scholarly journals In Situ Monitored Vortex Fluidic-Mediated Protein Refolding/Unfolding Using an Aggregation-Induced Emission Bioprobe

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (14) ◽  
pp. 4273
Author(s):  
Qi Hu ◽  
Haozhen Hu ◽  
Xinyi Zhang ◽  
Kyle Fan ◽  
Yuning Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Folding ◽  
Protein Unfolding ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Guanidine Hydrochloride ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Aggregation Induced Emission ◽  
Unfolded Protein ◽  
Fluidic Device ◽  
Β Lactoglobulin

Protein folding is important for protein homeostasis/proteostasis in the human body. We have established the ability to manipulate protein unfolding/refolding for β-lactoglobulin using the induced mechanical energy in the thin film microfluidic vortex fluidic device (VFD) with monitoring as such using an aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen), TPE-MI. When denaturant (guanidine hydrochloride) is present with β-lactoglobulin, the VFD accelerates the denaturation reaction in a controlled way. Conversely, rapid renaturation of the unfolded protein occurs in the VFD in the absence of the denaturant. The novel TPE-MI reacts with exposed cysteine thiol when the protein unfolds, as established with an increase in fluorescence intensity. TPE-MI provides an easy and accurate way to monitor the protein folding, with comparable results established using conventional circular dichroism. The controlled VFD-mediated protein folding coupled with in situ bioprobe AIEgen monitoring is a viable methodology for studying the denaturing of proteins.

scholarly journals A constant current triboelectric nanogenerator arising from electrostatic breakdown

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. eaav6437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Liu ◽  
Xing Yin ◽  
Hengyu Guo ◽  
Linglin Zhou ◽  
Xinyuan Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Constant Current ◽  
Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Electrostatic Induction ◽  
Self Powered ◽  
Output Characteristics ◽  
Paradigm Shifting ◽  
The Internet Of Things

In situ conversion of mechanical energy into electricity is a feasible solution to satisfy the increasing power demand of the Internet of Things (IoTs). A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is considered as a potential solution via building self-powered systems. Based on the triboelectrification effect and electrostatic induction, a conventional TENG with pulsed AC output characteristics always needs rectification and energy storage units to obtain a constant DC output to drive electronic devices. Here, we report a next-generation TENG, which realizes constant current (crest factor, ~1) output by coupling the triboelectrification effect and electrostatic breakdown. Meanwhile, a triboelectric charge density of 430 mC m−2 is attained, which is much higher than that of a conventional TENG limited by electrostatic breakdown. The novel DC-TENG is demonstrated to power electronics directly. Our findings not only promote the miniaturization of self-powered systems used in IoTs but also provide a paradigm-shifting technique to harvest mechanical energy.

scholarly journals Effect of ligands on HP-induced unfolding and oligomerization of β-lactoglobulin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Minić ◽  
B. Annighöfer ◽  
A. Hélary ◽  
D. Hamdane ◽  
G. Hui Bon Hoa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Spectroscopy ◽  
Protein Unfolding ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Visible Absorption ◽  
Hydrophobic Cavity ◽  
Β Lactoglobulin

