Tags: Inorganic Seminar


How Metal Ions in the Brain Tip the Toxic Balance of the Killer Prion Protein

A prion is a misfolded form of the cellular prion protein, PrPC. Although the role of PrP in neurodegeneration was established over 30 years ago, there is little understanding of the protein’s normal function, and how misfolding leads to profound disease. Recent work shows that PrPC coordinates the cofactors Cu2+ and Zn2+, and regulates the distribution of these essential metal ions in the brain. Moreover, these metals stabilize a previously…


Destroying Toxic Amyloid-beta Aggregation with Photoactive Transition Metal Complexes

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized by memory loss, motor skill loss, and eventually death that currently affects at least 5.8 million Americans.1 This number is projected to more than double in the next 30 years.1 Much effort has gone into determining the exact cause of onset of AD as well as developing strategies to mitigate its symptoms, however, there are currently are no substantial methods of…


Unexpected oxygen tolerance in an efficient hydrogen-producing [FeFe] hydrogenase from Clostridium beijerinckii

[FeFe] hydrogenases catalyze reversible hydrogen evolution at rates as high as 10,000 turnovers per second. This exceptional catalytic ability is very attractive for the use of hydrogenases in renewable energy applications and biohydrogen production. Unfortunately, enzymes of this class are known to degrade irreversibly upon exposure to small  amounts of oxygen, presenting major roadblocks for study and implementation in practical or…


Improving Selectivity and Catalytic Rate of Iron Porphyrin Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The growing demand for sources of clean and sustainable fuel has been at the forefront of research since the turn of the 21st century. Development of hydrogen fuel cells utilizes hydrogen to meet these demands. Traditionally platinum, the most expensive component, is employed at the cathode of these cells to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The drive for a cheaper alternative has led to the study of iron porphyrin complexes,…


CO Releasing Complexes Using Two Photon Excitation for Therapy

Throughout history carbon monoxide (CO) has been thought of as a toxic gas.1 However, over the past 60 years CO was found to be endogenous with distinct physiological functions and a large therapeutic potential.2, 3 4 As a therapeutic, CO modulates the immune system, exerts redox control in the mitochondria, acts as a cytoprotective, and is a vasodilator. Unfortunately, delivering CO via inhalation of the diluted gas affords high concentration…


Who We Are, What We Do, and Why We Do It

  Recro Gainesville is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) located in Gainesville, GA.  Pharmaceutical companies engage with Recro when they have a need to develop dosage forms for a molecule they own.  Recro specializes in formulation and process development, analytical method development and validation, regulatory guidance, and commercial manufacturing and packaging for the pharmaceutical industry.…


Thioferrates as a source of Fe and S for cluster assembly

When the hyperothermophilic anaerobic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus is grown using elemental sulfur as the terminal electron acceptor, an iron-sulfur storage protein, IssA, is the most highly upregulated protein. IssA stores iron and sulfide as an inorganic anionic polymer of linear ferric sulfide chains with two sulfides bridging each pair of ferric ions. Compounds with this structure are known as thioferrates. Thioferrates occur naturally as…


Advances in Tuning of Ferromagnetism in MoS2 Nanosheets

In the past decade, two dimensional (2D) nanomaterials has been an active area of research due to their unique mechanical and electronic properties.1 MoS2 nanosheets is one of the most studied 2D nanomaterial. MoS2 nanosheets have attracted special attention due to their intrinsic band gap, highly tunable charge carrier type and high on/off ratio.2 MoS2 nanosheets are ideal materials for semiconductor devices such as field-effect transistors3,…


Technical study of an Egyptian Mummy Portrait in the Carlos Museum

This portrait of a young man was previously described as a “heavily restored pastiche” of “dubious authenticity.” Technical investigation reveals evidence of its ancient materials and its modern recreation. This study combines stylistic and iconographic evaluation with materials analysis and multispectral imaging to map the many fragments within this portrait and clarify their associations. This study reappraises the Carlos portrait to consider…


Targeting the Efficiency and Selectivity Challenges for Molecular Electrocatalysts that Reduce CO2 to Formic Acid

Currently, energy generation is one of the major global concerns for sustainable development. The large consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels has caused high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, contributing to global warming as well as future energy shortages.1 The conversion of atmospheric CO2, a harmful greenhouse gas, to an energy source could mitigate both energy shortages as well as global warming.1 Non-toxic HCOOH is one such energy source…
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