Three-Step Spin State Transition and Hysteretic Proton Transfer in the Crystal of an Iron(II) Hydrazone Complex

A proton–electron coupling system, exhibiting unique bistability or multistability of the protonated state, is an attractive target for developing new switchable materials based on proton dynamics. Herein, we present an iron(II) hydrazone crystalline compound, which displays the stepwise transition and bistability of proton transfer at the crystal level. These phenomena are realized through the coupling with spin transition. Although the multi-step transition with hysteresis has been observed in various systems, the corresponding behavior of proton transfer has not been reported in crystalline systems; thus, the described iron(II) complex is the first example. Furthermore, because proton transfer occurs only in one of the two ligands and π electrons redistribute in it, the dipole moment of the iron(II) complexes changes with the proton transfer, wherein the total dipole moment in the crystal was canceled out owing to the antiferroelectric-like arrangement.     

Computational simulations of HIV-1 proteases--multi-drug resistance due to nonactive site mutation L90M

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease (HIV-1 PR) is one of the proteins that currently available anti-HIV-1 drugs target. Inhibitors of HIV-1 PR have become available, and they have lowered the rate of mortality from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in advanced countries. However, the rate of emergence of drug-resistant HIV-1 variants is quite high because of their short retroviral life cycle and their high mutation rate. Serious drug-resistant mutations against HIV-1 PR inhibitors (PIs) frequently appear at the active site of PR. Exceptionally, some other mutations such as L90M cause drug resistance, although these appear at nonactive sites. The mechanism of resistance due to nonactive site mutations is difficult to explain. In this study, we carried out computational simulations of L90M PR in complex with each of three kinds of inhibitors and one typical substrate, and we clarified the mechanism of resistance. The L90M mutation causes changes in interaction between the side chain atoms of the 90th residue and the main chain atoms of the 25th residue, and a slight dislocation of the 25th residue causes rotation of the side chain at the 84th residue. The rotation of the 84th residue leads to displacement of the inhibitor from the appropriate binding location, resulting in a collision with the flap or loop region. The difference in levels of resistance to the three inhibitors has been explained from energetic and structural viewpoints, which provides the suggestion for promising drugs keeping its efficacy even for the L90M mutant.     

Electronic structure of six-coordinate iron(III) monoazaporphyrins

The electronic structures of six-coordinate iron(III) octaethylmonoazaporphyrins, [Fe(MAzP)L 2] (+/-) ( 1), have been examined by means of (1)H NMR and EPR spectroscopy to reveal the effect of meso-nitrogen in the porphyrin ring. The complexes carrying axial ligands with strong field strengths such as 1-MeIm, DMAP, CN (-), and (t)BuNC adopt the low-spin state with the (d xy ) (2)(d xz , d yz ) (3) ground state in a wide temperature range where the (1)H NMR and EPR spectra are taken. In contrast, the complexes with much weaker axial ligands, such as 4-CNPy and 3,5-Cl 2Py, exhibit the spin transition from the mainly S = 3/2 at 298 K to the S = 1/2 with the (d xy ) (2)(d xz , d yz ) (3) ground state at 4 K. Only the THF complex has maintained the S = 3/2 throughout the temperature range examined. Thus, the electronic structures of 1 resemble those of the corresponding iron(III) octaethylporphyrins, [Fe(OEP)L 2] (+/-) ( 2). A couple of differences have been observed, however, in the electronic structures of 1 and 2. One of the differences is the electronic ground state in low-spin bis( (t)BuNC) complexes. While [Fe(OEP)( (t)BuNC) 2] (+) adopts the (d xz , d yz ) (4)(d xy ) (1) ground state, like most of the bis( (t)BuNC) complexes reported previously, [Fe(MAzP)( (t)BuNC) 2] (+) has shown the (d xy ) (2)(d xz , d yz ) (3) ground state. Another difference is the spin state of the bis(3,5-Cl 2Py) complexes. While [Fe(OEP)(3,5-Cl 2Py) 2] (+) has maintained the mixed S = 3/2 and 5/2 spin state from 298 to 4 K, [Fe(MAzP)(3,5-Cl 2Py) 2] (+) has shown the spin transition mentioned above. These differences have been ascribed to the narrower N4 cavity and the presence of lower-lying pi* orbital in MAzP as compared with OEP.     

