Proline-40 is Essential to Maintaining Cytochrome b_5''''s Stability and Its Electron Transfer with Cytochrome c

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｙｔｏｃｈｒｏｍｅｂ5(Ｃｙｔｂ5)ｉｓａｍｅｍｂｒａｎｅ ｂｏｕｎｄｐｒｏ ｔｅｉｎ .Ｉｔｃａｎｂｅｐｒｏｔｅｏｌｙｚｅｄｔｏｙｉｅｌｄａｓｏｌｕｂｌｅ ,ｈｙｄｒｏｐｈｉｌｉｃｄｏｍａｉｎｃｏｎｔａｉｎｉｎｇａｎｏｎ ｃｏｖａｌｅｎｔｌｙｂｏｕｎｄｈｅｍｅｇｒｏｕｐ .Ｃｙｔｂ5ｉｓｉｎｖｏｌｖｅｄｉｎｅｌｅｃｔｒｏｎｔｒａｎｓｆｅｒｗｉｔｈａｖａｒｉｅｔｙｏｆｐｒｏｔｅｉｎｓ,ｓｕｃｈａｓｃｙｔｏｃｈｒｏｍｅｃ (Ｃｙｔｃ) ,1 3 ｍｅｔｍｙｏ ｇｌｏｂｉｎ ,2 ｍｅｔｈｅｍｏｇｌｏ…     

Efficient Encounter Complex Formation and Electron Transfer to Cytochrome c Peroxidase with an Additional,Distant Electrostatic Binding Site

Electrostatic interactions can strongly increase the efficiency of protein complex formation. The charge distribution in redox proteins is often optimized to steer a redox partner to the electron transfer active binding site. To test whether the optimized distribution is more important than the strength of the electrostatic interactions, an additional negative patch was introduced on the surface of cytochrome c peroxidase, away from the stereospecific binding site, and its effect on the encounter complex as well as the rate of complex formation was determined. Monte Carlo simulations and paramagnetic relaxation enhancement NMR experiments indicate that the partner, cytochrome c, interacts with the new patch. Unexpectedly, the rate of the active complex formation was not reduced, but rather slightly increased. The findings support the idea that for efficient protein complex formation the strength of the electrostatic interaction is more critical than an optimized charge distribution.     

Peculiar Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Porphyrin–Fullerene Akamptisomers

Porphyrin–fullerene dyads are promising candidates for organic photovoltaic devices. The electron-transfer (ET) properties of the molecular devices depend significantly on the mutual position of the donor and acceptor. Recently, a new type of molecular isomerism (akamptisomerism) has been discovered. In the present study, we explore how photoinduced ET can be modulated by passing from one akamptisomer to another. To this aim, four akamptisomers of the quinoxalinoporphyrin–[60]fullerene complex are selected for computational study. The most striking finding is that, depending on the isomer, the porphyrin unit in the dyad can act as either electron donor or electron acceptor. Thus, the stereoisomeric diversity allows one to change the direction of ET between the porphyrin and fullerene moieties. To understand the effect of akamptisomerism on the photoinduced ET processes, a detailed analysis of initial and final states involved in the ET is performed. The computed rate for charge separation is estimated to be in the region of 1–10 ns⁻¹. The formation of a long-living quinoxalinoporphyrin anion radical species is predicted.     

Synthesis of Peptoid Nucleic Acid with Thymine as Nucleic Base

The sequence specific bonding of oligonucleotide to RNA or double stranded DNA hasattTacted wide attention as the antisense and antigene strategies for treatment of diseasesat the level of gene expression in medicinal chemistry'. Peptide nucleic acids designedas a chemira of nucleobases and polyamidic backbone bind with high affinity andsequence specifity to both comPlementary RNA and DNA and a number of templatefunctions are inhibited on forming PNAasA and PNA/DNA complex'-'. In the …     

Cytochrome c–dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol interactions studied by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation

Lipid membranes are well recognized ligands that bind peripheral and integral proteins in a specific manner and regulate their function. Cytochrome c (cyt c) is one of the partner peripheral protein that binds to the lipid membranes via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. In this study, asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AsFlFFF) was used to compare the interactions of cyt c with the acidic phospholipid 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-rac-glycerol (DMPG), oleic acid (OA), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The influence of pH and the cyt c–lipid molar mass ratios were evaluated by monitoring the diffusion coefficients and particle diameter distributions obtained for the free and lipid-bound protein. The hydrodynamic particle diameter of cyt c (pI 10) was 4.1 nm at pH 11.4 and around 4.2 nm at pH 7.0 and 8.0. Standard molar mass marker proteins were used for calibration to obtain the molar masses of free cyt c and its complexes with lipids. AsFlFFF revealed the binding of cyt c to DMPG and to OA to be mainly electrostatic. In the absence of electrostatic interactions, minor complex formation occurred, possibly due to the extended lipid anchorage involving the hydrophobic cavity of cyt c and the hydrocarbon chains of DMPG or SDS. The possibility of the formation of the molten globule state of cyt c, induced by the interaction between cyt c and lipids, is discussed.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

NCO–, a Key Fragment Upon Dissociative Electron Attachment and Electron Transfer to Pyrimidine Bases: Site Selectivity for a Slow Decay Process

We report gas phase studies on NCO^– fragment formation from the nucleobases thymine and uracil and their N-site methylated derivatives upon dissociative electron attachment (DEA) and through electron transfer in potassium collisions. For comparison, the NCO^– production in metastable decay of the nucleobases after deprotonation in matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) is also reported. We show that the delayed fragmentation of the dehydrogenated closed-shell anion into NCO^– upon DEA proceeds few microseconds after the electron attachment process, indicating a rather slow unimolecular decomposition. Utilizing partially methylated thymine, we demonstrate that the remarkable site selectivity of the initial hydrogen loss as a function of the electron energy is preserved in the prompt as well as the metastable NCO^– formation in DEA. Site selectivity in the NCO^– yield is also pronounced after deprotonation in MALDI, though distinctly different from that observed in DEA. This is discussed in terms of the different electronic states subjected to metastable decay in these experiments. In potassium collisions with 1- and 3-methylthymine and 1- and 3-methyluracil, the dominant fragment is the NCO^– ion and the branching ratios as a function of the collision energy show evidence of extraordinary site-selectivity in the reactions yielding its formation.

Scandium Triflate–Promoted Addition of Organozinc Reagents to Benzaldiminetricarbonylchromium Derivatives

The reaction of benzaldiminetricarbonylchromium derivatives with organozinc reagents in the presence of scandium triflate afforded a single diastereomer of the corresponding amine complex exclusively. Even in the case of benzaldiminetricarbonylchromium having an m‐substituent of the aromatic ring, one diastereomer was obtained using the o‐TMS‐protected chromium complex. The TMS group and the chromium moiety were easily removed and the benzyl group was deprotected using HOOH and Pd to afford the corresponding amine.     

A Novel Micro—hole Electrode Used to Investigate Electron Transfer Reactions at ITIES

A novel micro-hole electrode was fabricated to investigate the electron transfer reaction at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES). The electron transfer reaction between feero/ferricyanide in aqueous phase(W) and ferrocene in 1,2-dichloroethane (O) phase was studied as a test experiment. The results showed that the diffusion coefficient obtained from the micro-hole electrode was consistent with that obtained at macro-interface. Due to its simplicity and the very small IR drop it will be a useful tool for the study of ITIES systems.     

Heterometallic Cluster Catalyzing Coordinative Hydrogenation Promoted by Oxygen Transfer Reagent

ＨｅｔｅｒｏｍｅｔａｌｉｃＣｌｕｓｔｅｒＣａｔａｌｙｚｉｎｇＣｏｏｒｄｉｎａｔｉｖｅＨｙｄｒｏｇｅｎａｔｉｏｎＰｒｏｍｏｔｅｄｂｙＯｘｙｇｅｎＴｒａｎｓｆｅｒＲｅａｇｅｎｔＬＩＱｉｎｇｓｈａｎＤＩＮＧＥｒｒｕｎＷＵＳｈｕｌｉｎＹＩＮＹｕａｎｑｉ１）（...     

H-bond refinement for electron transfer membrane-bound protein–protein complexes: Cytochrome c oxidase and cytochrome c552

In this study we propose a protocol to evaluate membrane-bound cytochrome c oxidase–cytochrome c552 docking candidates. An initial rigid docking algorithm generates docking poses of the cytochrome c oxidase–cytochrome c552, candidates are then aggregated into a 512-DPPC membrane model and solvated in explicit solvent. Molecular dynamic simulations are performed to induce conformational changes to membrane-bound protein complexes. Lastly each protein–protein complex is optimized in terms of its hydrogen bond network, evaluated energetically and ranked. The protocol is directly applicable to other membrane-protein complexes, such as protein–ligand systems.     

Photoinduced Electron Transfer from the Inorganic Core to the Organic Shell of Hybrid Core–Shell Nanoparticles: Impedance Spectroscopy

In hybrid core–shell nanoparticles with inorganic nanocrystals in the core and organic molecules in the shell, photoinduced electron transfer occurs from the core to the shell. This leads to exciton dissociation through an ultrafast electron-transfer process that results in charge separation and finally photocurrent in the external circuit in devices based on such core–shell nanoparticles. In this work, we have fabricated and characterized sandwiched devices based on a series of core–shell systems. From impedance spectroscopy, we have observed that photoinduced charge separation in core–shell systems is associated with a decrease in the device resistance and an increase in the dielectric constant of the active material. In the series of core–shell systems, we have observed a one-to-one correlation between the photoinduced electron-transfer process and the changes in resistive and dielectric parameters upon illumination.     

Extended Peptide Nucleic Acid Nucleobases Based on Isoorotic Acid for the Recognition of A–U Base Pairs in Double-Stranded RNA

Peptide nucleic acids (PNA) with extended isoorotamide containing nucleobases ( I _o ) were designed for binding A–U base pairs in double-stranded RNA. Isothermal titration calorimetry and UV thermal melting experiments revealed improved affinity for A–U using the Io scaffold in PNA. PNAs having four sequential Io extended nucleobases maintained high binding affinity.     

