     

Current transients generated by the Na+/K+-ATPase after an ATP concentration jump: dependence on sodium and ATP concentration

Planar membrane fragments containing a high density of oriented Na+/K+-ATPase molecules are bound to planar lipid bilayers. ATP is released in the aqueous solution within milliseconds from an inactive, photolabile precursor ('caged ATP') by an intense light flash. By this ATP-concentration jump a large number of pump molecules is activated almost simultaneously. Charge translocation in the pump molecule results in a voltage transient which is recorded in the external measuring circuit. From the voltage signal, the intrinsic pump current Ip(t) can be evaluated using information on the circuit parameters of the compound membrane system. The pump current Ip(t) is compared with the results of numerical simulations of a reaction cycle derived from the Post-Albers reaction scheme combined with the photochemical release reaction of caged ATP. The time course of Ip can be satisfactorily fitted using kinetic parameters of the Na+/K+-ATPase from the literature. The dependence of Ip on sodium concentration cNa can be described using a single set of kinetic parameters in which only cNa is varied. Ip as a function of cNa is well fitted by a first-order Michaelis-Menten type equation with Km approximately equal to 4 mM. This finding is consistent with the assumption that two sodium binding sites have a high affinity and that a third site of lower affinity is rate limiting. The ATP concentration dependence of Ip is studied by varying the concentration of caged ATP in the solution and the yield of photochemical release of ATP.     

Computational analysis of aspartic protease plasmepsin II complexed with EH58 inhibitor: a QM/MM MD study

Plasmepsin (PM) II is one of four enzymes in the food vacuole of Plasmodium falciparum. It has become an attractive target for combating malaria through research regarding its importance in the P. falciparum metabolism and life cycle, making it the target of choice for structure-based drug design. This paper reports the results of hybrid quantum mechanics / molecular mechanics (QM/MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations employed to study the details of the interactions established between PM II and N-(3-{(2-benzo[1, 3]dioxol-5-yl-ethyl)[3-(1-methyl-3-oxo-1,3-dihydro-isoindol-2-yl) propionyl]-amino}-1-benzyl-2-(hydroxyl-propyl)-4-benzyloxy-3,5dimethoxy-benzamide (EH58), a well-known potent inhibitor for this enzyme. Electrostatic binding free energy and energy terms decomposition have been computed for PM II complexed with the EH58 inhibitor. The results reveal that there is a strong interaction between Asp34, Val78, Ser79, Tyr192 and Asp214 residues and the EH58 inhibitor. In addition, we have computed the potential of the mean force (PMF) profile in order to assign the protonation state of the two catalytic aspartates in PM II-EH58 complex. The results indicate that the protonation of Asp214 favors a stable active site structure, which is consistent with our electrostatic binding free energy calculation and with previous published works.     

Intermolecular interactions between gold clusters and selected amino acids cysteine and glycine: a DFT study

The intermolecular interactions between Au_n (n = 3–4) clusters and selected amino acids cysteine and glycine have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT). Present calculations show that the complexes possessing Au-NH₂ anchoring bond are found to be energetically favored. The results of NBO and frontier molecular orbitals analysis indicate that for the complex with anchoring bonds, lone pair electrons of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms are transferred to the antibonding orbitals of gold, while for the complex with the nonconventional hydrogen bonds (Au···H–O), the lone pair electrons of gold are transferred to the antibonding orbitals of O-H bonds during the interaction. Furthermore, the interaction energy calculations show that the complexes with Au-NH₂ anchoring bond have relatively high intermolecular interaction energy, which is consistent with previous computational studies.     

Energy-dependent changes in conformation and catalytic activity of the chloroplast ATP synthase.

Energy-dependent activation of the chloroplast ATP synthase (CF0CF1) has been elucidated by investigating the conformational changes, the ADP effect, and the catalytic cooperativity of ATP hydrolysis. Conformational change was observed by measuring the reactivity of Lys-109 of the epsilon subunit of chloroplast coupling factor 1 with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. In the postillumination dark, the Lys-109 reactivity decreased biphasically with half-times of less than 1 and 17 s. NH4Cl accelerated the slow phase decrease. Addition of ADP (0.2 microM) in the postillumination dark inactivated CF0CF1 (0.05 microM) with a half-time of 12 s. At high concentration of CF0CF1 (1.2 microM), inactivation occurred without exogenously added ADP with a half-time of 12 s. Accompanying the inactivation, the positive catalytic cooperativity of ATP hydrolysis decreased. Addition of 10 mM NH4Cl before ADP (0.2 microM) decelerated the ADP-induced inactivation to a half-time of 64 s. Throughout this inactivation, the positive catalytic cooperativity was maintained at a high level. These results suggest three distinct conformations of CF0CF1, EH, EM, and EL, and their ADP binding forms EM-ADP and EL-ADP. EH, EM, and EL have a low affinity for ADP, a high affinity for ADP, and low accessibility to ADP, respectively. EM and EL exhibit highly cooperative ATP hydrolysis. ATP hydrolysis catalyzed by EM-ADP exhibits no cooperativity. EL-ADP is inactive.     

