基于DNA银铂双金属纳米簇的电化学传感器用于Hg~(2+)的检测

以DNA为模板,通过一步法合成了一种银铂双金属纳米簇(DNA-Ag/Pt NCs),其粒径为2~4 nm,并表现出较强的过氧化物模拟酶活性,能催化H2O2氧化TMB使溶液变蓝色。基于此特性,结合Hg2+可与胸腺嘧啶碱基形成T-Hg2+-T结构,设计研制了一种非标记的电化学传感器,用于Hg2+的灵敏特异性检测。实验结果表明,在最佳条件下,该传感器的检测范围为0.65~3.5 nmol/L,检出限达0.17 nmol/L,能较好地识别Hg2+。该传感器有望用于实际水样中痕量汞的检测。     

A small-molecule catalyst of protein folding in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The formation of native disulfide bonds between cysteine residues often limits the rate and yield of protein folding. The enzyme protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) catalyzes the interchange of disulfide bonds in substrate proteins. The two -Cys-Gly-His-Cys- active sites of PDI provide a thiol that has a low pKa value and a disulfide bond of high reduction potential (Eo'). RESULTS: A synthetic small-molecule dithiol, (+/-)-trans-1,2-bis(2-mercaptoacetamido)cyclohexane (BMC), has a pKa value of 8.3 and an Eo' value of -0.24 V. These values are similar to those of the PDI active sites. BMC catalyzes the activation of scrambled ribonuclease A, an inactive enzyme with non-native disulfide bonds, and doubles the yield of active enzyme. A monothiol analog of BMC, N-methylmercaptoacetamide, is a less efficient catalyst than BMC. BMC in the growth medium of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells increases by > threefold the heterologous secretion of Schizosaccharomyces pombe acid phosphatase, which has eight disulfide bonds. This effect is similar to that from the overproduction of PDI in the S. cerevisiae cells, indicating that BMC, like PDI, can catalyze protein folding in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: A small-molecule dithiol with a low thiol pKa value and high disulfide Eo' value can mimic PDI by catalyzing the formation of native disulfide bonds in proteins, both in vitro and in vivo.     

Endogenous arene hydroxylation promoted by copper(I) cluster helicates

A novel neutral triple-stranded hexanuclear copper(I) cluster helicate [Cu(I)(6)L(3)]·2CH(3)CN derived from a thiosemicarbazone ligand could be synthesized and crystallographically characterized. The MALDI mass spectrum of this complex suggests that the tetranuclear copper(I) cluster helicate [Cu(I)(4)L(2)] is also present in solution. These copper(I) cluster helicates are capable, in the presence of O(2), of hydroxylating the arene linker of their supporting ligand strands. The resulting dinuclear complex [Cu(II)(2)L'(OH)] is formed by two copper(II) centers, a new ligand arising from the hydroxylation reaction, and one hydroxide group. The magnetic investigation of this compound shows a strong antiferromagnetic coupling between the two Cu(II) centers. The kinetic studies for the hydroxylation process show values of ΔH(≠)=-70 kJ mol(-1), similar to those mediated by the tyrosinase enzymes.     

Computational modeling of the kinetics and mechanism of tellurium-based glutathione peroxidase mimic

A new generation of glutathione peroxidase enzyme mimic based on organotellurium was introduced. The catalytic cycles of these mimics, tellura and tellenol, were clarified by density functional theory and solvent-assisted proton exchange procedure as an indirect proton exchange chain. From the kinetic viewpoint, the oxidation of tellura (ΔG^≠ = 23.55 kcal mol⁻¹) was considered as the rate-determining step using a single-step process. Various behaviors of tellenol were examined in the reduction of tellurenylsulfide based on methanethiol nucleophilicity. On the basis of the turnover frequency calculations, during the catalytic cycles of tellura and tellenol, the rate of the catalytic cycle of tellura is faster than that of tellenol. A decrease in the electron density and an increase in the Laplacian from the reactant to the transition states are evidence of the bond rupture, whereas an opposite change is evidence of the bond formation. Finally, different analyses of the electron location function and localized orbital locator within the quantum theory of atoms in molecules were applied and discussed. The covalent nature of the intramolecular interactions suggests that the Te⋯N interaction is stronger than that of Te⋯H. Finally, based on different analyses, tellura can be considered the more reactive GPx mimic than tellenol.     

环肽研究新进展

本文对近年来环肽的合成方法及环肽的性质和应用的新进展进行了评述。     

甲烷单加氧酶化学模拟研究进展

本文综述了近年来对甲烷单加氧酶进行结构模拟和催化功能模拟研究工作的进展情况。就结构模拟而言，已合成和表征了很多模型化合物，并与天然酶进行了比较，获得了一些能较好地再现天然酶活性中心结构特征和诺学特征的模型化合物。在催化功能模拟方面，少数体系能将环己烷等经类转化为醇类或酮类。而真正能把甲烷转化成甲醇的体系仅有一例报道，这方面的工作比较薄弱，尚待加强。     

Efficient synthesis of a side-chain extended diaminodiacid for solid-phase synthesis of peptide disulfide bond mimics

Solid-phase incorporation of diaminodiacids is one of the most effective approaches for synthesis of peptide disulfide bond mimics. One of a limitation of current diaminodiacid toolbox is that only four-atom linkage mimics are available that may not fully meet the activity optimization requirement. In this work, we developed a new diaminodiacid that contains a five-atom thioether (C–C–S–C–C) bridge for the first time. With this diaminodiacid in hand, we successfully obtained oxytocin containing new disulfide bond mimic by solid phase peptide synthesis.     

A Glutathione Peroxidase Mimic 6,6′-Ditellurobis (6-Deoxy-β-Cyclodextrin) with High Substrate Specificity

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) is one of the most important antioxidative selenoenzymes in living organisms. The novel GPx mimic 6,6′-ditellurobis(6-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin) (6-TeCD) was prepared and evaluated for its capacity to catalyze the reduction of H₂O₂, tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH), and cumene hydroperoxide (CuOOH) by glutathione (GSH) or 3-carboxy-4-nitrobenzenethiol (ArSH). Compared the ArSH assay with the coupled reductase assay, we found that 6-TeCD exhibited strong substrate specificity for aromatic thiol substrate. The specificity led to efficient peroxidase activity almost 100,000-fold than that for a well-known GPx mimic diphenyl diselenide (PhSeSePh). Furthermore, reduction of lipophilic CuOOH was proceeded ca. 30 times faster than the more hydrophilic H₂O₂, which cannot bind into the hydrophobic cavity of β-cyclodextrin. Thus, it seemed that catalytic activity of cyclodextrin-derived GPx models strongly depends on the structurally different both substrates hydroperoxides (ROOH) and thiols.