Why Do Protein Crystals Grown With the Aid of Porous Materials Show Better Diffraction Quality?

Well-diffracting protein crystals are indispensable for X-ray diffraction analysis, which is still the most powerful method for structure-function studies of biomolecules. A promising approach to growing such crystals is by using porous nucleation-inducing materials. However, while protein crystal nucleation in pores has been thoroughly considered, little attention has been paid to the subsequent growth of the crystals. Although the nucleation stage is decisive, it is the subsequent growth of the crystals outside the pore that determines their diffraction quality. The molecular-scale mechanism of growth of protein crystals in and outside pores is here considered theoretically. Due to the metastable conditions, the crystals that emerge from the pores grow slowly, which is a prerequisite for better diffraction. This expectation has been corroborated by experiments carried out with several types of porous material, such as Bioglass (“Naomi’s Nucleant”), Buckypaper, porous gold and porous silicon. Protein crystals grown with the aid of Bioglass and Buckypaper yielded significantly better diffraction quality compared with crystals grown conventionally. In all cases, visually superior crystals are usually obtained. We furthermore conclude that heterogeneous nucleation of a crystal outside the pore is an exceptional case. Rather, the protein crystals nucleating inside the pores continue growing outside them.

DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY IN 14 MONTH OLD BOY WITH GRADE I MALNUTRITION

When a child does not meet his or her developmental milestones within the predicted time or age, this is referred to as developmental delay. Developmental milestones are activities that certain children master or acquire at specific ages. Head balance, rolling, crawling, driving, and talking are a few examples. The mechanism of growth and the completion of such developmental milestones are referred to as child development. The patient was a 14 months old male child came to the hospital with complaint of inability to sit also he is unable to hold anything in his hand. As narrated by the mother the child was born to G2P1L1A1 mother at 9 months 5 days of gestation. The child has not yet attained gross motor milestone such as rolling over and no sit with support. The child attained immature pincer grasp at 12 months of age and has not attained mature pincer grasp. Social smile was attained at 6 months, stranger anxiety at 12 months and the child has not attained bye-bye. The child was alert to sounds by the age of 9 months .babbles at 10 months and says mama-dada at 12 months. The child is immunized till age. The marriage of the parents was non-consanguineous marriage. The child was born with a weight of 2.5 kg the mother had LSCS and breech delivery. The child did not cry immediately after birth. The child has history of fever after 3 months of delivery. The child is also interpreted as grade 1 mild malnutritious (71-80) %. Developmental delay and grade 1 mild malnutrition. The above study shows that Neck facilitation exercises in prone lying, Ice technique and proper brush technique for neck facilitation improves neck holding. Rolling facilitation in side lying position and proper handling positions helps in attaining milestones such as Rolling over. Facilitation of extension tone with vestibular rehabilitation helps to facilitate extensors. Family plays an important role in the management of such cases all the exercises should be properly explained to them for more improvement. Supporting the child while sitting, for example, might help him or her develop weight shifting, rotation, coordination, and balance.

Gothic-Arch Calcite from Speleothems of the Bohemian Karst (Czech Republic): Its Occurrence, Microscopic Ultrastructure and Possible Mechanism of Growth

Gothic arch calcite, a specific crystallographic variety of calcite known from some hot springs and tufa streams, has been newly recognized in the Koněprusy Caves. The gothic-arch calcite occurs on the exteriors of exotic coralloid speleothems where it coexists with scalenohedral (dogtooth) spar crystals. The crystals exhibit microscopic ultrastructural features including deeply eroded topography, etch pits, and spiky and ribbon calcite crystallites, pointing to its extensive natural etching. Many gothic-arch calcites originated as late-stage, secondary overgrowths on older, etched dogtooth calcite crystals. Its characteristic outward curvature resulted from the recrystallization of etching-liberated fine carbonate grains and newly formed needle-fiber calcite laths, which were accumulated and bound on the faces and at the bases of corroded crystals. These intimately coexisting destructive and constructive processes of carbonate crystal corrosion and growth were probably mediated by bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms. Fluid inclusions embedded in calcite crystals point to a vadose setting and temperatures below ~50 °C. This, combined with the wider geological context, indicates that the gothic arch calcite crystals originated only during the late Pleistocene to Holocene epochs, when the cave, initially eroded by hypogene fluids in the deeper subsurface, was uplifted to the subaerial setting and exposed to the meteoric waters seeping from the topographic surface. The radiocarbon analysis shows that gothic-arch calcite crystals are generally older than ~55,000 years, but the surface layers of some crystals still reveal a weak 14C activity, suggesting that microbiologically mediated alterations of the speleothems may have been occurring locally until now.

