We report charge inversion, the sign reversal of the effective surface charge in the presence of multivalent counterions, for the biologically relevant regimes of divalent ions and mixtures of monovalent and multivalent ions. Using streaming currents, the pressure-driven transport of countercharges in the diffuse layer, we find that charge inversion occurs in rectangular silica nanochannels at ...

Critical temperatures, T(c), densities, rho(c), and coexistence curves for 2:1 and 3:1 hard-core model electrolytes have been found by fine-discretization Monte Carlo simulation. The size ratio of + and - ions strongly affects T(c) and rho(c); the trends contradict most current theories. Large multivalent ions screened by small monovalent counterions exhibit normal gas-liquid transitions of dir...

Short title: Inhibition of δ-opioid receptor (DOR) signaling by monovalent ions 2 Summary The effect of monovalent cations on trimeric G protein G i 1α was measured at equimolar concentration of chloride anion in pertussis-toxin (PTX)-treated HEK293 cells stably expressing PTX-insensitive DOR-G i 1α (Cys 351-Ile 351) fusion protein by high-affinity [ 35 S]GTPγS binding assay. The high basal lev...

We examine how a variety of cationic channels discriminate between ions of differing charge. We construct models of the KcsA potassium channel, voltage gated sodium channel and L-type calcium channel, and show that they all conduct monovalent cations, but that only the calcium channel conducts divalent cations. In the KcsA and sodium channels divalent ions block the channel and prevent any furt...

BACKGROUND The catalytic activity of RNA enzymes is thought to require divalent metal ions, which are believed to facilitate RNA folding and to play a direct chemical role in the reaction. RESULTS We have found that the hammerhead, hairpin and VS ribozymes do not require divalent metal ions, their mimics such as [Co(NH3)6]3+, or even monovalent metal ions for efficient self-cleavage. The HDV ...

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) ribozyme catalyzes a self-cleavage reaction using a combination of nucleobase and metal ion catalysis. Both divalent and monovalent ions can catalyze this reaction, although the rate is slower with monovalent ions alone. Herein, we use quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) free energy simulations to investigate the mechanism of this ribozyme and to eluc...

Aqueous gel sieving chromatography on Sephadex G-10 of the Group IA cations (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+) plus NH4+ as the Cl- salts, in combination with previous results for the halide anions (F-, Cl-, Br-, I-) as the Na+ salts [Washabaugh, M.W. & Collins, K.D. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 12477-12485], leads to the following conclusions. (i) The small monovalent ions (Li+, Na+, F-) flow through the ...

Multivalent ions can induce condensation of like-charged polyelectrolytes into compact states, a process that requires different ion valences for different polyelectrolyte species. In this work we examine the condensation behavior in binary anionic polyelectrolyte mixtures consisting of DNA coils and F-actin rods in the presence of monovalent, divalent, and trivalent ions. As expected, monovale...

In this work, the effect of multivalent ions on electroosmotic flow is investigated for multiple electrolyte components. The cases studied include incorporating Ca2+ and HPO4(2-) and other monovalent ions, such as K+ and H2PO4-, into an aqueous NaCl solution. The governing equations are derived and solved numerically. The boundary conditions for the governing equations are obtained from the ele...

Crystallographic anomalous scattering from potassium at 1.7 A resolution reveals two monovalent ions that interact with MgADP and P(i) in the nucleotide binding cleft of wild-type recombinant bovine Hsc70 ATPase fragment. K+ at site 1 interacts with oxygens of the beta-phosphate of ADP, whereas K+ at site 2 interacts with an oxygen of P(i). Both K+ ions also interact with specific H2O molecules...