Biomaterial Database

Long-lived conformation changes induced by electric impulses in biopolymers. 1972

E Neumann, and A Katchalsky

Electric impulses are capable of inducing long-lived conformational changes in (metastable) biopolymers. Results of experiments with poly(A).2 poly(U) and ribosomal RNA, which are known to develop metastabilities, are reported. A polarization mechanism is proposed to explain the structural transitions observed in the biopolymers exposed to the impulses. In accordance with this idea, the applied electric field (of about 20 kV/cm and decaying exponentially, with a decay time of about 10 musec) induces large dipole moments by shifting the ionic atmosphere of multistranded polynucleotide helices. This shift, in turn, causes strand repulsion and partial unwinding. The fields used in our experiments are of the same order of magnitude as those in nerve impulses. The significance of the impulse experiments with regard to the question of biological memory recording is briefly discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007700	Kinetics	The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D008433	Mathematics	The deductive study of shape, quantity, and dependence. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Mathematic
D009690	Nucleic Acid Conformation	The spatial arrangement of the atoms of a nucleic acid or polynucleotide that results in its characteristic 3-dimensional shape.	DNA Conformation,RNA Conformation,Conformation, DNA,Conformation, Nucleic Acid,Conformation, RNA,Conformations, DNA,Conformations, Nucleic Acid,Conformations, RNA,DNA Conformations,Nucleic Acid Conformations,RNA Conformations
D011119	Polynucleotides	BIOPOLYMERS composed of NUCLEOTIDES covalently bonded in a chain. The most common examples are DNA and RNA chains.	Polynucleotide
D002621	Chemistry	A basic science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter; and the reactions that occur between substances and the associated energy exchange.
D004563	Electrochemistry	The study of chemical changes resulting from electrical action and electrical activity resulting from chemical changes.	Electrochemistries
D000227	Adenine Nucleotides		Adenine Nucleotide,Adenosine Phosphate,Adenosine Phosphates,Nucleotide, Adenine,Nucleotides, Adenine,Phosphate, Adenosine,Phosphates, Adenosine
D012335	RNA, Ribosomal	The most abundant form of RNA. Together with proteins, it forms the ribosomes, playing a structural role and also a role in ribosomal binding of mRNA and tRNAs. Individual chains are conventionally designated by their sedimentation coefficients. In eukaryotes, four large chains exist, synthesized in the nucleolus and constituting about 50% of the ribosome. (Dorland, 28th ed)	Ribosomal RNA,15S RNA,RNA, 15S
D014500	Uracil Nucleotides	A group of pyrimidine NUCLEOTIDES which contain URACIL.	Uridine Phosphates,Uridine Nucleotides,Nucleotides, Uracil,Nucleotides, Uridine,Phosphates, Uridine
D046911	Macromolecular Substances	Compounds and molecular complexes that consist of very large numbers of atoms and are generally over 500 kDa in size. In biological systems macromolecular substances usually can be visualized using ELECTRON MICROSCOPY and are distinguished from ORGANELLES by the lack of a membrane structure.	Macromolecular Complexes,Macromolecular Compounds,Macromolecular Compounds and Complexes,Complexes, Macromolecular,Compounds, Macromolecular,Substances, Macromolecular