Rapid Covalent Fluorescence Labeling of Membrane Proteins on Live Cells via Coiled-Coil Templated Acyl Transfer.

PubMed

Reinhardt, Ulrike; Lotze, Jonathan; Mörl, Karin; Beck-Sickinger, Annette G; Seitz, Oliver

2015-10-21

Fluorescently labeled proteins enable the microscopic imaging of protein localization and function in live cells. In labeling reactions targeted against specific tag sequences, the size of the fluorophore-tag is of major concern. The tag should be small to prevent interference with protein function. Furthermore, rapid and covalent labeling methods are desired to enable the analysis of fast biological processes. Herein, we describe the development of a method in which the formation of a parallel coiled coil triggers the transfer of a fluorescence dye from a thioester-linked coil peptide conjugate onto a cysteine-modified coil peptide. This labeling method requires only small tag sequences (max 23 aa) and occurs with high tag specificity. We show that size matching of the coil peptides and a suitable thioester reactivity allow the acyl transfer reaction to proceed within minutes (rather than hours). We demonstrate the versatility of this method by applying it to the labeling of different G-protein coupled membrane receptors including the human neuropeptide Y receptors 1, 2, 4, 5, the neuropeptide FF receptors 1 and 2, and the dopamine receptor 1. The labeled receptors are fully functional and able to bind the respective ligand with high affinity. Activity is not impaired as demonstrated by activation, internalization, and recycling experiments.

Localization of acyl ghrelin- and des-acyl ghrelin-immunoreactive cells in the rat stomach and their responses to intragastric pH.

PubMed

Mizutani, Makoto; Atsuchi, Kaori; Asakawa, Akihiro; Matsuda, Norifumi; Fujimura, Masaki; Inui, Akio; Kato, Ikuo; Fujimiya, Mineko

2009-11-01

Acyl ghrelin has a 28-amino acid sequence with O-n-octanoyl acid modification at the serine 3 position, whereas des-acyl ghrelin has no octanoyl acid modification. Although these peptides exert different physiological functions, no previous studies have shown the different localization of acyl ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin in the stomach. Here we have developed an antibody specific for des-acyl ghrelin that does not crossreact with acyl ghrelin. Both acyl ghrelin- and des-acyl ghrelin-immunoreactive cells were distributed in the oxyntic and antral mucosa of the rat stomach, with higher density in the antral mucosa than oxyntic mucosa. Immunofluorescence double staining showed that acyl ghrelin- and des-acyl ghrelin-positive reactions overlapped in closed-type round cells, whereas des-acyl ghrelin-positive reaction was found in open-type cells in which acyl ghrelin was negative. Acyl ghrelin-/des-acyl ghrelin-positive closed-type cells contain obestatin; on the other hand, des-acyl ghrelin-positive open-type cells contain somatostatin. We measured the release of acyl ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin in vascularly perfused rat stomach by ELISA, and the effects of different intragastric pH levels on the release of each peptide were examined. The release of des-acyl ghrelin from the perfused stomach was greater at pH 2 than at pH 4; however, the release of acyl ghrelin was not affected by intragastric pH. The present study demonstrated the differential localization of acyl ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin in the rat stomach and their different responses to the intragastric pH.

The 2.1Å Crystal Structure of an Acyl-CoA Synthetase from Methanosarcina acetivorans reveals an alternate acyl binding pocket for small branched acyl substrates†,‡

PubMed Central

Shah, Manish B.; Ingram-Smith, Cheryl; Cooper, Leroy L.; Qu, Jun; Meng, Yu; Smith, Kerry S.; Gulick, Andrew M.

2009-01-01

The acyl-AMP forming family of adenylating enzymes catalyze two-step reactions to activate a carboxylate with the chemical energy derived from ATP hydrolysis. X-ray crystal structures have been determined for multiple members of this family and, together with biochemical studies, provide insights into the active site and catalytic mechanisms used by these enzymes. These studies have shown that the enzymes use a domain rotation of 140° to reconfigure a single active site to catalyze the two partial reactions. We present here the crystal structure of a new medium chain acyl-CoA synthetase from Methanosarcina acetivorans. The binding pocket for the three substrates is analyzed, with many conserved residues present in the AMP binding pocket. The CoA binding pocket is compared to the pockets of both acetyl-CoA synthetase and 4-chlorobenzoate:CoA ligase. Most interestingly, the acyl binding pocket of the new structure is compared with other acyl- and aryl-CoA synthetases. A comparison of the acyl-binding pocket of the acyl-CoA synthetase from M. acetivorans with other structures identifies a shallow pocket that is used to bind the medium chain carboxylates. These insights emphasize the high sequence and structural diversity among this family in the area of the acyl binding pocket. PMID:19544569

A redox beginning: Which came first phosphoryl, acyl, or electron transfer ?. [Abstract only

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weber, Arthur L.

1994-01-01

Thermodynamic and kinetic information available on the synthesis of prebiotic monomers and polymers will be examined in order to illuminate the prebiotic plausibility of polymer syntheses based on (a) phosphoryl transfer that yields phosphodiester polymers, (b) acyl transfer that gives polyamides, and (c) electron transfer that produces polydisulfide or poly(thio)ester polymers. New experimental results on the oxidative polymerization of 2,3-dimercaptopropanol by ferric ions on the surface of ferric hydroxide oxide will be discussed as a chemical model of polymerization by electron transfer. This redox polymerization that yields polymers with a polydisulfide backbone was found to give oligomers up to the 15-mer from 1 mM of 2,3-dimercaptopropanol after one day at 25 C. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the oligomers was carried out on an Alltech OH-100 column eluted with acetonitrile-water.

Chemoselective O-acylation of hydroxyamino acids and amino alcohols under acidic reaction conditions: History, scope and applications

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Summary Amino acids, whether natural, semisynthetic or synthetic, are among the most important and useful chiral building blocks available for organic chemical synthesis. In principle, they can function as inexpensive, chiral and densely functionalized starting materials. On the other hand, the use of amino acid starting materials routinely necessitates protective group chemistry, and in reality, large-scale preparations of even the simplest side-chain derivatives of many amino acids often become annoyingly strenuous due to the necessity of employing protecting groups, on one or more of the amino acid functionalities, during the synthetic sequence. However, in the case of hydroxyamino acids such as hydroxyproline, serine, threonine, tyrosine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), many O-acyl side-chain derivatives are directly accessible via a particularly expedient and scalable method not commonly applied until recently. Direct acylation of unprotected hydroxyamino acids with acyl halides or carboxylic anhydrides under appropriately acidic reaction conditions renders possible chemoselective O-acylation, furnishing the corresponding side-chain esters directly, on multigram-scale, in a single step, and without chromatographic purification. Assuming a certain degree of stability under acidic reaction conditions, the method is also applicable for a number of related compounds, such as various amino alcohols and the thiol-functional amino acid cysteine. While the basic methodology underlying this approach has been known for decades, it has evolved through recent developments connected to amino acid-derived chiral organocatalysts to become a more widely recognized procedure for large-scale preparation of many useful side-chain derivatives of hydroxyamino acids and related compounds. Such derivatives are useful in peptide chemistry and drug development, as amino acid amphiphiles for asymmetric catalysis, and as amino acid acrylic precursors for preparation of

Effect of acyl donor chain length and substitutions pattern on the enzymatic acylation of flavonoids.

PubMed

Ardhaoui, M; Falcimaigne, A; Ognier, S; Engasser, J M; Moussou, P; Pauly, G; Ghoul, M

2004-06-10

Rutin and esculin were enzymatically acylated with different aliphatic acids as acyl donors (fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids and omega-substituted fatty acids) by an immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica. The effect of the water content and the acyl donors pattern on the flavonoid initial acylation rate and conversion yield were investigated. The obtained results indicated that the water content of the medium has a strong effect on the performance of these reactions. The best conversion yields were reached when the water content was kept lower than 200 ppm. At low water content of the medium, these syntheses are influenced by carbon chain length and substitution pattern of the acyl donors. Higher conversion yields of esculin and rutin (>70%) were obtained with aliphatic acids having high carbon chain length (>12). Moreover, it has been found that the amine and thiol groups on omega-substituted fatty acid chain were unfavourable to these reactions. The 1H NMR and 13C NMR analyses of some synthesized esters (esculin and rutin palmitate) show that only monoesters were produced and that the esterification takes place on the primary OH of glucose moiety of the esculin and on the secondary 4"'-OH of the rhamnose residue of rutin. Copyright 2004 Elsevier B.V.

A Novel Glucosylation Reaction on Anthocyanins Catalyzed by Acyl-Glucose–Dependent Glucosyltransferase in the Petals of Carnation and Delphinium[C][W

PubMed Central

Matsuba, Yuki; Sasaki, Nobuhiro; Tera, Masayuki; Okamura, Masachika; Abe, Yutaka; Okamoto, Emi; Nakamura, Haruka; Funabashi, Hisakage; Takatsu, Makoto; Saito, Mikako; Matsuoka, Hideaki; Nagasawa, Kazuo; Ozeki, Yoshihiro

2010-01-01

Glucosylation of anthocyanin in carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) and delphiniums (Delphinium grandiflorum) involves novel sugar donors, aromatic acyl-glucoses, in a reaction catalyzed by the enzymes acyl-glucose–dependent anthocyanin 5(7)-O-glucosyltransferase (AA5GT and AA7GT). The AA5GT enzyme was purified from carnation petals, and cDNAs encoding carnation Dc AA5GT and the delphinium homolog Dg AA7GT were isolated. Recombinant Dc AA5GT and Dg AA7GT proteins showed AA5GT and AA7GT activities in vitro. Although expression of Dc AA5GT in developing carnation petals was highest at early stages, AA5GT activity and anthocyanin accumulation continued to increase during later stages. Neither Dc AA5GT expression nor AA5GT activity was observed in the petals of mutant carnations; these petals accumulated anthocyanin lacking the glucosyl moiety at the 5 position. Transient expression of Dc AA5GT in petal cells of mutant carnations is expected to result in the transfer of a glucose moiety to the 5 position of anthocyanin. The amino acid sequences of Dc AA5GT and Dg AA7GT showed high similarity to glycoside hydrolase family 1 proteins, which typically act as β-glycosidases. A phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences suggested that other plant species are likely to have similar acyl-glucose–dependent glucosyltransferases. PMID:20971893

A unified diabatic description for electron transfer reactions, isomerization reactions, proton transfer reactions, and aromaticity.

PubMed

Reimers, Jeffrey R; McKemmish, Laura K; McKenzie, Ross H; Hush, Noel S

2015-10-14

While diabatic approaches are ubiquitous for the understanding of electron-transfer reactions and have been mooted as being of general relevance, alternate applications have not been able to unify the same wide range of observed spectroscopic and kinetic properties. The cause of this is identified as the fundamentally different orbital configurations involved: charge-transfer phenomena involve typically either 1 or 3 electrons in two orbitals whereas most reactions are typically closed shell. As a result, two vibrationally coupled electronic states depict charge-transfer scenarios whereas three coupled states arise for closed-shell reactions of non-degenerate molecules and seven states for the reactions implicated in the aromaticity of benzene. Previous diabatic treatments of closed-shell processes have considered only two arbitrarily chosen states as being critical, mapping these states to those for electron transfer. We show that such effective two-state diabatic models are feasible but involve renormalized electronic coupling and vibrational coupling parameters, with this renormalization being property dependent. With this caveat, diabatic models are shown to provide excellent descriptions of the spectroscopy and kinetics of the ammonia inversion reaction, proton transfer in N2H7(+), and aromaticity in benzene. This allows for the development of a single simple theory that can semi-quantitatively describe all of these chemical phenomena, as well as of course electron-transfer reactions. It forms a basis for understanding many technologically relevant aspects of chemical reactions, condensed-matter physics, chemical quantum entanglement, nanotechnology, and natural or artificial solar energy capture and conversion.

Altering lipase activity and enantioselectivity in organic media using organo-soluble bases: Implication for rate-limiting proton transfer in acylation step.

PubMed

Chen, Chun-Chi; Chen, Teh-Liang; Tsai, Shau-Wei

2006-06-05

With the hydrolytic resolution of (R,S)-naproxen 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl esters via a partially purified papaya lipase (PCPL) in water-saturated isooctane as the model system, the enzyme activity, and enantioselectivty is altered by adding a variety of organo-soluble bases that act as either enzyme activators (i.e., TEA, MP, TOA, DPA, PY, and DMA) or enzyme inhibitors (i.e., PDP, DMAP, and PP). Triethylamine (TEA) is selected as the best enzyme activator as 2.24-fold increase of the initial rate for the (S)-ester is obtained when adding 120 mM of the base. By using an expanded Michaelis-Menten mechanism for the acylation step, the kinetic analysis indicates that the proton transfer for the breakdown of tetrahedral intermediates to acyl-enzyme intermediates is the rate-limiting step, or more sensitive than that for the formation of tetrahedral intermediates when the enzyme activators of different pKa are added. However, no correlation for the proton transfers in the acylation step is found when adding the bases acting as enzyme deactivators. Copyright 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mass Transfer with Chemical Reaction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeCoursey, W. J.

1987-01-01

Describes the organization of a graduate course dealing with mass transfer, particularly as it relates to chemical reactions. Discusses the course outline, including mathematics models of mass transfer, enhancement of mass transfer rates by homogeneous chemical reaction, and gas-liquid systems with chemical reaction. (TW)

Gas Phase Dissociation Behavior of Acyl-Arginine Peptides.

PubMed

McGee, William M; McLuckey, Scott A

2013-11-15

The gas phase dissociation behavior of peptides containing acyl-arginine residues is investigated. These acylations are generated via a combination of ion/ion reactions between arginine-containing peptides and N -hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) esters and subsequent tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Three main dissociation pathways of acylated arginine, labeled Paths 1-3, have been identified and are dependent on the acyl groups. Path 1 involves the acyl-arginine undergoing deguanidination, resulting in the loss of the acyl group and dissociation of the guanidine to generate an ornithine residue. This pathway generates selective cleavage sites based on the recently discussed "ornithine effect". Path 2 involves the coordinated losses of H 2 O and NH 3 from the acyl-arginine side chain while maintaining the acylation. We propose that Path 2 is initiated via cyclization of the δ-nitrogen of arginine and the C-terminal carbonyl carbon, resulting in rapid rearrangement from the acyl-arginine side chain and the neutral losses. Path 3 occurs when the acyl group contains α-hydrogens and is observed as a rearrangement to regenerate unmodified arginine while the acylation is lost as a ketene.

Synergistic N-Heterocyclic Carbene/Palladium-Catalyzed Reactions of Aldehyde Acyl Anions with either Diarylmethyl or Allylic Carbonates.

PubMed

Yasuda, Shigeo; Ishii, Takuya; Takemoto, Shunsuke; Haruki, Hiroki; Ohmiya, Hirohisa

2018-03-05

Benzylation and allylation of aldehyde acyl anions were enabled by the merger of a thiazolium N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyst and a palladium/bisphosphine catalyst in a synergistic manner. Owing to the mildness of the reaction conditions, various functional groups were tolerated in the substrates. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sonochemical enzyme-catalyzed regioselective acylation of flavonoid glycosides.

PubMed

Ziaullah; Rupasinghe, H P Vasantha

2016-04-01

This work compares a highly efficient and alternative method of sonication-assisted lipase catalyzed acylation of quercetin-3-O-glucoside and phloretin-2'-glucoside, using Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozyme 435(®)), with a range of fatty acids. In this study, sonication-assisted irradiation coupled with stirring has been found to be more efficient and economical than conventional reaction conditions. Sonication-assisted acylation accelerated the reactions and reduced the time required by 4-5 folds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preferential cross-linking of the small subunit of the electron-transfer flavoprotein to general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

PubMed Central

Steenkamp, D J

1987-01-01

The interaction between pig liver mitochondrial electron-transfer flavoprotein (ETF) and general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (GAD) was investigated by means of the heterobifunctional reagent N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate. Neither ETF or GAD contained reactive thiol groups. The substitution of 9.4 lysine residues/FAD group in GAD with pyridyl disulphide structures did not affect the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Thiol groups were introduced into ETF by thiolation with methyl 4-mercaptobutyrimidate. ETF containing 10.5 reactive thiol groups/FAD group showed undiminished electron-acceptor activity with respect to GAD. The reaction of thiolated ETF and GAD containing pyridyl disulphide structures resulted in a decreased staining intensity of the small subunit of ETF on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Preferential cross-linking of the smaller subunit of ETF to GAD did not take place when ETF was first treated with SDS, but was unaffected by reduction of GAD by octanoyl-CoA. Images Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 5. PMID:3115254

Oxonitriles: a grignard addition-acylation route to enamides.

PubMed

Fleming, Fraser F; Wei, Guoqing; Zhang, Zhiyu; Steward, Omar W

2006-10-12

[reaction: see text] Sequential addition of three different Grignard reagents and pivaloyl chloride to 3-oxo-1-cyclohexene-1-carbonitrile installs four new bonds to generate a diverse array of cyclic enamides. Remarkably, formation of the C-magnesiated nitrile intermediate is followed by preferential acylation by pivaloyl chloride rather than consumption by an in situ Grignard reagent. Rapid N-acylation of the C-magnesiated nitrile generates an acyl ketenimine that reacts readily with Grignard reagents or a trialkylzincate, effectively assembling highly substituted, cyclic enamides.

Studies on long chain cis- and trans-acyl-CoA esters and Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase from rat heart mitochondria.

PubMed

Korsrud, G O; Conacher, H B; Jarvis, G A; Beare-Rogers, J L

1977-02-01

The beta-oxidation of long chain fatty acids was investigated in a preparation of rat heart mitochondria. The acyl-CoA esters of the cis and trans isomers of delta9-hexadecenoic, delta9-octadecenoic, delta11-eicosenoic, and delta13-docosenoic acids were prepared. Rates of the acyl-CoA reaction were determined with an extract from rat heart mitochondria. The apparent Michaelis constant (Km) and maximum velocity (Vmax) were calculated for each substrate. In general, apparent Vmax values decreased with increasing chain length of the monoenoic substrates. Reduced activity of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase with long chain acyl-CoA esters could have contributed to accumulation of lipids in hearts of rats fed diets containing long chain fatty acids.

Unexpected Hydrolytic Instability of N-Acylated Amino Acid Amides and Peptides

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Remote amide bonds in simple N-acyl amino acid amide or peptide derivatives 1 can be surprisingly unstable hydrolytically, affording, in solution, variable amounts of 3 under mild acidic conditions, such as trifluoroacetic acid/water mixtures at room temperature. This observation has important implications for the synthesis of this class of compounds, which includes N-terminal-acylated peptides. We describe the factors contributing to this instability and how to predict and control it. The instability is a function of the remote acyl group, R2CO, four bonds away from the site of hydrolysis. Electron-rich acyl R2 groups accelerate this reaction. In the case of acyl groups derived from substituted aromatic carboxylic acids, the acceleration is predictable from the substituent’s Hammett σ value. N-Acyl dipeptides are also hydrolyzed under typical cleavage conditions. This suggests that unwanted peptide truncation may occur during synthesis or prolonged standing in solution when dipeptides or longer peptides are acylated on the N-terminus with electron-rich aromatic groups. When amide hydrolysis is an undesired secondary reaction, as can be the case in the trifluoroacetic acid-catalyzed cleavage of amino acid amide or peptide derivatives 1 from solid-phase resins, conditions are provided to minimize that hydrolysis. PMID:24617596

Theoretical study on the nitration of methane by acyl nitrate catalyzed by H-ZSM5 zeolite.

PubMed

Silva, Alexander Martins; Nascimento, Marco Antonio Chaer

2008-09-25

A theoretical study on the nitration of methane by acyl nitrate catalyzed by HZSM-5 zeolite is reported. The zeolite was represented by a "double ring" 20T cluster. The calculations were performed at the DFT/X3LYP/6-31G** and MP2/6-31G** levels. The first step of the mechanism involves the protonation of the acyl nitrate by the zeolite and the formation of a nitronium-like ion. The reaction proceeds through a concerted step with the attack of the methane molecule by the nitronium-like ion and the simultaneous transfer of a proton from the methane molecule to the zeolite, thus reconstructing the acidic site. The activation energies for the first and second steps of this reaction are, respectively, 14.09 and 10.14 kcal/mol at X3LYP/6-31G** level and 16.68 and 13.85 kcal/mol at the MP2/6-31G**.

Chlamydia trachomatis Scavenges Host Fatty Acids for Phospholipid Synthesis via an Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Synthetase*

PubMed Central

Yao, Jiangwei; Dodson, V. Joshua; Frank, Matthew W.; Rock, Charles O.

2015-01-01

The obligate intracellular parasite Chlamydia trachomatis has a reduced genome but relies on de novo fatty acid and phospholipid biosynthesis to produce its membrane phospholipids. Lipidomic analyses showed that 8% of the phospholipid molecular species synthesized by C. trachomatis contained oleic acid, an abundant host fatty acid that cannot be made by the bacterium. Mass tracing experiments showed that isotopically labeled palmitic, myristic, and lauric acids added to the medium were incorporated into C. trachomatis-derived phospholipid molecular species. HeLa cells did not elongate lauric acid, but infected HeLa cell cultures elongated laurate to myristate and palmitate. The elongated fatty acids were incorporated exclusively into C. trachomatis-produced phospholipid molecular species. C. trachomatis has adjacent genes encoding the separate domains of the bifunctional acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthetase/2-acylglycerolphosphoethanolamine acyltransferase gene (aas) of Escherichia coli. The CT775 gene encodes an acyltransferase (LpaT) that selectively transfers fatty acids from acyl-ACP to the 1-position of 2-acyl-glycerophospholipids. The CT776 gene encodes an acyl-ACP synthetase (AasC) with a substrate preference for palmitic compared with oleic acid in vitro. Exogenous fatty acids were elongated and incorporated into phospholipids by Escherichia coli-expressing AasC, illustrating its function as an acyl-ACP synthetase in vivo. These data point to an AasC-dependent pathway in C. trachomatis that selectively scavenges host saturated fatty acids to be used for the de novo synthesis of its membrane constituents. PMID:26195634

Peptide Bond Synthesis by a Mechanism Involving an Enzymatic Reaction and a Subsequent Chemical Reaction*

PubMed Central

Abe, Tomoko; Hashimoto, Yoshiteru; Zhuang, Ye; Ge, Yin; Kumano, Takuto; Kobayashi, Michihiko

2016-01-01

We recently reported that an amide bond is unexpectedly formed by an acyl-CoA synthetase (which catalyzes the formation of a carbon-sulfur bond) when a suitable acid and l-cysteine are used as substrates. DltA, which is homologous to the adenylation domain of nonribosomal peptide synthetase, belongs to the same superfamily of adenylate-forming enzymes, which includes many kinds of enzymes, including the acyl-CoA synthetases. Here, we demonstrate that DltA synthesizes not only N-(d-alanyl)-l-cysteine (a dipeptide) but also various oligopeptides. We propose that this enzyme catalyzes peptide synthesis by the following unprecedented mechanism: (i) the formation of S-acyl-l-cysteine as an intermediate via its “enzymatic activity” and (ii) subsequent “chemical” S → N acyl transfer in the intermediate, resulting in peptide formation. Step ii is identical to the corresponding reaction in native chemical ligation, a method of chemical peptide synthesis, whereas step i is not. To the best of our knowledge, our discovery of this peptide synthesis mechanism involving an enzymatic reaction and a subsequent chemical reaction is the first such one to be reported. This new process yields peptides without the use of a thioesterified fragment, which is required in native chemical ligation. Together with these findings, the same mechanism-dependent formation of N-acyl compounds by other members of the above-mentioned superfamily demonstrated that all members most likely form peptide/amide compounds by using this novel mechanism. Each member enzyme acts on a specific substrate; thus, not only the corresponding peptides but also new types of amide compounds can be formed. PMID:26586916

Acyl-CoA:Lysophosphatidylethanolamine Acyltransferase Activity Regulates Growth of Arabidopsis1

PubMed Central

Jasieniecka-Gazarkiewicz, Katarzyna; Lager, Ida; Carlsson, Anders S.; Gutbrod, Katharina; Peisker, Helga; Dörmann, Peter; Stymne, Sten; Banaś, Antoni

2017-01-01

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contains two enzymes (encoded by the At1g80950 and At2g45670 genes) preferentially acylating lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) with acyl-coenzyme A (CoA), designated LYSOPHOSPHATIDYLETHANOLAMINE ACYLTRANSFERASE1 (LPEAT1) and LPEAT2. The transfer DNA insertion mutant lpeat2 and the double mutant lpeat1 lpeat2 showed impaired growth, smaller leaves, shorter roots, less seed setting, and reduced lipid content per fresh weight in roots and seeds and large increases in LPE and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) contents in leaves. Microsomal preparations from leaves of these mutants showed around 70% decrease in acylation activity of LPE with 16:0-CoA compared with wild-type membranes, whereas the acylation with 18:1-CoA was much less affected, demonstrating that other lysophospholipid acyltransferases than the two LPEATs could acylate LPE. The above-mentioned effects were less pronounced in the single lpeat1 mutant. Overexpression of either LPEAT1 or LPEAT2 under the control of the 35S promotor led to morphological changes opposite to what was seen in the transfer DNA mutants. Acyl specificity studies showed that LPEAT1 utilized 16:0-CoA at the highest rate of 11 tested acyl-CoAs, whereas LPEAT2 utilized 20:0-CoA as the best acyl donor. Both LPEATs could acylate either sn position of ether analogs of LPC. The data show that the activities of LPEAT1 and LPEAT2 are, in a complementary way, involved in growth regulation in Arabidopsis. It is shown that LPEAT activity (especially LPEAT2) is essential for maintaining adequate levels of phosphatidylethanolamine, LPE, and LPC in the cells. PMID:28408542

Acyl Meldrum's acid derivatives: application in organic synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janikowska, K.; Rachoń, J.; Makowiec, S.

2014-07-01

This review is focused on an important class of Meldrum's acid derivatives commonly known as acyl Meldrum's acids. The preparation methods of these compounds are considered including the recently proposed and rather rarely used ones. The chemical properties of acyl Meldrum's acids are described in detail, including thermal stability and reactions with various nucleophiles. The possible mechanisms of these transformations are analyzed. The bibliography includes 134 references.

Iridium-Catalyzed Hydrogen Transfer Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saidi, Ourida; Williams, Jonathan M. J.

This chapter describes the application of iridium complexes to catalytic hydrogen transfer reactions. Transfer hydrogenation reactions provide an alternative to direct hydrogenation for the reduction of a range of substrates. A hydrogen donor, typically an alcohol or formic acid, can be used as the source of hydrogen for the reduction of carbonyl compounds, imines, and alkenes. Heteroaromatic compounds and even carbon dioxide have also been reduced by transfer hydrogenation reactions. In the reverse process, the oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds can be achieved by iridium-catalyzed hydrogen transfer reactions, where a ketone or alkene is used as a suitable hydrogen acceptor. The reversible nature of many hydrogen transfer processes has been exploited for the racemization of alcohols, where temporary removal of hydrogen generates an achiral ketone intermediate. In addition, there is a growing body of work where temporary removal of hydrogen provides an opportunity for using alcohols as alkylating agents. In this chemistry, an iridium catalyst "borrows" hydrogen from an alcohol to give an aldehyde or ketone intermediate, which can be transformed into either an imine or alkene under the reaction conditions. Return of the hydrogen from the catalyst provides methodology for the formation of amines or C-C bonds where the only by-product is typically water.

Extensive domain motion and electron transfer in the human electron transferring flavoprotein.medium chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex.

PubMed

Toogood, Helen S; van Thiel, Adam; Basran, Jaswir; Sutcliffe, Mike J; Scrutton, Nigel S; Leys, David

2004-07-30

The crystal structure of the human electron transferring flavoprotein (ETF).medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) complex reveals a dual mode of protein-protein interaction, imparting both specificity and promiscuity in the interaction of ETF with a range of structurally distinct primary dehydrogenases. ETF partitions the functions of partner binding and electron transfer between (i) the recognition loop, which acts as a static anchor at the ETF.MCAD interface, and (ii) the highly mobile redox active FAD domain. Together, these enable the FAD domain of ETF to sample a range of conformations, some compatible with fast interprotein electron transfer. Disorders in amino acid or fatty acid catabolism can be attributed to mutations at the protein-protein interface. Crucially, complex formation triggers mobility of the FAD domain, an induced disorder that contrasts with general models of protein-protein interaction by induced fit mechanisms. The subsequent interfacial motion in the MCAD.ETF complex is the basis for the interaction of ETF with structurally diverse protein partners. Solution studies using ETF and MCAD with mutations at the protein-protein interface support this dynamic model and indicate ionic interactions between MCAD Glu(212) and ETF Arg alpha(249) are likely to transiently stabilize productive conformations of the FAD domain leading to enhanced electron transfer rates between both partners.

Lanthanum Tricyanide-Catalyzed Acyl Silane-Ketone Benzoin Additions and Kinetic Resolution of Resultant α-Silyloxyketones

PubMed Central

Tarr, James C.

2010-01-01

We report the full account of our efforts on the lanthanum tricyanide-catalyzed acyl silane-ketone benzoin reaction. The reaction exhibits a wide scope in both acyl silane (aryl, alkyl) and ketone (aryl-alkyl, alkyl-alkyl, aryl-aryl, alkenyl-alkyl, alkynyl-alkyl) coupling partners. The diastereoselectivity of the reaction has been examined in both cyclic and acyclic systems. Cyclohexanones give products arising from equatorial attack by the acyl silane. The diastereoselectivity of acyl silane addition to acyclic α-hydroxy ketones can be controlled by varying the protecting group to obtain either Felkin-Ahn or chelation control. The resultant α-silyloxyketone products can be resolved with selectivity factors from 10 to 15 by subjecting racemic ketone benzoin products to CBS reduction. PMID:20392127

Lanthanum tricyanide-catalyzed acyl silane-ketone benzoin additions and kinetic resolution of resultant alpha-silyloxyketones.

PubMed

Tarr, James C; Johnson, Jeffrey S

2010-05-21

We report the full account of our efforts on the lanthanum tricyanide-catalyzed acyl silane-ketone benzoin reaction. The reaction exhibits a wide scope in both acyl silane (aryl, alkyl) and ketone (aryl-alkyl, alkyl-alkyl, aryl-aryl, alkenyl-alkyl, alkynyl-alkyl) coupling partners. The diastereoselectivity of the reaction has been examined in both cyclic and acyclic systems. Cyclohexanones give products arising from equatorial attack by the acyl silane. The diastereoselectivity of acyl silane addition to acyclic alpha-hydroxy ketones can be controlled by varying the protecting group to obtain either Felkin-Ahn or chelation control. The resultant alpha-silyloxyketone products can be resolved with selectivity factors from 10 to 15 by subjecting racemic ketone benzoin products to CBS reduction.

Ground-State Distortion in N-Acyl-tert-butyl-carbamates (Boc) and N-Acyl-tosylamides (Ts): Twisted Amides of Relevance to Amide N-C Cross-Coupling.

PubMed

Szostak, Roman; Shi, Shicheng; Meng, Guangrong; Lalancette, Roger; Szostak, Michal

2016-09-02

Amide N-C(O) bonds are generally unreactive in cross-coupling reactions employing low-valent transition metals due to nN → π*C═O resonance. Herein we demonstrate that N-acyl-tert-butyl-carbamates (Boc) and N-acyl-tosylamides (Ts), two classes of acyclic amides that have recently enabled the development of elusive amide bond N-C cross-coupling reactions with organometallic reagents, are intrinsically twisted around the N-C(O) axis. The data have important implications for the design of new amide cross-coupling reactions with the N-C(O) amide bond cleavage as a key step.

Enantioselective N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis via the Dienyl Acyl Azolium.

PubMed

Gillard, Rachel M; Fernando, Jared E M; Lupton, David W

2018-04-16

Herein we report the enantioselective N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed (4+2) annulation of the dienyl acyl azolium with enolates. The reaction exploits readily accessible acyl fluorides and TMS enol ethers to give a range of highly enantio- and diastereo-enriched cyclohexenes (most >97:3 er and >20:1 dr). The reaction was found to require high nucleophilicity NHC catalysts with mechanistic studies supporting a stepwise 1,6-addition/β-lactonization. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Novel approach in LC-MS/MS using MRM to generate a full profile of acyl-CoAs: discovery of acyl-dephospho-CoAs.

PubMed

Li, Qingling; Zhang, Shenghui; Berthiaume, Jessica M; Simons, Brigitte; Zhang, Guo-Fang

2014-03-01

A metabolomic approach to selectively profile all acyl-CoAs was developed using a programmed multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method in LC-MS/MS and was employed in the analysis of various rat organs. The programmed MRM method possessed 300 mass ion transitions with the mass difference of 507 between precursor ion (Q1) and product ion (Q3), and the precursor ion started from m/z 768 and progressively increased one mass unit at each step. Acyl-dephospho-CoAs resulting from the dephosphorylation of acyl-CoAs were identified by accurate MS and fragmentation. Acyl-dephospho-CoAs were also quantitatively scanned by the MRM method with the mass difference of 427 between Q1 and Q3 mass ions. Acyl-CoAs and dephospho-CoAs were assayed with limits of detection ranging from 2 to 133 nM. The accuracy of the method was demonstrated by assaying a range of concentrations of spiked acyl-CoAs with the results of 80-114%. The distribution of acyl-CoAs reflects the metabolic status of each organ. The physiological role of dephosphorylation of acyl-CoAs remains to be further characterized. The methodology described herein provides a novel strategy in metabolomic studies to quantitatively and qualitatively profile all potential acyl-CoAs and acyl-dephospho-CoAs.

Acyl hydrazides as acyl donors for the synthesis of diaryl and aryl alkyl ketones.

PubMed

Akhbar, Ahmed R; Chudasama, Vijay; Fitzmaurice, Richard J; Powell, Lyn; Caddick, Stephen

2014-01-21

In this communication we describe a novel strategy for the formation of valuable diaryl and aryl alkyl ketones from acyl hydrazides. A wide variety of ketones are prepared and the mild reaction conditions allow for the use of a range of functionalities, especially in the synthesis of diaryl ketones.

Nucleon transfer reactions with radioactive beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimmer, K.

2018-03-01

Transfer reactions are a valuable tool to study the single-particle structure of nuclei. At radioactive beam facilities transfer reactions have to be performed in inverse kinematics. This creates a number of experimental challenges, but it also has some advantages over normal kinematics measurements. An overview of the experimental and theoretical methods for transfer reactions, especially with radioactive beams, is presented. Recent experimental results and highlights on shell evolution in exotic nuclei are discussed.

Insight into Coenzyme A cofactor binding and the mechanism of acyl-transfer in an acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase from Clostridium phytofermentans

PubMed Central

Tuck, Laura R.; Altenbach, Kirsten; Ang, Thiau Fu; Crawshaw, Adam D.; Campopiano, Dominic J.; Clarke, David J.; Marles-Wright, Jon

2016-01-01

The breakdown of fucose and rhamnose released from plant cell walls by the cellulolytic soil bacterium Clostridium phytofermentans produces toxic aldehyde intermediates. To enable growth on these carbon sources, the pathway for the breakdown of fucose and rhamnose is encapsulated within a bacterial microcompartment (BMC). These proteinaceous organelles sequester the toxic aldehyde intermediates and allow the efficient action of acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes to produce an acyl-CoA that is ultimately used in substrate-level phosphorylation to produce ATP. Here we analyse the kinetics of the aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme from the fucose/rhamnose utilisation BMC with different short-chain fatty aldehydes and show that it has activity against substrates with up to six carbon atoms, with optimal activity against propionaldehyde. We have also determined the X-ray crystal structure of this enzyme in complex with CoA and show that the adenine nucleotide of this cofactor is bound in a distinct pocket to the same group in NAD+. This work is the first report of the structure of CoA bound to an aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme and our crystallographic model provides important insight into the differences within the active site that distinguish the acylating from non-acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes. PMID:26899032

Insight into Coenzyme A cofactor binding and the mechanism of acyl-transfer in an acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase from Clostridium phytofermentans.

PubMed

Tuck, Laura R; Altenbach, Kirsten; Ang, Thiau Fu; Crawshaw, Adam D; Campopiano, Dominic J; Clarke, David J; Marles-Wright, Jon

2016-02-22

The breakdown of fucose and rhamnose released from plant cell walls by the cellulolytic soil bacterium Clostridium phytofermentans produces toxic aldehyde intermediates. To enable growth on these carbon sources, the pathway for the breakdown of fucose and rhamnose is encapsulated within a bacterial microcompartment (BMC). These proteinaceous organelles sequester the toxic aldehyde intermediates and allow the efficient action of acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes to produce an acyl-CoA that is ultimately used in substrate-level phosphorylation to produce ATP. Here we analyse the kinetics of the aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme from the fucose/rhamnose utilisation BMC with different short-chain fatty aldehydes and show that it has activity against substrates with up to six carbon atoms, with optimal activity against propionaldehyde. We have also determined the X-ray crystal structure of this enzyme in complex with CoA and show that the adenine nucleotide of this cofactor is bound in a distinct pocket to the same group in NAD(+). This work is the first report of the structure of CoA bound to an aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme and our crystallographic model provides important insight into the differences within the active site that distinguish the acylating from non-acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes.

Photoaffinity Labeling of Developing Jojoba Seed Microsomal Membranes with a Photoreactive Analog of Acyl-Coenzyme A (Acyl-CoA) (Identification of a Putative Acyl-CoA:Fatty Alcohol Acyltransferase.

PubMed

Shockey, J. M.; Rajasekharan, R.; Kemp, J. D.

1995-01-01

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis, Link) is the only plant known that synthesizes liquid wax. The final step in liquid wax biosynthesis is catalyzed by an integral membrane enzyme, fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA):fatty alcohol acyltransferase, which transfers an acyl chain from acyl-CoA to a fatty alcohol to form the wax ester. To purify the acyltransferase, we have labeled the enzyme with a radioiodinated, photoreactive analog of acyl-CoA, 12-[N-(4-azidosalicyl)amino] dodecanoyl-CoA (ASD-CoA). This molecule acts as an inhibitor of acyltransferase activity in the dark and as an irreversible inhibitor upon exposure to ultraviolet light. Oleoyl-CoA protects enzymatic activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Photolysis of microsomal membranes with labeled ASD-CoA resulted in strong labeling of two polypeptides of 57 and 52 kD. Increasing concentrations of oleoyl-CoA reduced the labeling of the 57-kD polypeptide dramatically, whereas the labeling of the 52-kD polypeptide was much less responsive to oleoyl-CoA. Also, unlike the other polypeptide, the labeling of the 57-kD polypeptide was enhanced considerably when photolyzed in the presence of dodecanol. These results suggest that a 57-kD polypeptide from jojoba microsomes may be the acyl-CoA:fatty alcohol acyltransferase.

Toward Green Acylation of (Hetero)arenes: Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation of Olefins to Ketones

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Green Friedel–Crafts acylation reactions belong to the most desired transformations in organic chemistry. The resulting ketones constitute important intermediates, building blocks, and functional molecules in organic synthesis as well as for the chemical industry. Over the past 60 years, advances in this topic have focused on how to make this reaction more economically and environmentally friendly by using green acylating conditions, such as stoichiometric acylations and catalytic homogeneous and heterogeneous acylations. However, currently well-established methodologies for their synthesis either produce significant amounts of waste or proceed under harsh conditions, limiting applications. Here, we present a new protocol for the straightforward and selective introduction of acyl groups into (hetero)arenes without directing groups by using available olefins with inexpensive CO. In the presence of commercial palladium catalysts, inter- and intramolecular carbonylative C–H functionalizations take place with good regio- and chemoselectivity. Compared to classical Friedel–Crafts chemistry, this novel methodology proceeds under mild reaction conditions. The general applicability of this methodology is demonstrated by the direct carbonylation of industrial feedstocks (ethylene and diisobutene) as well as of natural products (eugenol and safrole). Furthermore, synthetic applications to drug molecules are showcased. PMID:29392174

Regioselective self-acylating cyclodextrins in organic solvent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Eunae; Yun, Deokgyu; Jeong, Daham; Im, Jieun; Kim, Hyunki; Dindulkar, Someshwar D.; Choi, Youngjin; Jung, Seunho

2016-03-01

Amphiphilic cyclodextrins have been synthesized with self-acylating reaction using vinyl esters in dimethylformamide. In the present study no base, catalyst, or enzyme was used, and the structural analyses using thin layer chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry show that the cyclodextrin is substituted preferentially by one acyl moiety at the C2 position of the glucose unit, suggesting that cyclodextrin functions as a regioselective catalytic carbohydrate in organic solvent. In the self-acylation, the most acidic OH group at the 2-position and the inclusion complexing ability of cyclodextrin were considered to be significant. The substrate preference was also observed in favor of the long-chain acyl group, which could be attributed to the inclusion ability of cyclodextrin cavity. Furthermore, using the model amphiphilic building block, 2-O-mono-lauryl β-cyclodextrin, the self-organized supramolecular architecture with nano-vesicular morphology in water was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The cavity-type nano-assembled vesicle and the novel synthetic methods for the preparation of mono-acylated cyclodextrin should be of great interest with regard to drug/gene delivery systems, functional surfactants, and carbohydrate derivatization methods.

Photoaffinity Labeling of Developing Jojoba Seed Microsomal Membranes with a Photoreactive Analog of Acyl-Coenzyme A (Acyl-CoA) (Identification of a Putative Acyl-CoA:Fatty Alcohol Acyltransferase.

PubMed Central

Shockey, J. M.; Rajasekharan, R.; Kemp, J. D.

1995-01-01

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis, Link) is the only plant known that synthesizes liquid wax. The final step in liquid wax biosynthesis is catalyzed by an integral membrane enzyme, fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA):fatty alcohol acyltransferase, which transfers an acyl chain from acyl-CoA to a fatty alcohol to form the wax ester. To purify the acyltransferase, we have labeled the enzyme with a radioiodinated, photoreactive analog of acyl-CoA, 12-[N-(4-azidosalicyl)amino] dodecanoyl-CoA (ASD-CoA). This molecule acts as an inhibitor of acyltransferase activity in the dark and as an irreversible inhibitor upon exposure to ultraviolet light. Oleoyl-CoA protects enzymatic activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Photolysis of microsomal membranes with labeled ASD-CoA resulted in strong labeling of two polypeptides of 57 and 52 kD. Increasing concentrations of oleoyl-CoA reduced the labeling of the 57-kD polypeptide dramatically, whereas the labeling of the 52-kD polypeptide was much less responsive to oleoyl-CoA. Also, unlike the other polypeptide, the labeling of the 57-kD polypeptide was enhanced considerably when photolyzed in the presence of dodecanol. These results suggest that a 57-kD polypeptide from jojoba microsomes may be the acyl-CoA:fatty alcohol acyltransferase. PMID:12228351

Transfer of arachidonate from phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylethanolamine and triacylglycerol in guinea pig alveolar macrophages

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nijssen, J.G.; Oosting, R.S.; Nkamp, F.Pv.

1986-10-01

Guinea pig alveolar macrophages were labeled by incubation with either arachidonate or linoleate. Arachidonate labeled phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and triglycerides (TG) equally well, with each lipid containing about 30% of total cellular radioactivity. In comparison to arachidonate, linoleate was recovered significantly less in PE (7%) and more in TG (47%). To investigate whether redistributions of acyl chains among lipid classes took place, the macrophages were incubated with 1-acyl-2-(1-/sup 14/C)arachidonoyl PC or 1-acyl-2-(1-/sup 14/C)linoleoyl PC. After harvesting, the cells incubated with 1-acyl-2-(1-/sup 14/C)linoleoyl PC contained 86% of the recovered cellular radioactivity in PC, with only small amounts of label beingmore » transferred to PE and TG (3 and 6%, respectively). More extensive redistributions were observed with arachidonate-labeled PC. In this case, only 60% of cellular radioactivity was still associated with PC, while 22 and 12%, respectively, had been transferred to PE and TG. Arachidonate transfer from PC to PE was unaffected by an excess of free arachidonate which inhibited this transfer to TG for over 90%, indicating that different mechanisms or arachidonoyl CoA pools were involved in the transfer of arachidonate from PC to PE and TG. Cells prelabeled with 1-acyl-2-(1-/sup 14/C)arachidonoyl PC released /sup 14/C-label into the medium upon further incubation. This release was slightly stimulated by zymosan and threefold higher in the presence of the Ca2+-ionophore A23187. Labeling of macrophages with intact phospholipid molecules appears to be a suitable method for studying acyl chain redistribution and release reactions.« less

Safety Assessment of Acyl Glucuronides-A Simplified Paradigm.

PubMed

Smith, Dennis A; Hammond, Timothy; Baillie, Thomas A

2018-06-01

While simple O - (ether-linked) and N -glucuronide drug conjugates generally are unreactive and considered benign from a safety perspective, the acyl glucuronides that derive from metabolism of carboxylic acid-containing xenobiotics can exhibit a degree of chemical reactivity that is dependent upon their molecular structure. As a result, concerns have arisen over the safety of acyl glucuronides as a class, several members of which have been implicated in the toxicity of their respective parent drugs. However, direct evidence in support of these claims remains sparse, and due to frequently encountered species differences in the systemic exposure to acyl glucuronides (both of the parent drug and oxidized derivatives thereof), coupled with their instability in aqueous media and potential to undergo chemical rearrangement (acyl migration), qualification of these conjugates by traditional safety assessment methods can be very challenging. In this Commentary, we discuss alternative (non-acyl glucuronide) mechanisms by which carboxylic acids may cause serious adverse reactions, and propose a novel, practical approach to compare systemic exposure to acyl glucuronide metabolites in humans to that in animal species used in preclinical safety assessment based on relative estimates of the total body burden of these circulating conjugates. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Group transfer and electron transfer reactions of organometallic complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atwood, Jim D.

During 1994, despite the disruptions, the authors have made progress in several aspects of their research on electron transfer reactions between organometallic complexes. This summary covers three areas that are relatively complete: (1) reactions between metal carbonyl anions and metal carbonyl halides, (2) reactions of hydrido- and alkyl-containing anions (RFe(CO)4(-) and RW(CO)5(-) with metal carbonyl cations; and (3) reactions of a seventeen-electron complex (Cp* Cr(CO)3*) with metal carbonyl derivatives. Two areas of examination that have just begun (possible carbene transfer and the possible role of metal carbonyl anions in carbon-hydrogen bond activation) will also be described.

Functional role of a distal (3'-phosphate) group of CoA in the recombinant human liver medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase-catalysed reaction.

PubMed Central

Peterson, K L; Srivastava, D K

1997-01-01

The X-ray crystallographic structure of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD)-octenoyl-CoA complex reveals that the 3'-phosphate group of CoA is confined to the exterior of the protein structure [approx. 15 A (1.5 nm) away from the enzyme active site], and is fully exposed to the outside solvent environment. To ascertain whether such a distal (3'-phosphate) fragment of CoA plays any significant role in the enzyme catalysis, we investigated the recombinant human liver MCAD (HMCAD)-catalysed reaction by using normal (phospho) and 3'-phosphate-truncated (dephospho) forms of octanoyl-CoA and butyryl-CoA substrates. The steady-state kinetic data revealed that deletion of the 3'-phosphate group from octanoyl-CoA substrate increased the turnover rate of the enzyme to about one-quarter, whereas that from butyryl-CoA substrate decreased the turnover rate of the enzyme to about one-fifth; the Km values of both these substrates were increased by 5-10-fold on deletion of the 3'-phosphate group from the corresponding acyl-CoA substrates. The transient kinetics for the reductive half-reaction, oxidative half-reaction and the dissociation 'off-rate' (of the reaction product from the oxidized enzyme site) were all found to be affected by deletions of the 3'-phosphate group from octanoyl-CoA and butyryl-CoA substrates. A cumulative account of these results reveals that, although the 3'-phosphate group of acyl-CoA substrates might seem 'useless' on the basis of the structural data, it has an essential functional role during HMCAD catalysis. PMID:9271097

An insight on acyl migration in solvent-free ethanolysis of model triglycerides using Novozym 435.

PubMed

Sánchez, Daniel Alberto; Tonetto, Gabriela Marta; Ferreira, María Luján

2016-02-20

In this work, the ethanolysis of triglycerides catalyzed by immobilized lipase was studied, focusing on the secondary reaction of acyl migration. The catalytic tests were performed in a solvent-free reaction medium using Novozym 435 as biocatalyst. The selected experimental variables were biocatalyst loading (5-20mg), reaction time (30-90min), and chain length of the fatty acids in triglycerides with and without unsaturation (short (triacetin), medium (tricaprylin) and long (tripalmitin/triolein)). The formation of 2-monoglyceride by ethanolysis of triglycerides was favored by long reaction times and large biocatalyst loading with saturated short- to medium-chain triglycerides. In the case of long-chain triglycerides, the formation of this monoglyceride was widely limited by acyl migration. In turn, acyl migration increased the yield of ethyl esters and minimized the content of monoglycerides and diglycerides. Thus, the enzymatic synthesis of biodiesel was favored by long-chain triglycerides (which favor the acyl migration), long reaction times and large biocatalyst loading. The conversion of acylglycerides made from long-chain fatty acids with unsaturation was relatively low due to limitations in their access to the active site of the lipase. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alpha-transfer reactions with large energy transfers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Froehlich, H.; Shimoda, T.; Ishihara, M.

1979-06-04

Alpha-transfer reactions (/sup 20/Ne,/sup 16/O), (/sup 14/N,/sup 10/B), and (/sup 13/C,/sup 9/Be) on a /sup 40/Ca target were studied at 262, 153, 149 MeV, respectively. Analysis in terms of the direction-reaction theory reproduced the observed continuum spectra and angular distributions well, except for the cross section of the reaction (/sup 20/Ne,/sup 16/O) at small angles, which is attributed to a projectile breakup process.

Synthesis of 2-acyl-1,4-diketones via the diacylation of {alpha},{beta}-unsaturated ketones

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, N.S.; Yu, S.; Kabalka, G.W.

1998-08-17

The first example of a diacylation of the carbon-carbon double bond in {alpha},{beta}-unsaturated ketones is described. The reaction of acylcyanocuprate reagents with {alpha},{beta}-unsaturated ketones, followed by C-acylation, produces 2-acyl-1,4-diketones in good yields (50--89%). The 1,4-addition of organocuprate reagents to conjugated enones, followed by trapping of the enolate intermediates with various electrophiles, is one of the most useful synthetic reactions. However, to the best of the authors` knowledge, 1,4-acylation followed by trapping of the enolate intermediates with acid chloride has not been reported.

An Unusual Fatty Acyl:Adenylate Ligase (FAAL)-Acyl Carrier Protein (ACP) Didomain in Ambruticin Biosynthesis.

PubMed

Hemmerling, Franziska; Lebe, Karen E; Wunderlich, Johannes; Hahn, Frank

2018-03-08

The divinylcyclopropane (DVC) fragment of the ambruticins is proposed to be formed by a unique polyene cyclisation mechanism, in which the unusual didomain AmbG plays a key role. It is proposed to activate the branched thioester carboxylic acid resulting from polyene cyclisation and to transfer it to its associated acyl carrier protein (ACP). After oxidative decarboxylation, the intermediate is channelled back into polyketide synthase (PKS) processing. AmbG was previously annotated as an adenylation-thiolation didomain with a very unusual substrate selectivity code but has not yet been biochemically studied. On the basis of sequence and homology model analysis, we reannotate AmbG as a fatty acyl:adenylate ligase (FAAL)-acyl carrier protein didomain with unusual substrate specificity. The expected adenylate-forming activity on fatty acids was confirmed by in vitro studies. AmbG also adenylates a number of structurally diverse carboxylic acids, including functionalised fatty acids and unsaturated and aromatic carboxylic acids. HPLC-MS analysis and competition experiments show that AmbG preferentially acylates its ACP with long-chain hydrophobic acids and tolerates a π system and a branch near the carboxylic acid. AmbG is the first characterised example of a FAAL-ACP didomain that is centrally located in a PKS and apparently activates a polyketidic intermediate. This is an important step towards deeper biosynthetic studies such as partial reconstitution of the ambruticin pathway to elucidate DVC formation. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Transfer reactions induced by lithium ions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ogloblin, A.A.

The review deals with nuclear reactions induced by /sup 6/Li and /sup 7/ Li io ns having energies between 10 and 30 MeV. Due to the cluster structure of / sup 6/Li (/sup 6/Li= alpha +d) and /sup 7/Li (/sup 7/Li= alpha +t) and the low bindi ng energy of these nuclei, one of the clustcr is directly transferred in (/ sup 6/Li, d), (/sup 7/Li, t) (/sup 6/Li alpha ) and (/sup 7/Li, alpha ) reactions, i.e., the alpha p article, the deuteron, or the triton is directly transferred. Particular attention is paid to the (/sup 6/Li, d) andmore » (/sup 7/Li, t) reactions, in which the cluster-transfe r mechanism (alpha-particle transfer) appear in ita purest fomn. These reactions can be used to study the alpha- particle or quartet states of light nuclei, which are difficult or impossible to excite in any other way. The present state of the theory of multinucleon transfcr reactions is considered and the application of the theory to thc analysis of reactions induced by lithium atoms is discussed. (auth)« less

Novozyme 435-catalyzed asymmetric acylation of (R, S)-3-n- butylphthalide in hexane.

PubMed

He, Laping; Li, Cuiqin; Gao, Bing

2009-01-01

The asymmetric acylation of (R, S)-3-n-butylphthalide could be efficiently catalyzed by Novozyme 435. The effect of various reaction parameters such as water activity, temperature, molar ratio of acetic anhydride to (R, S)-3-n-butylphthalide, and reaction time on the asymmetric acylation were studied. The optimums of the reaction parameters were water activity 0.62, temperature 30 degrees C, molar ratio of acetic anhydride to (R, S)-3-n-butylphthalide 8:1, and reaction time 48 h, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, enantiopure 3-n-butylphthalide with an optical purity of 95.7% enantiomeric excess and 49.1% yield could be obtained. Furthermore, the enantiomeric excess of product was over 98%.

Investigation of acyl migration in mono- and dicaffeoylquinic acids under aqueous basic, aqueous acidic, and dry roasting conditions.

PubMed

Deshpande, Sagar; Jaiswal, Rakesh; Matei, Marius Febi; Kuhnert, Nikolai

2014-09-17

Acyl migration in chlorogenic acids describes the process of migration of cinnamoyl moieties from one quinic acid alcohol group to another, thus interconverting chlorogenic acid regioisomers. It therefore constitutes a special case of transesterification reaction. Acyl migration constitutes an important reaction pathway in both coffee roasting and brewing, altering the structure of chlorogenic acid initially present in the green coffee bean. In this contribution we describe detailed and comprehensive mechanistic studies comparing inter- and intramolecular acyl migration involving the seven most common chlorogenic acids in coffee. We employe aqueous acidic and basic conditions mimicking the brewing of coffee along with dry roasting conditions. We show that under aqueous basic conditions intramolecular acyl migration is fully reversible with basic hydrolysis competing with acyl migration. 3-Caffeoylquinic acid was shown to be most labile to basic hydrolysis. We additionally show that the acyl migration process is strongly pH dependent with increased transesterification taking place at basic pH. Under dry roasting conditions acyl migration competes with dehydration to form lactones. We argue that acyl migration precedes lactonization, with 3-caffeoylquinic acid lactone being the predominant product.

Plant acyl-CoA:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferases (LPCATs) have different specificities in their forward and reverse reactions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Acyl-CoA:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LPCAT) enzymes have central roles inacyl editing of phosphatidylcholine (PC). Plant LPCAT genes were expressed in yeast and characterized biochemically in microsomal preparations of the cells. Specificities for different acyl-CoAs were similar for se...

A classical but new kinetic equation for hydride transfer reactions.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiao-Qing; Deng, Fei-Huang; Yang, Jin-Dong; Li, Xiu-Tao; Chen, Qiang; Lei, Nan-Ping; Meng, Fan-Kun; Zhao, Xiao-Peng; Han, Su-Hui; Hao, Er-Jun; Mu, Yuan-Yuan

2013-09-28

A classical but new kinetic equation to estimate activation energies of various hydride transfer reactions was developed according to transition state theory using the Morse-type free energy curves of hydride donors to release a hydride anion and hydride acceptors to capture a hydride anion and by which the activation energies of 187 typical hydride self-exchange reactions and more than thirty thousand hydride cross transfer reactions in acetonitrile were safely estimated in this work. Since the development of the kinetic equation is only on the basis of the related chemical bond changes of the hydride transfer reactants, the kinetic equation should be also suitable for proton transfer reactions, hydrogen atom transfer reactions and all the other chemical reactions involved with breaking and formation of chemical bonds. One of the most important contributions of this work is to have achieved the perfect unity of the kinetic equation and thermodynamic equation for hydride transfer reactions.

Counter-transference reactions contributing to completed suicide.

PubMed

Modestin, J

1987-12-01

Counter-transference reactions are frequently elicited while treating suicidal patients and they may contribute to the patient's committing suicide. Therapeutic constellations including the failure of the therapist to (1) cope with the patient's aggressiveness, (2) tolerate the patient's dependency, (3) handle the erotic transference adequately and (4) preserve loyalty towards the patient; they have all been identified as being responsible for a therapeutic impasse with fatal consequences. Knowledge of the therapeutic constellations especially prone to facilitate negative counter-transference reactions may help the therapist to master them effectively.

Decarboxylation of malonyl-(acyl carrier protein) by 3-oxoacyl-(acyl carrier protein) synthases in plant fatty acid biosynthesis.

PubMed Central

Winter, E; Brummel, M; Schuch, R; Spener, F

1997-01-01

In order to identify regulatory steps in fatty acid biosynthesis, the influence of intermediate 3-oxoacyl-(acyl carrier proteins) (3-oxoacyl-ACPs) and end-product acyl-ACPs of the fatty acid synthase reaction on the condensation reaction was investigated in vitro, using total fatty acid synthase preparations and purified 3-oxoacyl-ACP synthases (KASs; EC 2.3.1.41) from Cuphea lanceolata seeds. KAS I and II in the fatty acid synthase preparations were assayed for the elongation of octanoyl- and hexadecanoyl-ACP respectively, and the accumulation of the corresponding condensation product 3-oxoacyl-ACP was studied by modulating the content of the reducing equivalentS NADH and NADPH. Complete omission of reducing equivalents resulted with either KAS in the abnormal synthesis of acetyl-ACP from malonyl-ACP by a decarboxylation reaction. Supplementation with NADPH or NADH, separately or in combination with recombinant 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase (EC 1.1.1.100), led to a decrease in the amount of acetyl-ACP and a simultaneous increase in elongation products. This demonstrates that the accumulation of 3-oxoacyl-ACP inhibits the condensation reaction on the one hand, and induces the decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP on the other. By carrying out similar experiments with purified enzymes, this decarboxylation was attributed to the action of KAS. Our data point to a regulatory mechanism for the degradation of malonyl-ACP in plants which is activated by the accumulation of the fatty acid synthase intermediate 3-oxoacyl-ACP. PMID:9020860

Decarboxylation of malonyl-(acyl carrier protein) by 3-oxoacyl-(acyl carrier protein) synthases in plant fatty acid biosynthesis.

PubMed

Winter, E; Brummel, M; Schuch, R; Spener, F

1997-01-15

In order to identify regulatory steps in fatty acid biosynthesis, the influence of intermediate 3-oxoacyl-(acyl carrier proteins) (3-oxoacyl-ACPs) and end-product acyl-ACPs of the fatty acid synthase reaction on the condensation reaction was investigated in vitro, using total fatty acid synthase preparations and purified 3-oxoacyl-ACP synthases (KASs; EC 2.3.1.41) from Cuphea lanceolata seeds. KAS I and II in the fatty acid synthase preparations were assayed for the elongation of octanoyl- and hexadecanoyl-ACP respectively, and the accumulation of the corresponding condensation product 3-oxoacyl-ACP was studied by modulating the content of the reducing equivalentS NADH and NADPH. Complete omission of reducing equivalents resulted with either KAS in the abnormal synthesis of acetyl-ACP from malonyl-ACP by a decarboxylation reaction. Supplementation with NADPH or NADH, separately or in combination with recombinant 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase (EC 1.1.1.100), led to a decrease in the amount of acetyl-ACP and a simultaneous increase in elongation products. This demonstrates that the accumulation of 3-oxoacyl-ACP inhibits the condensation reaction on the one hand, and induces the decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP on the other. By carrying out similar experiments with purified enzymes, this decarboxylation was attributed to the action of KAS. Our data point to a regulatory mechanism for the degradation of malonyl-ACP in plants which is activated by the accumulation of the fatty acid synthase intermediate 3-oxoacyl-ACP.

Effects of substrate fatty acids on products of lecithin hydrolysis and acyl-CoA-independent transacylation with cholesterol by aortic enzyme preparations.

PubMed

Patelski, J; Pioruńska-Stolzmann, M

1985-01-01

The acyl composition of substrates and products of enzymatic hydrolysis and transacylation of lecithin with cholesterol in the arterial wall was investigated. Saturated acyl residues predominated in lysolecithin and unsaturated ones in acids released by hydrolysis of egg lecithin. In the reaction system with cholesterol, saturated acyls predominated in both lysolecithin and acids released whereas unsaturated ones were more abundant in newly formed acylcholesterols. Mainly unsaturated acyls were present in the hydrolysis products from soybean lecithin in the reaction systems with and without cholesterol. For acylcholesterols formed in the presence of either lecithin, the percent values are in the numerical order of C18:2 greater than C18:1 greater than C16:0 greater than or equal to C18:0. It It is concluded that acyl preferences and interactions in the enzyme-catalyzed reactions studied may contribute to the different accumulation and removal of the compounds involved from the artery.

Investigation of the mechanism of the cell wall DD-carboxypeptidase reaction of penicillin-binding protein 5 of Escherichia coli by quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations.

PubMed

Shi, Qicun; Meroueh, Samy O; Fisher, Jed F; Mobashery, Shahriar

2008-07-23

Penicillin-binding protein 5 (PBP 5) of Escherichia coli hydrolyzes the terminal D-Ala-D-Ala peptide bond of the stem peptides of the cell wall peptidoglycan. The mechanism of PBP 5 catalysis of amide bond hydrolysis is initial acylation of an active site serine by the peptide substrate, followed by hydrolytic deacylation of this acyl-enzyme intermediate to complete the turnover. The microscopic events of both the acylation and deacylation half-reactions have not been studied. This absence is addressed here by the use of explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations and ONIOM quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations. The potential-energy surface for the acylation reaction, based on MP2/6-31+G(d) calculations, reveals that Lys47 acts as the general base for proton abstraction from Ser44 in the serine acylation step. A discrete potential-energy minimum for the tetrahedral species is not found. The absence of such a minimum implies a conformational change in the transition state, concomitant with serine addition to the amide carbonyl, so as to enable the nitrogen atom of the scissile bond to accept the proton that is necessary for progression to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that transiently protonated Lys47 is the proton donor in tetrahedral intermediate collapse to the acyl-enzyme species. Two pathways for this proton transfer are observed. One is the direct migration of a proton from Lys47. The second pathway is proton transfer via an intermediary water molecule. Although the energy barriers for the two pathways are similar, more conformers sample the latter pathway. The same water molecule that mediates the Lys47 proton transfer to the nitrogen of the departing D-Ala is well positioned, with respect to the Lys47 amine, to act as the hydrolytic water in the deacylation step. Deacylation occurs with the formation of a tetrahedral intermediate over a 24 kcal x mol(-1) barrier. This barrier is approximately 2

Regioselective Acylation of Diols and Triols: The Cyanide Effect.

PubMed

Peng, Peng; Linseis, Michael; Winter, Rainer F; Schmidt, Richard R

2016-05-11

Central topics of carbohydrate chemistry embrace structural modifications of carbohydrates and oligosaccharide synthesis. Both require regioselectively protected building blocks that are mainly available via indirect multistep procedures. Hence, direct protection methods targeting a specific hydroxy group are demanded. Dual hydrogen bonding will eventually differentiate between differently positioned hydroxy groups. As cyanide is capable of various kinds of hydrogen bonding and as it is a quite strong sterically nondemanding base, regioselective O-acylations should be possible at low temperatures even at sterically congested positions, thus permitting formation and also isolation of the kinetic product. Indeed, 1,2-cis-diols, having an equatorial and an axial hydroxy group, benzoyl cyanide or acetyl cyanide as an acylating agent, and DMAP as a catalyst yield at -78 °C the thermodynamically unfavorable axial O-acylation product; acyl migration is not observed under these conditions. This phenomenon was substantiated with 3,4-O-unproteced galacto- and fucopyranosides and 2,3-O-unprotected mannopyranosides. Even for 3,4,6-O-unprotected galactopyranosides as triols, axial 4-O-acylation is appreciably faster than O-acylation of the primary 6-hydroxy group. The importance of hydrogen bonding for this unusual regioselectivity could be confirmed by NMR studies and DFT calculations, which indicate favorable hydrogen bonding of cyanide to the most acidic axial hydroxy group supported by hydrogen bonding of the equatorial hydroxy group to the axial oxygen. Thus, the "cyanide effect" is due to dual hydrogen bonding of the axial hydroxy group which enhances the nucleophilicity of the respective oxygen atom, permitting an even faster reaction for diols than for mono-ols. In contrast, fluoride as a counterion favors dual hydrogen bonding to both hydroxy groups leading to equatorial O-acylation.

Simple assembly of polysubstituted pyrazoles and isoxazoles via ring closure-ring opening domino reaction of 3-acyl-4,5-dihydrofurans with hydrazines and hydroxylamine.

PubMed

Chagarovskiy, Alexey O; Budynina, Ekaterina M; Ivanova, Olga A; Rybakov, Victor B; Trushkov, Igor V; Melnikov, Mikhail Ya

2016-03-14

A convenient general approach to 2-(pyrazol-4-yl)- and 2-(isoxazol-4-yl)ethanols based on the Brønsted acid-initiated reaction of 3-acyl-4,5-dihydrofurans with hydrazines or hydroxylamine was developed. Further transformation of the alcohol moiety in 2-(pyrazolyl)ethanols affording 2-(pyrazolyl)ethylamine as potent bioactive compounds as well as pyrazole-substituted derivatives of antitumor alkaloid crispine A was elaborated.

Incomplete mass transfer processes in 28Si +93Nb reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tripathi, R.; Sodaye, S.; Ramachandran, K.; Sharma, S. K.; Pujari, P. K.

Cross sections of reaction products were measured in 28Si +93Nb reaction using recoil catcher technique involving by off-line gamma-ray spectrometry at beam energies of 105 and 155MeV. At Elab = 155MeV, the contribution from different incomplete mass transfer processes is investigated. Results of the present studies show the contribution from deep inelastic collision (DIC), massive transfer or incomplete fusion (ICF) and quasi-elastic transfer (QET). The contribution from massive transfer reactions was confirmed from the fractional yield of the reaction products in the forward catcher foil. The present results are different from those from the reactions with comparatively higher entrance channel mass asymmetry with lighter projectiles, for which dominant transfer processes are ICF and QET which involve mass transfer predominantly from projectile to target. The N/Z values of the products close to the target mass were observed to be in a wide range, starting from N/Z of the target (93Nb) and extending slightly below the N/Z of the composite system, consistent with the contribution from DIC and QET reactions. At Elab = 105MeV, a small contribution from QET was observed in addition to complete fusion.

Carbon and Acyl Chain Flux during Stress-induced Triglyceride Accumulation by Stable Isotopic Labeling of the Polar Microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C169*

PubMed Central

Allen, James W.; DiRusso, Concetta C.; Black, Paul N.

2017-01-01

Deriving biofuels and other lipoid products from algae is a promising future technology directly addressing global issues of atmospheric CO2 balance. To better understand the metabolism of triglyceride synthesis in algae, we examined their metabolic origins in the model species, Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C169, using stable isotopic labeling. Labeling patterns arising from [U-13C]glucose, 13CO2, or D2O supplementation were analyzed by GC-MS and/or LC-MS over time courses during nitrogen starvation to address the roles of catabolic carbon recycling, acyl chain redistribution, and de novo fatty acid (FA) synthesis during the expansion of the lipid bodies. The metabolic origin of stress-induced triglyceride was found to be a continuous 8:2 ratio between de novo synthesized FA and acyl chain transfer from pre-stressed membrane lipids with little input from lipid remodeling. Membrane lipids were continually synthesized with associated acyl chain editing during nitrogen stress, in contrast to an overall decrease in total membrane lipid. The incorporation rates of de novo synthesized FA into lipid classes were measured over a time course of nitrogen starvation. The synthesis of triglycerides, phospholipids, and galactolipids followed a two-stage pattern where nitrogen starvation resulted in a 2.5-fold increase followed by a gradual decline. Acyl chain flux into membrane lipids was dominant in the first stage followed by triglycerides. These data indicate that the level of metabolic control that determines acyl chain flux between membrane lipids and triglycerides during nitrogen stress relies primarily on the Kennedy pathway and de novo FA synthesis with limited, defined input from acyl editing reactions. PMID:27903654

Carbon and Acyl Chain Flux during Stress-induced Triglyceride Accumulation by Stable Isotopic Labeling of the Polar Microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C169.

PubMed

Allen, James W; DiRusso, Concetta C; Black, Paul N

2017-01-06

Deriving biofuels and other lipoid products from algae is a promising future technology directly addressing global issues of atmospheric CO 2 balance. To better understand the metabolism of triglyceride synthesis in algae, we examined their metabolic origins in the model species, Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C169, using stable isotopic labeling. Labeling patterns arising from [U- 13 C]glucose, 13 CO 2 , or D 2 O supplementation were analyzed by GC-MS and/or LC-MS over time courses during nitrogen starvation to address the roles of catabolic carbon recycling, acyl chain redistribution, and de novo fatty acid (FA) synthesis during the expansion of the lipid bodies. The metabolic origin of stress-induced triglyceride was found to be a continuous 8:2 ratio between de novo synthesized FA and acyl chain transfer from pre-stressed membrane lipids with little input from lipid remodeling. Membrane lipids were continually synthesized with associated acyl chain editing during nitrogen stress, in contrast to an overall decrease in total membrane lipid. The incorporation rates of de novo synthesized FA into lipid classes were measured over a time course of nitrogen starvation. The synthesis of triglycerides, phospholipids, and galactolipids followed a two-stage pattern where nitrogen starvation resulted in a 2.5-fold increase followed by a gradual decline. Acyl chain flux into membrane lipids was dominant in the first stage followed by triglycerides. These data indicate that the level of metabolic control that determines acyl chain flux between membrane lipids and triglycerides during nitrogen stress relies primarily on the Kennedy pathway and de novo FA synthesis with limited, defined input from acyl editing reactions. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Unexpected Reaction Pathway for butyrylcholinesterase-catalyzed inactivation of “hunger hormone” ghrelin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Jianzhuang; Yuan, Yaxia; Zheng, Fang; Zhan, Chang-Guo

2016-02-01

Extensive computational modeling and simulations have been carried out, in the present study, to uncover the fundamental reaction pathway for butyrylcholinesterase (BChE)-catalyzed hydrolysis of ghrelin, demonstrating that the acylation process of BChE-catalyzed hydrolysis of ghrelin follows an unprecedented single-step reaction pathway and the single-step acylation process is rate-determining. The free energy barrier (18.8 kcal/mol) calculated for the rate-determining step is reasonably close to the experimentally-derived free energy barrier (~19.4 kcal/mol), suggesting that the obtained mechanistic insights are reasonable. The single-step reaction pathway for the acylation is remarkably different from the well-known two-step acylation reaction pathway for numerous ester hydrolysis reactions catalyzed by a serine esterase. This is the first time demonstrating that a single-step reaction pathway is possible for an ester hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by a serine esterase and, therefore, one no longer can simply assume that the acylation process must follow the well-known two-step reaction pathway.

Free Energy Contribution Analysis Using Response Kernel Approximation: Insights into the Acylation Reaction of a Beta-Lactamase.

PubMed

Asada, Toshio; Ando, Kanta; Bandyopadhyay, Pradipta; Koseki, Shiro

2016-09-08

A widely applicable free energy contribution analysis (FECA) method based on the quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) approximation using response kernel approaches has been proposed to investigate the influences of environmental residues and/or atoms in the QM region on the free energy profile. This method can evaluate atomic contributions to the free energy along the reaction path including polarization effects on the QM region within a dramatically reduced computational time. The rate-limiting step in the deactivation of the β-lactam antibiotic cefalotin (CLS) by β-lactamase was studied using this method. The experimentally observed activation barrier was successfully reproduced by free energy perturbation calculations along the optimized reaction path that involved activation by the carboxylate moiety in CLS. It was found that the free energy profile in the QM region was slightly higher than the isolated energy and that two residues, Lys67 and Lys315, as well as water molecules deeply influenced the QM atoms associated with the bond alternation reaction in the acyl-enzyme intermediate. These facts suggested that the surrounding residues are favorable for the reactant complex and prevent the intermediate from being too stabilized to proceed to the following deacylation reaction. We have demonstrated that the free energy contribution analysis should be a useful method to investigate enzyme catalysis and to facilitate intelligent molecular design.

Copper-catalyzed, C-C coupling-based one-pot tandem reactions for the synthesis of benzofurans using o-iodophenols, acyl chlorides, and phosphorus ylides.

PubMed

Liu, Yunyun; Wang, Hang; Wan, Jie-Ping

2014-11-07

One-pot reactions involving acyl chlorides, phosphorus ylides, and o-iodophenols with copper catalysis have been established for the rapid synthesis of functionalized benzofurans. With all of these easily available and stable reactants, the construction of the target products has been accomplished via tandem transformations involving a key C-C coupling, leading to the formation of one C(sp(2))-C bond, one C(sp(2))-O bond, and one C ═ C bond.

Head-group acylation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol is a common stress response, and the acyl-galactose acyl composition varies with the plant species and applied stress

PubMed Central

Vu, Hieu Sy; Roth, Mary R.; Tamura, Pamela; Samarakoon, Thilani; Shiva, Sunitha; Honey, Samuel; Lowe, Kaleb; Schmelz, Eric A.; Williams, Todd D.; Welti, Ruth

2014-01-01

Formation of galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols has been shown to be induced by leaf homogenization, mechanical wounding, avirulent bacterial infection, and thawing after snap-freezing. Here, lipidomic analysis using mass spectrometry showed that galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols, formed in wheat (Triticum aestivum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves upon wounding, have acyl-galactose profiles that differ from those of wounded Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating that different plant species accumulate different acyl-galactose components in response to the same stress. Additionally, the composition of the acyl-galactose component of Arabidopsis acMGDG depends on the stress treatment. After sub-lethal freezing treatment, acMGDG contained mainly non-oxidized fatty acids esterified to galactose, whereas mostly oxidized fatty acids accumulated on galactose after wounding or bacterial infection. Compositional data are consistent with acMGDG being formed in vivo by transacylation with fatty acids from digalactosyldiacylglycerols. Oxophytodienoic acid, an oxidized fatty acid, was more concentrated on the galactosyl ring of acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols than in galactolipids in general. Also, oxidized fatty acid-containing acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols increased cumulatively when wounded Arabidopsis leaves were wounded again. These findings suggest that, in Arabidopsis, the pool of galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols may serve to sequester oxidized fatty acids during stress responses. PMID:24286212

Des-acyl ghrelin prevents heatstroke-like symptoms in rats exposed to high temperature and high humidity.

PubMed

Inoue, Yoshiyuki; Hayashi, Yujiro; Kangawa, Kenji; Suzuki, Yoshihiro; Murakami, Noboru; Nakahara, Keiko

2016-02-26

We have shown previously that des-acyl ghrelin decreases body temperature in rats through activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Here we investigated whether des-acyl ghrelin ameliorates heatstroke in rats exposed to high temperature. Peripheral administration of des-acyl ghrelin significantly attenuated hyperthermia induced by exposure to high-temperature (35°C) together with high humidity (70-80%). Although biochemical analysis revealed that exposure to high temperature significantly increased hematocrit and the serum levels of aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and electrolytes (Na(+), K(+), Cl(-)), most of these heatstroke-associated reactions were significantly reduced by treatment with des-acyl ghrelin. The level of des-acyl ghrelin in plasma was also found to be significantly increased under high-temperature conditions. These results suggest that des-acyl ghrelin could be useful for preventing heatstroke under high temperature condition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transfer Reactions Near the Coulomb Barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonaccorso, Angela

1999-05-01

In this talk I give a brief review of the latest experimental and theoretical developments towards the understanding of the nuclear surface via `quasi-elastic transfer reactions' which are among the best tools for such study since they are very localized both in energy and in impact parameter. There are also comments on how the discovery and study of the so called ``halo'' nuclei has changed or confirmed our previous understanding. The continuous transition towards more complicated reactions like two and multinucleon transfer and fusion is also discussed. Since the problem is still far from being solved I will try to point out the direction for further research, discussing the relative advantages and disadvantages of using reactions with light vs. heavy nuclei and low vs. high beam energies. Special attention is paid to the near to the barrier energies which are the main topic of the conference.

Enzymatic Acylation of Anthocyanins Isolated from Alpine Bearberry ( Arctostaphylos alpina) and Lipophilic Properties, Thermostability, and Antioxidant Capacity of the Derivatives.

PubMed

Yang, Wei; Kortesniemi, Maaria; Yang, Baoru; Zheng, Jie

2018-03-21

Cyanidin-3- O-galactoside (cy-gal) isolated from alpine bearberry ( Arctostaphylos alpine L.) was enzymatically acylated with saturated fatty acids of different chain lengths with Candida antarctica lipase immobilized on acrylic resin (Novozyme 435). The acylation reaction was optimized by considering the reaction medium, acyl donor, substrate molar ratio, reaction temperature, and reaction time. The highest conversion yield of 73% was obtained by reacting cy-gal with lauric acid (molar ratio of 1:10) in tert-butanol at 60 °C for 72 h. A novel compound was synthesized, which was identified as cyanidin-3- O-(6″-dodecanoyl)galactoside by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. Introducing lauric acid into cy-gal significantly improved both the lipophilicity and thermostability and substantially preserved the ultraviolet-visible absorbance and antioxidant properties. The research provides important insight in expanding the application of natural anthocyanins in the cosmetic and food industries.

Acylation, Diastereoselective Alkylation, and Cleavage of an Oxazolidinone Chiral Auxiliary: A Multistep Asymmetric Synthesis Experiment for Advanced Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Thomas E.; Richardson, David P.; Truran, George A.; Belecki, Katherine; Onishi, Megumi

2008-01-01

An introduction to the concepts and experimental techniques of diastereoselective synthesis using a chiral auxiliary is described. The 4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary developed by Evans is acylated with propionic anhydride under mild conditions using DMAP as an acyl transfer catalyst. Deprotonation with NaN(TMS)[subscript 2] at -78…

Stabilization of non-productive conformations underpins rapid electron transfer to electron-transferring flavoprotein.

PubMed

Toogood, Helen S; van Thiel, Adam; Scrutton, Nigel S; Leys, David

2005-08-26

Crystal structures of protein complexes with electron-transferring flavoprotein (ETF) have revealed a dual protein-protein interface with one region serving as anchor while the ETF FAD domain samples available space within the complex. We show that mutation of the conserved Glu-165beta in human ETF leads to drastically modulated rates of interprotein electron transfer with both medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and dimethylglycine dehydrogenase. The crystal structure of free E165betaA ETF is essentially identical to that of wild-type ETF, but the crystal structure of the E165betaA ETF.medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex reveals clear electron density for the FAD domain in a position optimal for fast interprotein electron transfer. Based on our observations, we present a dynamic multistate model for conformational sampling that for the wild-type ETF. medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex involves random motion between three distinct positions for the ETF FAD domain. ETF Glu-165beta plays a key role in stabilizing positions incompatible with fast interprotein electron transfer, thus ensuring high rates of complex dissociation.

A chiral Brønsted acid-catalyzed highly enantioselective Mannich-type reaction of α-diazo esters with in situ generated N-acyl ketimines.

PubMed

Unhale, Rajshekhar A; Sadhu, Milon M; Ray, Sumit K; Biswas, Rayhan G; Singh, Vinod K

2018-04-03

A chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich-type reaction of α-diazo esters with in situ generated N-acyl ketimines, derived from 3-hydroxyisoindolinones has been demonstrated in this communication. A variety of isoindolinone-based α-amino diazo esters bearing a quaternary stereogenic center were afforded in high yields (up to 99%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). Furthermore, the synthetic utility of the products has been depicted by the hydrogenation of the diazo moiety of adducts.

Transfer reaction code with nonlocal interactions

DOE PAGES

Titus, L. J.; Ross, A.; Nunes, F. M.

2016-07-14

We present a suite of codes (NLAT for nonlocal adiabatic transfer) to calculate the transfer cross section for single-nucleon transfer reactions, (d,N)(d,N) or (N,d)(N,d), including nonlocal nucleon–target interactions, within the adiabatic distorted wave approximation. For this purpose, we implement an iterative method for solving the second order nonlocal differential equation, for both scattering and bound states. The final observables that can be obtained with NLAT are differential angular distributions for the cross sections of A(d,N)BA(d,N)B or B(N,d)AB(N,d)A. Details on the implementation of the TT-matrix to obtain the final cross sections within the adiabatic distorted wave approximation method are also provided.more » This code is suitable to be applied for deuteron induced reactions in the range of View the MathML sourceEd=10–70MeV, and provides cross sections with 4% accuracy.« less

Extracting Spectroscopic Factors of Argon Isotopes from Transfer Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manfredi, Juan; Tsang, M. B.; Lynch, W. G.; Brown, K. W.; Cerizza, G.; Barney, J.; Estee, J.; Loelius, C.; Sweany, S.; Anderson, C.; Setiawan, H.; Winkelbauer, J.; Smith, K.; Lee, J.; Xu, Z.; Rogers, A.; Pruitt, C.; Chajecki, Z.; Chen, G.; Langer, C.; Xiao, Z.; Li, Z.; Niu, C.

