β-Thiopeptides: Synthesis,NMR Solution Structure,CD Spectra,and Photochemistry

To test the effect of NH−C=S groups (Scheme 1) on the stability of β-peptide secondary structures, we have synthesized three β-thiohexapeptide analogues of H-(β-HVal-β-HAla-β-HLeu)₂-OH ( 1 ) with one, two, and three C=S groups in the N-terminal positions (cf. 2 – 4 and model in Fig. 1). The first C=S group was introduced selectively by treatment with Lawesson reagent of Boc-β-dipeptide esters ( 6 and 8 ). A series of fragment-coupling steps (with reagents as for the corresponding sulfur-free building blocks) and another thionation reaction led to the title compounds with a C=S group in residues 1, 1, and 3, as well as 1, 2, and 3 of the β-hexapeptide (Schemes 2 and 3). The sulfur derivatives, especially those with three C=S groups, were much more soluble in organic media than the sulfur-free analogues (>1000-fold in CHCl₃; Table 1). The UV and CD spectra (in CHCl₃, MeOH, and H₂O) of the new compounds were recorded and compared with those of the parent β-hexapeptide 1 (Figs. 2 – 4); they indicate the presence of more than one secondary structure under the various conditions. Most striking is a pronounced exciton splitting (Δλ ca. 20 nm, amplitude up to +121000) of the ππ*_C=S band near 270 nm with the β-trithiohexapeptide (with and without terminal protecting groups), and strong, so-called `primary solvent effects', in the CD spectra. The CD spectrum of the β-dithiohexapeptide 3 undergoes drastic changes upon irradiation with 266-nm laser light of a MeOH solution (Fig. 5). The NMR structure in CD₃OH of the unprotected β-trithiohexapeptide 4 was determined to be an (M)-3₁₄-helix (Fig. 7), very similar to that of the non-thionated analogue (cf. 1 ). NMR and mass spectra of the β-hexapeptides with C=S and with C=O groups are compared (Figs. 6 and 8).     

Inspection games in arms control

An inspection game is a mathematical model of a situation in which an inspector verifies the adherence of an inspectee to some legal obligation, such as an arms control treaty, where the inspectee may have an interest in violating that obligation. The mathematical analysis seeks to determine an optimal inspection scheme, ideally one which will induce legal behavior, under the assumption that the potential illegal action is carried out strategically; thus a non-cooperative game with two players, inspector and inspectee, is defined. Three phases of development in the application of such models to arms control and disarmament may be identified. In the first of these, roughly from 1961 through 1968, studies that focused on inspecting a nuclear test ban treaty emphasized game theory, with less consideration given to statistical aspects associated with data acquisition and measurement uncertainty. The second phase, from 1968 to about 1985, involves work stimulated by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Here, the verification principle of material accountancy came to the fore, along with the need to include the formalism of statistical decision theory within the inspection models. The third phase, 1985 to the present, has been dominated by challenges posed by such far-reaching verification agreements as the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Agreement (INF), the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), as well as perceived failures of the NPT system in Iraq and North Korea. In this connection, the interface between the political and technical aspects of verification is being examined from the game-theoretic viewpoint.     

Diagnosing viruses by the rolling circle amplified synthesis of DNAzymes

Circular DNA is used as a template for the amplified detection of M13 phage ssDNA by a rolling circle amplification (RCA) process that synthesizes DNAzyme chains, thus enabling the colorimetric or chemiluminescent detection of the analyte.     

Defined Poly[styrene‐block‐(ferrocenylmethyl methacrylate)] Diblock Copolymers via Living Anionic Polymerization

Ferrocenylmethyl methacrylate (FMMA) is one of the very few metallocene‐based monomers that are promising candidates for truly living anionic polymerization. Nevertheless, FMMA homopolymers with a narrow polydispersity, or block copolymerization studies that result in satisfying blocking efficiencies, are unknown so far. Here we describe a procedure that leads to highly regular FMMA‐based polymers for the first time, characterized by polydispersity indices (PDI) of less that 1.05 and very high blocking efficiencies (>95%) in sequential copolymerization with styrene. Some of the obtained poly[styrene‐block‐(ferrocenylmethyl methacrylate)]s show unusual microphase morphologies, presumably the consequence of high T_gs causing ‘frustrated’ non‐equilibrium states.