ABSTRACTTo probe intermediate states during unfolding and oligomerization of proteins remains a major challenge. High pressure (HP) is a powerful tool for studying these problems, revealing subtle structural changes in proteins not accessible by other means of denaturation. Bovine β-lactoglobulin (BLG), the main whey protein, has a strong propensity to bind various bioactive molecules, such as retinol and resveratrol, two ligands with different affinity and binding sites. By combining in situ HP-small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and HP-UV/visible absorption spectroscopy, we report the specific effects of these ligands on 3D conformational and local changes in BLG induced by HP. Depending on BLG concentration, two different unfolding mechanisms are observed in situ under pressures up to ~300 MPa, mediated by the formation of disulfide bonds: either a complete protein unfolding, from native dimers to Gaussian chains, or a partial unfolding with oligomerization in tetramers. Retinol, which has a high affinity for BLG hydrophobic cavity, significantly stabilizes BLG both in 3D and local environments, by shifting the onset of protein unfolding by ~100 MPa. Increasing temperature from 30 to 37°C enhances the hydrophobic stabilization effects of retinol. In contrast, resveratrol, which has a low binding affinity for site(s) on the surface of the BLG, does not induce any significant effect on the structural changes of BLG due to pressure. HP treatment back and forth up to ~300 MPa causes irreversible covalent oligomerization of BLG. Ab initio modeling of SANS shows that the oligomers formed from BLG/retinol complex are smaller and more elongated compared to BLG without ligand or in the presence of resveratrol. By combining HP-SANS and HP-UV/vis absorption spectroscopy, our strategy highlights the crucial role of BLG hydrophobic cavity and opens up new possibilities for the structural determination of HP-induced protein folding intermediates and irreversible oligomerization.STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEHigh pressure (HP) is a powerful probe to access the intermediate states of proteins through subtle structural changes not accessible by other means of denaturation. Bovine β-lactoglobulin (BLG), the main whey protein, is able to bind various bioactive molecules, such as retinol and resveratrol, exhibiting different affinity and binding sites. By combining HP-small-angle neutron scattering and HP-UV/visible absorption spectroscopy, we highlight two different mechanisms during the unfolding and oligomerization of BLG depending on protein concentration. Above all, we show that retinol significantly prevents the unfolding and oligomerization of BLG, unlike resveratrol, emphasizing the crucial role of the hydrophobic cavity in BLG stabilization. Our strategy opens up new possibilities for the structural determination of protein intermediates and oligomers using HP.

scholarly journals Influence of protein (human galectin-3) design on aspects of lectin activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel García Caballero ◽  
Donella Beckwith ◽  
Nadezhda V. Shilova ◽  
Adele Gabba ◽  
Tanja J. Kutzner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Design ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Modular Assembly ◽  
Binding Partners ◽  
Galectin 3 ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Similar Affinity

Abstract The concept of biomedical significance of the functional pairing between tissue lectins and their glycoconjugate counterreceptors has reached the mainstream of research on the flow of biological information. A major challenge now is to identify the principles of structure–activity relationships that underlie specificity of recognition and the ensuing post-binding processes. Toward this end, we focus on a distinct feature on the side of the lectin, i.e. its architecture to present the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). Working with a multifunctional human lectin, i.e. galectin-3, as model, its CRD is used in protein engineering to build variants with different modular assembly. Hereby, it becomes possible to compare activity features of the natural design, i.e. CRD attached to an N-terminal tail, with those of homo- and heterodimers and the tail-free protein. Thermodynamics of binding disaccharides proved full activity of all proteins at very similar affinity. The following glycan array testing revealed maintained preferential contact formation with N-acetyllactosamine oligomers and histo-blood group ABH epitopes irrespective of variant design. The study of carbohydrate-inhibitable binding of the test panel disclosed up to qualitative cell-type-dependent differences in sections of fixed murine epididymis and especially jejunum. By probing topological aspects of binding, the susceptibility to inhibition by a tetravalent glycocluster was markedly different for the wild-type vs the homodimeric variant proteins. The results teach the salient lesson that protein design matters: the type of CRD presentation can have a profound bearing on whether basically suited oligosaccharides, which for example tested positively in an array, will become binding partners in situ. When lectin-glycoconjugate aggregates (lattices) are formed, their structural organization will depend on this parameter. Further testing (ga)lectin variants will thus be instrumental (i) to define the full range of impact of altering protein assembly and (ii) to explain why certain types of design have been favored during the course of evolution, besides opening biomedical perspectives for potential applications of the novel galectin forms.

Ultrasound accelerated near-edge functionalized heterogeneous graphene oxide sonocatalyst for surface optical bandwidth efficacy and in-situ sonothermocatalysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal Avashthi ◽  
Man Singh
Keyword(s):  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Surface Optical ◽  
Optical Bandwidth

Ultrasonochemically driven graphene oxide (GrO) functionalization (f) with Sulfanilamide (SA) near-edge catalyzed heterogeneous graphene oxide (h-GrO) as economic scalable f-(SA)GrO is reported. The novel in-situ H2O association was subsequently aligned...

scholarly journals Apoferritin Amyloid-Fibril Directed the In Situ Assembly and/or Synthesis of Optical and Magnetic Nanoparticles

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Rocío Jurado ◽  
Natividad Gálvez
Keyword(s):  
Metal Binding ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Synthetic Strategy ◽  
In Vivo Detection ◽  
Inorganic Species ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Β Lactoglobulin

