Tautonyms in Biology (Part 1)

One of my hobbies is collecting tautonyms--a harmless and inexpensive activity. Unlike rock-collecting, tautonym-collecting is clean, requires very little exertion, and only a small amount of storage space. Unlike coin or stamp-collecting, tautonym-collecting does not deal in objects of value; I don\u27t have a safe to keep my tautonyms secure, nor do i Have to pay anyone when i come across a tautonym

Tautonyms in Biology (Part 2)

Mabuya mabuya (common mabuya lizard) Gk: animal\u27s nam

Rubisco activation limits photosynthesis in wheat

Light available for photosynthesis fluctuates continuously in the field, as clouds cross the sun and as the movement of the sun causes shadows to move across leaves. Transgenic manipulations to allow more rapid relaxation of non-photochemical quenching during sun-shade transitions increased productivity in the field by 14-20%. Rubisco activation is a key limit on photosynthesis during induction following shade-sun transitions. This suggests there may also be potential to increase photosynthesis and crop productivity by speeding up Rubisco activation

Discovery of Stable and Selective Antibody Mimetics from Combinatorial Libraries of Polyvalent, Loop-Functionalized Peptoid Nanosheets.

The ability of antibodies to bind a wide variety of analytes with high specificity and high affinity makes them ideal candidates for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. However, the poor stability and high production cost of antibodies have prompted exploration of a variety of synthetic materials capable of specific molecular recognition. Unfortunately, it remains a fundamental challenge to create a chemically diverse population of protein-like, folded synthetic nanostructures with defined molecular conformations in water. Here we report the synthesis and screening of combinatorial libraries of sequence-defined peptoid polymers engineered to fold into ordered, supramolecular nanosheets displaying a high spatial density of diverse, conformationally constrained peptoid loops on their surface. These polyvalent, loop-functionalized nanosheets were screened using a homogeneous Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay for binding to a variety of protein targets. Peptoid sequences were identified that bound to the heptameric protein, anthrax protective antigen, with high avidity and selectivity. These nanosheets were shown to be resistant to proteolytic degradation, and the binding was shown to be dependent on the loop display density. This work demonstrates that key aspects of antibody structure and function-the creation of multivalent, combinatorial chemical diversity within a well-defined folded structure-can be realized with completely synthetic materials. This approach enables the rapid discovery of biomimetic affinity reagents that combine the durability of synthetic materials with the specificity of biomolecular materials

Bostonia: 1998-1999, no. 1, 3-4

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs