Visualization of structural changes in cellulosic substrates during enzymatic hydrolysis using multimodal nonlinear microscopy

Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose provides a renewable source of monosaccharides for production of variety of biochemicals and biopolymers. Unfortunately, the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is often incomplete, and the reasons are not fully understood. We have monitored enzymatic hydrolysis in terms of molecular density, ordering and autofluorescence of cellulose structures in real time using simultaneous CARS, SHG and MPEF microscopy with the aim of contributing to the understanding and optimization of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. Three cellulose-rich substrates with different supramolecular structures, pulp fibre, acid-treated pulp fibre and Avicel, were studied at microscopic level. The microscopy studies revealed that before enzymatic hydrolysis Avicel had the greatest carbon-hydrogen density, while pulp fibre and acid-treated fibre had similar density. Monitoring of the substrates during enzymatic hydrolysis revealed the double exponential SHG decay for pulp fibre and acid-treated fibre indicating two phases of the process. Acid-treated fibre was hydrolysed most rapidly and the hydrolysis of pulp fibre was spatially non-uniform leading to fractioning of the particles, while the hydrolysis of Avicel was more than an order of magnitude slower than that of both fibres.     

A liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantification of specific organophosphorus pesticide biomarkers in human urine

Organophosphorus pesticides are commonly used in both agricultural and residential settings. The widespread use of these chemicals makes it almost impossible for humans to avoid exposure. In order to determine background human exposure, there is a need for fast, reliable, and sensitive analytical methods. We have developed a sensitive method to quantify specific biomarkers of the organophosphorus pesticides acephate, azinphos, chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, diazinon, isazofos, malathion, methamidophos, parathion and pirimiphos or their O,O-dimethyl analogues in human urine, as their selective metabolites or as the intact pesticide. Isotopically labeled internal standards were used for eight of the analytes. The use of labeled internal standards in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry provided a high degree of specificity. Repeated analysis of urine samples fortified with high and low concentrations of the analytes gave relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 10% for the analytes with an isotopically labeled standard. Analytes without isotopically labeled standards had higher RSD. For all compounds except methamidophos and acephate, the recoveries were greater than 70%. The limits of quantification for most of the analytes were in the range of 0.1 to 1 ng/mL. We detected concentrations of most of these pesticides and/or their metabolites in urine samples from non-occupationally exposed persons using our method. Our frequencies of detection for the analytes measured ranged from 1% to 98%.     

Synthesis and characterisation of PC(sp3)P phosphine and phosphinite platinum(II) complexes. Cyclometallation and simple coordination

New and improved preparative routes to the previously known PCP ligands cis-1,3-bis(di-isopropylphosphinito)cyclohexane and cis-1,3-bis[(di-tert-butylphosphino)methyl]cyclohexane are reported. They react with 1 equivalent of dichloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene)platinum(II) [(COD)PtCl2] to give the cis coordinated complex cis-[PtCl2{cis-1,3-bis(di-isopropylphosphinito)}cyclohexane] and the C(sp3)-H activated complex trans-[PtCl{cis-1,3-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino)}cyclohexane]. The new PCP ligand cis-1,3-bis(di-tert-butylphosphinito)cyclohexane was synthesised and reacts with [(COD)PtCl2] giving the di-nuclear trans-[PtCl2{cis-1,3-bis(di-tert-butylphosphinito)cyclohexane}]2, which is highly insoluble. All metal complexes were characterised with X-ray crystallography. DFT calculations indicate that the inability of the phosphinite ligands to cyclometallate is due to a kinetic barrier, possibly involving an axial-equatorial conformational change necessary for the C-H activation process.     

