Arginine kinases were isolated from the cephalopods Nautilus pompilius, Octopus vulgaris, and Sepioteuthis lessoniana, and the cDNA-derived amino acid sequences have been determined. Although the origin and evolution of cephalopods have long been obscure, this work provides the first molecular evidence for the phylogenetic position of Cephalopoda in molluscan evolution. A crystal structure for ...

AIMS To develop a simple microbiological assay for serum and red cell folates on 96-well microtitre plates, suitable for use in routine clinical diagnosis. METHODS Use of a chloramphenicol resistant organism (NCIB 10463) saved time by avoiding aseptic precautions. Use of plate sealers facilitated mixing. Evaluation of assay performance included estimations of folate recovery, assay reproducib...

A transient transfection assay using Drosophila S2 tissue culture cells and WT and mutant Drosophila vnd/NK-2 homeobox cDNAs was used to localize repression and activation domains of vnd/NK-2 homeodomain protein. A repression domain was identified near the N terminus of vnd/NK-2 homeodomain protein (amino acid residues 154-193), which contains many hydrophobic amino acid residues. The major det...

Product ion yields in postsource decay and photodissociation at 193 and 266 nm were measured for some peptide ions without a basic amino acid residue ([Y(6) + H](+), [F(5) + H](+), and [YPFVEPI + H](+)) generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI). Data indicated statistical nature for the dissociation processes. Assuming that peptide ions formed by MALDI are in thermal equi...

Two distinct D-amino acid dehydrogenases, each showing absolute speci&ity for methylene blue or 2,6-dichloroindophenol, respectively, were isolated from Pseudomonas @orescens (ATCC 11299B). The methylene blue-specific ~-amino acid dehydrogenase was detectable only in extracts from D-tryptophan-grown cells and was purified about 40-fold. The 2,6-dichloroindophenol-specif?c ~-amino acid dehydroge...

The optical sensor for "tea catechins" was built by immobilizing 2,2'-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-8-hydroxyquinoline (PBHQ) on TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs). The sensor worked by "indophenol blue" dye formation on PBHQ-immobilized TiO₂ NPs as a result of p-aminophenol (PAP) autoxidation with dissolved O₂ at pH 10. Among quercetin, rutin, naringenin, naringin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid...

Perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have fascinating optoelectronic properties, such as high photoluminescence yield (PLQY) for a broad range of materials, and the possibility to obtain different bandgaps with same material or halide combinations. Nevertheless, blue-emissive materials generally present limited PLQY color instability. Here, two molecular organogels, based on derivative an amino acid ...

Indole-3-acetic acid (plant auxin) has low toxicity but dramatically enhances the killing of mammalian cells on illuminating phenothiazinium dyes with red light. Suitable dyes include toluidine blue, used in cancer diagnosis because of localization in tumors, and methylene blue, used in experimental photodynamic therapy of cancer. The photosensitized oxidation of indole acetic acid forms a free...

Spectral tuning by visual pigments involves the modulation of the physical properties of the chromophore (11-cis-retinal) by amino acid side chains that compose the chromophore-binding pocket. We identified 12 amino acid residues in the human blue cone pigment that might induce the required green-to-blue opsin shift. The simultaneous substitution of nine of these sites in rhodopsin (M86L, G90S,...

The phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) has been used as an adsorbent for the removal of dyes (Methylene blue and Congo red dye) from synthetic aqueous solution. Different factors of the adsorbent, like, contact time, pH of the sorption medium, concentration of the dye solution, were investigated by the batch sorption experiment. The adsorption equilibrium data was best fitted by the Langmuir isotherm m...