One-Step Synthesis of Porous Graphitic Carbon Nitride and the Photocatalytic Performance under Visible-Light Irradiation

Porous graphitic carbon nitride (pg-C3N4) was synthesized via a facile one-step dicyandiamide (DCDA) high-temperature calcination method using heat-labile ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) as the gaseous template, and different pg-C3N4 materials were obtained by mixing various mass ratios of NH4HCO3 into DCDA. The micro-structures and -morphologies of the porous materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) respectively, and the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was tested under visible-light irradiation. It is found that the thermal decomposition of NH4HCO3 promoted destruction of the layer-structured g-C3N4 and increment of the specific surface area, producing more porous structures on the material surfaces, which is considered to be vital for the improvement of photocatalytic performance. Compared with the photocatalyst calcined by pure DCDA, the pg-C3N4 photocatalysts obtained by mixing the two raw materials performed better on MB dye degradation. Moreover, photocatalytic efficiency of the catalysts improved significantly with increasing NH4HCO3 contents in the raw materials. The degradation rate photocatalyzed by pg-C3N4 materials can reach more than 90% within 1.5 h, 6.5 times higher than that of the control material. It comes up to 99% at 2 h, basically achieving the complete degradation and decolorization of MB dye

Exploring infrared wavelength matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization of proteins with delayed-extraction time-of-flight mass spectrometry

AbstractWe report a study of the application of delayed extraction (DE) to infrared-wavelength matrix-assisted time-of-flight mass spectrometry (IR-MALDI-TOF-MS) of proteins. The shapes of the spectral peaks obtained with DE-IR-MALDI-MS are compared with those obtained from the same samples and matrix using continuous extraction (CE) IR-MALDI-MS. Application of DE results in significant improvements in the peak resolution, revealing spectral features (in proteins with molecular masses <12 kDa) that were not resolved in the corresponding CE-IR-MALDI mass spectra. Particularly significant is a series of peaks on the high mass side of the protonated protein peaks that arise through replacement of protons by adventitious sodium ions in the sample. We deduced that these sodium replacement species are a significant contributer to the broad tails (and resulting peak asymmetries) that are a feature of the DE-IR-MALDI mass spectra of proteins with molecular masses ≥17 kDa. The peak width reduction observed in IR-MALDI by DE suggests that, as in UV-MALDI, the initial velocity distribution for ions produced in the MALDI process contributes to the peak broadness in the CE mass spectra. In a systematic comparison between DE UV-MALDI and DE IR-MALDI, we determined that photochemical matrix adduction is present in UV-MALDI but absent in IR-MALDI. In addition, we find that protein ions produced by IR irradiation are less internally excited (i.e., cooler), exhibiting less fragmentation, more Na+ replacement and/or unspecified noncovalent adduction, and more heme adduction with apomyoglobin. Thus, IR-MALDI appears to be a softer means for producing gas-phase protein ions than is UV-MALDI. It will be of considerable practical interest to determine whether large protein ions produced by IR-MALDI are sufficiently cool to survive transport through reflecting TOF mass spectrometers (without loss of small neutral species such as H2O, NH3, and CO2) and the extended time periods required for detection by quadrupole ion trap and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass analyzers

“De novo” peptide sequencing by MALDI-quadrupole-ion trap mass spectrometry: a preliminary study

AbstractCollision-induced dissociation of singly charged peptide ions produced by resonant excitation in a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) ion trap mass spectrometer yields relatively low complexity MS/MS spectra that exhibit highly preferential fragmentation, typically occurring adjacent to aspartyl, glutamyl, and prolyl residues. Although these spectra have proven to be of considerable utility for database-driven protein identification, they have generally been considered to contain insufficient information to be useful for extensive de novo sequencing. Here, we report a procedure for de novo sequencing of peptides that uses MS/MS data generated by an in-house assembled MALDI-quadrupole-ion trap mass spectrometer (Krutchinsky, Kalkum, and Chait Anal. Chem. 2001, 73, 5066–5077). Peptide sequences of up 14 amino acid residues in length have been deduced from digests of proteins separated by SDS-PAGE. Key to the success of the current procedure is an ability to obtain MS/MS spectra with high signal-to-noise ratios and to efficiently detect relatively low abundance fragment ions that result from the less favorable fragmentation pathways. The high signal-to-noise ratio yields sufficiently accurate mass differences to allow unambiguous amino acid sequence assignments (with a few exceptions), and the efficient detection of low abundance fragment ions allows continuous reads through moderately long stretches of sequence. Finally, we show how the aforementioned preferential cleavage property of singly charged ions can be used to facilitate the de novo sequencing process

ARF-BP1/Mule Is a Critical Mediator of the ARF Tumor Suppressor

SummaryAlthough the importance of the ARF tumor suppressor in p53 regulation is well established, numerous studies indicate that ARF also suppresses cell growth in a p53/Mdm2-independent manner. To understand the mechanism of ARF-mediated tumor suppression, we identified a ubiquitin ligase, ARF-BP1, as a key factor associated with ARF in vivo. ARF-BP1 harbors a signature HECT motif, and its ubiquitin ligase activity is inhibited by ARF. Notably, inactivation of ARF-BP1, but not Mdm2, suppresses the growth of p53 null cells in a manner reminiscent of ARF induction. Surprisingly, in p53 wild-type cells, ARF-BP1 directly binds and ubiquitinates p53, and inactivation of endogenous ARF-BP1 is crucial for ARF-mediated p53 stabilization. Thus, our study modifies the current view of ARF-mediated p53 activation and reveals that ARF-BP1 is a critical mediator of both the p53-independent and p53-dependent tumor suppressor functions of ARF. As such, ARF-BP1 may serve as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in tumors regardless of p53 status

