Direct Observation of Non-covalent Complexes for Phosphorylated Flavonoid-protein Interaction by ESI

Diethyl flavon-7-yl phosphate was synthesized by modified Atheron-Todd reaction. The result of ESI shows that the phosphated flavonoids possess stronger binding affinities toward proteins such as myoglobin, insulin and lysozyme and are easier to form the non-covalent complexes with them.     

Characterization of NOx species in dehydrated and hydrated Na- and Ba-Y, FAU zeolites formed in NO2 adsorption

Adsorbed ionic NO_x species formed upon the interaction of NO₂ with dehydrated or hydrated Na- and Ba-Y, FAU zeolites were characterized using FT-IR/TPD, solid state NMR, and XANES techniques. NO₂ disproportionates on both dehydrated catalyst materials forming NO⁺ and NO₃⁻ species. These ionic species are stabilized by their interactions with the negatively charged zeolite framework and the charge compensating cations (Na⁺ and Ba²⁺), respectively. Although the nature of the adsorbed NO_x species formed on the two catalysts is similar, their thermal stabilities are strongly dependent on the charge compensating cations. In the presence of water in the channels of these zeolite materials new paths open for reactions between NO⁺ and H₂O, and NO₂ and H₂O, resulting in significant changes in the adsorbed ionic species observed. These combined spectroscopic investigations afforded the understanding of the interactions between water and NO₂ on these zeolite catalysts.     

On the High Viscosity of Aqueous Solution of Lysozyme Induced by Some Organic Solvents

A remarkably high viscosity has been induced in protein aqueous solutions by the addition of certain structurally related organic solvents. The effect has been observed for lysozyme aqueous solutions containing tetramethylurea (TMU), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylformamide, and hexamethylphosphortriamide. The effect has also been induced in ferrocytochrome c aqueous solutions by TMU. Critical concentrations for both the protein and organic solvent were verified for the onset of the viscosity increase. A common feature of the solvents which were able to induce the effect is a dipolar moiety (C=O, S → O and P → O) and a nonpolar region represented by the methyl groups. The resulting fluids show an extremely restricted flow and a typical non-Newtonian, pseudoplastic behavior. Use was made of¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Raman spectroscopy to characterize protein structural modifications and of¹³C NMR to investigate changes in relaxation times and chemical shifts in the solvent/water solutions. A systematic rheological characterization of the systems was undertaken for some of the solvents, and unusual patterns of viscous effects were identified for the solvent/water systems both with and without protein. The process was found to be at least partially reversible, as concluded from the recovered original solution rheological characteristics and the original protein¹H NMR spectrum, after eliminating the organic solvent by ultrafiltration. The whole process was characterized as consisting of two mutually independent stages. The first involves an extensive conformational transition of the polypeptide backbone, from a predominantly α-helical to increased random coiled and β-sheet structures, with the occurrence of nonorthodox protein secondary structures at regions above the solvent critical point. The second stage consists of short-lived interchain contacts leading to an entanglement of the macromolecular system as a whole. A microphase reversion in the organic solvent/water mixture, supported by¹³C NMR and rheological results, is proposed as the driving force causing the observed behavior.     

碱性溶液中金电极上氧还原中间物研究

应用改进了的旋转全电极上的电势阶跃计时库仑法,分别测定了不同电极电势下氧还原过程中电极吸附中间物和溶解中间物氧化所需的电量,实验证明,在此过程中电极上确有吸附中间物存在,而且是电极电势的函数,但其分子属性尚需进一步鉴别。     

粘度法研究高分子溶液行为的实验改进(Ⅱ)

高分子在粘度计毛细管管壁上的吸附不仅会导致毛细管有效管径减小，而且可以导致毛细管界面性质发生显著改变，具体表现为测定高分子溶液流过时间t之前和之后纯溶剂的流过时间t0和t0′与高分子溶液流过时间t对浓度作图外推到浓度为零时的值t0^*并不一致。不同温度时聚乙烯吡咯烷酮（PVP）水溶液粘度测定结果表明，当吸附讷发子显著改变了毛细管界面性质时，需要将高分子溶液粘度测定方法由t/t0′改为t/t0^*。经过改进的粘度测定方法不仅更加普适合理，而且更加简单有效。     

Studies on Aggregation Interaction between Reduced Denatured Egg White Lysozymes during Refolding Procedure in Urea Solution

