Wearable Capacitive Tactile Sensor Based on Porous Dielectric Composite of Polyurethane and Silver Nanowire.

In recent years, the implementation of wearable and biocompatible tactile sensing elements with sufficient response into healthcare, medical detection, and electronic skin/amputee prosthetics has been an intriguing but challenging quest. Here, we propose a flexible all-polyurethane capacitive tactile sensor that utilizes a salt crystal-templated porous elastomeric framework filling with silver nanowire as the composite dielectric material, sandwiched by a set of polyurethane films covering silver nanowire networks as electrodes. With the aids of these cubic air pores and conducting nanowires, the fabricated capacitive tactile sensor provides pronounced enhancement of both sensor compressibility and effective relative dielectric permittivity across a broad pressure regime (from a few Pa to tens of thousands of Pa).

Discovery of a novel phosphotransferase from Bacillus subtilis that phosphorylates a broad spectrum of flavonoids.

Flavonoids are associated with health benefits, but most of them have poor oral bioavailability due to their extremely low aqueous solubility. Flavonoid O-phosphorylation suggests a potent modification to solve the problems. Here, we isolated, identified and characterized an unprecedented phosphotransferase, flavonoid phosphate synthetase (BsFPS), from B.

Nitrogen deficiency- and sucrose-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis is modulated by HISTONE DEACETYLASE15 in Arabidopsis.

Anthocyanin accumulation is a hallmark response to nitrogen (N) deficiency in Arabidopsis. Although the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis has been extensively studied, the roles of chromatin modification in this process are largely unknown. In this study we show that anthocyanin accumulation induced by N deficiency is modulated by HISTONE DEACETYLASE15 (HDA15) in Arabidopsis seedlings.

Design of Antimicrobial Peptides With a Special Charge Pattern and Their Application in Combating Plant Pathogens.

Plant diseases are important issues in agriculture, and the development of effective and environment-friendly means of disease control is crucial and highly desired. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are known as potential alternatives to chemical pesticides because of their potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and because they have no risk, or have only a low risk, of developing chemical-resistant pathogens. In this study, we designed a series of amphipathic helical peptides with different spatial distributions of positive charges and found that the peptides that had a special sequence pattern "BBHBBHHBBH" ("B" for basic residue and "H" for hydrophobic residue) displayed excellent bactericidal and fungicidal activities in a wide range of economically important plant pathogens.

Antcins, triterpenoids from Antrodia cinnamomea, as new agonists for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a nuclear hormone receptor that transcriptionally regulates lipid metabolism and inflammation; therefore, PPARα agonists are promising agents to treat dyslipidemia and metabolic disorders. PPARα full agonists, such as fibrates, are effective anti-hypertriglyceride agents, but their use is limited by adverse side effects. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify small molecules that can activate PPARα while minimizing the adverse effects.

Segments in the Amyloid Core that Distinguish Hamster from Mouse Prion Fibrils.

Prion diseases are transmissible fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting humans and other mammals. The disease transmission can occur between different species but is limited by the sequence homology between host and inoculum. The crucial molecular event in the progression of this disease is prion formation, starting from the conformational conversion of the normal, membrane-anchored prion protein (PrP) into the misfolded, β-sheet-rich and aggregation-prone isoform (PrP), which then self-associates into the infectious amyloid form called prion.

An ultra-compact blackbody using electrophoretic deposited carbon nanotube films.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possesses decent optical properties and thus can be considered as a candidate for perfect absorbers due to their close-to-air refractive index and minimal extinction. However, weak absorption in porous materials, due to the low extinction coefficients, requires an inevitably thick absorption layer (∼100 μm) for the perfect opaque absorbers. Thus, the requirement of large thicknesses of CNTs prohibits them from being used as miniaturized integrated photonic devices.

New insight into the catalytic properties of rice sucrose synthase.

Sucrose synthase (SuS), which catalyzes the reversible conversion of sucrose and uridine diphosphate (UDP) into fructose and UDP-glucose, is a key enzyme in sucrose metabolism in higher plants. SuS belongs to family 4 of the glycosyltransferases (GT4) and contains an E-X7-E motif that is conserved in members of GT4 and two other GT families. To gain insight into the roles of this motif in rice sucrose synthase 3 (RSuS3), the two conserved glutamate residues (E678 and E686) in this motif and a phenylalanine residue (F680) that resides between the two glutamate residues were changed by site-directed mutagenesis.