2017-09-01

A spectroscopic factor (SF) quantifies the single particle structure of a given state in a nucleus. There is a discrepancy in extracted SF's between studies that use transfer reactions and those that use knockout reactions. Resolving this discrepancy is important both for understanding reaction probes as well as constraining nuclear structure theory. Kinematically complete measurements of the transfer reactions 34Ar(p,d) and 46Ar(p,d) were performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The same beam energy (70 MeV/u) was used as in a previous knockout measurement to account for energy dependence in the relevant optical potentials. Preliminary results will be presented. In addition, findings from measurement of the two-neutron transfer reactions 34Ar(p,t) and 4 6 Ar(p,t) will be discussed. This work was supported by the NSF (PHY 1565546) and the DOE NNSA Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship.

Reaction mechanism of recombinant 3-oxoacyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) synthase III from Cuphea wrightii embryo, a fatty acid synthase type II condensing enzyme.

PubMed

Abbadi, A; Brummel, M; Schütt, B S; Slabaugh, M B; Schuch, R; Spener, F

2000-01-01

A unique feature of fatty acid synthase (FAS) type II of higher plants and bacteria is 3-oxoacyl-[acyl-carrier-protein (ACP)] synthase III (KAS III), which catalyses the committing condensing reaction. Working with KAS IIIs from Cuphea seeds we obtained kinetic evidence that KAS III catalysis follows a Ping-Pong mechanism and that these enzymes have substrate-binding sites for acetyl-CoA and malonyl-ACP. It was the aim of the present study to identify these binding sites and to elucidate the catalytic mechanism of recombinant Cuphea wrightii KAS III, which we expressed in Escherichia coli. We engineered mutants, which allowed us to dissect the condensing reaction into three stages, i.e. formation of acyl-enzyme, decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP, and final Claisen condensation. Incubation of recombinant enzyme with [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA-labelled Cys(111), and the replacement of this residue by Ala and Ser resulted in loss of overall condensing activity. The Cys(111)Ser mutant, however, still was able to bind acetyl-CoA and to catalyse subsequent binding and decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP to acetyl-ACP. We replaced His(261) with Ala and Arg and found that the former lost activity, whereas the latter retained overall condensing activity, which indicated a general-base action of His(261). Double mutants Cys(111)Ser/His(261)Ala and Cys(111)Ser/His(261)Arg were not able to catalyse overall condensation, but the double mutant containing Arg induced decarboxylation of [2-(14)C]malonyl-ACP, a reaction indicating the role of His(261) in general-acid catalysis. Finally, alanine scanning revealed the involvement of Arg(150) and Arg(306) in KAS III catalysis. The results offer for the first time a detailed mechanism for a condensing reaction catalysed by a FAS type II condensing enzyme.

Reaction mechanism of recombinant 3-oxoacyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) synthase III from Cuphea wrightii embryo, a fatty acid synthase type II condensing enzyme.

PubMed Central

Abbadi, A; Brummel, M; Schütt, B S; Slabaugh, M B; Schuch, R; Spener, F

2000-01-01

A unique feature of fatty acid synthase (FAS) type II of higher plants and bacteria is 3-oxoacyl-[acyl-carrier-protein (ACP)] synthase III (KAS III), which catalyses the committing condensing reaction. Working with KAS IIIs from Cuphea seeds we obtained kinetic evidence that KAS III catalysis follows a Ping-Pong mechanism and that these enzymes have substrate-binding sites for acetyl-CoA and malonyl-ACP. It was the aim of the present study to identify these binding sites and to elucidate the catalytic mechanism of recombinant Cuphea wrightii KAS III, which we expressed in Escherichia coli. We engineered mutants, which allowed us to dissect the condensing reaction into three stages, i.e. formation of acyl-enzyme, decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP, and final Claisen condensation. Incubation of recombinant enzyme with [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA-labelled Cys(111), and the replacement of this residue by Ala and Ser resulted in loss of overall condensing activity. The Cys(111)Ser mutant, however, still was able to bind acetyl-CoA and to catalyse subsequent binding and decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP to acetyl-ACP. We replaced His(261) with Ala and Arg and found that the former lost activity, whereas the latter retained overall condensing activity, which indicated a general-base action of His(261). Double mutants Cys(111)Ser/His(261)Ala and Cys(111)Ser/His(261)Arg were not able to catalyse overall condensation, but the double mutant containing Arg induced decarboxylation of [2-(14)C]malonyl-ACP, a reaction indicating the role of His(261) in general-acid catalysis. Finally, alanine scanning revealed the involvement of Arg(150) and Arg(306) in KAS III catalysis. The results offer for the first time a detailed mechanism for a condensing reaction catalysed by a FAS type II condensing enzyme. PMID:10600651

Transpeptidation reactions of a specific substrate catalyzed by the streptomyces R61 DD-peptidase: characterization of a chromogenic substrate and acyl acceptor design.

PubMed

Kumar, Ish; Pratt, R F

2005-08-02

The Streptomyces R61 dd-peptidase, a functional model for penicillin-binding proteins, catalyzes the hydrolysis and aminolysis of d-alanyl-d-alanine-terminating peptides by specific amines. In vivo, this reaction completes bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. For in vitro studies of this enzyme to date, various nonspecific acyl-donor substrates have been employed. Recently, however, a peptidoglycan-mimetic peptide substrate, glycyl-l-alpha-amino-epsilon-pimelyl-d-alanyl-d-alanine, has been described that is much more specific for this enzyme. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and kinetic characterization of an analogous thiolester substrate, 3-(N-glycyl-l-cysteinyl)-propanoyl-d-alanyl-d-thiolactate, that the enzyme hydrolyzes and aminolyzes very efficiently (k(cat)/K(m) = 1.0 x 10(7) s(-)(1) M(-)(1)). Direct or indirect, by means of a thiol trap, spectrophotometric monitoring of the reactions of this substrate is readily achieved. Deacylation of the enzyme is rate-determining under substrate saturation conditions, and therefore the aminolysis reaction can be directly studied. The results show that d-amino acids and certain Gly-l-Xaa dipeptides and tripeptides may act as acyl acceptors at the active site of the enzyme. d-Phenylalanine and Gly-l-Phe were the most effective d-amino acid and dipeptide acceptors, respectively. On the basis of the dual specificity of the active site for acceptors (d-amino acids and Gly-l-Xaa peptides), "dual function" acceptors were designed and synthesized. Two of these, aminomalon-(N-ethyl)amide and aminomalon-(N-phenethyl)amide, were particularly effective. It did seem, however, that the observed rates of reaction of these very effective acceptors may be limited by some common, possibly physical, step. More extended, peptidoglycan-like, acceptors were found to be essentially unreactive. The reasons for this counterintuitive behavior are discussed.

Evolution of the acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP)

PubMed Central

Burton, Mark; Rose, Timothy M.; Færgeman, Nils J.; Knudsen, Jens

2005-01-01

Acyl-CoA-binding protein (ACBP) is a 10 kDa protein that binds C12–C22 acyl-CoA esters with high affinity. In vitro and in vivo experiments suggest that it is involved in multiple cellular tasks including modulation of fatty acid biosynthesis, enzyme regulation, regulation of the intracellular acyl-CoA pool size, donation of acyl-CoA esters for β-oxidation, vesicular trafficking, complex lipid synthesis and gene regulation. In the present study, we delineate the evolutionary history of ACBP to get a complete picture of its evolution and distribution among species. ACBP homologues were identified in all four eukaryotic kingdoms, Animalia, Plantae, Fungi and Protista, and eleven eubacterial species. ACBP homologues were not detected in any other known bacterial species, or in archaea. Nearly all of the ACBP-containing bacteria are pathogenic to plants or animals, suggesting that an ACBP gene could have been acquired from a eukaryotic host by horizontal gene transfer. Many bacterial, fungal and higher eukaryotic species only harbour a single ACBP homologue. However, a number of species, ranging from protozoa to vertebrates, have evolved two to six lineage-specific paralogues through gene duplication and/or retrotransposition events. The ACBP protein is highly conserved across phylums, and the majority of ACBP genes are subjected to strong purifying selection. Experimental evidence indicates that the function of ACBP has been conserved from yeast to humans and that the multiple lineage-specific paralogues have evolved altered functions. The appearance of ACBP very early on in evolution points towards a fundamental role of ACBP in acyl-CoA metabolism, including ceramide synthesis and in signalling. PMID:16018771

Phylogenetic and experimental characterization of an acyl-ACP thioesterase family reveals significant diversity in enzymatic specificity and activity.

PubMed

Jing, Fuyuan; Cantu, David C; Tvaruzkova, Jarmila; Chipman, Jay P; Nikolau, Basil J; Yandeau-Nelson, Marna D; Reilly, Peter J

2011-08-10

Acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases (acyl-ACP TEs) catalyze the hydrolysis of the thioester bond that links the acyl chain to the sulfhydryl group of the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of ACP. This reaction terminates acyl chain elongation of fatty acid biosynthesis, and in plant seeds it is the biochemical determinant of the fatty acid compositions of storage lipids. To explore acyl-ACP TE diversity and to identify novel acyl ACP-TEs, 31 acyl-ACP TEs from wide-ranging phylogenetic sources were characterized to ascertain their in vivo activities and substrate specificities. These acyl-ACP TEs were chosen by two different approaches: 1) 24 TEs were selected from public databases on the basis of phylogenetic analysis and fatty acid profile knowledge of their source organisms; and 2) seven TEs were molecularly cloned from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Cuphea viscosissima, organisms that produce medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids in their seeds. The in vivo substrate specificities of the acyl-ACP TEs were determined in E. coli. Based on their specificities, these enzymes were clustered into three classes: 1) Class I acyl-ACP TEs act primarily on 14- and 16-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; 2) Class II acyl-ACP TEs have broad substrate specificities, with major activities toward 8- and 14-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; and 3) Class III acyl-ACP TEs act predominantly on 8-carbon acyl-ACPs. Several novel acyl-ACP TEs act on short-chain and unsaturated acyl-ACP or 3-ketoacyl-ACP substrates, indicating the diversity of enzymatic specificity in this enzyme family. These acyl-ACP TEs can potentially be used to diversify the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway to produce novel fatty acids.

Phylogenetic and experimental characterization of an acyl-ACP thioesterase family reveals significant diversity in enzymatic specificity and activity

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases (acyl-ACP TEs) catalyze the hydrolysis of the thioester bond that links the acyl chain to the sulfhydryl group of the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of ACP. This reaction terminates acyl chain elongation of fatty acid biosynthesis, and in plant seeds it is the biochemical determinant of the fatty acid compositions of storage lipids. Results To explore acyl-ACP TE diversity and to identify novel acyl ACP-TEs, 31 acyl-ACP TEs from wide-ranging phylogenetic sources were characterized to ascertain their in vivo activities and substrate specificities. These acyl-ACP TEs were chosen by two different approaches: 1) 24 TEs were selected from public databases on the basis of phylogenetic analysis and fatty acid profile knowledge of their source organisms; and 2) seven TEs were molecularly cloned from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Cuphea viscosissima, organisms that produce medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids in their seeds. The in vivo substrate specificities of the acyl-ACP TEs were determined in E. coli. Based on their specificities, these enzymes were clustered into three classes: 1) Class I acyl-ACP TEs act primarily on 14- and 16-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; 2) Class II acyl-ACP TEs have broad substrate specificities, with major activities toward 8- and 14-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; and 3) Class III acyl-ACP TEs act predominantly on 8-carbon acyl-ACPs. Several novel acyl-ACP TEs act on short-chain and unsaturated acyl-ACP or 3-ketoacyl-ACP substrates, indicating the diversity of enzymatic specificity in this enzyme family. Conclusion These acyl-ACP TEs can potentially be used to diversify the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway to produce novel fatty acids. PMID:21831316

The Physiology of Protein S-acylation

PubMed Central

Chamberlain, Luke H.; Shipston, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Protein S-acylation, the only fully reversible posttranslational lipid modification of proteins, is emerging as a ubiquitous mechanism to control the properties and function of a diverse array of proteins and consequently physiological processes. S-acylation results from the enzymatic addition of long-chain lipids, most typically palmitate, onto intracellular cysteine residues of soluble and transmembrane proteins via a labile thioester linkage. Addition of lipid results in increases in protein hydrophobicity that can impact on protein structure, assembly, maturation, trafficking, and function. The recent explosion in global S-acylation (palmitoyl) proteomic profiling as a result of improved biochemical tools to assay S-acylation, in conjunction with the recent identification of enzymes that control protein S-acylation and de-acylation, has opened a new vista into the physiological function of S-acylation. This review introduces key features of S-acylation and tools to interrogate this process, and highlights the eclectic array of proteins regulated including membrane receptors, ion channels and transporters, enzymes and kinases, signaling adapters and chaperones, cell adhesion, and structural proteins. We highlight recent findings correlating disruption of S-acylation to pathophysiology and disease and discuss some of the major challenges and opportunities in this rapidly expanding field. PMID:25834228

Characterization of two acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases from developing Cuphea seeds specific for medium-chain- and oleoyl-acyl carrier protein.

PubMed

Dörmann, P; Spener, F; Ohlrogge, J B

1993-03-01

Two acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterases were partially purified from developing seeds of Cuphea lanceolata Ait., a plant with decanoic acid-rich triacylglycerols. The two enzymes differ markedly in their substrate specificity. One is specific for medium-chain acyl-ACPs, the other one for oleoyl-ACP. In addition, these enzymes are distinct with regard to molecular weight, pH optimum and sensitivity to salt. The thioesterases could be separated by Mono Q chromatography or gel filtration. The medium-chain acyl-ACP thioesterase and oleoyl-ACP thioesterase were purified from a crude extract 29- and 180-fold, respectively. In Cuphea wrightii A. Gray, which predominantly contains decanoic a nd lauric acid in the seeds, two different thioesterases were also found with a similar substrate specificity as in Cuphea lanceolata.

Charge Transfer Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dennerl, Konrad

2010-12-01

Charge transfer, or charge exchange, describes a process in which an ion takes one or more electrons from another atom. Investigations of this fundamental process have accompanied atomic physics from its very beginning, and have been extended to astrophysical scenarios already many decades ago. Yet one important aspect of this process, i.e. its high efficiency in generating X-rays, was only revealed in 1996, when comets were discovered as a new class of X-ray sources. This finding has opened up an entirely new field of X-ray studies, with great impact due to the richness of the underlying atomic physics, as the X-rays are not generated by hot electrons, but by ions picking up electrons from cold gas. While comets still represent the best astrophysical laboratory for investigating the physics of charge transfer, various studies have already spotted a variety of other astrophysical locations, within and beyond our solar system, where X-rays may be generated by this process. They range from planetary atmospheres, the heliosphere, the interstellar medium and stars to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, where charge transfer may even be observationally linked to dark matter. This review attempts to put the various aspects of the study of charge transfer reactions into a broader historical context, with special emphasis on X-ray astrophysics, where the discovery of cometary X-ray emission may have stimulated a novel look at our universe.

Saponification reaction system: a detailed mass transfer coefficient determination.

PubMed

Pečar, Darja; Goršek, Andreja

2015-01-01

The saponification of an aromatic ester with an aqueous sodium hydroxide was studied within a heterogeneous reaction medium in order to determine the overall kinetics of the selected system. The extended thermo-kinetic model was developed compared to the previously used simple one. The reaction rate within a heterogeneous liquid-liquid system incorporates a chemical kinetics term as well as mass transfer between both phases. Chemical rate constant was obtained from experiments within a homogeneous medium, whilst the mass-transfer coefficient was determined separately. The measured thermal profiles were then the bases for determining the overall reaction-rate. This study presents the development of an extended kinetic model for considering mass transfer regarding the saponification of ethyl benzoate with sodium hydroxide within a heterogeneous reaction medium. The time-dependences are presented for the mass transfer coefficient and the interfacial areas at different heterogeneous stages and temperatures. The results indicated an important role of reliable kinetic model, as significant difference in k(L)a product was obtained with extended and simple approach.

Study of fission using multi-nucleon transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishio, Katsuhisa; Hirose, Kentaro; Mark, Vermeulen; Makii, Hiroyuki; Orlandi, Riccardo; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Asai, Masato; Toyoshima, Atsushi; Sato, Tetsuya K.; Nagame, Yuichiro; Chiba, Satoshi; Aritomo, Yoshihiro; Tanaka, Shouya; Ohtsuki, Tsutomu; Tsekhanovich, Igor; Petrache, Costel M.; Andreyev, Andrei

2017-11-01

It is shown that multi-nucleon transfer reaction is a powerful tool to study fission of exotic neutronrich actinide nuclei, which cannot be accessed by particle-capture or heavy-ion fusion reactions. In this work, multi-nucleon transfer channels of the reactions of 18O+232Th, 18O+238U, 18O+248Cm, and 18O+237Np were used to measure fission-fragment mass distribution for each transfer channel. Predominantly asymmetric fission is observed at low excitation energies for all the studied cases, with an increase of the symmetric fission towards high excitation energies. Experimental data are compared with predictions of the fluctuation-dissipation model, where effects of multi-chance fission (neutron evaporation prior to fission) was introduced. It is shown that mass-asymmetric structure remaining at high excitation energies originates from low-excited and less neutronrich excited nuclei due to higher-order chance fissions.

Highly efficient and regioselective acylation of pharmacologically interesting cordycepin catalyzed by lipase in the eco-friendly solvent 2-methyltetrahydrofuran.

PubMed

Chen, Zhi-Gang; Zhang, Dan-Ni; Cao, Lin; Han, Yong-Bin

2013-04-01

A total of nine lipases and three proteases were tested for enzymatic regioselective acylation(s) of cordycepin with vinyl acetate in organic media. The highest conversion with better initial reaction rate was achieved with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozym 435). An eco-friendly solvent 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) was thought to be the most suitable reaction medium. Novozym 435 was found to be a useful biocatalyst for the 25-g scale syntheses of cordycepin acetate (96.2% isolated yield), and the biocatalyst displayed excellent regioselectivity and high operational stability during the transformation. The 5'-substituted cordycepin derivative was the sole detectable product from each acylation reaction. Novozym 435 could be recycled for the synthesis of cordycepin derivative on a 25-g scale and 63% of its original activity was maintained after being reused for 7 batches. MeTHF could be considered as an eco-friendly solvent for the large scale use in biotransformation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The level of circulating octanoate does not predict ghrelin O-acyl transferase (GOAT)-mediated acylation of ghrelin during fasting.

PubMed

Nass, Ralf; Nikolayev, Alexander; Liu, Jianhua; Pezzoli, Suzan S; Farhy, Leon S; Patrie, James; Gaylinn, Bruce D; Heiman, Mark; Thorner, Michael O

2015-01-01

Acyl-ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide released from the stomach. Ghrelin O-acyl transferase (GOAT) attaches an 8-carbon medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) (octanoate) to serine 3 of ghrelin. This acylation is necessary for the activity of ghrelin. Animal data suggest that MCFAs provide substrate for GOAT and an increase in nutritional octanoate increases acyl-ghrelin. To address the question of the source of substrate for acylation, we studied whether the decline in ghrelin acylation during fasting is associated with a decline in circulating MCFAs. Eight healthy young men (aged 18-28 years, body mass index range, 20.6-26.2 kg/m(2)) had blood drawn every 10 minutes for acyl- and desacyl-ghrelin and every hour for free fatty acids (FFAs) during the last 24 hours of a 61.5-hour fast and during a fed day. FFAs were measured by a highly sensitive liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy method. Acyl- and desacyl-ghrelin were measured in an in-house assay; the results were published previously. Ghrelin acylation was assessed by the ratio of acyl-ghrelin to total ghrelin. With the exception of MCFAs C8 and C10, all other FFAs, the MCFAs (C6 and C12), and the long-chain fatty acids (C14-C18) significantly increased with fasting (P < .05). There was no significant association between the fold change in ghrelin acylation and circulating FFAs. These results suggest that changes in circulating MCFAs are not linked to the decline in ghrelin acylation during fasting and support the hypothesis that acylation of ghrelin depends at least partially on the availability of gastroluminal MCFAs or the regulation of GOAT activity.

Study of ring influence and electronic response to proton transfer reactions. Reaction electronic flux analysis.

PubMed

Herrera, Barbara

2011-05-01

In this article, a theoretical study of 1-5 proton transfers is presented. Two model systems which represent 1-5 proton transfer, 3-hidroxy-2-propenimine and salicyldenaniline have been studied as shown in Fig. 1. For this purpose, a DFT/B3LYP/6-311+G**, reaction force and reaction electronic flux analysis is made. The obtained results indicate that both proton transfers exhibit energetic and electronic differences emphasizing the role of the neighbor ring and the impact of conjugation on electronic properties.

5,5'-Dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) as a probe for a non-essential cysteine residue at the medium chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase binding site of the human 'electron transferring flavoprotein' (ETF).

PubMed

Parker, A; Engel, P C

1999-01-01

Human 'electron transferring flavoprotein' (ETF) was inactivated by the thiol-specific reagent 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB). The kinetic profile showed the reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics during the initial phase of inactivation. Monitoring the release of 5-thio-2-nitrobenzoate (TNB) showed that modification of 1 cysteine residue was responsible for the loss of activity. The inactivation of ETF by DTNB could be reversed upon incubation with thiol-containing reagents. The loss of activity was prevented by the inclusion of medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and octanoyl-CoA. Cyanolysis of the DTNB modified-ETF with KCN led to the release of TNB accompanied presumably by the formation of the thio-cyano enzyme and with almost full recovery of activity. Conservation studies and the lack of 100% inactivation, however, suggested that this cysteine residue is not essential for the interaction with MCAD.

Development and validation of a general derivatization HPLC method for the trace analysis of acyl chlorides in lipophilic drug substances.

PubMed

Zheng, Xiangyuan; Luo, Lan; Zhou, Jie; Ruan, Xiaoling; Liu, Wenyuan; Zheng, Feng

2017-06-05

Acyl chlorides are important acylating agents in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Determining the residual acyl chlorides in drug substances is a challenge due to their high reactivity and the matrix interferences from drug substances and their related impurities. This paper describes a general derivatization HPLC method for the determination of aromatic and aliphatic acyl chlorides in lipophilic drug substances. Since most drug substances have weak absorptions in the visible range (above 380nm), the nitro-substituted anilines and nitro-substituted phenylhydrazines were selected as the derivatization reagents due to their weak basicity and red-shift of UV absorption spectra. The maximum wavelength and absorption intensity of nitro-substituted anilines decreased after derivatization with acyl chlorides, whereas the derivatization products of nitro-substituted phenylhydrazines showed the slight increases of maximum wavelength and absorbance intensity. Hence, 2-nitrophenylhydrazine was selected as the suitable derivatization reagent because the derivatives have the maximum UV wavelength absorbance at 395nm, which could largely minimize the matrix interferences. The optimization of the concentration of 2-nitrophenylhydrazine is important for the sensitivity and stability of derivatives. Other reaction conditions including reaction temperature, time and the influence of three competitive solvents (water, methanol and ethanol) on the reaction efficiency were also studied. After derivatization with 100μgmL -1 2-nitrophenylhydrazine at room temperature for 30min, the method was validated for high specificity and sensitivity with the detection limits in the range of 0.01-0.03μgmL -1 . The proposed method was applied as a generic method to determine the residual acyl chlorides in lipophilic drug substances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Knockout of the regulatory site of 3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III enhances short- and medium-chain acyl-ACP synthesis.

PubMed

Abbadi, A; Brummel, M; Spener, F

2000-10-01

3-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase (KAS) III catalyses the first condensing step of the fatty acid synthase (FAS) type II reaction in plants and bacteria, using acetyl CoA and malonyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) as substrates. Enzymatic characterization of recombinant KAS III from Cuphea wrightii embryo shows that this enzyme is strongly inhibited by medium-chain acyl-ACP end products of the FAS reaction, i.e. inhibition by lauroyl-ACP was uncompetitive towards acetyl CoA and non-competitive with regard to malonyl-ACP. This indicated a distinct attachment site for regulatory acyl-ACPs. Based on alignment of primary structures of various KAS IIIs and 3-ketoacyl CoA synthases, we suspected the motif G290NTSAAS296 to be responsible for binding of regulatory acyl-ACPs. Deletion of the tetrapeptide G290NTS293 led to a change of secondary structure and complete loss of KAS III condensing activity. Exchange of asparagine291 to aspartate, alanine294 to serine and alanine295 to proline, however, produced mutant enzymes with slightly reduced condensing activity, yet with insensitivity towards acyl-ACPs. To assess the potential of unregulated KAS III as tool in oil production, we designed in vitro experiments employing FAS preparations from medium-chain fatty acid-producing Cuphea lanceolata seeds and long-chain fatty acid-producing rape seeds, each supplemented with a fivefold excess of the N291D KAS III mutant. High amounts of short-chain acyl-ACPs in the case of C. lanceolata, and of medium-chain acyl-ACPs in the case of rape seed preparations, were obtained. This approach targets regulation and offers new possibilities to derive transgenic or non-transgenic plants for production of seed oils with new qualities.

Path Sampling Methods for Enzymatic Quantum Particle Transfer Reactions

PubMed Central

Dzierlenga, M.W.; Varga, M.J.

2016-01-01

The mechanisms of enzymatic reactions are studied via a host of computational techniques. While previous methods have been used successfully, many fail to incorporate the full dynamical properties of enzymatic systems. This can lead to misleading results in cases where enzyme motion plays a significant role in the reaction coordinate, which is especially relevant in particle transfer reactions where nuclear tunneling may occur. In this chapter, we outline previous methods, as well as discuss newly developed dynamical methods to interrogate mechanisms of enzymatic particle transfer reactions. These new methods allow for the calculation of free energy barriers and kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) with the incorporation of quantum effects through centroid molecular dynamics (CMD) and the full complement of enzyme dynamics through transition path sampling (TPS). Recent work, summarized in this chapter, applied the method for calculation of free energy barriers to reaction in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH). It was found that tunneling plays an insignificant role in YADH but plays a more significant role in LDH, though not dominant over classical transfer. Additionally, we summarize the application of a TPS algorithm for the calculation of reaction rates in tandem with CMD to calculate the primary H/D KIE of YADH from first principles. It was found that the computationally obtained KIE is within the margin of error of experimentally determined KIEs, and corresponds to the KIE of particle transfer in the enzyme. These methods provide new ways to investigate enzyme mechanism with the inclusion of protein and quantum dynamics. PMID:27497161

Molecular modeling of the reaction pathway and hydride transfer reactions of HMG-CoA reductase.

PubMed

Haines, Brandon E; Steussy, C Nicklaus; Stauffacher, Cynthia V; Wiest, Olaf

2012-10-09

HMG-CoA reductase catalyzes the four-electron reduction of HMG-CoA to mevalonate and is an enzyme of considerable biomedical relevance because of the impact of its statin inhibitors on public health. Although the reaction has been studied extensively using X-ray crystallography, there are surprisingly no computational studies that test the mechanistic hypotheses suggested for this complex reaction. Theozyme and quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) calculations up to the B3LYP/6-31g(d,p)//B3LYP/6-311++g(2d,2p) level of theory were employed to generate an atomistic description of the enzymatic reaction process and its energy profile. The models generated here predict that the catalytically important Glu83 is protonated prior to hydride transfer and that it acts as the general acid or base in the reaction. With Glu83 protonated, the activation energies calculated for the sequential hydride transfer reactions, 21.8 and 19.3 kcal/mol, are in qualitative agreement with the experimentally determined rate constant for the entire reaction (1 s(-1) to 1 min(-1)). When Glu83 is not protonated, the first hydride transfer reaction is predicted to be disfavored by >20 kcal/mol, and the activation energy is predicted to be higher by >10 kcal/mol. While not involved in the reaction as an acid or base, Lys267 is critical for stabilization of the transition state in forming an oxyanion hole with the protonated Glu83. Molecular dynamics simulations and MM/Poisson-Boltzmann surface area free energy calculations predict that the enzyme active site stabilizes the hemithioacetal intermediate better than the aldehyde intermediate. This suggests a mechanism in which cofactor exchange occurs before the breakdown of the hemithioacetal. Slowing the conversion to aldehyde would provide the enzyme with a mechanism to protect it from solvent and explain why the free aldehyde is not observed experimentally. Our results support the hypothesis that the pK(a) of an active site acidic

A Class of Reactive Acyl-CoA Species Reveals the Non-Enzymatic Origins of Protein Acylation

PubMed Central

Wagner, Gregory R.; Bhatt, Dhaval P.; O’Connell, Thomas M.; Thompson, J. Will; Dubois, Laura G.; Backos, Donald S.; Yang, Hao; Mitchell, Grant A.; Ilkayeva, Olga R.; Stevens, Robert D.; Grimsrud, Paul A.; Hirschey, Matthew D.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY The mechanisms underlying the formation of acyl protein modifications remain poorly understood. By investigating the reactivity of endogenous acyl-CoA metabolites, we found a class of acyl-CoAs that undergoes intramolecular catalysis to form reactive intermediates which non-enzymatically modify proteins. Based on this mechanism, we predicted, validated, and characterized a protein modification: 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl(HMG)-lysine. In a model of altered HMG-CoA metabolism, we found evidence of two additional protein modifications: 3-methylglutaconyl(MGc)-lysine and 3-methylglutaryl(MG)-lysine. Using quantitative proteomics, we compared the ‘acylomes’ of two reactive acyl-CoA species, namely HMG-CoA and glutaryl-CoA, which are generated in different pathways. We found proteins that are uniquely modified by each reactive metabolite, as well as common proteins and pathways. We identified the tricarboxylic acid cycle as a pathway commonly regulated by acylation, and validated malate dehydrogenase as a key target. These data uncover a fundamental relationship between reactive acyl-CoA species and proteins, and define a new regulatory paradigm in metabolism. PMID:28380375

Reaction kinetics in open reactors and serial transfers between closed reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blokhuis, Alex; Lacoste, David; Gaspard, Pierre

2018-04-01

Kinetic theory and thermodynamics of reaction networks are extended to the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of continuous-flow stirred tank reactors (CSTR) and serial transfers. On the basis of their stoichiometry matrix, the conservation laws and the cycles of the network are determined for both dynamics. It is shown that the CSTR and serial transfer dynamics are equivalent in the limit where the time interval between the transfers tends to zero proportionally to the ratio of the fractions of fresh to transferred solutions. These results are illustrated with a finite cross-catalytic reaction network and an infinite reaction network describing mass exchange between polymers. Serial transfer dynamics is typically used in molecular evolution experiments in the context of research on the origins of life. The present study is shedding a new light on the role played by serial transfer parameters in these experiments.

Communication: Charge transfer dominates over proton transfer in the reaction of nitric acid with gas-phase hydrated electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lengyel, Jozef; Med, Jakub; Slavíček, Petr; Beyer, Martin K.

2017-09-01

The reaction of HNO3 with hydrated electrons (H2O)n- (n = 35-65) in the gas phase was studied using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Kinetic analysis of the experimental data shows that OH-(H2O)m is formed primarily via a reaction of the hydrated electron with HNO3 inside the cluster, while proton transfer is not observed and NO3-(H2O)m is just a secondary product. The reaction enthalpy was determined using nanocalorimetry, revealing a quite exothermic charge transfer with -241 ± 69 kJ mol-1. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations indicate that proton transfer is an allowed reaction pathway, but the overall thermochemistry favors charge transfer.

An oleate 12-hydroxylase from Ricinus communis L. is a fatty acyl desaturase homolog

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van De Loo, F.J.; Broun, P.; Turner, S.

1995-07-18

Recent spectroscopic evidence implicating a binuclear iron site at the reaction center of fatty acyl desaturases suggested to us that certain fatty acyl hydroxylases may share significant amino acid sequence similarity with desaturases. To test this theory, we prepared a cDNA library from developing endosperm of the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis L.) and obtained partial nucleotide sequences for 468 anonymous clones that were not expressed at high levels in leaves, a tissue deficient in 12-hydroxyoleic acid. This resulted in the identification of several cDNA clones encoding a polypeptide of 387 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 44,407 andmore » with {approx}67% sequence homology to microsomal oleate desaturase from Arabidopsis. Expression of a full-length clone under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter in transgenic tobacco resulted in the accumulation of low levels of 12-hydroxyoleic acid in seeds, indicating that the clone encodes the castor oleate hydroxylase. These results suggest that fatty acyl desaturases and hydroxylases share similar reaction mechanisms and provide an example of enzyme evolution. 26 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.« less

Conformational dependence of a protein kinase phosphate transfer reaction.

PubMed

Henkelman, Graeme; LaBute, Montiago X; Tung, Chang-Shung; Fenimore, P W; McMahon, Benjamin H

2005-10-25

Atomic motions and energetics for a phosphate transfer reaction catalyzed by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase are calculated by plane-wave density functional theory, starting from structures of proteins crystallized in both the reactant conformation (RC) and the transition-state conformation (TC). In TC, we calculate that the reactants and products are nearly isoenergetic with a 20-kJ/mol barrier, whereas phosphate transfer is unfavorable by 120 kJ/mol in the RC, with an even higher barrier. With the protein in TC, the motions involved in reaction are small, with only P(gamma) and the catalytic proton moving >0.5 A. Examination of the structures reveals that in the RC the active site cleft is not completely closed and there is insufficient space for the phosphorylated serine residue in the product state. Together, these observations imply that the phosphate transfer reaction occurs rapidly and reversibly in a particular conformation of the protein, and that the reaction can be gated by changes of a few tenths of an angstrom in the catalytic site.

Dopaminergic Neurons Respond to Iron-Induced Oxidative Stress by Modulating Lipid Acylation and Deacylation Cycles

PubMed Central

Sánchez Campos, Sofía; Rodríguez Diez, Guadalupe; Oresti, Gerardo Martín; Salvador, Gabriela Alejandra

2015-01-01

Metal-imbalance has been reported as a contributor factor for the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson Disease (PD). Specifically, iron (Fe)-overload and copper (Cu) mis-compartmentalization have been reported to be involved in the injury of dopaminergic neurons in this pathology. The aim of this work was to characterize the mechanisms of membrane repair by studying lipid acylation and deacylation reactions and their role in oxidative injury in N27 dopaminergic neurons exposed to Fe-overload and Cu-supplementation. N27 dopaminergic neurons incubated with Fe (1mM) for 24 hs displayed increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation and elevated plasma membrane permeability. Cu-supplemented neurons (10, 50 μM) showed no evidence of oxidative stress markers. A different lipid acylation profile was observed in N27 neurons pre-labeled with [3H] arachidonic acid (AA) or [3H] oleic acid (OA). In Fe-exposed neurons, AA uptake was increased in triacylglycerols (TAG) whereas its incorporation into the phospholipid (PL) fraction was diminished. TAG content was 40% higher in Fe-exposed neurons than in controls. This increase was accompanied by the appearance of Nile red positive lipid bodies. Contrariwise, OA incorporation increased in the PL fractions and showed no changes in TAG. Lipid acylation profile in Cu-supplemented neurons showed AA accumulation into phosphatidylserine and no changes in TAG. The inhibition of deacylation/acylation reactions prompted an increase in oxidative stress markers and mitochondrial dysfunction in Fe-overloaded neurons. These findings provide evidence about the participation of lipid acylation mechanisms against Fe-induced oxidative injury and postulate that dopaminergic neurons cleverly preserve AA in TAG in response to oxidative stress. PMID:26076361

Conformational dependence of a protein kinase phosphate transfer reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labute, Montiago; Henkelman, Graeme; Tung, Chang-Shung; Fenimore, Paul; McMahon, Ben

2007-03-01

Atomic motions and energetics for a phosphate transfer reaction catalyzed by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase have been calculated using plane-wave density functional theory, starting from structures of proteins crystallized in both the reactant conformation (RC) and the transition-state conformation (TC). In TC, we calculate that the reactants and products are nearly isoenergetic with a 20-kJ/mol barrier, whereas phosphate transfer is unfavorable by 120 kJ/mol in the RC, with an even higher barrier. Our results demonstrate that the phosphate transfer reaction occurs rapidly and reversibly in a particular conformation of the protein, and that the reaction can be gated by changes of a few tenths of an angstrom in the catalytic site [1]. [1] G.H. Henkelman, M.X. LaBute, C.-S. Tung, P.W. Fenimore, B.H. McMahon, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA vol. 102, no. 43:15347-15351 (2005).

Exploiting the acylating nature of the imide-Ugi intermediate: a straightforward synthesis of tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones.

PubMed

Mossetti, Riccardo; Saggiorato, Dèsirèe; Tron, Gian Cesare

2011-12-16

We describe a simple and novel protocol for the synthesis of tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones with three points of diversity, exploiting the acylating properties of the recently rediscovered Ugi-imide. The final compounds can be easily prepared in three synthetic steps using a multicomponent reaction, a Staudinger reduction, and an acylative protocol, with good to excellent yields for each synthetic step.

Acyl-Lipid Metabolism

PubMed Central

Li-Beisson, Yonghua; Shorrosh, Basil; Beisson, Fred; Andersson, Mats X.; Arondel, Vincent; Bates, Philip D.; Baud, Sébastien; Bird, David; DeBono, Allan; Durrett, Timothy P.; Franke, Rochus B.; Graham, Ian A.; Katayama, Kenta; Kelly, Amélie A.; Larson, Tony; Markham, Jonathan E.; Miquel, Martine; Molina, Isabel; Nishida, Ikuo; Rowland, Owen; Samuels, Lacey; Schmid, Katherine M.; Wada, Hajime; Welti, Ruth; Xu, Changcheng; Zallot, Rémi; Ohlrogge, John

2013-01-01

Acyl lipids in Arabidopsis and all other plants have a myriad of diverse functions. These include providing the core diffusion barrier of the membranes that separates cells and subcellular organelles. This function alone involves more than 10 membrane lipid classes, including the phospholipids, galactolipids, and sphingolipids, and within each class the variations in acyl chain composition expand the number of structures to several hundred possible molecular species. Acyl lipids in the form of triacylglycerol account for 35% of the weight of Arabidopsis seeds and represent their major form of carbon and energy storage. A layer of cutin and cuticular waxes that restricts the loss of water and provides protection from invasions by pathogens and other stresses covers the entire aerial surface of Arabidopsis. Similar functions are provided by suberin and its associated waxes that are localized in roots, seed coats, and abscission zones and are produced in response to wounding. This chapter focuses on the metabolic pathways that are associated with the biosynthesis and degradation of the acyl lipids mentioned above. These pathways, enzymes, and genes are also presented in detail in an associated website (ARALIP: http://aralip.plantbiology.msu.edu/). Protocols and methods used for analysis of Arabidopsis lipids are provided. Finally, a detailed summary of the composition of Arabidopsis lipids is provided in three figures and 15 tables. PMID:23505340

Acyl-Lipid Metabolism

PubMed Central

Li-Beisson, Yonghua; Shorrosh, Basil; Beisson, Fred; Andersson, Mats X.; Arondel, Vincent; Bates, Philip D.; Baud, Sébastien; Bird, David; DeBono, Allan; Durrett, Timothy P.; Franke, Rochus B.; Graham, Ian A.; Katayama, Kenta; Kelly, Amélie A.; Larson, Tony; Markham, Jonathan E.; Miquel, Martine; Molina, Isabel; Nishida, Ikuo; Rowland, Owen; Samuels, Lacey; Schmid, Katherine M.; Wada, Hajime; Welti, Ruth; Xu, Changcheng; Zallot, Rémi; Ohlrogge, John

2010-01-01

Acyl lipids in Arabidopsis and all other plants have a myriad of diverse functions. These include providing the core diffusion barrier of the membranes that separates cells and subcellular organelles. This function alone involves more than 10 membrane lipid classes, including the phospholipids, galactolipids, and sphingolipids, and within each class the variations in acyl chain composition expand the number of structures to several hundred possible molecular species. Acyl lipids in the form of triacylglycerol account for 35% of the weight of Arabidopsis seeds and represent their major form of carbon and energy storage. A layer of cutin and cuticular waxes that restricts the loss of water and provides protection from invasions by pathogens and other stresses covers the entire aerial surface of Arabidopsis. Similar functions are provided by suberin and its associated waxes that are localized in roots, seed coats, and abscission zones and are produced in response to wounding. This chapter focuses on the metabolic pathways that are associated with the biosynthesis and degradation of the acyl lipids mentioned above. These pathways, enzymes, and genes are also presented in detail in an associated website (ARALIP: http://aralip.plantbiology.msu.edu/). Protocols and methods used for analysis of Arabidopsis lipids are provided. Finally, a detailed summary of the composition of Arabidopsis lipids is provided in three figures and 15 tables. PMID:22303259

Experimental fission study using multi-nucleon transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishio, Katsuhisa; Hirose, Kentaro; Léguillon, Romain; Makii, Hiroyuki; Orlandi, Riccardo; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Smallcombe, James; Chiba, Satoshi; Aritomo, Yoshihiro; Tanaka, Shouya; Ohtsuki, Tsutomu; Tsekhanovich, Igor; Petrache, Costel M.; Andreyev, Andrei

2017-09-01

It is shown that the multi-nucleon transfer reactions is a powerful tool to study fission of exotic neutron-rich actinide nuclei, which cannot be accessed by particle-capture or heavy-ion fusion reactions. In this work, multi-nucleon transfer channels of the reactions of 18O+232Th, 18O+238U and 18O+248Cm are used to study fission for various nuclei from many excited states. Identification of fissioning nuclei and of their excitation energy is performed on an event-by-event basis, through the measurement of outgoing ejectile particle in coincidence with fission fragments. Fission fragment mass distributions are measured for each transfer channel. Predominantly asymmetric fission is observed at low excitation energies for all studied cases, with a gradual increase of the symmetric mode towards higher excitation energy. The experimental distributions are found to be in general agreement with predictions of the fluctuation-dissipation model. Role of multi-chance fission in fission fragment mass distributions is discussed, where it is shown that mass-asymmetric structure remaining at high excitation energies originates from low-excited nuclei by evaporation of neutrons.

