It has long been recognized that the pathogenicity of a broad range of intracellular parasites depends on the availability of transition metal ions, especially iron. Nramp1 (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1), a proton-coupled divalent metal ion transporter, has been identified as a controlling factor in the resistance or susceptibility to infection with a diverse range of intr...

Zinc, the most abundant trace metal in the brain, has numerous functions in health and disease. It is released into the synaptic cleft alongside glutamate and this connection between zinc and glutamatergic neurotransmission allows the ion to modulate overall excitability of the brain and influence synaptic plasticity. To maintain healthy synapses, extracellular zinc levels need to be tightly re...

Nano-electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used to study the conformational consequences of metal ion binding to the colicin E9 endonuclease (E9 DNase) by taking advantage of the unique capability of ESI-MS to allow simultaneous assessment of conformational heterogeneity and metal ion binding. Alterations of charge state distributions on metal ion binding/release...

First, Schiff base iminopyridine ligand has been prepared by the condensation between primary amine, dimethylaniline and active carbonyl group of pyridine carboxaldehyde, then related complexes were synthesized in methanol solution. The ligand and metal complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, UV, IR, 1 H NMR and 13CNMR spectroscopy. The spectroscopic data of metal complexes ind...

A method is described to obtain multicollision dissociation threshold (MCDT) values. These values provide relative reaction thresholds for dissociation in the three major gas-phase fragmentation reactions of oligosaccharides complexed to alkali metal ions. The quasimolecular ions are produced using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry. The MCDTs for al...

To investigate the impact of overexpression of AtNRT2.1 transgene from Arabidopsis on nitrate uptake rate and to understand the regulation of endogenous HATS by nitrate and glutamine amino acid (Gln) in tobacco plants, wild-type and transgenic (F line) plants grown on soil for 4 weeks were transferred to hydroponic culture in a controlled-environment with a 16/8h L:D photoperiod at 24? C/20...

Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a major human pathogen that is carried asymptomatically in the nasopharynx by up to 70% of the human population. Translocation of the bacteria into internal sites can cause a range of diseases, such as pneumonia, otitis media, meningitis, and bacteremia. This transition from nasopharynx to growth at systemic sites means that the pneumococcus needs ...

Higher efficacy and safety of nano gold therapeutics require examination of cellular responses to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this work we compared cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and RNA expression patterns induced in Caco-2 cells exposed to AuNP (5 and 30nm). Cellular internalization was dose and time-dependent for both AuNPs. The toxicity was observed by colony forming efficiency (CFE) and ...

Determination of the crystal structure of ScaDMT, a member of the Slc11 family, provided opportunity to advance understanding of proton-dependent metal-ion uptake by interfacing Slc11 molecular evolution and structural biology. Slc11 carriers belong to the ancient and broadly distributed APC superfamily characterized by the pseudo-symmetric LeuT-fold. This fold comprises two topologically inver...