Molecular dynamics and information on possible sites of interaction of intramyocellular metabolites in vivo from resolved dipolar couplings in localized H NMR spectra

Proton NMR resonances of the endogenous metabolites creatine and phosphocreatine ((P)Cr), taurine (Tau), and carnosine (Cs, β-alanyl-l-histidine) were studied with regard to residual dipolar couplings and molecular mobility. We present an analysis of the direct ¹H–¹H interaction that provides information on motional reorientation of subgroups in these molecules in vivo. For this purpose, localized ¹H NMR experiments were performed on m. gastrocnemius of healthy volunteers using a 1.5-T clinical whole-body MR scanner. We evaluated the observable dipolar coupling strength SD₀ (S = order parameter) of the (P)Cr-methyl triplet and the Tau-methylene doublet by means of the apparent line splitting. These were compared to the dipolar coupling strength of the (P)Cr-methylene doublet. In contrast to the aliphatic protons of (P)Cr and Tau, the aromatic H2 (δ = 8 ppm) and H4 (δ = 7 ppm) protons of the imidazole ring of Cs exhibit second-order spectra at 1.5 T. This effect is the consequence of incomplete transition from Zeeman to Paschen-Back regime and allows a determination of SD₀ from H2 and H4 of Cs as an alternative to evaluating the multiplet splitting which can be measured directly in high-resolution ¹H NMR spectra. Experimental data showed striking differences in the mobility of the metabolites when the dipolar coupling constant D₀ (calculated with the internuclear distance known from molecular geometry in the case of complete absence of molecular dynamics and motion) is used for comparison. The aliphatic signals involve very small order parameters S ≈ (1.4 − 3) × 10⁻⁴ indicating rapid reorientation of the corresponding subgroups in these metabolites. In contrast, analysis of the Cs resonances yielded S ≈ (113 − 137) × 10⁻⁴. Thus, the immobilization of the Cs imidazole ring owing to an anisotropic cellular substructure in human m. gastrocnemius is much more effective than for (P)Cr and Tau subgroups. Furthermore, ¹H NMR experiments on aqueous model solutions of histidine and N-acetyl-l-aspartate (NAA) enabled the assignment of an additional signal component at δ = 8 ppm of Cs in vivo to the amide group at the peptide bond. The visibility of this proton could result from hydrogen bonding which would agree with the anticipated stronger motional restriction of Cs. Referring to the observation that all dipolar-coupled multiplets resolved in localized in vivo ¹H NMR spectra of human m. gastrocnemius collapse simultaneously when the fibre structure is tilted towards the magic angle (θ ≈ 55°), a common model for molecular confinement in muscle tissue is proposed on the basis of an interaction of the studied metabolites with myocellular membrane phospholipids.     

Nanometer interatomic distances in Rydberg Matter clusters confirmed by phase-delay spectroscopy

Recently, rotational spectroscopy in the radio frequency range was used to determine the bond lengths in several types of potassium Rydberg Matter (RM) clusters with high precision (Mol Phy 105: 933–939, 2007). Due to the large bond lengths of a few nm and well-ordered structure of such clusters, it is expected that light scattering can be used to determine their dimensions. A weak carbon dioxide laser beam is introduced collinearly into a tunable RM cavity. When RM is formed, a very pronounced fringe structure with several hundred fringes is observed at the detector as a function of the grating position. These fringes show a phase delay of the carbon dioxide laser light caused by reflections within the RM clusters. The delay lengths derived from the fringe structure give distances between the rows of atoms in the clusters. The excitation level of the most easily observed clusters is n = 5. Clusters with n = 6, 7, and 8 are also commonly detected. The bond distance for n = 5 is found to be 3.804 ± 0.015 nm, while that for n = 6 is 5.525 ± 0.014 nm, in accurate agreement with values from rotational spectroscopy.     

Supralinearity in nuclear research emulsions

Nuclear emulsions processed in discriminating developers, intended to suppress small latent image sites, exhibit supralinear sensitometric blackness-exposure curves, whose character varies according to developing time, concentration, and composition, yielding hittedness ranging from 1 to 8, singly and in combination. These emulsion-processing combinations display the phenomena called ion-kill (sensitization by the transit of a single charged particle) and gamma- kill (sensitization by the overlap of secondary electron paths, whether from x-rays or from the delta-rays of heavy ions) in radiobiology. Here emulsions are blackened by x-rays when these same plates reveal no electron tracks, or no alpha-particle tracks, or even no fission fragment tracks. The supralinearity of the emulsion response to x-rays, and the consequent suppression of low LET radiations suggest that these materials have the potential to mimic the response of biological systems to particulate radiations of different charge and speed.     

