Fibre optic fluorometric enzyme sensors for hydrogen peroxide and lactate,based on horseradish peroxidase and lactate oxidase

An optical biosensor for the determination of hydrogen peroxide based on immobilized horseradish peroxidase is described. The fluorescence of the dimeric product of the enzyme catalysed oxidation of homovanillic acid is utilized to determine the concentration of H₂O₂. The membrane-bound enzyme is attached to a bifurcated fibre bundle permitting excitation and detection of the fluorescence by a fluorometer. The response of the sensor is linear from 1 to 130 M hydrogen peroxide; the coefficient of variation is 3%. The sensor is stable for more than 10 weeks. The operating pH for maximal sensor response is 8.15. This allows the sensor to be used in combination with oxidase reactions producing hydrogen peroxide, as is demonstrated with a co-immobilized lactate oxidase-horseradish peroxidase optode for the determination of L-lactate. The fluorescence intensity of this sensor depends linearly on the concentration of lactate between 3 and 200 M and a throughput of 10 samples per hour is possible. The precision is in the same range as that of the monoenzyme optode. The lifetime of the bienzyme sensor for lactate is considerably shorter than that of the peroxidase sensor; it is limited by the stability of the immobilized lactate oxidase enzyme. The sensor has been applied to the determination of lactate in control serum.     

A Microgel Construction Kit for Bioorthogonal Encapsulation and pH‐Controlled Release of Living Cells

pH‐Cleavable cell‐laden microgels with excellent long‐term viabilities were fabricated by combining bioorthogonal strain‐promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) and droplet‐based microfluidics. Poly(ethylene glycol)dicyclooctyne and dendritic poly(glycerol azide) served as bioinert hydrogel precursors. Azide conjugation was performed using different substituted acid‐labile benzacetal linkers that allowed precise control of the microgel degradation kinetics in the interesting pH range between 4.5 and 7.4. By this means, a pH‐controlled release of the encapsulated cells was achieved upon demand with no effect on cell viability and spreading. As a result, the microgel particles can be used for temporary cell encapsulation, allowing the cells to be studied and manipulated during the encapsulation and then be isolated and harvested by decomposition of the microgel scaffolds.     

Free radical 5-exo-dig cyclization as the key step in the synthesis of bis-butyrolactone natural products: experimental and theoretical studies

Radical cyclization reactions were performed by 5-exo-dig mode to yield cis-fused bicyclic systems, leading to the synthesis of bis-butyrolactone class of natural products. The study was aimed at understanding the impact of alkyl side chains of furanoside ring systems in L-ara configuration on the radical cyclization. It was amply demonstrated by experimental studies that the increase in the length of the alkyl side chain has an effect on the cyclization: while efficient cyclization reactions could be realized with methyl and ethyl side chains, the yields were significantly reduced in the case of n-pentyl side chain. Theoretical studies using DFT and (RO)MP2 methods were carried out to analyze the influence of the substitution pattern on the cyclization barriers.     

Effect of proline and glycine residues on dynamics and barriers of loop formation in polypeptide chains

Glycine and proline residues are frequently found in turn and loop structures of proteins and are believed to play an important role during chain compaction early in folding. We investigated their effect on the dynamics of intrachain loop formation in various unstructured polypeptide chains. Loop formation is significantly slower around trans prolyl peptide bonds and faster around glycine residues compared to any other amino acid. However, short loops are formed fastest around cis prolyl bonds with a time constant of 6 ns for end-to-end contact formation in a four-residue loop. Formation of short loops encounters activation energies in the range of 15 to 30 kJ/mol. The altered dynamics around glycine and trans prolyl bonds can be mainly ascribed to their effects on the activation energy. The fast dynamics around cis prolyl bonds, in contrast, originate in a higher Arrhenius pre-exponential factor, which compensates for an increased activation energy for loop formation compared to trans isomers. All-atom simulations of proline-containing peptides indicate that the conformational space for cis prolyl isomers is largely restricted compared to trans isomers. This leads to decreased average end-to-end distances and to a smaller loss in conformational entropy upon loop formation in cis isomers. The results further show that glycine and proline residues only influence formation of short loops containing between 2 and 10 residues, which is the typical loop size in native proteins. Formation of larger loops is not affected by the presence of a single glycine or proline residue.     

Preparation,Structure, and Reactivity of Thioxo and Imino Derivatives of the Triolide (and Pentolide) from (R)-3-Hydroxybutanoic Acid

Reaction of the triolide 1 from (R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid with Lawesson's reagent 5 leads to the mono-, di-, and trithio derivatives 6–8 which can be isolated in pure form (20–40% yields), and which have crystal structures very similar to the parent triolide 1 (Fig. 1). Similarly, pentolide 3 is converted to mixtures of various thio derivatives, three of which are separated ( 10–12 ) by HPLC and fully characterized. The X-ray structures of the mono- and of one of the dithiopentolides ( 10, 12 ) differ remarkably from each other (Fig. 3). Reduction of the thiotriolides 6–8 (NaBH₄, R₃SnH, Cl₃SiH, Raney-Ni) gives 12-membered rings containing up to three ether groups (chiral crown ethers, 15, 17–19 ) in poor yields. The thiotriolides react spontaneously and in yields of up to 96% with ammonia, certain primary amines, and hydroxylamine to give imine and oxime derivatives with intact 12-membered-ring backbones ( 20, 22–24, 30 , see crystal structures in Figs. 4–7). The rigid structure of all the derivatives of triolide 1 puts the C?O, C?S, and C?NR O-, S-, and N-atoms in juxtaposition (a feature reminiscent of the side chains in the iron-binder enterobactin, Fig. 6). Imines containing PPh₂ groups are prepared ( 30, 33, 35 ) from the thiotriolides and tested as chiral ligands for Pd^II-catalyzed 1,3-diphenyallylations (→ 37 , enantiomer ratio up to 77:23). The reactions described demonstrate that multiple reactions of the triolide 1 from (R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid which proceed through tetrahedral intermediates are possible without ring opening – the skeleton is remarkably stable, and this might be exploited as a template for bringing up to three pendent substituents into close proximity to allow a study of their interactions and cooperative properties. Also, the di- and trithio derivatives 7 and 8 could be used for cross-linking in molecules containing primary NH₂ groups.     

Heck reactions of aryl bromides with alk-1-en-3-ol derivatives catalysed by a tetraphosphine/palladium complex

cis,cis,cis-1,2,3,4-Tetrakis(diphenylphosphinomethyl)cyclopentane/[PdCl(C₃H₅)]₂ efficiently catalyses the Heck reaction of alk-1-en-3-ol with a variety of aryl bromides. In the presence of hex-1-en-3-ol or oct-1-en-3-ol, the β-arylated carbonyl compounds were selectively obtained. Linalool and 2-methylbut-3-en-2-ol led to the corresponding 1-arylalk-1-en-3-ol derivatives. Turnover numbers up to 69,000 can be obtained for this reaction. A minor electronic effect of the substituents of the aryl bromide was observed. Similar reaction rates were observed in the presence of activated aryl bromides such as bromoacetophenone and deactivated aryl bromides such as bromoanisole.