The matching of electrostatic extrema: A useful method in drug design? A study of phosphodiesterase III inhibitors

Summary Ligands which bind to a specific protein binding site are often expected to have a similar electrostatic environment which complements that of the binding site. One method of assessing molecular electrostatic similarity is to examine the possible overlay of the maxima and minima in the electrostatic potential outside the molecules and thereby match the regions where strong electrostatic interactions, including hydrogen bonds, with the residues of the binding site may be possible. This approach is validated with accurate calculations of the electrostatic potential, derived from a distributed multipole analysis of an ab initio charge density of the molecule, so that the effects of lone pair and -electron density are correctly included. We have applied this method to the phosphodiesterase (PDE) III substrate adenosine-3,5-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) and a range of nonspecific and specific PDE III inhibitors. Despite the structural variation between cAMP and the inhibitors, it is possible to match three or four extrema to produce relative orientations in which the inhibitors are sufficiently sterically and electrostatically similar to the natural substrate to account for their affinity for PDE III. This matching of extrema is more apparent using the accurate electrostatic models than it was when this approach was first applied, using semiempirical point charge models. These results reinforce the hypothesis of electrostatic similarity and give weight to the technique of extrema matching as a useful tool in drug design.     

Metal-containing ditopic receptors for molecular recognition of diammonium cations

Two new ditopic receptors for α,ω-alkanediyldiammonium cations based on a tetraazamacrocyclic (cyclidene) nickel(II) complex bearing two crown-ether residues were synthesized. The studies of the host-guest interaction between the receptors and a series of α,ω-diammonium salts by NMR titration in acetonitrile-d₃ showed that 1:1 complexes are formed with K_assoc∼10³-10⁵ M⁻¹. Receptor 1 with benzo-15-crown-5 arms showed substantial selectivity in binding of trimethylene- and tetramethylenediammonium dications, and 1-2 orders of magnitude weaker binding of shorter (C₂) or longer (C₅ and C₆) diammonium cations. Receptor 2 with benzo-18-crown-6 arms showed higher affinity to all studied diammonium cations, but the recognition of the length of α,ω-diammonium cations was less pronounced.     

Evolution of the structural stability of large Cu,Ni, Pd,and Ag clusters with size: An analysis within the embedded atom method

A study of the structural stability of clusters made up of a single component has been carried out within the Embedded Atom Method. Perfect icosahedral and cuboctahedral Cu, Ni, Pd, and Ag clusters with up to 5083 atoms have been compared. The icosahedron is found to be the stable structure for small clusters, and a change of structure from icosahedral to cuboctahedral is found as the cluster size increases. A contraction of the interatomic distances results when the cluster size decreases.     

The study of terbium generated bacterirhodopsin

The localization of Terbium (Tb³⁺) cations binding to deionized bacteriorhodopsin (bR) has been studied by using spectroscopic methods. It was found that adding Tb³⁺ cations to deionized bR affects the fluorescence lifetimes of tryptophan (Trp) in bR, the wavelength of fluorescence peak shifts “blue” and the peak value of fluorescence decreases. It was also found that adding one Tb³⁺ cation to deionized bR can restore the purple state from its blue state obviously. The measurements of absorbance, fluorescence and lifetime of fluorescence also show that when more than three Tb³⁺ cations are added, no further changes can be found. It is suggested that one Tb³⁺ specific binding site for the color-controlling is located on the exterior of the bR trimer structure to negatively charged lipids near Trp-10 and Trp-12. Three Tb³⁺ cations binding per bR is needed for the regenerated bR.     

Studies on the Interaction of Beryllon Ш with Proteins by Voltammetric Technique and its Application

A new quantitative determination method of proteins using beryllon Ш by voltammetric technique was developed in this paper. In pH 3.5 Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution, beryllon Ш can bind with human serum albumin (HSA) to form an electro-inactive supermolecular complex. Beryllon Ш has a well-defined voltammetric reduction peak at -0.38 V (vs. SCE) and the addition of protein in this solution can cause the decrease of the reductive peak current. Based on the decrease of the reduction peak current, a new electrochemical method for the determination of HSA was established with linear range of 1.0~40.0 mg/L and the detection limit of 1.0 mg/L. This method is further applied to the determination of real sample of healthy human serum.     