     

Binary Interaction Parameters,Ternary Systems: Realistic Modeling of Liquid/Liquid Phase Separation

The phase behavior of ternary systems (either a polymer solution in a mixed solvent or a polymer blend in a single solvent) was modeled theoretically. The modeling considers two specific features of polymers explicitly: chain connectivity and the ability to respond to changes in the molecular environment by conformational reorientation. Previously, this approach has been applied to polymer solutions in single solvents. Here it is generalized and the number of parameters is reduced to two per binary system. The calculation of the Gibbs energies of the ternary mixtures accounts for the composition dependencies of the binary interaction parameters. The following phenomena are reproduced realistically for polymer solutions in a mixed solvent and for solutions of two polymers in a common solvent: simplicity, co‐solvency, and co‐non‐solvency. The results nourish the hope that the new approach is capable of modeling phase diagrams for ternary systems by means of binary interaction parameters only.

     

Impairment of mitochondrial calcium handling in a mtSOD1 cell culture model of motoneuron disease

Background  

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons (MN) in the brain stem and spinal cord. Intracellular disruptions of cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium have been associated with selective MN degeneration, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The present evidence supports a hypothesis that mitochondria are a target of mutant SOD1-mediated toxicity in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) and intracellular alterations of cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium might aggravate the course of this neurodegenerative disease. In this study, we used a fluorescence charged cool device (CCD) imaging system to separate and simultaneously monitor cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium concentrations in individual cells in an established cellular model of ALS.     

Oligoporphyrin Arrays Conjugated to [60]Fullerene: Preparation,NMR Analysis,and Photophysical and Electrochemical Properties

We report the synthesis and physical properties of novel fullerene–oligoporphyrin dyads. In these systems, the C‐spheres are singly linked to the terminal tetrapyrrolic macrocycles of rod‐like meso,meso‐linked or triply‐linked oligoporphyrin arrays. Monofullerene–mono(Zn^II porphyrin) conjugate 3 was synthesized to establish a general protocol for the preparation of the target molecules (Scheme 1). The synthesis of the meso,meso‐linked oligopophyrin–bisfullerene conjugates 4 – 6 , extending in size up to 4.1 nm ( 6 ), was accomplished by functionalization (iodination followed by Suzuki cross‐coupling) of the two free meso‐positions in oligomers 21 – 23 (Schemes 2 and 3). The attractive interactions between a fullerene and a Zn^II porphyrin chromophore in these dyads was quantified as ΔG=−3.3 kcal mol⁻¹ by variable‐temperature (VT) ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy (Table 1). As a result of this interaction, the C‐spheres adopt a close tangential orientation relative to the plane of the adjacent porphyrin nucleus, as was unambiguously established by ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR (Figs. 9 and 10), and UV/VIS spectroscopy (Figs. 13–15). The synthesis of triply‐linked diporphyrin–bis[60]fullerene conjugate 8 was accomplished by Bingel cyclopropanation of bis‐malonate 45 with two C₆₀ molecules (Scheme 5). Contrary to the meso,meso‐linked systems 4 – 6 , only a weak chromophoric interaction was observed for 8 by UV/VIS spectroscopy (Fig. 16 and Table 2), and the ¹H‐NMR spectra did not provide any evidence for distinct orientational preferences of the C‐spheres. Comprehensive steady‐state and time‐resolved UV/VIS absorption and emission studies demonstrated that the photophysical properties of 8 differ completely from those of 4 – 6 and the many other known porphyrin–fullerene dyads: photoexcitation of the methano[60]fullerene moieties results in quantitative sensitization of the lowest singlet level of the porphyrin tape, which is low‐lying and very short lived. The meso,meso‐linked oligoporphyrins exhibit ¹O₂ sensitization capability, whereas the triply‐fused systems are unable to sensitize the formation of ¹O₂ because of the low energy content of their lowest excited states (Fig. 18). Electrochemical investigations (Table 3, and Figs. 19 and 20) revealed that all oligoporphyrin arrays, with or without appended methano[60]fullerene moieties, have an exceptional multicharge storage capacity due to the large number of electrons that can be reversibly exchanged. Some of the Zn^II porphyrins prepared in this study form infinite, one‐dimensional supramolecular networks in the solid state, in which the macrocycles interact with each other either through H‐bonding or metal ion coordination (Figs. 6 and 7).