Design of chemical shift-switching 19F magnetic resonance imaging probe for specific detection of human monoamine oxidase A

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) A is a flavoenzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of biologically important monoamines and is thought to be associated with psychiatric disorders. Here, we report a strategy for rationally designing a (19)F magnetic resonance imaging probe for the specific detection of human MAO-A (hMAO-A) activity. Our designed (19)F probe was oxidized expeditiously by hMAO-A to produce 2-fluoro-4-nitrophenol via a spontaneous β-elimination mechanism. Concomitant with the structural change of the probe to the product, the (19)F chemical shift changed by 4.2 ppm, which was enough to visualize the probe and enzymatic product separately. Importantly, our probe achieved excellent discrimination of hMAO-A from its isoform hMAO-B.     

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) (n = 1-4)

Infrared photodissociation spectra of Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) (n = 1-4) and Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(n)-Ar (n = 1-3) were measured in the OH stretching region, 3000-3800 cm(-1). For n = 1 and 2, sharp absorption bands were observed in the free OH stretching region, all of which were well reproduced by the spectra calculated for the solvated-type geometry with no hydrogen bond. For n = 3 and 4, there were broad vibrational bands in the energy region of hydrogen-bonded OH stretching vibrations, 3000-3500 cm(-1). Energies of possible isomers for the Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(3),4 ions with hydrogen bonds were calculated in order to assign these bands. It was found that the third and fourth methanol molecules form hydrogen bonds with methanol molecules in the first solvation shell, rather than a direct bonding with the Al(+) ion. For the Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) clusters with n = 1-4, we obtained no evidence of the insertion reaction, which occurs in Al(+)(H(2)O)(n). One possible explanation of the difference between these two systems is that the potential energy barriers between the solvated and inserted isomers in the Al(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) system is too high to form the inserted-type isomers.     

Selective permeation of CO2 through poly 2-(N,N-dimethyl)aminoethyl methacrylate membrane prepared by plasma-graft polymerization technique

A membrane having an amine moiety was prepared by plasma-grafting 2-(N,N-dimethyl)aminoethyl methacrylate (DAMA) onto a microporous polyethylene substrate. Permselectivity of the membrane for CO₂ over N₂ was achieved in both dry and water swollen conditions. When the CO₂ partial pressure in the feed gas was 0.047 atm, the selectivity of CO₂ over N₂ reached 130 for the highly swollen water containing membrane. This value was found to agree with that obtained with a mobile carrier membrane (supported liquid membrane) using DAMA as the carrier. The effects of several experimental conditions such as degree of grafting, feed partial pressure and temperature on the membrane performance were studied. It was suggested that the membrane acted as a fixed carrier membrane for CO₂ facilitated transport in under the dry condition and acted as a fixed reaction site membrane in the water swollen condition. The carrier transport mechanism is discussed for dry and aqueous membranes.     

Atomic electron-pair distances and subshell radii in position and momentum space

For the 53 neutral atoms from He to Xe in their ground states, the average distances < u> _{n l , n ′ l ′} in position space and < v> _{n l , n ′ l ′} in momentum space between an electron in a subshell nl and another electron in a subshell n ^′ l ^′ are studied, where n and l are the principal and azimuthal quantum numbers of an atomic subshell, respectively. Analysis of 1700 subshell pairs shows that the electron-pair distances < u> _{n l , n ′ l ′} in position space have an empirical but very accurate linear correlation with a one-electron quantity U _{n l , n ′ l ′}≡L _r +S _r ²/(3L _r ), where L _r and S _r are the larger and smaller of subshell radii < r> _{n l} and < r> _{n ′ l ′}, respectively. The correlation coefficients are never smaller than 0.999 for the 66 different combinations of two subshells appearing in the 53 atoms. The same is also true in momentum space, and the electron-pair momentum distances < > _{n l , n ′ l ′} have an accurate linear correlation with a one-electron momentum quantity V _{n l , n ′ l ′}≡L _p +S _p ²/(3L _p ), where L _p and S _p are the larger and smaller of average subshell momenta < p> _{n l} and < p> _{n ′ l ′}, respectively. Trends in the proportionality constants between < u> _{n l , n ′ l ′} and U _{n l , n ′ l ′} and between < > _{n l , n ′ l ′} and V _{n l , n ′ l ′} are discussed based on a hydrogenic model for the subshell radial functions. Received: 8 April 1998 / Accepted: 6 July 1998 / Published online: 18 September 1998     

TYROSINE-SENSITIZED PHOTODIMERIZATION OF THYMINE IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract. Photodimerization of thymine in aqueous solution in the presence of tyrosine was studied with monochromatic UV irradiation. The total dimer formation was sensitized in the presence of tyrosine. The action spectrum of sensitized total dimer formation has a peak near 280 nm corresponding to the absorption maximum of tyrosine. Triplet quenchers reduced the sensitization substantially. It seems probable that tyrosine-sensitized photodimerization of thymine occurred via triplet-triplet energy transfer from tyrosine to thymine.     