The aggregation interaction between reduced-denatured egg white lysozymes during refolding procedure in urea solution was studied by means of reducing and non-reducing protein electrophoreses. Results of non-reducing sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （SDS-PAGE） of the supernatant and aggregate precipitate formed in refolding process show that except being refolded to native egg white lysozymes, the reduced-denatured lysozymes can also form the aggregates with molecular weights （MW） being separately about 30.0 and 35.0 kD, while the reducing SDS-PAGE and the refolding results in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate show that these aggregates are formed chiefly through the misconnection of disulfide bonds between the reduced-denatured lysozymes, and the aggregate precipitates are formed through the non-covalent interactions between the aggregates with molecular weight being about 30.0 kD. From the results of electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatographic analyses, it can be inferred that the aggregates with molecular weights being about 30.0 and 35.0 kD are bi-molecular and tri-molecular egg white lysozyme aggregates, respectively. And finally, a suggested refolding mechanism of reduced-denatured egg white lysozymes in urea solution was presented.     

Macromolecular crystallography research at Trombay

Neutron diffraction studies of hydrogen positions in small molecules of biological interest at Trombay have provided valuable information that has been used in protein and enzyme structure model-building and in developing hydrogen bond potential functions. The new R-5 reactor is expected to provide higher neutron fluxes and also make possible smallangle neutron scattering studies of large biomolecules and bio-aggregates. In the last few years infrastructure facilities have also been established for macromolecular x-ray crystallography research. Meanwhile, the refinement of carbonic hydrases’ and lysozyme structures have been carried out and interesting results obtained on protein dynamics and structure-function relationships. Some interesting presynaptic toxin phospholipases have also been taken up for study.     

高效阳离子交换法分离纯化蛋清中的溶菌酶

 建立了用高效阳离子交换分离纯化蛋清中溶菌酶的新方法 ,讨论了纯化的工艺条件。蛋清样品匀浆后 ,用氯化钠初步纯化 ,然后用弱阳离子交换柱XIDACE WCX分离。结果表明 ,被纯化的溶菌酶和杂蛋白得到很好分离。经活性检测 ,溶菌酶过柱后的活性回收率为 10 7% ,蛋白的比活为 15 4 6 7U/mg ,纯化倍数提高了 5 6倍。用尺寸排阻 (SEC)鉴定 ,得到的溶菌酶呈均一性。该法较传统软基质低压离子交换分离速度快 ,纯化效率高。     

Partial Molar Volumes of Amino Acids and Peptides in Aqueous Salt Solutions at 25°C and a Correlation with Stability of Proteins in the Presence of Salts

Partial molar volumes for a homologous series of amino acids and peptides have been measured in aqueous 1M sodium acetate, sodium thiocyanate, and sodium sulfate at 25^°C. These data have been utilized in conjunction with the data in water to deduce partial molar volumes of transfer V _2,m ⁰(tr) from water to these aqueous salt solutions. The volumes of transfer for the amino acids and peptides are found to be positive. The interpretation is that this result arises from the dominant interaction of the sodium salts with the charged centers of amino acids and peptides. Thermal denaturation of the structurally homologous proteins lysozyme and -lactalbumin has been studied in the presence of these salts. Significant thermal stabilization of hen egg-white lysozyme has been observed in the presence of sodium acetate and sodium sulfate. However, the thermal stabilization observed for -lactalbumin is very small in the presence of these salts and sodium thiocyanate leads to a lowering of its thermal denaturation temperature. The rise in the surface tension of aqueous salt solutions with salt concentration has been correlated with the calorimetric and volumetric measurements. The results show that V _2,m ⁰(tr) depends less on the type of electrolyte than on the ionic strength of the solution. The V _2,m ⁰(tr) values correlate very well with the increase in the surface tension of aqueous salt solutions, indicating significant role of surface tension in interactions of amino acids, peptides, or protein with the salts.     

Interaction of Quillaja bark saponins with food-relevant proteins

The surface activity and aggregation behaviour of two Quillaja bark saponins (QBS) are compared using surface tension, conductometry and light scattering. Despite formally of the same origin (bark of the Quillaja saponaria Molina tree), the two QBS show markedly different ionic characters and critical micelle concentrations (7.7 · 10^− 6 mol·dm^− 3 and 1.2 · 10^− 4 mol·dm^− 3). The new interpretation of the surface tension isotherms for both QBS allowed us to propose an explanation for the previous discrepancy concerning the orientation of the saponin molecules in the adsorbed layer.