Dissimilar stability of proteins in graphene bilayer: a molecular dynamics study

In order to study protein stability on graphene surface and in a confined space simultaneously, two parallel graphene single layers were built and two structurally dissimilar protein molecules were placed in between. Molecular dynamics simulation results showed a significant denaturing effect of graphene layers on GA module, a 3-α helices bundle protein, while another α/β structure protein, protein G, kept its NMR structure intact throughout all simulations. Such extremely different denaturation behaviours of the proteins offer a good chance to investigate the mechanism of graphene toxicity. Further analysis showed Van der Waals interaction could be the main cause of the denaturing effect. Although the solvation effect can contribute, its contribution is not comparable with the Van der Waals interaction.     

Temperature-dependent electron spin polarization of the triplet state of the primary donor in photosynthetic reaction centers ofRhodopseudomonas viridis: A time-resolved EPR study of single crystals and solid solution

The electron spin polarization (ESP) of triplet of the primary donor (³P) ofRhodopseudomonas viridis reaction centers (RCs) is anomalous at temperatures above 25 K, i.e. the steady-state ESP changes from AEEAAE to AEAEAE. Fast, time-resolved EPR measurements in solid solution and single crystals of RCs show that this phenomenon results most probably from fast anisotropic spin-lattice relaxation in the radical pair triplet state (k _r≈ 5·10⁹s^?1 at 25 K).     

EPR and ENDOR study of porphyrins and their covalently linked dimers in the photoexcited triplet state

The triplet states of several substituted porphyrins (Tetraphenylporphyrin (H₂TPP), Zinc-Tetramethylporphyrin (ZnTMP), Octaethylporphyrin (H₂OEP) and the Dication of H₂TPP (H₄TPP²⁺)) and two covalently linked dimers with H₂TPP-subunits in disordered solid solution were studied by EPR and ENDOR at liquid helium temperature. The measurement yields theA _zz component of the hyperfine tensors of all α-protons in the reference frame of the zero field splitting tensor. Dipolar and isotropic contributions toA _zz are discussed and spin densities derived. The spin densities are compared with results of all-valence-electrons self-consistent field molecular orbital calculations (RHF-INDO/S). One of the dimers shows indications of triplet energy transfer between the porphyrin subunits. The order of magnitude of the transfer rate is estimated to be 5 · 10⁵ s^?1.     

An EPR study of a triplet state center in (NH4)2SO4

Heating ammonium sulphate to near its dissociation temperature and then quenching to room temperature produces a stable triplet state center that is identified as NH₂⁺. The symmetry of the EPR spectra indicates that the center is located in two non equivalent sites with each of these sites having slightly different EPR parameters and two measurably differents orientations. Thus the center is apparently occupying the positions of the NH₄⁺ groups in the perfect lattice. A study is made of this center both at room temperature and also well below the ferroelectric phase transition of (NH₄)₂SO₄. It is found that above and below the transition temperature (?50°C) there is very little temperature dependence of the EPR spectra but at the phase transition there is an abrupt change in the spectra. The number of detectable centers doubles below the phase transition indicating that the inversion symmetry of the NH₂⁺ sites is eliminated at the transition temperature.     

Quantitative time-resolved EPR CIDEP study of the photodecomposition oftrans-azocumene in solution

The cumyl radical system, which is created after laser flash irradiation oftrans-azocumene in benzene solution at room temperature, is investigated using time-resolved EPR spectroscopy. From the quantitative analysis of EPR time-profiles at different microwave powers the spin relaxation timesT ₁=3.5±0.3 μs andT ₂=2.5±0.1 μs are evaluated as well as the magnitude of the chemically induced electron polarization (CIDEP), which is generated by the radical pair mechanism (RPM). The geminate RPM polarization is found to be considerably smaller than the F-pair one, 32±2 and 48±5 in units of the Boltzmann polarization, respectively. This is attributed to an initial radical separation in the geminate pair, caused by the cleavage reaction. Besides cleavage, the photoexcitedtrans-azocumene also decays via isomerization to the thermally unstablecis-isomer, the lifetime of which is found to be 14±3 μs at 293 K in benzene, three times longer than in cyclohexane. The quantum yield of free radicals, escaping from the primary cage, is determined as 0.28±0.06 for the decay of the excitedtrans-azocumene and 0.18±0.04 for the thermal cleavage of thecis-isomer. The self-termination of cumyl radicals proceeds with a rate constant 2k _t=7±1)·10⁸ M^?1s^?1 in benzene at RT.     

EPR and ENDOR Study of a series of free base porphycenes in the photoexcited triplet state

Porphycene is a structural isomer of porphyrin. The photoexcited triplet states of porphycene, 2,7,12,17-tetra-n-propylporphycene and 9,10,19,20-tetra-n-propylporphycene in disordered solid solution were studied by EPR and ENDOR. The ENDOR spectra yield the hyperfine tensor elementsA _zz for each of the different groups of equivalent protons. The dipolar contribution toA _zz is estimated and spin densities are derived from the isotropic contribution. They are compared with results of all-valence-electrons self-consistent field molecular orbital calculations (RHF-INDO/SP and RHF-INDO/S).     

