Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a highly sensitive technique for monitoring changes in the optical properties of a substance in the immediate vicinity of a sensor surface, this makes it very useful in biosensing and surface science research. The most common SPR setup is the Kretschmann configuration in which surface plasmons are excited using a bulk prism and a gold-coated microscope slide....
Fundamentally, molecular biological systems are quantum mechanical. Some of the big questions then is whether or not quantum effects manifest and whether these quantum effects contribute to the function of the biological systems. Studies have shown that migratory birds can orientate using the Earth’s magnetic field, and there is growing traction that this ability requires some measure of...
In many strains of cyanobacteria, phycobilisomes (PBs) absorb light and transfer excitations to the photosystems. In PBs from Synechocystis PCC6803, 396 identical pigments are bound to the protein subunits that differ in their optical properties due to various pigment-protein interactions. This tuning makes PBs efficient in transferring energy from the rods to the core and finally to the...
One of the main challenges in studying single biomolecules in a native or near-native environment is their constant diffusion. An approach to solving this problem is real-time single particle tracking (SPT). In this study, we used statistical calculations and dynamic simulations to compare the orbital, Knight’s Tour and MINFLUX localization methods, in the context of fluorescence-based and...
Sepia melanin isolated from the ink sacs of Sepia officinalis, is commonly used as standard in many research activities on melanin such as photobiology and photoreactivity of skin pigments. Melanins are difficult to characterize because of their intractable chemical properties and the heterogeneity in their structural features. Melanin pigments, in fact, are composed of many different types of...
Previously it was reported that cell-surface Glucose Regulated Protein 78 (CS-GRP78), also termed heat shock protein A5 (HSPA5), could be a possible route for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. The binding site on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which can recognize CS-GRP78, was predicted in a previous study. The spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 bear many conserved motifs to the previously...
With the glaring exception of highly conserved binding interfaces, protein surfaces tend to be regarded as variable regions of hydrophilic character, subjected only to soft evolutionary pressures. However, in crowded cellular conditions, electrostatic interactions between surfaces take on a critical role in modulating protein interactivity, with downstream consequences for protein stability,...
TBR1 is a neuron-specific transcription factor involved in multiple aspects of cortical development,and has recently emerged as a master regulator of genes implicated in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).It is thus possible that aberrant molecular interactions with TBR1 could underlie the altered neuro-molecular networks observed in Autism.
Currently there is no solved structure available of...
Surfactants carrying either fully or partially fluorinated alkyl chains are conventionally thought to be poor solubilisers of lipids and membrane proteins because of their lipophobicity. New fluorinated surfactants of different headgroups have been developed. We show that these compounds could substitute detergents' function without much interference with membrane proteins' functionality....
The development of low cost and paediatric-friendly drug formulations for highly effective but poorly water-soluble drugs is critical to the progress of new medicines in low economy settings. Milk and infant formula are potential candidate formulations for this task, but the interaction of these systems with drugs during digestion is not well understood. We have developed small angle X-ray...
Massive building constructions result to high demand of cement production in recent time. This lead Obajana cement plant to operate at maximum capacity in Nigeria. Exposure to high level radiation for prolong period can result to acute health effects such as skin burns, cancer and cardiovascular disease. This study evaluates the natural radionuclides and radiological indices of cement...
In this study, quality control analysis of radiographic equipment used in the Radiology unit of 44 Nigerian
Army Reference Hospital Kaduna was carried out in order to ensure that both workers and patients were within the minimum recommended radiation exposure level. The dose rate at the operator stand,
X-ray table, corridor, change cubicle, offices, and reception were measured with survey...
Detection of developing breast tumour in women for early treatment in recent times has yielded some results. Yet only developed tumours are detected at the stage where the only treatment method is either to remove or inhibit the growth of tumour which has its effects, possibly leading to loss of human life. Ongoing research, proposes to simulate the growth stages of tumour in human breast for...
Aim: To demonstrate synthesis of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) by a green method using Hyphaene thebaica, and investigate their therapeutic applications. Materials & methods: Structural, vibrational and luminescent properties were established using x-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, selected area...
The START programme (Synchrotron Techniques for African Research and Technology) funded by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council through the Global Challenges Research Fund has significantly stimulated African work in Structural Biology, Energy Materials and Catalysis over the last three years.
The Structural biology component funded post-docs, workshops, travel, data collection...
My objective is to share approaches by which I incorporate structural biology into our biochemistry curriculum at Hampton University. I will also discuss methods to engage K-12 and undergraduate students in crystallographic research and structural biology (since 2001). I will show the successes and failures involved in the process of fully integrating these pre-baccalaureate students in...
The African Light Source has become an urgent continental priority as a priority. This large scale science research infrastructure is the leading example of a resource hosting multi/inter/trans- disciplinary research activities. These include the medical sciences, cultural heritage sciences, geosciences, environmental sciences, energy sciences, nano-sciences, materials sciences and mineral...
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) has undergone in 2018/2019 a complete replacement of its machine. This upgrade greatly improved the brightness of the X-ray source by decreasing the horizontal emittance and divergence of the storage ring. ESRF-EBS is open in normal users’ operation since August 2020.
The presentation will give an overview of the Structural Biology beamlines...
