Electron transfer reactivity of type zero Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin

Type zero copper is a hard-ligand analogue of the classical type 1 or blue site in copper proteins that function as electron transfer (ET) agents in photosynthesis and other biological processes. The EPR spectroscopic features of type zero Cu(II) are very similar to those of blue copper, although lacking the deep blue color, due to the absence of thiolate ligation. We have measured the rates of intramolecular ET from the pulse radiolytically generated C3-C26 disulfide radical anion to the Cu(II) in both type zero C112D/M121L and type 2 C112D Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurins in pH 7.0 aqueous solutions between 8 and 45 °C. We also have obtained rate/temperature (10-30 °C) profiles for ET reactions between these mutants and the wild-type azurin. Analysis of the rates and activation parameters for both intramolecular and intermolecular ET reactions indicates that the type zero copper reorganization energy falls in a range (0.9-1.1 eV) slightly above that for type 1 (0.7-0.8 eV), but substantially smaller than that for type 2 (>2 eV), consistent with XAS and EXAFS data that reveal minimal type zero site reorientation during redox cycling.     

A targetable fluorescent sensor reveals that copper-deficient SCO1 and SCO2 patient cells prioritize mitochondrial copper homeostasis

We present the design, synthesis, spectroscopy, and biological applications of Mitochondrial Coppersensor-1 (Mito-CS1), a new type of targetable fluorescent sensor for imaging exchangeable mitochondrial copper pools in living cells. Mito-CS1 is a bifunctional reporter that combines a Cu(+)-responsive fluorescent platform with a mitochondrial-targeting triphenylphosphonium moiety for localizing the probe to this organelle. Molecular imaging with Mito-CS1 establishes that this new chemical tool can detect changes in labile mitochondrial Cu(+) in a model HEK 293T cell line as well as in human fibroblasts. Moreover, we utilized Mito-CS1 in a combined imaging and biochemical study in fibroblasts derived from patients with mutations in the two synthesis of cytochrome c oxidase 1 and 2 proteins (SCO1 and SCO2), each of which is required for assembly and metalation of functionally active cytochrome c oxidase (COX). Interestingly, we observe that although defects in these mitochondrial metallochaperones lead to a global copper deficiency at the whole cell level, total copper and exchangeable mitochondrial Cu(+) pools in SCO1 and SCO2 patient fibroblasts are largely unaltered relative to wild-type controls. Our findings reveal that the cell maintains copper homeostasis in mitochondria even in situations of copper deficiency and mitochondrial metallochaperone malfunction, illustrating the importance of regulating copper stores in this energy-producing organelle.     

Indecomposability of treed equivalence relations

We define rigorously a “treed” equivalence relation, which, intuitively, is an equivalence relation together with a measurably varying tree structure on each equivalence class. We show, in the nonamenable, ergodic, measure-preserving case, that a treed equivalence relation cannot be stably isomorphic to a direct product of two ergodic equivalence relations.     

Water diffusion in atmospherically relevant α-pinene secondary organic material

Secondary organic material (SOM) constitutes a large mass fraction of atmospheric aerosol particles. Understanding its impact on climate and air quality relies on accurate models of interactions with water vapour. Recent research shows that SOM can be highly viscous and can even behave mechanically like a solid, leading to suggestions that particles exist out of equilibrium with water vapour in the atmosphere. In order to quantify any kinetic limitation we need to know water diffusion coefficients for SOM, but this quantity has, until now, only been estimated and has not yet been measured. We have directly measured water diffusion coefficients in the water soluble fraction of α-pinene SOM between 240 and 280 K. Here we show that, although this material can behave mechanically like a solid, at 280 K water diffusion is not kinetically limited on timescales of 1 s for atmospheric-sized particles. However, diffusion slows as temperature decreases. We use our measured data to constrain a Vignes-type parameterisation, which we extend to lower temperatures to show that SOM can take hours to equilibrate with water vapour under very cold conditions. Our modelling for 100 nm particles predicts that under mid- to upper-tropospheric conditions radial inhomogeneities in water content produce a low viscosity surface region and more solid interior, with implications for heterogeneous chemistry and ice nucleation.     