Identification of ICE1 as a negative regulator of ABA-dependent pathways in seeds and seedlings of Arabidopsis.

Inducer of CBF expression 1 (ICE1) mediates the cold stress signal via an abscisic acid (ABA)-independent pathway. A possible role of ICE1 in ABA-dependent pathways was examined in this study. Seedling growth was severely reduced in a T-DNA insertion mutant of ICE1, ice1-2, when grown on 1/2 MS medium lacking sugars, but was restored to wild-type (WT) levels by supplementation with 56 mM glucose.

Tentative identification of the second substrate binding site in Arabidopsis phytochelatin synthase.

Phytochelatin synthase (PCS) uses the substrates glutathione (GSH, γGlu-Cys-Gly) and a cadmium (Cd)-bound GSH (Cd∙GS2) to produce the shortest phytochelatin product (PC2, (γGlu-Cys)2-Gly) through a ping-pong mechanism. The binding of the 2 substrates to the active site, particularly the second substrate binding site, is not well-understood. In this study, we generated a structural model of the catalytic domain of Arabidopsis AtPCS1 (residues 12-218) by using the crystal structure of the γGlu-Cys acyl-enzyme complex of the PCS of the cyanobacterium Nostoc (NsPCS) as a template.

Amyloid core formed of full-length recombinant mouse prion protein involves sequence 127-143 but not sequence 107-126.

The principal event underlying the development of prion disease is the conversion of soluble cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) into its disease-causing isoform, PrP(Sc). This conversion is associated with a marked change in secondary structure from predominantly α-helical to a high β-sheet content, ultimately leading to the formation of aggregates consisting of ordered fibrillar assemblies referred to as amyloid. In vitro, recombinant prion proteins and short prion peptides from various species have been shown to form amyloid under various conditions and it has been proposed that, theoretically, any protein and peptide could form amyloid under appropriate conditions.

Identification of genes differentially expressed during the growth of Bambusa oldhamii.

Bamboos are ecologically and economically important grasses, and are distinguished by their rapid growth. To identify genes associated with bamboo growth, PCR-based mRNA differential display was used to clone genes that were differentially expressed in various tissues of bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii) shoots at different growth stages. In total, 260 different cDNA sequences were obtained.

E3-independent ubiquitination of AtMAPR/MSBP1.

AtMAPR5/MSBP1 and its homologs can be ubiquitinated in the absence of E3 ligase in in vitro ubiquitination assays. Ubiquitinated AtMAPR3, AtMAPR5/MSBP1, and AtMAPR2 were identified using LC-MS/MS. Analysis of trypsin-released signature peptides showed that this E3-independent ubiquitination of AtMAPR3, AtMAPR5/MSBP1, and AtMAPR2 was dominated by mono-ubiquitination at multiple sites.

The purine-rich DNA-binding protein OsPurα participates in the regulation of the rice sucrose synthase 1 gene expression.

The rice sucrose synthase 1 (RSus1) gene is transcriptionally induced by sucrose, and a region within its promoter, at -1117 to -958 upstream of the transcription initiation site, was found to be essential for enhancing the sucrose-induced expression. Further dissection of this region revealed that a group of nuclear proteins interact with a 39-bp fragment named A-3-2 (-1045 to -1007). A protein that specifically and directly interacted with A-3-2 was isolated from the suspension-cultured cells of rice and was subsequently identified as a purine-rich DNA-binding protein.

Cloning, expression, site-directed mutagenesis and immunolocalization of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase in Bambusa oldhamii.

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.

HHP1, a novel signalling component in the cross-talk between the cold and osmotic signalling pathways in Arabidopsis.

Heptahelical protein 1 (HHP1) is a negative regulator in abscisic acid (ABA) and osmotic signalling in Arabidopsis. The physiological role of HHP1 was further investigated in this study using transgenic and knock-out plants. In HHP1::GUS transgenic mutants, GUS activity was found to be mainly expressed in the roots, vasculature, stomata, hydathodes, adhesion zones, and connection sites between septa and seeds, regions in which the regulation of turgor pressure is crucial.

