Crystal structure of a squalene cyclase in complex with the potential anticholesteremic drug Ro48-8071

Squalene-hopene cyclase (SHC) catalyzes the conversion of squalene into pentacyclic compounds. It is the prokaryotic counterpart of the eukaryotic oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) that catalyzes the steroid scaffold formation. Because of clear sequence homology, SHC can serve as a model for OSC, which is an attractive target for anticholesteremic drugs. We have established the crystal structure of SHC complexed with Ro48-8071, a potent inhibitor of OSC and therefore of cholesterol biosynthesis. Ro48-8071 is bound in the active-center cavity of SHC and extends into the channel that connects the cavity with the membrane. The binding site of Ro48-8071 is largely identical with the expected site of squalene; it differs from a previous model based on photoaffinity labeling. The knowledge of the inhibitor binding mode in SHC is likely to help develop more potent inhibitors for OSC.     

Stringent neutron-star limits on large extra dimensions

Supernovae (SNe) are copious sources for Kaluza-Klein (KK) gravitons which are generic for theories with large extra dimensions. These massive particles are produced with average velocities approximately 0.5c so that many of them are gravitationally retained by the SN core. Every neutron star thus has a halo of KK gravitons which decay into nu(nu), e(+)e(-), and gammagamma on time scales approximately 10(9) years. The EGRET gamma-flux limits (E(gamma) approximately 100 MeV) for nearby neutron stars constrain the compactification scale for n = 2 extra dimensions to M > or = 500 TeV, and M > or = 30 TeV for n = 3. The requirement that neutron stars are not excessively heated by KK decays implies M > or = 1700 TeV for n = 2, and M > or = 60 TeV for n = 3.     

On the Diameter of Plane Curves

Recently, differential geometric properties of embedded projective varieties have gained increasing interest. In this note, we consider plane algebraic curves equipped with the Fubini--Study metric from₂ () and give an estimate for the diameter in terms of the degree, initiated in a paper by F. A. Bogomolov.     

Mass spectrometry of onium compounds—IX: On the evaporation of anilinium oxides. Ionization potential measurements

o-N,N,N-Trimethylanilinium oxide is evaporated structurally unchanged, admixed with the corresponding transalkylated ether. The ionization potential for the anilinium oxide was determined as 6·8 eV which was 0·8 eV lower than for the corresponding ether. An explanation for the unusually low IP value is advanced. In IP measurements in binary mixtures the semi-log plot method showed parallel curves for different compositions in the gas phase, but no linear relationship between the recorded IP and composition was found. Appearance potential measurements show that the energy of the zwitterion in the gas phase is at least 10 kcal/mol higher than in the corresponding ether.