New limit on the neutrinoless betabeta decay of 130Te.

We report the present results of CUORICINO, a search for neutrinoless double-beta (0nu betabeta) decay of 130Te. The detector is an array of 62 TeO2 bolometers with a total active mass of 40.7 kg.

A spectrophotometric method for the determination of hydroperoxides in liposomes.

A modification of the Asakawa-Matsushita iodometric assay method for the determination of the content of lipid hydroperoxides was developed which permits the simultaneous processing of many samples of high lipid content. The method has the advantages of simplicity as well as good reproducibility, so it is not necessary to process standards with each determination. Our technique exceeds the sensitivity attained with other spectrophotometric determinations reported in the literature.

Oxidative damage, plasma antioxidant capacity, and glucemic control in elderly NIDDM patients.

A study of oxidative damage was made in elderly noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients. A statistically significant increase in glucose and fructosamine was found in fasting NIDDM patients, as well as an increase in the oxidation induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide. The Total Reactive Antioxidant Potential (TRAP) of the plasma was much reduced (p < .

Oxidative stress and membrane fluidity in erythrocytes from patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

In order to investigate the implications of oxidative disturbances in the hemolysis associated with the Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), basal levels of lipid peroxidation products, the response to t-butyl hydroperoxide induced damage and membrane fluidity were assayed by the technique of electron spin resonance in erythrocytes spin labeled with 5-Doxyl stearic acid obtained from eight children with HUS, during the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 12th weeks after diagnosis. During the acute phase of the disease, red blood cells (RBC) showed increased initial lipid peroxidation products, a higher susceptibility to oxidative insult and a lower membrane fluidity. All parameters reached control values the 12th week after diagnosis.

Evidence for involvement of metalloendoproteases in a step in sea urchin gamete fusion.

Membrane fusion events are required in three steps in sea urchin fertilization: the acrosome reaction in sperm, fusion of the plasma membrane of acrosome-reacted sperm with the plasma membrane of the egg, and exocytosis of the contents of the egg cortical granules. We recently reported the involvement of a Zn2+-dependent metalloendoprotease in the acrosome reaction (Farach, H. C.

The soluble metalloendoprotease required in myoblast fusion remains intracellular.

The fusion of myoblasts to myotubes requires an endogenous soluble metalloendoprotease. To determine whether this protease is released by fusing myoblasts, or stays within the cell, we examined the effects of membrane-impermeant and a membrane-permeant metalloendoprotease inhibitors. Membrane-permeant 1,10-phenanthroline, and membrane-impermeant bathophenanthroline disulfonic acid both inhibited soluble metalloendoprotease activity in homogenized myoblasts with equal potency.

Evidence for the involvement of metalloendoproteases in the acrosome reaction in sea urchin sperm.

An essential initial step in fertilization in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is an intracellular membrane fusion event in the sperm known as the acrosome reaction. This Ca2+-dependent, exocytotic process involves fusion of the membrane of the acrosomal vesicle and the plasma membrane. Recently, metalloendoproteases requiring divalent metals have been implicated in several Ca2+-dependent membrane fusion events in other biological systems.

Coenzyme active site occupancy as an indicator of independence of the subunits of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase.

The enzyme, aspartate aminotransferase, is a dimer consisting of two identical subunits which contain overlapping subunit regions ( Eichele , G., Ford, G.C.

Reductive methylation as a probe of the heat-labile alpha-bungarotoxin-acetylcholine receptor membrane complex: evidence for surface interactions.

alpha-Bungarotoxin (alpha-Bgt) is a potent postsynaptic neurotoxin which blocks neurotransmission by binding very tightly to the acetylcholine-receptor (AcChR) protein. We have previously shown (P. Calvo-Fernandez, and M.

Properties of the active site lysyl residue of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase in solution.

Two vitamin B6 derivatives, N-bromoacetylpyridoxamine (BAPM) and its phosphate ester have been found to be affinity-labeling reagents for mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.

Specific labeling of the active site of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase through the use of a cofactor analogue, N-(Bromoacetyl)pyridoxamine.

The cofactor analogue N-(bromoacetyl)pyridoxamine (BAPM) has been employed to inactivate the cytosolic isozyme of apo-aspartate aminotransferase. Inactivation is the result of covalent bond formation in the (bromoacetyl)-pyridoxamine-transferase complex, via the epsilon-amino group of a lysyl residue at the active site. The stoichiometry of this inactivation is one molecule of (bromoacetyl)pyridoxamine per subunit of the transaminase dimer.

ESR spectra of quasirandomly oriented centers: application to radiation damage centers in bone.

The angular dependence of the ESR line shape from polycrystalline samples due to incomplete randomness in the orientation of the crystallites is calculated for centers with axial symmetry. The effect of a preferential axis of orientation is considered and the results are applied to radiation produce centers in bone.