Molecular beam surface ionization detection: II. Field reversal and surface ionization study of Na on Re with adsorbed oxygen

The desorption and surface ionization of Na on a polycrystalline Re surface with various amounts of adsorbed oxygen have been studied by field reversal, surface ionization and thermoelectronic emission methods. In this work the unique properties of the field reversal method are taken advantage of, i.e. that both neutral and ionic desorption rate constants can be determined simultaneously. Absolute ionization coefficients have been measured by field reversal and have been compared with values found by the “oxygen coverage” method and by static surface ionization. The application to beam flux density determinations is discussed. The simultaneous variation of the neutral and ionic desorption rate constants during oxygen adsorption and the temperature dependence of them have been studied. The Re surface in 2 × 10^?8 Torr of oxygen and at 1300–1500 K is shown to be very stable and to behave differently than in studies at higher temperatures. The very rapid change in both desorption rate constants at an effective work function Φ^e = 5.35 V is here correlated with the results of LEED experiments (Gorodetskii and Knysh) and is proposed to indicate a change from a stable Re oxide surface at low Φ^e (and oxygen coverage) to a different surface structure at higher Φ^e. Desorption energies have been determined at various values of Φ^e. The neutral desorption energy at low oxygen pressure is 2.70 ± 0.06 eV, which agress well with earlier, here corrected modulated beam results. The energy (Schottky) cycle for surface ionization is shown to be closed at low Φ^e, which has been difficult to show with other methods in any other case.     

Comparative study of DFT methods applied to small titanium/oxygen compounds

The performance of a number of different local and nonlocal density functional theory (DFT) methods has been investigated for some small titanium—oxygen systems. Equilibrium geometries, ionization potentials, dipole moments, atomization energies, and harmonic vibrational frequencies have been calculated for the TiO, TiO₂, and Ti₂ molecules, and the results are compared with experimental data and ab initio calculations. It is shown that most DFT methods perform much better than the ab initio Hartree—Fock (HF), second-order perturbation theory (MP2), and configuration interaction including single and double excitations (CISD) treatments. For good agreement with experimental data, gradient corrections to the exchange part of the DFT functional are needed, as well as some type of correction for the errors in the calculated energy splittings between different atomic states of titanium. Hybrid methods including a mixture of HF exchange with DFT exchange correlation do not perform as well as “pure” DFT methods for the studied systems. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Molecularly imprinted capillary electrochromatography for selective determination of thiabendazole in citrus samples

In this work, the suitability of the combination of molecular imprinting and capillary electrochromatography (MIP-CEC) to be used as powerful tool in environmental or food analysis has been for the first time studied and successfully demonstrated. A molecularly imprinted monolith (MIM) has been synthesised and evaluated as stationary phase for the selective determination of the fungicide thiabendazole (TBZ) in citrus samples by non-aqueous capillary electrochromatography. The influence of the mobile phase composition, the voltage of the power supply and the separation temperature on the recognition of TBZ by the imprinted polymer has been evaluated, and the imprint effect in the MIM was clearly demonstrated. Once optimum recognition conditions were established, other variables affecting mechanical properties and chromatographic performance of MIM were adjusted using computational approach. The high selectivity achieved by the MIP-CEC developed procedure allowed unambiguous detection and quantification of TBZ in citrus samples by direct injection of the crude sample extracts, without any previous clean-up, in less than 6 min. The developed method was properly validated and the calculated detection limits were below the established maximum residue limits (MRLs), clearly demonstrating the suitability of the method to be used for the control of the selected fungicide.     

Radical dynamics of puerarin as revealed by laser flash photolysis and spin density analysis

Puerarin, a C-glycoside of daidzein, forms upon direct photoexcitation in acetonitrile an excited-state with a lifetime of 4.2 micros assigned by oxygen quenching and sensitized formation of triplet zeaxanthin as a triplet and phenoxyl radicals of ms lifetime insensitive to oxygen and with spin density delocalized over the ACB isoflavonoid ring system, [ACB]*, as shown by laser flash photolysis and theoretical spin density calculations. Photoexcitation of A-ring 7-phenolate puerarin yields a [AC]* radical, which converts into the [ACB]* radical with a rate constant of 3.6 x 10(5) s(-1) in 5% methanolic acetonitrile in a process triggered by B-ring deprotonation (4'-phenol). For the 7-phenolate with the 4'-phenol derivatized to yield a propyl anisole, no rearrangement of the initially formed [AC]* radical was observed. With the A-ring phenol derivatized, the 7-propyl-4'-phenolate forms a radical with spin density delocalized over the CB ring system, [CB]*, together with a minor fraction of [ACB]* due to propyl radical dissociations confirmed by BDE-calculations. Dianionic puerarin forms initially the [ACB]* radical, which is converted into the [CB]* radical in a slower process (1.6 x 10(4) s(-1)) assigned to 7-methylation. The radical dynamics is discussed in relation to puerarin/carotenoid antioxidant synergism at water/lipid interphases.     

Theoretical study of the antioxidant properties of pyridoxine

Molecules acting as antioxidants capable of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) are of utmost importance in the living cell. The antioxidative properties of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) have recently been discovered. In this study, we have analyzed the reactivity of pyridoxine toward the ROS (.-)OH, (.-)OOH, and (.-)O(2)- at the density functional theory level (functionals B3LYP and MPW1B95). Two reaction types have been studied as follows: addition to the aromatic ring atoms and hydrogen/proton abstraction. Our results show that (.-)OH is the most reactive species, while (.-)OOH displays low reactivity and (.-)O2(-) does not react at all with pyridoxine. The most exergonic reactions are those where (.-)H is removed from the CH(2)OH groups or the ring-bound OH group and range from -33 to -39 kcal/mol. The most exergonic addition reactions occur by attacking the carbon atoms bonded to nitrogen but with an energy gain of only 6 kcal/mol.