Dimers and trimers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as models of graphene bilayers and trilayers: enhanced electron density at the edges

Structures of dimers and trimers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) having zig-zag edges, and continuous electron density and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) distributions in these systems were studied in gas phase. Dimers of benzene and naphthalene for which high-accuracy results are available were used to test the reliability of four different functionals of density functional theory in combination with the 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The dispersion-corrected WB97XD functional was found to be distinctly superior to the other three functionals used and was employed to study PAH dimers and trimers. Electronic structures and geometries of dimers of a four benzene ring and a nine benzene ring systems and trimers of the four benzene ring system were investigated. The dimers and trimers of PAHs were found to be of parallel-displaced type, as observed experimentally for graphene. The enhanced electron density edge effect found in the PAH monomers earlier is found to exist in the dimers and trimers also.     

A D-band (130 GHz) EPR study of the primary electron donor triplet state in photosynthetic reaction centers ofRhodobacter sphaeroides R26

A high-field (D-band, 130 GHz) electron spin echo-detected spectrum of the primary electron donor triplet state,³P, in quinone-depleted photosynthetic reaction centers from the bacteriumRhodobacter sphaeroides R26 is obtained. It shows a significantg-anisotropy, which is larger than that of the primary donor oxidized state, P^+?. Simulation gives the tripletg-tensor principal values of 2.0037, 2.0028, and 2.0022 (precision ±0.0001), assuming that theg-tensor is coaxial to a zerofield splitting tensor. The³P spectral lineshape reveals an orientational anisotropy of the triplet quantum yield. We explain this anisotropy as arising from the difference in the main values and relative orientations between theg-tensors of P^+? and I _A ^?? in the primary radical pair (the triplet state’s precursor).     

EPR identification of the triplet ground state and photoinduced population inversion for a Si-C divacancy in silicon carbide

It is shown that intrinsic defects responsible for the semi-insulating properties of SiC represent Si-C divacancies in a neutral state (V_Si-V_C)⁰, which have the triplet ground state. The energy level scheme and the mechanism of creating the photoinduced population inversion of the triplet sublevels of the divacancy ground state are determined. It is concluded that there is a singlet excited state through which spin polarization is accomplished, and this fact opens the possibility of detecting magnetic resonance on single divacancies.     

Possibility of existence of pseudoferroelectric state in cells: Some experimental evidence

The possibility of existence of a pseudoferroelectric state in reproducing cells has been experimentally observed. The experiment based on dielectrophoresis of cellular origin shows that reproducing cells attract the highly polarizable particles more than the poorly polarizable particles. The preferential attraction of particles can be explained when one considers cells as a dipole oscillator.     

Observation of the triplet metastable state of shallow donor pairs in AlN crystals with a negative-U behavior: a high-frequency EPR and ENDOR Study

Theoretical predictions about the n-type conductivity in nitride semiconductors are discussed in the light of results of a high-frequency EPR an ENDOR study. It is shown that two types of effective-mass-like, shallow donors with a delocalized wave function exist in unintentionally doped AlN. The experiments demonstrate how the transformation from a shallow donor to a deep (DX) center takes place and how the deep DX center can be reconverted into a shallow donor forming a spin triplet and singlet states.     

Effect of a nonuniform magnetic field on the Landau states in a biased AA-stacked graphene bilayer

We study the Landau states in the biased AA-stacked graphene bilayer under an exponentially decaying magnetic field along one spatial dimension. The results show that the energy eigenvalues of the system are strongly dependent on the inhomogeneity of the magnetic field and the bias voltage between the graphene layers, and in particular the reordering and mixing of finite Landau states could occur. Moreover, we also demonstrate that the current carrying states induced by the decaying magnetic field propagate vertically to the magnetic-field gradient within the graphene sample and can be further modulated by the bias voltage between the layers.     

Theg-tensor anisotropy of the triplet state of the primary electron donor in the photosynthetic bacteriumRhodobacter sphaeroides by high-field (95 GHz) EPR

The anisotropy of theg-tensor of the light-induced triplet state of the primary electron donor (D) of the photosynthetic bacteriumRhodobacter sphaeroides is determined by electron-spin-echo-detected electron paramagnetic resonance at 95 GHz. Measurements on frozen solutions of quinone-depleted reaction centers yield g-values along the principal directions of the zero-field splitting tensor (Norris J.R., Budil D.E., Gast P., Chang C.H., ElKabbani O., Schiffer M.: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA86, 4335–4339, 1989).g-Values determined are: 2.00308, 2.00238, and 2.00138. The deviation from axial symmetry and thez-component of the g-tensor are smaller than observed in the cation radical of D.     

