On the nature of the surprisingly small (red) shift in the halothane...acetone complex.

The halothane???acetone and fluoroform???acetone complexes are studied using the second‐order Møller–Plesset (MP2) method with a cc‐pVTZ basis set and the density functional theory (DFT) method with a TZVP basis set. Whereas halothane exhibits a small red shift upon complexation, fluoroform shows a pronounced blue shift. To explain this difference in behavior, we perform symmetry‐adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses. Although the composition of the total stabilization energy of each complex is different, that alone does not provide a satisfactory explanation for the difference in the spectral shifts. This difference is interpreted as a result of the interplay of the hyperconjugation and rehybridization mechanisms. The small and surprising red shift of the C? H stretching frequency of halothane, which resulted from the complexation of this species with acetone,is explained by the compensation of the two above‐mentioned mechanisms. On the other hand, the fluoroform???acetone complex exhibits a blue shift of the C? H stretching frequency upon complexation, the most likely reason for this shift being a concerted occurrence of the hyperconjugation and rehybridization mechanisms. The calculated shift of the C? H stretching vibration frequencies of halothane (+27 cm^?1) agree with the experimental value of +5 cm^?1.     

Glutathione modified CdTe quantum dots as a label for studying DNA interactions with platinum based cytostatics

Cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin represent three generations of platinum based drugs applied successfully for cancer treatment. As a consequence of the employment of platinum based cytostatics in the cancer treatment, it became necessary to study the mechanism of their action. Current accepted opinion is the formation of Pt‐DNA adducts, but the mechanism of their formation is still unclear. Nanomaterials, as a progressively developing branch, can offer a tool for studying the interactions of these drugs with DNA. In this study, fluorescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs, λ_em = 525 nm) were employed to investigate the interactions of platinum cytostatics (cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin) with DNA fragment (500 bp, c = 25 μg/mL). Primarily, the fluorescent behavior of QDs in the presence of platinum cytostatics was monitored and major differences in the interaction of QDs with tested drugs were observed. It was found that the presence of carboplatin (c = 0.25 mg/mL) had no significant influence on QDs fluorescence; however cisplatin and oxaliplatin quenched the fluorescence significantly (average decrease of 20%) at the same concentration. Subsequently, the amount of platinum incorporated in DNA was determined by QDs fluorescence quenching. Best results were reached using oxaliplatin (9.4% quenching). Linear trend (R² = 0.9811) was observed for DNA platinated by three different concentrations of oxaliplatin (0.250, 0.125, and 0.063 mg/mL). Correlation with differential pulse voltammetric measurements provided linear trend (R² = 0.9511). As a conclusion, especially in the case of oxaliplatin‐DNA adducts, the quenching was the most significant compared to cisplatin and nonquenching carboplatin.     

Prebiotic Route to Thymine from Formamide—A Combined Experimental–Theoretical Study

Synthesis of RNA nucleobases from formamide is one of the recurring topics of prebiotic chemistry research. Earlier reports suggest that thymine, the substitute for uracil in DNA, may also be synthesized from formamide in the presence of catalysts enabling conversion of formamide to formaldehyde. In the current paper, we show that to a lesser extent conversion of uracil to thymine may occur even in the absence of catalysts. This is enabled by the presence of formic acid in the reaction mixture that forms as the hydrolysis product of formamide. Under the reaction conditions of our study, the disproportionation of formic acid may produce formaldehyde that hydroxymethylates uracil in the first step of the conversion process. The experiments are supplemented by quantum chemical modeling of the reaction pathway, supporting the plausibility of the mechanism suggested by Saladino and coworkers.     

