Monitoring the synthesis and composition analysis of microsilica encapsulated acetylacetonatocarbonyl triphenylphosphinerhodium catalyst by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques

Journal ArticleAbstract-A novel technique to monitor the synthesis process of encapsulated acetylacetonatocarbonyl triphenylphosphinerhodium within a microsilica nanoshell has been studied using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques. Nanospheres sized around 50-100 nm were obtained and ICP was used to quantify the exact composition of rhodium, phosphorous, and silicon with differing digestion solvents. In addition, ICP was used to detect rhodium and phosphorous in the nano core-shell catalysts as a quality control procedure. Index Terms-Encapsulation, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), nanotechnology, Rh catalyst, silica nanoshell

Combined deletion of mouse dematin-headpiece and ß-adducin exerts a novel effect on the spectrin-actin junctions leading to erythrocyte fragility and hemolytic Anemia

Journal ArticleDematin and adducin are actin-binding proteins of the erythrocyte "junctional complex." Individually, they exert modest effects on erythrocyte shape and membrane stability, and their homologues are expressed widely in non-erythroid cells. Here we report generation and characterization of double knock-out mice lacking β-adducin and the headpiece domain of dematin. The combined mutations result in altered erythrocyte morphology, increased membrane instability, and severe hemolysis. Peripheral blood analysis shows evidence of severe hemolytic anemia with reduced number of erythrocytes/hematocrit/hemoglobin and an ~12-fold increase in the number of circulating reticulocytes. The presence of a variety of misshapen and fragmented erythrocytes correlates with increased osmotic fragility and reduced in vivo life span. Despite the apparently normal protein composition of the mutant erythrocyte membrane, the retention of the spectrin-actin complex in the membrane under low ionic strength conditions is significantly reduced by the double mutation. Atomic force microscopy reveals an increase in grain size and a decrease in filament number of the mutant membrane cytoskeleton, although the volume parameter is similar to wild type erythrocytes. Aggregated, disassembled, and irregular features are visualized in the mutant membrane, consistent with the presence of large protein aggregates. Importantly, purified dematin binds to the stripped inside-out vesicles in a saturable manner, and dematin-membrane binding is abolished upon pretreatment of membrane vesicles with trypsin. Together, these results reveal an essential role of dematin and adducin in the maintenance of erythrocyte shape and membrane stability, and they suggest that the dematin-membrane interaction could link the junctional complex to the plasma membrane in erythroid cells

Structural and spectropotentiometric analysis of Blastochloris viridis heterodimer mutant reaction center

Heterodimer mutant reaction centers (RCs) of Blastochloris viridis were crystallized using microfluidic technology. In this mutant, a leucine residue replaced the histidine residue which had acted as a fifth ligand to the bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) of the primary electron donor dimer M site (HisM200). With the loss of the histidine-coordinated Mg, one bacteriochlorophyll of the special pair was converted into a bacteriopheophytin (BPhe), and the primary donor became a heterodimer supermolecule. The crystals had dimensions 400 × 100 ×100 μm, belonged to space group P43212, and were isomorphous to the ones reported earlier for the wild type (WT) strain. The structure was solved to a 2.5 Å resolution limit. Electron-density maps confirmed the replacement of the histidine residue and the absence of Mg. Structural changes in the heterodimer mutant RC relative to the WT included the absence of the water molecule that is typically positioned between the M side of the primary donor and the accessory BChl, a slight shift in the position of amino acids surrounding the site of the mutation, and the rotation of the M194 phenylalanine. The cytochrome subunit was anchored similarly as in the WT and had no detectable changes in its overall position. The highly conserved tyrosine L162, located between the primary donor and the highest potential heme C380, revealed only a minor deviation of its hydroxyl group. Concomitantly to modification of the BChl molecule, the redox potential of the heterodimer primary donor increased relative to that of the WT organism (772 mV vs. 517 mV). The availability of this heterodimer mutant and its crystal structure provides opportunities for investigating changes in light-induced electron transfer that reflect differences in redox cascades

Nanomedicine making headway across the blood brain barrier

pre-printNanotechnological advances implemented by nanomedicine have allowed significant development of imaging strategies, therapeutics and theranostics for many severe and life threatening diseases such as brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. The Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) and the Blood-Cerebrospinal Fluid Barrier (BCSF) have hindered the effective delivery of brain imaging agents and therapeutics. However, within the last decade, innovations in the design of nanoparticles are proving to be very exciting