A new turn structure for the formation of beta-hairpins in peptides

Previous studies by Gellman and co-workers have elegantly shown that mirror-image beta-turns based upon d-Pro-Gly are especially good at stabilizing beta-hairpins and have demonstrated that peptide 1 [Arg-Trp-Gln-Tyr-Val-d-Pro-Gly-Lys-Phe-Thr-Val-Gln-NH2] folds into a well-defined beta-hairpin [Espinosa, J. F.; Gellman, S. H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 2330-2333]. The present study establishes that the amino acid ornithine (Orn) also forms a turn structure that is excellent at stabilizing beta-hairpins when linked through the delta-amino group and that this turn is comparable to d-Pro-Gly in ability to induce beta-hairpin formation. Thus, 1H NMR chemical shift and NOE studies establish that Orn-containing analogue 2 [Arg-Trp-Gln-Tyr-Val-deltaOrn-Lys-Phe-Thr-Val-Gln-NH2] is comparable in structure to peptide 1. The present study also establishes that the Orn turn is superior to Asn-Gly turns and that replacement of the deltaOrn with epsilonLys or d-deltaOrn generates structures that do not fold significantly.     

Zur Chemie des Bis(methylsulfonyl)-amins (Dimesylamins). III. Onium-Salze des Dimesylamins

Investigations on Bis(methylsulfonyl)-amine (Dimesylamine). III. Onium Salts of Dimesylamine Thirty-five salts of the strong acid HN(SO₂Me)₂ containing onium cations are reported. These include higher quaternary ammonium salts which show excellent solubility in solvents of low polarity, thus being particularly useful for preparing solutions of “naked” (MeSO₂)₂N^? or corresponding ion-pairs. Pyrolysis of the quaternary ammonium salts at temperatures of 200—250°C produces tertiary amines and N-alkyl-dimesylamines by (N → N′)-alkyl transfer. Alkene formation is not observed.     

Diverse redox-active molecules bearing identical thiol-terminated tripodal tethers for studies of molecular information storage

To examine the effects of molecular structure on charge storage in self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), a family of redox-active molecules has been prepared wherein each molecule bears a tether composed of a tripodal linker with three protected thiol groups for surface attachment. The redox-active molecules include ferrocene, zinc porphyrin, ferrocene-zinc porphyrin, magnesium phthalocyanine, and triple-decker lanthanide sandwich coordination compounds. The tripodal tether is based on a tris[4-(S-acetylthiomethyl)phenyl]-derivatized methane. Each redox-active unit is linked to the methane vertex by a 4,4'-diphenylethyne unit. The electrochemical characteristics of each compound were examined in solution and in SAMs on Au. Redox-kinetic measurements were also performed on the SAMs (with the exception of the magnesium phthalocyanine) to probe (1) the rate of electron transfer in the presence of an applied potential and (2) the rate of charge dissipation after the applied potential is disconnected. The electrochemical studies of the SAMs indicate that the tripodal tether provides a more robust anchor to the Au surface than does a tether with a single site of attachment. However, the electron-transfer and charge-dissipation characteristics of the two tethers are generally similar. These results suggest that the tripodal tether offers superior stability characteristics without sacrificing electrochemical performance.     

Evaluation of protein-A chromatography media

In process-scale antibody purification, protein-A affinity chromatography is commonly used as the initial purification step. In this paper, two different protein-A media were evaluated. These adsorbents have a porous glass backbone with different pore sizes: 700 A and 1000 A. Adsorption equilibrium data of human immunoglobulins on these media were measured via a batch technique and correlated using the Langmuir isotherm model. A larger static capacity was found for the smaller pore size material, which is probably a result of the larger specific surface area and associated higher ligand concentration. The protein uptake kinetics were also obtained via a stirred tank experiment using different initial protein concentrations. A surface layer model was used to represent the protein uptake by the media and to estimate values of a concentration-independent effective diffusivity within the particle. Experimental breakthrough curves were also obtained from packed beds operated under different conditions. Calculated breakthrough profiles were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Experimental breakthrough data were used to determine the dependence of the dynamic capacity of the media as a function of the fluid residence time. A larger dynamic capacity was also found for the smaller pore size media. The permeability of large scale packed beds was also reported and used in conjunction with the dynamic capacity to calculate the process production rate.     