Photodissociation of Mg+-XCH3 (X=F, Cl, Br, and I) complexes. II. Fragment angular and energy distributions

Angular and energy distributions of photofragments from Mg+-XCH3 (X=F, Cl, Br, and I) were deduced from time-of-flight (TOF) profiles measured by rotating the polarization direction of the dissociation laser with respect to ion beam direction. The TOF profiles of ICH3+ and MgI+ fragment ions produced from Mg+-ICH3 complex with 266 and 355 nm photons showed clear but opposite recoil anisotropy to each other. In addition, BrCH3+ formed by a dissociation of the Mg+-BrCH3 complex at a photolysis wavelength of 266 nm also showed an anisotropic distribution in the TOF profile which had the same behavior as the profile of ICH3+. For Mg+-FCH3 complex, CH3+ and MgF+ formed with a 266 nm photon had also spatial anisotropy, in which the TOF profile of MgF+ was almost opposite to that of MgI+. These anisotropic distributions were explained by (1) local excitation on the Mg+ ion, (2) rapid dissociation compared with a rotational period of the parent complex, and (3) geometrical structures of the parent complexes. Anisotropy beta parameter values were determined to be +1.30(ICH3+), -0.50(MgI+), +0.74(BrCH3+), and +0.75(CH3+ and MgF+). This dependence on the halogen atom observed in beta values was qualitatively explained by both the geometrical parameters and classical rotational periods of parent complexes. In the product energy distribution, 46%, 40%, 21%, 16%, and 16% of available energies were found to be transferred into translational energies of ICH3+, MgI+, BrCH3 +, CH3+, and MgF+, respectively. These values were compared with energy distributions estimated by a statistical prior distribution and a nonstatistical impulsive model. For ICH3+ and MgI+, the translational energies determined from the measurement had values between those estimated from statistical and nonstatistical models. On the other hand, the energy partitioning for the product ions of BrCH3+, CH3+, and MgF+ was found to be almost statistical. From these considerations, we concluded that nonstatistical processes were more important in the dissociation of Mg+-ICH3 than in other systems.     

Imaging mass spectrometry distinguished the cancer and stromal regions of oral squamous cell carcinoma by visualizing phosphatidylcholine (16:0/16:1) and phosphatidylcholine (18:1/20:4)

Most oral cancers are oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The anatomical features of OSCC have been histochemically evaluated with hematoxylin and eosin. However, the border between the cancer and stromal regions is unclear and large portions of the cancer and stromal regions are resected in surgery. To reduce the resected area and maintain oral function, a new method of diagnosis is needed. In this study, we tried to clearly distinguish the border on the basis of biomolecule distributions visualized by imaging mass spectrometry (IMS). In the IMS dataset, eleven signals were significantly different in intensity (p?<?0.01) between the cancer and stromal regions. Two signals at m/z 770.5 and m/z 846.6 were distributed in each region, and a clear border was revealed. Tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis identified these signals as phosphatidylcholine (PC) (16:0/16:1) at m/z 770.5 in the cancer region and PC (18:1/20:4) at m/z 846.6 in the stromal region. Moreover, the distribution of PC species containing arachidonic acid in the stromal region suggests that lymphocytes accumulated in response to the inflammation caused by cancer invasion. In conclusion, the cancer and stromal regions of OSCCs were clearly distinguished by use of these PC species and IMS analysis, and this molecular identification can provide important information to elucidate the mechanism of cancer invasion.     

Incorporation of Pseudo‐complementary Bases 2,6‐Diaminopurine and 2‐Thiouracil into Serinol Nucleic Acid (SNA) to Promote SNA/RNA Hybridization

Serinol nucleic acid (SNA) is a promising candidate for nucleic acid‐based molecular probes and drugs due to its high affinity for RNA. Our previous work revealed that incorporation of 2,6‐diaminpurine (D), which can form three hydrogen bonds with uracil, into SNA increases the melting temperature of SNA‐RNA duplexes. However, D incorporation into short self‐complementary regions of SNA promoted self‐dimerization and hindered hybridization with RNA. Here we synthesized a SNA monomer of 2‐thiouracil (sU), which was expected to inhibit base pairing with D by steric hindrance between sulfur and the amino group. To prepare the SNA containing D and sU in high yield, we customized the protecting groups on D and sU monomers that can be readily deprotected under acidic conditions. Incorporation of D and sU into SNA facilitated stable duplex formation with target RNA by suppressing the self‐hybridization of SNA and increasing the stability of the heteroduplex of SNA and its complementary RNA. Our results have important implications for the development of SNA‐based probes and nucleic acid drugs.     

Dynamic nuclear polarization studies of nitroxyl spin probes in agarose gel using Overhauser‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

Agarose is a tissue‐equivalent material and its imaging characteristics similar to those of real tissues. Hence, the dynamic nuclear polarization studies of 3‐carboxy‐2,2,5,5‐tetramethyl‐pyrrolidine‐1‐oxyl (carboxy‐PROXYL) in agarose gel were carried out. The dynamic nuclear polarization parameters such as spin lattice relaxation time, longitudinal relaxivity, leakage factor, saturation parameter and coupling parameter were estimated for 2 mM carboxy‐PROXYL in phosphate‐buffered saline solution and water/agarose mixture (99 : 1). From these results, the spin probe concentration was optimized as 2 mM, and the reduction in enhancement was observed for carboxy‐PROXYL in water/agarose mixture (99 : 1) compared with phosphate‐buffered saline solution. Phantom imaging was also performed with 2 mM concentration of carboxy‐PROXYL in various concentrations of agarose gel at various radio frequency power levels. The results from the dynamic nuclear polarization measurements agree well with the phantom imaging results. These results pave the way for designing model system for human tissues suited to the biological applications of electron spin resonance/Overhauser‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.