Computational molecular characterization of the flavonoid Morin and its Pt(II), Pd(II) and Zn(II) complexes

In this work, we make use of a model chemistry within density functional theory (DFT) recently presented, which is called M05-2X, to calculate the molecular structure of the flavonoid Morin and its Pt(II), Pd(II) and Zn(II) complexes, as well to predict their IR and UV-Vis spectra, the dipole moment and polarizability, the free energy of solvation in different solvents as an indication of solubility, the HOMO and LUMO orbitals, and the chemical reactivity parameters that arise from Conceptual DFT. The calculated values are compared with the available experimental data for these molecules.     

Purification and characterization of an epoxide hydrolase from the peroxisomal fraction of mouse liver

Epoxide hydrolase (EH) activity has been reported to occur in most subcellular fractions of mouse liver. The EHs in the microsomal and cytosolic fractions have been purified and characterized; however, the nature of the EH(s) in the peroxisomal fraction is not known. Therefore an EH, pEH, was purified from the solubilized 12,000g fraction, which contain peroxisomes. Previous studies have demonstrated that the EH activity in this crude solubilized 12,000g fraction resides mostly in the peroxisomes. Thus the crude 12,000g pellet from mouse liver, free from cytosolic contamination, was sonicated to obtain a 105,000g soluble fraction containing 80% of the original EH activity in this fraction. The pEH was purified, using trans-stilbene oxide (TSO) as substrate, by a combination of affinity and hydroxyapatite chromatography. The purified pEH had a native molecular weight of 57 kDa, a molecular weight of 59 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and a pI of 5.7. The purified pEH was observed to be immunologically similar to the cytosolic EH (cEH). The kinetics of hydrolysis of TSO, however, were slightly different. Lineweaver-Burk plots for the inhibition of pEH suggest a probable noncompetitive, mixed-type inhibition. The purified pEH thus appears to be very similar to the cEH. There are minor differences between the purified cEH and pEH, particularly in the kinetic parameters. However, these minor differences are insignificant. These results demonstrate that the cEH and pEH are substantially similar, if not identical.     

Critical assessment of quantum mechanics based energy restraints in protein crystal structure refinement

A critical evaluation of the performance of X-ray refinement protocols using various energy functions is presented using the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) protein. The four potential energy functions we explored include: (1) fully quantum mechanical calculations; (2) one based on an incomplete molecular mechanics (MM) energy function employed in the Crystallography and NMR System (CNS) with empirical parameters developed by Engh and Huber (EH), which lacks electrostatic and attractive van der Waals terms; (3) one based on a complete MM energy function (AMBER ff99 parameter set); and (4) the same as 3, with the addition of a Generalized Born (GB) implicit solvation term. The R, R (free), real space R values of the refined structures and deviations from the original experimental structure were used to assess the relative performance. It was found that at 1 Angstrom resolution the physically based energy functions 1, 3, and 4 performed better than energy function 2, which we attribute to the better representation of key interactions, particularly electrostatics. The observed departures from the experimental structure were similar for the refinements with physically based energy functions and were smaller than the structure refined with EH. A test refinement was also performed with the reflections truncated at a high-resolution cutoff of 2.5 Angstrom and with random perturbations introduced into the initial coordinates, which showed that low-resolution refinements with physically based energy functions held the structure closer to the experimental structure solved at 1 Angstrom resolution than the EH-based refinements.     

Addition theorems for Slater-type orbitals in momentum space and their application to three-center overlap integrals

Using addition theorems for complete orthonormal sets of exponential type orbitals in the momentum representation introduced by the author, the addition theorems are established for Slater type orbitals in momentum space. With the help of these addition theorems, the general series expansion formulae in terms of the product of two-center overlap integrals are established for the three-center overlap integrals that arise in the solution of atomic and molecular problems occurring when explicitly correlated methods are employed. The formulae obtained for addition theorems and three-center overlap integrals are valid for arbitrary location and parameters of orbitals.     

QSAR prediction of toxicity of nitrobenzenes

A QSAR analysis has been carried out on the toxicities of 40 mono-substituted nitrobenzenes using recently introduced PI and Sz indices, as well as older molecular redundancy (MRI) and Balaban indices (J). The results have shown that no statistically significant mono-parametric QSAR models are possible. Also, that along with PI, Sz, MRI and J indices are the appropriate parameters to be used in developing multiparametric QSAR models. The toxicities of nitrobenzenes are well predicted by a penta-parametric model consisting of PI, Sz, J, MRI and Ip(1) (an indicator parameter taking care of the effect of substitution at 2-position) as the correlating parameters. The predictive ability of the model is determined by a cross-validation method.     

Density functional theory study of small nickel clusters

The stable geometries and atomization energies for the clusters Ni _n (n = 2–5) are predicted with all-electron density functional theory (DFT), using the BMK hybrid functional and a Gaussian basis set. Possible isomers and several spin states of these nickel clusters are considered systematically. The ground spin state and the lowest energy isomers are identified for each cluster size. The results are compared to available experimental and other theoretical data. The molecular orbitals of the largest cluster are plotted for all spin states. The relative stabilities of these states are interpreted in terms of superatom orbitals and no-pair bonding.