The Impact of Retroactivity on the Behavior of Biomolecular Systems

Author(s):  
Domitilla Del Vecchio
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Limouse ◽  
Jason C. Bell ◽  
Colin J. Fuller ◽  
Aaron F. Straight ◽  
Hideo Mabuchi

AbstractBiomolecular systems such as multiprotein complexes or biopolymers can span several tens to several hundreds of nanometers, but the dynamics of such “mesocale” molecules remain challenging to probe. We have developed a single-molecule technique that uses Tracking Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (tFCS) to measure the conformation and dynamics of molecular assemblies specifically at the mesoscale level (~100-1000 nm). tFCS is non-perturbative, as molecules, which are tracked in real-time, are untethered and freely diffusing. To achieve sub-diffraction spatial resolution, we use a feedback scheme which allows us to maintain the molecule at an optimal position within the laser intensity gradient. We find that tFCS is sufficiently sensitive to measure the distance fluctuations between two sites within a DNA molecule separated by distances as short as 1000 bp. We demonstrate that tFCS detects changes in the compaction of reconstituted chromatin, and can assay transient protein mediated interactions between distant sites in an individual DNA molecule. Our measurements highlight the impact that tFCS can have in the study of a wide variety of biochemical processes involving mesoscale conformational dynamics.


Author(s):  
A. C. Ventura ◽  
P. Jiang ◽  
A. J. Ninfa ◽  
L. Van Wassenhove ◽  
S. D. Merajver ◽  
...  

In prior work, we have shown that just as in many engineering systems, impedance-like effects appear at the interconnection of biomolecular systems. These effects are called retroactivity, to extend the notion of impedance to biological systems. Signaling components, such as covalent modification cycles, play a central role in the transmission of signals within a cell and from outside the cell. They are typically found in highly interconnected architectures in which a component has several downstream clients. In this paper, we show that retroactivity from downstream targets decreases the sensitivity of response to an input stimulus.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1986-1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Grimmelsmann ◽  
Alireza Marefat Khah ◽  
Christian Spies ◽  
Christof Hättig ◽  
Patrick Nuernberger

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Mattia Bernetti ◽  
Martina Bertazzo ◽  
Matteo Masetti

The big data concept is currently revolutionizing several fields of science including drug discovery and development. While opening up new perspectives for better drug design and related strategies, big data analysis strongly challenges our current ability to manage and exploit an extraordinarily large and possibly diverse amount of information. The recent renewal of machine learning (ML)-based algorithms is key in providing the proper framework for addressing this issue. In this respect, the impact on the exploitation of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which have recently reached mainstream status in computational drug discovery, can be remarkable. Here, we review the recent progress in the use of ML methods coupled to biomolecular simulations with potentially relevant implications for drug design. Specifically, we show how different ML-based strategies can be applied to the outcome of MD simulations for gaining knowledge and enhancing sampling. Finally, we discuss how intrinsic limitations of MD in accurately modeling biomolecular systems can be alleviated by including information coming from experimental data.


1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 415-418
Author(s):  
K. P. Stanyukovich ◽  
V. A. Bronshten

The phenomena accompanying the impact of large meteorites on the surface of the Moon or of the Earth can be examined on the basis of the theory of explosive phenomena if we assume that, instead of an exploding meteorite moving inside the rock, we have an explosive charge (equivalent in energy), situated at a certain distance under the surface.


1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 169-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Green

The term geo-sciences has been used here to include the disciplines geology, geophysics and geochemistry. However, in order to apply geophysics and geochemistry effectively one must begin with a geological model. Therefore, the science of geology should be used as the basis for lunar exploration. From an astronomical point of view, a lunar terrain heavily impacted with meteors appears the more reasonable; although from a geological standpoint, volcanism seems the more probable mechanism. A surface liberally marked with volcanic features has been advocated by such geologists as Bülow, Dana, Suess, von Wolff, Shaler, Spurr, and Kuno. In this paper, both the impact and volcanic hypotheses are considered in the application of the geo-sciences to manned lunar exploration. However, more emphasis is placed on the volcanic, or more correctly the defluidization, hypothesis to account for lunar surface features.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 197-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Steel

AbstractWhilst lithopanspermia depends upon massive impacts occurring at a speed above some limit, the intact delivery of organic chemicals or other volatiles to a planet requires the impact speed to be below some other limit such that a significant fraction of that material escapes destruction. Thus the two opposite ends of the impact speed distributions are the regions of interest in the bioastronomical context, whereas much modelling work on impacts delivers, or makes use of, only the mean speed. Here the probability distributions of impact speeds upon Mars are calculated for (i) the orbital distribution of known asteroids; and (ii) the expected distribution of near-parabolic cometary orbits. It is found that cometary impacts are far more likely to eject rocks from Mars (over 99 percent of the cometary impacts are at speeds above 20 km/sec, but at most 5 percent of the asteroidal impacts); paradoxically, the objects impacting at speeds low enough to make organic/volatile survival possible (the asteroids) are those which are depleted in such species.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 189-195
Author(s):  
Cesare Guaita ◽  
Roberto Crippa ◽  
Federico Manzini

AbstractA large amount of CO has been detected above many SL9/Jupiter impacts. This gas was never detected before the collision. So, in our opinion, CO was released from a parent compound during the collision. We identify this compound as POM (polyoxymethylene), a formaldehyde (HCHO) polymer that, when suddenly heated, reformes monomeric HCHO. At temperatures higher than 1200°K HCHO cannot exist in molecular form and the most probable result of its decomposition is the formation of CO. At lower temperatures, HCHO can react with NH3 and/or HCN to form high UV-absorbing polymeric material. In our opinion, this kind of material has also to be taken in to account to explain the complex evolution of some SL9 impacts that we observed in CCD images taken with a blue filter.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Clifford N. Matthews ◽  
Rose A. Pesce-Rodriguez ◽  
Shirley A. Liebman

AbstractHydrogen cyanide polymers – heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black – may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orangebrown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia, the color observed depending on the concentration of HCN involved. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. Black polymers and multimers with conjugated ladder structures derived from HCN could also be formed and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, observed after pyrolysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter might therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized directly from HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.


Author(s):  
Lucien F. Trueb

Crushed and statically compressed Madagascar graphite that was explosively shocked at 425 kb by means of a planar flyer-plate is characterized by a black zone extending for 2 to 3 nun below the impact plane of the driver. Beyond this point, the material assumes the normal gray color of graphite. The thickness of the black zone is identical with the distance taken by the relaxation wave to overtake the compression wave.The main mechanical characteristic of the black material is its great hardness; steel scalpels and razor blades are readily blunted during attempts to cut it. An average microhardness value of 95-3 DPHN was obtained with a 10 kg load. This figure is a minimum because the indentations were usually cracked; 14.8 DPHN was measured in the gray zone.


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