Self-assembly of nanoparticles on the surface of ionic crystals: Structural properties

With a suitable combination of ligand-stabilised nanoparticle suspension and ionic salt solutions, it is possible to produce microcrystals that are coated with nanoparticles. The self-assembly process of coating microcrystals by gold nanoparticles (NP) is mediated by the crystal lattice. This is the so-called CLAMS process - a generic process for self-organisation of nanoparticles on the surface of crystals [M. Murugeshan, D. Cunningham, J.-L. Martnez-Albertos, R. Vrcelj, B.D. Moore, Chem. Commun. (2005) 2677]. We are exploring here the structural properties of these self-assembled structures by using different imaging techniques.     

Mechanism of inactivation of inducible nitric oxide synthase by amidines. Irreversible enzyme inactivation without inactivator modification

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are hemoproteins that catalyze the reaction of L-arginine to L-citrulline and nitric oxide. N-(3-(Aminomethyl)benzyl)acetamidine (1400W) was reported to be a slow, tight-binding, and highly selective inhibitor of iNOS in vitro and in vivo. Previous mechanistic studies reported that 1400W was recovered quantitatively after iNOS fully lost its activity and modification to iNOS was not detected. Here, it is shown that 1400W is a time-, concentration-, and NADPH-dependent irreversible inactivator of iNOS. HPLC-electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of the incubation mixture of iNOS with 1400W shows both loss of heme cofactor and formation of biliverdin, as was previously observed for iNOS inactivation by another amidine-containing compound, N5-(1-iminoethyl)-L-ornithine (L-NIO). The amount of biliverdin produced corresponds to the amount of heme lost by 1400W inactivation of iNOS. A convenient MS/MS-HPLC methodology was developed to identify the trace amount of biliverdin produced by inactivation of iNOS with either 1400W or L-NIO to be biliverdin IXalpha out of the four possible regioisomers. Two mechanisms were previously proposed for iNOS inactivation by L-NIO: (1) uncoupling of the heme peroxide intermediate, leading to destruction of the heme to biliverdin; (2) abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the amidine methyl group followed by attachment to the heme cofactor, which causes the enzyme to catalyze the heme oxygenase reaction. The second mechanistic proposal was ruled out by inactivation of iNOS with d3-1400W, which produced no d2-1400W. Detection of carbon monoxide as one of the heme-degradation products further excludes the covalent heme adduct mechanism. On the basis of these results, a third mechanism is proposed in which the amidine inactivators of iNOS bind as does substrate L-arginine, but because of the amidine methyl group, the heme peroxy intermediate cannot be protonated, thereby preventing its conversion to the heme oxo intermediate. This leads to a change in the enzyme mechanism to one that resembles that of heme oxygenase, an enzyme known to convert heme to biliverdin IXalpha. This appears to be the first example of a compound that causes irreversible inactivation of an enzyme without itself becoming modified in any way.     

Spectrophotometric Study of Catechol Oxidation by Aerial O2 in Alkaline Aqueous Solutions Containing Mg(II) Ions.

Electronic absorption spectroscopy was employed to study the aerial oxidation of catechol (1,2-benzenediol) in alkaline aqueous solution containing an excess of Mg(II) ions. Graphical analysis by the matrix method of UV spectra recorded at regular time intervals gave a good fit for two absorbing species in solution. Based on this result and our earlier ESR spectroscopic investigations we concluded that two main absorbing species in this system are Mg(II)-spin stabilized o-benzosemiquinone anion radical and C-C dimer formed by the nucleophilic attack of catecholate anion on o-benzoquinone. Although the formation of 1,2,4-benzenetriol during the catechol oxidation has been detected in some ESR studies its presence was not indicated by this analysis probably because of the low and/or stable steady state concentration throughout the experiment.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric determination of hydrazine

A kinetic spectrophotometric method for hydrazine determination in the range of 9.36×10⁻⁷ to 4.37×10⁻⁵ mol dm⁻³, based on the inhibitory effect of hydrazine on the oxidation of Victoria Blue 4- R by KBrO₃, was developed and validated. Kinetic parameters are reported for both the indicating and the inhibiting reaction. The detection limit was established as 9.98×10⁻⁸ mol dm⁻³. The selectivity of the proposed method was tested considering the influence of different ions that may be present in real samples. The method was successfully applied for hydrazine determination in various samples (very pure water from the water-steam system of a power plant and Isoniazid tablets, a pharmaceutical product).      

Studies of the forced hydrolysis degradation of copper complexes with different oligosaccharides

Bioactive copper complexes with oligosaccharides, pullulan or dextran, are the objective of the present study, because of their possible biomedical applications. The alkaline and acid hydrolysis of the Cu(II) complexes with reduced low-molar pullulan or dextran were carried out by conductometric method. The influence of ligand constitutions on the stability of the complexes was examined on the basis of ligand property. The complexes degradation during alkaline and acid hydrolysis were carried out in sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid solutions of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mol dm⁻³, at different temperature (25, 40, and 60°C, respectively). According to the obtained results by the conductivity investigation during forced degradation studies, it could be concluded that the Cu(II) complexes show the small pharmaceutical stability to both hydrolysis.