Phosphatidic acid (PA) is emerging as a key phospholipid in a wide range of biological processes such as signal transduction, secretion, or membrane fusion. In most cases, the biological functionality of PA is associated with the presence of micromolar to millimolar calcium concentrations. It has been argued that PA can create defects in the packing of lipids in membranes due to lateral phase s...

the present ")Cd n.m.r. data suggest that phospholipase C contains three classes of metal binding site. Type I, which is a single site buried somewhat in the structure, has a marked preference for Zn2+. This site has the highest affinity for divalent metal ions. Type I1 is a single site of somewhat lower affinity for divalent metal ions and shows a lesser preference for Zn2+ than the type I sit...

Counterions are required for RNA folding, and divalent metal ions such as Mg(2+) are often critical. To dissect the role of counterions, we have compared global and local folding of wild-type and mutant variants of P4-P6 RNA derived from the Tetrahymena group I ribozyme in monovalent and in divalent metal ions. A remarkably simple picture of the folding thermodynamics emerges. The equilibrium f...

Sodium hexa-titanate (Na(2)Ti(6)O(13)) nanofibers, which have microporous tunnels, were prepared by heating sodium tri-titanate nanofibers with a layered structure at 573 K. The void section of the tunnels consist of eight linked TiO(6) octahedra, having a quasi-rectangular shape and the sodium ions located in these tunnel micropores are exchangeable. The exchange of these sodium ions with diva...

Lethal Toxin from Clostridium sordellii (TcsL) and Toxin B from Clostridium difficile (TcdB) belong to the family of the "Large clostridial glycosylating toxins." These toxins mono-O-glucosylate low molecular weight GTPases of the Rho and Ras families by exploiting UDP-glucose as a hexose donor. TcsL is casually involved in the toxic shock syndrome and the gas gangrene. TcdB-together with Toxin...

Experimental measurements of ionic conductivity in water are analysed in order to obtain insight into the pressure dependence of limiting ionic conductivity of individual ions (λ) for ions of differing sizes. Conductivities of individual ions, λ do not exhibit the same trend as a function of pressure for all ions. Our analysis suggests that the effect of pressure on ionic conductivity depends o...

Receptor fractions were prepared from follicle-rich ovaries (for FSH), luteal cell-rich ovaries (for LH and PRL), and adrenals (for PRL) of rats. Divalent metal ions, Mg++, Ca++, and Mn++ showed inhibitory effects on the binding of LH and FSH to their receptors. The binding of the former was more sensitive to these ions than the latter. On the other hand they showed bell-shaped promotive effect...

RNAs that undergo a rapid site-specific cleavage at low pH have been selected by in vitro selection (the SELEX process). The cleavage does not require the addition of any divalent metal ions, and is in fact inhibited by divalent metal ions, spermine, or high concentrations of monovalent metal ions. This low pH catalyzed cleavage results in a 2',3'-cyclic phosphate at the 3' end and a free hydro...

By use of different inhibitors as well as atomic absorption spectrophotometry it has been shown that the haemolymph-acetylcholinesterase (E. c. 3.1.1.7) of the sea mussel Mytilus edulis is a metalloprotein containing 2,95 Fe2+-ions per subunit. All inhibitors used (1,10-phenanthroline, salicylic aldehyde, 2,2'-dipyridyl, 8-hydroxyquinoline) showed a non-competitive inhibition, which was not pH-...

Adsorption on planar silica substrates of various monovalent and divalent cations from aqueous solution is studied by optical reflectivity. The adsorbed amount is extracted by means of a thin slab model. The experimental data are compared with grand canonical Monte Carlo titration simulations at the primitive model level. The surface excess of charge due to adsorbed cations is found to increase...