Functional evaluation of iron oxypyriporphyrin in protein heme pocket

The iron complex of oxypyriporphyrin, a porphyrinoid containing a keto-substituted pyridine, was coupled with apomyoglobin. The reconstituted ferric myoglobin was found to be five-coordinate without iron-bound water molecules. The anionic ligands such as CN (-) and N 3 (-) bound the myoglobin with high affinities, while neutral imidazole did not. The IR observation indicated that the azide complex was pure high-spin, although the corresponding native protein was in the spin-state equilibrium. The reduced myoglobin was five-coordinate but exhibited no measurable affinity for O 2. The affinity for CO was lowered down to 1/2400 as compared with native myoglobin. These anomalies were ascribed to the deformation in the iron coordination core after the replacement of one of the four pyrroles with a larger pyridine ring. The ligand binding analyses for the ferric and ferrous myoglobin suggest that the proximal histidine pulls the iron atom from the deformed core to reduce the interaction between the iron and exogenous ligands. Similarity of the reconstituted myoglobin with guanylate cyclase, a NO-responsive signaling hemoprotein, was pointed out.     

LOV-like flavin-Cys adduct formation by introducing a Cys residue in the BLUF domain of TePixD

BLUF and LOV are blue-light sensor domains that possess flavin as a common chromophore but exhibit distinct photoreactions. Ile66 located in the BLUF domain of a cyanobacterial photosensor protein, TePixD, was replaced with Cys to mimic the LOV domain. Light-induced Fourier transform infrared spectra of the I66C TePixD showed that a flavin-Cys adduct, typical of the photoinduced intermediates of LOV domains, was formed in the I66C BLUF domain. This result demonstrates that different types of flavin photoreactions can be realized in the same domain if key amino acids are properly arranged near the flavin and the domain structure itself is not a crucial factor to determine the photoreaction type.     

Artificial polymeric receptors on the cell surface promote the efficient cellular uptake of quantum dots

In our previous paper, secondary-amine appended cationic polymer 1 was used as a scaffold to display artificial receptors on a cell surface (R. Kamitani et al., ChemBioChem, 2009, 10, 230). This polymer can be retained on the cell surface for more than 30 min before being slowly internalized into the cells. In this study, our aim is to achieve the efficient internalization of quantum dots (QDs) into target cells via artificial receptors on the polymer. As a receptor molecule, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) moieties were introduced into the polymer, and GlcNAc binding protein-displaying QDs were used as a ligand. We found that ligand-presenting QDs could be internalized effectively into cells via polymer-mediated endocytosis, whereas QDs were not internalized into untreated cells. These data suggest that our method based on cell-surface engineering using polymers affords a new approach to the delivery of various poorly permeable nanoparticles into cells.     

