A ruler for determining the position of proteins in membranes

Both the oxygen diffusion rate and the oxygen solubility vary with depth into the interior of biological membranes. The product of these two gradients generates a single gradient, a permeability gradient, which is a smooth continuous function of the distance from the center of the membrane. Using electron paramagnetic resonance and the spin-probe method, the relaxation gradient of oxygen, which is directly proportional to the permeability gradient, is the quantity that can be directly measured in membranes under physiological conditions. The gradient obtained provides a calibrated ruler for determining the membrane depth of residues either from loop regions of membrane-binding proteins or from the membrane-exposed residues of transmembrane proteins. We have determined the relaxation gradient of oxygen in zwitterionic and anionic phospholipid membranes by attaching a single nitroxide probe to a transmembrane alpha-helical polypeptide at specific residues. The peptide ruler was used to determine the depth of penetration of the calcium-binding loops of the C2 domain of cytosolic phospholipase A(2). The positions of selected residues of this membrane-binding protein that penetrate into the membrane, determined using this ruler, compared favorably with previous determinations using more complex methods. The relaxation gradient constrains the possible values of the membrane-dependent oxygen concentration and the oxygen diffusion gradients. The average oxygen diffusion coefficient is estimated to be at least 2-fold smaller in the membrane than that in water.     

Pentakis(methoxycarbonyl)cyclopentadiene,a strong organic acid: Crystal and molecular structures of HC5(CO)2Me)5 and Li[C5(CO2Me)5](H2O)

Contrary to some previously depicted structures, the proton in HC₅(CO₂Me)₅ is bonded to two oxygens rather than to carbon; the lithium ion in Li[C₅(CO₂Me)₅] (H₂O) is tetrahedrally coordinated by two carbonyl oxygens from one C₅ anion, one from a second anion, and a water molecule.     

Optimization and validation of an enzyme immunoassay for the insect growth regulator fenoxycarb

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the quantitative detection of the insect growth regulator fenoxycarb. Polyclonal rabbit antisera, raised against protein conjugates of four haptenic derivatives of fenoxycarb, were utilized in immobilized antigen-based, competitive immunoassays. With ELISA systems that were both hapten- and carrier-heterologous, most antiserum titers fell in the range of 1:1000-1:30,000. Assay conditions, including concentrations of antisera and coating antigens, were optimized. The effect of pH, organic solvents, and various blocking agents was also investigated. A hapten-homologous and two hapten-heterologous indirect ELISAs allowed fenoxycarb determination in the range of 0.1-85 ng ml⁻¹ with apparent IC₅₀ values of 1.2-2.8 ng ml⁻¹. Cross-reactivities with a number of compounds (e.g. pesticides of related structure, hapten synthesis intermediates, fenoxycarb metabolite, photodegradation products) were determined, and the assay proved highly selective for fenoxycarb. In particular, no significant interference was found with selected pyrethroid and juvenile hormone analog insecticides, phenoxyacetic acid herbicides, and photodegradation products of fenoxycarb. Using spiked water samples, assay performance was validated by SPME/GC-MS.     

Chemical applications of group theory and topology

The following procedure is described for investigating the qualitative dynamics of simple chemical systems: 1) A so-called influence diagram is generated representing the relationships between the reference reactants (phase-determining intermediates); 2) This influence diagram is used to generate a truth table indicating possible transitions between state vectors representing the signs of the time derivatives of of the reference reactant concentrations; 3) The truth table is used to determine a state transition diagram representing the flow topology around unstable equilibrium points; 4) The characteristic equation of the adjacency matrix of the influence diagram is solved in order to determine the presence of such unstable equilibrium points. The two types of qualitative dynamics possible for chemical systems containing two reference reactants and one feedback circuit are bifurcation between two attracting regions (bistability) and limit cycle oscillation. However, in two reference reactant systems oscillation requires an additional self-activating loop to generate the unstable equilibrium point required for its realization. Bistability and limit cycle oscillation are also two of the possible types of qualitative dynamics for chemical systems containing three reference reactants. However, chemical systems with three reference reactants and two or more feedback circuits can also contain interlocking limit cycles, which can lead to toroidal oscillations or chaos. The influence diagrams are given for the systems exhibiting these various types of dynamic behavior along with a summary of the important properties of all 729 possible influences for simple chemical systems containing three reference reactants.     