Water-induced reconstruction that affects mobile ions on the surface of calcite

Time-sequenced contact-force micrographs show that the (104) calcite cleavage surface reconstructs in humid air through pit formation and film growth. After 8 h at 80% relative humidity (RH), 50% to 80% of the surface is covered by islands that are flat-topped and 1-nm high. The lateral growth rates of individual islands are 4.2+/-0.4 nm min-1 in the 41 direction and 1.8+/-0.4 nm min-1 in the 48 direction, resulting in islands having distinct major and minor axes. On some samples, a contiguous, 1.5-nm-high film rapidly grows between the islands and the pits. The areal expansion rate of the film is 500 times faster than that of the islands. Gaps between the contiguous film and the islands expand and contract, which suggests that mass is exchanged between them and that both are loosely bound. Complementing the topographic images, polarization heights are simultaneously measured by polarization-force microscopy. The polarization heights of the islands and the contiguous film are -6 to -10 nm and -4 to -5 nm, respectively, compared to their respective topographic heights of +1.0 and +1.5 nm. Under our experimental conditions, the polarization heights are a surrogate for the local dielectric constant of the sample epsilon and arise from a convolution of the mobility and the density of surface ions. The polarization heights imply that epsilonsubstrate>epsilonfilm>epsilonisland. Changes in topographic and polarization heights at 20% and 50% RH suggest that the structures of the islands are in dynamic equilibrium with the adsorbed water. Our evidence suggests that the islands contain loosely bound water and may therefore be a hydrated calcium carbonate phase stabilized by the calcite surface.     

Substituent effects on methane activation and elimination by high-valent Zr complexes

A computational study of substituent effects on methane activation and elimination by high-valent zirconium complexes is reported. Substituent (Z) effects (in a structural, electronic, and enthalpic sense) are substantially less important for the imido (L_nZr(DOUBLE BOND)NZ) and imidolike TS than the amido (L_nM(SINGLE BOND)NHZ). For the microscopic reverse reaction, methane CH activation, it suggests that tailoring imido reactivity through electronic modification of nitrogen substituents will be difficult. Analysis of the earliest part of the reaction coordinate for methane elimination entails structural deformation of the Zr—amido to assume an appropriate geometry for elimination, which, in some cases, is directly reflected in substantially higher elimination barriers. Lower elimination barriers correlate with stronger agostic bonding, providing further support for the crucial importance of agostic bonding in facilitating alpha-elimination processes for high-valent transition-metal complexes. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Angular distributions of scattering intensities with the SAP code

Compton and Rayleigh scattering peak intensities and their ratio are used in reflection and transmission experiments to obtain information about the density of the investigated specimen. The ratio is preferred because it allows the reduction of the errors due to attenuation and geometry. In all cases it is fundamental to predict their angular distributions in order to design the optimal experiment for a given material. The code SAP (Scattering Angular distribution Plot) is a graphical tool to compute and plot Rayleigh and Compton differential cross‐sections (atomic and electronic), form factors and incoherent scattering functions. In this work, the code is improved by adding the computation of Rayleigh and Compton first‐order peak fluxes and intensities, and the Rayleigh‐to‐Compton peak ratio, in both, reflection and transmission geometries, for single elements, compounds and mixture of compounds, for monochromatic excitation in the range of 1–1000 keV. The new characteristics of the code are illustrated with some examples. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1H and 13C NMR assignments of all three isomeric o‐fluoronaphthaldehydes and three o‐fluorophenanthrene aldehydes

Three isomeric o‐fluoronaphthaldehydes, 9‐fluorophenanthrene, and three previously unreported o‐fluorophenanthrene aldehydes were analyzed in detail by multiple NMR techniques to provide unambiguous assignment of structures and resonances. The six aldehydes serve as the key starting materials for novel chiral ligands used in highly enantioselective rhodium‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation reactions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.