Structure-based study of antiamyloidogenic cyclic d,l-α-peptides

Protein misfolding and aggregation are the hallmarks of many devastating diseases. We have previously shown that cyclic d,l-α-peptide CP-2 reacts and stabilizes less toxic forms of amyloid β (Aβ), and protects the cells from Aβ-induced toxicity. Here, we performed extensive structure-based studies on CP-2 to elucidate the contribution of each residue to the total antiamyloidogenic activity and determine the interactions that are involved between CP-2 and Aβ. We showed that the hydrophobicity of CP-2 analogs correlates with their antiamyloidogenic potency, however, aromatic interactions are even more important for this activity. The antiamyloidogenic activity of CP-2 analogs also correlates with their ability to self-assemble, as shown by the critical micelle concentration measurements. The cell survival studies performed on rat pheochromocytoma PC-12 cells suggest that incorporation of an additional aromatic residue to the CP-2's sequence increases its protective effect against Aβ42-induced toxicity.     

Retention behavior of a homologous series and positional isomers of aliphatic amino acids in hydrophilic interaction chromatography

The retention behavior of several series of free α‐ and ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino pentanoic acid in the hydrophilic interaction chromatography mode (HILIC) was studied. The study was carried out on three stationary phases followed by post‐column derivatization with fluorescence detection in order to describe the retention mechanism of the tested amino acids. The effect of chromatographic conditions including acetonitrile content in the mobile phase, mobile phase pH (ranging from 3.5 to 6.5) and concentration of buffer in the mobile phase was investigated. The effect of the number of carbon atoms (n_C) in aliphatic chains of the individual homologue of α‐ and ω‐amino acids and the logarithm of the partition coefficient (logD) on retention was also a part of the presented study. A good correlation (r > 0.98) between the logk and logD values of amino acids or n_C, respectively, was observed. The described linear relationships were subsequently applied to predict the retention behavior of individual members of the homologous series of amino acids and to optimize the mobile phase composition in HILIC. The obtained results confirmed that the retention mechanism of α‐amino acids, ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino acids was based on the logD values and the number of carbon atoms in the aliphatic chains of amino acids. The elution order of ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino pentanoic acid was strongly dependent on the mobile phase pH in the investigated range whereas the retention factors of all α‐amino acids remained essentially unchanged on all tested stationary phases.     

High‐ and low‐temperature phases in isostructural 4‐chloro‐3‐nitroaniline and 4‐iodo‐3‐nitroaniline

The structures of 4‐chloro‐3‐nitroaniline, C₆H₅ClN₂O₂, (I), and 4‐iodo‐3‐nitroaniline, C₆H₅IN₂O₂, (II), are isomorphs and both undergo continuous (second order) phase transitions at 237 and 200 K, respectively. The structures, as well as their phase transitions, have been studied by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and difference scanning calorimetry experiments. Both high‐temperature phases (293 K) show disorder of the nitro substituents, which are inclined towards the benzene‐ring planes at two different orientations. In the low‐temperature phases (120 K), both inclination angles are well maintained, while the disorder is removed. Concomitantly, the b axis doubles with respect to the room‐temperature cell. Each of the low‐temperature phases of (I) and (II) contains two pairs of independent molecules, where the molecules in each pair are related by noncrystallographic inversion centres. The molecules within each pair have the same absolute value of the inclination angle. The Flack parameter of the low‐temperature phases is very close to 0.5, indicating inversion twinning. This can be envisaged as stacking faults in the low‐temperature phases. It seems that competition between the primary amine–nitro N—H...O hydrogen bonds which form three‐centred hydrogen bonds is the reason for the disorder of the nitro groups, as well as for the phase transition in both (I) and (II). The backbones of the structures are formed by N—H...N hydrogen bonding of moderate strength which results in the graph‐set motif C(3). This graph‐set motif forms a zigzag chain parallel to the monoclinic b axis and is maintained in both the high‐ and the low‐temperature structures. The primary amine groups are pyramidal, with similar geometric values in all four determinations. The high‐temperature phase of (II) has been described previously [Garden et al. (2004). Acta Cryst. C 60 , o328–o330].     