The coupling of proteins that can assemble, recognise or mineralise specific inorganic species is a promising strategy for the synthesis of nanoscale materials with a controllable morphology and functionality. Herein, we report that apoferritin protein amyloid fibrils (APO) have the ability to assemble and/or synthesise various metal and metal compound nanoparticles (NPs). As such, we prepared metal NP–protein hybrid bioconjugates with improved optical and magnetic properties by coupling diverse gold (AuNPs) and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs) to apoferritin amyloid fibrils and compared them to the well-known β-lactoglobulin (BLG) protein. In a second approach, we used of solvent-exposed metal-binding residues in APO amyloid fibrils as nanoreactors for the in situ synthesis of gold, silver (AgNPs) and palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs). Our results demonstrate, the versatile nature of the APO biotemplate and its high potential for preparing functional hybrid bionanomaterials. Specifically, the use of apoferritin fibrils as vectors to integrate magnetic MNPs or AuNPs is a promising synthetic strategy for the preparation of specific contrast agents for early in vivo detection using various bioimaging techniques.

scholarly journals One-Pot Synthesis of Novel Multisubstituted 1-Alkoxyindoles

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1466
Author(s):  
Ye Eun Kim ◽  
Hyunsung Cho ◽  
Yoo Jin Lim ◽  
Chorong Kim ◽  
Sang Hyup Lee
Keyword(s):  
Alkyl Halide ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Reaction Conditions ◽  
One Pot ◽  
One Pot Synthesis ◽  
Consecutive Reactions ◽  
Intramolecular Condensation ◽  
Synthetic Sequence ◽  
Novel Target

Studies on a one-pot synthesis of novel multisubstituted 1-alkoxyindoles 1 and their mechanistic investigations are presented. The synthesis of 1 was successfully achieved through consecutive four step reactions from substrates 2. The substrates 2, prepared through a two-step synthetic sequence, underwent three consecutive reactions of nitro reduction, intramolecular condensation, and nucleophilic 1,5-addition to provide the intermediates, 1-hydroxyindoles 8, which then were alkylated in situ with alkyl halide to afford the novel target products 1. We optimized the reaction conditions for 1 focusing on the alkylation step, along with the consideration of formation of intermediates 8. The optimized condition was SnCl2·2H2O (3.3 eq) and alcohols (R1OH, 2.0 eq) for 1–2 h at 40 °C and then, base (10 eq) and alkyl halides (R2Y, 2.0 eq) for 1–4 h at 25–50 °C. Notably, all four step reactions were performed in one-pot to give 1 in good to modest yields. Furthermore, the mechanistic aspects were also discussed regarding the reaction pathways and the formation of side products. The significance lies in development of efficient one-pot reactions and in generation of new 1-alkoxyindoles.

scholarly journals Insertion of Phosphenium Ions into a Bicyclo[1.1.0]Tetraphosphabutane Iron Complex

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (13) ◽  
pp. 3920
Author(s):  
Martin Weber ◽  
Gábor Balázs ◽  
Alexander V. Virovets ◽  
Eugenia Peresypkina ◽  
Manfred Scheer
Keyword(s):  
Diffraction Analysis ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
31P Nmr ◽  
Spectroscopic Studies ◽  
Iron Complex ◽  
The Novel ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Phosphenium Ions

By reacting [{Cp‴Fe(CO)2}2(µ,η1:1-P4)] (1) with in situ generated phosphenium ions [Ph2P][A] ([A]− = [OTf]− = [O3SCF3]−, [PF6]−), a mixture of two main products of the composition [{Cp‴Fe(CO)2}2(µ,η1:1-P5(C6H5)2)][PF6] (2a and 3a) could be identified by extensive 31P NMR spectroscopic studies at 193 K. Compound 3a was also characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, showing the rarely observed bicyclo[2.1.0]pentaphosphapentane unit. At room temperature, the novel compound [{Cp‴Fe}(µ,η4:1-P5Ph2){Cp‴(CO)2Fe}][PF6] (4) is formed by decarbonylation. Reacting 1 with in situ generated diphenyl arsenium ions gives short-lived intermediates at 193 K which disproportionate at room temperature into tetraphenyldiarsine and [{Cp‴Fe(CO)2}4(µ4,η1:1:1:1-P8)][OTf]2 (5) containing a tetracyclo[3.3.0.02,7.03,6]octaphosphaoctane ligand.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document