Induction of a remarkable conformational change in a human telomeric sequence by the binding of naphthyridine dimer: inhibition of the elongation of a telomeric repeat by telomerase

The binding of a dimeric form of the 2-amino-1,8-naphthyridine derivative (naphthyridine dimer) to a human telomeric sequence, TTAGGG, was investigated by UV melting, CD spectra, and CSI-MS measurements. Both the 9-mer d(TTAGGGTTA) and the 15-mer d(TTAGGGTTAGGGTTA) showed apparent melting temperatures (T(m)) of 45.6 and 63.6 degrees C, respectively, in the presence of naphthyridine dimer (30 microM) in sodium cacodylate buffer (50 mM, pH 7.0) containing 100 mM NaCl. The CD spectra at 235 and 255 nm of the 9-mer increased in intensity accompanied with strong induced CDs at 285 and 340 nm upon complex formation with naphthyridine dimer. UV titration of the binding of naphthyridine dimer to the 9-mer at 320 nm showed a hypochromism of the spectra. A Scatchard plot of the data showed the presence of multiple binding sites with different association constants. Cold spray ionization mass spectrometry of the complex between naphthyridine dimer and the 9-mer clearly showed that one to three molecules of the ligand bound to the dimer duplex of the 9-mer. Telomeric repeat elongation assay showed that the binding of naphthyridine dimer to the telomeric sequence inhibits the elongation of the sequence by telomerase.     

Umwandlung des Fe3S4 von Fd3m nach Pa3, P4/nmm bzw. P63/mmc beim hydrothermalen Prozeß

A hydrothermal process of precipitating iron sulfide gives rise to greigite (space group: Fd3m), pyrite (Pa3), mackinawite (P4/nmm) and pyrrhotite (P6/mmc), as the case may be. Greigite blended with pyrite is formed, when the autoclave for the hydrothermal process is cooled down not rapidly, but slowly from 192°C to room temperature. Greigite and pyrite here form partially a solid solution. A mechanical mixture of greigite-mackinawite and that of greigite-pyrrhotite appear in the hydrothermal process above and below 192°C, respectively. Pure greigite is produced only by rapid quenching of the reaction tube from 192°C, to 10°C.     

Gap states at organic-metal interfaces: A combined spectroscopic and theoretical study

A systematic understanding and controlling of gap states formed at the organic-metal interfaces is a key factor for fabricating functional organic-metal systems, as in case of heterojunctions in semiconductor devices. We report here the characterization of gap states near the Fermi level of metal substrate by metastable atom electron spectroscopy and first-principles density functional calculations. The gap states in organic-metal systems are classified into two types, i.e., chemisorption-induced gap states (CIGSs) and complex-based gap states (CBGSs). CIGSs can be further classified whether the metal wave function tails a short distance into the chemisorbed species with the exponential decay (damping type) or is exposed sufficiently to the chemisorbed species by mixing with the organic orbitals (propagating type). CIGSs observed in alkanethiolate and C₆₀ on Pt(1 1 1) are their typical examples, respectively. As a consequence, alkanethiolate serves as a poor mediator of metal wave function, whereas C₆₀ acts as a good mediator, which is responsible for tunneling mechanism and eventually electric conductivity in the relevant metal-organic-metal junctions. CBGSs are identified in bathocuproine films deposited on K-covered Au, where the K atoms migrate into the film to form an organic-metal complex. The CBGSs are distributed over the multilayer film, in contrast to the case of CIGS. With increasing film thickness, the CBGSs exhibit incommensurate energy shifts with the valence band top of the film, indicating that the Schottky-Mott model breaks down as evaluating charge transport in organic-metal systems.     

Waveform control for magnetic testers using a quasi-Newton method

A nonlinear iterative learning algorithm is proposed to make a voltage waveform in the secondary coil sinusoidal in this paper. The algorithm employs a globally convergent Jacobian-free quasi-Newton type solver that has a BFGS-like structure. This method functions well, and it is demonstrated using typical soft magnetic materials.     

Experimental demonstration of plasmonic racetrack resonators with a trench structure

We fabricated and investigated a plasmonic racetrack resonator with a trench structure. Trench channel plasmon polaritons excited by end-fire coupling at a wavelength of 633 nm are observed in the fabricated racetrack resonator. The racetrack resonator also worked as a plasmonic racetrack resonator. The experimental and simulation results of the electric field distributions are in good agreement.     

Hydrogen bonding in macrocyclic receptor systems

Abstract

The interactions of macrocyclic polyethers with alkali and alkaline earth cations have been well studied and much about their chemistry is now well understood. Less well examined or comprehended are hydrogen bond interactions. A combination of ion selective electrode binding constant determination techniques and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry are brought to bear on this problem. It is found that all-oxygen crown ethers and their derivatives exhibit quite different complexation behaviour with ammonium salts than do their various azacrown counterparts.     

Optical switching and alignment of antiferroelectric liquid crystals containing an azo group

The optical properties of two kinds of photochromic antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) containing an azo group have been examined. Depending on the substituting group at the chiral centre, these AFLCs showed different photoinduced phase transitions by Ar⁺ laser light irradiation. This phase transition has led to a new form of optical switching controlled by a bias voltage. In addition, it was found that these AFLCs caused an azimuthal photoalignment effect regulated by linearly polarized Ar⁺ laser light irradiation. These phenomena were applied to image storage.     

Cubic phases of 4′-n-alkoxy-3′-nitrobiphenyl-4-carboxylic acids (ANBC-n)

The structure of the thermotropic cubic phases of 4′- ⁿ -alkoxy-3′-nitrobiphenyl-4-carboxylic acids (ANBC- ⁿ , where ⁿ indicates the number of carbon atoms in the alkoxy group) was studied by X-ray diffraction. For the homologues with ⁿ = 15, 16, 17, and 18, the cubic phase was of an ^Ia 3 ^d type, whereas the homologues with ⁿ = 19, 20, and 21 exhibited an ^Im 3 ^m cubic structure; for these seven homologues the same type of cubic structure was observed both on heating and cooling. Further lengthening of the alkoxy chain to ⁿ = 22 and 26, however, gave two types of cubic structure in the cubic phase region on heating, one with ^Im 3 ^m symmetry in the low temperature region and the other with ^Ia 3 ^d symmetry in the high temperature region. On cooling, the two homologues exhibited the ^Ia 3 ^d cubic structure only. This is the first example in the cubic phase region of a series of homologues containing two types of structure, dependent on temperature and ⁿ . Such a complicated phase diagram in the cubic region is clearly understood qualitatively in terms of Gibbs free energy-temperature diagrams. The dependence of structural parameters such as the cubic lattice constant on the alkoxy chain length ⁿ are also presented and discussed.