Artificial red cells with crosslinked hemoglobin membranes

Artificial cells containing concentrated hemoglobin (Hb) solution were prepared by interfacial polymerization of Hb with glutaraldehyde (GA) in liquid membrane capsules (LMC). A solution containing 30% of Hb was emulsified in mineral oil as red cell-size microdroplets, and this emulsion was dispersed in an aqueous phase containing glutaraldehyde to form LMC. The LMC were semipermeable templates that held the microdroplets of Hb in suspension while GA diffused through the oil to the microdroplet surfaces. The GA crosslinked Hb at the surface of each microdroplet to form an artificial red-cell membrane encapsulating Hb solution. A water-soluble surfactant was used to eject the cells from the LMC and suspend them in saline. Several surfactants were evaluated. Cell size was controlled by agitation speed during preparation of the original emulsion. Cells of 2.52 = ±1.69 μm were prepared. The encapsulated Hb retained capacity to bind and release O₂. The cells had aP ₅₀ of 8.9 torr (1200 Pa) and a capacity of 0.55 cc O₂/g of total Hb, indicating that the crosslinked portion of the Hb did not contribute to O₂ transport.     

Theoretical Study of Weakly Bound Dimers between Hydrogen Fluoride and Some Polar Molecules

Weakly bound linear and bent dimers, FH—X (where X = CO, OC, CNH, NCH, N₂O and ON₂), are investigated using the DFT B3LYP and ab initio MP2 methods with the same basis sets (6–311++G(3df,2pd)). The strengths of the H—C or H—N H‐bonds in dimers FH—CO, FH—CNH, and FH—N₂O are compared with those of the H—O or H—N H‐bonds in dimers FH—OC, FH—NCH, and FH—ON₂. The results obtained for the H‐bond distances, the elongation effect of the HF bond, the red shift of the HF stretching frequency, and the energy difference between the dimer and the charge transfer reveal that the H‐bonds of the first group of dimers are stronger than those of the second. The Gibbs energies calculated for the six dimer formations indicate that the weakly bound dimers are unstable at room temperature (T = 298 K) (FH—X's → FH + X's, ΔG < 0).     

Chemical shift driven geometry optimization

A new method for refinement of 3D molecular structures by geometry optimization is presented. Prerequisites are a force field and a very fast procedure for the calculation of chemical shifts in every step of optimization. To the energy, provided by the force field (COSMOS force field), a pseudoenergy, depending on the difference between experimental and calculated chemical shifts, is added. In addition to the energy gradients, pseudoforces are computed. This requires the derivatives of the chemical shifts with respect to the coordinates. The pseudoforces are analytically derived from the integral expressions of the bond polarization theory. Single chemical shift values attributed to corresponding atoms are considered for structural correction. As a first example, this method is applied for proton position refinement of the D-mannitol X-ray structure. A crystal structure refinement with 13C chemical shift pseudoforces is carried out.     

Anaerobic reduction of a sulfonated azo dye, Congo Red, by sulfate-reducing bacteria

The capacity for anaerobic decolorization of a sulfonated azo dye, Congo Red, by a strain of a sulfate-reducing bacterium was evaluated. After optimizing the growth rate of the bacteria on a simple carbon source and terminal electron acceptor pair, lactate and sulfate, respectively, the effect of the dye concentration on their growth rate was analyzed. The decolorization rate was affected by the dye concentration in the growth medium. The azo-bond cleavage mechanism of reductive decolorization with the formation of benzidine was consistent with the results, as this metabolite was identified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Several fractions of the culture medium, including lysed cell extracts, were examined for the capacity to reduce the azo dye. This reduction capacity was found in the culture medium in which the cells had previously grown. The results showed that the mechanism of reductive decolorization of this sulfonated azo dye was extracellular and nonenzymatic, consistent with the production of sulfide anion by the microorganisms while growing on lactate and sulfate. The sulfide anions were the cause of the reduction leading to the disappearance of color in the medium. To increase the rate of decolorization, the presence of ferrous ion was also necessary together with the lactate and sulfate substrates.     

茜素红与蛋白质分子Langmuir吸附聚集反应研究

在pH4.3的B-R缓冲体系中,用微相吸附-光谱修正技术[1]研究了茜素红(ARS)与牛血清白蛋白(BSA)、人血清白蛋白(HSA)的结合反应。其吸附结合常数分别为:KBSA-ARS=3.950×104,KHSA-ARS=4.377×104。染料与蛋白的最大结合数分别为NARS∶NBSA=9∶1,NARS∶NHSA=7∶1。经光谱修正技术计算结合产物的实际摩尔吸光系数分别为εBSA-ARS(537nm)=2.517×104L.mol-1.cm-1,εHSA-ARS(519nm)=2.051×104L.mol-1.cm-1,检出限BSA为19mg/L,HSA为23mg/L。经探讨该结合反应机理符合Langmuir吸附聚集反应方程。     

