Subnanosecond spectrofluorimetry of new indolocarbazole derivatives in solutions and protein complexes and their dipole moments

The spectral and temporal characteristics of new 6,12-dimethoxyindolo[3,2-b]carbazole, 5,11-dimethyl-6,12-dimethoxyindolo[3,2-b]carbazole, and 5,11-dihexyl-6,12-di(hexyloxy)indolo[3,2-b]carbazole fluorescence probes in organic solvents and protein complexes are studied. The dipole moments of indolocarbazoles in 1,4-dioxane were measured by electrooptical absorption method. The measured dipole moments have values within the range of (3.1–3.6) × 10⁻³⁰ C m in the equilibrium ground state and increase to (4.8–5.6) × 10⁻³⁰ C m after excitation. The excited state lifetime of indolocarbazole derivatives increases with increasing polarity and viscosity of the environment. The binding of indolocarbazoles with trypsinogen and human serum albumin increases the fluorescence intensity, changes the intensity ratio of fluorescence bands, and increases the average excited state lifetime of indolocarbazoles. The analysis of the instantaneous fluorescence spectra and fluorescence decay parameters at different wavelengths revealed the existence of several types of probe binding sites in proteins. It is found that the fluorescence characteristics of indolocarbazole derivatives depend on the conformation rearrangements of trypsinogen due to its thermal denaturation.     

Weighted average flux method and flux limiters for the numerical simulation of shock waves in rigid porous media

The one‐dimensional flow field generated by the passage of a shock wave in a rigid, thermoelastic porous foam has been simulated using a two‐phase mathematical model. The work presented here makes use of the weighted average flux method to solve the system of six equations that govern the problem. Spurious oscillations are eliminated through the application of total variation diminishing limiting methods. Four different limiters were tested: van Leer, SuperA, MinA and van Albada. Numerical tests were carried out to verify the performance of each flux limiter in terms of accuracy. The results were compared to analytical and previously obtained data to assess the performance of the mathematical model. Excellent agreement was obtained. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studying the distribution pattern of selenium in nut proteins with information obtained from SEC-UV-ICP-MS and CE-ICP-MS

In this work, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with UV and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection was used to study the association of selenium to proteins present in Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) under five different extraction conditions. As expected, better solubilization of proteins was observed using 0.05 mol L⁻¹ sodium hydroxide and 1% sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) in Tris/HCl buffer (0.05 mol L⁻¹, pH 8) as compared to 0.05 mol L⁻¹ HCl, 0.05 mol L⁻¹ Tris/HCl or hot water (60 °C). Due to non-destructive character of Tris-SDS treatment, this was applied for studying molecular weight (MW) distribution patterns of selenium-containing nut proteins. Three different SEC columns were used for obtaining complete MW distribution of selenium: Superdex 75, Superdex Peptide, and Superdex 200 were tested with 50 mmol L⁻¹ Tris buffer (pH 8), 150 mmol L⁻¹ ammonium bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.8), phosphate (pH 7.5), and CAPS (pH 10.0) mobile phases. Using Superdex 200 column, the elution of at least three MW fractions was observed with UV detection (200-10 kDa) and ICP-MS chromatogram showed the co-elution of selenium with the two earlier fractions. The apparent MWs of these selenium-containing fractions were respectively about 107 and 50 kDa, as evaluated from the column calibration. For further characterization of individual selenium species, the defatted nuts were hydrolyzed with proteinase K and analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with ICP-MS detection. The suitability of CE for the separation of selenite, selenate, selenocystine and selenomethionine in the presence of the nut sample matrix is demonstrated. Complete separation of the above mentioned selenium species was obtained within a migration time of 7 min. In the analysis of nut extracts with CE-ICP-MS, selenium was found to be present mainly as selenomethionine.     

Hydrolysis of proteins with methanesulfonic acid for improved HPLC-ICP-MS determination of seleno-methionine in yeast and nuts

In this work, the use of methanesulfonic acid for protein hydrolysis is proposed for evaluation of Se-methionine in yeast, Brazil nuts, and possibly other selenium-rich biological samples. The hydrolysis was carried out by heating the sample with 4 mol L(-1) acid at reflux for 8 h. Two chromatographic techniques (size-exclusion and ion-pairing) coupled with ICP-MS detection were used to compare the release of Se-methionine from proteins by enzymatic (proteinase K, protease XIV) and acid hydrolyses. A more efficient liberation of Se-methionine was observed by acid hydrolysis. For quantification, the sample extracts were introduced onto a C8 Alltima column, and the separation was achieved with a mobile phase containing 5 mmol L(-1) hexanesulfonic acid in citrate buffer (pH 4.5)/methanol (95:5). The results obtained by standard addition showed 816+/-17 micro g g(-1) and 36.2+/-1.5 micro g g(-1) of selenium in the form of Se-methionine in yeast and nuts, respectively (65% and 75% of total selenium).     

DSC Studies of rhododendron hybrids frost resistance

The DSC method was used to study phase transitions in Rhododendron L. leaf tissues caused by temperatures below the freezing point of water. The curves show several stages of water crystallisation, demonstrating that these processes do not occur simultaneously in various types of cell organelles. Temperatures and enthalpies of the phase transitions were determined and significant changes were found in the DSC curves when the sample was repeatedly subjected to sub-zero temperature cooling and heating. Also, frost resistance of the same rhododendron taxons was studied by conductometric analysis and the DSC results were compared with the data from other laboratory studies.