How methane hydrate recovers at very high pressure the hexagonal ice structure.

Methane hydrate was recently shown, both experimentally and through simulations, to be stable up to the remarkably high pressure of 150 GPa. A new methane hydrate high-pressure (MH-IV) phase, reminiscent of ice at ambient pressure, was described for pressures above approximately 40 GPa. We disentangle here the main contributions to the relative stability of the lower pressure, denoted MH-III, and the high-pressure MH-IV structures. Through several simulation techniques, including metadynamics and path integral molecular dynamics for nuclear quantum effects, we analyze the phase transition mechanism, which implies hydrogen bond breaking and reforming, as well as methane reordering. The transition pathway is far from trivial, and the quantum delocalization of the hydrogen nuclei plays a significant role.

Navigating at Will on the Water Phase Diagram.

Despite the simplicity of its molecular unit, water is a challenging system because of its uniquely rich polymorphism and predicted but yet unconfirmed features. Introducing a novel space of generalized coordinates that capture changes in the topology of the interatomic network, we are able to systematically track transitions among liquid, amorphous, and crystalline forms throughout the whole phase diagram of water, including the nucleation of crystals above and below the melting point. Our approach, based on molecular dynamics and enhanced sampling or free energy calculation techniques, is not specific to water and could be applied to very different structural phase transitions, paving the way towards the prediction of kinetic routes connecting polymorphic structures in a range of materials.

Topologically frustrated ionisation in a water-ammonia ice mixture.

Water and ammonia are considered major components of the interiors of the giant icy planets and their satellites, which has motivated their exploration under high P-T conditions. Exotic forms of these pure ices have been revealed at extreme (~megabar) pressures, notably symmetric, ionic, and superionic phases. Here we report on an extensive experimental and computational study of the high-pressure properties of the ammonia monohydrate compound forming from an equimolar mixture of water and ammonia. Our experiments demonstrate that relatively mild pressure conditions (7.4 GPa at 300 K) are sufficient to transform ammonia monohydrate from a prototypical hydrogen-bonded crystal into a form where the standard molecular forms of water and ammonia coexist with their ionic counterparts, hydroxide (OH-) and ammonium [Formula: see text] ions. Using ab initio atomistic simulations, we explain this surprising coexistence of neutral/charged species as resulting from a topological frustration between local homonuclear and long-ranged heteronuclear ionisation mechanisms.

Ice VII from aqueous salt solutions: From a glass to a crystal with broken H-bonds.

It has been known for decades that certain aqueous salt solutions of LiCl and LiBr readily form glasses when cooled to below ≈160 K. This fact has recently been exploited to produce a « salty ¼ high-pressure ice form: When the glass is compressed at low temperatures to pressures higher than 4 GPa and subsequently warmed, it crystallizes into ice VII with the ionic species trapped inside the ice lattice. Here we report the extreme limit of salt incorporation into ice VII, using high pressure neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations. We show that high-pressure crystallisation of aqueous solutions of LiCl∙RH2O and LiBr∙RH2O with R = 5.6 leads to solids with strongly expanded volume, a destruction of the hydrogen-bond network with an isotropic distribution of water-dipole moments, as well as a crystal-to-amorphous transition on decompression. This highly unusual behaviour constitutes an interesting pathway from a glass to a crystal where translational periodicity is restored but the rotational degrees of freedom remaining completely random.

Expression of potassium channel isoforms mRNA in normal human adrenals and aldosterone-secreting adenomas.

