Uncovering the Stoichiometry of Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P,a Multi‐Subunit Catalytic Ribonucleoprotein Complex,by Surface‐Induced Dissociation and Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

We demonstrate that surface‐induced dissociation (SID) coupled with ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM‐MS) is a powerful tool for determining the stoichiometry of a multi‐subunit ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex assembled in a solution containing Mg²⁺. We investigated Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) RNase P, an archaeal RNP that catalyzes tRNA 5′ maturation. Previous step‐wise, Mg²⁺‐dependent reconstitutions of Pfu RNase P with its catalytic RNA subunit and two interacting protein cofactor pairs (RPP21?RPP29 and POP5?RPP30) revealed functional RNP intermediates en route to the RNase P enzyme, but provided no information on subunit stoichiometry. Our native MS studies with the proteins showed RPP21?RPP29 and (POP5?RPP30)₂ complexes, but indicated a 1:1 composition for all subunits when either one or both protein complexes bind the cognate RNA. These results highlight the utility of SID and IM‐MS in resolving conformational heterogeneity and yielding insights on RNP assembly.     

A Dual Emissive Coumarin–urea Derivative with an Electron-withdrawing Substituent in the Presence of Acetate Anion

We investigated the fluorescent properties, including the excited-state intermolecular proton transfer, of urea derivatives comprising a coumarin ring, which is a widely used fluorophore. We prepared two different coumarin–urea derivatives, 6CU and 7CU, which bear a urea-based substituent at the 6 and 7 positions of a coumarin ring, respectively. In the presence of the acetate ion, 7CU showed additional tautomer fluorescence emission with respect to 6CU, indicating that tautomer formation depends on the positions of the urea-based substituent on the coumarin ring. Thus, the resonance structures of urea derivatives might play an important role in the behavior of dual fluorescence, which is an important phenomenon applicable to photochemical anion sensing. Moreover, in order to further improve the fluorescence properties of the mentioned derivatives, a CF₃ group was introduced in a phenyl ring opposite to a coumarin ring. The fluorescence quantum yield of 7CUCF₃ thus synthesized was 65 times as large as that of 7CU, an observation that renders 7CUCF₃ a suitable anion sensor candidate. The results of this study will contribute to the development of new molecular designs for highly fluorescent sensing.     

Synthesis of polymers having a phospholipid polar group connected to a poly(oxyethylene) chain and their protein adsorption-resistance properties

New methacrylates having a phospholipid polar group which was connected to various lengths of poly(oxyethylene) chains to form a polymerizable group (MEOnPC) were synthesized. The MEOnPC could polymerize with n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) in ethanol using a conventional radical polymerization technique. The unit mole fraction of MEOnPC in the polymer corresponded to that in the feed monomer solution. The MEOnPC polymers were soluble in ethanol, insoluble in water, but swelled in water and became hydrated. On the surface of a poly(BMA) membrane coated with MEOnPC, the phosphorylcholine groups of the MEOnPC unit present were determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As a fundamental evaluation for biomedical materials, adsorption of one of the plasma proteins, fibrinogen, on acrylic beads coated with the MEOnPC polymers was evaluated. The amount of fibrinogen adsorbed on the MEOnPC polymer was smaller than that on the original acrylic beads, poly(BMA) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). The increase in the MEOnPC unit mole fraction in the polymer showed more effective protein adsorption-resistant properties. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Intermolecular Halogen Bond Detected in Racemic and Optically Pure N-C Axially Chiral 3-(2-Halophenyl)quinazoline-4-thione Derivatives

The halogen bond has been widely used as an important supramolecular tool in various research areas. However, there are relatively few studies on halogen bonding related to molecular chirality. 3-(2-Halophenyl)quinazoline-4-thione derivatives have stable atropisomeric structures due to the rotational restriction around an N-C single bond. In X-ray single crystal structures of the racemic and optically pure N-C axially chiral quinazoline-4-thiones, we found that different types of intermolecular halogen bonds (C=S⋯X) are formed. That is, in the racemic crystals, the intermolecular halogen bond between the ortho-halogen atom and sulfur atom was found to be oriented in a periplanar conformation toward the thiocarbonyl plane, leading to a syndiotactic zig-zag array. On the other hand, the halogen bond in the enantiomerically pure crystals was oriented orthogonally toward the thiocarbonyl plane, resulting in the formation of a homochiral dimer. These results indicate that the corresponding racemic and optically pure forms in chiral molecules are expected to display different halogen bonding properties, respectively, and should be separately studied as different chemical entities.     

