Volume 2
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Research article
Anna Maniccia, Wei Yang, Julian A Johnson, Shunyi Li, Harianto Tjong, Huan-Xiang Zhou, Lev A Shaket, Jenny J Yang PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:11 (21 December 2009)
We report a systematic investigation of the role of local charge number and type of coordination residues in Ca2+ binding and protein stability, and observe a striking tradeoff between Ca2+/Ln3+ affinity and protein stability when the net charge of the coordination residues is varied. -
Research article
Amplitude distribution of stochastic oscillations in biochemical networks due to intrinsic noise
Moritz Lang, Steffen Waldherr, Frank Allgöwer PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:10 (17 November 2009)
Intrinsic noise is a common phenomenon in biochemical reaction networks and may affect the occurence and amplitude of sustained oscillations in the states of the network. We present a new method to compute the amplitude distribution of the oscillations without the need for long-term stochastic simulations. -
Research article
Two-dimensional nanosecond electric field mapping based on cell electropermeabilization
Meng-Tse Chen, Chunqi Jiang, P Thomas Vernier, Yu-Hsuan Wu, Martin A Gundersen PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:9 (11 November 2009)
This paper details a live-cell method for measuring a nanosecond pulsed electric field distribution, providing an operationally meaningful calibration for electrode designs for biological applications and permitting visualization of the relative sensitivities of different cell types to nanoelectropulse stimulation. -
Research article
Alfonso Paez, Pablo Mateos-Gil, Ines Hörger, Jesús Mingorance, Germán Rivas, Miguel Vicente, Marisela Vélez, Pedro Tarazona PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:8 (22 October 2009)
FtsZ is a GTPase that assembles at midcell into a dynamic ring that constricts the membrane to induce cell division in the majority of bacteria and some organelles. Based on data derived from the measurement of the in vitro polymerization of E coli FtsZ cell division protein, we have formulated a model in which the fine balance between curvature, flexibility and lateral interactions accounts for structural and dynamic properties of the FtsZ polymers observed with AFM. -
Research article
The influence of membrane physical properties on microvesicle release in human erythrocytes
Laurie J Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gibbons, Rachel W Bailey, Jeremy Fairbourn, Thaothanh Nguyen, Samantha K Smith, Katrina B Best, Jennifer Nelson, Allan M Judd, John D Bell PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:7 (24 August 2009)
Exposure of human erythrocytes to elevated intracellular calcium causes fragments of the cell membrane to be shed as microvesicles. This study tested the hypothesis that microvesicle release depends on microscopic membrane physical properties such as lipid order, fluidity, and composition. -
Research article
Zwanzig-Mori projection operators and EEG dynamics: deriving a simple equation of motion
David Hsu, Murielle Hsu PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:6 (13 July 2009)
This work shows that EEG dynamics obeys a generalized Langevin equation, pointing out that the parameters of this equation represent macroscopic properties, and identifies two variational principles that allow these parameters to be extracted from experimental data. -
Research article
Structural and functional implications of p53 missense cancer mutations
Yuhong Tan, Ray Luo PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:5 (26 June 2009)
In this study, the stabilities of all core domain missense mutations are predicted and are used to infer their likely inactivation mechanisms. Our correlation analysis shows that loss of protein-protein contacts may be an alternative cause for p53 inactivation. -
Research article
Osvaldo A Martín, Myriam E Villegas, Carlos F Aguilar PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:4 (27 May 2009)
This work describes clearly the interactions of the structural elements involved in the autoimmune mechanism of anti-P auto-antibodies cross-reaction and stimulation of the beta1-adrenoreceptor and the visual pigment rhodopsin in the heart. Results from this study could lead eventually to the development of treatments to abolish receptor mediated symptoms in Chagas' disease. -
Mini-review
The multiple faces of self-assembled lipidic systems
Guillaume Tresset PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:3 (17 April 2009)
From the plasma membrane of archaebacteria to gene delivery, self-assembled lipidic systems have left their mark in cell biology and nanobiotechnology; however, the underlying physics is yet to be fully unraveled. -
Research article
An effective all-atom potential for proteins
Anders Irbäck, Simon Mitternacht, Sandipan Mohanty PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:2 (8 April 2009)
We describe and test an implicit solvent all-atom potential for simulations of protein folding and aggregation. The potential is developed through studies of structural and thermodynamic properties of 17 peptides with diverse secondary structure. -
Research article
Membrane protein dynamics: limited lipid control
Balázs Szalontai PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:1 (6 February 2009)
Correlation of lipid disorder with membrane protein dynamics has been studied with infrared spectroscopy, by combining data characterizing lipid phase, protein structure and, via hydrogen-deuterium exchange, protein dynamics. In all membranes studied, dynamics seemed to be governed by lipids around the low-temperature limit, and by proteins around the high-temperature limit of membrane functionality.
