Studying the active-site loop movement of the S?o Paolo metallo-β-lactamase-1

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) catalyse the hydrolysis of almost all β-lactam antibiotics. We report biophysical and kinetic studies on the São Paulo MBL (SPM-1), which reveal its Zn(ii) ion usage and mechanism as characteristic of the clinically important di-Zn(ii) dependent B1 MBL subfamily. Biophysical analyses employing crystallography, dynamic ¹⁹F NMR and ion mobility mass spectrometry, however, reveal that SPM-1 possesses loop and mobile element regions characteristic of the B2 MBLs. These include a mobile α3 region which is important in catalysis and determining inhibitor selectivity. SPM-1 thus appears to be a hybrid B1/B2 MBL. The results have implications for MBL evolution and inhibitor design.     

Hindered coarsening of a phase-separating microemulsion due to dispersed colloidal particles

The addition of sterically stabilized colloidal particles to a phase-separating microemulsion leads to dramatic changes in its demixing behavior, especially during the later stages. Our microemulsion is composed of reverse micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate, pentanol, and water in a dodecane continuous phase which separates into micelle-rich and micelle-poor phases above a lower critical solution temperature. The poly(methyl methacrylate) particles preferentially partition into the less structured, micelle-poor phase. Nucleation of the minority phase or spinodal decomposition close to criticality continue to occur in the presence of particles, albeit with pronounced pretransitional clustering of particles when the micelle-poor phase is in the minority. The coalescence of micelle-poor droplets and the coarsening of micelle-rich domains are both strongly modified due to the presence of colloidal particles. We use our observations of the early stages of phase separation to understand these late stage changes.     

Impact of picoliter droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces with ultralow spreading ratios

The impact of picoliter-sized water droplets on superhydrophobic CF(4) plasma fluorinated polybutadiene surfaces is investigated with high-speed imaging. Variation of the surface topography by plasmachemical modification enables the dynamics of wetting to be precisely controlled. Final spreading ratios as low as 0.63 can be achieved. A comparison of the maximum spreading ratio and droplet oscillation frequencies to models described in the literature shows that both are found to be much lower than theoretically predicted.     

Inversion of particle-stabilized emulsions of partially miscible liquids by mild drying of modified silica particles

Using a system of modified silica particles and mixtures of water and 2,6-lutidine to form particle-stabilized emulsions, we show that subtle alterations to the hydration of the particle surface can cause major shifts in emulsion structure. We use fluorescence confocal microscopy, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) to explore this sensitivity, along with other shifts caused by modifications to the silica surface chemistry. The silica particles are prepared by a variant of the St?ber procedure and are modified by the inclusion of 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and the dye fluorescein isothiocyanate. Treatment prior to emulsification consists of gently drying the particles under carefully controlled conditions. In mixtures of water and 2,6-lutidine of critical composition, the particles stabilize droplet emulsions and bijels. Decreasing particle hydration yields an inversion of the emulsions from lutidine-in-water (L/W) to water-in-lutidine (W/L), with bijels forming around inversion. So dependent is the emulsion behavior on particle hydration that microscopic differences in drying within a particle sample can cause differences in the wetting behavior of that sample, which helps to stabilize multiple emulsions. The formation of bijels at emulsion inversion is also crucially dependent on the surface modification of the silica.     

Comparison of a calculated and measured XANES spectrum of α-Fe2O3

Comparison and prediction of the experimental XANES spectrum is a good measurement of the quality of the electronic structure calculations employed, and their ability to predict electronic transitions in solids. Here we present a comparison between BLYP + U and hybrid-BLYP calculations regarding the geometric, magnetic and electronic structures of α-Fe(2)O(3) (hematite). Several values of U and different percentages of Fock-exchange have been screened to see how their contributions affect different properties of hematite, paying particular attention to the electronic structure. To estimate the quality of the various methods the calculated density-of-states were compared to the experimentally collected XANES spectrum of the iron K-edge, providing information about the orbitals describing the conduction band. We find that in agreement with previous studies DFT + U and hybrid-functional simulations can correctly predict the character of the valence band, but only Fock-exchange higher than 30% or U-values equal or larger than 6 eV properly reproduce the order between the t(g) and e orbitals in the conduction band, and can, therefore, be used to study and predict XANES spectra and electronic transitions in hematite.     

Chromatographic characterization of electrochemically generated technetium-HEDP skeletal imaging agents

Reduction of pertechnetate [(99m)TcO(-)(4)] by controlled-potential coulometry in the presence of 1-hydroxy-1,1-ethanediphosphonate (HEDP) leads to the formation of (99m) Tc complexes which are suitable for bone imaging. The complex radiopharmaceutical mixtures can be separated into their respective components by anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. The distribution of the complexes in the mixtures is dependent on the cell potential, pH, technetium concentration, and presence or absence of air. A single component formed in high yield and isolated from the mixture by HPLC was investigated as a potential bone-imaging agent. This particular complex is produced only in low yields when prepared by chemical reduction of (99m) TcO(-)(4). Thus electrochemistry shows promise in aiding in the development of a more efficacious bone-imaging agent by allowing selective generation of individual (99m) Tc-HEDP complexes.