Computational design of a Diels–Alderase from a thermophilic esterase: the importance of dynamics

A novel computational Diels–Alderase design, based on a relatively rare form of carboxylesterase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus, is presented and theoretically evaluated. The structure was found by mining the PDB for a suitable oxyanion hole-containing structure, followed by a combinatorial approach to find suitable substrates and rational mutations. Four lead designs were selected and thoroughly modeled to obtain realistic estimates of substrate binding and prearrangement. Molecular dynamics simulations and DFT calculations were used to optimize and estimate binding affinity and activation energies. A large quantum chemical model was used to capture the salient interactions in the crucial transition state (TS). Our quantitative estimation of kinetic parameters was validated against four experimentally characterized Diels–Alderases with good results. The final designs in this work are predicted to have rate enhancements of ≈10³–10⁶ and high predicted proficiencies. This work emphasizes the importance of considering protein dynamics in the design approach, and provides a quantitative estimate of the how the TS stabilization observed in most de novo and redesigned enzymes is decreased compared to a minimal, ‘ideal’ model. The presented design is highly interesting for further optimization and applications since it is based on a thermophilic enzyme (T _opt ?=?70?°C).     

Enzymes immobilized in mesoporous silica: A physical–chemical perspective

Mesoporous materials as support for immobilized enzymes have been explored extensively during the last two decades, primarily not only for biocatalysis applications, but also for biosensing, biofuels and enzyme-controlled drug delivery. The activity of the immobilized enzymes inside the pores is often different compared to that of the free enzymes, and an important challenge is to understand how the immobilization affects the enzymes in order to design immobilization conditions that lead to optimal enzyme activity. This review summarizes methods that can be used to understand how material properties can be linked to changes in enzyme activity. Real-time monitoring of the immobilization process and techniques that demonstrate that the enzymes are located inside the pores is discussed by contrasting them to the common practice of indirectly measuring the depletion of the protein concentration or enzyme activity in the surrounding bulk phase. We propose that pore filling (pore volume fraction occupied by proteins) is the best standard for comparing the amount of immobilized enzymes at the molecular level, and present equations to calculate pore filling from the more commonly reported immobilized mass. Methods to detect changes in enzyme structure upon immobilization and to study the microenvironment inside the pores are discussed in detail. Combining the knowledge generated from these methodologies should aid in rationally designing biocatalyst based on enzymes immobilized in mesoporous materials.     

One-pot three-component reaction for the synthesis of alpha-(aminoethyl)-alpha,beta-enones

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of alpha-substituted alpha,beta-enones by a new metal iodide-promoted one-pot three-component reaction involving commercially available cyclopropyl ketones, aldehydes, and secondary amines followed by base treatment is described.     

Impurity absorption in gallium phosphide doped with zinc and oxygen

The extrinsic optical properties were investigated in homogeneous GaP crystals at room temperature. The transmission of extrinsic light is influenced by a simultaneous illumination of an additional light of different frequency. This light changes the occupancy of an impurity level. A simple theory is given, which relates this change in transmission of the extrinsic light to the optical cross sections of the impurity level. We had to use steady light because of the large relaxation time, but still obtained a resolution of 2 × 10⁻⁵ in the relative transmission change. The spectral dependence of the optical cross sections for an impurity level 0·9 eV below the conduction band were calculated. Another level approximately 1·85 eV from a band edge was also seen in these measurements, but it had complex optical properties. Both levels were seen in a direct measurement of the absorption coefficient.     

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of Cl vacancies in NaCl films: strong electron-phonon coupling in double-barrier tunneling junctions

Broad Gaussian line shapes are observed in scanning tunneling spectroscopy of single, localized electronic states induced by Cl vacancies in ultrathin NaCl films on Cu surfaces. Using a simple inelastic resonance tunneling model, we show that the observed broad line shapes are caused by a strong coupling between the localized state and the optical phonons in the film. The parameters for the model are obtained from density functional calculations, in which the occupation of the vacancy state temporarily taking place in the experiment has also been accounted for.     

Shear-induced sponge-to-lamellar phase transition studied by rheo-birefringence

We report on the shear induced transition from the L₃- to the L-phase studied by means of flow birefringence using the system pentaethyleneglycol monododecylether (C₁₂E₅), decane, water. The dependence of the critical shear rate, at which the transition from the isotropic state to the anisotropic takes place, on membrane volume fraction was studied in temperature ramp experiments at different constant shear rates and in isothermal shear ramp experiments. These results are compared with relaxation experiments from the shear aligned state back to the isotropic. For all these experiments power law exponents in the membrane volume fraction between 1.6 and 2.8 were found, which are rather low compared to values of current theories. The values found for the inverse critical shear rate and the decay times from the relaxation experiments differ by four orders of magnitude.