Dependence of tracking error characteristics of in-line-type differential push-pull methods on arrangement error of segmented gratings

We present the validity of in-line-type differential push-pull methods using segmented gratings with respect to arrangement errors by numerical calculation for the first time. In these differential push-pull methods, the segmented gratings for generating subspots are divided into more than two regions, each with a specific width and a specific phase value, and are ideally arranged on the optical axis. We calculate tracking error signals in these methods with respect to the arrangement errors against the optical axis under parameter conditions of the widths of the segmented regions of the gratings. The obtained results show that the grating with a simpler configuration with two regions reveals good compatibility between DVD-recordable (DVD-R) and DVD-random access memory (DVD-RAM) compared with those with three or four regions, when the arrangement error is less than 10% of the radius of the incident laser beam.     

Synthesis of novel fluorescently labeled water-soluble fullerenes and their application to its cellar uptake and distribution properties

Fullerene is a well-known carbon nanomaterial, which can be potentially used for drug manufacture or delivery. Despite several successful examples of utilizing fullerene derivatives as drug candidate materials, their low water solubility under physiological conditions negatively affects the cell penetration efficiency after treatment. In this work, we successfully synthesized two fullerene derivatives with covalently attached fluorescein and boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) fluorophore moieties, which exhibited cellular uptake and intracellular localization. While both fluorophores decreased their fluorescence intensity in the vicinity of fullerene, the cellar uptake of the fluorescein-modified fullerene was detected via fluorescence microscopy observations. Moreover, decreases in the fluorescence intensities of the intact fluorescein and BODIPY species were observed when both fluorophores and fullerene coexisted in aqueous media.     

Trypanocidal terpenoids from Laurus nobilis L

Trypanocidal constituents of dried leaves of Laurus nobilis L. (Lauraceae) were examined. Activity-guided fractionation of the methanol extract resulted in the isolation of two guaianolides, dehydrocostus lactone (1) and zaluzanin D (2), and a new p-menthane hydroperoxide, (1R,4S)-1-hydroperoxy-p-menth-2-en-8-ol acetate (3). The minimum lethal concentrations of these compounds against epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi were 6.3, 2.5, and 1.4 microM, respectively.     

Resonance Raman effect in thiourea

Raman spectra of thiourea have been observed in H₂O and D₂O solutions with the exciting laser beams of 514.5, 488.0, 457.9, 363.8, 325.0, and 257.3 nm. The resonance Raman excitation profile of the 729-cm^?1 line has been examined in the region of the 237-nm absorption band ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}$) by use of a solvent shift of the absorption band instead of by changing the wavelength of the exciting beam. The depolarization degree of this line was measured and its overtone Raman line was also observed. On the basis of the results of these experiments, it has been concluded that the 729-cm^?1 Raman line, assignable to the CS stretching vibration, derives its intensity solely from the 237-nm band when it is excited at 257.3 or 325.0 nm. On exciting in the region 363.8–514.5 nm, however, contributions of the higher-frequency bands are predominant rather than the contribution from the 237-nm band. The Raman line at 1520 cm^?1 of thiourea-d₄ is assignable to the NCN antisymmetric stretching vibration. From its excitation profile, its intensity has been considered to come from a vibronic coupling between the excited electronic states of the 220-nm ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}\text{? π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}$) and the 197-nm ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}\text{+ π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}$) bands.     

A novel synthesis of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactones from 1-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)cyclopropanecarboxylate esters

A new method is reported for constructing α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone moiety under neutral, anhydrous conditions. Olefin-dibromocarbene adducts are transformed to methyl 1-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)cyclopropanecarboxylates which in turn are treated with trimethylsilyl iodide and the crude products distilled to give the title compounds with high regio- and stereoselectivity.     

Size Effect of the Immediate Surround for the Border between the Natural and Unnatural Object Color Appearance

The border luminance of the test stimulus between the natural and unnatural object color, y_ynB_u was obtained for different spatial sizes of the immediate surround to prove that _nB_u can be determined based on a new recognized visual space of illumination (RVSI) that is assumed to be constructed for the immediate surround separately from the RVSI for the subjects room itself. The _nB_u of five test stimuli were determined for six different sizes covering from zero to 1866 cm² with four different lightnesses, N4, N6 and N8, while keeping the room illuminance constant at 100 or 600 lx. The results showed that luminance of the border _nB_u gradually decreased as the size of the immediate surround was increased and that the decrease was larger for immediate surround with lower lightness. The results were interpreted as showing a new RVSI constructed for the spatial extent of the immediate surround of the test stimulus, and the RVSI was more completely constructed for larger spatial size of the immediate surround. © 2005 The Optical Society of Japan