Ionic Liquid–Promoted Phospha-Michael Reaction: Convenient Access to β-Nitrophosphonates

A convenient and mild procedure is developed for β-nitrophosphonates via phospha-Michael addition of phosphites to nitrostyrene at room temperature in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo-[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU)–based ionic liquid [DBUH][OAc]. The operational simplicity, convenient workup, and reusability of the ionic liquid make this method attractive.     

Cytochrome c′ from Chromatium vinosum on gold electrodes

Cytochrome c′ from Chromatium vinosum (CVCP) was immobilized at a surface-modified gold electrode. Characterization of the CVCP electrode showed a quasi-reversible, diffusionless electrochemical redox behavior of the surface adsorbed protein with a formal potential of −128±5 mV vs. Ag/AgCl. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of adsorbed CVCP was determined to be about 50 s⁻¹. Different immobilization strategies were compared. The interaction of the immobilized CVCP with nitric oxide (NO) was investigated and applied for a primary amperometric detection of NO in solution.     

One-Photon Excitation Followed by a Three-Step Sequential Energy–Energy–Electron Transfer Leading to a Charge-Separated State in a Supramolecular Tetrad Featuring Benzothiazole–Boron-Dipyrromethene–Zinc Porphyrin–C60

A panchromatic triad, consisting of benzothiazole (BTZ) and BF₂-chelated boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) moieties covalently linked to a zinc porphyrin (ZnP) core, has been synthesized and systematically characterized by using ¹H NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS, UV-visible, steady-state fluorescence, electrochemical, and femtosecond transient absorption techniques. The absorption band of the triad, BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP, and dyads, BTZ-BODIPY and BODIPY-ZnP, along with the reference compounds BTZ-OMe, BODIPY-OMe, and ZnP-OMe exhibited characteristic bands corresponding to individual chromophores. Electrochemical measurements on BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP exhibited redox behavior similar to that of the reference compounds. Upon selective excitation of BTZ (≈290 nm) in the BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP triad, the fluorescence of the BTZ moiety is quenched, due to photoinduced energy transfer (PEnT) from ¹BTZ^* to the BODIPY moiety, followed by quenching of the BODIPY emission due to sequential PEnT from the ¹BODIPY* moiety to ZnP, resulting in the appearance of the ZnP emission, indicating the occurrence of a two-step singlet–singlet energy transfer. Further, a supramolecular tetrad, BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP:ImC₆₀, was formed by axially coordinating the triad with imidazole-appended fulleropyrrolidine (ImC₆₀), and parallel steady-state measurements displayed the diminished emission of ZnP, which clearly indicated the occurrence of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from ¹ZnP* to ImC₆₀. Finally, femtosecond transient absorption spectral studies provided evidence for the sequential occurrence of PEnT and PET events, namely, ¹BTZ^*-BODIPY-ZnP:ImC₆₀→BTZ-¹BODIPY^*-ZnP:ImC₆₀→BTZ-BODIPY-¹ZnP^*:ImC₆₀→BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP^.+:ImC₆₀^.− in the supramolecular tetrad. The evaluated rate of energy transfer, k_EnT, was found to be 3–5×10¹⁰ s⁻¹, which was slightly faster than that observed in the case of BODIPY-ZnP and BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP, lacking the coordinated ImC₆₀. The rate constants for charge separation and recombination, k_CS and k_CR, respectively, calculated by monitoring the rise and decay of C₆₀^.− were found to be 5.5×10¹⁰ and 4.4×10⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, for the BODIPY-ZnP:ImC₆₀ triad, and 3.1×10¹⁰ and 4.9×10⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, for the BTZ-BODIPY-ZnP:ImC₆₀ tetrad. Initial excitation of the tetrad, promoting two-step energy transfer and a final electron-transfer event, has been successfully demonstrated in the present study.     

N-Phospho-α-Amino Acids and Co-Evolution of Nucleic Acid and Protein

N-phospho-α -amino acids obtainable from aqueous condition were different from their corresponding β -analogues intrinsically. As the self-reproduction unites, N-phospho-α -amino acids were capable to produce non-random oligopeptides. As the phosphoryl donor, they were able to phosphorylate the nucleosides much faster than the deoxynucleosides.     

Detection of Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene by Piezoelectric Nucleic Acid Sensor

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Detection of Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene by Piezoelectric Nucleic Acid Senosr

A piezoelectric nucleic acid sensor was constructed ofr detection of tumor necrosis factor gene.Two methods were employed for immobilization of nucleic acid probe on gold electrode of piezoelectric crystal.The results show that polyethyleneimine adbesion and glutaraldehyde cross-linking method has higher sensitivity,stability and selectivity than protein A method.The solid-phase nucleic acid hybridization of oligo unclecotides and tumor necrosis factor target gene sequence were monitorde using this sensor.Tumor necrosis factor gene sequence(580bp) was detected by this nucleic acid sensor for the first time.