Analysis of the cellulose synthase genes associated with primary cell wall synthesis in Bambusa oldhamii.

The synthesis of cell wall polysaccharides is highly active in rapidly growing bamboo shoots. We cloned a set of BoCesA cDNAs that encode cellulose synthase from bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii) and investigated the expression patterns of the BoCesA2, BoCesA5, BoCesA6 and BoCesA7 genes. The four BoCesA genes were differentially expressed in the different parts of growing bamboo shoots, in various organs, and in multiple shoots that were cultured in vitro.

Molecular characterization of a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene (BoPAL1) from Bambusa oldhamii.

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase is the first enzyme of general phenylpropanoid pathway. A PAL gene, designated as BoPAL1, was cloned from a Bambusa oldhamii cDNA library. The open reading frame of BoPAL1 was 2,139 bp in size and predicted to encode a 712-amino acid polypeptide.

Cloning and expression of a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene (BoPAL2) from Bambusa oldhamii in Escherichia coli and Pichia pastoris.

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.

Phytochelatin synthase is regulated by protein phosphorylation at a threonine residue near its catalytic site.

Heavy metals are toxic to most living organisms and cause health problems by contaminating agricultural products. In plants, phytochelatin synthase (PCS, EC 2.3.

HHP1 is involved in osmotic stress sensitivity in Arabidopsis.

HHP1 (heptahelical protein 1), a protein with a predicted seven transmembrane domain structure homologous to adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs) and membrane progestin receptors (mPRs), has been characterized. Expression of HHP1 was increased in response to abscisic acid (ABA) and salt/osmotic stress as shown by quantitative real-time PCR and HHP1 promoter-controlled GUS activity. The HHP1 T-DNA insertion mutant (hhp1-1) showed a higher sensitivity to ABA and osmotic stress than the wild-type (WT), as revealed by the germination rate and post-germination growth rate.

Tuning the conformational properties of the prion peptide.

Previously, we disclosed that O-linked glycosylation of Ser-132 or Ser-135 could dramatically change the amyloidogenic property of the hamster prion peptide (sequence 108-144). This peptide, which corresponds to the flexible loop and the first beta-strand in the structure of the prion protein, is a random coil when it is initially dissolved in buffer, but amyloid fibrils are formed with time. Thus, it offers a convenient model system to observe and compare how different chemical modifications and sequence mutations alter the amyloidogenic property of the peptide within a reasonable experimental time frame.

Insights into the catalytic properties of bamboo vacuolar invertase through mutational analysis of active site residues.

Plant acid invertases, which are either associated with the cell wall or present in vacuoles, belong to family 32 of glycoside hydrolases (GH32). Homology modeling of bamboo vacuolar invertase Bobetafruct3 using Arabidopsis cell-wall invertase AtcwINV1 as a template showed that its overall structure is similar to GH32 enzymes, and that the three highly conserved motifs, NDPNG, RDP and EC, are located in the active site. This study also used site-directed mutagenesis to examine the roles of the conserved amino acid residues in these three motifs, which include Asp135, Arg259, Asp260, Glu316 and Cys317, and a conserved Trp residue (Trp159) that resides between the NDPNG and RDP motifs.

Associations among genetic susceptibility, DNA damage, and pregnancy outcomes of expectant mothers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.

This study determined the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on fetal growth by measuring neonatal birth outcomes and the extent of maternal DNA damage, and investigating the relationships among gene polymorphisms, genotoxicity, and pregnancy outcomes of expectant mothers who had exposed to tobacco smoke. This prospective study enrolled 685 pregnant women who completed an initial questionnaire at three central Taiwan hospitals between 2003 and 2004. Genotype analyses of CYP1A1, GSTT1, GSTM1, and NAT2 were performed from 421 women.

Molecular analyses of the Arabidopsis TUBBY-like protein gene family.

In mammals, TUBBY-like proteins play an important role in maintenance and function of neuronal cells during postdifferentiation and development. We have identified a TUBBY-like protein gene family with 11 members in Arabidopsis, named AtTLP1-11. Although seven of the AtTLP genes are located on chromosome I, no local tandem repeats or gene clusters are identified.