Use of α- and β-subunit specific antibodies in studying interaction of hCG with Leydig cell receptors

Antisera (a/s) raised to individual α- and β-subunits of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) have been characterized for specificity using immunoaffinity procedures and used to study the disposition of the two subunits when intact hCG is complexed with luteinizing hormone (LH) receptor of the Leydig cells. Three kinds of experiments were done. (a) The ability of the preformed hormone-antibody (H-Ab) complex to bind to receptor and stimulate a response; (b) the ability of the a/s to dissociate hCG from its complex with the receptor and thereby terminate response; and (c) the ability of the premixed antibody and receptor to compete for binding of labeled hCG. Although the subunit specific a/s used here were equipotent in binding hCG (capacity to bind and Ka being very similar), their behavior once the receptor preparation or Leydig cell is introduced into the system was drastically different. The β-subunit antibody relative to the α-subunit antibody, appeared to be poorly effective in preventing hCG from either binding to the receptor or inhibiting the continuation of response. The results suggest that hCG upon interaction with the receptor loses the determinants specific to the β-region more rapidly compared to those specific to the α-region suggesting thereby that the initial interaction of hCG with the receptor should be occurring through sites in the β-subunit. Although the α-subunit portion of the hCG molecule is available for binding to the antibody for a relatively longer time, the biological response of the cell seems very sensitive to such binding with the antibody as it invariably results in loss of response. In the Leydig cell system, the ability of the a/s to bind hCG that is already complexed to the receptor appears to be dependent upon the time of addition of the antibody to the incubation medium. The antisera were totally ineffective in inhibiting steroidogenic response to hCG if added 60 min after addition of hCG. This would suggest that the hormone-receptor complex once formed perhaps continues to change its orientation with the result that with time relatively less and less of antigenic determinants become available for antibody binding.

Interaction of Gibberellic Acid and Indole-3-acetic Acid in the Growth of Excised Cuscuta Shoot Tips in Vitro1

Gibberellic acid (GA3) induced a marked elongation of 2.5-centimeter shoot tips of Cuscuta chinensis Lamk. cultured in vitro. In terms of the absolute amount of elongation, this growth may be the largest reported for an isolated plant system. The response to hormone was dependent on an exogenous carbohydrate supply. The hormone-stimulated growth was due to both cell division and cell elongation. The growth response progressively decreased if GA3 was given at increasingly later times after culturing, but the decreased growth response could be restored by the application of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to the apex. Explants deprived of GA3 gradually lost their ability to transport IAA basipetally, but this ability was also restored by auxin application. The observations are explained on the basis that: (a) the growth of Cuscuta shoot tip in vitro requires, at least, both an auxin and a gibberellin; and (b) in the absence of gibberellin the cultured shoot tip explants lose the ability to produce and/or transport auxin.

Studies on interaction of colloidal Ag nanoparticles with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)

Biofunctionalization of noble metal nanoparticles like Ag, Au is essential to obtain biocompatibility for specific biomedical applications. Silver nanciparticles are being increasingly used in bio-sensing applications owing to excellent optoelectronic properties. Among the serum albumins, the most abundant proteins in plasma, a wide range of physiological functions of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) has made it a model system for biofunctionalization. In absence of adequate prior reports, this study aims to investigate the interaction between silver nanoparticles and BSA. The interaction of BSA [0.05-0.85% concentrations] with Ag nanoparticles [50 ppm concentration] in aqueous dispersion was Studied through UV-vis spectral changes, morphological and surface structural changes. At pH 7, which is More than the isoelectric point of BSA, a decrease in absorbance at plasmon peak of uninteracted nanciparticles (425 mn) was noted till 0.45% BSA, beyond that a blue shift towards 410 urn was observed. The blue shift may be attributed to enhanced electron density on the particle surfaces. Increasing pH to 12 enhanced the blue shift further to 400 rim. The conformational changes in BSA at alkaline pH ranges and consequent hydrophobic interactions also played an important role. The equilibrium adsorption data fitted better to Freundlich isotherm compared to Langmuir Curve. The X-ray diffraction study revealed complete coverage of Ag nanoparticles by BSA. The scanning electron microscopic study of the interacted nanoparticles was also carried Out to decipher morphological changes. This study established that tailoring the concentration of BSA and pH of the interaction it was possible to reduce aggregation of nanoparticles. Biofunctionalized Ag nanoparticles with reduced aggregation will be more amenable towards bio-sensing applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction of Sesbania Mosaic Virus Movement Protein with VPg and P10: Implication to Specificity of Genome Recognition

