Potential influence on drug efficacy from interaction of tartrazine and trypsin

The extent to which drugs combine with trypsin is influenced by the interaction of tartrazine and trypsin, which may cause overdose or underdose of drugs. Therefore, the interaction of tartrazine and trypsin is investigated by methods of spectrometry in this paper. The binding rate of tartrazine to trypsin is 80.95–95.71% at 310?K, and Hill’s coefficients are almost 1. The effect of tartrazine on trypsin structure was studied by synchronous and circular dichroism. The results showed that the binding of tartrazine and trypsin induced the conformational change of trypsin, and quenched the endogenous fluorescence in trypsin. The results of molecular docking revealed that tartrazine is located in the catalytic active site of trypsin, and is consistent with that of experimental calculation.     

Results from solvophobic theory applied to methylene selectivity in reversed-phase HPLC

A significant amount of work has been previously dedicated to the understanding of methylene selectivity parameter. The conventional theory applied for this understanding was mostly based on the assumption that the difference in the Gibbs free energy of transfer from the mobile phase to the stationary phase is a constant for any two compounds in a homologous series that differ by a CH₂ group. In the present study, it is shown based on solvophobic theory that this assumption is indeed correct, but it provides a theoretical justification for it. Exemplification of the results of theory was obtained using the values for methylene selectivity (α(CH₂)) measured experimentally for seven different C18 chromatographic columns including two core–shell columns and using water and either methanol or acetonitrile as an organic component. Four different homologous series of compounds were used for evaluation. The study proved the theoretical prediction that the values for α(CH₂) obtained using different homologous series of compounds are only slightly different from those obtained using the toluene–butylbenzene series. Even using different homologous series, the same type of information regarding the columns comparison, and the changes in log α(CH₂) with the solvent composition was obtained.     

Interaction of the docetaxel with human serum albumin using optical spectroscopy methods

Docetaxel is a semi-synthetic product derived from the needles of the European yew. It is an antineoplastic agent belonging to the taxoid family. The interaction between docetaxel and human serum albumin (HSA) has been investigated systematically by the fluorescence quenching technique, synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV)-vis absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) under physiological conditions. Our fluorescence data showed that HSA had only one docetaxel binding site and the binding process was a static quenching procedure. According to the Van’t Hoff equation, the thermodynamic parameters standard enthalpy (ΔH⁰) and standard entropy (ΔS⁰) were calculated to be −41.07 KJ mol⁻¹ and −49.72 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. These results suggested that hydrogen bond was the predominant intermolecular force stabling the docetaxel-HSA complex. The data from the CD, FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopy supported the change in the secondary structure of protein caused by the interaction of docetaxel with HSA.     

Interface-related effects on confined excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs single quantum wells

Confined excitons in non-abrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs single quantum wells are studied. The graded interfaces are described taking into account fluctuations in their thickness a and positioning with respect to the abrupt interface picture. Numerical results for confined (0,0),(1,1) and (0,2) excitons in GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells show that while the interfacial fluctuations produce small changes (<0.5 meV) in the exciton binding energies, the confined exciton energies can be red- or blue-shifted as much as 25 meV for wells with mean width of 50 Å and 2 ML wide interfaces.     

Application of high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy to define the cell uptake of MRI contrast agents

A new method, based on proton high-resolution magic-angle spinning ((1)H HR-MAS) NMR spectroscopy, has been employed to study the cell uptake of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents (MRI-CAs). The method was tested on human red blood cells (HRBC) and white blood cells (HWBC) by using three gadolinium complexes, widely used in diagnostics, Gd-BOPTA, Gd-DTPA, and Gd-DOTA, and the analogous complexes obtained by replacing Gd(III) with Dy(III), Nd(III), and Tb(III) (i.e., complexes isostructural to the ones of gadolinium but acting as shift agents). The method is based on the evaluation of the magnetic effects, line broadening, or induced lanthanide shift (LIS) caused by these complexes on NMR signals of intra- and extracellular water. Since magnetic effects are directly linked to permeability, this method is direct. In all the tests, these magnetic effects were detected for the extracellular water signal only, providing a direct proof that these complexes are not able to cross the cell membrane. Line broadening effects (i.e., the use of gadolinium complexes) only allow qualitative evaluations. On the contrary, LIS effects can be measured with high precision and they can be related to the concentration of the paramagnetic species in the cellular compartments. This is possible because the HR-MAS technique provides the complete elimination of bulk magnetic susceptibility (BMS) shift and the differentiation of extra- and intracellular water signals. Thus with this method, the rapid quantification of the MRI-CA amount inside and outside the cells is actually feasible.     

