Abstract. The interactions of precursor proteins with components of the chloroplast envelope were investigated during the early stages of protein import using a chemical cross-linking strategy. In the absence of energy, two components of the outer envelope import machinery, IAP86 and IAP75, cross-linked to the transit sequence of the precursor to the small subunit of ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (pS) in a precursor binding assay. In the presence of concentrations of ATP or GTP that support maximal precursor binding to the envelope, cross-linking to the transit sequence occurred predominantly with IAP75 and a previously unidentified 21-kD polypeptide of the inner membrane, indicating that the transit sequence had inserted across the outer membrane. Cross-linking of envelope components to sequences in the mature portion of a second precursor, preferredoxin, was detected in the presence of ATP or GTP, suggesting that sequences distant from the transit sequence were brought into the vicinity of the outer membrane under these conditions. IAP75 and a third import component, IAP34, were coimmunoprecipitated with IAP86 antibodies from solubilized envelope membranes, indicating that these three proteins form a stable complex in the outer membrane. On the basis of these observations, we propose that IAP86 and IAP75 act as components of a multisubunit complex to mediate energy-independent recognition of the transit sequence and subsequent nucleoside triphosphateinduced insertion of the transit sequence across the outer membrane.

The nature of the dendrimer-mycophenolic acid (MPA) complex was investigated by (1)H NMR and 2D NOESY spectroscopy. The (1)H NMR analysis proved that the water-soluble supramolecular structure of the complex was formed based on ionic interactions between dendrimers and MPA molecules on the surface as well as hydrophobic interactions/hydrogen-bond interactions in the interior pockets of dendrimers. The 2D NOESY analysis predicted the localization of MPA molecules in the pockets of dendrimers and gave information on the detailed interactions between dendrimer scaffolds and MPA molecules in the interior. Further solubility and release studies investigated the physicochemical properties of the dendrimer-MPA complexes. These results showed that the host-guest chemistry of dendrimer-MPA complexes proposed by NMR techniques explains the solubilization and release behavior of MPA in the presence of PAMAM dendrimers well. The general host-guest chemistry of the dendrimer-drug complex is promising for the development of new drug delivery systems.

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Emission contributions from cookstoves to indoor, regional, and global air pollution largely depend on stove and fuel types. This paper presents a database on emission factors of speciated non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) for 16 fuel/stove combinations burning 2 types of crop residue, wood, 4 types of coal, kerosene, and 3 types of gaseous fuels. The emission factors are presented both on a fuel mass basis (compound mass per fuel mass) and on a cooking task basis (compound mass per unit energy delivered to the pot). These fuel/stove combinations cover a large spectrum of the cookstoves used in both urban and rural households in China. Up to 54 hydrocarbons were identified, some of which are reactive precursors of photochemical smog. Based on published maximum incremental reactivity (MIR) values for NMHCs, we estimated stove-specific and fuel-specific ozone forming potentials (OFPs). The results indicate that raw coal powder, wood, and crop residues have higher OFP values than the other types of fuels tested. Strikingly, burning the coal briquette and honeycomb coal briquette produced OFP values more than 2 orders of magnitude lower than burning unprocessed (raw) coal, even in the same vented metal stove, for every 1 MJ delivered to the pot.

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