Sesbania mosaic virus (SeMV) is a single strand positive-sense RNA plant virus that belongs to the genus Sobemovirus. The mechanism of cell-to-cell movement in sobemoviruses has not been well studied. With a view to identify the viral encoded ancillary proteins of SeMV that may assist in cell-to-cell movement of the virus, all the proteins encoded by SeMV genome were cloned into yeast Matchmaker system 3 and interaction studies were performed. Two proteins namely, viral protein genome linked (VPg) and a 10-kDa protein (P10) c v gft encoded by OFR 2a, were identified as possible interacting partners in addition to the viral coat protein (CP). Further characterization of these interactions revealed that the movement protein (MP) recognizes cognate RNA through interaction with VPg, which is covalently linked to the 59 end of the RNA. Analysis of the deletion mutants delineated the domains of MP involved in the interaction with VPg and P10. This study implicates for the first time that VPg might play an important role in specific recognition of viral genome by MP in SeMV and shed light on the possible role of P10 in the viral movement.

Interaction of nucleic acids with carbon nanotubes and dendrimers

Nucleic acid interaction with nanoscale objects like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and dendrimers is of fundamental interest because of their potential application in CNT separation, gene therapy and antisense therapy. Combining nucleic acids with CNTs and dendrimers also opens the door towards controllable self-assembly to generate various supra-molecular and nano-structures with desired morphologies. The interaction between these nanoscale objects also serve as a model system for studying DNA compaction, which is a fundamental process in chromatin organization. By using fully atomistic simulations, here we report various aspects of the interactions and binding modes of DNA and small interfering RNA (siRNA) with CNTs, graphene and dendrimers. Our results give a microscopic picture and mechanism of the adsorption of single- and double-strand DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA) on CNT and graphene. The nucleic acid-CNT interaction is dominated by the dispersive van der Waals (vdW) interaction. In contrast, the complexation of DNA (both ssDNA and dsDNA) and siRNA with various generations of poly-amido-amine (PAMAM) dendrimers is governed by electrostatic interactions. Our results reveal that both the DNA and siRNA form stable complex with the PAMAM dendrimer at a physiological pH when the dendrimer is positively charged due to the protonation of the primary amines. The size and binding energy of the complex increase with increase in dendrimer generation. We also give a summary of the current status in these fields and discuss future prospects.

Experimental Investigations on Interaction of Two Drops by Thermocapillary-Buoyancy Migration

Experiments were performed, in a terrestrial environment, to study the migration and interaction of two drops with different diameters in matrix liquid under temperature gradient field. Pure soybean oil and silicon oil were used as matrix liquid and the drop liquid, respectively. The information on the motions of two drops was recorded by CCD camera system in the experiments to analyze the trajectories and velocities of the drops. Our experiments showed that, upon two drops approaching each other, the influence of the larger drop on the motion of the smaller one became significant. Meanwhile the smaller drop had a little influence on the larger one all the time. The oscillation of migration velocities of both drops was observed as they were approaching. For a short period the smaller drop even moved backward when it became side by side with the larger one during the migration. Although our experimental results on the behavior of two drops are basically consistent with the theoretical predictions, there are also apparent differences. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Thermocapillary migration; Drop; Interaction; Oscillation 1. Introduction A bubble or drop will move when placed in another fluid with temperature gradient. This motion happens as a consequence of the variation of interfacial tension with temperature. Such a phenomenon is already known as Marangoni migration problem. With the development of microgravity science, bubble dynamics and droplet dynamics became a hot point problem of research because this investigation is very important for basic research as well as for applications in reduced gravity environment, such as space material science, chemical engineering and so on. Young et al. first investigated the thermocapillary migration of

Dynamic interaction of an elastic container with fluid

The vibration analysis of an elastic container with partially filled fluid was investigated in this paper. The container is made of a thin cylinder and two circular plates at the ends. The axis of the cylinder is in the horizontal direction. It is difficult to solve this problem because the complex system is not axially symmetric. The equations of motion for this system were derived. An incompressible and ideal fluid model is used in the present work. Solutions of the equations were obtained by the generalized variational method. The solution was expressed in a series of normalized generalized Fourier's functions. This series converged rapidly, and so its approximate solution was obtained with high precision. The agreement of the calculated values with the experimental result is good. It should be mentioned that with our method, the computer time is less than that with the finite-element method.