Identification of N-Acyl Phosphatidylserine Molecules in Eukaryotic Cells

PubMed Central

Guan, Ziqiang; Li, Shengrong; Smith, Dale C.; Shaw, Walter A.; Raetz, Christian R. H.

2008-01-01

While profiling the lipidome of the mouse brain by mass spectrometry, we discovered a novel family of N-acyl phosphatidylserine (N-acyl-PS) molecules. These N-acyl-PS species were enriched by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, and they were then characterized by accurate mass measurements, tandem mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, and comparison to an authentic standard. Mouse brain N-acyl-PS molecules are heterogeneous and constitute about 0.1 % of the total lipid. In addition to various ester-linked fatty acyl chains on their glycerol backbones, the complexity of the N-acyl-PS series is further increased by the presence of diverse amide-linked N-acyl chains, which include saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated species. N-acyl-PS molecular species were also detected in the lipids of pig brain, mouse RAW264.7 macrophage tumor cells and yeast, but not E. coli. N-acyl-PSs may be biosynthetic precursors of N-acyl serine molecules, such as the recently reported signaling lipid N-arachidonoyl serine from bovine brain. We suggest that a phospholipase D might cleave N-acyl-PS to generate N-acyl serine, in analogy to the biosynthesis of the endocannabinoid N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (anadamide) from N-arachidonoyl phosphatidylethanolamine. PMID:18031065

Novozyme 435-catalyzed efficient acylation of 3-n-butylphthalide in organic medium.

PubMed

He, Laping; Sun, Jiong; Xu, Yan; Sun, Zhihao; Zheng, Changge

2008-01-01

Novozyme 435 could catalyze efficient acylation of 3-n-butylphthalide in organic medium. The conversion of 3-n-butylphthalide increased with the increase of hydrophobicity of solvent below that of hexane. The more available solvent was hexane. Salt hydride could control fixed water activity. The optimum water activity was 0.62. And the optimum of reaction time, velocity of agitation, dosage of Novozyme 435 and acetic anhydride to 3-n-butylphtrhalide molar ratio were 48 hours, 150 rpm, 8 mg/mL and 8:1, respectively. The conversion of 48.9% could be obtained at a water activity of 0.62 in hexane. Furthermore, Novozyme 435 had an enantioselective acylation of racemic 3-n-butylphthalide by original analysis.

Hydrogen transfer reactions of interstellar Complex Organic Molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Álvarez-Barcia, S.; Russ, P.; Kästner, J.; Lamberts, T.

2018-06-01

Radical recombination has been proposed to lead to the formation of complex organic molecules (COMs) in CO-rich ices in the early stages of star formation. These COMs can then undergo hydrogen addition and abstraction reactions leading to a higher or lower degree of saturation. Here, we have studied 14 hydrogen transfer reactions for the molecules glyoxal, glycoaldehyde, ethylene glycol, and methylformate and an additional three reactions where CHnO fragments are involved. Over-the-barrier reactions are possible only if tunneling is invoked in the description at low temperature. Therefore the rate constants for the studied reactions are calculated using instanton theory that takes quantum effects into account inherently. The reactions were characterized in the gas phase, but this is expected to yield meaningful results for CO-rich ices due to the minimal alteration of reaction landscapes by the CO molecules. We found that rate constants should not be extrapolated based on the height of the barrier alone, since the shape of the barrier plays an increasingly larger role at decreasing temperature. It is neither possible to predict rate constants based only on considering the type of reaction, the specific reactants and functional groups play a crucial role. Within a single molecule, though, hydrogen abstraction from an aldehyde group seems to be always faster than hydrogen addition to the same carbon atom. Reactions that involve heavy-atom tunneling, e.g., breaking or forming a C-C or C-O bond, have rate constants that are much lower than those where H transfer is involved.

α-Amidoalkylating agents from N-acyl-α-amino acids: 1-(N-acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salts.

PubMed

Mazurkiewicz, Roman; Adamek, Jakub; Październiok-Holewa, Agnieszka; Zielińska, Katarzyna; Simka, Wojciech; Gajos, Anna; Szymura, Karol

2012-02-17

N-Acyl-α-amino acids were efficiently transformed in a two-step procedure into 1-N-(acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salts, new powerful α-amidoalkylating agents. The effect of the α-amino acid structure, the base used [MeONa or a silica gel-supported piperidine (SiO(2)-Pip)], and the main electrolysis parameters (current density, charge consumption) on the yield and selectivity of the electrochemical decarboxylative α-methoxylation of N-acyl-α-amino acids (Hofer-Moest reaction) was investigated. For most proteinogenic and all studied unproteinogenic α-amino acids, very good results were obtained using a substoichiometric amount of SiO(2)-Pip as the base. Only in the cases of N-acylated cysteine, methionine, and tryptophan, attempts to carry out the Hofer-Moest reaction in the applied conditions failed, probably because of the susceptibility of these α-amino acids to an electrochemical oxidation on the side chain. The methoxy group of N-(1-methoxyalkyl)amides was effectively displaced with the triphenylphosphonium group by dissolving an equimolar amount of N-(1-methoxyalkyl)amide and triphenylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate in CH(2)Cl(2) at room temperature for 30 min, followed by the precipitation of 1-N-(acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salt with Et(2)O.

The activities of acyl-CoA:1-acyl-lysophospholipid acyltransferase(s) in human platelets.

PubMed Central

Bakken, A M; Farstad, M

1992-01-01

The activities of acyl-CoA:1-acyl-lysophospholipid acyltransferases (EC 2.3.1.23) have been studied in human platelet lysates by using endogenously formed [14C]acyl-CoA from [14C]fatty acid, ATP and CoA in the presence of 1-acyl-lysophosphatidyl-choline (lysoPC), -ethanolamine (lysoPE), -serine (lysoPS) or -inositol (lysoPI). Linoleic acid as fatty acid substrate had the highest affinity to acyl-CoA:1-acyl-lysophospholipid acyltransferase with lysoPC as variable substrate, followed by eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA). The activity at optimal conditions was 7.4, 7.3 and 7.2 nmol/min per 10(9) platelets with lysoPC as substrate, with linoleic acid, AA and EPA respectively. EPA and AA were incorporated into all lyso-forms. Linoleic acid was also incorporated into lysoPE at a high rate, but less into lysoPS and lysoPI. DHA was incorporated into lysoPC and lysoPE, but only slightly into lysoPI and lysoPS. Whereas incorporation of all fatty acids tested was maximal for lysoPC and lysoPI at 200 and 80 microM respectively, maximal incorporation needed over 500 microM for lysoPE and lysoPS. The optimal concentration for [14C]fatty acid substrates was in the range 15-150 microM for all lysophospholipids. Competition experiments with equimolar concentrations of either lysoPC and lysoPI or lysoPE resulted in formation of [14C]PC almost as if lysoPI or lysoPE were not added to the assay medium. PMID:1471991

Two distinct domains contribute to the substrate acyl chain length selectivity of plant acyl-ACP thioesterase.

PubMed

Jing, Fuyuan; Zhao, Le; Yandeau-Nelson, Marna D; Nikolau, Basil J

2018-02-28

The substrate specificity of acyl-ACP thioesterase (TE) plays an essential role in controlling the fatty acid profile produced by type II fatty acid synthases. Here we identify two groups of residues that synergistically determine different substrate specificities of two acyl-ACP TEs from Cuphea viscosissima (CvFatB1 and CvFatB2). One group (V194, V217, N223, R226, R227, and I268 in CvFatB2) is critical in determining the structure and depth of a hydrophobic cavity in the N-terminal hotdog domain that binds the substrate's acyl moiety. The other group (255-RKLSKI-260 and 285-RKLPKL-289 in CvFatB2) defines positively charged surface patches that may facilitate binding of the ACP moiety. Mutagenesis of residues within these two groups results in distinct synthetic acyl-ACP TEs that efficiently hydrolyze substrates with even shorter chains (C4- to C8-ACPs). These insights into structural determinants of acyl-ACP TE substrate specificity are useful in modifying this enzyme for tailored fatty acid production in engineered organisms.

Quantum Chemical Investigation on Photochemical Reactions of Nonanoic Acids at Air-Water Interface.

PubMed

Xiao, Pin; Wang, Qian; Fang, Wei-Hai; Cui, Ganglong

2017-06-08

Photoinduced chemical reactions of organic compounds at the marine boundary layer have recently attracted significant experimental attention because this kind of photoreactions has been proposed to have substantial impact on local new particle formation and their photoproducts could be a source of secondary organic aerosols. In this work, we have employed first-principles density functional theory method combined with cluster models to systematically explore photochemical reaction pathways of nonanoic acids (NAs) to form volatile saturated and unsaturated C 9 and C 8 aldehydes at air-water interfaces. On the basis of the results, we have found that the formation of C 9 aldehydes is not initiated by intermolecular Norrish type II reaction between two NAs but by intramolecular T 1 C-O bond fission of NA generating acyl and hydroxyl radicals. Subsequently, saturated C 9 aldehydes are formed through hydrogenation reaction of acyl radical by another intact NA. Following two dehydrogenation reactions, unsaturated C 9 aldehydes are generated. In parallel, the pathway to C 8 aldehydes is initiated by T 1 C-C bond fission of NA, which generates octyl and carboxyl radicals; then, an octanol is formed through recombination reaction of octyl with hydroxyl radical. In the following, two dehydrogenation reactions result into an enol intermediate from which saturated C 8 aldehydes are produced via NA-assisted intermolecular hydrogen transfer. Finally, two dehydrogenation reactions generate unsaturated C 8 aldehydes. In these reactions, water and NA molecules are found to play important roles. They significantly reduce relevant reaction barriers. Our work has also explored oxygenation reactions of NA with molecular oxygen and radical-radical dimerization reactions.

Electronic and Vibrational Coherence in Charge-Transfer Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherer, Norbert

1996-03-01

The ultrafast dynamics associated with optically-induced intervalence charge-transfer reactions in solution and protein environments are reported. These studies include the Fe^(II)-Fe^(III) MMCT complex Prussian blue and the mixed valence dimer (CN)_5Ru^(II)CNRuRu^(III)(NH_3)_5. The protein systems include blue copper proteins and the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center. The experimental approaches include photon echo, wavelength-resolved pump-probe and anisotropy measurements performed with 12-16fs duration optical pulses. Complicated time-domain waveforms reflect the several different p[rocesses and time scales for relaxation of coherences (both electronic and vibrational) and populations within these systems. The photon echo and anisotropy results probe electronic coherence and dephasing prior to back electron transfer. Wavelength-resolved pump-probe results reveal vibrational modes coupled to the CT-coordinate as well as formation of new product states or vibrational cooling in the ground state following back electron transfer.

Versatility of acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetases

DOE PAGES

Beld, Joris; Finzel, Kara; Burkart, Michael D.

2014-10-09

The acyl carrier protein (ACP) requires posttranslational modification with a 4'-phosphopantetheine arm for activity, and this thiol-terminated modification carries cargo between enzymes in ACP-dependent metabolic pathways. In this paper, we show that acyl-ACP synthetases (AasSs) from different organisms are able to load even, odd, and unnatural fatty acids onto E. coli ACP in vitro. Vibrio harveyi AasS not only shows promiscuity for the acid substrate, but also is active upon various alternate carrier proteins. AasS activity also extends to functional activation in living organisms. We show that exogenously supplied carboxylic acids are loaded onto ACP and extended by the E.more » coli fatty acid synthase, including unnatural fatty acid analogs. These analogs are further integrated into cellular lipids. Finally, in vitro characterization of four different adenylate-forming enzymes allowed us to disambiguate CoA-ligases and AasSs, and further in vivo studies show the potential for functional application in other organisms.« less

Evidence for involvement of medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase in the metabolism of phenylbutyrate

PubMed Central

Kormanik, Kaitlyn; Kang, Heejung; Cuebas, Dean; Vockley, Jerry; Mohsen, Al-Walid

2012-01-01

Sodium phenylbutyrate is used for treating urea cycle disorders, providing an alternative for ammonia excretion. Following conversion to its CoA ester, phenylbutyryl-CoA is postulated to undergo one round of β-oxidation to phenylacetyl-CoA, the active metabolite. Molecular modeling suggests that medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD; EC 1.3.99.3), a key enzyme in straight chain fatty acid β-oxidation, could utilize phenylbutyryl-CoA as substrate. Moreover, phenylpropionyl-CoA has been shown to be a substrate for MCAD and its intermediates accumulate in patients with MCAD deficiency. We have examined the involvement of MCAD and other acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (ACADs) in the metabolism of phenylbutyryl-CoA. Anaerobic titration of purified recombinant human MCAD with phenylbutyryl-CoA caused changes in the MCAD spectrum that are similar to those induced by octanoyl-CoA, its bona fide substrate, and unique to the development of the charge transfer ternary complex. The calculated apparent dissociation constant (KD app) for these substrates was 2.16 μM and 0.12 μM, respectively. The MCAD reductive and oxidative half reactions were monitored using the electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) fluorescence reduction assay. The catalytic efficiency and the Km for phenylbutyryl-CoA were 0.2 mM−1· sec−1 and 5.3 μM compared to 4.0 mM−1· sec−1 and 2.8 μM for octanoyl-CoA. Extracts of wild type and MCAD-deficient lymphoblast cells were tested for the ability to reduce ETF using phenylbutyryl-CoA as substrate. While ETF reduction activity was detected in extracts of wild type cells, it was undetectable in extracts of cells deficient in MCAD. The results are consistent with MCAD playing a key role in phenylbutyrate metabolism. PMID:23141465

Evidence for involvement of medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase in the metabolism of phenylbutyrate.

PubMed

Kormanik, Kaitlyn; Kang, Heejung; Cuebas, Dean; Vockley, Jerry; Mohsen, Al-Walid

2012-12-01

Sodium phenylbutyrate is used for treating urea cycle disorders, providing an alternative for ammonia excretion. Following conversion to its CoA ester, phenylbutyryl-CoA is postulated to undergo one round of β-oxidation to phenylacetyl-CoA, the active metabolite. Molecular modeling suggests that medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD; EC 1.3.99.3), a key enzyme in straight chain fatty acid β-oxidation, could utilize phenylbutyryl-CoA as substrate. Moreover, phenylpropionyl-CoA has been shown to be a substrate for MCAD and its intermediates accumulate in patients with MCAD deficiency. We have examined the involvement of MCAD and other acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (ACADs) in the metabolism of phenylbutyryl-CoA. Anaerobic titration of purified recombinant human MCAD with phenylbutyryl-CoA caused changes in the MCAD spectrum that are similar to those induced by octanoyl-CoA, its bona fide substrate, and unique to the development of the charge transfer ternary complex. The calculated apparent dissociation constant (K(D app)) for these substrates was 2.16 μM and 0.12 μM, respectively. The MCAD reductive and oxidative half reactions were monitored using the electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) fluorescence reduction assay. The catalytic efficiency and the K(m) for phenylbutyryl-CoA were 0.2 mM 34(-1)·sec(-1) and 5.3 μM compared to 4.0 mM(-1)·sec(-1) and 2.8 μM for octanoyl-CoA. Extracts of wild type and MCAD-deficient lymphoblast cells were tested for the ability to reduce ETF using phenylbutyryl-CoA as substrate. While ETF reduction activity was detected in extracts of wild type cells, it was undetectable in extracts of cells deficient in MCAD. The results are consistent with MCAD playing a key role in phenylbutyrate metabolism. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An abnormally slow proton transfer reaction in a simple HBO derivative due to ultrafast intramolecular-charge transfer events.

PubMed

Alarcos, Noemí; Gutierrez, Mario; Liras, Marta; Sánchez, Félix; Douhal, Abderrazzak

2015-07-07

We report on the steady-state, picosecond and femtosecond time-resolved studies of a charge and proton transfer dye 6-amino-2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (6A-HBO) and its methylated derivative 6-amino-2-(2'-methoxyphenyl)benzoxazole (6A-MBO), in different solvents. With femtosecond resolution and comparison with the photobehaviour of 6A-MBO, we demonstrate for 6A-HBO in solution, the photoproduction of an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) process at S1 taking place in ∼140 fs or shorter, followed by solvent relaxation in the charge transferred species. The generated structure (syn-enol charge transfer conformer) experiences an excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) reaction to produce a keto-type tautomer. This subsequent proton motion occurs in 1.2 ps (n-heptane), 14 ps (DCM) and 35 ps (MeOH). In MeOH, it is assisted by the solvent molecules and occurs through tunneling for which we got a large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of about 13. For the 6A-DBO (deuterated sample in CD3OD) the global proton-transfer reaction takes place in 200 ps, showing a remarkable slow KIE regime. The slow ESIPT reaction in DCM (14 ps), not through tunnelling as it is not sensitive to OH/OD exchange, has however to overcome an energy barrier using intramolecular as well as solvent coordinates. The rich ESIPT dynamics of 6A-HBO in the used solutions is governed by an ICT reaction, triggered by the amino group, and it is solvent dependent. Thus, the charge injection to a 6A-HBO molecular frame makes the ICT species more stable, and the phenol group less acidic, slowing down the subsequent ESIPT reaction. Our findings bring new insights into the coupling between ICT and ESIPT reactions on the potential-energy surfaces of several barriers.

Cluster-transfer reactions with radioactive beams: A spectroscopic tool for neutron-rich nuclei

DOE PAGES

Bottoni, S.; Leoni, S.; Fornal, B.; ...

2015-08-27

An exploratory experiment performed at REX-ISOLDE to investigate cluster-transfer reactions with radioactive beams in inverse kinematics is presented. The aim of the experiment was to test the potential of cluster-transfer reactions at the Coulomb barrier as a mechanism to explore the structure of exotic neutron-rich nuclei. The reactions 7Li( 98Rb,αxn) and 7Li( 98Rb,txn) were studied through particle-γ coincidence measurements, and the results are presented in terms of the observed excitation energies and spins. Moreover, the reaction mechanism is qualitatively discussed as a transfer of a clusterlike particle within a distorted-wave Born approximation framework. The results indicate that cluster-transfer reactions canmore » be described well as a direct process and that they can be an efficient method to investigate the structure of neutron-rich nuclei at medium-high excitation energies and spins.« less

Acyl-chain remodeling of dioctanoyl-phosphatidylcholine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant defective in de novo and salvage phosphatidylcholine synthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kishino, Hideyuki; Eguchi, Hiroki; Takagi, Keiko

2014-03-07

Highlights: • Dioctanoyl-PC (diC8PC) supported growth of a yeast mutant defective in PC synthesis. • diC8PC was converted to PC species containing longer acyl residues in the mutant. • Both acyl residues of diC8PC were replaced by longer fatty acids in vitro. • This system will contribute to the elucidation of the acyl chain remodeling of PC. - Abstract: A yeast strain, in which endogenous phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis is controllable, was constructed by the replacement of the promoter of PCT1, encoding CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, with GAL1 promoter in a double deletion mutant of PEM1 and PEM2, encoding phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase and phospholipidmore » methyltransferase, respectively. This mutant did not grow in the glucose-containing medium, but the addition of dioctanoyl-phosphatidylcholine (diC8PC) supported its growth. Analyses of the metabolism of {sup 13}C-labeled diC8PC ((methyl-{sup 13}C){sub 3}-diC8PC) in this strain using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry revealed that it was converted to PC species containing acyl residues of 16 or 18 carbons at both sn-1 and sn-2 positions. In addition, both acyl residues of (methyl-{sup 13}C){sub 3}-diC8PC were replaced with 16:1 acyl chains in the in vitro reaction using the yeast cell extract in the presence of palmitoleoyl-CoA. These results indicate that PC containing short acyl residues was remodeled to those with acyl chains of physiological length in yeast.« less

Explicit inclusion of nonlocality in ( d , p ) transfer reactions

DOE PAGES

Titus, L. J.; Nunes, F. M.; Potel, G.

2016-01-06

Traditionally, nucleon-nucleus optical potentials are made local for convenience. In recent work we studied the effects of including nonlocal interactions explicitly in the final state for (d,p) reactions, within the distorted wave Born approximation. Our goal in this work is to develop an improved formalism for nonlocal interactions that includes deuteron breakup and to use it to study the effects of including nonlocal interactions in transfer (d,p) reactions, in both the deuteron and the proton channel. We extend the finite-range adiabatic distorted wave approximation to include nonlocal nucleon optical potentials. We apply our method to (d,p) reactions on 16O, 40Ca,more » 48Ca, 126Sn, 132Sn, and 208Pb at 10, 20 and 50 MeV. Here, we find that nonlocality in the deuteron scattering state reduces the amplitude of the wave function in the nuclear interior, and shifts the wave function outward. In many cases, this has the effect of increasing the transfer cross section at the first peak of the angular distributions. This increase was most significant for heavy targets and for reactions at high energies. Lastly, our systematic study shows that, if only local optical potentials are used in the analysis of experimental (d, p) transfer cross sections, the extracted spectroscopic factors may be incorrect by up to 40% due to the local approximation.« less

Extracting Spectroscopic Factors of Argon Isotopes from Transfer Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manfredi, Juan; Lee, J.; Tsang, M. B.; Lynch, W. G.; Barney, J.; Estee, J.; Sweany, S.; Brown, K. W.; Cerizza, G.; Anderson, C.; Setiawan, H.; Loelius, C.; Xu, Z.; Rogers, A. M.; Pruitt, C.; Sobotka, L. G.; Elson, J. M.; Langer, C.; Chajecki, Z.; Chen, G.; Jones, K. L.; Smith, K.; Xiao, Z.; Li, Z.; Winkelbauer, J. R.

2017-01-01

A spectroscopic factor (SF) quantifies the single particle occupancy of a given state in a nucleus. For the argon isotopes, there is a discrepancy of the SF between studies that use transfer reactions and knockout reactions. Understanding the SFs of these isotopes, and in particular how the SF changes across the isotopic chain, is important for understanding how single particle structure changes with neutron number. The transfer reactions 34Ar(p,d) and 46Ar(p,d) were measured at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) using the same beam energy (70 MeV/u) as from the previous knockout measurement. Spectroscopic factors were extracted from measured angular distributions via ADWA calculations. Preliminary findings will be presented. The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is supported by the NSF (PHY 1102511), and Juan Manfredi is supported by the DOE NNSA Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship.

Reactions of electron-transfer flavoprotein and electron-transfer flavoprotein: ubiquinone oxidoreductase.

PubMed Central

Ramsay, R R; Steenkamp, D J; Husain, M

1987-01-01

Electron-transfer flavoprotein:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-Q oxidoreductase) catalyses the re-oxidation of reduced electron-transfer flavoprotein (ETF) with ubiquinone-1 (Q-1) as the electron acceptor. A kinetic assay for the enzyme was devised in which glutaryl-CoA in the presence of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase was used to reduce ETFox. and the reduction of Q-1 was monitored at 275 nm. The partial reactions involved in the overall assay system were examined. Glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase catalyses the rapid reduction of ETFox. to the anionic semiquinone (ETF.-), but reduces ETF.- to the fully reduced form (ETFhq) at a rate that is about 6-fold lower. ETF.-, but not ETFhq, is directly re-oxidized by Q-1 at a rate that, depending on the steady-state concentration of ETF.-, may contribute significantly to the overall reaction. ETF-Q oxidoreductase catalyses rapid disproportionation of ETF.- with an equilibrium constant of about 1.0 at pH 7.8. In the presence of Q-1 it also catalyses the re-oxidation of ETFhq at a rate that is faster than that of the overall reaction. Rapid-scan experiments indicated the formation of ETF.-, but its fractional concentration in the early stages of the re-oxidation of ETFhq is low. The data indicate that the re-oxidation of ETFhq proceeds at a rate that is adequate to account for the overall rate of electron transfer from glutaryl-CoA to Q-1. An unusual property of ETF-Q oxidoreductase seems to be that it not only catalyses the re-oxidation of the reduced forms of ETF but also facilitates the complete reduction of ETFox. to ETFhq by disproportionation of the radical. PMID:3593226

Cloning and characterization of a novel amidase from Paracoccus sp. M-1, showing aryl acylamidase and acyl transferase activities.

PubMed

Shen, Weiliang; Chen, Honghong; Jia, Kaizhi; Ni, Jun; Yan, Xin; Li, Shunpeng

2012-05-01

A novel amidase gene, designated pamh, was cloned from Paracoccus sp. M-1. Site-directed mutagenesis and bioinformatic analysis showed that the PamH protein belonged to the amidase signature enzyme family. PamH was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. The molecular mass of PamH was determined to be 52 kDa with an isoelectric point of 5.13. PamH displayed its highest enzymatic activity at 45°C and at pH 8.0 and was stable within a pH range of 5.0-10.0. The PamH enzyme exhibited amidase activity, aryl acylamidase activity, and acyl transferase activity, allowing it to function across a very broad substrate spectrum. PamH was highly active on aromatic and short-chain aliphatic amides (benzamide and propionamide), moderately active on amino acid amides, and possessed weak urease activity. Of the anilides examined, only propanil was a good substrate for PamH. For propanil, the k (cat) and K (m) were 2.8 s(-1) and 158 μM, respectively, and the catalytic efficiency value (k (cat)/K (m)) was 0.018 μM(-1) s(-1). In addition, PamH was able to catalyze the acyl transfer reaction to hydroxylamine for both amide and anilide substrates, including acetamide, propanil, and 4-nitroacetanilide; the highest reaction rate was shown with isobutyramide. These characteristics make PamH an excellent candidate for environmental remediation and an important enzyme for the biosynthesis of novel amides.

Two-proton transfer reactions on even Ni and Zn isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boucenna, A.; Kraus, L.; Linck, I.; Chan, Tsan Ung

1990-10-01

New levels strongly excited by 112-MeV 12C ions on even Ni and Zn isotopes are Jπ assigned on kinematical and geometrical arguments, crude shell-model calculations, and distorted-wave Born approximation angular-distribution analysis. These tentative assignments are supported by the Bansal-French model. Because of the contribution of additional collective effects, the two-proton transfer reaction spectra are less selectively fed than those obtained with the analogous two-neutron transfer reactions induced on the same targets in a similar energy range.

Substrate mass transfer: analytical approach for immobilized enzyme reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senthamarai, R.; Saibavani, T. N.

2018-04-01

In this paper, the boundary value problem in immobilized enzyme reactions is formulated and approximate expression for substrate concentration without external mass transfer resistance is presented. He’s variational iteration method is used to give approximate and analytical solutions of non-linear differential equation containing a non linear term related to enzymatic reaction. The relevant analytical solution for the dimensionless substrate concentration profile is discussed in terms of dimensionless reaction parameters α and β.

Enzymatic Resolution and Separation of Secondary Alcohols Based on Fatty Esters as Acylating Agents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monteiro, Carlos M.; Afonso, Carlos A. M.; Lourenco, Nuno M. T.

2010-01-01

The enzymatic resolution of "rac"-1-phenylethanol using ethyl myristate as acylating agent and solvent and "Candida antarctica" lipase B (CAL-B) as biocatalyst was demonstrated with catalyst and medium reuse. Both enantiomers of 1-phenylethanol were isolated by sequential enzymatic reactions and product distillations. From the first enzymatic…

Solubilization and partial purification of constituents of acyl-CoA elongase from Lunaria annua.

PubMed

Fehling, E; Lessire, R; Cassagne, C; Mukherjee, K D

1992-06-05

All the constituent enzymes of acyl-CoA elongase, i.e., beta-ketoacyl-CoA synthase, beta-ketoacyl-CoA reductase, beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrase and trans-2-enoyl-CoA reductase, have been solubilized from a 15,000 x g particulate fraction from developing seeds of honesty (Lunaria annua) using Triton X-100. All these activities were retained upon subsequent precipitation of the solubilized protein with polyethylene glycol and resuspension of the precipitate followed by ion exchange chromatography of the resulting protein on DEAE-cellulose. A 4.2-fold enrichment of the acyl-CoA elongase was thus obtained. Further chromatography of the DEAE fraction containing all the constituents of acyl-CoA elongase on Ultrogel yielded a major protein fraction exhibiting the activities of beta-ketoacyl-CoA synthase and beta-ketoacyl-CoA reductase only. Almost 30-fold purification of the beta-ketoacyl-CoA synthase was thus achieved. The beta-ketoacyl-CoA synthase was inhibited only at high concentrations of cerulenin, but at very low concentrations of iodoacetamide. Inhibition could be reduced by preincubation with thioesters, indicating that an enzyme thioester intermediate is involved in the condensation reaction of the acyl-CoA elongation.

The role of acyl carrier protein isoforms from Cuphea lanceolata seeds in the de-novo biosynthesis of medium-chain fatty acids.

PubMed

Schütt, B S; Brummel, M; Schuch, R; Spener, F

1998-06-01

To investigate the role of acyl carrier protein (ACP) in determining the fate of the acyl moieties linked to it in the course of de-novo fatty acid biosynthesis in higher plants, we carried out in vitro experiments to reconstitute the fatty acid synthase (FAS) reaction in extracts of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) leaves, rape (Brassica napus L.) seeds and Cuphea lanceolata Ait. seeds. The action of two major C. lanceolata ACP isoforms (ACP 1 and ACP 2) compared to ACP from Escherichia coli was monitored by saponification of the corresponding FAS products with subsequent analysis of the liberated fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography. In a second approach the preference of the medium-chain acyl-ACP-specific thioesterase (EC 3.1.2.14) of C. lanceolata seeds for the hydrolysis of acyl-ACPs prepared from the three ACP types was investigated. Both ACP isoforms from C. lanceolata seeds supported the synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids in a reconstituted FAS reaction of spinach leaf extracts. Compared to the isoform ACP 1, ACP 2 was more effective in supporting the synthesis of such fatty acids in the FAS reaction of rape seed extracts and caused a higher accumulation of FAS products in all experiments. No preference of the medium-chain thioesterase for one specific ACP isoform was observed. The results indicate that the presence of ACP 2 is essential for the synthesis of decanoic acid in C. lanceolata seeds, and its expression in the phase of accumulation of high levels of this fatty acid provides an additional and highly efficient cofactor for stimulating the FAS reaction.

Two-proton transfer reactions on even Ni and Zn isotopes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boucenna, A.; Kraus, L.; Linck, I.

New levels strongly excited by 112-MeV {sup 12}C ions on even Ni and Zn isotopes are {ital J}{sup {pi}} assigned on kinematical and geometrical arguments, crude shell-model calculations, and distorted-wave Born approximation angular-distribution analysis. These tentative assignments are supported by the Bansal-French model. Because of the contribution of additional collective effects, the two-proton transfer reaction spectra are less selectively fed than those obtained with the analogous two-neutron transfer reactions induced on the same targets in a similar energy range.

Interaction of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase with clofibryl-S-acyl-glutathione in vitro and in vivo in rat.

PubMed

Grillo, M P; Benet, L Z

2001-08-01

Clofibric acid (CA) is metabolized to chemically reactive acylating products that can transacylate glutathione to form clofibryl-S-acyl-glutathione (CA-SG) in vitro and in vivo. We investigated the first step in the degradation of CA-SG to the mercapturic acid conjugate, clofibryl-S-acyl-N-acetylcysteine (CA-SNAC), which is catalyzed by gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT). After gamma-GT mediated cleavage of glutamate from CA-SG, the product clofibryl-S-acyl-cysteinylglycine (CA-S-CG) should undergo an intramolecular rearrangement reaction [Tate, S. S. (1975) FEBS Lett. 54, 319-322] to form clofibryl-N-acyl-cysteinylglycine (CA-N-CG). We performed in vitro studies incubating CA-SG with gamma-GT to determine the products formed, and in vivo studies examining the products excreted in urine after dosing rats with CA-SG or CA. Thus, CA-SG (0.1 mM) was incubated with gamma-GT (0.1 unit/mL) in buffer (pH 7.4, 25 degrees C) and analyzed for products formed by reversed-phase HPLC and electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI/MS). Results showed that CA-SG is degraded completely after 6 h of incubation leading to the formation of two products, CA-N-CG and its disulfide, with no detection of CA-S-CG thioester. After 36 h of incubation, only the disulfide remained in the incubation. Treatment of the disulfide with dithiothreitol led to the reappearance of CA-N-CG. ESI/LC/MS analysis of urine (16 h) extracts of CA-SG-dosed rats (200 mg/kg, iv) showed that CA-SG is degraded to CA-N-CG, CA-N-acyl-cysteine (CA-N-C) and their respective S-methylated products. The mercapturic acid conjugate (CA-SNAC) was found as a minor product. Analysis of urine extracts from CA-dosed rats (200 mg/kg, ip) resulted in the detection of clofibryl-N-acyl-cysteine (CA-N-C), but no evidence for the formation of CA-SNAC was obtained. These in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that gamma-GT mediated degradation of clofibryl-S-acyl-glutathione leads primarily to the formation and excretion of clofibryl-N-acyl

Definition and determination of the triplet-triplet energy transfer reaction coordinate.

PubMed

Zapata, Felipe; Marazzi, Marco; Castaño, Obis; Acuña, A Ulises; Frutos, Luis Manuel

2014-01-21

A definition of the triplet-triplet energy transfer reaction coordinate within the very weak electronic coupling limit is proposed, and a novel theoretical formalism is developed for its quantitative determination in terms of internal coordinates The present formalism permits (i) the separation of donor and acceptor contributions to the reaction coordinate, (ii) the identification of the intrinsic role of donor and acceptor in the triplet energy transfer process, and (iii) the quantification of the effect of every internal coordinate on the transfer process. This formalism is general and can be applied to classical as well as to nonvertical triplet energy transfer processes. The utility of the novel formalism is demonstrated here by its application to the paradigm of nonvertical triplet-triplet energy transfer involving cis-stilbene as acceptor molecule. In this way the effect of each internal molecular coordinate in promoting the transfer rate, from triplet donors in the low and high-energy limit, could be analyzed in detail.

Fission of actinide nuclei using multi-nucleon transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Léguillon, Romain; Nishio, Katsuhisa; Hirose, Kentaro; Orlandi, Riccardo; Makii, Hiroyuki; Nishinaka, Ichiro; Ishii, Tetsuro; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Asai, Masato; Chiba, Satoshi; Ohtsuki, Tsutomu; Araki, Shohei; Watanabe, Yukinobu; Tatsuzawa, Ryotaro; Takaki, Naoyuki

2014-09-01

We are promoting a campaign to measure fission-fragment mass distributions for neutron-rich actinide nuclei populated by transfer reactions from their ground state up to an excitation energy of several tens MeV. We thus obtain the excitation energy dependence of the mass distribution. The experiment was carried out at the 20 MV JAEA tandem facility at Tokai. We report on the data obtained in the direct reaction 18 O + 232 Th . Transfer-channels and excitation energies of the fissioning nuclei were identified using silicon dE-E detectors located at forward angle. Two fission fragments were detected in coincidence using multi-wire proportional counters. Fission fragment masses were determined by kinematic consideration. We obtained the fission fragment mass distributions for 13 nuclei from actinium to uranium and some fission barrier heights. We are promoting a campaign to measure fission-fragment mass distributions for neutron-rich actinide nuclei populated by transfer reactions from their ground state up to an excitation energy of several tens MeV. We thus obtain the excitation energy dependence of the mass distribution. The experiment was carried out at the 20 MV JAEA tandem facility at Tokai. We report on the data obtained in the direct reaction 18 O + 232 Th . Transfer-channels and excitation energies of the fissioning nuclei were identified using silicon dE-E detectors located at forward angle. Two fission fragments were detected in coincidence using multi-wire proportional counters. Fission fragment masses were determined by kinematic consideration. We obtained the fission fragment mass distributions for 13 nuclei from actinium to uranium and some fission barrier heights. Present study is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Flat Graphene-Enhanced Electron Transfer Involved in Redox Reactions.

PubMed

Pan, Meilan; Zhang, Yanyang; Shan, Chao; Zhang, Xiaolin; Gao, Guandao; Pan, Bingcai

2017-08-01

Graphene is easily warped in the out-of-plane direction because of its high in-plane Young's modulus, and exploring the influence of wrinkled graphene on its properties is essential for the design of graphene-based materials for environmental applications. Herein, we prepared wrinkled graphene (WGN-1 and WGN-2) by thermal treatment and compared their electrochemical properties with those of flat graphene nanosheets (FGN). FGN exhibit activities that are much better than those of wrinkled graphene nanosheets (WGN), not only in the electrochemical oxidation of methylene blue (MB) but also in the electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene (NB). Transformation ratios of MB and NB in FGN, WGN-1, and WGN-2 were 97.5, 80.1, and 57.9% and 94.6, 92.1, and 81.2%, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the surface resistance of the graphene samples increased in the following order: FGN < WGN-1 < WGN-2. This suggests that the reaction charges transfer faster across the reaction interfaces and along the surface of FGN than that of WGN, and wrinkles restrict reaction charge transfer and reduce the reaction rates. This study reveals that the morphology of the graphene (flat or wrinkle) greatly affects redox reaction activities and may have important implications for the design of novel graphene-based nanostructures and for our understanding of graphene wrinkle-dependent redox reactions in environmental processes.

Age-dependent decline in acyl-ghrelin concentrations and reduced association of acyl-ghrelin and growth hormone in healthy older adults.

PubMed

Nass, Ralf; Farhy, Leon S; Liu, Jianhua; Pezzoli, Suzan S; Johnson, Michael L; Gaylinn, Bruce D; Thorner, Michael O

2014-02-01

Acyl-ghrelin is thought to have both orexigenic effects and to stimulate GH release. A possible cause of the anorexia of aging is an age-dependent decrease in circulating acyl-ghrelin levels. The purpose of the study was to compare acyl-ghrelin and GH concentrations between healthy old and young adults and to examine the relationship of acyl-ghrelin and GH secretion in both age groups. Six healthy older adults (age 62-74 y, body mass index range 20.9-29 kg/m(2)) and eight healthy young men (aged 18-28 y, body mass index range 20.6-26.2 kg/m(2)) had frequent blood samples drawn for hormone measurements every 10 minutes for 24 hours. Ghrelin was measured in an in-house, two-site sandwich ELISA specific for full-length acyl-ghrelin. GH was measured in a sensitive assay (Immulite 2000), and GH peaks were determined by deconvolution analysis. The acyl-ghrelin/GH association was estimated from correlations between amplitudes of individual GH secretory events and the average acyl-ghrelin concentration in the 60-minute interval preceding each GH burst. Twenty-four-hour mean (±SEM) GH (0.48 ± 0.14 vs 2.2 ± 0.3 μg/L, P < .005) and acyl-ghrelin (14.7 ± 2.3 vs 27.8 ± 3.9 pg/mL, P < .05) levels were significantly lower in older adults compared with young adults. Twenty-four-hour cortisol concentrations were higher in the old than the young adults (15.1 ± 1.0 vs 10.6 ± 0.9 μg/dL, respectively, P < .01). The ghrelin/GH association was more than 3-fold lower in the older group compared with the young adults (0.16 ± 0.12 vs 0.69 ± 0.04, P < .001). These results provide further evidence of an age-dependent decline in circulating acyl-ghrelin levels, which might play a role both in the decline of GH and in the anorexia of aging. Our data also suggest that with normal aging, endogenous acyl-ghrelin levels are less tightly linked to GH regulation.

Palmitoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase and the evolutionary origin of plant acyl-ACP thioesterases.

PubMed Central

Jones, A; Davies, H M; Voelker, T A

1995-01-01

Acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterases play an essential role in chain termination during de novo fatty acid synthesis and in the channeling of carbon flux between the two lipid biosynthesis pathways in plants. We have discovered that there are two distinct but related thioesterase gene classes in higher plants, termed FatA and FatB, whose evolutionary divergence appears to be ancient. FatA encodes the already described 18:1-ACP thioesterase. In contrast, FatB representatives encode thioesterases preferring acyl-ACPs having saturated acyl groups. We unexpectedly obtained a 16:0-ACP thioesterase cDNA from Cuphea hookeriana seed, which accumulate predominantly 8:0 and 10:0. The 16:0 thioesterase transcripts were found in non-seed tissues, and expression in transgenic Brassica napus led to the production of a 16:0-rich oil. We present evidence that this type of FatB gene is ancient and ubiquitous in plants and that specialized plant medium-chain thioesterases have evolved independently from such enzymes several times during angiosperm evolution. Also, the ubiquitous 18:1-ACP thioesterase appears to be a derivative of a 16:0 thioesterase. PMID:7734968

Palmitoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase and the evolutionary origin of plant acyl-ACP thioesterases.