Increased aldosterone secretion has been found in a mouse lacking the KCNE1 gene which codes for a regulatory protein of the KCNQ1 gene product, forming the channel for the outward rectifying delayed K+ current. Abnormalities in proteins regulating the K+ fluxes across membranes may be responsible for aldosterone-secreting adenomas (aldosteronomas) also because K+ channels are involved in cell growth. Normal and adenomatous adrenal samples and NCI-H295 cell line were used to: a) evaluate KCNE1 and KCNQ1 gene expression, b) sequence the full length cDNAs of KCNE1 and both KCNQ1 isoforms. These differently spliced KCNE1 and KCNQ1 mRNAs were expressed in adrenal tissue. In contrast, KCNQ1 isoform 2 mRNA was not expressed in kidney control tissues and NCl-H295 cell line. NCI-H295 cell line also had a significantly lower expression of KCNQ1 isoform 1 mRNA than normal adrenals and aldosteronomas. We did not find any somatic mutations in the coding sequences of both genes. This different expression pattern of KCNQ1 isoforms in NCI-H295 cell line with the lack of the mRNA for the dominant-negative KCNQ1 isoform 2 supports the involvement of voltage-gated K+ channel in cell proliferation.

Cardiovascular effects of sildenafil in hypertensive men with erectile dysfunction and different alleles of the type 5 cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE5).

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is frequent in patients with essential hypertension (EH); a likely common pathogenetic pathway could be a reduced ability of arteriolar vascular smooth muscle (VSM) to relax. Increasing intracellular levels of cGMP reduce the contractile status of VSM; on the contrary, type 5 cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE5, codified by PDE5A gene) regulates cGMP levels through its clearance. The PDE5A gene represents a good candidate for the intermediate phenotype EH/ED: genetic variants of the PDE5A may predispose to EH and ED and could affect the local and systemic response to sildenafil administration. Thus, a functionally relevant portion of PDE5 5'-flanking promoter region was analyzed by PCR and direct sequencing in patients with EH and idiopathic ED. The sequences obtained showed a T/G polymorphism at position -1142, near an AP1 regulatory element, that was not apparently associated with the intermediate phenotype. We also studied the relationship between this polymorphism and the effects of oral sildenafil on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in men with ED. Sildenafil caused a significant decrease of BP, but had no effects on HR; statistical analysis showed no differences in BP and HR variations among PDE5A genotypes. In conclusion, our data showed no correlations of a novel polymorphism of the PDE5A promoter gene with the intermediate phenotype EH/ED and the BP and HR response to sildenafil administration. Further studies are necessary to define the role of this polymorphism and to study the genetic predisposition for EH with ED.

Absence of somatic mutations in natriuretic peptide receptor type A gene in human aldosterone-secreting adenomas.

Somatic mutations of genes codifying for key regulatory proteins are the cause of different types of hormone-secreting adenomas. Natriuretic peptides (NP) are the strongest inhibitors of aldosterone secretion but aldosterone-secreting adenomas (aldosteronomas) are resistant to this inhibition and have reduced binding sites for NPs. The objective of this study was to sequence the entire coding region of the NP receptor type A (NPRA, codified by the Npr1 gene) to find loss-of-function somatic mutations. Total RNA was extracted from eight aldosteronomas and cDNA was synthesized. NPRA mRNA expression was evaluated by Northern blot analysis and compared with beta-actin mRNA as the housekeeping gene. Twelve primer couples were designed on the basis of the Npr1 gene organization to amplify, by PCR, all 22 coding exons of the gene. The two strands of amplified DNAs were purified and directly sequenced by automated capillary sequencer. NPRA mRNA expression did not differ among aldosteronomas. Npr1 open reading frame sequences obtained from eight aldosteronomas did not contain any mutation. The coding sequences of all 22 exons were identical in all samples and identical to published sequences. In the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) a new length difference 3C/4C polymorphism was found at position 15 129 (three adenomas were 3C/4C and two were 3C/3C). Such a 3C/4C polymorphism was present in genomic DNA from 80 control subjects (25, 4C/4C; 40, 3C/4C; 15, 3C/3C). Mutations in the coding exons of the Npr1 gene do not appear to be a common cause of aldosteronomas. Moreover, the exons of Npr1 encoding for the translated portion of mRNA do not appear to be prone to polymorphisms. The polymorphism identified in the 3'-UTR might affect mRNA stability resulting in lower receptor synthesis, but it is not likely to confer a predisposition to the development of aldosteronomas.