Serotonergic neuron ribosomes regulate the neuroendocrine control of Drosophila development.

The regulation of ribosome function is a conserved mechanism of growth control. While studies in single cell systems have defined how ribosomes contribute to cell growth, the mechanisms that link ribosome function to organismal growth are less clear. Here we explore this issue using Drosophila Minutes, a class of heterozygous mutants for ribosomal proteins (Rps). These animals exhibit a delay in larval development caused by decreased production of the steroid hormone ecdysone, the main regulator of larval maturation. We found that this developmental delay is not caused by decreases in either global ribosome numbers or translation rates. Instead, we show that they are due in part to loss of Rp function specifically in a subset of serotonin (5-HT) neurons that innervate the prothoracic gland to control ecdysone production. We found that these 5-HT neurons have defective secretion in Minute animals, and that overexpression of synaptic vesicle proteins in 5-HTergic cells can partially reverse the Minute developmental delay. These results identify a cell-specific role for ribosomal function in the neuroendocrine control of animal growth and development.

Low-temperature Mossbauer studies of the phase composition and structural stability of iron (III) oxide/hydroxide nanocomposite

In article present the results of low-temperature Mossbauer studies of iron (III) oxide/hydroxide nanocomposite synthesized by the method of deposition. Based on these studies, the composition of the synthesized composite was revealed. The nanodispersed composite with a specific surface 280 m2/g is a hematite in the weakly disordered crystalline state (CSR 10 nm), and a lepidocrocite in the X-ray amorphous state (particles size 3-4 nm). The relative integral intensity of the Zeeman sextet, which corresponds to the magnetically ordered phase of hematite, is practically unchanged and is about 17%. The tendency to divide the magnetically ordered component into two sextets, which differ in quadrupole splitting QS= –0.21 mm/s and QS= 0.21 mm/s, respectively, is observed starting from a temperature of 190 K. As a result of annealing of the synthesized material at a temperature of 200°C, a slight redistribution (≈ 5%) of the content of paramagnetic and magnetically ordered components was recorded, which indicates the structural stability of the nanoparticles of the lepidocrocite γ-FeOOH phase at this temperature. Increase of annealing temperatures to 500oC leads to the predicted course of the phase transition γ-FеООH ® α-Fе2О3. The mechanism of growth of hematite crystallites during sintering due to fixation side faces of larger α-Fe2O3 phase of nanoparticles of the γ-FeOOH phase with simultaneous transformation of their crystal structure to side faces of larger α-Fe2O3 phase particles is presented.

RelA-SpoT Homologue toxins pyrophosphorylate the CCA end of tRNA to inhibit protein synthesis

RelA-SpoT Homolog (RSH) enzymes control bacterial physiology through synthesis and degradation of the nucleotide alarmone (p)ppGpp. We recently discovered multiple families of Small Alarmone Synthetase (SAS) RSH acting as toxins of toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules, with the FaRel subfamily of toxSAS abrogating bacterial growth by producing an analogue of (p)ppGpp, (pp)pApp. Here we probe the mechanism of growth arrest employed by four experimentally unexplored subfamilies of toxSAS: FaRel2, PhRel, PhRel2 and CapRel. Surprisingly, all these toxins specifically inhibit protein synthesis. To do so, they transfer a pyrophosphate moiety from ATP to the tRNA 3′ CCA. The modification inhibits both tRNA aminoacylation and the sensing of cellular amino acid starvation by the ribosome-associated RSH RelA. Conversely, we show that some Small Alarmone Hydrolase (SAH) RSH enzymes can reverse the pyrophosphorylation of tRNA to counter the growth inhibition by toxSAS. Collectively, we establish RSHs as a novel class of RNA-modifying enzymes.