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1. Pressure pushes tRNA ^Lys3 into excited conformational states

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215556120  

   Wang, Jinqiu; Koduru, Tejaswi; Harish, Balasubramanian; McCallum, Scott A.; Larsen, Kevin P.; Patel, Karishma S.; Peters, Edgar V.; Gillilan, Richard E.; Puglisi, Elisabetta V.; Puglisi, Joseph D.; et al (June 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Conformational dynamics play essential roles in RNA function. However, detailed structural characterization of excited states of RNA remains challenging. Here, we apply high hydrostatic pressure (HP) to populate excited conformational states of tRNA Lys3 , and structurally characterize them using a combination of HP 2D-NMR, HP-SAXS (HP-small-angle X-ray scattering), and computational modeling. HP-NMR revealed that pressure disrupts the interactions of the imino protons of the uridine and guanosine U–A and G–C base pairs of tRNA Lys3 . HP-SAXS profiles showed a change in shape, but no change in overall extension of the transfer RNA (tRNA) at HP. Configurations extracted from computational ensemble modeling of HP-SAXS profiles were consistent with the NMR results, exhibiting significant disruptions to the acceptor stem, the anticodon stem, and the D-stem regions at HP. We propose that initiation of reverse transcription of HIV RNA could make use of one or more of these excited states. 

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2. Trade-Offs between Speed, Accuracy, and Dissipation in tRNA ^Ile Aminoacylation

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01073  

   Yu, Qiwei; Mallory, Joel D.; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B.; Ling, Jiqiang; Igoshin, Oleg A. (May 2020, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters)

   null (Ed.)
3. Redox Studies of the Scandium Metallocene (C ₅ H ₂ ^t Bu ₃ ) ₂ Sc ^II Lead to a Terminal Side-On (N═N) ^2– Complex: [(C ₅ H ₂ ^t Bu ₃ ) ₂ Sc ^III (η ² -N ₂ )] ⁻

   https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c00607  

   Queen, Joshua D; Rajabi, Ahmadreza; Ziller, Joseph W; Furche, Filipp; Evans, William J (April 2025, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
4. Removal of CrO ₄ ^2– , a Nonradioactive Surrogate of ⁹⁹ TcO ₄ ^– , Using LDH–Mo ₃ S ₁₃ Nanosheets

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c08766  

   Celik, Ahmet; Li, Dien; Quintero, Michael A.; Taylor-Pashow, Kathryn M.; Zhu, Xianchun; Shakouri, Mohsen; Roy, Subrata Chandra; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.; Arslan, Zikri; Blanton, Alicia; et al (June 2022, Environmental Science & Technology)
5. B ₄₈ ⁻ : a bilayer boron cluster

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR09214B  

   Chen, Wei-Jia; Ma, Yuan-Yuan; Chen, Teng-Teng; Ao, Mei-Zhen; Yuan, Dao-Fu; Chen, Qiang; Tian, Xin-Xin; Mu, Yue-Wen; Li, Si-Dian; Wang, Lai-Sheng (February 2021, Nanoscale)

   null (Ed.)

   Size-selected negatively-charged boron clusters (B n − ) have been found to be planar or quasi-planar in a wide size range. Even though cage structures emerged as the global minimum at B 39 − , the global minimum of B 40 − was in fact planar. Only in the neutral form did the B 40 borospherene become the global minimum. How the structures of larger boron clusters evolve is of immense interest. Here we report the observation of a bilayer B 48 − cluster using photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. The photoelectron spectra of B 48 − exhibit two well-resolved features at low binding energies, which are used as electronic signatures to compare with theoretical calculations. Global minimum searches and theoretical calculations indicate that both the B 48 − anion and the B 48 neutral possess a bilayer-type structure with D 2h symmetry. The simulated spectrum of the D 2h B 48 − agrees well with the experimental spectral features, confirming the bilayer global minimum structure. The bilayer B 48 −/0 clusters are found to be highly stable with strong interlayer covalent bonding, revealing a new structural type for size-selected boron clusters. The current study shows the structural diversity of boron nanoclusters and provides experimental evidence for the viability of bilayer borophenes. 

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