We have studied the potentially ionospherically significant reaction between N(2)2+ with O2 using position-sensitive coincidence spectroscopy. We observe both nondissociative and dissociative electron transfer reactions as well as two channels involving the formation of NO+. The NO+ product is formed together with either N+ and O in one bond-forming channel or O+ and N in the other bond-forming...

Membrane repair emerges as an innate defense protecting target cells against bacterial pore-forming toxins. Here, we report the first paradigm of Ca2+-dependent repair following attack by a small β-pore-forming toxin, namely, plasmid-encoded phobalysin of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae In striking contrast, Vibrio cholerae cytolysin, the closest ortholog of phobalysin, subverted repair...

Colicin B formed by Escherichia coli kills sensitive bacteria by dissipating the membrane potential through channel formation. The nucleotide sequence of the structural gene (cba) which encodes colicin B and of the upstream region was determined. A polypeptide consisting of 511 amino acids was deduced from the open reading frame. The active colicin had a molecular weight of 54,742. The carboxy-...

Although membrane channel proteins are important to drug discovery and hold great promise as engineered nanopore sensing elements, their widespread application to these areas has been limited by difficulties in fabricating planar lipid-bilayer membranes. We present a method for forming these sub-5-nm-thick free-standing structures based on a self-assembly process driven by solvent extraction in...

in this article, stress analysis and energy estimation during cold-roll forming of symmetrical channel sections have been discussed. geometry of sheet strip is pre-estimated by a shape function. then longitudinal, transversal and shear strains have been calculated. using both the levy-mises and the prandtl reuss equations, and also considering the bauschinger effect, stress distributions have b...

TRPML3 and TRPV5 are members of the mucolipin (TRPML) and TRPV subfamilies of transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels. Based on sequence similarities of the pore forming regions and on structure-function evidence, we hypothesized that the pore forming domains of TRPML and TRPV5/TRPV6 channels have similarities that indicate possible functional interactions between these TRP channel s...

Neurotransmitter-gated ion channels adopt different gating modes to fine-tune signaling at central synapses. At glutamatergic synapses, high and low activity of AMPA receptors (AMPARs) is observed when pore-forming subunits coassemble with or without auxiliary subunits, respectively. Whether a common structural pathway accounts for these different gating modes is unclear. Here, we identify two ...

Colicin Ia is a 69 kDa protein that kills susceptible Escherichia coli cells by binding to a specific receptor in the outer membrane, colicin I receptor (70 kDa), and subsequently translocating its channel forming domain across the periplasmic space, where it inserts into the inner membrane and forms a voltage-dependent ion channel. We determined crystal structures of colicin I receptor alone a...

Pancreaticobiliary maljunction (PBM) is a congenital anomaly defined as junction of the pancreatic and bile ducts located outside the duodenal wall beyond the influence of the sphincter of Oddi, usually forming a markedly long common channel. Other names are “anomalous arrangement of pancreaticobiliary ducts” or “anomalous union of biliopancreatic ducts” [1]. Average length of common channel is...

The bacterial toxin aerolysin kills cells by forming heptameric channels, of unknown structure, in the plasma membrane. Using disulfide trapping and cysteine scanning mutagenesis coupled to thiol-specific labeling on lipid bilayers, we identify a loop that lines the channel. This loop has an alternating pattern of charged and uncharged residues, suggesting that the transmembrane region has a be...