Detailed knowledge of the tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins and protein complexes is of immense importance in understanding their functionality. Similarly, variations in the conformational states of proteins form the underlying mechanisms behind many biomolecular processes, numerous of which are disease-related. Thus, the availability of reliable and accurate biophysical techniques that can provide detailed information concerning these issues is of paramount importance. Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) offers a unique opportunity to separate multi-component biomolecular entities and to measure the molecular mass and collision cross-section of individual components in a single, rapid (= 2 min) experiment, providing 3D- architectural information directly. Here we report a method of calibrating a commercially available electrospray ionisation (ESI)-travelling wave ion mobility spectrometry (TWIMS)-mass spectrometer using known cross-sectional areas determined for a range of biomolecules by conventional IMS-MS. Using this method of calibration, we have analysed a range of proteins of differing mass and 3D architecture in their native conformations by ESI-TWIMS-MS and found that the cross-sectional areas measured in this way compare extremely favourably with cross-sectional areas calculated using an in-house computing method based on Protein Data Bank NMR-derived co-ordinates. This not only provides a high degree of confidence in the calibration method, but also suggests that the gas phase ESI- TWIMS-MS measurements relate well to solution-based measurements derived from other biophysical techniques. In order to determine which instrumental parameters affect the ESI-TWIMS-MS cross-sectional area calibration, a systematic study of the parameters used to optimise TWIMS drift time separations has been carried out, observing the effect each parameter has on drift times and IMS resolution. Finally, the ESI-TWIMS-MS cross-sectional area calibration has been applied to the analysis of the amyloidogenic protein beta(2)-microglobulin and measurements for three co-populated conformational families, present under denaturing conditions, have been made: the folded, partially unfolded and unfolded states.
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December 2024
State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, P. R. China.
Gel electrolytes have emerged as a promising solution for enhancing the performance of zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), particularly in flexible devices. However, they face challenges such as low-temperature inefficiency, constrained ionic conductivity, and poor mechanical strength. To address these issues, this study presents a novel PAMCD gel electrolyte with tunable freezing point and mechanical properties for ZIBs, blending the high ionic conductivity of polyacrylamide with the anion interaction capability of β-cyclodextrin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJACS Au
December 2024
Laboratory of Energy Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
There is an urgent need for inexpensive, functional materials that can capture and release CO under industrial conditions. In this context, MgO is a highly promising, earth-abundant CO sorbent. However, despite its favorable carbonation thermodynamics and potential for high gravimetric CO uptakes, MgO-based CO sorbents feature slow carbonation kinetics, limiting their CO uptake during typical industrial contact times.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood Chem X
January 2025
School of Liquor and Food Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Douchiba (DCB) is a nutritious food rich in various functional components such as Tetramethylpyrazine (TTMP), and the strain fermentation is crucial for enhancing its quality. This work utilized S2-2 and S6-J1 with high TTMP production for fermentation of soybeans to optimize the pre-fermentation process and to evaluate the flavor quality of mature DCB. The concentration of TTMP in DCB fermented by mixed microbial (MG) was 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGels
December 2024
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Departamento de Ciencias Químicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires 1113, Argentina.
In this work, the mechanical properties of hydrogels based on linear polyethyleneimine (PEI) chemically crosslinked with ethyleneglycoldiglycidyl ether (EGDE) were improved by the ionic crosslinking with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). To this end, the quaternization of the nitrogen atoms present in the PEI structure was conducted to render a network with a permanent positive charge to interact with the negative charges of TPP. The co-crosslinking process was studied by H high-resolution magic angle spinning (H HRMAS) NMR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in combination with organic elemental analysis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnergy Environ Sci
December 2024
Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory Oxford OX1 3PU UK
It is widely accepted that mobile ions are responsible for the slow electronic responses observed in metal halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices, and strongly influence long-term operational stability. Electrical characterisation methods mostly observe complex indirect effects of ions on bulk/interface recombination, struggle to quantify the ion density and mobility, and are typically not able to fully quantify the influence of the ions upon the bulk and interfacial electric fields. We analyse the bias-assisted charge extraction (BACE) method for the case of a screened bulk electric field, and introduce a new characterisation method based on BACE, termed ion drift BACE.
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