牛血清白蛋白与两种金属配合物的作用研究

The interaction of Methylthymol Blue(MTB)-Zinc(Ⅱ) compound and Alizarin Red S(ARS)-Aluminum(Ⅲ) compound with Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by UV-Vis spectrophotometric method in acidic buffer solution. MTB-Zn(Ⅱ)-BSA was a blue color compound, which possesses maximum absorption at 613 nm with 172 nm, 174 nm and 18 nm of red shift compared to the MTB, MTB-BSA and MTB-Zn(Ⅱ) complexes respectively. Dual wavelength substantial amount ratio method, balance dialysis substantial amount ratio method and unity wavelength substantial amount ratio method were compared. The following results were obtained: the apparent molar absorptivity of MTB-Zn(Ⅱ) with BSA was ε=2.20×10⁴ L·mol^-1·cm^-1. Conditional proportion were defined, n_MTB∶n_Zn(Ⅱ)∶n_BSA=2∶2∶1; condition combination constant, K=2.07×1010. Combination proportion were defined, n_ARS∶n_Al(Ⅲ)∶n_BSA=6∶4∶1. Condition equilibrium constant of reaction of ARS-Al(Ⅲ) with BSA was K=8.80×10⁸. The apparent molar absorptivity of ε=2.65×10⁴ L·mol^-1·cm^-1. It is suggested that combination between BSA and MTB-Zn(Ⅲ) is due to coordination force. That combination between BSA and ARS-Al(Ⅲ) is due to the coordination bond and electrostatic force.     

Toward direct determination of conformations of protein building units from multidimensional NMR experiments. V. NMR chemical shielding analysis of N-formyl-serinamide,a model for polar side-chain containing peptides

Knowledge of chemical shift-structure relationships could greatly facilitate the NMR chemical shift assignment and structure refinement processes that occur during peptide/protein structure determination via NMR spectroscopy. To determine whether such correlations exist for polar side chain containing amino acid residues the serine dipeptide model, For-L-Ser-NH(2), was studied. Using the GIAO-RHF/6-31+G(d) and GIAO-RHF/TZ2P levels of theory the NMR chemical shifts of all hydrogen ((1)H(N), (1)H(alpha), (1)H(beta1), (1)H(beta2)), carbon ((13)C(alpha), (13)C(beta), (13)C') and nitrogen ((15)N) atoms have been computed for all 44 stable conformers of For-L-Ser-NH(2). An attempt was made to establish correlation between chemical shift of each nucleus and the major conformational variables (omega(0), phi, psi, omega(1), chi,(1) and chi(2)). At both levels of theory a linear correlation can be observed between (1)H(alpha)/phi, (13)C(alpha)/phi, and (13)C(alpha)/psi. These results indicate that the backbone and side-chain structures of For-L-Ser-NH(2) have a strong influence on its chemical shifts.     

Aortic elastin fluorescence afterin vivo labeling with Congo red

Congo red (CR) is an azo dye which not only preferentially binds to elastin, an extracellular matrix protein found in the media of arterial vessel walls, but also fluoresces when it binds to this protein. Protein solubilization data following laser irradiation of elastin:CR suspensions determined that the amount of elastin solubilized by laser irradiation increased with the increase in CR. The saturation point of CR to elastin was attained when 400 g CR was added to 20 mg elastin suspension. When 20 ml of a 5% CR solution in 5% dextrose was administered intravenously, the CR was absorbed in levels sufficient to produce fluorescence of the main arteries in rabbits. Layers of tissue both in the media of the vessels and at the endothelial/intimal interface were clearly differentiated. Therefore, the elastin:CR complex appears to be an ideal system in which the elastin fluorescence could aid in distinguishing between normal and diseased tissue in certain pathological conditions, such as atherosclerosis and some types of breast tumors.     

[IrBr6]2-的反对称极化率与圆偏振激光诱导的ESR谱频移

在理论上研究了顺磁性粒子体系的圆偏振激光诱导的ＥＳＲ谱频移效应。给出磁场中分子反对称极化率的公式，并以［ＩｒＢｒ６］＾２－离子为例讨论了吸收带半高宽的影响。计算了［ＩｒＢｒ６］＾２－的ＥＳＲ谱在圆偏振激光作用下的频移。结果发现：在光学共振区附近，ＥＳＲ频移可达１ＭＨｚ的量级，与钠原子体系结果类似。     

Chemical mass shifts in resonance ejection experiments in the quadrupole ion trap

Chemical mass shifts were measured in a Paul ion trap operated in the mass-selective instability scan with resonance ejection using a custom-built instrument. These shifts, which can be as much as 2%, decrease with increasing endcap electrode separation owing to changes in the higher order contributions to the electric field. They also decrease with decreasing helium buffer gas pressure. Both of these effects are analogous to those found with boundary ejection. This suggests that the previously proposed chemical mass shift mechanism based on compound-dependent collisional modification of the ejection delay produced by field faults near the endcap electrode apertures holds true also for resonance ejection. The influence of the resonance frequency on chemical mass shifts was also investigated and it is shown that at certain working points (values of the Mathieu parameter q(z) and a(z)) non-linear resonances greatly reduce the ejection delay for all ions, regardless of their chemical structures, and thus reduce the magnitude of the chemical mass shift. Energetic collisions leading to dissociation can take place at an earlier stage during the ejection process in the mass analysis scan when using resonance ejection compared with boundary ejection. This leads to even larger chemical mass shifts of fragile ions in resonance ejection. Increasing the resonance voltage amplitude can enhance this effect. The chemical mass shifts of fragile ions increase with increase in the resonance voltage amplitude, whereas negligible changes occur for structurally stable ions.