Identifying biologically active compound classes using phenotypic screening data and sampling statistics

Scoring the activity of compounds in phenotypic high-throughput assays presents a unique challenge because of the limited resolution and inherent measurement error of these assays. Techniques that leverage the structural similarity of compounds within an assay can be used to improve the hit-recovery rate from screening data. A technique is presented that uses clustering and sampling statistics to predict likely compound activity by scoring entire structural classes. A set of phenotypic assays performed against a commercially available compound library was used as a test set. Using the class-scoring technique, the resultant activity prediction scores were more reproducible than individual assay measurements, and class scoring recovered known active compounds more efficiently than individual assay measurements because class scoring had fewer false positives. Known biologically active compounds were recovered 87% of the time using class scores, suggesting a low false-negative rate that compared well to individual assay measurements. In addition, many weak and potentially novel classes of active compounds, overlooked by individual assay measurements, were suggested.     

1,2,3‐ and 1,2,4‐triazolium salts,pyrazoles, and quinoxalines from diarylnitrilimines and isocyanides: A study of the scope

Formation of the four title compounds has been found to be strongly dependent on substituents: 1,2,3‐Triazolium salts 6 do not arise from nitrilimines 2 that have an electron‐acceptor attached to either the C‐ or the N‐phenyl group. Likewise tert‐butyl and aryl isocyanides do not afford this class of compounds; from the former isocyanide, dequaternization products 7 are obtained instead, whereas from the latter 1,2,4‐triazolium salts 11 are formed. Compounds 11 with tert‐butyl group at the ring are unstable too, giving rise to triazoles 13 . Pyrazole formation (analogues of 14 ) is completely suppressed when both tert‐butyl and aryl isocyanides are used, whereas access to this ring system works best with see‐alkyl isocyanides (the influence of substituents of 2 being almost negligible in this case). Formation of quinoxalines 23 which arise from intermediary 1,2‐diazets 22 by ring expansion is much favoured on employment of 2 that bears a donator substituent at the N‐phenyl group, and under this premise ring closure to 22 is virtually independent on the nature of the isocyanide. Formation of 23 is not observed with 2 having acceptor groups.     

Bemerkung zur Rayleigh-Schrödinger-Störungstheorie

The time-independent Hamiltonians ? ₀ and ?=? ₀ + V have a discrete spectrum, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors E _s ^(o) , ¦s〉^(o) resp. E _s, ¦s〉. If the RS perturbation theory can be applied here then an operator \(\mathfrak{p}\) with the property $$\left| s \right\rangle ^{(n + 1)} = \frac{1}{{n + 1}}\mathfrak{p}\left| s \right\rangle ^{(n)} , E_s^{(n + 1)} = \frac{1}{{n + 1}}\mathfrak{p}E_s^{(n)} $$ exists where ¦s〉⁽ⁿ⁾ and E _s ⁽ⁿ⁾ denote the n-th order corrections of perturbation theory if E _s ^(o) is nondegenerate. In the case of degeneracy the operation \(\mathfrak{p}\) remains defined and can always be used todetermine perturbation corrections of quantum mechanical expressions which are invariant in zerothorder under transformations of the basis in degenerate subspaces of ? ₀. The equations $$\left| s \right\rangle = \sum\limits_n^{0,\infty } {\left| s \right\rangle ^{(n)} = e^\mathfrak{p} \left| s \right\rangle ^{(0)} } , E_s = \sum\limits_n^{0,\infty } {E_s^{(n)} } = e^\mathfrak{p} E_s^{(0)} $$ correspond to a basis transformation where nondegenerate eigenvectors ¦s∝> ^(o) and eigenvalues E _s ^(o) of ? ₀ transform into eigenvectors ¦s∝> and eigenvalues E _s of ?. Examples show the usefulness of this formulation.     

The ion gating effect: using a change in flexibility to allow label free electrochemical detection of DNA hybridisation

A label free electrochemical method of detecting DNA hybridisation is presented based on the change in flexibility between a single strand of DNA and a duplex causing an ion-gating effect where hybridisation opens up the electrode to access of ions.