PubMed

Jones, A; Davies, H M; Voelker, T A

1995-03-01

Acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterases play an essential role in chain termination during de novo fatty acid synthesis and in the channeling of carbon flux between the two lipid biosynthesis pathways in plants. We have discovered that there are two distinct but related thioesterase gene classes in higher plants, termed FatA and FatB, whose evolutionary divergence appears to be ancient. FatA encodes the already described 18:1-ACP thioesterase. In contrast, FatB representatives encode thioesterases preferring acyl-ACPs having saturated acyl groups. We unexpectedly obtained a 16:0-ACP thioesterase cDNA from Cuphea hookeriana seed, which accumulate predominantly 8:0 and 10:0. The 16:0 thioesterase transcripts were found in non-seed tissues, and expression in transgenic Brassica napus led to the production of a 16:0-rich oil. We present evidence that this type of FatB gene is ancient and ubiquitous in plants and that specialized plant medium-chain thioesterases have evolved independently from such enzymes several times during angiosperm evolution. Also, the ubiquitous 18:1-ACP thioesterase appears to be a derivative of a 16:0 thioesterase.

Structural and Functional Studies of Fatty Acyl Adenylate Ligases from E. coli and L. pneumophila

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Z.; Swaminathan, S.; Zhou, R.

2011-02-18

Fatty acyl-AMP ligase (FAAL) is a new member of a family of adenylate-forming enzymes that were recently discovered in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They are similar in sequence to fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) ligases (FACLs). However, while FACLs perform a two-step catalytic reaction, AMP ligation followed by CoA ligation using ATP and CoA as cofactors, FAALs produce only the acyl adenylate and are unable to perform the second step. We report X-ray crystal structures of full-length FAAL from Escherichia coli (EcFAAL) and FAAL from Legionella pneumophila (LpFAAL) bound to acyl adenylate, determined at resolution limits of 3.0 and 1.85 {angstrom}, respectively. Themore » structures share a larger N-terminal domain and a smaller C-terminal domain, which together resemble the previously determined structures of FAAL and FACL proteins. Our two structures occur in quite different conformations. EcFAAL adopts the adenylate-forming conformation typical of FACLs, whereas LpFAAL exhibits a unique intermediate conformation. Both EcFAAL and LpFAAL have insertion motifs that distinguish them from the FACLs. Structures of EcFAAL and LpFAAL reveal detailed interactions between this insertion motif and the interdomain hinge region and with the C-terminal domain. We suggest that the insertion motifs support sufficient interdomain motions to allow substrate binding and product release during acyl adenylate formation, but they preclude CoA binding, thereby preventing CoA ligation.« less

Structural and Functional Studies of Fatty Acyl Adenylate Ligases from E. coli and L. pneumophila

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Z Zhang; R Zhou; J Sauder

2011-12-31

Fatty acyl-AMP ligase (FAAL) is a new member of a family of adenylate-forming enzymes that were recently discovered in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They are similar in sequence to fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) ligases (FACLs). However, while FACLs perform a two-step catalytic reaction, AMP ligation followed by CoA ligation using ATP and CoA as cofactors, FAALs produce only the acyl adenylate and are unable to perform the second step. We report X-ray crystal structures of full-length FAAL from Escherichia coli (EcFAAL) and FAAL from Legionella pneumophila (LpFAAL) bound to acyl adenylate, determined at resolution limits of 3.0 and 1.85 {angstrom}, respectively. Themore » structures share a larger N-terminal domain and a smaller C-terminal domain, which together resemble the previously determined structures of FAAL and FACL proteins. Our two structures occur in quite different conformations. EcFAAL adopts the adenylate-forming conformation typical of FACLs, whereas LpFAAL exhibits a unique intermediate conformation. Both EcFAAL and LpFAAL have insertion motifs that distinguish them from the FACLs. Structures of EcFAAL and LpFAAL reveal detailed interactions between this insertion motif and the interdomain hinge region and with the C-terminal domain. We suggest that the insertion motifs support sufficient interdomain motions to allow substrate binding and product release during acyl adenylate formation, but they preclude CoA binding, thereby preventing CoA ligation.« less

Production of a Brassica napus low-molecular mass acyl-coenzyme A-binding protein in Arabidopsis alters the acyl-coenzyme A pool and acyl composition of oil in seeds

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Low-molecular mass (10 kD) cytosolic acyl-coenzyme A-binding protein (ACBP) has a substantial influence over fatty acid (FA) composition in oilseeds, possibly via an effect on the partitioning of acyl groups between elongation and desaturation pathways. Previously, we demonstrated that the expressio...

Multinucleon transfer reactions – a pathway to new heavy and superheavy nuclei?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinz, Sophie

2018-05-01

Recently, we reported the observation of several new neutron-deficient isotopes with proton numbers Z ≥ 92 in collisions of 48Ca + 248Cm at the Coulomb barrier. The peculiarity is that these nuclei were produced in deep inelastic multinucleon transfer reactions, a method which is presently discussed as a possible new pathway to enter so far unknown regions in the upper part of the Chart of Nuclides. Of particular interest are multinucleon transfer reactions as a possible means to produce neutron-rich superheavy nuclei and nuclei along the magic neutron shell N = 126. Based on present-day physical and technical state-of-the art, we will discuss the question how big are our chances to enter these regions by applying multinucleon transfer reactions.

Production of a Brassica napus Low-Molecular Mass Acyl-Coenzyme A-Binding Protein in Arabidopsis Alters the Acyl-Coenzyme A Pool and Acyl Composition of Oil in Seeds.

PubMed

Yurchenko, Olga; Singer, Stacy D; Nykiforuk, Cory L; Gidda, Satinder; Mullen, Robert T; Moloney, Maurice M; Weselake, Randall J

2014-06-01

Low-molecular mass (10 kD) cytosolic acyl-coenzyme A-binding protein (ACBP) has a substantial influence over fatty acid (FA) composition in oilseeds, possibly via an effect on the partitioning of acyl groups between elongation and desaturation pathways. Previously, we demonstrated that the expression of a Brassica napus ACBP (BnACBP) complementary DNA in the developing seeds of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) resulted in increased levels of polyunsaturated FAs at the expense of eicosenoic acid (20:1 cisΔ11 ) and saturated FAs in seed oil. In this study, we investigated whether alterations in the FA composition of seed oil at maturity were correlated with changes in the acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) pool in developing seeds of transgenic Arabidopsis expressing BnACBP. Our results indicated that both the acyl-CoA pool and seed oil of transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing cytosolic BnACBP exhibited relative increases in linoleic acid (18:2 cisΔ9,12 ; 17.9%-44.4% and 7%-13.2%, respectively) and decreases in 20:1 cisΔ11 (38.7%-60.7% and 13.8%-16.3%, respectively). However, alterations in the FA composition of the acyl-CoA pool did not always correlate with those seen in the seed oil. In addition, we found that targeting of BnACBP to the endoplasmic reticulum resulted in FA compositional changes that were similar to those seen in lines expressing cytosolic BnACBP, with the most prominent exception being a relative reduction in α-linolenic acid (18:3 cisΔ9,12,15 ) in both the acyl-CoA pool and seed oil of the former (48.4%-48.9% and 5.3%-10.4%, respectively). Overall, these data support the role of ACBP in acyl trafficking in developing seeds and validate its use as a biotechnological tool for modifying the FA composition of seed oil. © 2014 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Recent advances in transition metal-catalyzed N -atom transfer reactions of azides

PubMed Central

Driver, Tom G.

2011-01-01

Transition metal-catalyzed N-atom transfer reactions of azides provide efficient ways to construct new carbon–nitrogen and sulfur–nitrogen bonds. These reactions are inherently green: no additive besides catalyst is needed to form the nitrenoid reactive intermediate, and the by-product of the reaction is environmentally benign N2 gas. As such, azides can be useful precursors for transition metal-catalyzed N-atom transfer to sulfides, olefins and C–H bonds. These methods offer competitive selectivities and comparable substrate scope as alternative processes to generate metal nitrenoids. PMID:20617243

Definition and determination of the triplet-triplet energy transfer reaction coordinate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zapata, Felipe; Marazzi, Marco; Castaño, Obis

2014-01-21

A definition of the triplet-triplet energy transfer reaction coordinate within the very weak electronic coupling limit is proposed, and a novel theoretical formalism is developed for its quantitative determination in terms of internal coordinates The present formalism permits (i) the separation of donor and acceptor contributions to the reaction coordinate, (ii) the identification of the intrinsic role of donor and acceptor in the triplet energy transfer process, and (iii) the quantification of the effect of every internal coordinate on the transfer process. This formalism is general and can be applied to classical as well as to nonvertical triplet energy transfermore » processes. The utility of the novel formalism is demonstrated here by its application to the paradigm of nonvertical triplet-triplet energy transfer involving cis-stilbene as acceptor molecule. In this way the effect of each internal molecular coordinate in promoting the transfer rate, from triplet donors in the low and high-energy limit, could be analyzed in detail.« less

Development of the (d,n) Proton-transfer Reaction in Inverse Kinematics for Structure Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, K. L.; Thornsberry, C.; Allen, J.; Atencio, A.; Bardayan, D. W.; Blankstein, D.; Burcher, S.; Carter, A. B.; Chipps, K. A.; Cizewski, J. A.; Cox, I.; Elledge, Z.; Febbraro, M.; Fijałkowska, A.; Grzywacz, R.; Hall, M. R.; King, T. T.; Lepailleur, A.; Madurga, M.; Marley, S. T.; O'Malley, P. D.; Paulauskas, S. V.; Pain, S. D.; Peters, W. A.; Reingold, C.; Smith, K.; Taylor, S.; Tan, W.; Vostinar, M.; Walter, D.

Transfer reactions have provided exciting opportunities to study the structure of exotic nuclei and are often used to inform studies relating to nucleosynthesis and applications. In order to benefit from these reactions and their application to rare ion beams (RIBs) it is necessary to develop the tools and techniques to perform and analyze the data from reactions performed in inverse kinematics, that is with targets of light nuclei and heavier beams. We are continuing to expand the transfer reaction toolbox in preparation for the next generation of facilities, such as the Facility for Rare Ion Beams (FRIB), which is scheduled for completion in 2022. An important step in this process is to perform the (d,n) reaction in inverse kinematics, with analyses that include Q-value spectra and differential cross sections. In this way, proton-transfer reactions can be placed on the same level as the more commonly used neutron-transfer reactions, such as (d,p), (9Be,8Be), and (13C,12C). Here we present an overview of the techniques used in (d,p) and (d,n), and some recent data from (d,n) reactions in inverse kinematics using stable beams of 12C and 16O.

Heteropoly acid encapsulated into zeolite imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cage as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for Friedel–Crafts acylation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ammar, Muhammad; Jiang, Sai; Ji, Shengfu, E-mail: jisf@mail.buct.edu.cn

2016-01-15

A new strategy has been developed for the encapsulation of the phosphotungstic heteropoly acid (H{sub 3}PW{sub 12}O{sub 40} denoted as PTA) into zeolite imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cage and the PTA@ZIF-67(ec) catalysts with different PTA content were prepared. The structure of the catalysts was characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, FT-IR, ICP-AES and TG. The catalytic activity and recovery properties of the catalysts for the Friedel-Crafts acylation of anisole with benzoyl chloride were evaluated. The results showed that 14.6–31.7 wt% PTA were encapsulated in the ZIF-67 cage. The PTA@ZIF-67(ec) catalysts had good catalytic activity for Friedel-Crafts acylation. The conversion of anisole canmore » reach ~100% and the selectivity of the production can reach ~94% over 26.5 wt% PTA@ZIF-67(ec) catalyst under the reaction condition of 120 °C and 6 h. After reaction, the catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture by the centrifugation. The recovered catalyst can be reused five times and the selectivity can be kept over 90%. - Graphical abstract: The PTA@ZIF-67 catalysts with different PTA content were prepared by encapsulating the PTA into ZIF-67 cage and the as-synthesized catalysts exhibited good catalytic activity for the Friedel–Craft acylation of anisole with benzoyl chloride.« less

Correcting reaction rates measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabr, Refaat E.; Weiss, Robert G.; Bottomley, Paul A.

2008-04-01

Off-resonance or spillover irradiation and incomplete saturation can introduce significant errors in the estimates of chemical rate constants measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Existing methods of correction are effective only over a limited parameter range. Here, a general approach of numerically solving the Bloch-McConnell equations to calculate exchange rates, relaxation times and concentrations for the saturation-transfer experiment is investigated, but found to require more measurements and higher signal-to-noise ratios than in vivo studies can practically afford. As an alternative, correction formulae for the reaction rate are provided which account for the expected parameter ranges and limited measurements available in vivo. The correction term is a quadratic function of experimental measurements. In computer simulations, the new formulae showed negligible bias and reduced the maximum error in the rate constants by about 3-fold compared to traditional formulae, and the error scatter by about 4-fold, over a wide range of parameters for conventional saturation transfer employing progressive saturation, and for the four-angle saturation-transfer method applied to the creatine kinase (CK) reaction in the human heart at 1.5 T. In normal in vivo spectra affected by spillover, the correction increases the mean calculated forward CK reaction rate by 6-16% over traditional and prior correction formulae.

7Li(d,p)8Li transfer reaction in the NCSM/RGM approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raimondi, F.; Hupin, G.; Navrátil, P.; Quaglioni, S.

2018-03-01

Recently, we applied an ab initio method, the no-core shell model combined with the resonating group method, to the transfer reactions with light p-shell nuclei as targets and deuteron as the projectile. In particular, we studied the elastic scattering of deuterium on 7Li and the 7Li(d,p)8Li transfer reaction starting from a realistic two-nucleon interaction. In this contribution, we review of our main results on the 7Li(d,p)8Li transfer reaction, and we extend the study of the relevant reaction channels, by showing the dominant resonant phase shifts of the scattering matrix. We assess also the impact of the polarization effects of the deuteron below the breakup on the positive-parity resonant states in the reaction. For this purpose, we perform an analysis of the convergence trend of the phase and eigenphase shifts, with respect to the number of deuteron pseudostates included in the model space.

Impact of fatty acyl composition and quantity of triglycerides on bioaccessibility of dietary carotenoids.

PubMed

Huo, Tianyao; Ferruzzi, Mario G; Schwartz, Steven J; Failla, Mark L

2007-10-31

A carotenoid-rich salad meal with varying amounts and types of triglycerides (TG) was digested using simulated gastric and small intestinal conditions. Xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin) and carotenes (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene) in chyme and micelle fraction were quantified to determine digestive stability and efficiency of micellarization (bioaccessibility). Micellarization of lutein (+zeaxanthin) exceeded that of alpha- and beta-carotenes, which was greater than that of lycopene for all test conditions. Micellarization of carotenes, but not lutein (+zeaxanthin), was enhanced (P < 0.05) by addition of TG (2.5% v/w) to the meal and was dependent on fatty acyl chain length in structured TG (c18:1 > c8:0 > c4:0). The degree of unsaturation of c18 fatty acyl chains in TG added to the salad purée did not significantly alter the efficiency of micellarization of carotenoids. Relatively low amounts of triolein and canola oil (0.5-1%) were required for maximum micellarization of carotenes, but more oil (approximately 2.5%) was required when TG with medium chain saturated fatty acyl groups (e.g., trioctanoin and coconut oil) was added to the salad. Uptake of lutein and beta-carotene by Caco-2 cells also was examined by exposing cells to micelles generated during the simulated digestion of salad purée with either triolein or trioctanoin. Cell accumulation of beta-carotene was independent of fatty acyl composition of micelles, whereas lutein uptake was slightly, but significantly, increased from samples with digested triolein compared to trioctanoin. The results show that the in vitro transfer of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene from chyme to mixed micelles during digestion requires minimal (0.5-1%) lipid content in the meal and is affected by the length of fatty acyl chains but not the degree of unsaturation in TG. In contrast, fatty acyl chain length has limited if any impact on carotenoid uptake by small intestinal epithelial cells. These

Effect of acyl chain length on selective biocatalytic deacylation on O-aryl glycosides and separation of anomers.

PubMed

Aggarwal, Neha; Arya, Anu; Mathur, Divya; Singh, Sukhdev; Tyagi, Abhilash; Kumar, Rajesh; Rana, Neha; Singh, Rajendra; Prasad, Ashok K

2014-04-01

It has been demonstrated that Lipozyme® TL IM (Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase immobilised on silica) can selectively deacylate the ester function involving the C-5' hydroxyl group of α-anomers over the other acyl functions of anomeric mixture of peracylated O-aryl α,β-D-ribofuranoside. The analysis of results of biocatalytic deacylation reaction revealed that the reaction time decreases with the increase in the acyl chain length from C1 to C4. The unique selectivity of Lipozyme® TL IM has been harnessed for the separation of anomeric mixture of peracylated O-aryl α,β-D-ribofuranosides, The lipase mediated selective deacylation methodology has been used for the synthesis of O-aryl α-D-ribofuranosides and O-aryl β-D-ribofuranosides in pure forms, which can be used as chromogenic substrate for the detection of pathogenic microbial parasites containing glycosidases. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Progress toward Understanding Protein S-acylation: Prospective in Plants

PubMed Central

Li, Yaxiao; Qi, Baoxiu

2017-01-01

S-acylation, also known as S-palmitoylation or palmitoylation, is a reversible post-translational lipid modification in which long chain fatty acid, usually the 16-carbon palmitate, covalently attaches to a cysteine residue(s) throughout the protein via a thioester bond. It is involved in an array of important biological processes during growth and development, reproduction and stress responses in plant. S-acylation is a ubiquitous mechanism in eukaryotes catalyzed by a family of enzymes called Protein S-Acyl Transferases (PATs). Since the discovery of the first PAT in yeast in 2002 research in S-acylation has accelerated in the mammalian system and followed by in plant. However, it is still a difficult field to study due to the large number of PATs and even larger number of putative S-acylated substrate proteins they modify in each genome. This is coupled with drawbacks in the techniques used to study S-acylation, leading to the slower progress in this field compared to protein phosphorylation, for example. In this review we will summarize the discoveries made so far based on knowledge learnt from the characterization of protein S-acyltransferases and the S-acylated proteins, the interaction mechanisms between PAT and its specific substrate protein(s) in yeast and mammals. Research in protein S-acylation and PATs in plants will also be covered although this area is currently less well studied in yeast and mammalian systems. PMID:28392791

Mechanisms of proton transfer in Nafion: elementary reactions at the sulfonic acid groups.

PubMed

Sagarik, Kritsana; Phonyiem, Mayuree; Lao-ngam, Charoensak; Chaiwongwattana, Sermsiri

2008-04-21

Proton transfer reactions at the sulfonic acid groups in Nafion were theoretically studied, using complexes formed from triflic acid (CF3SO3H), H3O+ and H2O, as model systems. The investigations began with searching for potential precursors and transition states at low hydration levels, using the test-particle model (T-model), density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio calculations. They were employed as starting configurations in Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations at 298 K, from which elementary reactions were analyzed and categorized. For the H3O+-H2O complexes, BOMD simulations suggested that a quasi-dynamic equilibrium could be established between the Eigen and Zundel complexes, and that was considered to be one of the most important elementary reactions in the proton transfer process. The average lifetime of H3O+ obtained from BOMD simulations is close to the lowest limit, estimated from low-frequency vibrational spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that proton transfer reactions at -SO3H are not concerted, due to the thermal energy fluctuation and the existence of various quasi-dynamic equilibria, and -SO3H could directly and indirectly mediate proton transfer reactions through the formation of proton defects, as well as the -SO3- and -SO3H2+ transition states.

Domino Acylation/Diels-Alder Synthesis of N-Alkyl-octahydroisoquinolin-1-one-8-carboxylic Acids under Low-Solvent Conditions.

PubMed

Slauson, Stephen R; Pemberton, Ryan; Ghosh, Partha; Tantillo, Dean J; Aubé, Jeffrey

2015-05-15

The development of the domino reaction between an aminoethyl-substituted diene and maleic anhydride to afford an N-substituted octahydroisoquinolin-1-one is described. A typical procedure involves the treatment of a 1-aminoethyl-substituted butadiene with maleic anhydride at 0 °C to room temperature for 20 min under low-solvent conditions, which affords a series of isoquinolinone carboxylic acids in moderate to excellent yields. NMR monitoring suggested that the reaction proceeded via an initial acylation step followed by an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction. For the latter step, a significant rate difference was observed depending on whether the amino group was substituted by a phenyl or an alkyl (usually benzyl) substituent, with the former noted by NMR to be substantially slower. The Diels-Alder step was studied by density functional theory (DFT) methods, leading to the conclusion that the degree of preorganization in the starting acylated intermediate had the largest effect on the reaction barriers. In addition, the effect of electronics on the aromatic ring in N-phenyl substrates was studied computationally and experimentally. Overall, this protocol proved considerably more amenable to scale up compared to earlier methods by eliminating the requirement of microwave batch chemistry for this reaction as well as significantly reducing the quantity of solvent.

Mechanism and scope of the cyanide-catalyzed cross silyl benzoin reaction.

PubMed

Linghu, Xin; Bausch, Cory C; Johnson, Jeffrey S

2005-02-16

In this work, cross silyl benzoin addition reactions between acylsilanes (1) and aldehydes (2) catalyzed by metal cyanides are described. Unsymmetrical aryl-, heteroaryl-, and alkyl-substituted benzoin adducts can be generated in moderate to excellent yields with complete regiocontrol using potassium cyanide and a phase transfer catalyst. From a screen of transition metal cyanide complexes, lanthanum tricyanide was identified as an improved second-generation catalyst for the cross silyl benzoin reaction. A study of the influence of water on the KCN-catalyzed cross silyl benzoin addition revealed more practical reaction conditions using unpurified solvent under ambient conditions. A sequential silyl benzoin addition/cyanation/O-acylation reaction that resulted in two new C-C bonds was achieved in excellent yield. The mechanism of cross silyl benzoin addition is proposed in detail and is supported by crossover studies and a number of unambiguous experiments designed to ascertain the reversibility of key steps. No productive chemistry arises from cyanation of the more electrophilic aldehyde component. Formation of the carbon-carbon bond is shown to be the last irreversible step in the reaction.

Modeling the archetype cysteine protease reaction using dispersion corrected density functional methods in ONIOM-type hybrid QM/MM calculations; the proteolytic reaction of papain.

PubMed

Fekete, Attila; Komáromi, István

2016-12-07

A proteolytic reaction of papain with a simple peptide model substrate N-methylacetamide has been studied. Our aim was twofold: (i) we proposed a plausible reaction mechanism with the aid of potential energy surface scans and second geometrical derivatives calculated at the stationary points, and (ii) we investigated the applicability of the dispersion corrected density functional methods in comparison with the popular hybrid generalized gradient approximations (GGA) method (B3LYP) without such a correction in the QM/MM calculations for this particular problem. In the resting state of papain the ion pair and neutral forms of the Cys-His catalytic dyad have approximately the same energy and they are separated by only a small barrier. Zero point vibrational energy correction shifted this equilibrium slightly to the neutral form. On the other hand, the electrostatic solvation free energy corrections, calculated using the Poisson-Boltzmann method for the structures sampled from molecular dynamics simulation trajectories, resulted in a more stable ion-pair form. All methods we applied predicted at least a two elementary step acylation process via a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate. Using dispersion corrected DFT methods the thioester S-C bond formation and the proton transfer from histidine occur in the same elementary step, although not synchronously. The proton transfer lags behind (or at least does not precede) the S-C bond formation. The predicted transition state corresponds mainly to the S-C bond formation while the proton is still on the histidine Nδ atom. In contrast, the B3LYP method using larger basis sets predicts a transition state in which the S-C bond is almost fully formed and the transition state can be mainly featured by the Nδ(histidine) to N(amid) proton transfer. Considerably lower activation energy was predicted (especially by the B3LYP method) for the next amide bond breaking elementary step of acyl-enzyme formation. Deacylation appeared to

Plasma levels of acylated ghrelin in patients with functional dyspepsia

PubMed Central

Kim, Yeon Soo; Lee, Joon Seong; Lee, Tae Hee; Cho, Joo Young; Kim, Jin Oh; Kim, Wan Jung; Kim, Hyun Gun; Jeon, Seong Ran; Jeong, Hoe Su

2012-01-01

AIM: To investigate the relationship between plasma acylated ghrelin levels and the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia. METHODS: Twenty-two female patients with functional dyspepsia and twelve healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. The functional dyspepsia patients were each diagnosed based on the Rome III criteria. Eligible patients completed a questionnaire concerning the severity of 10 symptoms. Plasma acylated ghrelin levels before and after a meal were determined in the study participants using a commercial human acylated enzyme immunoassay kit; electrogastrograms were performed for 50 min before and after a standardized 10-min meal containing 265 kcal. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in plasma acylated ghrelin levels between healthy volunteers and patients with functional dyspepsia. However, in patients with functional dyspepsia, there was a negative correlation between fasting plasma acylated ghrelin levels and the sum score of epigastric pain (r = -0.427, P = 0.047) and a positive correlation between the postprandial/fasting plasma acylated ghrelin ratio and the sum score of early satiety (r = 0.428, P =0.047). Additionally, there was a negative correlation between fasting acylated ghrelin plasma levels and fasting normogastria (%) (r = -0.522, P = 0.013). Interestingly, two functional dyspepsia patients showed paradoxically elevated plasma acylated ghrelin levels after the meal. CONCLUSION: Abnormal plasma acylated ghrelin levels before or after a meal may be related to several of the dyspeptic symptoms seen in patients with functional dyspepsia. PMID:22611317

A molecular dynamics study of intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in solutions based upon mixed quantum-classical approximation. I. Proton transfer reaction in water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamada, Atsushi; Kojima, Hidekazu; Okazaki, Susumu, E-mail: okazaki@apchem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

2014-08-28

In order to investigate proton transfer reaction in solution, mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics calculations have been carried out based on our previously proposed quantum equation of motion for the reacting system [A. Yamada and S. Okazaki, J. Chem. Phys. 128, 044507 (2008)]. Surface hopping method was applied to describe forces acting on the solvent classical degrees of freedom. In a series of our studies, quantum and solvent effects on the reaction dynamics in solutions have been analysed in detail. Here, we report our mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics calculations for intramolecular proton transfer of malonaldehyde in water. Thermally activated proton transfermore » process, i.e., vibrational excitation in the reactant state followed by transition to the product state and vibrational relaxation in the product state, as well as tunneling reaction can be described by solving the equation of motion. Zero point energy is, of course, included, too. The quantum simulation in water has been compared with the fully classical one and the wave packet calculation in vacuum. The calculated quantum reaction rate in water was 0.70 ps{sup −1}, which is about 2.5 times faster than that in vacuum, 0.27 ps{sup −1}. This indicates that the solvent water accelerates the reaction. Further, the quantum calculation resulted in the reaction rate about 2 times faster than the fully classical calculation, which indicates that quantum effect enhances the reaction rate, too. Contribution from three reaction mechanisms, i.e., tunneling, thermal activation, and barrier vanishing reactions, is 33:46:21 in the mixed quantum-classical calculations. This clearly shows that the tunneling effect is important in the reaction.« less

Interaction of Triton X-100 with acyl pocket of butyrylcholinesterase: effect on esterase activity and inhibitor sensitivity of the enzyme.

PubMed

Jaganathan, L; Boopathy, R

1998-06-01

The effect of non-ionic detergents like Triton X-100, Lubrol PX, Brij 35 and Tween 80 on the esterase activity and inhibitor sensitivity of human serum butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) were studied. The results showed that though BuChE is not a detergent dependent enzyme, the esterase activity and inhibitor sensitivity of it can be modulated by the presence of detergents. All the detergents caused a marginal activation of the esterase activity. The presence of Lubrol PX, Brij 35 or Tween 80 did not affect the 50% molar inhibition concentration (IC50) of the inhibitors tested. But in the presence of Triton X-100 the IC50 values were increased for neostigmine, eserine and tetraisopropylpyrophosphoramide (acylation site interacting inhibitors), whereas for inhibitors like ethopropazine, imipramine and procainamide (choline binding pocket specific inhibitors) the IC50 values were unaltered. In addition, in the presence of Triton X-100 the bimolecular reaction constant for phosphorylation reaction (ki) of BuChE for the acyl pocket specific tetraisopropylpyrophosphoramide was reduced. Triton X-100 partially protected BuChE against this tetraisopropylpyrophosphoramide inactivation. These results indicate that Triton X-100 by interacting with the acyl pocket hydrophobic region is able to activate the esterase activity of BuChE. Further it reduces the capacity of the enzyme to react with inhibitors that inactivate it by interacting with the serine residue of the acylation site.

Modelling charge transfer reactions with the frozen density embedding formalism.

PubMed

Pavanello, Michele; Neugebauer, Johannes

2011-12-21

The frozen density embedding (FDE) subsystem formulation of density-functional theory is a useful tool for studying charge transfer reactions. In this work charge-localized, diabatic states are generated directly with FDE and used to calculate electronic couplings of hole transfer reactions in two π-stacked nucleobase dimers of B-DNA: 5'-GG-3' and 5'-GT-3'. The calculations rely on two assumptions: the two-state model, and a small differential overlap between donor and acceptor subsystem densities. The resulting electronic couplings agree well with benchmark values for those exchange-correlation functionals that contain a high percentage of exact exchange. Instead, when semilocal GGA functionals are used the electronic couplings are grossly overestimated.

Conversion and origin of normal and abnormal temperature dependences of kinetic isotope effect in hydride transfer reactions.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiao-Qing; Li, Xiu-Tao; Han, Su-Hui; Mei, Lian-Rui

2012-05-18

The effects of substituents on the temperature dependences of kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for the reactions of the hydride transfer from the substituted 5-methyl-6-phenyl-5,6-dihydrophenanthridine (G-PDH) to thioxanthylium (TX(+)) in acetonitrile were examined, and the results show that the temperature dependences of KIE for the hydride transfer reactions can be converted by adjusting the nature of the substituents in the molecule of the hydride donor. In general, electron-withdrawing groups can make the KIE to have normal temperature dependence, but electron-donating groups can make the KIE to have abnormal temperature dependence. Thermodynamic analysis on the possible pathways of the hydride transfer from G-PDH to TX(+) in acetonitrile suggests that the transfers of the hydride anion in the reactions are all carried out by the concerted one-step mechanism whether the substituent is an electron-withdrawing group or an electron-donating group. But the examination of Hammett-type free energy analysis on the hydride transfer reactions supports that the concerted one-step hydride transfer is not due to an elementary chemical reaction. The experimental values of KIE at different temperatures for the hydride transfer reactions were modeled by using a kinetic equation formed according to a multistage mechanism of the hydride transfer including a returnable charge-transfer complex as the reaction intermediate; the real mechanism of the hydride transfer and the root that why the temperature dependences of KIE can be converted as the nature of the substituents are changed were discovered.

Activation of Exogenous Fatty Acids to Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Cannot Bypass FabI Inhibition in Neisseria*

PubMed Central

Yao, Jiangwei; Bruhn, David F.; Frank, Matthew W.; Lee, Richard E.; Rock, Charles O.

2016-01-01

Neisseria is a Gram-negative pathogen with phospholipids composed of straight chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, the ability to incorporate exogenous fatty acids, and lipopolysaccharides that are not essential. The FabI inhibitor, AFN-1252, was deployed as a chemical biology tool to determine whether Neisseria can bypass the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis by incorporating exogenous fatty acids. Neisseria encodes a functional FabI that was potently inhibited by AFN-1252. AFN-1252 caused a dose-dependent inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in growing Neisseria, a delayed inhibition of growth phenotype, and minimal inhibition of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, showing that its mode of action is through inhibiting fatty acid synthesis. Isotopic fatty acid labeling experiments showed that Neisseria encodes the ability to incorporate exogenous fatty acids into its phospholipids by an acyl-acyl carrier protein-dependent pathway. However, AFN-1252 remained an effective antibacterial when Neisseria were supplemented with exogenous fatty acids. These results demonstrate that extracellular fatty acids are activated by an acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetase (AasN) and validate type II fatty acid synthesis (FabI) as a therapeutic target against Neisseria. PMID:26567338

Oxonitriles: A Grignard Addition-Acylation Route to Enamides

PubMed Central

Wei, Guoqing; Zhang, Zhiyu; Steward, Omar W.

2008-01-01

Sequential addition of three different Grignard reagents and pivaloyl chloride to 3-oxo-1-cyclohexene-1-carbonitrile installs four new bonds to generate a diverse array of cyclic enamides. Remarkably, formation of the C-magnesiated nitrile intermediate is followed by preferential acylation by pivaloyl chloride rather than consumption by in situ Grignard reagent. Rapid N-acylation of the C-magnesiated nitrile generates an acyl ketenimine that reacts readily with Grignard reagents, or a trialkyl zincate, effectively assembling highly substituted, cyclic enamides. PMID:17020332

Binding of the human "electron transferring flavoprotein" (ETF) to the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) involves an arginine and histidine residue.

PubMed

Parker, Antony R

2003-10-01

The interaction between the "electron transferring flavoprotein" (ETF) and medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) enables successful flavin to flavin electron transfer, crucial for the beta-oxidation of fatty acids. The exact biochemical determinants for ETF binding to MCAD are unknown. Here we show that binding of human ETF, to MCAD, was inhibited by 2,3-butanedione and diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) and reversed by incubation with free arginine and hydroxylamine respectively. Spectral analyses of native ETF vs modified ETF suggested that flavin binding was not affected and that the loss of ETF activity with MCAD involved modification of one ETF arginine residue and one ETF histidine residue respectively. MCAD and octanoyl-CoA protected ETF against inactivation by both 2,3-butanedione and DEPC indicating that the arginine and histidine residues are present in or around the MCAD binding site. Comparison of exposed arginine and histidine residues among different ETF species, however, indicates that arginine residues are highly conserved but that histidine residues are not. These results lead us to conclude that this single arginine residue is essential for the binding of ETF to MCAD, but that the single histidine residue, although involved, is not.

High pressure reaction cell and transfer mechanism for ultrahigh vacuum spectroscopic chambers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, A. E.; Schulz, K. H.

2000-06-01

A novel high pressure reaction cell and sample transfer mechanism for ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) spectroscopic chambers is described. The design employs a unique modification of a commercial load-lock transfer system to emulate a tractable microreactor. The reaction cell has an operating pressure range of <1×10-4 to 1000 Torr and can be evacuated to UHV conditions to enable sample transfer into the spectroscopic chamber. Additionally, a newly designed sample holder equipped with electrical and thermocouple contacts is described. The sample holder is capable of resistive specimen heating to 400 and 800 °C with current requirements of 14 A (2 V) and 25 A (3.5 V), respectively. The design enables thorough material science characterization of catalytic reactions and the surface chemistry of catalytic materials without exposing the specimen to atmospheric contaminants. The system is constructed primarily from readily available commercial equipment allowing its rapid implementation into existing laboratories.

Deep-inelastic multinucleon transfer processes in the 16O+27Al reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, B. J.; Sawant, Y.; Patwari, P.; Santra, S.; Pal, A.; Kundu, A.; Chattopadhyay, D.; Jha, V.; Pandit, S. K.; Parkar, V. V.; Ramachandran, K.; Mahata, K.; Nayak, B. K.; Saxena, A.; Kailas, S.; Nag, T. N.; Sahoo, R. N.; Singh, P. P.; Sekizawa, K.

2018-03-01

The reaction mechanism of deep-inelastic multinucleon transfer processes in the 16O+27Al reaction at an incident 16O energy (Elab=134 MeV) substantially above the Coulomb barrier has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Elastic-scattering angular distribution, total kinetic energy loss spectra, and angular distributions for various transfer channels have been measured. The Q -value- and angle-integrated isotope production cross sections have been deduced. To obtain deeper insight into the underlying reaction mechanism, we have carried out a detailed analysis based on the time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory. A recently developed method, TDHF+GEMINI, has been applied to evaluate production cross sections for secondary products. From a comparison between the experimental and theoretical cross sections, we find that the theory qualitatively reproduces the experimental data. Significant effects of secondary light-particle emissions are demonstrated. Possible interplay among fusion-fission, deep-inelastic, multinucleon transfer, and particle evaporation processes is discussed.

Muoniated acyl and thioacyl radicals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenzie, Iain; Brodovitch, Jean-Claude; Ghandi, Khashayar; Percival, Paul W.

2006-03-01

The product of the reaction of muonium with tert-butylisocyanate was previously assigned as the muoniated tert-butylaminyl radical (I. McKenzie, J.-C. Brodovitch, K. Ghandi, S. Kecman, P. W. Percival, Physica B 326 (2003) 76). This assignment is incorrect since the muon and 14N hyperfine-coupling constants (hfcc) of this radical would have the opposite sign, which is in conflict with the experimental results. The radical is now reassigned as the muoniated N-tert-butylcarbamoyl radical, based on the similarities between the experimental muon and 14N hfcc and hfcc calculated at the UB3LYP/6-311G(d,p)//UB3LYP/EPR-III level. The large zero-point energy in the N-Mu bond results in the dissociation barrier of the muoniated N-tert-butylcarbamoyl radical being above the combined energy of the reactants, in contrast to the N-tert-butylcarbamoyl radical where the dissociation barrier lies below the combined energy of the reactants. The reaction of muonium with tert-butylisothiocyanate produced both conformers of the muoniated N-tert-butylthiocarbamoyl radical and their assignment was based on the similarities between the experimental and calculated muon hfcc. These are the first acyl and thioacyl radicals to be directly detected by muon spin spectroscopy.

Modelling charge transfer reactions with the frozen density embedding formalism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pavanello, Michele; Neugebauer, Johannes

2011-12-21

The frozen density embedding (FDE) subsystem formulation of density-functional theory is a useful tool for studying charge transfer reactions. In this work charge-localized, diabatic states are generated directly with FDE and used to calculate electronic couplings of hole transfer reactions in two {pi}-stacked nucleobase dimers of B-DNA: 5{sup '}-GG-3{sup '} and 5{sup '}-GT-3{sup '}. The calculations rely on two assumptions: the two-state model, and a small differential overlap between donor and acceptor subsystem densities. The resulting electronic couplings agree well with benchmark values for those exchange-correlation functionals that contain a high percentage of exact exchange. Instead, when semilocal GGA functionalsmore » are used the electronic couplings are grossly overestimated.« less

Mechanism of multinucleon transfer reaction based on the GRAZING model and DNS model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Pei-wei; Li, Cheng; Zhu, Long; Lin, Cheng-jian; Zhang, Feng-shou

2017-11-01

Multinucleon transfer (MNT) reactions have been studied by either the GRAZING model or dinuclear system (DNS) model before. MNT reactions in the grazing regime have been described quite well by the GRAZING model. The DNS model is able to deal with MNT reactions, which happen in the closer overlapped regime after contact of two colliding nuclei. Since MNT reactions can happen in both areas and cannot be distinguished in view of experimental work, it is beneficial to compare these two models to clarify mechanism of MNT reactions. In this study, the mechanism of the MNT reaction has been studied by comparing the GRAZING model and DNS model for the first time. Reaction systems 136Xe+208Pb at {E}{{c}.{{m}}.}=450 MeV and 64Ni+238U at {E}{{c}.{{m}}.}=307 MeV are taken as examples in this paper. It is found that the gradients of transfer cross sections with respect to the impact parameter of the GRAZING model and DNS model are mainly concentrated on two different areas, which represents two kinds of transfer mechanisms. The theoretical framework of these two models are exclusive according to whether capture happens, which guarantees that the theoretical results calculated by these two models have no overlap and can be added up. Results indicate that the description of experimental MNT reaction cross sections can be significantly improved if calculations of the GRAZING model and DNS model are both considered.

In silico prediction of acyl glucuronide reactivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potter, Tim; Lewis, Richard; Luker, Tim; Bonnert, Roger; Bernstein, Michael A.; Birkinshaw, Timothy N.; Thom, Stephen; Wenlock, Mark; Paine, Stuart

2011-11-01

Drugs and drug candidates containing a carboxylic acid moiety, including many widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often metabolized to form acyl glucuronides (AGs). NSAIDs such as Ibuprofen are amongst the most widely used drugs on the market, whereas similar carboxylic acid drugs such as Suprofen have been withdrawn due to adverse events. Although the link between these AG metabolites and toxicity is not proven, there is circumstantial literature evidence to suggest that more reactive acyl glucuronides may, in some cases, present a greater risk of exhibiting toxic effects. We wished therefore to rank the reactivity of potential new carboxylate-containing drug candidates, and performed kinetic studies on synthetic acyl glucuronides to benchmark our key compounds. Driven by the desire to quickly rank the reactivity of compounds without the need for lengthy synthesis of the acyl glucuronide, a correlation was established between the degradation half-life of the acyl glucuronide and the half life for the hydrolysis of the more readily available methyl ester derivative. This finding enabled a considerable broadening of chemical property space to be investigated. The need for kinetic measurements was subsequently eliminated altogether by correlating the methyl ester hydrolysis half-life with the predicted 13C NMR chemical shift of the carbonyl carbon together with readily available steric descriptors in a PLS model. This completely in silico prediction of acyl glucuronide reactivity is applicable within the earliest stages of drug design with low cost and acceptable accuracy to guide intelligent molecular design. This reactivity data will be useful alongside the more complex additional pharmacokinetic exposure and distribution data that is generated later in the drug discovery process for assessing the overall toxicological risk of acidic drugs.

Plant Microsomal Phospholipid Acyl Hydrolases Have Selectivities for Uncommon Fatty Acids.

PubMed

Stahl, U.; Banas, A.; Stymne, S.

