Inside Cover: Adsorption,Diffusion, and Self‐Assembly of an Engineered Gold‐Binding Peptide on Au(111) Investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 28/2009)

The binding, diffusion, and aggregation mechanism of an engineered binding peptide on Au(111), showing non‐equilibrium surface structures that lead to the formation of a confluent monolayer, is described by M. Sarikaya et al. in their Communication on page 5174 ff. The observed dynamic structural evolution involving the surface diffusion of peptides and multiple stages of molecular thin film topology are explained. Ersin Emre Oren is thanked for the design of the graphic.

     

Chemical composition and In vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of Eucalyptus Camaldulensis Dehnh. essential oil

The present study was designed to determine the composition of the essential oil of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. leaves and to examine its in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. The chemical composition of the essential oil from Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. leaves was analyzed by GC/GC-MS, twenty-nine compounds representing 99.10% of the total oil were identified. The major components of the oil were p-cymene (68.43%), 1,8-cineole (13.92%), 1-(S)-α-pinene (3.45%) and R-(+)- limonene (2.84%). The antioxidant features of the essential oil were evaluated using inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl, and superoxide radicals, inhibition of hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation assays. We also studied α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition in vitro to assess the antidiabetic properties of the essential oil. Both α-amylase and α-glucosidase were inhibited by a non-competitive mechanism.     

Carbonyl ylide reactions of α-benzylidene-β-dicarbonyl compounds: competitive formation of dihydrofurans and dihydrobenzoxepines

α-Benzylidene-β,β′-biscarbonyl compounds were reacted with dimethyl diazomalonate using Cu(II) acetylacetonate as a catalyst. Dihydrofurans or mixtures of dihydrofurans and dihydrobenzoxepines were obtained depending on the nature of the carbonyl group present in the starting material.     

Production of L(+)-lactic acid using immobilized rhizopus oryzae reactor performance based on kinetic model and simulation

The production of L(+)-lactic acid using alginate immobilizedRhizopus oryzae in tapered-column fluidized-bed batch reactor was tested and simulated using the kinetic data taken independently in shake-flask cultures. The data show saturation kinetics with substrate and product inhibitions in linear form. Analysis of the kinetic data gave kinetic constants:V _m, 11.04 g lactic acid/(L-bead. h);K _m, 20.9 g glucose/L; andK _i, 365 g glucose/L for lactic acid production. The product inhibition constant,K _p, was found to be 316 g lactic acid/L. The simulation results showed a good agreement with the experimental results when the initial lag phase was taken into account in the simulation model. Without the adjustment for the initial lag period, the kinetic model showed higher conversion. Starting with a glucose concentration of 150 g/L, it was possible to produce 73 g/L of L(+)-lactic acid in 44.5 h. The lactic acid yield was 64.8% by weight based on the amount of glucose consumed.     

Mono- and binuclear copper(II) complexes of saccharin with 2-pyridinepropanol synthesis,spectral, thermal and structural characterization

Mono- and binuclear copper(II) saccharinate (sac) complexes containing 2-pyridinepropanol (pypr) have been prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, i.r., u.v.–vis., magnetic measurements and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The copper(II) ion in trans-[Cu(pypr)₂(sac)₂] has –1 site symmetry and is octahedrally coordinated by two bidentate neutral pypr (N, O) and two sac (O) ligands. The binuclear copper(II) complex, [Cu₂(-pypr)₂(sac)₂], is built up around a centre of symmetry and contains two strongly distorted square–planar coordinated copper(II) ions bridged by two alkoxo groups of the deprotonated pypr ligand, which also coordinates to the copper(II) ions through its nitrogen. In contrast to the mononuclear complex, the sac ligands in the binuclear complex is N-coordinated. The binuclear complex exhibits diamagnetic behaviour. The i.r. spectra and thermal decompositions of both complexes are described.     

