Shear Stress Transmission Model for the Flagellar Rotary Motor

Most bacteria that swim are propelled by flagellar filaments, which are driven by a rotary motor powered by proton flux. The mechanism of the flagellar motor is discussed by reforming the model proposed by the present authors in 2005. It is shown that the mean strength of Coulomb field produced by a proton passing the channel is very strong in the Mot assembly so that the Mot assembly can be a shear force generator and induce the flagellar rotation. The model gives clear calculation results in agreement with experimental observations, e g., for the charasteristic torque-velocity relationship of the flagellar rotation

Acoustic pressure pulses from laser-irradiated suspensions containing gold nanospheres in water: Experimental and theoretical study

We present a physical model that describes the acoustic pressure pulses from diluted suspensions of metal nanospheres in a liquid medium irradiated by laser pulses. The experimental measurements of the photoacoustic signals are also reported, where the suspensions of 8-nm gold nanospheres in water at different concentrations and different temperatures were irradiated by 0.8-ns laser pulses. We mainly investigate how the nanosphere concentration and the suspension temperature influence the photoacoustic responses. The estimations from our model are found to be in good agreement with the results from the experiments

The Ser176 of T4 endonuclease IV is crucial for the restricted and polarized dC-specific cleavage of single-stranded DNA implicated in restriction of dC-containing DNA in host Escherichia coli

Endonuclease (Endo) IV encoded by denB of bacteriophage T4 is an enzyme that cleaves single-stranded (ss) DNA in a dC-specific manner. Also the growth of dC-substituted T4 phage and host Escherichia coli cells is inhibited by denB expression presumably because of the inhibitory effect on replication of dC-containing DNA. Recently, we have demonstrated that an efficient cleavage by Endo IV occurs exclusively at the 5′-proximal dC (dC1) within a hexameric or an extended sequence consisting of dC residues at the 5′-proximal and the 3′-proximal positions (dCs tract), in which a third dC residue within the tract affects the polarized cleavage and cleavage rate. Here we isolate and characterize two denB mutants, denB(W88R) and denB(S176N). Both mutant alleles have lost the detrimental effect on the host cell. Endo IV(W88R) shows no enzymatic activity (<0.4% of that of wild-type Endo IV). On the other hand, Endo IV(S176N) retains cleavage activity (17.5% of that of wild-type Endo IV), but has lost the polarized and restricted cleavage of a dCs tract, indicating that the Ser176 residue of Endo IV is implicated in the polarized cleavage of a dCs tract which brings about a detrimental effect on the replication of dC-containing DNA

Preparation of DNA/Gold Nanoparticle Encapsulated in Calcium Phosphate

Biocompatible DNA/gold nanoparticle complex with a protective calcium phosphate (CaP) coating was prepared by incubating DNA/gold nanoparticle complex coated by hyaluronic acid in SBF (simulated body fluid) with a Ca concentration above 2 mM. The CaP-coated DNA complex was revealed to have high compatibility with cells and resistance against enzymatic degradation. By immersion in acetate buffer (pH 4.5), the CaP capsule released the contained DNA complex. This CaP capsule including a DNA complex is promising as a sustained-release system of DNA complexes for gene therapy

Akt2 phosphorylates Synip to regulate docking and fusion of GLUT4-containing vesicles

We have identified an unusual potential dual Akt/protein kinase B consensus phosphorylation motif in the protein Synip (RxKxRS97xS99). Surprisingly, serine 97 is not appreciably phosphorylated, whereas serine 99 is only a specific substrate for Akt2 but not Akt1 or Akt3. Although wild-type Synip (WT-Synip) undergoes an insulin-stimulated dissociation from Syntaxin4, the Synip serine 99 to phenylalanine mutant (S99F-Synip) is resistant to Akt2 phosphorylation and fails to display insulin-stimulated Syntaxin4 dissociation. Furthermore, overexpression of WT-Synip in 3T3L1 adipocytes had no effect on insulin-stimulated recruitment of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) to the plasma membrane, whereas overexpression of S99F-Synip functioned in a dominant-interfering manner by preventing insulin-stimulated GLUT4 recruitment and plasma membrane fusion. These data demonstrate that insulin activation of Akt2 specifically regulates the docking/fusion step of GLUT4-containing vesicles at the plasma membrane through the regulation of Synip phosphorylation and Synip–Syntaxin4 interaction