Year: 2022

MOLECULAR VALIDATION. “Fig. 7: Differences between the behavior of the transmembrane part of the human sweet taste receptor in H2O vs D2O base on analysis of three independent microsecond trajectories.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

FURTHER VALIDATION. “Next, we carried out microsecond MD simulations of the TMD embedded in a phospatidylcholine (POPC) bilayer in either H2O or D2O (for details including our model of D2O effectively including nuclear quantum effects, (see SI, Tables S2–S4). Note that water molecules enter the TMD domain and cluster at positions that partially overlap with the modeled water positions, see Fig. 7a.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

NEUTRON STARS. “Recent theoretical models propose some alternatives, such as inner cores containing a mix of neutrons, protons, and exotic matter made of quarks or new combinations of quarks.” The old impossible is the new probable. https://lnkd.in/dZCjeAB View in LinkedIn

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RECEPTOR BINDING. “H2O and D2O have mutually slightly shifted densities inside the protein cavity, with H2O overlapping better than D2O with the modeled water positions. Furthermore, MD simulations show clustered water molecules close to the lactisole binding site. These internal positions may have a differential effect between H2O and D2O, though differences between the averaged water densities are not very pronounced.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

BINDING CONFIGURATION. “Figure 7b shows the time evolution of the radius of gyration of the TMD domain, while Fig. 7c and d presents the root mean square fluctuations (RMSF) of individual residues of the proteins superimposed on its structure and plotted in a graph together with the mean value of RMSF. A small but significant difference is apparent in the behavior of the protein in H2O vs D2O.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

AQUEOUS MILIEU. “Structural fluctuations of most residues (particularly those directly exposed to the aqueous environment) and of the protein as a whole are slightly attenuated in D2O, in which environment the protein is also somewhat more compact than in H2O (Fig. 7b). Additional simulations on other representative systems show that the rigidifying effect of heavy water is apparent also in small soluble proteins.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

SWEET TASTE INHIBITORS. “Sweet taste never ceases to surprise. Over a decade ago, water was shown to elicit sweet taste by rinsing away inhibitors of sweet taste receptors, both in human sensory experiments and in cell-based studies. This effect was explained in terms of a two-state model, where the receptor shifts to its activated state when released from inhibition by rinsing with water.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

PRIMARY EFFECT. “Here, we have studied the taste of D2O and H2O per se, not related to washing away of sweet taste inhibitors. Using psychophysics protocols, we show that humans differentiate between D2O and H2O based on taste alone. Importantly, by employing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis we demonstrate that the sweet taste of deuterated water is not due to impurities.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn

SURPRISE FINDING. “Being only isotopically different from H2O, in principle, D2O should be indistinguishable from H2O with regard to taste, namely it should have no taste of its own. Yet, we illustrate that human subjects consistently perceive D2O as being slightly sweet and significantly sweeter than H2O.” https://lnkd.in/dzPDm5w View in LinkedIn