Comparison of Transcriptomic Profiles of MiaPaCa-2 Pancreatic Cancer Cells Treated with Different Statins

Statins have been widely used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia due to their ability to inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme of de novo cholesterol synthesis, via the so-called mevalonate pathway. However, their inhibitory action also causes depletion of downstream intermediates of the pathway, resulting in the pleiotropic effects of statins, including the beneficial impact in the treatment of cancer. In our study, we compared the effect of all eight existing statins on the expression of genes, the products of which are implicated in cancer inhibition and suggested the molecular mechanisms of their action in epigenetic and posttranslational regulation, and in cell-cycle arrest, death, migration, or invasion of the cancer cells.     

Transamidation of Amides and Amidation of Esters by Selective N–C(O)/O–C(O) Cleavage Mediated by Air- and Moisture-Stable Half-Sandwich Nickel(II)–NHC Complexes

The formation of amide bonds represents one of the most fundamental processes in organic synthesis. Transition-metal-catalyzed activation of acyclic twisted amides has emerged as an increasingly powerful platform in synthesis. Herein, we report the transamidation of N-activated twisted amides by selective N–C(O) cleavage mediated by air- and moisture-stable half-sandwich Ni(II)–NHC (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbenes) complexes. We demonstrate that the readily available cyclopentadienyl complex, [CpNi(IPr)Cl] (IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene), promotes highly selective transamidation of the N–C(O) bond in twisted N-Boc amides with non-nucleophilic anilines. The reaction provides access to secondary anilides via the non-conventional amide bond-forming pathway. Furthermore, the amidation of activated phenolic and unactivated methyl esters mediated by [CpNi(IPr)Cl] is reported. This study sets the stage for the broad utilization of well-defined, air- and moisture-stable Ni(II)–NHC complexes in catalytic amide bond-forming protocols by unconventional C(acyl)–N and C(acyl)–O bond cleavage reactions.     

Coulomb analogy for non-Hermitian degeneracies near quantum phase transitions

Degeneracies near the real axis in a complex-extended parameter space of a Hermitian Hamiltonian are studied. We present a method to measure distributions of such degeneracies on the Riemann sheet of a selected level and apply it in classification of quantum phase transitions. The degeneracies are shown to behave similarly as complex zeros of a partition function.     

Experimental and four‐component relativistic DFT studies of tungsten carbonyl complexes

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the structure and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) parameters of the pentacarbonyltungsten complexes of η¹‐2‐(trimethylstannyl)‐4,5‐dimethylphosphinine, η²‐norbornene, and imidazolidine‐2‐thione. The three complexes have a pseudo‐octahedral molecular structure with the six ligands bonded to the tungsten atom. The η¹‐2‐(trimethylstannyl)‐4,5‐dimethylphosphinine‐pentacarbonyl tungsten complex was synthesized for the first time. For all compounds, we present four‐component relativistic calculations of the NMR parameters at the Dirac–Kohn–Sham density functional level of theory using hybrid functionals. These large‐scale relativistic calculations of NMR chemical shifts and spin–spin coupling constants were compared with available experimental data, either taken from the literature or measured in this work. The inclusion of solvent effects modeled using a conductor‐like screening model was found to improve agreement between the calculated and experimental NMR parameters, and our best estimates for the NMR parameters are generally in good agreement with available experimental results. The present work demonstrates that four‐component relativistic theory has reached a level of maturity that makes it a convenient and accurate tool for modeling and understanding chemical shifts and indirect spin–spin coupling constants of organometallic compounds containing heavy elements, for which conventional non‐relativistic theory breaks down. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dielectric Spectroscopy of Ferronematics Based on 6CHBT Liquid Crystal

In our study, the dielectric behaviour of the rod-like liquid crystal (6CHBT) doped with magnetic nanoparticles of spherical shape was investigated by means of dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 2 MHz. A low frequency dielectric dispersion in the nematic and isotropic phases of the pure liquid crystal (LC) has been assigned to the space charge polarization. After doping the host LC with the magnetic nano particles, a nearly Debye-like relaxation process was observed with the temperature dependence obeying the Arrhenius law. Considering a possible electric double layer formation on the particle surfaces, the detected relaxation process in the doped LC can be associated with the electric double layer polarization. The experimental results point out that in the measured frequency range the space charge and interfacial effects constitute the main dielectric response. Any anchoring effects were not observed and are therefore expected to appear in higher frequencies.