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Thermodynamic stability is a crucial fitness constraint in protein evolution and is a central factor in shaping the sequence landscapes of proteins. The correlation between stability and molecular fitness depends on the mechanism that relates the biophysical property with biological function. In the simplest case, stability and fitness are related by the amount of folded protein. However, when pro

Transfer integrals for oligos with different bases have been calculated using INDO/Koopman's approximation to unveil the charge transport mechanism in DNA. The sequences, G(A)nG, n = 1, 2, …, 10; G(A)xG(A)yG, x + y = 9; and G(A)xG(A)yG(A)zG, x + y + z = 8, were employed to interpret the Guanine (G) and Adenine(A) hopping. Adenine hopping is found to be faster in G(A)nG sequences with longer Adenin

BdbD is a thiol: disulfide oxidoreductase (TDOR) from Bacillus subtilis that functions to introduce disulfide bonds in substrate proteins/peptides on the outside of the cytoplasmic membrane and, as such, plays a key role in disulfide bond management. Here we demonstrate that the protein is membrane-associated in B. subtilis and present the crystal structure of the soluble part of the protein lacki

The mechanism of action of AG1296, a potent and specific inhibitor of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor tyrosine kinase [Kovalenko, M., Gazit, A., Bohmer, A., Rorsman, Ch., Ronnstrand, L., Heldin, C.-H., Waltenberger, J., Bohmer, F. D., & Levitzki, A. (1994) Cancer Res. 54, 6106-6114] was investigated. This quinoxalin-type tyrphostin neither interferes with PDGF-BB binding to

The properties of modified cellulose polymers, such as methylcellulose, are significantly influenced by the distribution of substituents along the polymer backbone. This distribution is difficult to determine due to the lack of suitable analytical methods. One approach is to use cellulose-degrading enzymes to gain information from the capability of the enzymes to cleave the bonds between glucose u

Organophosphate hydrolases are proficient catalysts of the breakdown of neurotoxic organophosphates and have great potential as both biotherapeutics for treating acute organophosphate toxicity and as bioremediation agents. However, proficient organophosphatases such as serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and the organophosphate-hydrolyzing lactonase SsoPox are unable to hydrolyze bulkyorganophosphates with

We investigate the fragmentation dynamics of adamantane dications produced after core-ionization at the carbon edge followed by Auger decay. The combination of high-resolution electron spectroscopy, energy-resolved electron-ion multi-coincidence spectroscopy and different theoretical models allows us to give a complete characterization of the processes involved after ionization. We show that energ

Ribonucleotide reductases catalyze the reduction of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides. Three classes have been identified, all using free- radical chemistry but based on different cofactors. Classes I and II have been shown to be evolutionarily related, whereas the origin of anaerobic class III has remained elusive. The structure of a class III enzyme suggests a common origin for the three c

Free heterogeneous argon-krypton clusters have been produced by coexpansion and investigated by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By examining cluster surface and bulk binding energy shifts, relative intensities, and peak widths, we show that in the mixed argon-krypton clusters the krypton atoms favor the bulk and argon atoms are pushed to the surface. Furthermore, we show that krypton at