Semiclassical study of collision-induced predissociation: Comparison of the Landau-Zener model with the method of analytic continuation

Semiclassical calculations are carried out by two methods for the problem of collision-induced predissociation of electronically excited I₂. The first method is that of surface-hopping with the Landau-Zener model. The second method is similar to surface-hopping, except that analytic continuation of the adiabatic potential energy surfaces replaces the Landau-Zener model. Results of the calculations by the two methods compare favorably with each other and with experiment. The possible advantages of the second method are discussed.Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.     

Nonpeptide inhibitors of cathepsin G: optimization of a novel beta-ketophosphonic acid lead by structure-based drug design

The serine protease cathepsin G (EC 3.4.21.20; Cat G), which is stored in the azurophilic granules of neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes) and released on degranulation, has been implicated in various pathological conditions associated with inflammation. By employing high-throughput screening, we identified beta-ketophosphonic acid 1 as a moderate inhibitor of Cat G (IC(50) = 4.1 microM). We were fortunate to obtain a cocrystal of 1 with Cat G and solve its structure by X-ray crystallography (3.5 A). Structural details from the X-ray analysis of 1.Cat G served as a platform for optimization of this lead compound by structure-based drug design. With the aid of molecular modeling, substituents were attached to the 3-position of the 2-naphthyl ring of 1, which occupies the S1 pocket of Cat G, to provide an extension into the hydrophobic S3 region. Thus, we arrived at analogue 7 with an 80-fold potency improvement over 1 (IC(50) = 53 nM). From these results, it is evident that the beta-ketophosphonic acid unit can form the basis for a novel class of serine protease inhibitors.     

Electrochromic and structural characteristics of mesoporous WO<Subscript>3</Subscript> films prepared by a sol-gel method

The preparation of electrochromic films of mesoporous tungsten trioxide from tungstic acid and tungstic hexaethoxide precursors with the addition of an organic stabiliser via a sol-gel method is reported. These films have been structurally characterised and both the film morphology and crystalline composition of the films were found to be significantly dependent on the temperature at which the films were annealed and upon the choice of precursor. Films annealed at lower temperatures consisted of amorphous and hexagonal tungsten trioxide, whereas films annealed above 500 °C comprised solely of monoclinic WO₃. The electrochromic activity of the films was found to be equally dependent on method of preparation, and both the composition and the structure of the WO₃ films were shown to clearly influence the colouration efficiency of the films.Dedicated to Zbigniew Galus on the occasion of his 70^th birthday.     

Cosorption of Zn(II) and 2-, 3-, or 4-aminopyridine by montmorillonite

Data from acid-base titrations at 25 degrees C of Zn(NO(3))(2) and 2-, 3-, or 4-aminopyridine in 10 mM KNO(3) as background electrolyte suggested that soluble complexes ZnL(2+) and Zn(OH)L(+) form, where L represents aminopyridine. Zinc-hydroxyaminopyridine complexes have not been reported previously. The cosorption of Zn(II) with each of the aminopyridines to K-saturated Wyoming (SWy-K) and Texas (STx-K), and Ca-enriched Texas (STx-Ca) montmorillonites was measured at 25 degrees C, with 10 mM KNO(3) or 3.3 mM Ca(NO(3))(2) as background electrolyte. Comparison with previous data for sorption of Zn(II) and the aminopyridines separately and surface complexation modeling of the cosorption data showed that under acid conditions competition between Zn(2+) and aminopyridinium ions for the permanent negatively charged sites of montmorillonite results in suppression of the uptake of each sorbate by the other, but only when a large excess of the competing sorbate is present. Under alkaline conditions the sorption of Zn(II) was not affected by the presence of even a large excess of aminopyridine, but the sorption of 4-aminopyridine in particular was slightly enhanced when a large excess of Zn(II) was present. The enhancement was attributed to the formation of metal-bridged ternary surface complexes at the variable-charge sites on the edges of the montmorillonite crystals.