1995-03-01

Developing endosperms and embryos accumulating triacylglycerols rich in caproyl (decanoyl) groups (i.e. developing embryos of Cuphea procumbens and Ulmus glabra) had microsomal acyl hydrolases with high selectivities toward phosphatidylcholine with this acyl group. Similarly, membranes from Euphorbia lagascae and Ricinus communis endosperms, which accumulate triacylglycerols with vernoleate (12-epoxy-octadeca-9-enoate) and ricinoleate (12-hydroxy-octadeca-9-enoate), respectively, had acyl hydrolases that selectively removed their respective oxygenated acyl group from the phospholipids. The activities toward phospholipid substrates with epoxy, hydroxy, and medium-chain acyl groups varied greatly between microsomal preparations from different plant species. Epoxidated and hydroxylated acyl groups in sn-1 and sn-2 positions of phosphatidylcholine and in sn-1-lysophosphatidylcholine were hydrolyzed to a similar extent, whereas the hydrolysis of caproyl groups was highly dependent on the positional localization.

Examination of Triacylglycerol Biosynthetic Pathways via De Novo Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses in an Unsequenced Microalga

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-17

analysis results. The components of the TAG biosynthetic pathway, including glycerol-3-phosphate acyl- transferase (GPAT), lyso- phosphatidic acid ...acyltransferase (LPAAT), phosphatidic acid phosphatase (PAP), lyso-phosphati- dylcholine acyltransferase (LPAT), and diacylglycerol acyltransfer- ase (DGAT...transfer to position one of G3P results in the formation of lyso- phosphatidic acid (LPA), in a reaction catalyzed by GPAT. Subsequent acyl transfer to

A high-performance liquid chromatography-based radiometric assay for acyl-CoA:alcohol transacylase from jojoba.

PubMed

Garver, W S; Kemp, J D; Kuehn, G D

1992-12-01

Acyl-CoA:alcohol transacylase catalyzes the final step in the biosynthesis of storage liquid wax esters from acyl-CoA fatty acids and fatty alcohols in a limited number of microbes, algae, and Simmondsia chinensis Link (jojoba). An improved and automated method of enzyme assay for this catalyst from cotyledons of jojoba is described. The assay method uses reversed-phase C18 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate the labeled C30:1 liquid wax product, [14C]-dodecanyl-octadecenoate, from the unreacted substrate, [14C]octadecenoyl-CoA (oleyl-CoA), and other components produced from enzymes present in the crude homogenate of jojoba cotyledons, including [14C]-octadecenoic acid (oleic acid) and [14C]octadecenol (oleyol). Methods are also described for microscale chemical synthesis in one vessel of 14C-radiolabeled substrates and products for the transacylase. These labeled reagents are required to confirm the HPLC separations of reaction products. The radioactive components are quantitated using an on-line flow-through scintillation detector enabling sensitive and precise analysis of the reaction products.

Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) Protein Regulates Long-chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase by Deacetylating Conserved Lysines Near the Active Site

PubMed Central

Bharathi, Sivakama S.; Zhang, Yuxun; Mohsen, Al-Walid; Uppala, Radha; Balasubramani, Manimalha; Schreiber, Emanuel; Uechi, Guy; Beck, Megan E.; Rardin, Matthew J.; Vockley, Jerry; Verdin, Eric; Gibson, Bradford W.; Hirschey, Matthew D.; Goetzman, Eric S.

2013-01-01

Long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCAD) is a key mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation enzyme. We previously demonstrated increased LCAD lysine acetylation in SIRT3 knockout mice concomitant with reduced LCAD activity and reduced fatty acid oxidation. To study the effects of acetylation on LCAD and determine sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) target sites, we chemically acetylated recombinant LCAD. Acetylation impeded substrate binding and reduced catalytic efficiency. Deacetylation with recombinant SIRT3 partially restored activity. Residues Lys-318 and Lys-322 were identified as SIRT3-targeted lysines. Arginine substitutions at Lys-318 and Lys-322 prevented the acetylation-induced activity loss. Lys-318 and Lys-322 flank residues Arg-317 and Phe-320, which are conserved among all acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and coordinate the enzyme-bound FAD cofactor in the active site. We propose that acetylation at Lys-318/Lys-322 causes a conformational change which reduces hydride transfer from substrate to FAD. Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and acyl-CoA dehydrogenase 9, two related enzymes with lysines at positions equivalent to Lys-318/Lys-322, were also efficiently deacetylated by SIRT3 following chemical acetylation. These results suggest that acetylation/deacetylation at Lys-318/Lys-322 is a mode of regulating fatty acid oxidation. The same mechanism may regulate other acyl-CoA dehydrogenases. PMID:24121500

Understanding Acyl Chain and Glycerolipid Metabolism in Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ohlrogge, John B.

2013-11-05

Progress is reported in these areas: acyl-editing in initial eukaryotic lipid assembly in soybean seeds; identification and characterization of two Arabidopsis thaliana lysophosphatidyl acyltransferases with preference for lysophosphatidylethanolamine; and characterization and subcellular distribution of lysolipid acyl transferase activity of pea leaves.

Performance of Frozen Density Embedding for Modeling Hole Transfer Reactions.

PubMed

Ramos, Pablo; Papadakis, Markos; Pavanello, Michele

2015-06-18

We have carried out a thorough benchmark of the frozen density-embedding (FDE) method for calculating hole transfer couplings. We have considered 10 exchange-correlation functionals, 3 nonadditive kinetic energy functionals, and 3 basis sets. Overall, we conclude that with a 7% mean relative unsigned error, the PBE and PW91 functionals coupled with the PW91k nonadditive kinetic energy functional and a TZP basis set constitute the most stable and accurate levels of theory for hole transfer coupling calculations. The FDE-ET method is found to be an excellent tool for computing diabatic couplings for hole transfer reactions.

Kinetic studies of the acylation of pig muscle–d-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase by 1,3-diphosphoglycerate and of proton uptake and release in the overall enzyme mechanism

PubMed Central

Harrigan, P. J.; Trentham, D. R.

1973-01-01

In the presence of NAD+ the acylation by 1,3-diphosphoglycerate of the four active sites of pig muscle d-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase can be monitored at 365nm by the disappearance of the absorption band present in the binary complex of NAD+ and the enzyme. A non-specific salt effect decreased the acylation rate 25-fold when the ionic strength was increased from 0.10 to 1.0. This caused acylation to be the rate-limiting process in the enzyme-catalysed reductive dephosphorylation of 1,3-diphosphoglycerate at high ionic strength at pH8. The salt effect permitted investigation of the acylation over a wide range of conditions. Variation of pH from 5.4 to 8.6 produced at most a two-fold change in the acylation rate. One proton was taken up per site acylated at pH8.0. By using a chromophoric H+ indicator the rate of proton uptake could be monitored during the acylation and was also almost invariant in the pH range 5.5–8.5. Transient kinetic studies of the overall enzyme-catalysed reaction indicated that acylation was the process involving proton uptake at pH8.0. The enzyme mechanism is discussed in the light of these results. PMID:4360248

Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mtFabD, a malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT).

PubMed

Ghadbane, Hemza; Brown, Alistair K; Kremer, Laurent; Besra, Gurdyal S; Fütterer, Klaus

2007-10-01

Mycobacteria display a unique and unusual cell-wall architecture, central to which is the membrane-proximal mycolyl-arabinogalactan-peptidoglycan core (mAGP). The biosynthesis of mycolic acids, which form the outermost layer of the mAGP core, involves malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT). This essential enzyme catalyses the transfer of malonyl from coenzyme A to acyl carrier protein AcpM, thus feeding these two-carbon units into the chain-elongation cycle of the type II fatty-acid synthase. The crystal structure of M. tuberculosis mtFabD, the mycobacterial MCAT, has been determined to 3.0 A resolution by multi-wavelength anomalous dispersion. Phasing was facilitated by Ni2+ ions bound to the 20-residue N-terminal affinity tag, which packed between the two independent copies of mtFabD.

Plant Microsomal Phospholipid Acyl Hydrolases Have Selectivities for Uncommon Fatty Acids.

PubMed Central

Stahl, U.; Banas, A.; Stymne, S.

1995-01-01

Developing endosperms and embryos accumulating triacylglycerols rich in caproyl (decanoyl) groups (i.e. developing embryos of Cuphea procumbens and Ulmus glabra) had microsomal acyl hydrolases with high selectivities toward phosphatidylcholine with this acyl group. Similarly, membranes from Euphorbia lagascae and Ricinus communis endosperms, which accumulate triacylglycerols with vernoleate (12-epoxy-octadeca-9-enoate) and ricinoleate (12-hydroxy-octadeca-9-enoate), respectively, had acyl hydrolases that selectively removed their respective oxygenated acyl group from the phospholipids. The activities toward phospholipid substrates with epoxy, hydroxy, and medium-chain acyl groups varied greatly between microsomal preparations from different plant species. Epoxidated and hydroxylated acyl groups in sn-1 and sn-2 positions of phosphatidylcholine and in sn-1-lysophosphatidylcholine were hydrolyzed to a similar extent, whereas the hydrolysis of caproyl groups was highly dependent on the positional localization. PMID:12228415

Gamow-Teller transitions and neutron-proton-pair transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Isacker, P.; Macchiavelli, A. O.

2018-05-01

We propose a schematic model of nucleons moving in spin-orbit partner levels, j = l ± 1/2, to explain Gamow-Teller and two-nucleon transfer data in N = Z nuclei above 40Ca. Use of the LS coupling scheme provides a more transparent approach to interpret the structure and reaction data. We apply the model to the analysis of charge-exchange, 42Ca(3He,t)42Sc, and np-transfer, 40Ca(3He,p)42Sc, reactions data to define the elementary modes of excitation in terms of both isovector and isoscalar pairs, whose properties can be determined by adjusting the parameters of the model (spin-orbit splitting, isovector pairing strength and quadrupole matrix element) to the available data. The overall agreement with experiment suggests that the approach captures the main physics ingredients and provides the basis for a boson approximation that can be extended to heavier nuclei. Our analysis also reveals that the SU(4)-symmetry limit is not realized in 42Sc.

Sialomucins are characteristically O-acylated in poorly differentiated and colloid prostatic adenocarcinomas.

PubMed

Sáez, C; Japón, M A; Conde, A F; Poveda, M A; Luna-Moré, S; Segura, D I

1998-12-01

Mucinous glycoproteins are secreted by prostatic adenocarcinomas and might play important roles in tumor invasion and metastasis. Their histochemical properties on routine biopsy specimens have not been fully characterized. We present a histochemical study of mucin in 21 prostatic adenocarcinomas, with particular focus on the demonstration of different types of sialomucins. We applied the following histochemical techniques to routinely processed, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections: Alcian blue (pH 2.5) and periodic acid-Schiff to reveal both acidic and neutral mucins; high iron diamine and Alcian blue (pH 2.5) to show sulfated and acidic nonsulfated mucosubstances simultaneously; periodic acid borohydride, potassium hydroxide, and periodic acid-Schiff to demonstrate O-acylated sialic acids; periodic acid thionine-Schiff, potassium hydroxide, and periodic acid-Schiff to differentiate pre-existing glycols from those revealed after saponification procedures; and periodic acid borohydride and periodic acid-Schiff to show C9-O-acylated sialic acid. These techniques are useful tools for demonstrating neutral and acidic (sialo- and sulfo-) mucins and di(C8,C9- or C7,C9-)-O-acylated, tri(C7,C8,C9-)-O-acylated and mono(C9)-O-acylated sialomucins. Most prostatic adenocarcinomas showed acidic mucins, with sialomucins predominating over sulfomucins. Well-differentiated and moderately differentiated noncolloid tumors had non-O-acylated sialomucins. Poorly differentiated tumors contained mono-O-acylated (C9) sialomucins, and colloid-type tumors secreted mono-, di-, and tri-O-acylated sialoglycoproteins. Acidic mucins, mainly sialomucins, constitute the major secretory component in prostatic adenocarcinomas, and our results show that the O-acylation of these sialoglycoproteins inversely correlates with tumor differentiation. Well-differentiated and moderately differentiated tumors are not O-acylated, whereas the poorly differentiated ones characteristically have O-acylated

Acyl donors for native chemical ligation.

PubMed

Yan, Bingjia; Shi, Weiwei; Ye, Linzhi; Liu, Lei

2018-04-11

Native chemical ligation (NCL) has become one of the most important methods in chemical syntheses of proteins. Recently, in order to expand its scope, considerable effort has been devoted to tuning the C-terminal acyl donor thioesters used in NCL. This article reviews the recent advances in the design of C-terminal acyl donors, their precursors and surrogates, and highlights some noteworthy progress that may lead the future direction of protein chemical synthesis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phosphoryl Transfer Reaction in RNA in Alkaline Conditions.

PubMed

Bertran, Joan; Oliva, Antoni; Branchadell, Vicenç; Acosta-Silva, Carles

2018-06-25

In this work we have studied the phosphoryl transfer reaction in RNA in alkaline conditions by theoretically exploring the influence of several solvents. The calculations have been carried out using the M06-2X functional while the solvents are taken as a continuum using the SMD method. The main results are that the O2'-P-O5' angle in the reactants, the free activation energies and the reaction mechanism are clearly dependent on the dielectric constant of the environment, thus showing that the electrostatic term is determining for this chemical system with two negative charges. Our study seems to indicate that water, the solvent with the greatest dielectric constant, would be the one that mostly increases the reaction rate. As this is not the case in enzymatic catalysis, one has to conclude that, in the case of proteins as well as in the case of ribozymes, the enzymatic catalysis is not mainly due to the solvent reaction field, but to local electrical fields due to the enzyme preorganization. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Disruption of plastid acyl:acyl carrier protein synthetases increases medium chain fatty acid accumulation in seeds of transgenic Arabidopsis.

PubMed

Tjellström, Henrik; Strawsine, Merissa; Silva, Jillian; Cahoon, Edgar B; Ohlrogge, John B

2013-04-02

Engineering transgenic plants that accumulate high levels of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) has been least successful for shorter chain lengths (e.g., C8). We demonstrate that one limitation is the activity of acyl-ACP synthetase (AAE) that re-activates fatty acids released by acyl-ACP thioesterases. Seed expression of Cuphea pulcherrima FATB acyl-ACP thioesterase in a double mutant lacking AAE15/16 increased 8:0 accumulation almost 2-fold compared to expression in wild type. These results also provide an in planta demonstration that AAE enzymes participate not only in activation of exogenously added MCFA but also in activation of MCFA synthesized in plastids. Copyright © 2013 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Femtochemistry of Intramolecular Charge and Proton Transfer Reactions in Solution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Douhal, Abderrazzak; Sanz, Mikel; Carranza, Maria Angeles

2005-03-17

We report on the first observation of ultrafast intramolecular charge- and proton-transfer reactions in 4'-dimethylaminoflavonol (DAMF) in solution. Upon femtosecond excitation of a non-planar structure of DMAF in apolar medium, the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) does not occur, and a slow (2 ps) proton motion takes place. However, in polar solvents, the ICT is very fast (100-200 fs) and the produced structure is stabilized that proton motion takes place in few or tens of ps.

High-throughput assay for long chain fatty acyl-CoA elongase using homogeneous scintillation proximity format.

PubMed

Shimamura, Ken; Miyamoto, Yasuhisa; Kitazawa, Hidefumi; Kobayashi, Tsutomu; Kotani, Hidehito; Tokita, Shigeru

2009-04-01

Elongase of very-long-chain fatty acid (Elovl) 6 is a rate-limiting enzyme that is responsible for the elongation of long-chain fatty acids such as palmitoic acid (C16). Elovl6 is abundantly expressed in liver and adipose tissue, and the expression levels in these tissues are up-regulated in obese animals. Furthermore, Elovl6-deficient mice display improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, suggesting that Elovl6 might be a potential therapeutic target for metabolic disorders. From the drug discovery point of view, it is critical to establish a high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for the identification of therapeutic agents. Conventional assay methods for fatty acid elongases include an extraction step for respective radioactive products from the reaction mixtures, which is labor-intensive and not feasible for HTS. In this study, we utilized the acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) binding protein (ACBP) as a molecular probe to detect radioactive long-chain acyl-CoA, a direct product of Elovl6. Recombinant ACBP binds stearoyl-CoA but not malonyl-CoA, enabling specific detection of the radioactive product in the homogenous reaction mixture without the liquid extraction step. Finally, combination of ACBP and scintillation proximity assay beads led to specific detection of Elovl6 activity with appropriate window and reproducibility amenable to HTS (signal-to-background noise ratio of approximately 13.0-fold, Z' = 0.85). The assay system described here has the potential to enable identification of small compounds that modify fatty acid elongase activity and assessment of the therapeutic potential of acyl-CoA elongases.

Multinucleon transfer in O,1816,19F+208Pb reactions at energies near the fusion barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafferty, D. C.; Dasgupta, M.; Hinde, D. J.; Simenel, C.; Simpson, E. C.; Williams, E.; Carter, I. P.; Cook, K. J.; Luong, D. H.; McNeil, S. D.; Ramachandran, K.; Vo-Phuoc, K.; Wakhle, A.

2016-08-01

Background: Nuclear reactions are complex, involving collisions between composite systems where many-body dynamics determines outcomes. Successful models have been developed to explain particular reaction outcomes in distinct energy and mass regimes, but a unifying picture remains elusive. The irreversible transfer of kinetic energy from the relative motion of the collision partners to their internal states, as is known to occur in deep inelastic collisions, has yet to be successfully incorporated explicitly into fully quantal reaction models. The influence of these processes on fusion is not yet quantitatively understood. Purpose: To investigate the population of high excitation energies in transfer reactions at sub-barrier energies, which are precursors to deep inelastic processes, and their dependence on the internuclear separation. Methods: Transfer probabilities and excitation energy spectra have been measured in collisions of O,1816,19F+208Pb , at various energies below and around the fusion barrier, by detecting the backscattered projectile-like fragments in a Δ E -E telescope. Results: The relative yields of different transfer outcomes are strongly driven by Q values, but change with the internuclear separation. In 16O+208Pb , single nucleon transfer dominates, with a strong contribution from -2 p transfer close to the Coulomb barrier, though this channel becomes less significant in relation to the -2 p 2 n transfer channel at larger separations. For 18O+208Pb , the -2 p 2 n channel is the dominant charge transfer mode at all separations. In the reactions with 19F,-3 p 2 n transfer is significant close to the barrier, but falls off rapidly with energy. Multinucleon transfer processes are shown to lead to high excitation energies (up to ˜15 MeV), which is distinct from single nucleon transfer modes which predominantly populate states at low excitation energy. Conclusions: Kinetic energy is transferred into internal excitations following transfer, with this

A spectroscopist's view of energy states, energy transfers, and chemical reactions.

PubMed

Moore, C Bradley

2007-01-01

This chapter describes a research career beginning at Berkeley in 1960, shortly after Sputnik and the invention of the laser. Following thesis work on vibrational spectroscopy and the chemical reactivity of small molecules, we studied vibrational energy transfers in my own lab. Collision-induced transfers among vibrations of a single molecule, from one molecule to another, and from vibration to rotation and translation were elucidated. My research group also studied the competition between vibrational relaxation and chemical reaction for potentially reactive collisions with one molecule vibrationally excited. Lasers were used to enrich isotopes by the excitation of a predissociative transition of a selected isotopomer. We also tested the hypotheses of transition-state theory for unimolecular reactions of ketene, formaldehyde, and formyl fluoride by (a) resolving individual molecular eigenstates above a dissociation threshold, (b) locating vibrational levels at the transition state, (c) observing quantum resonances in the barrier region for motion along a reaction coordinate, and (d) studying energy release to fragments.

Solvent dynamics and electron transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasaiah, Jayendran C.; Zhu, Jianjun

1994-02-01

Recent experimental and theoretical studies of the influence of solvent dynamics on electron transfer (ET) reactions are discussed. It is seen that the survival probabilities of the reactants and products can be obtained as the solution to an integral equation using experimental or simulation data on the solvation dynamics. The theory developed for ET between thermally equilibrated reactants in solution, in which the ligand vibrations were treated classically, is extended to include quantum effects on the inner-shell ligand vibration and electron transfer from a nonequilibrium initial state prepared, for example, by laser excitation. This leads to a slight modification of the integral equation which is easily solved on a personal computer to provide results that can be directly compared with experiment. Analytic approximations to the solutions of the integral equation, ranging from a single exponential to multiexponential time dependence of the survival probabilities are discussed. The rate constant for the single exponential decay of the reactants interpolates between the thermal equilibrium rate constant kie (that is independent of solvent dynamics) and a diffusion controlled rate constant kid (determined by solvent dynamics) and also between the wide (A=0) and narrow (A=1) window limits dominated by inner-sphere ligand vibration and outer-sphere solvent reorganization respectively. The explicit dependence of the integral equation solutions on solvation dynamics S(t), the free energy of reaction ΔG0, the total reorganization energy λ and its partitioning between ligand vibration λq and solvent polarization fluctuations λ0, and the nature of the initial state should be useful in the analysis and design of ET experiments in different solvents.

Fine structure in the transition region: reaction force analyses of water-assisted proton transfers.

PubMed

Yepes, Diana; Murray, Jane S; Santos, Juan C; Toro-Labbé, Alejandro; Politzer, Peter; Jaque, Pablo

2013-07-01

We have analyzed the variation of the reaction force F(ξ) and the reaction force constant κ(ξ) along the intrinsic reaction coordinates ξ of the water-assisted proton transfer reactions of HX-N = Y (X,Y = O,S). The profile of the force constant of the vibration associated with the reactive mode, k ξ (ξ), was also determined. We compare our results to the corresponding intramolecular proton transfers in the absence of a water molecule. The presence of water promotes the proton transfers, decreasing the energy barriers by about 12 - 15 kcal mol(-1). This is due in part to much smaller bond angle changes being needed than when water is absent. The κ(ξ) profiles along the intrinsic reaction coordinates for the water-assisted processes show striking and intriguing differences in the transition regions. For the HS-N = S and HO-N = S systems, two κ(ξ) minima are obtained, whereas for HO-N = O only one minimum is found. The k ξ (ξ) show similar behavior in the transition regions. We propose that this fine structure reflects the degree of synchronicity of the two proton migrations in each case.

Ion-atom charge-transfer reactions and a hot intercloud medium. [in interstellar space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steigman, G.

1975-01-01

An investigation is conducted concerning the ionization equilibrium of carbon in a hot intercloud medium (ICM), taking into account various charge-transfer reactions. Attention is given to problems related to observations of carbon along the lines of sight to several unreddened stars. It is pointed out that the observed underabundance of C III and overabundance of C I can be consistent with the presence of a hot, partially ionized ICM, provided that two of the charge-transfer reactions considered are rapid at thermal energies.

Theoretical study of chain transfer to solvent reactions of alkyl acrylates.

PubMed

Moghadam, Nazanin; Srinivasan, Sriraj; Grady, Michael C; Rappe, Andrew M; Soroush, Masoud

2014-07-24

This computational and theoretical study deals with chain transfer to solvent (CTS) reactions of methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA), and n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) self-initiated homopolymerization in solvents such as butanol (polar, protic), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) (polar, aprotic), and p-xylene (nonpolar). The results indicate that abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the methylene group next to the oxygen atom in n-butanol, from the methylene group in MEK, and from a methyl group in p-xylene by a live polymer chain are the most likely mechanisms of CTS reactions in MA, EA, and n-BA. Energy barriers and molecular geometries of reactants, products, and transition states are predicted. The sensitivity of the predictions to three hybrid functionals (B3LYP, X3LYP, and M06-2X) and three different basis sets (6-31G(d,p), 6-311G(d), and 6-311G(d,p)) is investigated. Among n-butanol, sec-butanol, and tert-butanol, tert-butanol has the highest CTS energy barrier and the lowest rate constant. Although the application of the conductor-like screening model (COSMO) does not affect the predicted CTS kinetic parameter values, the application of the polarizable continuum model (PCM) results in higher CTS energy barriers. This increase in the predicted CTS energy barriers is larger for butanol and MEK than for p-xylene. The higher rate constants of chain transfer to n-butanol reactions compared to those of chain transfer to MEK and p-xylene reactions suggest the higher CTS reactivity of n-butanol.

Golden rule kinetics of transfer reactions in condensed phase: The microscopic model of electron transfer reactions in disordered solid matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basilevsky, M. V.; Odinokov, A. V.; Titov, S. V.; Mitina, E. A.

2013-12-01

The algorithm for a theoretical calculation of transfer reaction rates for light quantum particles (i.e., the electron and H-atom transfers) in non-polar solid matrices is formulated and justified. The mechanism postulated involves a local mode (an either intra- or inter-molecular one) serving as a mediator which accomplishes the energy exchange between the reacting high-frequency quantum mode and the phonon modes belonging to the environment. This approach uses as a background the Fermi golden rule beyond the usually applied spin-boson approximation. The dynamical treatment rests on the one-dimensional version of the standard quantum relaxation equation for the reduced density matrix, which describes the frequency fluctuation spectrum for the local mode under consideration. The temperature dependence of a reaction rate is controlled by the dimensionless parameter ξ0 = ℏω0/kBT where ω0 is the frequency of the local mode and T is the temperature. The realization of the computational scheme is different for the high/intermediate (ξ0 < 1 - 3) and for low (ξ0 ≫ 1) temperature ranges. For the first (quasi-classical) kinetic regime, the Redfield approximation to the solution of the relaxation equation proved to be sufficient and efficient in practical applications. The study of the essentially quantum-mechanical low-temperature kinetic regime in its asymptotic limit requires the implementation of the exact relaxation equation. The coherent mechanism providing a non-vanishing reaction rate has been revealed when T → 0. An accurate computational methodology for the cross-over kinetic regime needs a further elaboration. The original model of the hopping mechanism for electronic conduction in photosensitive organic materials is considered, based on the above techniques. The electron transfer (ET) in active centers of such systems proceeds via local intra- and intermolecular modes. The active modes, as a rule, operate beyond the kinetic regimes, which are usually

Golden rule kinetics of transfer reactions in condensed phase: The microscopic model of electron transfer reactions in disordered solid matrices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Basilevsky, M. V.; Mitina, E. A.; Odinokov, A. V.

The algorithm for a theoretical calculation of transfer reaction rates for light quantum particles (i.e., the electron and H-atom transfers) in non-polar solid matrices is formulated and justified. The mechanism postulated involves a local mode (an either intra- or inter-molecular one) serving as a mediator which accomplishes the energy exchange between the reacting high-frequency quantum mode and the phonon modes belonging to the environment. This approach uses as a background the Fermi golden rule beyond the usually applied spin-boson approximation. The dynamical treatment rests on the one-dimensional version of the standard quantum relaxation equation for the reduced density matrix, whichmore » describes the frequency fluctuation spectrum for the local mode under consideration. The temperature dependence of a reaction rate is controlled by the dimensionless parameter ξ{sub 0}=ℏω{sub 0}/k{sub B}T where ω{sub 0} is the frequency of the local mode and T is the temperature. The realization of the computational scheme is different for the high/intermediate (ξ{sub 0} < 1 − 3) and for low (ξ{sub 0}≫ 1) temperature ranges. For the first (quasi-classical) kinetic regime, the Redfield approximation to the solution of the relaxation equation proved to be sufficient and efficient in practical applications. The study of the essentially quantum-mechanical low-temperature kinetic regime in its asymptotic limit requires the implementation of the exact relaxation equation. The coherent mechanism providing a non-vanishing reaction rate has been revealed when T→ 0. An accurate computational methodology for the cross-over kinetic regime needs a further elaboration. The original model of the hopping mechanism for electronic conduction in photosensitive organic materials is considered, based on the above techniques. The electron transfer (ET) in active centers of such systems proceeds via local intra- and intermolecular modes. The active modes, as a rule, operate

Golden rule kinetics of transfer reactions in condensed phase: the microscopic model of electron transfer reactions in disordered solid matrices.

PubMed

Basilevsky, M V; Odinokov, A V; Titov, S V; Mitina, E A

2013-12-21

The algorithm for a theoretical calculation of transfer reaction rates for light quantum particles (i.e., the electron and H-atom transfers) in non-polar solid matrices is formulated and justified. The mechanism postulated involves a local mode (an either intra- or inter-molecular one) serving as a mediator which accomplishes the energy exchange between the reacting high-frequency quantum mode and the phonon modes belonging to the environment. This approach uses as a background the Fermi golden rule beyond the usually applied spin-boson approximation. The dynamical treatment rests on the one-dimensional version of the standard quantum relaxation equation for the reduced density matrix, which describes the frequency fluctuation spectrum for the local mode under consideration. The temperature dependence of a reaction rate is controlled by the dimensionless parameter ξ0 = ℏω0/k(B)T where ω0 is the frequency of the local mode and T is the temperature. The realization of the computational scheme is different for the high/intermediate (ξ0 < 1 - 3) and for low (ξ0 ≫ 1) temperature ranges. For the first (quasi-classical) kinetic regime, the Redfield approximation to the solution of the relaxation equation proved to be sufficient and efficient in practical applications. The study of the essentially quantum-mechanical low-temperature kinetic regime in its asymptotic limit requires the implementation of the exact relaxation equation. The coherent mechanism providing a non-vanishing reaction rate has been revealed when T → 0. An accurate computational methodology for the cross-over kinetic regime needs a further elaboration. The original model of the hopping mechanism for electronic conduction in photosensitive organic materials is considered, based on the above techniques. The electron transfer (ET) in active centers of such systems proceeds via local intra- and intermolecular modes. The active modes, as a rule, operate beyond the kinetic regimes, which are usually

Ultrafast Electron Transfer Kinetics in the LM Dimer of Bacterial Photosynthetic Reaction Center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

PubMed

Sun, Chang; Carey, Anne-Marie; Gao, Bing-Rong; Wraight, Colin A; Woodbury, Neal W; Lin, Su

2016-06-23

It has become increasingly clear that dynamics plays a major role in the function of many protein systems. One system that has proven particularly facile for studying the effects of dynamics on protein-mediated chemistry is the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Previous experimental and computational analysis have suggested that the dynamics of the protein matrix surrounding the primary quinone acceptor, QA, may be particularly important in electron transfer involving this cofactor. One can substantially increase the flexibility of this region by removing one of the reaction center subunits, the H-subunit. Even with this large change in structure, photoinduced electron transfer to the quinone still takes place. To evaluate the effect of H-subunit removal on electron transfer to QA, we have compared the kinetics of electron transfer and associated spectral evolution for the LM dimer with that of the intact reaction center complex on picosecond to millisecond time scales. The transient absorption spectra associated with all measured electron transfer reactions are similar, with the exception of a broadening in the QX transition and a blue-shift in the QY transition bands of the special pair of bacteriochlorophylls (P) in the LM dimer. The kinetics of the electron transfer reactions not involving quinones are unaffected. There is, however, a 4-fold decrease in the electron transfer rate from the reduced bacteriopheophytin to QA in the LM dimer compared to the intact reaction center and a similar decrease in the recombination rate of the resulting charge-separated state (P(+)QA(-)). These results are consistent with the concept that the removal of the H-subunit results in increased flexibility in the region around the quinone and an associated shift in the reorganization energy associated with charge separation and recombination.

What's new in the proton transfer reaction from pyranine to water? A femtosecond study of the proton transfer dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prayer, C.; Gustavsson, T.; Tran-Thi, T.-H.

1996-04-01

The proton transfer from excited pyranine to water is studied by the femtosecond fluorescence upconversion technique. It is shown for the first time that the proton transfer reaction in water proceeds by three successive steps: the solvent cage relaxation, the specific solute-solvent hydrogen-bond formation and finally the ion pair dissociation/diffusion.

Recent developments in the metal-catalyzed reactions of metallocarbenoids from propargylic esters.

PubMed

Marco-Contelles, José; Soriano, Elena

2007-01-01

The transition-metal-catalyzed intramolecular cycloisomerization of propargylic carboxylates provides functionalized bicyclo[n.1.0]enol esters in a very diastereoselective manner and, depending on the structure, with partial or complete transfer of chirality from enantiomerically pure precursors. The subsequent methanolysis gives bicyclo[n.1.0] ketones, hence resulting in a very efficient two-step protocol for the syntheses of alpha,beta-unsaturated cyclopropyl ketones, key intermediates for the preparation of natural products. The results from mechanistic computational studies suggest that they probably proceed through cyclopropyl metallocarbenoids, formed by endo-cyclopropanation, that undergo a 1,2-acyl migration. Finally, the potential of the intermolecular reaction and the related pentannulation of propargylic esters bearing pendant aromatic rings are also discussed.

Deactivation of Ceria Supported Palladium through C–C Scission during Transfer Hydrogenation of Phenol with Alcohols

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, Nicholas C.; Manzano, J. Sebastián; Slowing, Igor I.

The stability of palladium supported on ceria (Pd/CeO 2) was studied during liquid flow transfer hydrogenation using primary and secondary alcohols as hydrogen donors. For primary alcohols, the ceria support was reduced to cerium hydroxy carbonate within 14 h and was a contributing factor toward catalyst deactivation. For secondary alcohols, cerium hydroxy carbonate was not observed during the same time period and the catalyst was stable upon prolonged reaction. Regeneration through oxidation/reduction does not restore initial activity likely due to irreversible catalyst restructuring. Lastly, a deactivation mechanism involving C–C scission of acyl and carboxylate intermediates is proposed.

Deactivation of Ceria Supported Palladium through C–C Scission during Transfer Hydrogenation of Phenol with Alcohols

DOE PAGES

Nelson, Nicholas C.; Manzano, J. Sebastián; Slowing, Igor I.

2016-11-21

The stability of palladium supported on ceria (Pd/CeO 2) was studied during liquid flow transfer hydrogenation using primary and secondary alcohols as hydrogen donors. For primary alcohols, the ceria support was reduced to cerium hydroxy carbonate within 14 h and was a contributing factor toward catalyst deactivation. For secondary alcohols, cerium hydroxy carbonate was not observed during the same time period and the catalyst was stable upon prolonged reaction. Regeneration through oxidation/reduction does not restore initial activity likely due to irreversible catalyst restructuring. Lastly, a deactivation mechanism involving C–C scission of acyl and carboxylate intermediates is proposed.

Mass Transfer from Gas Bubbles to Impinging Flow of Biological Fluids with Chemical Reaction

PubMed Central

Yang, Wen-Jei; Echigo, R.; Wotton, D. R.; Ou, J. W.; Hwang, J. B.

1972-01-01

The rates of mass transfer from a gas bubble to an impinging flow of a biological fluid such as whole blood and plasma are investigated analytically and experimentally. Gases commonly found dissolved in body fluids are included. Consideration is given to the effects of the chemical reaction between the dissolved gas and the liquid on the rate of mass transfer. Through the application of boundary layer theory the over-all transfer is found to be Sh/(Re)1/2 = 0.845 Sc1/3 in the absence of chemical reaction, and Sh/(Re) 1/2 = F′ (0) in the presence of chemical reaction, where Sh, Re, and Sc are the Sherwood, Reynolds, and Schmidt numbers, respectively, and F′ (0) is a function of Sc and the dimensionless reaction rate constant. Analytical results are also obtained for the bubble lifetime and the bubble radius-time history. These results, which are not incompatible with experimental results, can be applied to predict the dissolution of the entrapped gas emboli in the circulatory system of the human body. PMID:4642218

New acylated clionasterol glycosides from Valeriana officinalis.

PubMed

Pullela, Srinivas V; Choi, Young Whan; Khan, Shabana I; Khan, Ikhlas A

2005-10-01

The chloroform extract of Valeriana officinalis led to the isolation of clionasterol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and a mixture of 6'-O-acyl-beta-D-glucosyl-clionasterols. The acyl moieties were identified as hexadecanoyl, 8 E,11 E-octadecadienoyl and 14-methylpentadecanoyl by alkaline hydrolysis followed by GC-MS analysis. The isolated compounds did not exhibit any anti-inflammatory, anticancer or cytotoxic activity when tested in a variety of in vitro cell-based assays.

The role of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae lipoate protein ligase homologue, Lip3, in lipoic acid synthesis.

PubMed

Hermes, Fatemah A; Cronan, John E

2013-10-01

The covalent attachment of lipoate to the lipoyl domains (LDs) of the central metabolism enzymes pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH) is essential for their activation and thus for respiratory growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A third lipoate-dependent enzyme system, the glycine cleavage system (GCV), is required for utilization of glycine as a nitrogen source. Lipoate is synthesized by extraction of its precursor, octanoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP), from the pool of fatty acid biosynthetic intermediates. Alternatively, lipoate is salvaged from previously modified proteins or from growth medium by lipoate protein ligases (Lpls). The first Lpl to be characterized, LplA of Escherichia coli, catalyses two partial reactions: activation of the acyl chain by formation of acyl-AMP, followed by transfer of the acyl chain to lipoyl domains (LDs). There is a surprising diversity within the Lpl family of enzymes, several of which catalyse reactions other than ligation reactions. For example, the Bacillus subtilis Lpl homologue LipM is an octanoyltransferase that transfers the octanoyl moiety from octanoyl-ACP to GCV. Another B. subtilis Lpl homologue, LipL, transfers octanoate from octanoyl-GCV to other LDs in an amido-transfer reaction. Study of eukaryotic Lpls has lagged behind studies of the bacterial enzymes. We report that the Lip3 Lpl homologue of the yeast S. cerevisiae has octanoyl-CoA-protein transferase activity, and discuss implications of this activity on the physiological role of Lip3 in lipoate synthesis. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Dihydropyranone Formation by Ipso C–H Activation in a Glucal 3-Carbamate-Derived Rhodium Acyl Nitrenoid

PubMed Central

Hurlocker, Brisa; Abascal, Nadia C.; Repka, Lindsay M.; Santizo-Deleon, Elsy; Smenton, Abigail L.; Baranov, Victoria; Gupta, Ritu; Bernard, Sarah E.; Chowdhury, Shenjuti; Rojas, Christian M.

2011-01-01

By using (N-tosyloxy)-3-O-carbamoyl-D-glucal 10, which removes the need for a hypervalent iodine(III) oxidant, we provide evidence for rhodium nitrenoid-mediated ipso C–H activation as the origin of a C3-oxidized dihydropyranone product 3. This system may be especially susceptible to such a pathway due to the ease of forming a cation upon hydride transfer to the rhodium-complexed acyl nitrene. PMID:21381715

Cyclization Reaction of Acyl Thiourea Chitosan: Enhanced Antifungal Properties via Structural Optimization.

PubMed

Qin, Yukun; Liu, Weixiang; Xing, Ronge; Liu, Song; Li, Kecheng; Li, Pengcheng

2018-03-06

In this study, 3-methyl-1,2,4-triazolyl chitosan (MTACS) and 3-chloromethyl-1,2,4-triazolyl chitosan (CMTACS) were prepared via cyclization of acyl thiourea chitosan (TUCS). Their structures were confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, elemental analysis, DSC, XRD, and SEM. The conformations were predicted using the Gaussian 09 program. Additionally, the antifungal properties of MTACS and CMTACS against Stemphylium solani weber ( S. solani ), Alternaria porri ( A. porri ), and Gloeosporium theae-sinensis ( G. theae-sinensis ) were assayed in vitro and ranged from 250 μg/mL to 1000 μg/mL. The results showed that MTACS and CMTACS exhibited enhanced inhibitory effect on the selected fungi compared to the original chitosan and TUCS. In particular, they displayed better antifungal activities against A. porri and G. theae-sinensis than that of the positive control, Triadimefon. The findings described here may lead to them being used as antifungal agents for crop protection.

Influence of acylation sites of influenza B virus hemagglutinin on fusion pore formation and dilation.

PubMed

Ujike, Makoto; Nakajima, Katsuhisa; Nobusawa, Eri

2004-11-01

The cytoplasmic tail (CT) of hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza B virus (BHA) contains at positions 578 and 581 two highly conserved cysteine residues (Cys578 and Cys581) that are modified with palmitic acid (PA) through a thioester linkage. To investigate the role of PA in the fusion activity of BHA, site-specific mutagenesis was performed with influenza B virus B/Kanagawa/73 HA cDNA. All of the HA mutants were expressed on Cos cells by an expression vector. The membrane fusion ability of the HA mutants at a low pH was quantitatively examined with lipid (octadecyl rhodamine B chloride) and aqueous (calcein) dye transfer assays and with the syncytium formation assay. Two deacylation mutants lacking a CT or carrying serine residues substituting for Cys578 and Cys581 promoted full fusion. However, one of the single-acylation-site mutants, C6, in which Cys581 is replaced with serine, promoted hemifusion but not pore formation. In contrast, four other single-acylation-site mutants that have a sole cysteine residue in the CT at position 575, 577, 579, or 581 promoted full fusion. The impaired pore-forming ability of C6 was improved by amino acid substitution between residues 578 and 582 or by deletion of the carboxy-terminal leucine at position 582. Syncytium-forming ability, however, was not adequately restored by these mutations. These facts indicated that the acylation was not significant in membrane fusion by BHA but that pore formation and pore dilation were appreciably affected by the particular amino acid sequence of the CT and the existence of a single acylation site in CT residue 578.

Coupled sensitizer-catalyst dyads: electron-transfer reactions in a perylene-polyoxometalate conjugate.