Characterization of the interaction between human lactoferrin and lomefloxacin at physiological condition: Multi-spectroscopic and modeling description

The interaction between lomefloxacin (LMF) and human lactoferrin (Hlf) was studied by using fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic and molecular modeling measurements. By the fluorescence quenching results, it was found that the binding constant K_A=8.69×10⁵ L mol⁻¹, and number of binding sites n=1.75 at physiological condition. Experimental results observed showed that the binding of LMF to Hlf induced conformational changes of Hlf. The participation of tyrosyl and tryptophanyl residues of protein was also estimated in the drug-Hlf complex by synchronous fluorescence. The quantitative analysis data of far-UV CD spectra from that of the α-helix 37.4% in free Hlf to 30.2% in the LMF-Hlf complex further confirmed that secondary structure of the protein was changed by LMF. Near-UV CD showed perturbations around tryptophan and tyrosine residues which involves perturbations of tertiary structure. The thermodynamic parameters like, ΔH° and ΔS°, have been calculated to be 63.411 kJ mol⁻¹ and 231.104 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively. Thermodynamic analysis showed that hydrophobic interactions were the main force in the binding site but the hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction could not be excluded which in agreement with the result of molecular docking study. The distance r between donor and acceptor was obtained according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and found to be 1.78 nm. The interaction between LMF and Hlf has been verified as consistent with the static quenching procedure and the quenching mechanism is related to the energy transfer. Furthermore, the study of molecular modeling that LMF could bind to the α-helixes between Pro145-Asn152 and Phe167-Gln172 regions and hydrophobic interaction was the major acting force for the binding site, which was in agreement with the thermodynamic analysis.     

PYX基高聚物粘结炸药界面相互作用及力学性能的分子动力学模拟

本文采用分子动力学(MD)方法,模拟计算了聚氨酯(Estane 5703),三元乙丙橡胶(EPDM),氟聚物(F2311)三种高聚物分子分别与2,6-双(苦氨基)-3,5-二硝基吡啶(PYX)(011)晶面构建的高聚物粘结炸药(PBXs)体系的结合能,内聚能密度,径向分布函数以及力学性能.结果表明,Estane 5703与PYX(011)晶面之间相互作用最强;不同粘结剂与晶体之间的内聚能密度大小顺序为PYX/F2311> PYX/Estane 5703> PYX/EPDM;径向分布函数分析可知PYX(011)晶面与高聚物分子间的相互作用主要为静电相互作用;添加3种粘结剂后PBX体系的拉伸强度和断裂强度都得到了改善,而除了F2311外,加入另外两种粘结剂后,提高了PBX体系的抗剪切应变能力.     

基于接触数引导的迭代多组独立分子动力学模拟实现配体-蛋白质结合与解离过程

配体的结合与解离过程在蛋白质实现其生物学功能方面非常关键,因此对这些高度动态过程的研究变得非常重要. 尽管已有实验方法可以确定蛋白质-配体复合物的三维结构,但一般仅可获得静态图片. 随着计算机算力的快速提高以及算法的优化,分子动力学模拟在探索配体的结合与解离过程方面具有诸多优势. 然而,当系统变得足够大时,分子动力学模拟的时间和空间尺度成为了巨大的挑战. 本工作提出了一种研究配体-蛋白质结合与解离的增强采样工具,它基于配体和蛋白质之间形成的接触数来引导迭代多组独立分子动力学模拟. 在腺苷酸激酶的模拟结果中,观测到配体的结合和解离过程,而使用传统分子动力学模拟在同一时间尺度下则无法实现这一过程.     

棱镜-光栅-棱镜分光模块整体化设计及衍射特性分析

PGP模块是超光谱成像仪中重要分光器件。为了能够在制作前有效预测PGP整个系统的衍射效率分布及其衍射特性,提出了PGP整体化设计方法。从体位相全息光栅设计角度出发,结合棱镜与光栅各项参数的制约关系,编制了计算PGP整体衍射效率的分析软件,综合考察了棱镜与光栅各项参数对PGP模块衍射特性的影响,讨论了光栅布拉格波长的漂移特性,据此设计了一种用于成像光谱仪的宽波段高衍射效率PGP分光模块。模拟结果表明：棱镜1材料的色散系数越小,PGP的光谱带宽越窄;光栅布拉格波长的漂移增大了PGP模块和光栅的光谱带宽,带宽增大使光栅的角度选择性随之增大,拓宽了棱镜1材料的选择要求;棱镜1顶角、光栅的胶层厚度和相对介电常数调制度等参数是影响PGP衍射效率分布的重要因素,制作时需要精确控制。利用此方法设计的PGP分光模块在400～1 000 nm波段范围内衍射效率不低于50%,并给出具体设计参数,这对PGP制作具有一定的参考价值。     

Li2基态结合能的MACQM计算

本文采用改进的排列通道量子力学方法(MACQM),对Li2基态势能曲线进行了计算,结果表明:在核间距R=5.05a0处,能量有极小值-14.88937a.u,由此得到Li2基态结合能为0.0333a.u,所得结果与实验值符合得很好.