Dynamics of Bacteriorhodopsin in the Dark-Adapted State from Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

To achieve efficient proton pumping in the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR), the protein must be tightly coupled to the retinal to rapidly convert retinal isomerization into protein structural rearrangements. Methyl group dynamics of bR embedded in lipid nanodiscs were determined in the dark-adapted state, and were found to be mostly well ordered at the cytosolic side. Methyl groups in the M145A mutant of bR, which displays only 10 % residual proton pumping activity, are less well ordered, suggesting a link between side-chain dynamics on the cytosolic side of the bR cavity and proton pumping activity. In addition, slow conformational exchange, attributed to low frequency motions of aromatic rings, was indirectly observed for residues on the extracellular side of the bR cavity. This may be related to reorganization of the water network. These observations provide a detailed picture of previously undescribed equilibrium dynamics on different time scales for ground-state bR.     

Influence of Polarity and Activation Energy in Microwave–Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS)

The aim of this work was to determine the parameters that have decisive roles in microwave-assisted reactions and to develop a model, using computational chemistry, to predict a priori the type of reactions that can be improved under microwaves. For this purpose, a computational study was carried out on a variety of reactions, which have been reported to be improved under microwave irradiation. This comprises six types of reactions. The outcomes obtained in this study indicate that the most influential parameters are activation energy, enthalpy, and the polarity of all the species that participate. In addition to this, in most cases, slower reacting systems observe a much greater improvement under microwave irradiation. Furthermore, for these reactions, the presence of a polar component in the reaction (solvent, reagent, susceptor, etc.) is necessary for strong coupling with the electromagnetic radiation. We also quantified that an activation energy of 20–30 kcal mol⁻¹ and a polarity (μ) between 7–20 D of the species involved in the process is required to obtain significant improvements under microwave irradiation.     

Synthesis,spectral investigation and development of tetrahedral copper(II) complexes as artificial metallonucleases and antimalarial agents

Seven new copper(II) complexes of type [Cu(A)(L)]?H₂O (A = sparfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, pefloxacin, ofloxacin, norfloxacin; L = 5‐[(3‐chlorophenyl)diazenyl]‐4‐hydroxy‐1,3‐thiazole‐2(3H)‐thione) were synthesized and characterized using elemental and thermogravimetric analyses, and electronic, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), Fourier transform infrared and liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopies. Tetrahedral geometry around copper is assigned in all complexes using EPR and electronic spectral analyses. All complexes were investigated for their interaction with herring sperm DNA utilizing absorption titration (K_b = 1.27–3.13 × 10⁵ M^?1) and hydrodynamic volume measurement studies. The studies suggest the classical intercalative mode of DNA binding. The cleavage reaction on pUC19 DNA was monitored by agarose gel electrophoresis. The results indicate that the Cu(II) complexes can more effectively promote the cleavage of plasmid DNA. The superoxide dismutase mimic activity of the complexes was evaluated by nitroblue tetrazolium assay, and the complexes catalysed the dismutation of superoxide at pH = 7.8 with IC₅₀ values in the range 0.597–0.900 μM. The complexes were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against five pathogenic bacteria. All the complexes are good cytotoxic agents and show LC₅₀ values ranging from 5.559 to 11.912 µg ml^?1. All newly synthesized Cu(II) complexes were also evaluated for their in vitro antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum strain (IC₅₀ = 0.62–2.0 µg ml^?1). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.