scholarly journals Composite Materials Design: Biomineralization Proteins and the Guided Assembly and Organization of Biomineral Nanoparticles

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 581 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Evans
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Materials Design ◽  
Ordered Structures ◽  
Biomineralization Process ◽  
Polymorph Selection ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Guided Assembly ◽  
Particle Attachment

There has been much discussion of the role of proteins in the calcium carbonate biomineralization process, particularly with regard to nucleation, amorphous stabilization/transformation, and polymorph selection. However, there has been little if any discussion of the potential role that proteins might play in another important process: the guided assembly and organization of mineral nanoparticles into higher-ordered structures such as mesocrystals. This review discusses particle attachment theory and recent evidence of mineral-associated proteins forming hydrogels that assemble and organize mineral clusters into crystalline phase. From this discussion we postulate a mechanism by which biomineralization protein hydrogel aggregation assists in mineral nanoparticle assembly and organization within calcium carbonate skeletal elements and discuss potentials ways for harnessing this process in materials design.

scholarly journals The role of microbial sulfate reduction in calcium carbonate polymorph selection

2018 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 184-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Yik Lin ◽  
Alexandra V. Turchyn ◽  
Zvi Steiner ◽  
Pieter Bots ◽  
Giulio I. Lampronti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Sulfate Reduction ◽  
Microbial Sulfate Reduction ◽  
Polymorph Selection

scholarly journals Environmental parameters conditioning microbially induced mineralization under the experimental model conditions.

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Otlewska ◽  
Beata Gutarowska
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Calcium Nitrate ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Ion Source ◽  
Calcium Acetate ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Precipitation ◽  
Biomineralization Process ◽  
Calcium Sources

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation is one of the biomineralization types closely dependent on the parameters of the microenvironment. Minerals are precipitated as a product of environmental and bacterial cell interactions, however, this system has very little control via microorganisms. The aim of research was to determine the influence of abiotic factors (pH, temperature, agitation speed of bacterial culture and calcium ion source) on the mineralization induced by Arthrobacter sulfureus, Bacillus muralis and B. atrophaeus strains under the standard laboratory conditions. Because of the key role of urease in biomineralization, processes occurring in environments with and without the urea were compared. For this purpose, cultivation of bacteria (A. sulfureus, B. muralis and B. atrophaeus) was carried out in B4 liquid medium for 5 days with various environmental parameters (pH 6-9; temperature 25-44°C; speed of agitation 0-180 rpm, different calcium sources). It was noticed that the pH and the speed of agitation clearly affect the amount of the calcium carbonate that formed. Our observations suggest that the highest precipitation rate takes place in alkaline pH between 8-9, with shaking at 180 rpms. Among studied sources of calcium ions (calcium acetate, calcium chloride and calcium nitrate), calcium acetate demonstrated the strongest potential in the biomineralization process. Moreover, work presented here demonstrates that the correlation between cultivation temperature and biomineralization process cannot be clearly evaluated. The morphology and size of calcium carbonate minerals was strain-specific, although affected by the presence of urea in the surrounding solution.

scholarly journals Differential expression of Exaiptasia pallida GIMAP genes upon induction of apoptosis and autophagy suggests a potential role in cnidarian symbiosis and disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (21) ◽  
pp. jeb229906
Author(s):  
Grace F. Bailey ◽  
Jenny C. Coelho ◽  
Angela Z. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Chemical Induction ◽  
Basal Metazoan ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Induction Of Apoptosis ◽  
Exaiptasia Pallida ◽  
Lps Treatment ◽  
Do So

ABSTRACTCoral reefs, one of the world's most productive and diverse ecosystems, are currently threatened by a variety of stressors that result in increased prevalence of both bleaching and disease. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in these responses is critical to mitigate future damage to the reefs. One group of genes that is potentially involved in cnidarian immunity and symbiosis is GTPases of immunity associated proteins (GIMAP). In vertebrates, this family of proteins is involved in regulating the fate of developing lymphocytes and interacts with proteins involved in apoptosis and autophagy. As apoptosis, autophagy and immunity have previously been shown to be involved in cnidarian symbiosis and disease, the goal of this research was to determine the role of cnidarian GIMAPs in these processes using the anemone Exaiptasia pallida. To do so, GIMAP genes were characterized in the E. pallida genome and changes in gene expression were measured using qPCR in response to chemical induction of apoptosis, autophagy and treatment with the immune stimulant lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in both aposymbiotic and symbiotic anemones. The results revealed four GIMAP-like genes in E. pallida, referred to as Ep_GIMAPs. Induction of apoptosis and autophagy resulted in a general downregulation of Ep_GIMAPs, but no significant changes were observed in response to LPS treatment. This indicates that Ep_GIMAPs may be involved in the regulation of apoptosis and autophagy, and therefore could play a role in cnidarian–dinoflagellate symbiosis. Overall, these results increase our knowledge on the function of GIMAPs in a basal metazoan.

scholarly journals Exploring the Potential Role of Moonlighting Function of the Surface-Associated Proteins From Mycobacterium bovis BCG Moreau and Pasteur by Comparative Proteomic

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talita Duarte Pagani ◽  
Ana Carolina R. Guimarães ◽  
Mariana C. Waghabi ◽  
Paloma Rezende Corrêa ◽  
Dário Eluan Kalume ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Bovis ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Mycobacterium Bovis Bcg ◽  
Associated Proteins

POPDC proteins and cardiac function

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brand
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
And Function

Abstract The Popeye domain-containing gene family encodes a novel class of cAMP effector proteins in striated muscle tissue. In this short review, we first introduce the protein family and discuss their structure and function with an emphasis on their role in cyclic AMP signalling. Another focus of this review is the recently discovered role of POPDC genes as striated muscle disease genes, which have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia and muscular dystrophy. The pathological phenotypes observed in patients will be compared with phenotypes present in null and knockin mutations in zebrafish and mouse. A number of protein–protein interaction partners have been discovered and the potential role of POPDC proteins to control the subcellular localization and function of these interacting proteins will be discussed. Finally, we outline several areas, where research is urgently needed.

The Effect of Path Length and Display Size on Memory for Spatial Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Guérard ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Path Length ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Serial Memory ◽  
Fixed Reference ◽  
A Minor

In serial memory for spatial information, some studies showed that recall performance suffers when the distance between successive locations increases relatively to the size of the display in which they are presented (the path length effect; e.g., Parmentier et al., 2005) but not when distance is increased by enlarging the size of the display (e.g., Smyth & Scholey, 1994). In the present study, we examined the effect of varying the absolute and relative distance between to-be-remembered items on memory for spatial information. We manipulated path length using small (15″) and large (64″) screens within the same design. In two experiments, we showed that distance was disruptive mainly when it is varied relatively to a fixed reference frame, though increasing the size of the display also had a small deleterious effect on recall. The insertion of a retention interval did not influence these effects, suggesting that rehearsal plays a minor role in mediating the effects of distance on serial spatial memory. We discuss the potential role of perceptual organization in light of the pattern of results.

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