A unique iridium(III) complex-based chemosensor for multi-signal detection and multi-channel imaging of hypochlorous acid in liver injury

Although hypochlorous acid (HOCl) has long been associated with a number of inflammatory diseases in mammalian bodies, the functions of HOCl in specific organs at abnormal conditions, such as liver injury, remain unclear due to its high reactivity and the lack of effective methods for its detection. Herein, a unique Ir(III) complex-based chemosensor, Ir-Fc, was developed for highly sensitive and selective detection of HOCl. Ir-Fc was designed by incorporating a ferrocene (Fc) quencher to a Ir(III) complex through a HOCl-responsive linker. In the presence of HOCl, the fast cleavage of Fc moiety in less than 1s led to the enhancement of photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical luminescence (ECL), by which the concentration of HOCl was determined by both PL and ECL analysis. Taking advantages of excellent properties of Ir(III) complexes, optical and electrochemical analyses of the response of Ir-Fc towards HOCl were fully investigated. Followed by the measurements of low cytotoxicity of Ir-Fc by MTT analysis, one-photon (OP), two-photon (TP) and lifetime imaging experiments were conducted to visualise the generation of HOCl in live microphage and HepG2 cells, and in zebrafish and mouse, respectively. Furthermore, the generation and distribution of HOCl in liver cells and liver injury of zebrafish and mouse were investigated. The results demonstrated the applicability of Ir-Fc as an effective chemosensor for imaging of HOCl generation in mitochondria of cells and liver injury in vivo, implying the potential of Ir-Fc for biomedical diagnosis and monitoring applications

Architecture of a host–parasite interface: complex targeting mechanisms revealed through proteomics

Surface membrane organization and composition is key to cellular function, and membrane proteins serve many essential roles in endocytosis, secretion, and cell recognition. The surface of parasitic organisms, however, is a double-edged sword; this is the primary interface between parasites and their hosts, and those crucial cellular processes must be carried out while avoiding elimination by the host immune defenses. For extracellular African trypanosomes, the surface is partitioned such that all endo- and exocytosis is directed through a specific membrane region, the flagellar pocket, in which it is thought the majority of invariant surface proteins reside. However, very few of these proteins have been identified, severely limiting functional studies, and hampering the development of potential treatments. Here we used an integrated biochemical, proteomic and bioinformatic strategy to identify surface components of the human parasite Trypanosoma brucei. This surface proteome contains previously known flagellar pocket proteins as well as multiple novel components, and is significantly enriched in proteins that are essential for parasite survival. Molecules with receptor-like properties are almost exclusively parasite-specific, whereas transporter-like proteins are conserved in model organisms. Validation shows that the majority of surface proteome constituents are bona fide surface-associated proteins and, as expected, most present at the flagellar pocket. Moreover, the largest systematic analysis of trypanosome surface molecules to date provides evidence that the cell surface is compartmentalized into three distinct domains with free diffusion of molecules in each, but selective, asymmetric traffic between. This work provides a paradigm for the compartmentalization of a cell surface and a resource for its analysis

Analysis of weighted co-regulatory networks in maize provides insights into new genes and regulatory mechanisms related to inositol phosphate metabolism

Sub-network 1 and 2 of “magenta2”, node annotation. (XLSX 10 kb

Proteomic analysis of the mammalian nuclear pore complex

As the sole site of nucleocytoplasmic transport, the nuclear pore complex (NPC) has a vital cellular role. Nonetheless, much remains to be learned about many fundamental aspects of NPC function. To further understand the structure and function of the mammalian NPC, we have completed a proteomic analysis to identify and classify all of its protein components. We used mass spectrometry to identify all proteins present in a biochemically purified NPC fraction. Based on previous characterization, sequence homology, and subcellular localization, 29 of these proteins were classified as nucleoporins, and a further 18 were classified as NPC-associated proteins. Among the 29 nucleoporins were six previously undiscovered nucleoporins and a novel family of WD repeat nucleoporins. One of these WD repeat nucleoporins is ALADIN, the gene mutated in triple-A (or Allgrove) syndrome. Our analysis defines the proteome of the mammalian NPC for the first time and paves the way for a more detailed characterization of NPC structure and function

Interactome mapping reveals the evolutionary history of the nuclear pore complex

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is responsible for nucleocytoplasmic transport and constitutes a hub for control of gene expression. The components of NPCs from several eukaryotic lineages have been determined, but only the yeast and vertebrate NPCs have been extensively characterized at the quaternary level. Significantly, recent evidence indicates that compositional similarity does not necessarily correspond to homologous architecture between NPCs from different taxa. To address this, we describe the interactome of the trypanosome NPC, a representative, highly divergent eukaryote. We identify numerous new NPC components and report an exhaustive interactome, allowing assignment of trypanosome nucleoporins to discrete NPC substructures. Remarkably, despite retaining similar protein composition, there are exceptional architectural dissimilarities between opisthokont (yeast and vertebrates) and excavate (trypanosomes) NPCs. Whilst elements of the inner core are conserved, numerous peripheral structures are highly divergent, perhaps reflecting requirements to interface with divergent nuclear and cytoplasmic functions. Moreover, the trypanosome NPC has almost complete nucleocytoplasmic symmetry, in contrast to the opisthokont NPC; this may reflect divergence in RNA export processes at the NPC cytoplasmic face, as we find evidence supporting Ran-dependent mRNA export in trypanosomes, similar to protein transport. We propose a model of stepwise acquisition of nucleocytoplasmic mechanistic complexity and demonstrate that detailed dissection of macromolecular complexes provides fuller understanding of evolutionary processes