Publicaties

Purpose: Chronic β-alanine supplementation leads to increased levels of muscle histidine-containing dipeptides. However, the majority of ingested β-alanine is, most likely, degraded by two transaminases: GABA-T and AGXT2. In contrast to GABA-T, the in vivo role of AGXT2 with respect to β-alanine metabolism is unknown. The purpose of the present work is to investigate if AGXT2 is functionally involved in β-alanine homeostasis. Methods: Muscle ...

The ESR spectrometry, based on alanine dosimeters, is a standard tool for dosimetry of different type ionizing radiations. The calibrated dosimeters and ESR readers operate rather reliably in the dose range up to 200 kGy. In this study, the ESR spectrometry of stable free radicals in alanine, induced by penetrative X- and γ-rays as well as neutron and stopped proton irradiations covering the dose range from a few Gy to a few MGy, has been ...

L-α-alanine Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) dosimetry is a convenient method for quality assurance (QA) measurements in radiotherapy due to its excellent properties (robustness, nearly water equivalent, nondestructive read-out, low signal fading rate). It has been used for more than 20 years as a transfer dosimetry system mostly for high-energy photon beams where the energy response is very well documented. The rapid development of small ...

The structural changes throughout the entire reductive radiation-induced pathway of L-alpha-alanine are solved on an atomistic level with the aid of periodic DFT and nudged elastic band (NEB) simulations. This yields unprecedented information on the conformational changes taking place, including the protonation state of the carboxyl group in the "unstable'' and "stable'' alanine radicals and the internal transformation converting these two ...

An experimental determination of the energy correction factor for alanine/paraffin pellets in the 192Ir spectrum at varying distances from the source is presented. Alanine dosimeters were irradiated in water under full scatter conditions with a high dose rate (HDR) 192Ir source (Flexisource), using a dedicated holder. Up to six line sources (catheters) fit in a regular pattern at fixed radial distances from the holder axis, the alanine detector ...

A thorough investigation of different roles of Escherichia coli type I signal peptidase residues binding to lipopeptide inhibitor has been performed by a combination of computational alanine scanning mutagenesis and free energy decomposition methods. PB and GB models are both used to evaluate the binding free energy in computational alanine scanning method and only GB model can be used to decompose the binding free energy on a per-residue basis. ...

Peptide toxins from scorpion venoms constitute the largest group of toxins that target the voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv). Spinoxin (SPX) isolated from the venom of scorpion Heterometrus spinifer is a 34-residue peptide neurotoxin cross-linked by four disulfide bridges. SPX is a potent inhibitor of Kv1.3 potassium channels (IC50 = 63 nM), which are considered to be valid molecular targets in the diagnostics and therapy of various ...

The metabolic alterations in tumors make it possible to visualize the latter by means of positron emission tomography, enabling diagnosis and providing metabolic information. The alanine serine cysteine transporter-2 (ASCT-2) is the main transporter of glutamine and is upregulated in several tumors. Therefore, a good positron emission tracer targeting this transport protein would have substantial value. Hence, the aim of this study is to develop ...