Development and Application of a High Throughput Protein Unfolding Kinetic Assay.

The kinetics of folding and unfolding underlie protein stability and quantification of these rates provides important insights into the folding process. Here, we present a simple high throughput protein unfolding kinetic assay using a plate reader that is applicable to the studies of the majority of 2-state folding proteins. We validate the assay by measuring kinetic unfolding data for the SH3 (Src Homology 3) domain from Actin Binding Protein 1 (AbpSH3) and its stabilized mutants. The results of our approach are in excellent agreement with published values. We further combine our kinetic assay with a plate reader equilibrium assay, to obtain indirect estimates of folding rates and use these approaches to characterize an AbpSH3-peptide hybrid. Our high throughput protein unfolding kinetic assays allow accurate screening of libraries of mutants by providing both kinetic and equilibrium measurements and provide a means for in-depth ϕ-value analyses.

Humanizing the homeless: does contact erode stereotypes?

This paper employs a field experiment to assess whether interpersonal contact changes domiciled individuals' attitudes of the homeless. Volunteers for Project Homeless Connect-a one-day event that provides social services to the homeless-were asked to complete a pre- and post-survey. The results provide mixed support for the contact hypothesis. After volunteering, respondents were far less likely to see homelessness as the result of individual characteristics, such as substance abuse or work aversion. However, opinion was remarkably stable when it came to policy preferences. The results cast doubt on the conventional wisdom that individuals' perceptions of the causes of homelessness track closely with their preferences for governmental policy.