576 research outputs found
Electrophoretic behavior of streptavidin complexed to a biotinylated probe : A functional screening assay for biotin-binding proteins
The biotin-binding protein streptavidin exhibits a high stability against thermal denaturation, especially when complexed to biotin. Herein we show that, in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), streptavidin is stabilized at high temperature in the presence of biotinylated fluorescent probes, such as biotin-4-fluorescein, which is incorporated within the binding pocket. In nondenaturing SDS-PAGE, streptavidin is detectable when complexed with biotin-4-fluorescein using a UV-transilluminator. Using biotin-4-fluorescein, the detection limit of streptavidin lies in the same range as with Coomassie blue staining. The functionality of streptavidin mutants can readily be assessed from crude bacterial extracts using biotin-4-fluorescein as a probe in nondenaturing SDS-PAGE
Modelling Molecular Motors as Folding-Unfolding Cycles
We propose a model for motor proteins based on a hierarchical Hamiltonian
that we have previously introduced to describe protein folding. The proposed
motor model has high efficiency and is consistent with a linear load-velocity
response. The main improvement with respect to previous models is that this
description suggests a connection between folding and function of allosteric
proteins.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 2 Postscript figures, replaced due to LaTeX proble
Editorial: ADAM10 in Cancer Immunology and Autoimmunity: More Than a Simple Biochemical Scissor
Structure factor and dynamics of the helix-coil transition
Thermodynamical properties of the helix-coil transition were successfully
described in the past by the model of Lifson, Poland and Sheraga. Here we
compute the corresponding structure factor and show that it possesses a
universal scaling behavior near the transition point, even when the transition
is of first order. Moreover, we introduce a dynamical version of this model,
that we solve numerically. A Langevin equation is also proposed to describe the
dynamics of the density of hydrogen bonds. Analytical solution of this equation
shows dynamical scaling near the critical temperature and predicts a gelation
phenomenon above the critical temperature. In the case when comparison of the
two dynamical approaches is possible, the predictions of our phenomenological
theory agree with the results of the Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
On the density profile of the globular cluster M92
We present new number density and surface brightness profiles for the
globular cluster M92 (NGC 6341). These profiles are calculated from optical
images collected with the CCD mosaic camera MegaCam at the
Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope and with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the
Hubble Space Telescope. The ground-based data were supplemented with the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey photometric catalog. Special care was taken to discriminate
candidate cluster stars from field stars and to subtract the background
contamination from both profiles. By examining the contour levels of the number
density, we found that the stellar distribution becomes clumpy at radial
distances larger than about 13 arcminutes, and there is no preferred
orientation of contours in space. We performed detailed fits of King and Wilson
models to the observed profiles. The best-fit models underestimate the number
density inside the core radius. Wilson models better represent the
observations, in particular in the outermost cluster regions: the good global
agreement of these models with the observations suggests that there is no need
to introduce an extra-tidal halo to explain the radial distribution of stars at
large radial distances. The best-fit models for the number density and the
surface brightness profiles are different, even though they are based on the
same observations. Additional tests support the evidence that this fact
reflects the difference in the radial distribution of the stellar tracers that
determine the observed profiles (main sequence stars for the number density,
bright evolved stars for the surface brightness).Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by A
Periodically kicked turbulence
Periodically kicked turbulence is theoretically analyzed within a mean field
theory. For large enough kicking strength A and kicking frequency f the
Reynolds number grows exponentially and then runs into some saturation. The
saturation level can be calculated analytically; different regimes can be
observed. For large enough Re we find the saturation level to be proportional
to A*f, but intermittency can modify this scaling law. We suggest an
experimental realization of periodically kicked turbulence to study the
different regimes we theoretically predict and thus to better understand the
effect of forcing on fully developed turbulence.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. E., in pres
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