Conformational changes in humic acids in aqueous solutions

Conformational changes in humic acids in two different aqueous solutions (NaCl and NaOH) are studied by means of high resolution ultrasound spectrometry. The method is based on the measurement of parameters of ultrasonic waves propagating through the sample. The attenuation describes the decay of the amplitude of the ultrasonic wave with the distance travelled. The velocity is the speed of this wave and is related to the wavelength and the frequency of oscillation of the deformation. It is determined by the density and elasticity of the sample, which is strongly influenced by the molecular arrangement. The minimal velocity of ultrasound was observed at 1 g dm^?3 for lignitic humic acids and at 0.5 g dm^?3 for IHSS Leonardite standard. The values of compressibility as computed are almost constant up to humic acids?? content corresponding to the minimum velocity of ultrasound and then decrease with the increase in concentration. This shows that the organisation of particles in diluted and concentrated humic acids sols is different. The decrease in compressibility points to the formation of a more rigid structure, which could lead to the decrease in humic acids?? binding ability. It was confirmed that the method employed was very sensitive and could be utilised as an indicator of conformational changes in humic acids in solutions with varying concentrations.     

Isolation of Xis Gen Fragment of λ Phage from Agarose Gel Using Magnetic Particles for Subsequent Enzymatic DNA Sequencing

Gel electrophoresis is one of the most important methods used in biochemistry and molecular biology. The recovery of analytes from the gel required for subsequent analysis including amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or DNA sequencing is an issue due to the gel contamination. Among the other methods used for sample recovery, the application of nanomaterials is also being investigated. In this study, the applicability of magnetic particles (1 μm) for isolation of DNA fragment from agarose gel with subsequent DNA sequencing was investigated. Electrochemical analysis and DNA sequencing was used to investigate the recovery yield. The influence of dilution of the gel prior to the purification was investigated and the linear dependence with regression coefficient R ² = 0.9972 was obtained using square wave voltammetry. Moreover, bioinformatic analysis was used for comparison of obtained sequences, and simple and easy identification of non-systematic errors caused by both fluorescence labeling reaction and electrophoretic separation. It was found that magnetic nanoparticles based isolation markedly lowered the errors occurring during sequencing of the isolated DNA fragment from 7 to 1 %.     

Magnetic particles–based biosensor for biogenic amines using an optical oxygen sensor as a transducer

We have developed a fibre optic biosensor with incorporated magnetic microparticles for the determination of biogenic amines. The enzyme diamine oxidase from Pisum sativum was immobilized either on chitosan-coated magnetic microparticles or on commercial microbeads modified with a ferrofluid. Both the immobilized enzyme and the ruthenium complex were incorporated into a UV-cured inorganic–organic polymer composite and deposited on a lens that was connected, by optical fibres, to an electro-optical detector. The enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of amines under consumption of oxygen. The latter was determined by measuring the quenched fluorescence lifetime of the ruthenium complex. The limits of detection for the biogenic amines putrescine and cadaverine are 25–30 μmol?L^?1, and responses are linear up to a concentration of 1 mmol L^?1.

Scalable production of magnetic fluorescent cellulose microparticles

Cellulose - Fluorescent and magnetic nano- and microparticles have already been used for wide range of (bio)applications. Multimodal imaging as well as simultaneous control and monitoring of...     

Verification of cheeses authenticity by mass spectrometry

Cheeses are a group of fermented dairy products that are produced all over the world in various forms and flavours. Milk, especially sheep or goat milk, is still regarded as an expensive raw material in the world, which makes milk and milk products highly attractive as a fraud target. Most often, such fraud includes partial or complete substitution with cheaper sorts of milk (e.g. bovine milk). The aim of this work was to verify the authenticity of 27 cheeses commonly emerging on the Czech food market. The cheeses were distinguished on the basis of milk animal species origin. For this purpose, two mass spectrometry techniques were used: matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization with time of flight mass spectrometry together with principal component analysis method and liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization and quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The results were a partial success, because the cheeses could only be partially distinguished with the first mass spectrometry technique probably because of the influence of some protein additive materials in cheeses. The second technique allowed for collecting higher quality results and thus appears to be highly suitable for the research task.