Morphological and Neurological Impairments Induced by Chronic Administration of Dimethyl Sulfoxide in Mice.

We studied the influence of DMSO administered ad libitum with drinking water in concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1% for 4 and 6 weeks on pain sensitivity, motor coordination, and myelin content in the corpus callosum of C57BL/6 mice. After 6-week administration, DMSO in all studied concentrations decreased myelin content in the corpus callosum. Moreover, 4-week administration of 0.1% DMSO and 6-week administration of 1% DMSO increased the latency to fall in the rotarod test by 3.1 (p<0.05) and 5.1 (p<0.001) times, respectively. After 4-week administration of DMSO in concentrations of 0.01 and 0.1%, the latency of the tail flick response increased by 2.1 (p<0.05) and 1.8 times (p<0.001), respectively. Administration of DMSO in concentrations of 0.01 and 1% for 6 weeks led to a decrease of this parameter by 2.7 (p<0.05) and 3.8 times (p<0.01), respectively. Thus, DMSO in all studied concentrations decreased myelin content in the corpus callosum of C57BL/6 mice and modified motor coordination and pain sensitivity of animals.

[Relationship between the Interhelical Packing Angles and the Length of α-Helices in Proteins].

Mutual arrangement, or packing, of α-helices in proteins depends on several factors, but, tight packing and the chemical nature of the polypeptide chain are the most important. This study shows, for the first time, that the torsion packing angles between axes of α-helices depend on their length. A database of helical pairs formed by two connected and juxtaposed α-helices has been compiled using the Protein Data Bank. These helical pairs have been subdivided into four types: (1) 10474 pairs formed by long helices; (2) 3665 pairs in which the first α-helix is long and the second is short; (3) 3648 pairs in which the first α-helix is short and the second is long; 4) 1895 pairs in which both helices are short. Analysis of the database showed that most helical pairs in which both the helices are long form α-hairpins having interhelical packing angles of Ω. ≈ 20°. Most helical pairs in which one α-helix is long and the other is short or both helices are short form αα-corners having orthogonal (Ω ≈ -70°...-90°) or slanted (Ω ≈ -50°) packing of α-helices. The possible reasons for this relationship between interhelical angles (Ω) and the length of α-helices are discussed. These results are of great importance in protein modeling and prediction since they enable the determination of the mutual arrangement of α-helices in protein molecules.

Scaling of temperature dependence of charge mobility in molecular Holstein chains.

The temperature dependence of a charge mobility in a model DNA based on a Holstein Hamiltonian is calculated for four types of homogeneous sequences It has turned out that upon rescaling all four types are quite similar. Two types of rescaling, i.e., those for low and intermediate temperatures, are found. The curves obtained are approximated on a logarithmic scale by cubic polynomials. We believe that for model homogeneous biopolymers with parameters close to the designed ones, one can assess the value of the charge mobility without carrying out resource-intensive direct simulation, just by using a suitable approximating function.

Online resource for theoretical study of hydration of biopolymers.

An online resource has been developed for the theoretical study of hydration of biopolymers by the RISM (Reference Interaction Site Model) method, deriving from the integral equation theory of liquids. The online resource is based upon original software developed by the authors and includes all steps in studying a biopolymer with a given spatial structure and force field. It prepares the input data and carries out the RISM calculation yielding the atom-atom correlation functions of the biopolymer with water as solvent. From these functions the algorithm finds atomic partial contributions to the hydration free energy using various free energy expressions from integral equation theory. The calculated results are automatically recorded in a database, and become available on the website as tables of partial thermodynamic quantities. In addition, the website displays an interactive 3D model of a given molecule, the atoms of which can be painted in different colors in accordance with their partial contributions to the thermodynamic quantity chosen by the user. The user can interactively choose atoms on this molecule and their correlation functions will be displayed. The aim of our work was to develop and present a publicly-accessible resource on the basis of original software which could be used for scientific and educational purposes.

Superconducting spin valve effect of a v layer coupled to an antiferromagnetic [Fe/V] superlattice.

We studied superconducting V layers deposited on an antiferromagnetically coupled [Fe(2)V(11)](20) superlattice. The parallel upper critical magnetic field exhibits an anomalous T dependence up to the ferromagnetic saturation field of the superlattice, indicating that the superconducting transition temperature T(S) decreases when rotating the relative sublattice magnetization directions of the superlattice from antiparallel to parallel. This proves that the pair breaking effect of a Fe2 layer is reduced if at a distance of 1.5 nm a second Fe2 layer with antiparallel spin orientation exists.

Biological factors underlying regularity and chaos in aquatic ecosystems: simple models of complex dynamics.

This work is focused on the processes underlying the dynamics of spatially inhomogeneous plankton communities. We demonstrate that reaction-diffusion mathematical models are an appropriate tool for searching and understanding basic mechanisms of complex spatio-temporal plankton dynamics and fractal properties ofplanktivorous fish school walks

[Integral equations of the theory of liquid in the study of hydration of macromolecules]. / Integral'nye uravneniia teorii zhidkostei v issledovanii gidratatsii makromolekul.

An efficient numerical algorithm for solving integral equations of the theory of liquid in the RISM approximation for infinitely diluted solution of macromolecules with a large number of atoms is proposed. The algorithm is based on applying the non-stationary interactive methods for solving systems of linear algebraic equations. Using this technique we have calculated the solvent-solute atom-atom correlation functions for short fragment of DNA duplex of varying length in aqueous solution.

[Hydration of a fragment of the B-form of DNA duplex: d(GGGGG). A method of integral equations of the theory of liquid]. / Gidratatsiia fragmenta dupleksa B-formy DNK: d(GGGGG). Metod integral'nykh uravnenii teorii zhidkosti.

Based on the numerical algorithm proposed by us in [1] for solving integral equations of the theory of liquids in the RISM approximation we calculate all of the solvent-solute atom-atom correlation functions for a fragment of the DNA duplex d(GGGGG) in infinitely diluted aqueous solution. The obtained results are compared with available experimental data and results from computer simulations.

Ultrasonic approach to obtaining partial thermodynamic characteristics of solutions.

We describe a method for evaluating the thermodynamic characteristics both of pure liquids and of solutes in solutions using data derived from ultrasonic velocity measurements. The principal possibility of using ultrasound velocity lies in the fact that the velocity of ultrasound is a simple function of the adiabatic compressibility. The problem is formulated as an initial value problem for the parabolic type differential equations in partial derivatives. The validity of the method is demonstrated by calculation of the thermodynamic parameters for water, glycine and alanine in aqueous solutions at infinite dilution.