Synthesis, characterization and thermoreversible behaviours of poly(dimethyl siloxane)/poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) semi-interpenetrating networks

Simultaneous and sequential poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm)/poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) with different linear PDMS contents were prepared by free radical polymerization method. Their phase morphologies have been characterized by FTIR, DSC and SEM. The simultaneous semi-IPNs exhibited phase transition temperatures (T_pt) shifted higher temperature from glass transition temperatures (T_g) of their respective homopolymers, suggesting a heterophase morphology and only physical entanglement between the PNIPAAm network and linear PDMS with high molecular weight (Mn≈9000 g/mol). For sequential semi-IPNs, the shift of T_pts towards lower temperature suggested that the chemical interaction between the constituents of the IPNs increased with increasing PDMS content in the network. In addition, these semi-IPNs were characterized for their thermo-sensitive behaviour by equilibrium swelling studies. The results showed that incorporation of hydrophobic PDMS polymer into the thermo- and pH-sensitive PNIPAAm and P(NIPAAm-co-IA) (itaconic acid) hydrogels by semi-IPN formation decreased swelling degrees of IPNs without affecting their LCSTs whereas addition of acrylated PDMS (Tegomer V-Si 2250) as crosslinker instead of N,N^′-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) into the structures of these hydrogels changed their LCSTs along with their swelling degrees.     

Oscillation behavior of nth order neutral differential equations with continuous delay

We consider the nth order nonlinear neutral differential equation of the form

     

Oscillation behavior of solutions for even order neutral functional differential equations

Even order neutral functional differential equations are considered. Sufficient conditions for the oscillation behavior of solutions for this differential equation are presented. The new results are presented and some examples are also given.     

Coupling Infusion and Gyration for the Nanoscale Assembly of Functional Polymer Nanofibers Integrated with Genetically Engineered Proteins

Nanofibers featuring functional nanoassemblies show great promise as enabling constituents for a diverse range of applications in areas such as tissue engineering, sensing, optoelectronics, and nanophotonics due to their controlled organization and architecture. An infusion gyration method is reported that enables the production of nanofibers with inherent biological functions by simply adjusting the flow rate of a polymer solution. Sufficient polymer chain entanglement is obtained at Berry number > 1.6 to make bead‐free fibers integrated with gold nanoparticles and proteins, in the diameter range of 117–216 nm. Integration of gold nanoparticles into the nanofiber assembly is followed using a gold‐binding peptide tag genetically conjugated to red fluorescence protein (DsRed). Fluorescence microscopy analysis corroborated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data confirms the integration of the engineered red fluorescence protein with the nanofibers. The gold nanoparticle decorated nanofibers having red fluorescence protein as an integral part keep their biological functionality including copper‐induced fluorescence quenching of the DsRed protein due to its selective Cu⁺² binding. Thus, coupling the infusion gyration method in this way offers a simple nanoscale assembly approach to integrate a diverse repertoire of protein functionalities into nanofibers to generate biohybrid materials for imaging, sensing, and biomaterial applications.

     

Effect of molecular conformations on the adsorption behavior of gold-binding peptides

Despite extensive recent reports on combinatorially selected inorganic-binding peptides and their bionanotechnological utility as synthesizers and molecular linkers, there is still only limited knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of peptide binding to solid surfaces. There is, therefore, much work that needs to be carried out in terms of both the fundamentals of solid-binding kinetics of peptides and the effects of peptide primary and secondary structures on their recognition and binding to solid materials. Here we discuss the effects of constraints imposed on FliTrx-selected gold-binding peptide molecular structures upon their quantitative gold-binding affinity. We first selected two novel gold-binding peptide (AuBP) sequences using a FliTrx random peptide display library. These were, then, synthesized in two different forms: cyclic (c), reproducing the original FliTrx gold-binding sequence as displayed on bacterial cells, and linear (l) dodecapeptide gold-binding sequences. All four gold-binding peptides were then analyzed for their adsorption behavior using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. The peptides exhibit a range of binding affinities to and adsorption kinetics on gold surfaces, with the equilibrium constant, Keq, varying from 2.5x10(6) to 13.5x10(6) M(-1). Both circular dichroism and molecular mechanics/energy minimization studies reveal that each of the four peptides has various degrees of random coil and polyproline type II molecular conformations in solution. We found that AuBP1 retained its molecular conformation in both the c- and l-forms, and this is reflected in having similar adsorption behavior. On the other hand, the c- and l-forms of AuBP2 have different molecular structures, leading to differences in their gold-binding affinities.