Probing the mechanism of electron capture and electron transfer dissociation using tags with variable electron affinity

Electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) of doubly protonated electron affinity (EA)-tuned peptides were studied to further illuminate the mechanism of these processes. The model peptide FQpSEEQQQTEDELQDK, containing a phosphoserine residue, was converted to EA-tuned peptides via β-elimination and Michael addition of various thiol compounds. These include propanyl, benzyl, 4-cyanobenzyl, perfluorobenzyl, 3,5-dicyanobenzyl, 3-nitrobenzyl, and 3,5-dinitrobenzyl structural moieties, having a range of EA from −1.15 to +1.65 eV, excluding the propanyl group. Typical ECD or ETD backbone fragmentations are completely inhibited in peptides with substituent tags having EA over 1.00 eV, which are referred to as electron predators in this work. Nearly identical rates of electron capture by the dications substituted by the benzyl (EA = −1.15 eV) and 3-nitrobenzyl (EA = 1.00 eV) moieties are observed, which indicates the similarity of electron capture cross sections for the two derivatized peptides. This observation leads to the inference that electron capture kinetics are governed by the long-range electron−dication interaction and are not affected by side chain derivatives with positive EA. Once an electron is captured to high-n Rydberg states, however, through-space or through-bond electron transfer to the EA-tuning tags or low-n Rydberg states via potential curve crossing occurs in competition with transfer to the amide π* orbital. The energetics of these processes are evaluated using time-dependent density functional theory with a series of reduced model systems. The intramolecular electron transfer process is modulated by structure-dependent hydrogen bonds and is heavily affected by the presence and type of electron-withdrawing groups in the EA-tuning tag. The anion radicals formed by electron predators have high proton affinities (approximately 1400 kJ/mol for the 3-nitrobenzyl anion radical) in comparison to other basic sites in the model peptide dication, facilitating exothermic proton transfer from one of the two sites of protonation. This interrupts the normal sequence of events in ECD or ETD, leading to backbone fragmentation by forming a stable radical intermediate. The implications which these results have for previously proposed ECD and ETD mechanisms are discussed

Immunization Alters Body Odor

Infections have been shown to alter body odor. Because immune activation accompanies both infection and immunization, we tested the hypothesis that classical immunization might similarly result in the alteration of body odors detectable by trained biosensor mice. Using a Y-maze, we trained biosensor mice to distinguish between urine odors from rabies-vaccinated (RV) and unvaccinated control mice. RV-trained mice generalized this training to mice immunized with the equine West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine compared with urine of corresponding controls. These results suggest that there are similarities between body odors of mice immunized with these two vaccines. This conclusion was reinforced when mice could not be trained to directly discriminate between urine odors of RV- versus WNV-treated mice. Next,we trained biosensor mice to discriminate the urine odors of mice treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; a general elicitor of innate immunological responses) from the urine of control mice. These LPS-trained biosensors could distinguish between the odors of LPS-treated mouse urine and RV-treated mouse urine. Finally, biosensor mice trained to distinguish between the odors of RV-treated mouse urine and control mouse urine did not generalize this training to discriminate between the odors of LPS-treated mouse urine and control mouse urine. From these experiments, we conclude that: (1) immunization alters urine odor in similar ways for RV andWNV immunizations; and (2) immune activation with LPS also alters urine odor but in ways different from those of RV and WNV

Differing Alterations of Odor Volatiles among Pathogenic Stimuli

Alterations of the volatile metabolome (the collection of volatiles present in secretions and other emanations) that occur in response to inflammation can be detected by conspecifics and chemometric analyses. Using a model system where mouse urinary metabolites are altered by treatment with lipopolysaccharide (found in the outer cell membrane of gram-negative bacteria), we hypothesized that alteration of body odor volatiles will vary according to the pathogen responsible for inducing the inflammation. We tested this hypothesis by treating mice with different immunogens that engage different immune signaling pathways. Results suggest that alterations of body odor volatiles resulting from inflammation do contain detailed information about the type of pathogen that instigated the inflammation and these differences are not merely dependent on the severity of the inflammatory event. These results are encouraging for the future of differential medical diagnosis of febrile diseases by analysis of the volatile metabolome. In particular, our data support the possibility that bacterial infections can be differentiated from viral infections such that antibiotic drug stewardship could be drastically improved by reducing unneeded treatments with antibiotics

Cytokine contributions to alterations of the volatile metabolome induced by inflammation

Several studies demonstrate that inflammation affects body odor. Volatile signals associated with inflammation induced by pyrogens like LPS are detectable both by conspecifics and chemical analyses. However, little is known about the mechanisms which translate detection of a foreign molecule or pathogen into a unique body odor, or even how unique that odor may be. Here, we utilized C57BL/6J trained mice to identify the odor of LPS-treated conspecifics to investigate potential pathways between LPS-induced inflammation and changes in body odor, as represented by changes in urine odor. We hypothesized that the change in volatile metabolites could be caused directly by the pro-inflammatory cytokine response mediated by TNF or IL-1b, or by the compensatory anti-inflammatory response mediated by IL-10. We found that trained biosensors generalized learned LPS-associated odors to TNF-induced odors, but not to IL-1b or IL-10-induced odors. Analyses of urine volatiles using headspace gas chromatography revealed distinct profiles of volatile compounds for each treatment. Instrumental discrimination relied on a mixture of compounds, including 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole, cedrol, nonanal, benzaldehyde, acetic acid, 2- ethyl-1-hexanol, and dehydro-exo-brevicomin. Although interpretation of LDA modeling differed from behavioral testing, it does suggest that treatment with TNF, IL-1b, and LPS can be distinguished by their resultant volatile profiles. These findings indicate there is information found in body odors on the presence of specific cytokines. This result is encouraging for the future of disease diagnosis via analysis of volatiles