Electrodeposition of platinum nanoparticles in a room-temperature ionic liquid

The electrochemistry of the [PtCl(6)](2-)-[PtCl(4)](2-)-Pt redox system on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode in a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) [i.e., N,N-diethyl-N-methyl-N-(2-methoxyethyl)ammonium tetrafluoroborate (DEMEBF(4))] has been examined. The two-step four-electron reduction of [PtCl(6)](2-) to Pt, i.e., reduction of [PtCl(6)](2-) to [PtCl(4)](2-) and further reduction of [PtCl(4)](2-) to Pt, occurs separately in this RTIL in contrast to the one-step four-electron reduction of [PtCl(6)](2-) to Pt in aqueous media. The cathodic and anodic peaks corresponding to the [PtCl(6)](2-)/[PtCl(4)](2-) redox couple were observed at ca. -1.1 and 0.6 V vs a Pt wire quasi-reference electrode, respectively, while those observed at -2.8 and -0.5 V were found to correspond to the [PtCl(4)](2-)/Pt redox couple. The disproportionation reaction of the two-electron reduction product of [PtCl(6)](2-) (i.e., [PtCl(4)](2-)) to [PtCl(6)](2-) and Pt metal was also found to occur significantly. The electrodeposition of Pt nanoparticles could be carried out on a GC electrode in DEMEBF(4) containing [PtCl(6)](2-) by holding the potential at -3.5 or -2.0 V. At -3.5 V, the four-electron reduction of [PtCl(6)](2-) to Pt can take place, while at -2.0 V the two-electron reduction of [PtCl(6)](2-) to [PtCl(4)](2-) occurs. The results obtained demonstrate that the electrodeposition of Pt at -3.5 V may occur via a series of reductions of [PtCl(6)](2-) to [PtCl(4)](2-) and further [PtCl(4)](2-) to Pt and at -2.0 V via a disproportionation reaction of [PtCl(4)](2-) to [PtCl(6)](2-) and Pt. Furthermore, the deposition potential of Pt nanoparticles was found to largely influence their size and morphology as well as the relative ratio of Pt(110) and Pt(100) crystalline orientation domains. The sizes of the Pt nanoparticles prepared by holding the electrode potential at -2.0 and -3.5 V are almost the same, in the range of ca. 1-2 nm. These small nanoparticles are "grown" to form bigger particles with different morphologies: In the case of the deposition at -2.0 V, the GC electrode surface is totally, relatively compactly covered with Pt particles of relatively uniform size of ca. 10-50 nm. On the other hand, in the case of the electrodeposition at -3.5 V, small particles of ca. 50-100 nm and the grown-up particles of ca. 100-200 nm cover the GC surface irregularly and coarsely. Interestingly, the Pt nanoparticles prepared by holding the potential at -2.0 and -3.5 V are relatively enriched in Pt(100) and Pt(110) facets, respectively.     

Magnetic behavior and Mossbauer spectra of spin-crossover pyrazolate bridged dinuclear diiron(II) complexes: X-ray structures of high-spin and low-spin [(Fe(NCBH3)(py))2(mu-bpypz)2

The synthesis and characterization of new spin-crossover pyrazolato bridged dinuclear [(FeII(NCS)(py))2(mu-bpypz)2] and the corresponding cyanotrihydroborato-kappaN complexes are described together with the X-ray crystal analysis of the latter in both the high-spin and low-spin states as well as the variable temperature magnetic susceptibility and/or Mossbauer spectra demonstrating the spin-crossover which exhibits an one-step process, but not a two-step one characteristic of the known bpym bridged dinuclear complexes.     

Quantitative monitoring of His and Asp phosphorylation in a bacterial signaling system by using Phos‐tag Magenta/Cyan fluorescent dyes

In the bacterial signaling mechanisms known as two‐component systems (TCSs), signals are generally conveyed by means of a His–Asp phosphorelay. Each system consists of a histidine kinase (HK) and its cognate response regulator. Because of the labile nature of phosphorylated His and Asp residues, few approaches are available that permit a quantitative analysis of their phosphorylation status. Here, we show that the Phos‐tag dye technology is suitable for the fluorescent detection of His‐ and Asp‐phosphorylated proteins separated by SDS‐PAGE. The dynamics of the His–Asp phosphorelay of recombinant EnvZ‐OmpR, a TCS derived from Escherichia coli, were examined by SDS‐PAGE followed by simple rapid staining with Phos‐tag Magenta fluorescent dye. The technique permitted not only the quantitative monitoring of the autophosphorylation reactions of EnvZ and OmpR in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or acetyl phosphate, respectively, but also that of the phosphotransfer reaction from EnvZ to OmpR, which occurs within 1 min in the presence of ATP. Furthermore, we demonstrate profiling of waldiomycin, an HK inhibitor, by using the Phos‐tag Cyan gel staining. We believe that the Phos‐tag dye technology provides a simple and convenient fluorometric approach for screening of HK inhibitors that have potential as new antimicrobial agents.     

Molecular structure of polymerization product containing phenyl- and diphenylsiloxy units

The molecular structure of the hydrolyzate, and of the prepolymers and polymerization products of phenyltrichlorosilane and diphenyldichlorosilane are investigated. ²⁹Si-NMR measurements reveal the kinds of component units and their ratio in each synthesis step. The molecular structure of the prepolymer chain end and the polymerization product are also discussed in relation to the change in the NMR spectra. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.