PubMed

Odobel, Fabrice; Séverac, Marjorie; Pellegrin, Yann; Blart, Errol; Fosse, Céline; Cannizzo, Caroline; Mayer, Cédric R; Elliott, Kristopher J; Harriman, Anthony

2009-01-01

Ultrafast discharge of a single-electron capacitor: A variety of intramolecular electron-transfer reactions are apparent for polyoxometalates functionalized with covalently attached perylene monoimide chromophores, but these are restricted to single-electron events. (et=electron transfer, cr=charge recombination, csr=charge-shift reaction, PER=perylene, POM=polyoxometalate).A new strategy is introduced that permits covalent attachment of an organic chromophore to a polyoxometalate (POM) cluster. Two examples are reported that differ according to the nature of the anchoring group and the flexibility of the linker. Both POMs are functionalized with perylene monoimide units, which function as photon collectors and form a relatively long-lived charge-transfer state under illumination. They are reduced to a stable pi-radical anion by electrolysis or to a protonated dianion under photolysis in the presence of aqueous triethanolamine. The presence of the POM opens up an intramolecular electron-transfer route by which the charge-transfer state reduces the POM. The rate of this process depends on the molecular conformation and appears to involve through-space interactions. Prior reduction of the POM leads to efficient fluorescence quenching, again due to intramolecular electron transfer. In most cases, it is difficult to resolve the electron-transfer products because of relatively fast reverse charge shift that occurs within a closed conformer. Although the POM can store multiple electrons, it has not proved possible to use these systems as molecular-scale capacitors because of efficient electron transfer from the one-electron-reduced POM to the excited singlet state of the perylene monoimide.

Impact of mutation on proton transfer reactions in ketosteroid isomerase: insights from molecular dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Chakravorty, Dhruva K; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon

2010-06-02

The two proton transfer reactions catalyzed by ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) involve a dienolate intermediate stabilized by hydrogen bonds with Tyr14 and Asp99. Molecular dynamics simulations based on an empirical valence bond model are used to examine the impact of mutating these residues on the hydrogen-bonding patterns, conformational changes, and van der Waals and electrostatic interactions during the proton transfer reactions. While the rate constants for the two proton transfer steps are similar for wild-type (WT) KSI, the simulations suggest that the rate constant for the first proton transfer step is smaller in the mutants due to the significantly higher free energy of the dienolate intermediate relative to the reactant. The calculated rate constants for the mutants D99L, Y14F, and Y14F/D99L relative to WT KSI are qualitatively consistent with the kinetic experiments indicating a significant reduction in the catalytic rates along the series of mutants. In the simulations, WT KSI retained two hydrogen-bonding interactions between the substrate and the active site, while the mutants typically retained only one hydrogen-bonding interaction. A new hydrogen-bonding interaction between the substrate and Tyr55 was observed in the double mutant, leading to the prediction that mutation of Tyr55 will have a greater impact on the proton transfer rate constants for the double mutant than for WT KSI. The electrostatic stabilization of the dienolate intermediate relative to the reactant was greater for WT KSI than for the mutants, providing a qualitative explanation for the significantly reduced rates of the mutants. The active site exhibited restricted motion during the proton transfer reactions, but small conformational changes occurred to facilitate the proton transfer reactions by strengthening the hydrogen-bonding interactions and by bringing the proton donor and acceptor closer to each other with the proper orientation for proton transfer. Thus, these calculations

Single-drop reactive extraction/extractive reaction with forced convective diffusion and interphase mass transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleinman, Leonid S.; Red, X. B., Jr.

1995-01-01

An algorithm has been developed for time-dependent forced convective diffusion-reaction having convection by a recirculating flow field within the drop that is hydrodynamically coupled at the interface with a convective external flow field that at infinity becomes a uniform free-streaming flow. The concentration field inside the droplet is likewise coupled with that outside by boundary conditions at the interface. A chemical reaction can take place either inside or outside the droplet, or reactions can take place in both phases. The algorithm has been implemented, and for comparison results are shown here for the case of no reaction in either phase and for the case of an external first order reaction, both for unsteady behavior. For pure interphase mass transfer, concentration isocontours, local and average Sherwood numbers, and average droplet concentrations have been obtained as a function of the physical properties and external flow field. For mass transfer enhanced by an external reaction, in addition to the above forms of results, we present the enhancement factor, with the results now also depending upon the (dimensionless) rate of reaction.

Single-drop reactive extraction/extractive reaction with forced convective diffusion and interphase mass transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleinman, Leonid S.; Reed, X. B., Jr.

1995-01-01

An algorithm has been developed for the forced convective diffusion-reaction problem for convection inside and outside a droplet by a recirculating flow field hydrodynamically coupled at the droplet interface with an external flow field that at infinity becomes a uniform streaming flow. The concentration field inside the droplet is likewise coupled with that outside by boundary conditions at the interface. A chemical reaction can take place either inside or outside the droplet or reactions can take place in both phases. The algorithm has been implemented and results are shown here for the case of no reaction and for the case of an external first order reaction, both for unsteady behavior. For pure interphase mass transfer, concentration isocontours, local and average Sherwood numbers, and average droplet concentrations have been obtained as a function of the physical properties and external flow field. For mass transfer enhanced by an external reaction, in addition to the above forms of results, we present the enhancement factor, with the results now also depending upon the (dimensionless) rate of reaction.

Two fatty acyl reductases involved in moth pheromone biosynthesis

PubMed Central

Antony, Binu; Ding, Bao-Jian; Moto, Ken’Ichi; Aldosari, Saleh A.; Aldawood, Abdulrahman S.

2016-01-01

Fatty acyl reductases (FARs) constitute an evolutionarily conserved gene family found in all kingdoms of life. Members of the FAR gene family play diverse roles, including seed oil synthesis, insect pheromone biosynthesis, and mammalian wax biosynthesis. In insects, FAR genes dedicated to sex pheromone biosynthesis (pheromone-gland-specific fatty acyl reductase, pgFAR) form a unique clade that exhibits substantial modifications in gene structure and possesses unique specificity and selectivity for fatty acyl substrates. Highly selective and semi-selective ‘single pgFARs’ produce single and multicomponent pheromone signals in bombycid, pyralid, yponomeutid and noctuid moths. An intriguing question is how a ‘single reductase’ can direct the synthesis of several fatty alcohols of various chain lengths and isomeric forms. Here, we report two active pgFARs in the pheromone gland of Spodoptera, namely a semi-selective, C14:acyl-specific pgFAR and a highly selective, C16:acyl-specific pgFAR, and demonstrate that these pgFARs play a pivotal role in the formation of species-specific signals, a finding that is strongly supported by functional gene expression data. The study envisages a new area of research for disclosing evolutionary changes associated with C14- and C16-specific FARs in moth pheromone biosynthesis. PMID:27427355

Transfer Reactions on Neutron-rich Nuclei at REX-ISOLDE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kroell, Th.; Physik-Department E12, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Garching; Bildstein, V.

2009-08-26

We report on one- and two-neutron transfer reactions to study the single-particle properties of nuclei at the border of the ''island of inversion.'' The (d, p)- and (t, p)-reactions in inverse kinematics on the neutron-rich isotope {sup 30}Mg, delivered as radioactive beam by the REX-ISOLDE facility, have been investigated. The outgoing protons have been detected and identified by a newly built array of Si detectors. The {gamma}-decay of excited states has been detected in coincidence by the MINIBALL array. First results for {sup 31}Mg and from the search for the second, spherical, 0{sup +} state in {sup 32}Mg are presented.

Ligand reorganization and activation energies in nonadiabatic electron transfer reactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu Jianjun; Wang Jianji; Stell, George

2006-10-28

The activation energy and ligand reorganization energy for nonadiabatic electron transfer reactions in chemical and biological systems are investigated in this paper. The free energy surfaces and the activation energy are derived exactly in the general case in which the ligand vibration frequencies are not equal. The activation energy is derived by free energy minimization at the transition state. Our formulation leads to the Marcus-Hush [J. Chem. Phys. 24, 979 (1956); 98, 7170 (1994); 28, 962 (1958)] results in the equal-frequency limit and also generalizes the Marcus-Sumi [J. Chem. Phys. 84, 4894 (1986)] model in the context of studying themore » solvent dynamic effect on electron transfer reactions. It is found that when the ligand vibration frequencies are different, the activation energy derived from the Marcus-Hush formula deviates by 5%-10% from the exact value. If the reduced reorganization energy approximation is introduced in the Marcus-Hush formula, the result is almost exact.« less

Ligand reorganization and activation energies in nonadiabatic electron transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jianjun; Wang, Jianji; Stell, George

2006-10-01

The activation energy and ligand reorganization energy for nonadiabatic electron transfer reactions in chemical and biological systems are investigated in this paper. The free energy surfaces and the activation energy are derived exactly in the general case in which the ligand vibration frequencies are not equal. The activation energy is derived by free energy minimization at the transition state. Our formulation leads to the Marcus-Hush [J. Chem. Phys. 24, 979 (1956); 98, 7170 (1994); 28, 962 (1958)] results in the equal-frequency limit and also generalizes the Marcus-Sumi [J. Chem. Phys. 84, 4894 (1986)] model in the context of studying the solvent dynamic effect on electron transfer reactions. It is found that when the ligand vibration frequencies are different, the activation energy derived from the Marcus-Hush formula deviates by 5%-10% from the exact value. If the reduced reorganization energy approximation is introduced in the Marcus-Hush formula, the result is almost exact.

Fatty acyl-CoA reductases of birds

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Birds clean and lubricate their feathers with waxes that are produced in the uropygial gland, a holocrine gland located on their back above the tail. The type and the composition of the secreted wax esters are dependent on the bird species, for instance the wax ester secretion of goose contains branched-chain fatty acids and unbranched fatty alcohols, whereas that of barn owl contains fatty acids and alcohols both of which are branched. Alcohol-forming fatty acyl-CoA reductases (FAR) catalyze the reduction of activated acyl groups to fatty alcohols that can be esterified with acyl-CoA thioesters forming wax esters. Results cDNA sequences encoding fatty acyl-CoA reductases were cloned from the uropygial glands of barn owl (Tyto alba), domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and domestic goose (Anser anser domesticus). Heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed that they encode membrane associated enzymes which catalyze a NADPH dependent reduction of acyl-CoA thioesters to fatty alcohols. By feeding studies of transgenic yeast cultures and in vitro enzyme assays with membrane fractions of transgenic yeast cells two groups of isozymes with different properties were identified, termed FAR1 and FAR2. The FAR1 group mainly synthesized 1-hexadecanol and accepted substrates in the range between 14 and 18 carbon atoms, whereas the FAR2 group preferred stearoyl-CoA and accepted substrates between 16 and 20 carbon atoms. Expression studies with tissues of domestic chicken indicated that FAR transcripts were not restricted to the uropygial gland. Conclusion The data of our study suggest that the identified and characterized avian FAR isozymes, FAR1 and FAR2, can be involved in wax ester biosynthesis and in other pathways like ether lipid synthesis. PMID:22151413

The activity of Rhizomuchor miehei lipase as a biocatalyst in enzymatic acylation of cyclic alcohol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iftitah, Elvina Dhiaul; Srihardyastuti, Arie; Ariefin, Mokhamat

2017-03-01

We report the activity of Rhizomuchor miehei lipase (RML) as a biocatalyst, in particular the investigations concerning the effort of substrate-structure reactivity on the enzymatic acylation. The acylation was studied using acetic anhydride as an acyl donor and performed in n-hexane as a solvent. The selectivity of the enzymatic acylation was revealed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectra. We observed that, RML has shown different behavior when catalyzing the acylation of isopulegol and mixture of isopulegol and citronellal (ratio 1:1). The chemoselectivity for the O-acylation was improved when the acyl acceptor included mixture of isopulegol and citronellal

Reaction Dynamics of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer from Reduced ZnO Nanocrystals.

PubMed

Braten, Miles N; Gamelin, Daniel R; Mayer, James M

2015-10-27

The creation of systems that efficiently interconvert chemical and electrical energies will be aided by understanding proton-coupled electron transfers at solution-semiconductor interfaces. Steps in developing that understanding are described here through kinetic studies of reactions of photoreduced colloidal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals (NCs) with the nitroxyl radical TEMPO. These reactions proceed by proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) to give the hydroxylamine TEMPOH. They occur on the submillisecond to seconds time scale, as monitored by stopped-flow optical spectroscopy. Under conditions of excess TEMPO, the reactions are multiexponential in character. One of the contributors to this multiexponential kinetics may be a distribution of reactive proton sites. A graphical overlay method shows the reaction to be first order in [TEMPO]. Different electron concentrations in otherwise identical NC samples were achieved by three different methods: differing photolysis times, premixing with an unphotolyzed sample, or prereaction with TEMPO. The reaction velocities were consistently higher for NCs with higher numbers of electrons. For instance, NCs with an average of 2.6 e(-)/NC reacted faster than otherwise identical samples containing ≤1 e(-)/NC. Surprisingly, NC samples with the same average number of electrons but prepared in different ways often had different reaction profiles. These results show that properties beyond electron content determine PCET reactivity of the particles.

Transfer effects of manipulating temporal constraints on learning a two-choice reaction time task with low stimulus-response compatibility.

PubMed

Chen, David D; Pei, Laura; Chan, John S Y; Yan, Jin H

2012-10-01

Recent research using deliberate amplification of spatial errors to increase motor learning leads to the question of whether amplifying temporal errors may also facilitate learning. We investigated transfer effects caused by manipulating temporal constraints on learning a two-choice reaction time (CRT) task with varying degrees of stimulus-response compatibility. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups and completed 120 trials during acquisition. For every fourth trial, one group was instructed to decrease CRT by 50 msec. relative to the previous trial and a second group was instructed to increase CRT by 50 msec. The third group (the control) was told not to change their responses. After a 5-min. break, participants completed a 40-trial no-feedback transfer test. A 40-trial delayed transfer test was administered 24 hours later. During acquisition, the Decreased Reaction Time group responded faster than the two other groups, but this group also made more errors than the other two groups. In the 5-min. delayed test (immediate transfer), the Decreased Reaction Time group had faster reaction times than the other two groups, while for the 24-hr. delayed test (delayed transfer), both the Decreased Reaction Time group and Increased Reaction Time group had significantly faster reaction times than the control. For delayed transfer, both Decreased and Increased Reaction Time groups reacted significantly faster than the control group. Analyses of error scores in the transfer tests indicated revealed no significant group differences. Results were discussed with regard to the notion of practice variability and goal-setting benefits.

Acyl-protein thioesterase 2 catalyzes the deacylation of peripheral membrane-associated GAP-43.

PubMed

Tomatis, Vanesa M; Trenchi, Alejandra; Gomez, Guillermo A; Daniotti, Jose L

2010-11-30

An acylation/deacylation cycle is necessary to maintain the steady-state subcellular distribution and biological activity of S-acylated peripheral proteins. Despite the progress that has been made in identifying and characterizing palmitoyltransferases (PATs), much less is known about the thioesterases involved in protein deacylation. In this work, we investigated the deacylation of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43), a dually acylated protein at cysteine residues 3 and 4. Using fluorescent fusion constructs, we measured in vivo the rate of deacylation of GAP-43 and its single acylated mutants in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 and human HeLa cells. Biochemical and live cell imaging experiments demonstrated that single acylated mutants were completely deacylated with similar kinetic in both cell types. By RT-PCR we observed that acyl-protein thioesterase 1 (APT-1), the only bona fide thioesterase shown to mediate deacylation in vivo, is expressed in HeLa cells, but not in CHO-K1 cells. However, APT-1 overexpression neither increased the deacylation rate of single acylated GAP-43 nor affected the steady-state subcellular distribution of dually acylated GAP-43 both in CHO-K1 and HeLa cells, indicating that GAP-43 deacylation is not mediated by APT-1. Accordingly, we performed a bioinformatic search to identify putative candidates with acyl-protein thioesterase activity. Among several candidates, we found that APT-2 is expressed both in CHO-K1 and HeLa cells and its overexpression increased the deacylation rate of single acylated GAP-43 and affected the steady-state localization of diacylated GAP-43 and H-Ras. Thus, the results demonstrate that APT-2 is the protein thioesterase involved in the acylation/deacylation cycle operating in GAP-43 subcellular distribution.

Expression of holo and apo forms of spinach acyl carrier protein-I in leaves of transgenic tobacco plants.

PubMed Central

Post-Beittenmiller, M A; Schmid, K M; Ohlrogge, J B

1989-01-01

Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a chloroplast-localized cofactor of fatty acid synthesis, desaturation, and acyl transfer. We have transformed tobacco with a chimeric gene consisting of the tobacco ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase promoter and transit peptide and the sequence encoding the mature spinach ACP-I. Spinach ACP-I was expressed in the transformed plants at levels twofold to threefold higher than the endogenous tobacco ACPs as determined by protein immunoblots and assays of ACP in leaf extracts. In addition to these elevated levels of the holo form, there were high levels of apoACP-I, a form lacking the 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group and not previously detected in vivo. The mature forms of both apoACP-I and holoACP-I were located in the chloroplasts, indicating that the transit peptide was cleaved and that attachment of the prosthetic group was not required for uptake into the plastid. There were also significant levels of spinach acyl-ACP-I, demonstrating that spinach ACP-I participated in tobacco fatty acid metabolism. Lipid analyses of the transformed plants indicated that the increased ACP levels caused no significant alterations in leaf lipid biosynthesis. PMID:2535529

Diagnostic criteria for the characterization of quasireversible electron transfer reactions by cyclic square wave voltammetry.

PubMed

Mann, Megan A; Helfrick, John C; Bottomley, Lawrence A

2014-08-19

Theory for cyclic square wave voltammetry of quasireversible electron transfer reactions is presented and experimentally verified. The impact of empirical parameters on the shape of the current-voltage curve is examined. From the trends, diagnostic criteria enabling the use of this waveform as a tool for mechanistic analysis of electrode reaction processes are presented. These criteria were experimentally confirmed using Eu(3+)/Eu(2+), a well-established quasireversible analyte. Using cyclic square wave voltammetry, both the electron transfer coefficient and rate were calculated for this analyte and found to be in excellent agreement with literature. When properly applied, these criteria will enable nonexperts in voltammetry to assign the electrode reaction mechanism and accurately measure electrode reaction kinetics.

Acyl carrier proteins from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds and their influence on FatA and FatB acyl-ACP thioesterase activities.

PubMed

Aznar-Moreno, Jose A; Venegas-Calerón, Mónica; Martínez-Force, Enrique; Garcés, Rafael; Salas, Joaquín J

2016-08-01

The kinetics of acyl-ACP thioesterases from sunflower importantly changed when endogenous ACPs were used. Sunflower FatB was much more specific towards saturated acyl-ACPs when assayed with them. Acyl carrier proteins (ACPs) are small (~9 kDa), soluble, acidic proteins involved in fatty acid synthesis in plants and bacteria. ACPs bind to fatty acids through a thioester bond, generating the acyl-ACP lipoproteins that are substrates for fatty acid synthase (FAS) complexes, and that are required for fatty acid chain elongation, acting as important intermediates in de novo fatty acid synthesis in plants. Plants, usually express several ACP isoforms with distinct functionalities. We report here the cloning of three ACPs from developing sunflower seeds: HaACP1, HaACP2, and HaACP3. These proteins were plastidial ACPs expressed strongly in seeds, and as such they are probably involved in the synthesis of sunflower oil. The recombinant sunflower ACPs were expressed in bacteria but they were lethal to the prokaryote host. Thus, they were finally produced using the GST gene fusion system, which allowed the apo-enzyme to be produced and later activated to the holo form. Radiolabelled acyl-ACPs from the newly cloned holo-ACP forms were also synthesized and used to characterize the activity of recombinant sunflower FatA and FatB thioesterases, important enzymes in plant fatty acids synthesis. The activity of these enzymes changed significantly when the endogenous ACPs were used. Thus, FatA importantly increased its activity levels, whereas FatB displayed a different specificity profile, with much high activity levels towards saturated acyl-CoA derivatives. All these data pointed to an important influence of the ACP moieties on the activity of enzymes involved in lipid synthesis.

Solvent effects on the oxidation (electron transfer) reaction of [Fe(CN) 6] 4- by [Co(NH 3) 5pz] 3+

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muriel, F.; Jiménez, R.; López, M.; Prado-Gotor, R.; Sánchez, F.

2004-03-01

Solvent effects on the title reaction were studied in different reaction media constituted by water and organic cosolvents (methanol, tert-butyl alcohol, ethyleneglycol and glucose) at 298.2 K. The results are considered in light of the Marcus-Hush approach for electron transfer reactions. Variations of the electron transfer rate constant are shown to be mainly due to changes in the reaction free energy. On the other hand the energies of the MMCT band, corresponding to the optical electron transfer within the ion pair [Fe(CN) 6] 4-/[Co(NH 3) 5pz] 3+, in the different reaction media, have been obtained. The activation free energies of the thermal electron transfer process have been calculated from the band ( Eop) data, and compared with those obtained from the kinetic study. Quantitative agreement is found between the two series of data. This shows the possibility of estimating activation free energies for electron transfer reactions from static (optical) measurements.

Quantifying electron transfer reactions in biological systems: what interactions play the major role?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sjulstok, Emil; Olsen, Jógvan Magnus Haugaard; Solov'Yov, Ilia A.

2015-12-01

Various biological processes involve the conversion of energy into forms that are usable for chemical transformations and are quantum mechanical in nature. Such processes involve light absorption, excited electronic states formation, excitation energy transfer, electrons and protons tunnelling which for example occur in photosynthesis, cellular respiration, DNA repair, and possibly magnetic field sensing. Quantum biology uses computation to model biological interactions in light of quantum mechanical effects and has primarily developed over the past decade as a result of convergence between quantum physics and biology. In this paper we consider electron transfer in biological processes, from a theoretical view-point; namely in terms of quantum mechanical and semi-classical models. We systematically characterize the interactions between the moving electron and its biological environment to deduce the driving force for the electron transfer reaction and to establish those interactions that play the major role in propelling the electron. The suggested approach is seen as a general recipe to treat electron transfer events in biological systems computationally, and we utilize it to describe specifically the electron transfer reactions in Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome-a signaling photoreceptor protein that became attractive recently due to its possible function as a biological magnetoreceptor.

Rapid Acyl-Homoserine Lactone Quorum Signal Biodegradation in Diverse Soils†

PubMed Central

Wang, Ya-Juan; Leadbetter, Jared Renton

2005-01-01

Signal degradation impacts all communications. Although acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL) quorum-sensing signals are known to be degraded by defined laboratory cultures, little is known about their stability in nature. Here, we show that acyl-HSLs are biodegraded in soils sampled from diverse U.S. sites and by termite hindgut contents. When amended to samples at physiologically relevant concentrations, 14C-labeled acyl-HSLs were mineralized to 14CO2 rapidly and, at most sites examined, without lag. A lag-free turf soil activity was characterized in further detail. Heating or irradiation of the soil prior to the addition of radiolabel abolished mineralization, whereas protein synthesis inhibitors did not. Mineralization exhibited an apparent Km of 1.5 μM acyl-HSL, ca. 1,000-fold lower than that reported for a purified acyl-HSL lactonase. Under optimal conditions, acyl-HSL degradation proceeded at a rate of 13.4 nmol · h−1 · g of fresh weight soil−1. Bioassays established that the final extent of signal inactivation was greater than for its full conversion to CO2 but that the two processes were well coupled kinetically. A most probable number of 4.6 × 105 cells · g of turf soil−1 degraded physiologically relevant amounts of hexanoyl-[1-14C]HSL to 14CO2. It would take chemical lactonolysis months to match the level of signal decay achieved in days by the observed biological activity. Rapid decay might serve either to quiet signal cross talk that might otherwise occur between spatially separated microbial aggregates or as a full system reset. Depending on the context, biological signal decay might either promote or complicate cellular communications and the accuracy of population density-based controls on gene expression in species-rich ecosystems. PMID:15746331

Protein control of true, gated, and coupled electron transfer reactions.

PubMed

Davidson, Victor L

2008-06-01

Electron transfer (ET) through and between proteins is a fundamental biological process. The rates of ET depend upon the thermodynamic driving force, the reorganization energy, and the degree of electronic coupling between the reactant and product states. The analysis of protein ET reactions is complicated by the fact that non-ET processes might influence the observed ET rate in kinetically complex biological systems. This Account describes studies of the methylamine dehydrogenase-amicyanin-cytochrome c-551i protein ET complex that have revealed the influence of several features of the protein structure on the magnitudes of the physical parameters for true ET reactions and how they dictate the kinetic mechanisms of non-ET processes that sometimes influence protein ET reactions. Kinetic and thermodynamic studies, coupled with structural information and biochemical data, are necessary to fully describe the ET reactions of proteins. Site-directed mutagenesis can be used to elucidate specific structure-function relationships. When mutations selectively alter the electronic coupling, reorganization energy, or driving force for the ET reaction, it becomes possible to use the parameters of the ET process to determine how specific amino acid residues and other features of the protein structure influence the ET rates. When mutations alter the kinetic mechanism for ET, one can determine the mechanisms by which non-ET processes, such as protein conformational changes or proton transfers, control the rates of ET reactions and how specific amino acid residues and certain features of the protein structure influence these non-ET reactions. A complete description of the mechanism of regulation of biological ET reactions enhances our understanding of metabolism, respiration, and photosynthesis at the molecular level. Such information has important medical relevance. Defective protein ET leads to production of the reactive oxygen species and free radicals that are associated with

An annotated database of Arabidopsis mutants of acyl lipid metabolism

DOE PAGES

McGlew, Kathleen; Shaw, Vincent; Zhang, Meng; ...

2014-12-10

Mutants have played a fundamental role in gene discovery and in understanding the function of genes involved in plant acyl lipid metabolism. The first mutant in Arabidopsis lipid metabolism ( fad4) was described in 1985. Since that time, characterization of mutants in more than 280 genes associated with acyl lipid metabolism has been reported. This review provides a brief background and history on identification of mutants in acyl lipid metabolism, an analysis of the distribution of mutants in different areas of acyl lipid metabolism and presents an annotated database (ARALIPmutantDB) of these mutants. The database provides information on the phenotypesmore » of mutants, pathways and enzymes/proteins associated with the mutants, and allows rapid access via hyperlinks to summaries of information about each mutant and to literature that provides information on the lipid composition of the mutants. Mutants for at least 30 % of the genes in the database have multiple names, which have been compiled here to reduce ambiguities in searches for information. Furthermore, the database should also provide a tool for exploring the relationships between mutants in acyl lipid-related genes and their lipid phenotypes and point to opportunities for further research.« less

Characterization of the "Escherichia Coli" Acyl Carrier Protein Phosphodiesterase

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Jacob

2009-01-01

Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a small essential protein that functions as a carrier of the acyl intermediates of fatty acid synthesis. ACP requires the posttranslational attachment of a 4'phosphopantetheine functional group, derived from CoA, in order to perform its metabolic function. A Mn[superscript 2+] dependent enzymatic activity that removes…

Kinetic Monte Carlo modeling of chemical reactions coupled with heat transfer.

PubMed

Castonguay, Thomas C; Wang, Feng

2008-03-28

In this paper, we describe two types of effective events for describing heat transfer in a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation that may involve stochastic chemical reactions. Simulations employing these events are referred to as KMC-TBT and KMC-PHE. In KMC-TBT, heat transfer is modeled as the stochastic transfer of "thermal bits" between adjacent grid points. In KMC-PHE, heat transfer is modeled by integrating the Poisson heat equation for a short time. Either approach is capable of capturing the time dependent system behavior exactly. Both KMC-PHE and KMC-TBT are validated by simulating pure heat transfer in a rod and a square and modeling a heated desorption problem where exact numerical results are available. KMC-PHE is much faster than KMC-TBT and is used to study the endothermic desorption of a lattice gas. Interesting findings from this study are reported.

Kinetic Monte Carlo modeling of chemical reactions coupled with heat transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castonguay, Thomas C.; Wang, Feng

2008-03-01

In this paper, we describe two types of effective events for describing heat transfer in a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation that may involve stochastic chemical reactions. Simulations employing these events are referred to as KMC-TBT and KMC-PHE. In KMC-TBT, heat transfer is modeled as the stochastic transfer of "thermal bits" between adjacent grid points. In KMC-PHE, heat transfer is modeled by integrating the Poisson heat equation for a short time. Either approach is capable of capturing the time dependent system behavior exactly. Both KMC-PHE and KMC-TBT are validated by simulating pure heat transfer in a rod and a square and modeling a heated desorption problem where exact numerical results are available. KMC-PHE is much faster than KMC-TBT and is used to study the endothermic desorption of a lattice gas. Interesting findings from this study are reported.

ORGANIC REACTIONS IN THE SOLID STATE AND IN SOLID SOLUTIONS.

DTIC Science & Technology

on the reactions of phthalic acid and acetanilide , various acyl anilides, and ring-substituted acetanilides . Exploratory experiments were also...performed between ring-substituted acetanilides and succinic, glutaric, maleic and fumaric acids. The influence of imidazole as a catalyst of the...transacylation reaction of phthalic anhydride and acetanilide is also reported. (Author)

Glycerol triacetate as solvent and acyl donor in the production of isoamyl acetate with Candida antarctica lipase B.

PubMed

Wolfson, Adi; Atyya, Aviad; Dlugy, Christina; Tavor, Dorith

2010-03-01

Glycerol triacetate was successfully used as a green solvent and as the acyl donor in the transesterification of isoamyl alcohol to produce isoamyl acetate using free and immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B. Immobilized lipase was more catalytically active than free lipase and could be easily separated from the reaction mixture by filtration. In addition, it was found that increasing either the reaction temperature or the enzyme to substrate ratio increased the conversion of isoamyl alcohol. Using triacetin as the solvent also enabled the separation of product by simple extraction with petroleum ether and catalyst recycling.

Diagnostic Criteria for the Characterization of Electrode Reactions with Chemically Coupled Reactions Preceding the Electron Transfer by Cyclic Square Wave Voltammetry.

PubMed

Helfrick, John C; Mann, Megan A; Bottomley, Lawrence A

2016-08-18

Theory for cyclic square wave voltammetry of electrode reactions with chemical reactions preceding the electron transfer is presented. Theoretical voltammograms were calculated following systematic variation of empirical parameters to assess their impact on the shape of the voltammogram. From the trends obtained, diagnostic criteria for this mechanism were deduced. When properly applied, these criteria will enable non-experts in voltammetry to assign the electrode reaction mechanism and accurately measure reaction kinetics. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Effect of friction on electron transfer: The two reaction coordinate case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onuchic, José Nelson

1987-04-01

Electron transfer is a very important reaction in many biological processes such as photosynthesis and oxidative phosphorylation. In many of these reactions, most of the interesting dynamics can be included by using two reaction coordinates: one fast (local high frequency vibration modes) and one slow (outersphere modes such as solvent polarization). We report a model to describe this problem, which uses path integral techniques to calculate electron transfer rates, and also to obtain the Fokker-Planck equations associated with this model. Different limiting cases lead to qualitatively different results such as exponential or nonexponential time decay for the donor survival probability. Conditions for the validity of the adiabatic or the nonadiabatic limits will be discussed. Application of this model to real systems is proposed, in particular for a porphyrin rigidly linked to a quinone, which is a very interesting model compound for primary events of photosynthesis. This model can also be used for other multicoordinate biological reactions such as ligand binding to heme proteins. Also, in the concluding part of Sec. III, we discuss the important limit where the fast vibronic mode is much faster than all the other nuclear modes coupled to the problem. In this limit the fast mode ``renormalizes'' the electronic matrix element, and this considerably simplifies the treatment of the problem, reducing it to coupling only to the slow modes.

Measuring one nucleon transfer reaction 24Mg( p, d)23Mg for astrophysical reaction rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, E. J.; Chae, K. Y.

2017-12-01

The level structure of a radionuclide 23Mg has been studied by using the 24Mg( p, d)23Mg one nucleon transfer reaction measurement for the astrophysical 19Ne(α, γ)23Mg reaction rate. A 41 MeV proton beam was produced and accelerated at the 25 MV tandem accelerator of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States. The beam particles impinged on an isotopically-enriched 24Mg solid target. Angular distributions of recoiling deuterons were extracted by using a large area silicon strip detector array. By comparing the experimentally-obtained angular distributions with zero range distorted wave Born approximation calculations, spins and parities of three energy levels of 23Mg could be constrained for the first time, which is very important information needed to understand the 19Ne(α, γ)23Mg reaction rate.

High Throughput Engineering to Revitalize a Vestigial Electron Transfer Pathway in Bacterial Photosynthetic Reaction Centers*

PubMed Central

Faries, Kaitlyn M.; Kressel, Lucas L.; Wander, Marc J.; Holten, Dewey; Laible, Philip D.; Kirmaier, Christine; Hanson, Deborah K.

2012-01-01

Photosynthetic reaction centers convert light energy into chemical energy in a series of transmembrane electron transfer reactions, each with near 100% yield. The structures of reaction centers reveal two symmetry-related branches of cofactors (denoted A and B) that are functionally asymmetric; purple bacterial reaction centers use the A pathway exclusively. Previously, site-specific mutagenesis has yielded reaction centers capable of transmembrane charge separation solely via the B branch cofactors, but the best overall electron transfer yields are still low. In an attempt to better realize the architectural and energetic factors that underlie the directionality and yields of electron transfer, sites within the protein-cofactor complex were targeted in a directed molecular evolution strategy that implements streamlined mutagenesis and high throughput spectroscopic screening. The polycistronic approach enables efficient construction and expression of a large number of variants of a heteroligomeric complex that has two intimately regulated subunits with high sequence similarity, common features of many prokaryotic and eukaryotic transmembrane protein assemblies. The strategy has succeeded in the discovery of several mutant reaction centers with increased efficiency of the B pathway; they carry multiple substitutions that have not been explored or linked using traditional approaches. This work expands our understanding of the structure-function relationships that dictate the efficiency of biological energy-conversion reactions, concepts that will aid the design of bio-inspired assemblies capable of both efficient charge separation and charge stabilization. PMID:22247556

Kinetics of self-decomposition and hydrogen atom transfer reactions of substituted phthalimide N-oxyl radicals in acetic acid.

PubMed

Cai, Yang; Koshino, Nobuyoshi; Saha, Basudeb; Espenson, James H

2005-01-07

Kinetic data have been obtained for three distinct types of reactions of phthalimide N-oxyl radicals (PINO(.)) and N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) derivatives. The first is the self-decomposition of PINO(.) which was found to follow second-order kinetics. In the self-decomposition of 4-methyl-N-hydroxyphthalimide (4-Me-NHPI), H-atom abstraction competes with self-decomposition in the presence of excess 4-Me-NHPI. The second set of reactions studied is hydrogen atom transfer from NHPI to PINO(.), e.g., PINO(.) + 4-Me-NHPI <=> NHPI + 4-Me-PINO(.). The substantial KIE, k(H)/k(D) = 11 for both forward and reverse reactions, supports the assignment of H-atom transfer rather than stepwise electron-proton transfer. These data were correlated with the Marcus cross relation for hydrogen-atom transfer, and good agreement between the experimental and the calculated rate constants was obtained. The third reaction studied is hydrogen abstraction by PINO(.) from p-xylene and toluene. The reaction becomes regularly slower as the ring substituent on PINO(.) is more electron donating. Analysis by the Hammett equation gave rho = 1.1 and 1.8 for the reactions of PINO(.) with p-xylene and toluene, respectively.

Analysis of protein prenylation and S-acylation using gas chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Sorek, Nadav; Akerman, Amir; Yalovsky, Shaul

2013-01-01

Lipid modifications play a key role in protein targeting and function. The two Arabidopsis Gγ subunits, AGG1 and AGG2, have been shown to undergo prenylation (AGG1) and S-acylation (AGG2). Prenylation involves covalent nonreversible attachment of either farnesyl (15 carbons) or geranylgeranyl (20 carbons) isoprenoids to conserved cysteine residues at or near the C-terminus of proteins. S-acylation, frequently referred to as palmitoylation, involves the attachment of acyl fatty acids to thiol groups of cysteine residues through a reversible thioester bond. The procedures described below allow direct analysis of the prenyl and acyl moieties using gas chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS). These methods are based on (1) cleavage of prenyl groups with the Raney nickel catalyst and (2) analysis of protein S-acylation following cleavage of the acyl fatty acids from proteins by hydrogenation with platinum (IV) oxide. The hydrogenation under these conditions causes an acid transesterification of the acyl moieties, adding an ethyl group to the carboxyl head of the fatty acid. The addition of the ethyl group reduces the polarity of the fatty acids, allowing their efficient separation by gas chromatography.

Head-group acylation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol is a common stress response, but the acyl-galactose acyl composition varies with the plant species and applied stress

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Head group acylation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol is a plant lipid modification occurring during bacterial infection. Little is known about the range of stresses that induce this lipid modification, the molecular species induced, and the function of the modification. Lipidomic analysis using trip...

Acyl Chain Preference in Foam Cell Formation from Mouse Peritoneal Macrophages.

PubMed

Fujiwara, Yuko; Hama, Kotaro; Tsukahara, Makoto; Izumi-Tsuzuki, Ryosuke; Nagai, Toru; Ohe-Yamada, Mihoko; Inoue, Keizo; Yokoyama, Kazuaki

2018-01-01

Macrophage foam cells play critical roles in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis by synthesizing and accumulating cholesteryl ester (CE) in lipid droplets. However, in analyzing lipid metabolism in foam cell formation, studies have focused on the sterol group, and little research has been done on the acyl chains. Therefore, we adapted a model system using liposomes containing particular acyl chains and examined the effect of various acyl chains on foam cell formation. Of the phosphatidylserine (PS) liposomes tested containing PS, phosphatidylcholine, and cholesterol, we found that unsaturated (C18:1), but not saturated (C16:0 and C18:0), PS liposomes induced lipid droplet formation, indicating that foam cell formation depends on the nature of the acyl chain of the PS liposomes. Experiments on the uptake and accumulation of cholesterol from liposomes by adding [ 14 C]cholesterol suggested that foam cell formation could be induced only when cholesterol was converted to CE in the case of C18:1 PS liposomes. Both microscopic observations and metabolic analysis suggest that cholesterol incorporated into either C16:0 or C18:0 PS liposomes may stay intact after being taken in by endosomes. The [ 14 C]C18:1 fatty acyl chain in the C18:1 PS liposome was used to synthesize CE and triacylglycerol (TG). Interestingly, the [ 14 C]C16:0 in the C18:1 PS liposome was metabolized to sphingomyelin rather than being incorporated into either CE or TG, which could be because of enzymatic acyl chain selectivity. In conclusion, our results indicate that the acyl chain preference of macrophages could have some impact on their progression to foam cells.

Carbon-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-based charge transfer reactions in inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grindlay, Guillermo; Gras, Luis; Mora, Juan; de Loos-Vollebregt, Margaretha T. C.

2016-01-01

In this work, the influence of carbon-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-based charge transfer reactions on the emission signal of 34 elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Hg, I, In, Ir, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Pd, Pt, S, Sb, Se, Sr, Te, and Zn) in axially viewed inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry has been investigated. To this end, atomic and ionic emission signals for diluted glycerol, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid solutions were registered and results were compared to those obtained for a 1% w w- 1 nitric acid solution. Experimental results show that the emission intensities of As, Se, and Te atomic lines are enhanced by charge transfer from carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus ions. Iodine and P atomic emission is enhanced by carbon- and sulfur-based charge transfer whereas the Hg atomic emission signal is enhanced only by carbon. Though signal enhancement due to charge transfer reactions is also expected for ionic emission lines of the above-mentioned elements, no experimental evidence has been found with the exception of Hg ionic lines operating carbon solutions. The effect of carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus charge transfer reactions on atomic emission depends on (i) wavelength characteristics. In general, signal enhancement is more pronounced for electronic transitions involving the highest upper energy levels; (ii) plasma experimental conditions. The use of robust conditions (i.e. high r.f. power and lower nebulizer gas flow rates) improves carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus ionization in the plasma and, hence, signal enhancement; and (iii) the presence of other concomitants (e.g. K or Ca). Easily ionizable elements reduce ionization in the plasma and consequently reduce signal enhancement due to charge transfer reactions.

ETFDH mutations as a major cause of riboflavin-responsive multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency.

PubMed

Olsen, Rikke K J; Olpin, Simon E; Andresen, Brage S; Miedzybrodzka, Zofia H; Pourfarzam, Morteza; Merinero, Begoña; Frerman, Frank E; Beresford, Michael W; Dean, John C S; Cornelius, Nanna; Andersen, Oluf; Oldfors, Anders; Holme, Elisabeth; Gregersen, Niels; Turnbull, Douglass M; Morris, Andrew A M

2007-08-01

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency (MADD) is a disorder of fatty acid, amino acid and choline metabolism that can result from defects in two flavoproteins, electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) or ETF: ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF:QO). Some patients respond to pharmacological doses of riboflavin. It is unknown whether these patients have defects in the flavoproteins themselves or defects in the formation of the cofactor, FAD, from riboflavin. We report 15 patients from 11 pedigrees. All the index cases presented with encephalopathy or muscle weakness or a combination of these symptoms; several had previously suffered cyclical vomiting. Urine organic acid and plasma acyl-carnitine profiles indicated MADD. Clinical and biochemical parameters were either totally or partly corrected after riboflavin treatment. All patients had mutations in the gene for ETF:QO. In one patient, we show that the ETF:QO mutations are associated with a riboflavin-sensitive impairment of ETF:QO activity. This patient also had partial deficiencies of flavin-dependent acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and respiratory chain complexes, most of which were restored to control levels after riboflavin treatment. Low activities of mitochondrial flavoproteins or respiratory chain complexes have been reported previously in two of our patients with ETF:QO mutations. We postulate that riboflavin-responsive MADD may result from defects of ETF:QO combined with general mitochondrial dysfunction. This is the largest collection of riboflavin-responsive MADD patients ever reported, and the first demonstration of the molecular genetic basis for the disorder.