Theoretical study of kinks on screw dislocation in silicon

Theoretical calculations of the structure, formation and migration of kinks on a non-dissociated screw dislocation in silicon have been carried out using density functional theory calculations as well as calculations based on interatomic potential functions. The results show that the structure of a single kink is characterized by a narrow core and highly stretched bonds between some of the atoms. The formation energy of a single kink ranges from 0.9 to 1.36 eV, and is of the same order as that for kinks on partial dislocations. However, the kinks migrate almost freely along the line of an undissociated dislocation unlike what is found for partial dislocations. The effect of stress has also been investigated in order to compare with previous silicon deformation experiments which have been carried out at low temperature and high stress. The energy barrier associated with the formation of a stable kink pair becomes as low as 0.65 eV for an applied stress on the order of 1 GPa, indicating that displacements of screw dislocations likely occur via thermally activated formation of kink pairs at room temperature

Sharing an environment with sick conspecifics alters odors of healthy animals

Body odors change with health status and the odors of sick animals can induce avoidance behaviors in healthy conspecifics. Exposure to sickness odors might also alter the physiology of healthy conspecifics and modify the odors they produce. We hypothesized that exposure to odors of sick (but non-infectious) animals would alter the odors of healthy cagemates. To induce sickness, we injected mice with a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide. We used behavioral odor discrimination assays and analytical chemistry techniques followed by predictive classification modeling to ask about differences in volatile odorants produced by two types of healthy mice: those cohoused with healthy conspecifics and those cohoused with sick conspecifics. Mice trained in Y-maze behavioral assays to discriminate between the odors of healthy versus sick mice also discriminated between the odors of healthy mice cohoused with sick conspecifics and odors of healthy mice cohoused with healthy conspecifics. Chemical analyses paired with statistical modeling revealed a parallel phenomenon. Urine volatiles of healthy mice cohoused with sick partners were more likely to be classified as those of sick rather than healthy mice based on discriminant model predictions. Sickness-related odors could have cascading effects on neuroendocrine or immune responses of healthy conspecifics, and could affect individual behaviors, social dynamics, and pathogen spread

“We thought you were undercover, here to inspect us” – Some of the challenges of ethnographic fieldwork in schools

This paper provides an insight into the challenges associated with conducting ethnographic fieldwork in a primary school and a secondary school in South Wales. Drawing on personal reflections and experiences, it provides an account of the lessons learnt. Themes include gaining access, role selection, establishing trust, developing relationships and role conflict. More specifically, the differences associated with conducting research in a primary and secondary school are identified, whilst highlighting the fragile nature of pupil-centred research

Identification of oligomerization and drug-binding domains of the membrane fusion protein EmrA

Many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria possess tripartite transporters that catalyze drug extrusion across the inner and outer membranes, thereby conferring resistance. These transporters consist of inner (IMP) and outer (OMP) membrane proteins, which are coupled by a periplasmic membrane fusion (MFP) protein. However, it is not know whether the MFP translocates the drug between the membranes, by acting as a channel, or whether it brings the IMP and OMP together, facilitating drug transfer. The MFP EmrA has an elongated periplasmic domain, which binds transported drugs, and is anchored to the inner membrane by a single -helix, which contains a leucine zipper dimerization domain. Consistent with CD and hydrodynamic analyses, the periplasmic domain is predicted to be composed of a -sheet subdomain and an -helical coiled-coil. We propose that EmrA forms a trimer in which the coiled-coils radiate across the periplasm, where they could sequester the OMP TolC. The "free" leucine zipper in the EmrA trimer might stabilize the interaction with the IMP EmrB, which also possesses leucine zipper motifs in the putative N- and C-terminal helices. The -sheet subdomain of EmrA would sit at the membrane surface adjacent to the EmrB, from which it receives the transported drug, inducing a conformational change that triggers the interaction with the OMP

Spatio-temporal dynamics and plastic flow of vortices in superconductors with periodic arrays of pinning sites

We present simulations of flux-gradient-driven superconducting rigid vortices interacting with square and triangular arrays of columnar pinning sites in an increasing external magnetic field. These simulations allow us to quantitatively relate spatio-temporal microscopic information of the vortex lattice with typically measured macroscopic quantities, such as the magnetization $M(H)$. The flux lattice does not become completely commensurate with the pinning sites throughout the sample at the magnetization matching peaks, but forms a commensurate lattice in a region close to the edge of the sample. Matching fields related to unstable vortex configurations do not produce peaks in $M(H)$. We observe a variety of evolving complex flux profiles, including flat terraces or plateaus separated by winding current-carrying strings and, near the peaks in $M(H)$, plateaus only in certain regions, which move through the sample as the field increases

The problem of mutually unbiased bases in dimension 6

We outline a discretization approach to determine the maximal number of mutually unbiased bases in dimension 6. We describe the basic ideas and introduce the most important definitions to tackle this famous open problem which has been open for the last 10 years. Some preliminary results are also listed