Interaction of aqueous inorganic orthophosphate and phosphate rock

An experimental study was made of the interaction of phosphate rock and aqueous inorganic orthophosphate, calcium, and hydroxyl ions. A model of the reaction was developed by observing electron diffraction patterns in conjunction with concentration changes of chemical components. The model was applied in explaining the performance of batch suspensions of powdered phosphate rock and packed columns of granular phosphate rock. In both cases the reaction consisted initially of a rapid nucleation phase that occurred in a time period of minutes. In the batch system the calcium phosphate nuclei then ripened into larger micro-crystals of hydroxyapatite, which eventually became indistinguishable from the original phosphate rock surface. During column operation the high supersaturation ratio that existed after the rapid nucleation phase resulted in a layer of small nuclei that covered a slowly growing hydroxyapatite crystal.

The column steady-state rate constant was found to increase with increasing temperature, pH, and fluoride concentration, and to decrease with increasing concentrations of magnesium sulfate, ammonium chloride, and bicarbonate ion.

An engineering feasibility study indicated that, based on economic considerations, nucleation of apatite on phosphate rock ore has a potential use as a wastewater phosphate removal treatment process.

Silicide formation and the interaction of metals with polycrystalline Si

The main factors affecting solid-phase Si-metal interactions are reported in this work. The influence of the orientation of the Si substrates and the presence of impurities in metal films and at the Si-metal interface on the formation of nickel and chromium silicides have been demonstrated. We have observed that the formation and kinetic rate of growth of nickel silicides is strongly dependent on the orientation and crystallinity of the Si substrates; a fact which, up to date, has never been seriously investigated in silicide formation. Impurity contaminations in the Cr film and at the Si-Cr interface are the most dominant influencing factors in the formation and kinetic rate of growth of CrSi₂. The potentiality and use of silicides as a diffusion barrier in metallization on silicon devices were also investigated.

Two phases, Ni₂Si and NiSi, form simultaneously in two distinct sublayers in the reaction of Ni with amorphous Si, while only the former phase was observed on other substrates. On (111) oriented Si substrates the growth rate is about 2 to 3 times less than that on <100> or polycrystalline Si. Transmission electron micrographs establish-·that silicide layers grown on different substrates have different microcrystalline structures. The concept of grain-boundary diffusion is speculated to be an important factor in silicide formation.

The composition and kinetic rate of CrSi₂ formation are not influenced by the underlying Si substrate. While the orientation of the Si substrate does not affect the formation of CrSi₂ , the purity of the Cr film and the state of Si-Cr interface become the predominant factors in the reaction process. With an interposed layer of Pd₂Si between the Cr film and the Si substrate, CrSi₂ starts to form at a much lower temperature (400°C) relative to the Si-Cr system. However, the growth rate of CrSi₂ is observed to be independent of the thickness of the Pd2Si layer. For both Si-Cr and Si-Pd₂Si-Cr samples, the growth rate is linear with time with an activation energy of 1.7 ± 0.1 ev.

A tracer technique using radioactive ³¹Si (T_1/2 = 2.26 h) was used to study the formation of CrSi₂ on Pd₂Si. It is established from this experiment that the growth of CrSi₂ takes place partly by transport of Si directly from the Si substrate and partly by breaking Pd₂Si bonds, making free Si atoms available for the growth process.

The role of CrSi₂ in Pd-Al metallization on Si was studied. It is established that a thin CrSi₂ layer can be used as a diffusion barrier to prevent Al from interacting with Pd₂Si in the Pd-Al metallization on Si.

As a generalization of what has been observed for polycrystalline-Si-Al interaction, the reactions between polycrystalline Si (poly Si) and other metals were studied. The metals investigated include Ni, Cr, Pd, Ag and Au. For Ni, Cr and Pd, annealing results in silicide formation, at temperatures similar to those observed on single crystal Si substrates. For Al, Ag and Au, which form simple eutectics with Si annealing results in erosion of the poly Si layer and growth of Si crystallites in the metal films.

Backscattering spectrometry with 2.0 and 2.3 MeV ⁴He ions was the main analytical tool used in all our investigations. Other experimental techniques include the Read camera glancing angle x-ray diffraction, scanning electron, optical and transmission electron microscopy. Details of these analytical techniques are given in Chapter II.

Computational fluid-structure interaction of DGB parachutes in compressible fluid flow

This paper describes large-scale simulations of compressible flows over a supersonic disk-gap-band parachute system. An adaptive mesh refinement method is used to resolve the coupled fluid-structure model. The fluid model employs large-eddy simulation to describe the turbulent wakes appearing upstream and downstream of the parachute canopy and the structural model employed a thin-shell finite element solver that allows large canopy deformations by using subdivision finite elements. The fluid-structure interaction is described by a variant of the Ghost-Fluid method. The simulation was carried out at Mach number 1.96 where strong nonlinear coupling between the system of bow shocks, turbulent wake and canopy is observed. It was found that the canopy oscillations were characterized by a breathing type motion due to the strong interaction of the turbulent wake and bow shock upstream of the flexible canopy. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.

The interaction of elasticity and rocking in flexible structures allowed to uplift

Numerous structures uplift under the influence of strong ground motion. Although many researchers have investigated the effects of base uplift on very stiff (ideally rigid) structures, the rocking response of flexible structures has received less attention. Related practical analysis methods treat these structures with simplified 'equivalent' oscillators without directly addressing the interaction between elasticity and rocking. This paper addresses the fundamental dynamics of flexible rocking structures. The nonlinear equations of motion, derived using a Lagrangian formulation for large rotations, are presented for an idealized structural model. Particular attention is devoted to the transition between successive phases; a physically consistent classical impact framework is utilized alongside an energy approach. The fundamental dynamic properties of the flexible rocking system are compared with those of similar linear elastic oscillators and rigid rocking structures, revealing the distinct characteristics of flexible rocking structures. In particular, parametric analysis is performed to quantify the effect of elasticity on uplift, overturning instability, and harmonic response, from which an uplifted resonance emerges. The contribution of stability and strength to the collapse of flexible rocking structures is discussed. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

functional monomers and polymers.CXXXVI.effect of metal ions on the interaction of synthetic nucleic acid analogs

The effect of metal ions on the conformation of thymine-containing poly-D-lysine was studied by CD spectra in aqueous solution. Of the metal ions studied,only copper(Ⅱ)ion affected the conformation of mucleic acid analogs .copper(Ⅱ)ion also affected the specifically interacting system made up of thymine-containing poly-D-lysine and polyadenylic acid.

Theoretical estimation of thermodynamic properties of the system PS/PPO on the basis of modified combining rule of Sanchez-Lacombe lattice fluid model

The three scaling parameters described in Sanchez-Lacombe lattice fluid theory (SLLFT), T*, P* and rho* of pure polystyrene (PS), pure poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) and their mixtures are obtained by fitting corresponding experimental pressure volume-temperature data with equation-of-state of SLLFT. A modified combining rule in SLLFT used to match the volume per mer, v* of the PS/PPO mixtures was advanced and the enthalpy of mixing and Flory-Huggins (FH) interaction parameter were calculated using the new rule. It is found that the difference between the new rule and the old one presented by Sanchez and Lacombe is quite small in the calculation of the enthalpy of mixing and FH interaction parameter and the effect of volume-combining rule on the calculation of thermodynamic properties is much smaller than that of energy-combining rule. But the relative value of interaction parameter changes much due to the new volume-based combining rule. This effect can affect the position of phase diagram very much, which is reported elsewhere [Macromolecules 34 (2001) 6291]

Phase-separation behavior of the system PES/phenoxy: An application of the Sanchez-Lacombe lattice fluid theory

Cloud-point curves reported for the system polyethersulfone (PES)/phenoxy were calculated by means of the Sanchez-Lacombe (SL) lattice fluid theory. The one adjustable parameter epsilon(12)*/k (quantifying the interaction energy between mers of the different components) can be evaluated by comparison of the theoretical and experimental phase diagrams. The Flory-Huggins (FH) interaction parameters are computed based on the evaluated epsilon(12)*/k and are approximately a linear function of volume fraction and of inverse temperature. The calculated enthalpies of mixing of PES/phenoxy blends for different compositions are consistent with the experimental values obtained previously by Singh and Walsh [1].