Conductance hysteresis in the voltage-dependent anion channel.

Hysteresis in the conductance of voltage-sensitive ion channels is observed when the transmembrane voltage is periodically varied with time. Although this phenomenon has been used in studies of gating of the voltage-dependent anion channel, VDAC, from the outer mitochondrial membrane for nearly four decades, full hysteresis curves have never been reported, because the focus was solely on the channel opening branches of the hysteresis loops. We studied the hysteretic response of a multichannel VDAC system to a triangular voltage ramp the frequency of which was varied over three orders of magnitude, from 0.

Acidification asymmetrically affects voltage-dependent anion channel implicating the involvement of salt bridges.

The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is the major pathway for ATP, ADP, and other respiratory substrates through the mitochondrial outer membrane, constituting a crucial point of mitochondrial metabolism regulation. VDAC is characterized by its ability to "gate" between an open and several "closed" states under applied voltage. In the early stages of tumorigenesis or during ischemia, partial or total absence of oxygen supply to cells results in cytosolic acidification.

Thermodynamics of interleaflet cavitation in lipid bilayer membranes.

Interleaflet cavitation in lipid bilayer membranes, or, shortly, intramembrane cavitation (IMC), is the formation of gas bubbles between the two leaflets of the membrane. The present paper focuses on the thermodynamics of IMC, namely, on the minimum work required to form an intramembrane cavity. The minimum work can be separated into two parts, one that depends on the volume and number of gas molecules in the bubble and another that depends on the bubble geometry.

Shear forces during blast, not abrupt changes in pressure alone, generate calcium activity in human brain cells.

Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury (bTBI) describes a spectrum of injuries caused by an explosive force that results in changes in brain function. The mechanism responsible for primary bTBI following a blast shockwave remains unknown. We have developed a pneumatic device that delivers shockwaves, similar to those known to induce bTBI, within a chamber optimal for fluorescence microscopy.

Bending affects entropy of semiflexible polymers: Application to protein-DNA complexes.

We discuss a class of generalized wormlike chain models of polymers with spontaneous curvature and show that the density of states and consequently the entropy of such natively bent polymers are higher than that of straight ones. This effect changes the classical Langmuir binding isotherm by giving rise to enhanced binding of DNA-bending proteins.

Coupling of twist and writhe in short DNA loops.

While bending and twist can be treated as independent degrees of freedom for linear DNA molecules, the loop closure constraint introduces a coupling between these variables in circular DNA. We performed Monte Carlo simulations of wormlike rods with both bending and twist rigidity in order to study the coupling between the writhe and twist distributions for various DNA lengths. We find that for sufficiently short DNA, the writhe distribution differs from that of a model with bending energy only.

Intrinsically chiral aromaticity. Rules incorporating linking number, twist, and writhe for higher-twist Möbius annulenes.

The geometries of coiled annulenes belonging to the chiral C2 and D(n) (n = 2,7) point groups are defined by two chiral indices, W(r) and T(w), respectively (writhe and twist), which sum to give an overall integer linking number, L(k) (the Cãlugãreanu-White-Fuller theorem). While the value of L(k) can been equated with single-twist (L(k) = 1pi), double-twist (L(k) = 2), and higher-order (L(k) > 2) twisted (Möbius-Listing) annulenes, we suggest that the correct Huckel molecular-orbital treatment is to use T(w) specifically in the 2p(pi)-2p(pi) overlap correction first suggested by Heilbronner, rather than L(k). Quantitatively, because many of these systems project much of the finite value of T(w) into W(r), a simple mechanism exists to increase the pi-electron resonance stabilization beyond what simple Heilbronner theory predicts.