Structures and fragmentations of cobalt(II)-cysteine complexes in the gas phase

The electronebulization of a cobalt(II)/cysteine(Cys) mixture in water/methanol (50/50) produced mainly cobalt-cationized species. Three main groups of the Co-cationized species can be distinguished in the ESI-MS spectrum: (1) the cobalt complexes including the cysteine amino acid only (they can be singly charged, for example, [Co(Cys)n- H]+ with n = 1-3 or doubly charged such as [Co + (Cys)2]2+); (2) the cobalt complexes with methanol: [Co(CH3OH)n- H]+ with n = 1-3, [Co(CH3OH)4]2+; and (3) the complexes with the two different types of ligands: [Co(Cys)(CH3OH) - H]+. Only the singly charged complexes were observed. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) products of the [Co(Cys)2]2+, [Co(Cys)2 - H]+ and [Co(Cys) - H]+ complexes were studied as a function of the collision energy, and mechanisms for the dissociation reactions are proposed. These were supported by the results of deuterium labelling experiments and by density functional theory calculations. Since [Co(Cys) - H]+ was one of the main product ions obtained upon the CID of [Co(Cys)2]2+ and of [Co(Cys)2 - H]+ under low-energy conditions, the fragmentation pathways of [Co(Cys) - H]+ and the resulting product ion structures were studied in detail. The resulting product ion structures confirmed the high affinity of cobalt(II) for the sulfur atom of cysteine.     

Noncovalent complexes between DNA and basic polypeptides or polyamines by MALDI-TOF

MALDI-MS was evaluated as a method for the study of noncovalent complexes involving DNA oligonucleotides and various polybasic compounds (basic polypeptides and polyamines). Complexes involving single-stranded DNA were successfully detected using DHAP matrix in the presence of an ammonium salt. Control experiments confirmed that the interactions involved basic sites of the polybasic compounds and that the complexes were not formed in the gas phase but were pre-existing in the matrix crystals. Moreover, the pre-existence in solution was probed by isothermal titration calorimetry at concentration and ionic strength similar to those used for mass spectrometry. Spectra showed no important difference between negative and positive ion modes. The influence of nature and size of DNA and polybasic compound on the relative intensities and stoichiometries of the complexes was investigated. Despite the fact that relative intensities can be affected by ionization yields and the gas-phase stabilities of the different species, numerous trends observed in the MALDI study were consistent with the expected in-solution behaviors. Experimental conditions related to sample preparation were investigated also. Complex abundance generally decreased when increasing the ammonium acetate concentration. It was dramatically decreased when using ATT instead of DHAP. Penta-L-arginine is an exception to these observations. Lastly, in the case of complexes involving DNA duplex, the ATT matrix was shown to favor the observation of specific DNA duplex but not that of its complex with polybasic compounds. Inversely, DHAP was appropriate for the conservation of DNA-polybasic compound interaction but not for the transfer of intact duplex.     

Dichroisme circulaire d'olefines VI alkylidene-17 androstanes

The Cotton effect of 17-alkylidene (5α) androstanes is discussed. The large variations observed in the C.D. values indicated that the role of olefin torsion in the ground state is not significant. A semi quantitative approach based on A.B.P. model is suggested.     

Hydrogen CARS thermometry in a high-pressure H2–air flame. Test of H2 temperature accuracy and influence of line width by comparison with N2 CARS as reference

This work describes a further step towards the determination of the temperature accuracy of H₂ Q-branch CARS (Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering) at high pressure with regard to the influence of the H₂ line widths. In laminar steady H₂/air flames in the pressure range 1–15 bar and at fuel-rich conditions with stoichiometries between two and four, quasi-simultaneous temperature measurements were performed with H₂ and N₂ CARS. The temperature values deduced from H₂ CARS are in good agreement with the reference temperature from N₂ CARS. The influence of different line-width contributions on the accuracy of H₂ Q-branch thermometry was investigated in detail. Received: 10 April 2001 / Revised version: 22 May 2001 / Published online: 18 July 2001     

A small molecule promotes mitochondrial fusion in Mammalian cells

Mitochondrial dynamics: An image-based screen identified a small molecule, M1, that specifically promotes the fusion of fragmented mitochondria and protects cells from mitochondrial-fragmentation-associated cell death. Mechanistic studies revealed that M1 shifts the mitochondrial dynamic balance towards fusion.     

2‐Distance Coloring of Sparse Graphs

For graphs of bounded maximum average degree, we consider the problem of 2‐distance coloring, that is, the problem of coloring the vertices while ensuring that two vertices that are adjacent or have a common neighbor receive different colors. We prove that graphs with maximum average degree less than and maximum degree Δ at least 4 are 2‐distance ‐colorable, which is optimal and improves previous results from Dolama and Sopena, and from Borodin et al. We also prove that graphs with maximum average degree less than (resp. , ) and maximum degree Δ at least 5 (resp. 6, 8) are list 2‐distance ‐colorable, which improves previous results from Borodin et al., and from Ivanova. We prove that any graph with maximum average degree m less than and with large enough maximum degree Δ (depending only on m) can be list 2‐distance ‐colored. There exist graphs with arbitrarily large maximum degree and maximum average degree less than 3 that cannot be 2‐distance ‐colored: the question of what happens between and 3 remains open. We prove also that any graph with maximum average degree can be list 2‐distance ‐colored (C depending only on m). It is optimal as there exist graphs with arbitrarily large maximum degree and maximum average degree less than 4 that cannot be 2‐distance colored with less than colors. Most of the above results can be transposed to injective list coloring with one color less.     

Perturbation of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds of glucose by Cu+ association

A density functional theory study of glucose and glucose–Cu⁺ complexes has been performed to investigate the changes undergone by the set of intramolecular hydrogen bonds of the neutral system upon Cu⁺ association. The geometries of the different species investigated were optimized at the B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) level. The same level of theory was used to obtain the harmonic vibrational frequencies and to analyze the electron charge density by means of the atoms in molecules theory. We have shown that the interaction with Cu⁺ strongly perturbs the set of intramolecular hydrogen bonds of the neutral. Some of these changes are a direct consequence of the conformational changes induced by the metal, which result in the breaking of some of the existing bonds or in the formation of new ones. The most important point, however, is that the intramolecular hydrogen bonds that remain are perturbed to a different extent. In general, all hydrogen bonds in which the OH donor interacts directly with the metal cation are significantly stabilized while the remaining ones become weaker. These changes influence the relative stability of the complexes as well as its capacity to interact with other systems. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Measurement of hadronic production of the χ1++(3507) and the χ2++(3553) through their radiative decay to Jϕ

The _χ1⁺⁺(3507) and the _χ2⁺⁺(3553) states have been observed in the Goliath spectrometer at the CERN SPS in 185 GeV/cπ^?-Be collisions. Their radiative decays contribute 27.7% (for the χ₁⁺⁺) and 12.8% (for the χ₂⁺⁺) to $\text{J}\text{?}$ production. At this energy, their cross sections are 65±19 nb and 96±29 nb, respectively