The literature suggests that the dinitriles: malononitrile and fumaronitrile are substrates of the nitrilase-like enzyme from Pyrococcus abyssi. We have attempted to verify this and to visualize the bound substrates by X-ray crystallography. No nitriles that we tested are hydrolyzed by the very similar nitrilase-like enzymes from either P. abyssi or P. horikoshii. The enzymes do hydrolyse a...
Membrane protein crystals grown by the in meso or lipidic cubic phase (LCP) method generally produce higher-resolution structures, as they have a lower solvent content (type I crystals) than those grown by traditional vapour-diffusion crystallization (type II crystals). To grow LCP crystals of membrane proteins with the synthetic lipid monoolein, the purified membrane protein solution is...
The availability of small molecules able to selectively inhibit specific protein-protein interactions (PPI) in the cell would immensely facilitate our efforts to understand and manipulate the protein-protein “interactome”. In our manuscript we show how a novel approach that combines X-ray crystallography and fragment screening can be used to systematically design protein-protein inhibitors....
Assembly of the mitochondrial respiratory chain requires the coordinated synthesis of mitochondrial and nuclear encoded subunits, redox co-factor acquisition, and correct joining of the subunits to form functional complexes. The conserved Cbp3-Cbp6 chaperone complex binds newly synthesized cytochrome and supports the ordered acquisition of the heme co-factors. Moreover, it functions as a...
The method of choice for obtaining detailed, high resolution structural information macromolecules is X-ray crystallography. The magnitude of X-ray scattering from the electron cloud around an atomic nucleus is related to the Z number of that element, i.e., the more electrons an atom has, the better it will scatter X-rays. Due to this it is very challenging in theory and practice to determine...
Tuberculosis (TB), the world’s leading cause of death by infectious disease, is increasingly resistant to current first line antibiotics. The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB can survive low-energy conditions, which allows infections to remain dormant and decreases their susceptibility to many antibiotics. Bedaquiline was developed in 2005 from a lead compound identified in...
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an enabling technology capable to provide information and answers to biological problems that cannot be obtained by other means. NMR studies, both in solution and in the solid-state, can inform on the structure of a macromolecule in many different environments ranging from buffered solutions to intact cells, can provide insight into dynamic...
In hyper-arid soil environments, photosynthetic microorganisms are largely restricted to hypolithic habitats. They occupy the ventral surfaces of translucent pebbles in desert pavements. We combined fluorometric, spectroscopic, biochemical and metagenomic approaches to investigate the light transmission properties of quartz stones in the Namib Desert, and assess the photosynthetic activity of...
Malaria continues to be a major health problem despite various interventions to eradicate the disease. Cerebral malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for most malaria-associated deaths. Majority of these deaths occur in children under five years mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is no available information to predict who will recover from cerebral malaria, or...
Cellular transformation is associated with dramatic changes in gene expression, but it is difficult to determine which regulated genes are oncogenically relevant. Here we describe Pheno-RNA, a general approach to identifying candidate genes associated with a specific phenotype. Specifically, we generate a “phenotypic series” by treating a nontransformed breast cell line with a wide variety...
LHCII — the main light-harvesting complex of plants and green algae — is the most abundant membrane protein on earth. Here, we investigate theoretically the effect of exciton-plasmon coupling on LHCII’s fluorescence quantum yield and compare our modelling results to experimental data where plasmon-enhanced fluorescence has been reported in an LHCII–gold nanorod system. One of the models relies...
Human schistosomiasis has heavily plagued the destitute of various tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South America, with devastating effects in various health and economic areas [1]. Globally, the burden of schistosomiasis has been controlled by using a single chemotherapeutic drug, Praziquantel [2]. However, the drug has recently...
Praziquantel (PZQ) has been the drug of choice for the treatment of schistosomiasis for more than 30 years. Resistance to this drug, however, has been documented severally in recent years, hence the need for effective alternatives. This study investigated the effect of an inhibitor (dynarrestin) on the identified Schistosoma mansoni axonemal dynein intermediate protein (SmAxDynIC), a potential...
Abstract
Electrostatic interaction between parallel charged palettes can be considered as a starting point to investigate the properties of complexes biological mater like AND-protein interactions. In this work, we solve numerically the Poisson Boltzmann equation to calculate the electrostatic potential between charged palettes immerged in aqueous solution containing monovalent salt. The...
A spectroscopic study on olive oil was performed using a novel single-beam CARS implementation in order to evaluate the setup’s suitability for CARS microscopy. Using a compact setup consisting of a fs-oscillator, an all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fiber and an SLM in 4f-shaper geometry, one can successfully generate and measure SB-CARS spectra. Polarization and phase shaping the...
We present a novel nonlinear microscopy modality using a time domain ptychographic phase measurement technique to compress supercontinuum pulses used as excitation source, in so reducing average power while improving contrast.
In this presentation we are considering laser induced absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy together with taser breakdown spectroscopy for plant monitoring and medical diagnostic and therapy
Abstract
While the spectrum growth of radiofrequency (RF) emission is likely to experience astronomical increase in the years to come, the imminent query would be whether the current spectrum management process is capable of fulfilling all future requirements. Public interest in the potential health issues relating to cellular or mobile communication transceiver base station antennas (BSA)...
Abstract
The hatching using an incubator supplied from a bio-photovoltaic system, show as an alternative both efficient and sustainable, to regulate the physical factors that take part in biological processes. This research aimed to scale a autonomous bio-photovoltaic system to provide electricity in incubator with total capacity to hatch simultaneously 100 (hundred) chicken eggs. To...