通讯波段禁带胶体光子晶体的制备及实验参数研究

采用直径为700nm的二氧化硅微球,通过垂直沉积法在玻璃基片上制备了位于光通讯波段的禁带胶体光子晶体。研究了不同蒸发温度、湿度条件、干燥过程对样品晶体质量的影响。用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对其形貌进行了观测。实验结果表明,在温度为65℃,相对湿度为70%,缓慢干燥条件下制备出的样品具有较好的晶体质量,晶体在大范围内保持了面心立方(FCC)单晶结构,其(111)面平行于生长基片。     

Ultrafast time-resolved quantum beats in the polarization state of coherent emission from quantum wells

Dual-channel spectral interferometry is used to measure the ellipticity, the orientation of the polarization ellipse, and the sense of rotation of the four-wave-mixing signal from a GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum well. Each parameter is observed to oscillate dramatically at the heavy-hole-light-hole quantum beat frequency. During each beat period (in the strong quantum beat regime), the ellipticity oscillates twice between linear and almost-circular polarization, the orientation of the polarization ellipse rotates through a complete 180 degrees , and the sense of rotation changes from left- to right-circular polarization.     

Pair exchange interaction in a crystalline nitroxide radical ESR study of dimers in the triplet state

The dimerization of the 9-aza-bicyclo (3,3,1) nonan-3-one-9-oxyl in the solid state is investigated by use of ESR spectroscopy. The ESR spectrum of a single crystal is characteristic of symmetric pairs of exchange-coupled radicals in a thermally accessible triplet state. The presence of well-resolved hyperfine structure is evidence for strongly localized excitations with a jumping rate lower than 10⁷ Hz.

The ESR spectrum is well described by the spin hamiltonian

At 35 GHz the observed splitting of the m _s=+ 1?0 transition has been found to be slightly different from that of the m _s=0?-1 one; this anomaly is explained by the mixing of the m _s electronic states.

The parameters and the principal directions of the zero-field splitting, spectroscopic and hyperfine tensors are determined and discussed. The principal directions of the dipolar tensor indicate a nearly equal spin density on the nitrogen and oxygen atoms; from the fine structure parameters D and E, determined to be (-0·0723 ± 0·0005) cm^-1 and (-0·0044±0·0003) cm^-1 at T=293 K respectively, it is suggested that the unpaired electron is partly delocalized on the molecule.

The singlet-triplet energy gap (J) and the zero-field splitting parameters are shown to be linearly temperature-dependent. These variations with temperature are attributed to the thermal expansion of the crystal lattice.     

Peculiar spin dynamics of the photoexcited triplet state of pentacene in a benzoic acid crystal: an ESE study

The spin dynamics of the photoexcited triplet state of pentacene in three host crystals: benzoic acid, naphthalene andp-terphenyl, were measured from 5 to 300 K by the electron spin echo technique following N₂ laser excitation. The triplet kinetics (population, spinlattice relaxation and decay rates) of pentacene in the benzoic acid (BA) hosts differ from those observed in the other two host systems. A model which includes a strong guest-host interaction and proton tunneling in the tautomerization of BA hosts is used to explain the observations.     

Computational study of the hydrogen peroxide scavenging mechanism of allyl methyl disulfide,an antioxidant compound from garlic

Molecular Diversity - Although many sulfur containing garlic compounds present antioxidant activity, little is known about molecular mechanisms through which these compounds react with reactive...     

Ultra-stable temperature control in EPR experiments: thermodynamics of gel-to-liquid phase transition in spin-labeled phospholipid bilayers and bilayer perturbations by spin labels

An ultra-stable variable temperature accessory for EPR experiments with biological samples has been designed and tested. The accessory is comprised from a digitally controlled circulator bath that pumps fluid through high-efficiency aluminum radiators attached to an EPR resonator of a commercial X-band EPR spectrometer. Temperature stability of this new accessory after a 15 min re-equilibration is at least +/-0.007 K. For a standard 1-cm-long capillary sample arranged inside an EPR tube filled with silicon oil, the temperature variations do not exceed +/-0.033 K over the sample temperature range from 283 to 333 K. This new accessory has been tested by carrying out a comparative spin-labeling EPR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study of the gel-to-liquid phase transition in multilamellar vesicles (MLV) composed of a synthetic phospholipid 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC). We demonstrate that the gel-to-liquid phase transition temperatures of MLV DMPC measured by EPR and DSC agree within +/-0.02 K experimental error even though the sample for EPR study was labeled with 1 mol% of 5PC (1-palmitoyl-2-stearoyl-(5-doxyl)-sn-glycero-3 phosphocholine). Cooperative unit number measured by EPR, N=676+/-36, was almost 50% higher than that obtained from DSC (N=458+/-18). These high values of N indicate that (i) the lipid domains should include at least several spin-labeled lipid molecules and (ii) the spin-probe 5PC molecules are not excluded into domains that are different from the bulk lipid phase as was speculated earlier. Overall, our data provide DSC and EPR evidence that in studies of the gel-to-liquid phase transition, the effect of bilayer perturbation by spin-labeled lipids is negligible and therefore thermodynamic parameters of the phase transition can be accurately measured by spin-labeling EPR. This might serve as an indication when spin-labeled molecules with structures similar to those of lipids are introduced at low concentrations, they are easily accommodated by fluid phospholipid bilayers without significant losses of the lipid cooperativity.