Change in Allosteric Network Affects Binding Affinities of PDZ Domains: Analysis through Perturbation Response Scanning

The allosteric mechanism plays a key role in cellular functions of several PDZ domain proteins (PDZs) and is directly linked to pharmaceutical applications; however, it is a challenge to elaborate the nature and extent of these allosteric interactions. One solution to this problem is to explore the dynamics of PDZs, which may provide insights about how intramolecular communication occurs within a single domain. Here, we develop an advancement of perturbation response scanning (PRS) that couples elastic network models with linear response theory (LRT) to predict key residues in allosteric transitions of the two most studied PDZs (PSD-95 PDZ3 domain and hPTP1E PDZ2 domain). With PRS, we first identify the residues that give the highest mean square fluctuation response upon perturbing the binding sites. Strikingly, we observe that the residues with the highest mean square fluctuation response agree with experimentally determined residues involved in allosteric transitions. Second, we construct the allosteric pathways by linking the residues giving the same directional response upon perturbation of the binding sites. The predicted intramolecular communication pathways reveal that PSD-95 and hPTP1E have different pathways through the dynamic coupling of different residue pairs. Moreover, our analysis provides a molecular understanding of experimentally observed hidden allostery of PSD-95. We show that removing the distal third alpha helix from the binding site alters the allosteric pathway and decreases the binding affinity. Overall, these results indicate that (i) dynamics plays a key role in allosteric regulations of PDZs, (ii) the local changes in the residue interactions can lead to significant changes in the dynamics of allosteric regulations, and (iii) this might be the mechanism that each PDZ uses to tailor their binding specificities regulation

Damage and recovery of the Gurbantunggut Desert vegetation following engineering activities

The fragile ecological environment of the Gurbantunggut Desert is damaged/disturbed by human activities relating to the development of oil-gas resources and the constructions of desert road and great engineering in the Jungger Basin. It was mainly represented: soil compaction, vegetation cleaning, burial of vegetation, oil polluting, and soil disturbance. With investigation and experiment, we found that when the way and intensity of engineering activities disturbing the eco-environment does not make its ecological stability disintegrated, the desert vegetation has a capacity of natural recovery. To speed and strengthen the process of vegetation recovery efficient assistant measurements, including stabilizing mobile sands promptly and sowing seeds of shrub and herb plants in good time will be needed

Eco-environmental evolution, control, and adjustment for Aibi Lake catchment

Aibi Lake in north Xinjiang is a typical lake of the arid area, but with a peculiar wetland-arid area ecosystem. Due to the climate becoming drier and the disturbance of human activities, the eco-environment of Aibi Lake catchment has degraded, It was found in our study that there were spatial-temporal changes of vegetation cover, plant species, and soil physical and chemical properties in the catchment. In the upper section of alluvial-fluvial plains, the desertified steppe of Stipa and Artemisia spp. is developed with vegetation cover of some 50%. Haloxylon ammodendron desert occupies the lower section with vegetation cover of some 60%. In these regions with an intensive human disturbance, vegetation has degraded into herb vegetation of annual plant complexes. On the margins of the alluvial-fluvial fans, the lakeshore, and the surrounding regions where the river mouths join the lake, different azonal vegetation-Phragmites communis marsh, Phragmites communis meadow, and Tamarix shrubs-have developed with a vegetation cover of some 80%. On heavier, salinized land, succulent halophyte desert vegetation dominated by Halo-cnemum strobilaceum has formed with a fractional canopy cover of 10-15%. Haloxylon persicum, Aristida pennata, and other species with a vegetation cover of 30-50% grow in the sand desert zone on the periphery in the lake. In contrast with the 1950s, the vegetation cover around the lakebed and at the river deltas has slightly increased; however, the vegetation cover around the periphery of the lake has decreased and the plant species have still degraded. The surface soils on the windward area and the dried lakebed that have lost vegetation protection have become coarser, whereas the land on the leeward side of the lake has accumulated fine particles. In contrast with the 1980s, soil organic matter has declined markedly. The analyses of climatic data show that the number of days of drifting dust in Jinghe County and Bole City increased in the last 20 years. In the investigation, we found that intensively developed land, the bare lakebed, and abandoned cultivated land provided a great deal of material for drifting dust. In conclusion, we consider the eco-environmental degradation resulting from the inappropriate human activities and put forward recommendations for land-use adjustment and dust control

Study on disturbance of engineering activities to eco-environment of the Gurbantunggut desert

The Gurbantunggut Desert of Xinjiang is in temperate climate zone and its eco-environment is very fragile. With the exploitation and development of the oil-gas resources and the implementation of the desert highway and great engineering projects in the Gurbantunggut Desert the impact of human activities on the eco-environment has been increasingly significant. We compared the physical-chemical properties and vegetation community characteristics of Sandic Entisols from two artificial longitudinal dunes with a natural longitudinal dune in an area of engineering construction. Our results show that the depth of rainfall infiltration and soil moisture after rainfall for the artificial longitudinal dune, which lost vegetation (especially microbiological crust), is remarkably higher than the natural longitudinal dune and soil moisture on the artificial dune was subject to greater rates of evaporation. Salt concentration in the soil profile of the artificial dune is relatively uniform and reflects the homogenous environment that has resulted from mixing the soil. In comparison, Sandic Entisols usually show marked variation in salt content with depth, this was observed in the natural longitudinal dune. The nutrient levels of the natural longitudinal dune are higher than that of the artificial longitudinal dune, which is related to the distribution, density and health of the vegetation cover. After installing checkerboards to fix the artificial longitudinal dune, we found that ephemeral plants rapidly colonised the checkerboard environment. However, the re-establishment of shrub and semi-shrub plants required some rehabilitation measures, such as sowing seeds. Although the pioneering vegetation lacks the diversity of the natural vegetation, it creates beneficial conditions to establish additional plant species. Thus, it can be seen that the desert vegetation and the physical and chemical properties of Sandic Entisols are greatly affected by the disturbance caused by engineering construction. However, our results show that if rehabilitation measures, such as fixing mobile sands and re-sowing seeds, are adopted during or soon after the construction period then the disturbed ecosystem still has some capacity for natural rehabilitation

Magnetism and transport properties of melt-spun ribbon Cu2MnAl Heusler alloy

The magnetism and transport characterizations of the melt-spun ribbon Cu2MnAl alloy are presented. The temperature dependence of magnetization agrees well with the spin-wave theory. A qualitative interpretation has been given for the transport properties and led to information about the microscopic scattering mechanisms involved. A negative GMR for Cu2MnAl ribbons up to 3.5\% at high field is reported. The maximal magnetic scattering resistivity is estimated by the magnetic measurements. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Multi-sources of desert sands for the Jungger Basin

The grain size and mineral composition analyses of 236 samples from nine different sub-deserts within the Jungger Basin of north-western China reveal that dune sands from that region may be derived by local reworking of the underlying sands. That the grain size characteristics and mineral compositions vary with different sub-deserts show the diversities of their sand sources. The similarities and differences in mineral assemblage, mineral dispersion, quartz/feldspar value and grain size distribution between the dune sands and their underlying sands in the same sub-desert indicate that dune sands have derived from underlying sands within the same sub-basin, but dune sands have also received minor contributions of sediment from areas outside the sub-deserts. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd