Hydration and conformational

Recent studies on PEO-PPO, PEO-PBO di- and triblock copolymers include the works of Bahadur et al. [121], who examined the role of various additives on the micellization behavior, of Guo et al. [122], who used FT-Raman spectroscopy to study the hydration and conformation as a function of temperature, of Booth and coworkers [ 123], who were mainly interested in PEO-PBO block copolymers with long PEO sequences, and of Hamley et al., who used in situ AFM measurements in water to characterize the morphology of PEO-PPO micelles [56,57]. 

Hydration and conformation of protective polymers generally depend on the thermodynamic parameters. The thickness of an adsorbed layer of polymer has been studied using latex as the substrate. An apparent hydrodynamic thickness... 

We summarise recent work on computer modelling and simulation of proteins involved in bioenergetic processes and in peptide-membrane interactions. Homology modelling, electrostatic calculations and conformational analysis of a photosynthetic reaction centre protein are described. Bacteriorhodopsin, a light-driven proton pump protein is examined from several aspects, including its hydration and conformational thermodynamics. Finally, we present results on lipid perturbation on interaction with a cyclic decapeptide antibiotic, gramicidin S. 

The experimental structure of bR determined at atomic resolution from cryoelectron microscopy and X-ray crystallography revealed a channel containing the Schiff base of the retinal chromophore (27, 28). Site-directed mutagenesis and vibrational spectroscopy experiments have enabled the identification of polar residues in the channel involved in the proton transfer pathway (29-32). Recent work on bacteriorhodopsin has concentrated on hydration and conformational thermodynamics. 

In the study of polyelectrolytes the IR absorption technique has been used to obtain information on proton dissociation from polyacids, ionbinding, the structure of the water of hydration and conformational changes. 

Taking into account the hydration shell of the NA and the possibility of the water content changing we are forced to consider the water -I- nucleic acid as an open system. In the present study a phenomenological model taking into account the interdependence of hydration and the NA conformation transition processes is offered. In accordance with the algorithm described above we consider two types of the basic processes in the system and thus two time intervals the water adsorption and the conformational transitions of the NA, times of the conformational transitions being much more greater... 

In the United States most commercial hydrates easily conform to the minimum basic requirement of no more than 0.5% retained on 590 ]Am (30 mesh) screen and no more than 15% retained on a 74 ]Am (200 mesh) screen. Typical analyses of hydrates are contained in Table 5. 

The collagen shield, fabricated from procine scleral tissue, is a spherical contact lens-shaped film whose thickness can be made to vary from 0.027 to 0,071 mm. It has a diameter of 14.5 mm and a base curve of 9 mm. Once the shield is hydrated by tear fluid and begins to dissolve, it softens and conforms to the corneal surface. Dissolution rates can be varied from 2 to as long as 72 hr by exposing the shields to ultraviolet radiation in order to achieve varying degrees of crosslinking. 

For many solubilized enzymes the greatest catalytic activity and/or changes in conformation are found at R < 12, namely, when the competition for the water in the system between surfactant head groups and biopolymers is strong. This emphasizes the importance of the hydration water surrounding the biopolymer on its reactivity and conformation [13], It has been reported that enzymes incorporated in the aqueous polar core of the reversed micelles are protected against denaturation and that the distribution of some proteins, such as chymotrypsine, ribonuclease, and cytochrome c, is well described by a Poisson distribution. The protein state and reactivity were found markedly different from those observed in bulk aqueous solution [178,179],... 

Recent work in our laboratory has shown that Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS) can be used routinely to measure vibrational spectra of a monolayer on a low area metal surface. To achieve sensitivity and resolution, a pseudo-double beam, polarization modulation technique was integrated into the FT-IR experiment. We have shown applicability of FT-IRRAS to spectral measurements of surface adsorbates in the presence of a surrounding infrared absorbing gas or liquid as well as measurements in the UHV. We now show progress toward situ measurement of thermal and hydration induced conformational changes of adsorbate structure. The design of the cell and some preliminary measurements will be discussed. 

Ion binding is affected by the size and charge of the counterion, the charge and conformation of the polyion, and states of hydration. We will examine these effects in some detail. 

Using molecular mechanics calculations to assess the three-dimensional shape of a molecule, various surface properties such as polarity and size can be calculated. The dynamic molecular surface properties can be determined from the (low energy) conformation(s) of the drug molecule obtained by molecular mechanics calculations of conformational preferences. The potential advantage of this method is that the calculated surface character-sitics determine numerous physicochemical properties of the molecules including lipophilicity, the energy of hydration and the hydrogen bond formation capacity [187-... 

Individually, the silk molecules will adopt a shape and conformation dictated by the competition to hydrate polar and nonpolar moieties (Hossain et al., 2003 Jin and Kaplan, 2003). In addition, to achieve fiber formation and optimal axial stiffness, the system must organize and lock the molecules in their extended configuration (Donald and Windle, 1992)... 

At ordinary pressure all the ionizable groups have their specific pK values and are present in ionized states according to these values. When pressure increases, we can expect all pK values to change, whereby the overall ionized state of the protein is changed. The whole hydration sheet may also be changed around the protein and conformational rearrangements may occur. This fact indicates that the volume of a protein may be very pressure-dependent. 

Paddison, S. J. and Elliott, J. A. 2006. On the consequences of side chain flexibility and backbone conformation on hydration and proton dissociation in perfluorosulfonic acid membranes. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 8 2193-2203. 

Pressure was applied in this study to fine tune the lipid chain-lengths and conformation and to select specific lamellar phases. For example, the phospholipid bilayer thickness increases by 1 A/kbar in the liquid-crystalline phase, and up to six gel phases have been found in fully hydrated DPPC dispersions in the pressure-temperature phase space up to 15 kbar and 80 °C, respectively. NMR spectral parameters were used to detect structural and dynamic changes upon incorporation of the polypeptide into the lipid bilayers. 

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