Effect of polyion conformation on dye binding. I. Fluorescence of acridine orange in the presence of synthetic polyacids

The interaction between polyelectrolytes and Acridine Orange (AO) has been investigated in the case of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA), and a polycondensate between 1,3-benzene disulfonyl chloride and L -lysine (PLL) by visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The influence of both polymer ionization and polymer/dye ratio (P/D) on the spectral behavior of the bound dye has been studied. The stacking tendency of AO is found lower in the presence of PLL under compact conformation (in an ionization range depending on the nature of the counterion) with correlated enhancement of the green fluorescence of the monomeric species of the bound dye. The disappearance of the green fluorescence and the dimerization of bound AO are directly related to the increased flexibility of polyion chains upon ionization. Some analogy is found between the behavior of bound AO in the presence of very compact PLL chains and that reported for AO in the presence of native DNA, which might be due to specific interactions responsible for a kind of “intercalation” of the monomeric bound dye.     

Effect of polyion conformation on dye binding. V. Induced optical activity of acridine orange bound to a synthetic nonstereoregular polyelectrolyte

It is shown that the induced Cotton effects in the visible region of the absorption bands of acridine orange in the presence of a nonstereoregular α-carboxylic polysulfonamide (PLL) can be attributed to stacked bound dye molecules, irrespective of the conformation of the polymer. The existence of an ordered structure seems to be unnecessary for such an induction.     

Effect of polyion conformation on dye binding. II. Fluorescence of 2-p-toluidinylnaphthalene-6-sulfonic acid (TNS) in the presence of synthetic polyacid and polybase

The interaction between 2-p-toluidinylnaphthalene-6-sulfonic acid (TNS), a hydrophobic fluorescent probe, and poly(2-vinylpyridinium) polyions (PVP) has been investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Both the effect of the charge and the concentration of PVP on the fluorescence behavior of TNS indicate that interaction between TNS and hydrophobic sites present in the PVP chain is responsible for the observed phenomena. It is shown that PVP which exists with predominant hydrophobic regions leads to TNS fluorescence, but some residual charge must be present to facilitate the penetration of the dye into the hydrophobic regions. Various situations existing in some polyelectrolyte systems are discussed.     

Fluorescence of auramine O and its binding to poly(vinylbenzo-18-crown-6) and to polyvinylbenzoglyme in water

Binding of the cationic dye auramine O (AuO) to the polysoap-type polymers poly(vinylbenzo-18-crown-6) (P18C6) and polyvinylbenzoglyme (PVBG) in water were studied by fluorimetry and dialysis. The quantum yield of P18C6-bound AuO was found to be 0.028, the value being 0.018 for AuO bound to PVBG. The intrinsic binding constants were found to be 2.2 × 10⁴M^?1 (P18C6) and 1.2 × 10⁴M^?1 (PVBG), the respective first binding constants being 317 and 63M^?1. Addition of crown-ether-complexable cations such as K⁺, Tl⁺, or Cs⁺ converts the neutral poly(crown ether) into a polycation, causing repulsion of the cationic dye and a strong decrease in the AuO fluorescence. AuO fluorescence was also studied in the absence of polymer in ether solvents, giving θ values of 0.011 and 0.018 in THF and dioxane. Traces of water rapidly form a nonfluorescent species. Solutions of AuO in water without polymer present exhibit very strong fluorescence on addition of BPh₄ anions owing to formation of AuO⁺, BPh₄^? ion pairs and higher aggregates.     

On the fading of auramine O in the presence of weak polyacids in water

The acid fading of Auramine O (AuO) at 25° in water and in the presence of five different maleic acid copolymers has been studied. The pseudo-first order kinetic constants show that the polyelectrolytes exert quite distinct effects on the fading of AuO. The data are tentatively interpreted in terms of chemical structure and hydrophobicity of the macroions.     

Morphology of block copolyurethanes. IV. Effect of synthetic procedure on chain structure

Analysis of products formed in the end-capping step during the synthesis of two block copolyurethanes being studied as biomedical materials has shown the presence of dimeric soft segments and free diisocyanate. In this standard two-step synthesis, the presence of these compounds lead to block copolyether-urethane-ureas containing sizeable amounts of dimeric hard and soft segments. These standard copolymers are compared in terms of IR spectra, stress-strain properties, and dynamic mechanical properties to their pure analogs which contain no dimeric segments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fluorescence studies on binding of pyrene and its derivatives to humic acid

