Incorporation of β-Alanine in Cu(II) ATCUN Peptide Complexes Increases ROS Levels,DNA Cleavage and Antiproliferative Activity**

Redox-active Cu(II) complexes are able to form reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the presence of oxygen and reducing agents. Recently, Faller et al. reported that ROS generation by Cu(II) ATCUN complexes is not as high as assumed for decades. High complex stability results in silencing of the Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycle and therefore leads to low ROS generation. In this work, we demonstrate that an exchange of the α-amino acid Gly with the β-amino acid β-Ala at position 2 (Gly2→β-Ala2) of the ATCUN motif reinstates ROS production (^•OH and H₂O₂). Potentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, EPR spectroscopy and DFT simulations were utilized to explain the increased ROS generation of these β-Ala2-containing ATCUN complexes. We also observed enhanced oxidative cleavage activity towards plasmid DNA for β-Ala2 compared to the Gly2 complexes. Modifications with positively charged Lys residues increased the DNA affinity through electrostatic interactions as determined by UV/VIS, fluorescence, and CD spectroscopy, and consequently led to a further increase in nuclease activity. A similar trend was observed regarding the cytotoxic activity of the complexes against several human cancer cell lines where β-Ala2 peptide complexes had lower IC₅₀ values compared to Gly2. The higher cytotoxicity could be attributed to an increased cellular uptake as determined by ICP-MS measurements.     

Unilateral and Equitransitive Tilings by Squares

Recent results obtained by Martini et al. [4] facilitate the proof that there are exactly eight unilateral and equitransitive tilings of the plane by squares of three sizes. This refutes a conjecture by Schattschneider that appears in the book Tilings and Patterns by Grünbaum and Shephard [2]. Received January 6, 1999, and in revised form October 2, 1999. Online publication May 16, 2000.     

Observation of ionization in a crystal interferometer

We present a new interferometric setup where interference of a fast probe electron affects the ionization cross section of an atom. Interference is detected in the intensity of the inelastically scattered electrons at the Bragg scattering angle in transmission. The crystal serves both as a target for core ionization and as a beam-splitting and phase-shifting device.     

Oxygen K-edge in vanadium oxides: simulations and experiments

Band-structure (BS) calculations of the density of states (DOS) using the full potential augmented plane waves code WIEN97 were performed on the four single-valence vanadium oxides VO, V₂O₃, VO₂ and V₂O₅. The DOS are discussed with respect to the distortions of the VO₆ octahedra, the oxidation states of vanadium and the orbital hybridisations of oxygen atoms. The simulated oxygen K-edge fine structures (ELNES) calculated with the TELNES program were compared with experimental results obtained by electron energy-loss spectrometry (EELS), showing good agreement. We show that changes in the fine structures of the investigated vanadium oxides mainly result from changes in the O-p DOS and not from the shift of the DOS according to a rigid band model. Received 17 December 2001 / Received in final form 19 June 2002 Published online 13 August 2002     

Two routes of forming nanorods on the base of nanoparticles

With ZnS nanoparticles as raw materials, two kinds of nanorods were fabricated. When ZnS nanoparticles were dispersed in Zn(NO₃)₂ solution and were treated in a sealed autoclave at 150 °C for 24 h, ZnO nanorods formed. ZnS nanoparticles work as a source of monomers for the growth of ZnO nanorods. With increase of concentration of Zn(NO₃)₂ solution, the products present long nanorods, short nanorods, star structure and bulk particle sequentially. When ZnS nanoparticles were kept in a solution at room temperature, ZnS nanorods formed after 21 days. ZnS nanoparticles work as assembly parts. They fit together spontaneously and present ZnS nanorods with many parallel stripes along the lengthways surface. To check the generality of self-assembling, PdS and Y₂S₃ nanorods were also fabricated.