The effect of the nano-silica support on the catalytic reduction of water by gold, silver and platinum nanoparticles--nanocomposite reactivity.

Pt°-NPs, prepared by the reduction of Pt(IV) salts with borohydride, do not catalyse the reduction of water in the presence of the strongly-reducing ˙C(CH3)2OH radicals. However, supporting the same metal nanoparticles (M°-NPs) with SiO2 alters the catalytic properties enabling the reaction. This effect depends both on the nature of M° and concentration of the composite nanoparticles. At low nanocomposite concentration: for M = Au nearly no effect is observed; for M = Ag the support decreases the catalytic reduction of water and for M = Pt the support initiates the catalytic process. At high nanocomposite concentration: for M = Au the reactivity is considerably lower and for M = Ag or Pt no catalysis is observed. Furthermore, for M = Ag or Pt H2 reduces the ˙C(CH3)2OH radicals.

Effects of DNA sequence and structure on binding of RecA to single-stranded DNA.

Fluorescence anisotropy is used to follow the binding of RecA to short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sequences (39 bases) at low DNA and RecA concentration where the initial phase of polymerization occurs. We observe that RecA condensation is extremely sensitive to minute changes in DNA sequences. RecA binds strongly to sequences that are rich in pyrimidines and that lack significant secondary structure and base stacking. We find a correlation between the DNA folding free energy and the onset concentration for RecA binding. These results suggest that the folding of ssDNA and base stacking represent a barrier for RecA binding. The link between secondary structure and binding affinity is further analyzed with two examples: discrimination between two naturally occurring polymorphisms differing by one base and RecA binding on a molecular beacon. A self-assembly model is introduced to explain these observations. We propose that RecA may be used to sense ssDNA sequence and structure.

Pearling in cells: a clue to understanding cell shape.

Gradual disruption of the actin cytoskeleton induces a series of structural shape changes in cells leading to a transformation of cylindrical cell extensions into a periodic chain of "pearls." Quantitative measurements of the pearling instability give a square-root behavior for the wavelength as a function of drug concentration. We present a theory that explains these observations in terms of the interplay between rigidity of the submembranous actin shell and tension that is induced by boundary conditions set by adhesion points. The theory allows estimation of the rigidity and thickness of this supporting shell. The same theoretical considerations explain the shape of nonadherent edges in the general case of untreated cells.

Dynamic excitations in membranes induced by optical tweezers.

We present the phenomenology of transformations in lipid bilayers that are excited by laser tweezers. A variety of dynamic instabilities and shape transformations are observed, including the pearling instability, expulsion of vesicles, and more exotic ones, such as the formation of passages. Our physical picture of the laser-membrane interaction is based on the generation of tension in the bilayer and loss of surface area. Although tension is the origin of the pearling instability, it does not suffice to explain expulsion of vesicles, where we observe opening of giant pores and creeping motion of bilayers. We present a quantitative theoretical framework to understand most of the observed phenomenology. The main hypothesis is that lipid is pulled into the optical trap by the familiar dielectric effect, is disrupted, and finally is repackaged into an optically unresolvable suspension of colloidal particles. This suspension, in turn, can produce osmotic pressure and depletion forces, driving the observed transformations.

Localized dynamic light scattering: a new approach to dynamic measurements in optical microscopy.

We present a new approach to probing single-particle dynamics that uses dynamic light scattering from a localized region. By scattering a focused laser beam from a micron-size particle, we measure its spatial fluctuations via the temporal autocorrelation of the scattered intensity. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach by measuring the three-dimensional force constants of a single bead and a pair of beads trapped by laser tweezers. The scattering equations that relate the scattered intensity autocorrelation to the particle position correlation function are derived. This technique has potential applications for measurement of biomolecular force constants and probing viscoelastic properties of complex media.