Binding of pyrene (PyH) and its derivatives to humic acid (HA) has been studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. The nature of the interaction between HA and pyrene derivatives are extensively investigated by employing three derivatives ranging from anionic to cationic compounds: 1-pyrenebutylic acid (PyA), 1-pyrenemethanol (PyM), and 1-pyrenebutyltrimethylammonium bromide (PyB). Binding constants between HA and PyX (X=H, A, M, B) are obtained by steady-state fluorescence quenching techniques, and it is found that PyB has a markedly large binding constant among the pyrene family. This is attributed to a strong electrostatic interaction between cationic PyB and anionic HA. The result suggests that an electrostatic interaction plays a dominant role in binding of pyrenes to humic acid. The importance of electrostatic interaction was also confirmed by a salt effect on the binding constant. Influence of collisional quenching on the binding constant, which causes overestimation of the binding constant, was examined by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy as well as temperature effect in steady-state fluorescence measurements. It is elucidated that collisional quenching does not much bring overestimation into the binding constants.     

The crystal structure and molecular conformation of threo 5-methylmetadone in relation to opioid receptor binding

Crystals of the hydrochloride salt of the biologically inactive threo isomer of 5-methylmethadone, C₂₂H₃₀ONCl, are monoclinic space group P2₁ with unit cell dimnsionsa = 11.019 Å, b = 8.6153Å, c = 10.680Å and β = 93.026°. The observed conformation is one in which the nitrogen bearing chain is extended with the substituents on C(5) and C(6) nearly eclipsed, a feature compatible with NMR studies and molecular mechanics calculations. The very potent agonist (5S, 6S)-erythro-5-methylmethadone has a solid state conformation in which the N atom is rotated back toward the phenyl rings [C(4)-C(5)-C(6)-N = 97°]in agreement with molecular mechanics calculations. The fact that the more potent enantiomers, (6R)-methadone and (5S)-isomethadone, and the inactive threo isomer are observed in the extended solid state conformation in contrast to (5S, 6S)-erythro-5-methylmethadone is consistent with three different models for their interaction with opioid receptors. It is proposed that the more likely of these involves a receptor bound conformation of (6R)-methadone and (5S)-isomethadone that resembles the conformation of (5S, 6S)-erythro-5-methylmethadone or that opioid receptors recognize both gauche-like and extended conformations.     

Effect of chain length on the conformation and T cell recognition of synthetic hemagglutinin fragments

Circular dichroism and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopies were used to compare the conformational mobility of 13-mer peptides covering the 317-329 region of the envelope protein hemagglutinin of human influenza A virus subtypes H1, H2 and H3 with that of their truncated deca- and nonapeptide analogs. These peptides were demonstrated to bind to the murine I-Ed major histocompatibility complex encoded class II and human HLA-B*2705 class I molecules. Despite the amino acid substitutions in the three 13-mer subtype sequences, no significant differences in the conformational properties could be shown. Deletion of the N-terminal three residues resulted in a shift to an increased alpha-helical conformer population in the 317-329 H1 peptide and the breakage of the 3(10) or weakly H-bonded (nascent) alpha-helix in the H2 and H3 peptides. The conformational change observed upon deletion did not influence the efficiency of I-Ed peptide interaction, however, the C-terminal Arg had a beneficial effect both on MHC class II and class I binding without causing any remarkable change in solution conformation.     

Fluorescence lifetime based distance measurement illustrates conformation changes of PYL10-CL2 upon ABA binding in solution state

The fluorescence lifetime based FRET distance measurements using sitespecific incorporated unnatural amino acid HC and Alexa488 as FRET pair revealed the different conformations of PYL10-CL2 upon ABA binding.     

Effect of binding and conformation on fluorescence quenching in new 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein derivatives

[structure: see text] Symmetrical and unsymmetrical 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) derivatives have been synthesized by means of Mannich reactions and an aromatic Claisen rearrangement. NMR and fluorescence spectroscopic studies reveal the correlation between the conformations, the photoinduced electron transfer mechanism, and fluorescent intensities of these DCF derivatives. Two quenching nitrogen atoms cooperatively and reversibly suppress the fluorescence of the chromophore.     

Conformational analysis of kainate in aqueous solution in relation to its binding to AMPA and kainic acid receptors

Conformational analyses for kainate in aqueous solution have been performed by using the MM3*, AMBER* and MMFF94 force fields in conjunction with the Generalized Born Solvent Accessible Surface (GB/SA) hydration model. A comparison of calculated results with experimentally determined conformational data indicates that MM3*-GB/SA strongly overestimates the stability of a hydrogen bonded ion-pair in aqueous solution in comparison with the separated and solvated ions. This results in an incorrect prediction by MM3* of the most stable conformer of kainate in aqueous solution, whereas AMBER* and MMFF94 correctly predict the lowest energy conformer. Calculated conformational energy penalties for binding of kainate to the AMPA iGluR2 receptor indicate that the lower affinity of kainate for AMPA receptors compared to its affinity for kainic acid (KA) receptors is not due to a higher energy bioactive conformation of kainate at AMPA receptors. This conclusion is strongly supported by an analysis of a recently reported nonselective AMPA/KA ligand and a comparison of the conformational and structural properties of this ligand with iGluR2-bound kainate. This comparison strongly suggests that kainate binds to AMPA and KA receptors in closely the same conformation.     

Lysine modification of human serum albumin and its effect on protein conformation and nalidixic acid binding

In order to investigate the involvement of lysine residues of human serum albumin (HSA) in nalidixic acid (NA) binding, various modified preparations of HSA such as 44% carbamylated (C₄₄), 83% carbamylated (C₈₃) and 85% acetylated (A₈₅) were made by treating the HSA solution with a different molar excess of potassium cyanate and acetic anhydride. The extent of modification, charge homogeneity and conformational changes of these derivatives were checked by TNBSA reaction method, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and gel filtration using Sephacryl S-200 HR column, respectively. Binding of NA to HSA and its derivatives was examined using fluorescence quenching titration method to determine the binding constant. The emergence of a single band in PAGE and single symmetrical peak in gel filtration results confirmed the charge and size homogeneity of these derivatives. Hydrodynamic properties such as Stokes radius and frictional ratio, as obtained from the analytical gel filtration results suggested molecular expansion in C₈₃ and A₈₅ HSAs while C₄₄ HSA retained the native conformation. Addition of NA to both native and modified HSA derivatives quenched the fluorescence intensity of the protein at 344 ​nm to a different extent. Whereas the values of the Stern-Volmer constant (K_SV) and bimolecular quenching rate constant (k_q) suggested, NA-HSA complex formation, binding constant (K_a) value suggested an intermediate binding affinity between NA and HSA. Furthermore, the decrease in the K_a value with the extent of modification was indicative of the involvement of lysine residues in NA-HSA interaction.     

Exploring the relation between amplification and binding in dynamic combinatorial libraries of macrocyclic synthetic receptors in water

Herein we describe an extensive study of the response of a set of closely related dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs) of macrocyclic receptors to the introduction of a focused range of guest molecules. We have determined the amplification of two sets of diastereomeric receptors induced by a series of neutral and cationic guests, including biologically relevant compounds such as acetylcholine and morphine. The host–guest binding affinities were investigated using isothermal titration calorimetry. The resulting dataset enabled a detailed analysis of the relationship between the amplification of selected receptors and host–guest Gibbs binding energies, giving insight into the factors affecting the design, simulation and interpretation of DCL experiments. In particular, two questions were addressed: Is amplification by a given guest selective for the best receptor? And does the best guest induce the largest amplification of a given receptor? Our experimental results and computer simulations showed that the relative levels of amplification of hosts by a guest are well‐correlated with their relative affinities, and simulations have confirmed previous observations that amplification can be selective for the best receptor when only modest amounts of guest are used. In contrast, the correlation between guest binding and the extent of amplification of a given receptor across a wide range of guests tends to be poorer, because every guest has its own unique set of affinities for competing receptors in the DCL. This implies that the results of screening a DCL for selective receptors by comparing the response of the mixture to two different guests should be interpreted with caution. DCLs are complex mixtures in which all compounds are connected through a set of equilibria. Obtaining quantitative information about all host–guest binding constants from such systems will require the explicit and simultaneous consideration of all of the main equilibria within a DCL.     

Absorption spectra of some imidazolid-4-one derivatives,the dimerocyanines. IV. Effect of temperature on dye absorption spectrum in the visible region

Observation at different temperatures of uv absorption spectra of a number of imidazolid-4-one derivatives, dimerocyanines, shows that change in temperature of the solution causes considerable alterations in the absorption curves. In agreement with previous results, this corresponds to a displacement of equilibrium between two dye conformations in solution. One conformation has the-dicarbonyl group more coplanar with respect to the plane of the molecule than the other. The transition energy required to convert one form into the other (H) is found from a plot of the logarithms of the equilibrium constants against the reciprocal of the temperature. It is shown that H depends on the substituent at the nitrogen atom in position 3 of the imidazolidone ring.