High concentrations of nickel (Ni) are harmful to humans and animals. Ni targets a number of organs and produces multiple toxic effects. Apoptosis is important in Ni-induced toxicity of the kidneys, liver, nerves, and immune system. Apoptotic pathways mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Fas, and c-Myc participate in Ni-induced cell apoptosis. How...

Two new end-to-end (EE) cyanate bridged 1D coordination polymers of Ni(II) are isolated which contain linear (180°) Ni-N-C and Ni-O-C angles in Ni-NCO-Ni bridges and show ferromagnetic (F) coupling in agreement with the reported theoretical model for linear EE bridges.

We investigated accumulation of elements (Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, Pb, and Zn) in leaves of different ages for 11 evergreen woody plant species from serpentine soils of New Caledonia. Species were classifi ed into four categories of Ni accumulation ability: one species was a non-accumulator (<100 mg Ni/ kg), three were accumulators (100–1000 mg Ni/kg), two were hyperaccumulators (1000–...

Multicopper oxidases (MCOs) catalyze the 4e(-) reduction of O(2) to H(2)O. The reaction of the fully reduced enzyme with O(2) generates the native intermediate (NI), which undergoes a slow decay to the resting enzyme in the absence of substrate. NI is a fully oxidized form, but its spectral features are very different from those of the resting form (also fully oxidized), because the type 2 and ...

Arthropods (mainly insects) were collected from a forest site that contained at least six species of Ni hyperaccumulators. Whole body Ni analysis was performed for 12 arthropod taxa, two of which were studied at different life cycle stages. We found two Nitolerant insects. The pentatomid heteropteran Utana viridipuncta, feeding on fruits of the Ni hyperaccumulator Hybanthus austrocaledonicus, c...

We demonstrate synthesis of Ni/CuOx/Ni nanowires (NWs) by electrochemical deposition on anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. AAO with pore diameter of ~70 nm and pore length of ~50 μm was used as the template for synthesis of NWs. After deposition of Au as the seed layer, NWs with a structure of Ni/CuOx/Ni were grown with a length of ~12 μm. The lengths of 1(st) Ni, CuOx, and 2(nd) Ni were ...

We have reexamined the Ni EXAFS of oxidized, inactive (as-isolated) and H(2) reduced Desulfovibrio gigas hydrogenase. Better spatial resolution was achieved by analyzing the data over a 50% wider k-range than was previously available. A lower k(min) was obtained using the FEFF code for phase shifts and amplitudes. A higher k(max) was obtained by removing an interfering Cu signal from the raw sp...

Nickel allergy clearly involves the activation of HLA-restricted, skin-homing, Ni-specific T cells by professional APCs. Nevertheless, knowledge concerning the molecular details of metal-protein interactions underlying the transport and delivery of metal ions to APC during the early sensitization phase and their interactions with HLA and TCRs is still fragmentary. This study investigates the ro...

The high levels of some metals in metal hyperaccumulator plants may be transferred to insect associates. We surveyed insects collected from the South African Ni hyperaccumulator Berkheya coddii to document whole-body metal concentrations (Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn). We also documented the concentrations of these metals in leaves, stems and inflorescences, finding extremely elevated levels ...