Tröger's base scaffold in racemic and chiral fashion as a spacer for bisdistamycin formation. Synthesis and DNA binding study

‘Head-to-head’ oligo-N-methylpyrrole peptide dimers linked by a methano[1,5]diazocin scaffold are presented in racemic as well as chiral fashion. Their DNA binding activities were assayed on calf thymus DNA, poly(dA-dT)₂, and poly(dC-dG)₂ by NMR and ECD spectroscopies, and fluorescence probe displacement assay. The presented dimers prefer AT sequences, but show higher affinity to poly(dC-dG)₂ than distamycin A. The (4R,9R) configuration of methanodiazocin bridge was found to be better suited for interaction with ct-DNA and poly(dA-dT)₂ than (4S,9S) configuration.     

药用缓释辅料——羟丙基甲基纤维素的合成及其缓释性能的研究

本文研究了药物缓释材料HPMC的合成方法,探讨了碱纤维素制备,醚化剂浓度,混合醚化剂配经以及产品后处理对高粘度HPMC的影响。本文还初步对KCl,氨茶碱,硝酸异山梨醇酯等药物采用合成的HPMC作辅料,进行了缓释制剂的研究,结果表明合成的HPMC具有满意的缓释性能。     

Intramolecular proton transfer induced by divalent alkali earth metal cation in the gas state

Interactions between divalent alkali earth metal (DAEM) ions M (M?Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) and the second stable glycine conformer in the gas phase, which can transfer into the ground‐state glycine‐M²⁺ (except the glycine–Be²⁺) among each corresponding isomers when these divalent metal ions are bound, are studied at the hybrid three‐parameter B3LYP level with three different basis sets. Proton transfers from the hydroxyl to the amino nitrogen of the glycine without energy barriers have been first observed in the gas phase in these glycine–M²⁺ systems. The interaction between the glycine and these DAEM ions except beryllium and magnesium ion only create an amino hydrogen pointing to the original hydroxyl due to their weaker interaction relative to those divalent transition metal (DTM) ion‐bound glycine derivatives, being obviously different from that between the glycine and DTM ions, in which two amino hydrogens point to the original hydroxyl oxygen when these metal‐chelated glycine derivatives are produced. The interaction energy between the glycine and divalent magnesium would be the boundary of one or two amino hydrogens pointing to the hydrogyl oxygen, i.e., the ?170.3 kcal/mol of binding energy is a critical point. Similar intramolecular proton transfer has also been predicted for those DTM ion‐chelated glycine systems; however, that in the gas state has not been observed in the monovalent metal ion‐coordinated glycine systems. The binding energy between some monovalent TM ion and the glycine is similar to that of the glycine–Ba²⁺, which has the lowest binding strength among these DAEM–ion chelated glycine complexes. The difference among them only lies in the larger electrostatic and polarized effects in the latter, which favor the stability of the zwitterionic glycine form in the gas phase. According to these observations, we predict that the zwitterionic glycine would exist in the field of two positive charges in the gas phase. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 205–214, 2003     

高分子化学课程中若干论题的进展

高分子化学课程中下列五个论题被加以修正和补充:(1)1,2-二取代乙烯单体的聚合;(2)乙烯基单体聚合时的键连方式;(3)自由基聚合的自动加速;(4)引发转移和引发转移终止剂;(5)氢转移聚合和基因转移聚合。     

沉淀二氧化硅消光剂的制备研究

涂料中的消光剂是一类能够改变涂膜表面光学性能的助剂。这类助剂能够在涂膜表面产生预期微粗糙度,使涂膜的光泽显著降低,给人一种古朴典雅的感觉。近几年来,我国的涂料工业方兴未艾,涂料总产量也跃居世界的前列。在这期间高光泽的亮光涂料以其色泽鲜艳、明亮等优点深受消费者的喜爱,并在相当长的时间内一统着涂料市场[1]。但是,随着人们生活水平的不断提高,一方面消费者感觉到了高光泽的亮光涂料成膜后反光比较严重,对人的眼睛有害;另一方面消费者的审美观念越来越倾向于休闲、时尚和个性化。这些因素就导致了人们对具有柔和外观的低光泽涂…