Partial deletion of beta9 loop in pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 reduces enzyme activity with a larger effect on long acyl chain substrates.

PubMed

Dridi, Kaouthar; Amara, Sawsan; Bezzine, Sofiane; Rodriguez, Jorge A; Carrière, Frédéric; Gaussier, Hélène

2013-07-01

Structural studies on pancreatic lipase have revealed a complex architecture of surface loops surrounding the enzyme active site and potentially involved in interactions with lipids. Two of them, the lid and beta loop, expose a large hydrophobic surface and are considered as acyl chain binding sites based on their interaction with an alkyl phosphonate inhibitor. While the role of the lid in substrate recognition and selectivity has been extensively studied, the implication of beta9 loop in acyl chain stabilization remained hypothetical. The characterization of an enzyme with a natural deletion of the lid, guinea pig pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (GPLRP2), suggests however an essential contribution of the beta9 loop in the stabilization of the acyl enzyme intermediate formed during the lipolysis reaction. A GPLRP2 mutant with a seven-residue deletion of beta9 loop (GPLRP2-deltabeta9) was produced and its enzyme activity was measured using various substrates (triglycerides, monoglycerides, galactolipids, phospholipids, vinyl esters) with short, medium and long acyl chains. Whatever the substrate tested, GPLRP2-deltabeta9 activity is drastically reduced compared to that of wild-type GPLRP2 and this effect is more pronounced as the length of substrate acyl chain increases. Changes in relative substrate selectivity and stereoselectivity remained however weak. The deletion within beta9 loop has also a negative effect on the rate of enzyme inhibition by alkyl phosphonates. All these findings indicate that the reduced enzyme turnover observed with GPLRP2-deltabeta9 results from a weaker stabilization of the acyl enzyme intermediate due to a loss of hydrophobic interactions.

Structural Basis for Substrate Fatty Acyl Chain Specificity

PubMed Central

McAndrew, Ryan P.; Wang, Yudong; Mohsen, Al-Walid; He, Miao; Vockley, Jerry; Kim, Jung-Ja P.

2008-01-01

Very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) is a member of the family of acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (ACADs). Unlike the other ACADs, which are soluble homotetramers, VLCAD is a homodimer associated with the mitochondrial membrane. VLCAD also possesses an additional 180 residues in the C terminus that are not present in the other ACADs. We have determined the crystal structure of VLCAD complexed with myristoyl-CoA, obtained by co-crystallization, to 1.91-Å resolution. The overall fold of the N-terminal ∼400 residues of VLCAD is similar to that of the soluble ACADs including medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD). The novel C-terminal domain forms an α-helical bundle that is positioned perpendicular to the two N-terminal helical domains. The fatty acyl moiety of the bound substrate/product is deeply imbedded inside the protein; however, the adenosine pyrophosphate portion of the C14-CoA ligand is disordered because of partial hydrolysis of the thioester bond and high mobility of the CoA moiety. The location of Glu-422 with respect to the C2-C3 of the bound ligand and FAD confirms Glu-422 to be the catalytic base. In MCAD, Gln-95 and Glu-99 form the base of the substrate binding cavity. In VLCAD, these residues are glycines (Gly-175 and Gly-178), allowing the binding channel to extend for an additional 12Å and permitting substrate acyl chain lengths as long as 24 carbons to bind. VLCAD deficiency is among the more common defects of mitochondrial β-oxidation and, if left undiagnosed, can be fatal. This structure allows us to gain insight into how a variant VLCAD genotype results in a clinical phenotype. PMID:18227065

Functional reconstitution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis long-chain acyl-CoA carboxylase from multiple acyl-CoA subunits.

PubMed

Bazet Lyonnet, Bernardo; Diacovich, Lautaro; Gago, Gabriela; Spina, Lucie; Bardou, Fabienne; Lemassu, Anne; Quémard, Annaïk; Gramajo, Hugo

2017-04-01

Mycobacterium tuberculosis produces a large number of structurally diverse lipids that have been implicated in the pathogenicity, persistence and antibiotic resistance of this organism. Most building blocks involved in the biosynthesis of all these lipids are generated by acyl-CoA carboxylases whose subunit composition and physiological roles have not yet been clearly established. Inconclusive data in the literature refer to the exact protein composition and substrate specificity of the enzyme complex that produces the long-chain α-carboxy-acyl-CoAs, which are substrates involved in the last step of condensation mediated by the polyketide synthase 13 to synthesize mature mycolic acids. Here we have successfully reconstituted the long-chain acyl-CoA carboxylase (LCC) complex from its purified components, the α subunit (AccA3), the ε subunit (AccE5) and the two β subunits (AccD4 and AccD5), and demonstrated that the four subunits are essential for its activity. Furthermore, we also showed by substrate competition experiments and the use of a specific inhibitor that the AccD5 subunit's role in the carboxylation of the long acyl-CoAs, as part of the LCC complex, was structural rather than catalytic. Moreover, AccD5 was also able to carboxylate its natural substrates, acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA, in the context of the LCC enzyme complex. Thus, the supercomplex formed by these four subunits has the potential to generate the main substrates, malonyl-CoA, methylmalonyl-CoA and α-carboxy-C 24-26 -CoA, used as condensing units for the biosynthesis of all the lipids present in this pathogen. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

The R117A variant of the Escherichia coli transacylase FabD synthesizes novel acyl-(acyl carrier proteins).

PubMed

Marcella, Aaron M; Barb, Adam W

2017-12-01

The commercial impact of fermentation systems producing novel and biorenewable chemicals will flourish with the expansion of enzymes engineered to synthesize new molecules. Though a small degree of natural variability exists in fatty acid biosynthesis, the molecular space accessible through enzyme engineering is fundamentally limitless. Prokaryotic fatty acid biosynthesis enzymes build carbon chains on a functionalized acyl carrier protein (ACP) that provides solubility, stability, and a scaffold for interactions with the synthetic enzymes. Here, we identify the malonyl-coenzyme A (CoA)/holo-ACP transacylase (FabD) from Escherichia coli as a platform enzyme for engineering to diversify microbial fatty acid biosynthesis. The FabD R117A variant produced novel ACP-based primer and extender units for fatty acid biosynthesis. Unlike the wild-type enzyme that is highly specific for malonyl-CoA to produce malonyl-ACP, the R117A variant synthesized acetyl-ACP, succinyl-ACP, isobutyryl-ACP, 2-butenoyl-ACP, and β-hydroxybutyryl-ACP among others from holo-ACP and the corresponding acyl-CoAs with specific activities from 3.7 to 120 nmol min -1  mg -1 . FabD R117A maintained K M values for holo-ACP (~ 40 μM) and displayed small changes in K M for acetoacetyl-CoA (110 ± 30 μM) and acetyl-CoA (200 ± 70 μM) when compared to malonyl-CoA (80 ± 30 μM). FabD R117A represents a novel catalyst that synthesizes a broad range of acyl-acyl-ACPs.

Mass correlation between light and heavy reaction products in multinucleon transfer 197Au+130Te collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galtarossa, F.; Corradi, L.; Szilner, S.; Fioretto, E.; Pollarolo, G.; Mijatović, T.; Montanari, D.; Ackermann, D.; Bourgin, D.; Courtin, S.; Fruet, G.; Goasduff, A.; Grebosz, J.; Haas, F.; Jelavić Malenica, D.; Jeong, S. C.; Jia, H. M.; John, P. R.; Mengoni, D.; Milin, M.; Montagnoli, G.; Scarlassara, F.; Skukan, N.; Soić, N.; Stefanini, A. M.; Strano, E.; Tokić, V.; Ur, C. A.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Watanabe, Y. X.

2018-05-01

We studied multinucleon transfer reactions in the 197Au+130Te system at Elab=1.07 GeV by employing the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer coupled to a coincident detector. For each light fragment we constructed, in coincidence, the distribution in mass of the heavy partner of the reaction. With a Monte Carlo method, starting from the binary character of the reaction, we simulated the de-excitation process of the produced heavy fragments to be able to understand their final mass distribution. The total cross sections for pure neutron transfer channels have also been extracted and compared with calculations performed with the grazing code.

Elastic, inelastic, and 1 n transfer cross sections for the 10B+120Sn reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasques, L. R.; Freitas, A. S.; Chamon, L. C.; Oliveira, J. R. B.; Medina, N. H.; Scarduelli, V.; Rossi, E. S.; Alvarez, M. A. G.; Zagatto, V. A. B.; Lubian, J.; Nobre, G. P. A.; Padron, I.; Carlson, B. V.

2018-03-01

The 10B+120Sn reaction has been investigated at ELab=37.5 MeV. The cross sections for different channels, such as the elastic scattering, the excitation of the 2+ and 3-120Sn states, the excitation of the 1+ state of 10B, and the 1 n pick-up transfer, have been measured. One-step distorted-wave Born approximation and coupled-reaction-channels calculations have been performed in the context of the double-folding São Paulo potential. The effect of coupling the inelastic and transfer states on the angular distributions is discussed in the paper. In general, the theoretical calculations within the coupled-reaction-channels formalism yield a satisfactory agreement with the corresponding experimental angular distributions.

Total and acylated ghrelin in liver cirrhosis: correlation with clinical and nutritional status.

PubMed

El-Shehaby, Amal M; Obaia, Eman M; Alwakil, Sahar S; Hiekal, Ahmed A

2010-07-01

The pathogenesis of anorexia in cirrhotic patients is complex and the appetite-modulating hormone ghrelin could be involved. Acylated ghrelin is the biologically active form that modifies insulin sensitivity and body composition. The aim of the present study was to compare acylated and total ghrelin concentration in patients with liver cirrhosis and to investigate the possible relationship between ghrelin and clinical and nutritional parameters. Sixty patients with viral liver cirrhosis who did not have hepatocellular carcinoma or acute infections were studied. Twenty healthy volunteers were recruited after matching for age, gender, and body mass index with the patients and served as controls. Fasting levels of total, acylated ghrelin, leptin, TNF-alpha and insulin were measured in all subjects, in addition, clinical and nutrition parameters were assessed. In cirrhotic patients, plasma levels of both acylated and total ghrelin were significantly higher than those in the controls. The mean plasma acylated ghrelin levels were significantly higher in Child C cirrhosis compared to Child A and B. Ghrelin (total and acylated) were negatively correlated with leptin in cirrhotic patients confirming the fact that leptin acts as a physiological counterpart of ghrelin. Nutritional and metabolic abnormalities in cirrhotic patients may be dependent on the changes in the ghrelin/leptin systems, mainly the acylated form of ghrelin.

Chlorogenic acids and the acyl-quinic acids: discovery, biosynthesis, bioavailability and bioactivity.

PubMed

Clifford, Michael N; Jaganath, Indu B; Ludwig, Iziar A; Crozier, Alan

2017-12-13

Covering: 2000 up to late 2017This review is focussed upon the acyl-quinic acids, the most studied group within the ca. 400 chlorogenic acids so far reported. The acyl-quinic acids, the first of which was characterised in 1846, are a diverse group of plant-derived compounds produced principally through esterification of an hydroxycinnamic acid and 1l-(-)-quinic acid. Topics addressed in this review include the confusing nomenclature, quantification and characterisation by NMR and MS, biosynthesis and role in planta, and the occurrence of acyl-quinic acids in coffee, their transformation during roasting and delivery to the beverage. Coffee is the major human dietary source world-wide of acyl-quinic acids and consideration is given to their absorption and metabolism in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and the colon where the microbiota play a key role in the formation of catabolites. Evidence on the potential of the in vivo metabolites and catabolites of acyl-quinic acids to promote the consumer's health is evaluated.

Metallophosphite-Catalyzed Asymmetric Acylation of α,β -Unsaturated Amides

PubMed Central

Nahm, Mary R.; Potnick, Justin R.; White, Peter S.; Johnson, Jeffrey S.

2007-01-01

The l-menthone-derived TADDOL phosphite 6b catalyzes highly enantioselective conjugate additions of acyl silanes to α,β-unsaturated amides. p-Methoxybenzoyl cyclohexyldimethylsilane adds to a variety of N,N-dimethyl acrylamide derivatives in the presence of the lithium salt of 6b. In many instances the α-silyl-γ-ketoamide product undergoes facile enantioenrichment (to 97–99% ee) upon recrystallization. Desilylation with HF·pyr affords the formal Stetter addition products. Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of the desilylated γ-ketoamides affords useful ester products. An X-ray diffraction study of 6b reveals that the isopropyl group of the menthone ketal influences the position of the syn-pseudoaxial phenyl group in the TADDOL structure. Through a crossover experiment, the silicon migration step in the reaction mechanism is shown to be strictly intramolecular. PMID:16492064

Mechanism-based inhibitors of MenE, an acyl-CoA synthetase involved in bacterial menaquinone biosynthesis†

PubMed Central

Lu, Xuequan; Zhang, Huaning; Tonge, Peter J.; Tan, Derek S.

2008-01-01

Menaquinone (vitamin K2) is an essential component of the electron transfer chain in many pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus, and menaquinone biosynthesis is a potential target for antibiotic drug discovery. We report herein a series of mechanism-based inhibitors of MenE, an acyl-CoA synthetase that catalyzes adenylation and thioesterification of o-succinylbenzoic acid (OSB) during menaquinone biosynthesis. The most potent compound inhibits MenE with an IC50 value of 5.7 μM. PMID:18762421

Engineered short branched-chain acyl-CoA synthesis in E. coli and acylation of chloramphenicol to branched-chain derivatives.

PubMed

Bi, Huiping; Bai, Yanfen; Cai, Tao; Zhuang, Yibin; Liang, Xiaomei; Zhang, Xueli; Liu, Tao; Ma, Yanhe

2013-12-01

Short branched-chain acyl-CoAs are important building blocks for a wide variety of pharmaceutically valuable natural products. Escherichia coli has been used as a heterologous host for the production of a variety of natural compounds for many years. In the current study, we engineered synthesis of isobutyryl-CoA and isovaleryl-CoA from glucose in E. coli by integration of the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex from Streptomyces avermitilis. In the presence of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene, chloramphenicol was converted to both chloramphenicol-3-isobutyrate and chloramphenicol-3-isovalerate by the recombinant E. coli strains, which suggested successful synthesis of isobutyryl-CoA and isovaleryl-CoA. Furthermore, we improved the α-keto acid precursor supply by overexpressing the alsS gene from Bacillus subtilis and the ilvC and ilvD genes from E. coli and thus enhanced the synthesis of short branched-chain acyl-CoAs. By feeding 25 mg/L chloramphenicol, 2.96 ± 0.06 mg/L chloramphenicol-3-isobutyrate and 3.94 ± 0.06 mg/L chloramphenicol-3-isovalerate were generated by the engineered E. coli strain, which indicated efficient biosynthesis of short branched-chain acyl-CoAs. HPLC analysis showed that the most efficient E. coli strain produced 80.77 ± 3.83 nmol/g wet weight isovaleryl-CoA. To our knowledge, this is the first report of production of short branched-chain acyl-CoAs in E. coli and opens a way to biosynthesize various valuable natural compounds based on these special building blocks from renewable carbon sources.

Electron transfer reactions of excited dyes with metal complexes. Progress report, May 1, 1976--January 31, 1977. [Fe(III)--thionine reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lichtin, N.N.

1977-02-01

A study was initiated of the factors which determine quantum efficiency of transfer of reducing equivalents between excited dye molecules and metal complexes in their ground state and composition and dynamics of formation and decay of related photostationary states. A ruby laser capable of delivering a 3.6 J, 19 nsec flash was acquired and assembly of an apparatus for laser flash photolysis begun. At the same time, conventional flash photolysis was used to pursue investigation of the dependence upon solvent, anions, pH, and ionic strength of the kinetics of the spontaneous dark reaction of Fe(H/sub 2/O)/sup 3 +//sub 6/ withmore » leucothionine and with semithionine, reactions which contribute to the composition and dynamics of formation and decay of the photostationary state of the iron-thionine photoredox reaction. Results are consistent with formation of an intermediate complex between leucothionine and Fe(III), K/sub A/ = 380 M/sup -1/ and k(elec. transfer) = 0.88 s/sup -1/ at approximately 22/sup 0/ in water solution at pH2, with sulfate as anion and ..mu.. = .05 - .1 M. Under similar conditions in 50 v/v percent aqueous CH/sub 3/CN, K/sub A/ = 780 M/sup -1/, k(elec. transfer) = 0.55 s/sup -1/. In both solvents, sulfate produces a large positive salt effect. Intermediacy of a complex was not established for the faster reaction of Fe(III) with semithionine under similar conditions: K/sub A/ . k(elec. transfer) approximately 3.5 x 10/sup 5/ M/sup -1/s/sup -1/ in H/sub 2/O, approximately 1.0 x 10/sup 4/ in 50 v/v percent aqueous CH/sub 3/CN.« less

Jejunal administration of glucose enhances acyl ghrelin suppression in obese humans

PubMed Central

Sidani, Reem M.; Garcia, Anna E.; Antoun, Joseph; Isbell, James M.; Abumrad, Naji N.

2016-01-01

Ghrelin is a gastric hormone that stimulates hunger and worsens glucose metabolism. Circulating ghrelin is decreased after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery; however, the mechanism(s) underlying this change is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that jejunal nutrient exposure plays a significant role in ghrelin suppression after RYGB. Feeding tubes were placed in the stomach or jejunum in 13 obese subjects to simulate pre-RYGB or post-RYGB glucose exposure to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, respectively, without the confounding effects of caloric restriction, weight loss, and surgical stress. On separate study days, the plasma glucose curves obtained with either gastric or jejunal administration of glucose were replicated with intravenous (iv) infusions of glucose. These “isoglycemic clamps” enabled us to determine the contribution of the GI tract and postabsorptive plasma glucose to acyl ghrelin suppression. Plasma acyl ghrelin levels were suppressed to a greater degree with jejunal glucose administration compared with gastric glucose administration (P < 0.05). Jejunal administration of glucose also resulted in a greater suppression of acyl ghrelin than the corresponding isoglycemic glucose infusion (P ≤ 0.01). However, gastric and isoglycemic iv glucose infusions resulted in similar degrees of acyl ghrelin suppression (P > 0.05). Direct exposure of the proximal jejunum to glucose increases acyl ghrelin suppression independent of circulating glucose levels. The enhanced suppression of acyl ghrelin after RYGB may be due to a nutrient-initiated signal in the jejunum that regulates ghrelin secretion. PMID:27279247

Long-range versus short-range correlations in the two-neutron transfer reaction 64Ni(18O,16O)66Ni

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paes, B.; Santagati, G.; Vsevolodovna, R. Magana; Cappuzzello, F.; Carbone, D.; Cardozo, E. N.; Cavallaro, M.; García-Tecocoatzi, H.; Gargano, A.; Ferreira, J. L.; Lenzi, S. M.; Linares, R.; Santopinto, E.; Vitturi, A.; Lubian, J.

2017-10-01

Recently, various two-neutron transfer studies using the (18O,16O) reaction were performed with a large success. This was achieved because of a combined use of the microscopic quantum description of the reaction mechanism and of the nuclear structure. In the present work we use this methodology to study the two-neutron transfer reaction of the 18O+64Ni system at 84 MeV incident energy, to the ground and first 2+ excited state of the residual 66Ni nucleus. All the experimental data were measured by the large acceptance MAGNEX spectrometer at the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare -Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (Italy). We have performed exact finite range cross section calculations using the coupled channel Born approximation (CCBA) and coupled reaction channel (CRC) method for the sequential and direct two-neutron transfers, respectively. Moreover, this is the first time that the formalism of the microscopic interaction boson model (IBM-2) was applied to a two-neutron transfer reaction. From our results we conclude that for two-neutron transfer to the ground state of 66Ni, the direct transfer is the dominant reaction mechanism, whereas for the transfer to the first excited state of 66Ni, the sequential process dominates. A competition between long-range and short-range correlations is discussed, in particular, how the use of two different models (Shell model and IBM's) help to disentangle long- and short-range correlations.

Characterization of Lipid A Variants by Energy-Resolved Mass Spectrometry: Impact of Acyl Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crittenden, Christopher M.; Akin, Lucas D.; Morrison, Lindsay J.; Trent, M. Stephen; Brodbelt, Jennifer S.

2017-06-01

Lipid A molecules consist of a diglucosamine sugar core with a number of appended acyl chains that vary in their length and connectivity. Because of the challenging nature of characterizing these molecules and differentiating between isomeric species, an energy-resolved MS/MS strategy was undertaken to track the fragmentation trends and map genealogies of product ions originating from consecutive cleavages of acyl chains. Generalizations were developed based on the number and locations of the primary and secondary acyl chains as well as variations in preferential cleavages arising from the location of the phosphate groups. Secondary acyl chain cleavage occurs most readily for lipid A species at the 3' position, followed by primary acyl chain fragmentation at both the 3' and 3 positions. In the instances of bisphosphorylated lipid A variants, phosphate loss occurs readily in conjunction with the most favorable primary and secondary acyl chain cleavages. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Chemical reaction fouling model for single-phase heat transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Panchal, C.B.; Watkinson, A.P.

1993-08-01

A fouling model was developed on the premise that the chemical reaction for generation of precursor can take place in the bulk fluid, in the thermalboundary layer, or at the fluid/wall interface, depending upon the interactive effects of flu id dynamics, heat and mass transfer, and the controlling chemical reaction. The analysis was used to examine the experimental data for fouling deposition of polyperoxides produced by autoxidation of indene in kerosene. The effects of fluid and wall temperatures for two flow geometries were analyzed. The results showed that the relative effects of physical parameters on the fouling rate would differmore » for the three fouling mechanisms; therefore, it is important to identify the controlling mechanism in applying the closed-flow-loop data to industrial conditions.« less

Commelinid Monocotyledon Lignins Are Acylated by p-Coumarate.

PubMed

Karlen, Steven D; Free, Heather C A; Padmakshan, Dharshana; Smith, Bronwen G; Ralph, John; Harris, Philip J

2018-06-01

Commelinid monocotyledons are a monophyletic clade differentiated from other monocotyledons by the presence of cell wall-bound ferulate and p -coumarate. The Poaceae, or grass family, is a member of this group, and most of the p -coumarate in the cell walls of this family acylates lignin. Here, we isolated and examined lignified cell wall preparations from 10 species of commelinid monocotyledons from nine families other than Poaceae, including species from all four commelinid monocotyledon orders (Poales, Zingiberales, Commelinales, and Arecales). We showed that, as in the Poaceae, lignin-linked p -coumarate occurs exclusively on the hydroxyl group on the γ-carbon of lignin unit side chains, mostly on syringyl units. Although the mechanism of acylation has not been studied directly in these species, it is likely to be similar to that in the Poaceae and involve BAHD acyl-coenzyme A:monolignol transferases. © 2018 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Momentum transfer in relativistic heavy ion charge-exchange reactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, L. W.; Wilson, J. W.; Khan, F.; Khandelwal, G. S.

1991-01-01

Relativistic heavy ion charge-exchange reactions yield fragments (Delta-Z = + 1) whose longitudinal momentum distributions are downshifted by larger values than those associated with the remaining fragments (Delta-Z = 1, -2,...). Kinematics alone cannot account for the observed downshifts; therefore, an additional contribution from collision dynamics must be included. In this work, an optical model description of collision momentum transfer is used to estimate the additional dynamical momentum downshift. Good agreement between theoretical estimates and experimental data is obtained.

SIRT2 and lysine fatty acylation regulate the transforming activity of K-Ras4a

PubMed Central

Wisner, Stephanie A; Chen, Xiao; Spiegelman, Nicole A; Linder, Maurine E

2017-01-01

Ras proteins play vital roles in numerous biological processes and Ras mutations are found in many human tumors. Understanding how Ras proteins are regulated is important for elucidating cell signaling pathways and identifying new targets for treating human diseases. Here we report that one of the K-Ras splice variants, K-Ras4a, is subject to lysine fatty acylation, a previously under-studied protein post-translational modification. Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2), one of the mammalian nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent lysine deacylases, catalyzes the removal of fatty acylation from K-Ras4a. We further demonstrate that SIRT2-mediated lysine defatty-acylation promotes endomembrane localization of K-Ras4a, enhances its interaction with A-Raf, and thus promotes cellular transformation. Our study identifies lysine fatty acylation as a previously unknown regulatory mechanism for the Ras family of GTPases that is distinct from cysteine fatty acylation. These findings highlight the biological significance of lysine fatty acylation and sirtuin-catalyzed protein lysine defatty-acylation. PMID:29239724

Probing ‘Spin-Forbidden’ Oxygen Atom Transfer: Gas-Phase Reactions of Chromium-Porphyrin Complexes

PubMed Central

Fornarini, Simonetta; Lanucara, Francesco; Warren, Jeffrey J.

2010-01-01

Oxygen-atom transfer reactions of metalloporphyrin species play an important role in biochemical and synthetic oxidation reactions. An emerging theme in this chemistry is that spin-state changes can play important roles, and a ‘two-state’ reactivity model has been extensively applied especially in iron-porphyrin systems. Herein we explore the gas phase oxygen-atom transfer chemistry of meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (TPFPP) chromium complexes, as well as some other tetradentate macrocyclic ligands. Electrospray ionization in concert with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) spectrometry has been used to characterize and observe reactivity of the ionic species [(TPFPP)CrIII]+ (1) and [(TPFPP)CrVO]+ (2). These are an attractive system to examine the effects of spin state change on oxygen atom transfer because the d1 CrV species are doublets while the CrIII complexes have quartet ground states with high-lying doublet excited states. In the gas phase, [(TPFPP)CrIII]+ forms adducts with a variety of neutral donors but O-atom transfer is only observed for NO2. Pyridine N-oxide adducts of 1 do yield 2 upon collision induced dissociation (CID), but the ethylene oxide, DMSO, and TEMPO analogs do not. [(TPFPP)CrVO]+ is shown by its reactivity and by CID experiments to be a terminal metal-oxo with a single vacant coordination site. It also displays limited reaction chemistry, being deoxygenated only by the very potent reductant P(OMe)3. In general, [(TPFPP)CrVO]+ species are much less reactive than the Fe and Mn analogs. Thermochemical analysis of the reactions points towards the involvement of spin issues in the lower observed reactivity of the chromium complexes. PMID:20218631

Marcus Theory: Thermodynamics CAN Control the Kinetics of Electron Transfer Reactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silverstein, Todd P.

2012-01-01

Although it is generally true that thermodynamics do not influence kinetics, this is NOT the case for electron transfer reactions in solution. Marcus Theory explains why this is so, using straightforward physical chemical principles such as transition state theory, Arrhenius' Law, and the Franck-Condon Principle. Here the background and…

Identification of N-acyl-fumonisin B1 as new cytotoxic metabolites of fumonisin mycotoxins.

PubMed

Harrer, Henning; Laviad, Elad L; Humpf, Hans Ulrich; Futerman, Anthony H

2013-03-01

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species. The predominant derivative, fumonisin B1 (FB1), occurs in food and feed and is of health concern due to its hepatotoxic and carcinogenic effects. However, the role of FB1 metabolites on the mechanism of the toxicity, the inhibition of the ceramide synthesis, is unknown. The aim of this study was to identify new fumonisin metabolites and to evaluate their cytotoxic potential. MS, molecular biology, and in vitro enzyme assays were used to investigate fumonisin metabolism in mammalian cells overexpressing human ceramide synthase (CerS) genes. N-acyl-FB1 derivatives were detected as new metabolites in cultured cells at levels of up to 10 pmol/mg of protein. The N-acylation of FB1 and hydrolyzed FB1 was analyzed in several cell lines, including cells overexpressing CerS. The acyl-chain length of the N-acyl fumonisins depends on the CerS isoform acylating them. The N-acyl fumonisins are more cytotoxic than the parent fumonisin B1. The identification of N-acyl fumonisins with various acyl chain lengths together with the observed cytotoxicity of these compounds is a new aspect of fumonisin-related toxicity. Therefore, these new metabolites might play an important role in the mode of action of fumonisins. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenation Deficiency (Glutaric Aciduria Type II) with a Novel Mutation of Electron Transfer Flavoprotein-Dehydrogenase in a Cat.

PubMed

Wakitani, Shoichi; Torisu, Shidow; Yoshino, Taiki; Hattanda, Kazuhisa; Yamato, Osamu; Tasaki, Ryuji; Fujita, Haruo; Nishino, Koichiro

2014-01-01

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency (MADD; also known as glutaric aciduria type II) is a human autosomal recessive disease classified as one of the mitochondrial fatty-acid oxidation disorders. MADD is caused by a defect in the electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) or ETF dehydrogenase (ETFDH) molecule, but as yet, inherited MADD has not been reported in animals. Here we present the first report of MADD in a cat. The affected animal presented with symptoms characteristic of MADD including hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia, vomiting, diagnostic organic aciduria, and accumulation of medium- and long-chain fatty acids in plasma. Treatment with riboflavin and L-carnitine ameliorated the symptoms. To detect the gene mutation responsible for MADD in this case, we determined the complete cDNA sequences of feline ETFα, ETFβ, and ETFDH. Finally, we identified the feline patient-specific mutation, c.692T>G (p.F231C) in ETFDH. The affected animal only carries mutant alleles of ETFDH. p.F231 in feline ETFDH is completely conserved in eukaryotes, and is located on the apical surface of ETFDH, receiving electrons from ETF. This study thus identified the mutation strongly suspected to have been the cause of MADD in this cat.

LOCATION OF ACYL GROUPS ON TWO PARTLY ACYLATED GLYCOLIPIDS FROM STRAINS OF USTILAGO (SMUT FUNGI),

DTIC Science & Technology

erythritol from Ustilago sp. (probably U. nuda (Jens.) Rostr. = U. tritici (Pers.) Rostr.) PRL-627 were acetalated with methyl vinyl ether, deacylated...Partly acylated ustilagic acids 8 (from Ustilago maydis (DC) Corda (= U. zeae Unger) PRL-119), consisting of partially esterified beta-cellobiosyl

Novel inhibitory action of tunicamycin homologues suggests a role for dynamic protein fatty acylation in growth cone-mediated neurite extension

PubMed Central

1994-01-01

In neuronal growth cones, the advancing tips of elongating axons and dendrites, specific protein substrates appear to undergo cycles of posttranslational modification by covalent attachment and removal of long-chain fatty acids. We show here that ongoing fatty acylation can be inhibited selectively by long-chain homologues of the antibiotic tunicamycin, a known inhibitor of N-linked glycosylation. Tunicamycin directly inhibits transfer of palmitate to protein in a cell-free system, indicating that tunicamycin inhibition of protein palmitoylation reflects an action of the drug separate from its previously established effects on glycosylation. Tunicamycin treatment of differentiated PC12 cells or dissociated rat sensory neurons, under conditions in which protein palmitoylation is inhibited, produces a prompt cessation of neurite elongation and induces a collapse of neuronal growth cones. These growth cone responses are rapidly reversed by washout of the antibiotic, even in the absence of protein synthesis, or by addition of serum. Two additional lines of evidence suggest that the effects of tunicamycin on growth cones arise from its ability to inhibit protein long-chain acylation, rather than its previously established effects on protein glycosylation and synthesis. (a) The abilities of different tunicamycin homologues to induce growth cone collapse very systematically with the length of the fatty acyl side- chain of tunicamycin, in a manner predicted and observed for the inhibition of protein palmitoylation. Homologues with fatty acyl moieties shorter than palmitic acid (16 hydrocarbons), including potent inhibitors of glycosylation, are poor inhibitors of growth cone function. (b) The tunicamycin-induced impairment of growth cone function can be reversed by the addition of excess exogenous fatty acid, which reverses the inhibition of protein palmitoylation but has no effect on the inhibition of protein glycosylation. These results suggest an important role for

An integrated experimental and theoretical reaction path search: analyses of the multistage reaction of an ionized diethylether dimer involving isomerization, proton transfer, and dissociation.

PubMed

Matsuda, Yoshiyuki; Xie, Min; Fujii, Asuka

2018-05-30

An ionization-induced multistage reaction of an ionized diethylether (DEE) dimer involving isomerization, proton transfer, and dissociation is investigated by combining infrared (IR) spectroscopy, tandem mass spectrometry, and a theoretical reaction path search. The vertically-ionized DEE dimer isomerizes to a hydrogen-bonded cluster of protonated DEE and the [DEE-H] radical through barrierless intermolecular proton transfer from the CH bond of the ionized moiety. This isomerization process is confirmed by IR spectroscopy and the theoretical reaction path search. The multiple dissociation pathways following the isomerization are analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. The isomerized cluster dissociates stepwise into a [protonated DEE-acetaldehyde (AA)] cluster, protonated DEE, and protonated AA. The structure of the fragment ion is also analyzed by IR spectroscopy. The reaction map of the multistage processes is revealed through a harmony of these experimental and theoretical methods.

Exploring chemical reaction mechanisms through harmonic Fourier beads path optimization.

PubMed

Khavrutskii, Ilja V; Smith, Jason B; Wallqvist, Anders

2013-10-28

Here, we apply the harmonic Fourier beads (HFB) path optimization method to study chemical reactions involving covalent bond breaking and forming on quantum mechanical (QM) and hybrid QM∕molecular mechanical (QM∕MM) potential energy surfaces. To improve efficiency of the path optimization on such computationally demanding potentials, we combined HFB with conjugate gradient (CG) optimization. The combined CG-HFB method was used to study two biologically relevant reactions, namely, L- to D-alanine amino acid inversion and alcohol acylation by amides. The optimized paths revealed several unexpected reaction steps in the gas phase. For example, on the B3LYP∕6-31G(d,p) potential, we found that alanine inversion proceeded via previously unknown intermediates, 2-iminopropane-1,1-diol and 3-amino-3-methyloxiran-2-ol. The CG-HFB method accurately located transition states, aiding in the interpretation of complex reaction mechanisms. Thus, on the B3LYP∕6-31G(d,p) potential, the gas phase activation barriers for the inversion and acylation reactions were 50.5 and 39.9 kcal∕mol, respectively. These barriers determine the spontaneous loss of amino acid chirality and cleavage of peptide bonds in proteins. We conclude that the combined CG-HFB method further advances QM and QM∕MM studies of reaction mechanisms.

Elastic, inelastic, and 1 n transfer cross sections for the B 10 + Sn 120 reaction

DOE PAGES

Gasques, L. R.; Freitas, A. S.; Chamon, L. C.; ...

2018-03-30

The 10B+ 120Sn reaction has been investigated at E Lab=37.5 MeV. The cross sections for different channels, such as the elastic scattering, the excitation of the 2 + and 3 -120Sn states, the excitation of the 1 + state of 10B, and the 1n pick-up transfer, have been measured. One-step distorted-wave Born approximation and coupled-reaction-channels calculations have been performed in the context of the double-folding São Paulo potential. Here, the effect of coupling the inelastic and transfer states on the angular distributions is discussed in the paper. In general, the theoretical calculations within the coupled-reaction-channels formalism yield a satisfactory agreementmore » with the corresponding experimental angular distributions.« less

Elastic, inelastic, and 1 n transfer cross sections for the B 10 + Sn 120 reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gasques, L. R.; Freitas, A. S.; Chamon, L. C.

The 10B+ 120Sn reaction has been investigated at E Lab=37.5 MeV. The cross sections for different channels, such as the elastic scattering, the excitation of the 2 + and 3 -120Sn states, the excitation of the 1 + state of 10B, and the 1n pick-up transfer, have been measured. One-step distorted-wave Born approximation and coupled-reaction-channels calculations have been performed in the context of the double-folding São Paulo potential. Here, the effect of coupling the inelastic and transfer states on the angular distributions is discussed in the paper. In general, the theoretical calculations within the coupled-reaction-channels formalism yield a satisfactory agreementmore » with the corresponding experimental angular distributions.« less

Acylation-dependent protein export in Leishmania.

PubMed

Denny, P W; Gokool, S; Russell, D G; Field, M C; Smith, D F

2000-04-14

The surface of the protozoan parasite Leishmania is unusual in that it consists predominantly of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoconjugates and proteins. Additionally, a family of hydrophilic acylated surface proteins (HASPs) has been localized to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane in infective parasite stages. These surface polypeptides lack a recognizable endoplasmic reticulum secretory signal sequence, transmembrane spanning domain, or glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor consensus sequence, indicating that novel mechanisms are involved in their transport and localization. Here, we show that the N-terminal domain of HASPB contains primary structural information that directs both N-myristoylation and palmitoylation and is essential for correct localization of the protein to the plasma membrane. Furthermore, the N-terminal 18 amino acids of HASPB, encoding the dual acylation site, are sufficient to target the heterologous Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein to the cell surface of Leishmania. Mutagenesis of the predicted acylated residues confirms that modification by both myristate and palmitate is required for correct trafficking. These data suggest that HASPB is a representative of a novel class of proteins whose translocation onto the surface of eukaryotic cells is dependent upon a "non-classical" pathway involving N-myristoylation/palmitoylation. Significantly, HASPB is also translocated on to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane of transfected mammalian cells, indicating that the export signal for HASPB is recognized by a higher eukaryotic export mechanism.

Stereochemistry of 1,2-elimination and proton-transfer reactions: toward a unified understanding.

PubMed

Mohrig, Jerry R

2013-07-16

Many mechanistic and stereochemical studies have focused on the breaking of the C-H bond through base-catalyzed elimination reactions. When we began our research, however, chemists knew almost nothing about the stereospecificity of addition-elimination reactions involving conjugated acyclic carbonyl compounds, even though the carbonyl group is a pivotal functional group in organic chemistry. Over the last 25 years, we have studied the addition-elimination reactions of β-substituted acyclic esters, thioesters, and ketones in order to reach a comprehensive understanding of how electronic effects influence their stereochemistry. This Account brings together our understanding of the stereochemistry of 1,2-elimination and proton-transfer reactions, describing how each study has built upon previous work and contributed to our understanding of this field. When we began, chemists thought that anti stereospecificity in base-catalyzed 1,2-elimination reactions occurred via concerted E2 mechanisms, which provide a smooth path for anti elimination. Unexpectedly, we discovered that some E1cBirrev reactions produce the same anti stereospecificity as E2 reactions even though they proceed through diffusionally equilibrated, "free" enolate-anion intermediates. This result calls into question the conventional wisdom that anti stereochemistry must result from a concerted mechanism. While carrying out our research, we developed insights ranging from the role of historical contingency in the evolution of hydratase-dehydratase enzymes to the influence of buffers on the stereochemistry of H/D exchange in D2O. Negative hyperconjugation is the most important concept for understanding our results. This idea provides a unifying view for the largely anti stereochemistry in E1cBirrev elimination reactions and a basis for understanding the stereoelectronic influence of electron-withdrawing β-substituents on proton-transfer reactions.

Theoretical analysis of co-solvent effect on the proton transfer reaction of glycine in a water-acetonitrile mixture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasai, Yukako; Yoshida, Norio; Nakano, Haruyuki

2015-05-01

The co-solvent effect on the proton transfer reaction of glycine in a water-acetonitrile mixture was examined using the reference interaction-site model self-consistent field theory. The free energy profiles of the proton transfer reaction of glycine between the carboxyl oxygen and amino nitrogen were computed in a water-acetonitrile mixture solvent at various molar fractions. Two types of reactions, the intramolecular proton transfer and water-mediated proton transfer, were considered. In both types of the reactions, a similar tendency was observed. In the pure water solvent, the zwitterionic form, where the carboxyl oxygen is deprotonated while the amino nitrogen is protonated, is more stable than the neutral form. The reaction free energy is -10.6 kcal mol-1. On the other hand, in the pure acetonitrile solvent, glycine takes only the neutral form. The reaction free energy from the neutral to zwitterionic form gradually increases with increasing acetonitrile concentration, and in an equally mixed solvent, the zwitterionic and neutral forms are almost isoenergetic, with a difference of only 0.3 kcal mol-1. The free energy component analysis based on the thermodynamic cycle of the reaction also revealed that the free energy change of the neutral form is insensitive to the change of solvent environment but the zwitterionic form shows drastic changes. In particular, the excess chemical potential, one of the components of the solvation free energy, is dominant and contributes to the stabilization of the zwitterionic form.

Acylated flavonol tri- and tetraglycosides in the flavonoid metabolome of Cladrastis kentukea (Leguminosae).

PubMed

Kite, Geoffrey C; Rowe, Emily R; Lewis, Gwilym P; Veitch, Nigel C

2011-04-01

The foliar metabolome of Cladrastis kentukea (Leguminosae) contains a complex mixture of flavonoids including acylated derivatives of the 3-O-rhamnosyl(1→2)[rhamnosyl(1→6)]-galactosides of kaempferol and quercetin and their 7-O-rhamnosides, together with an array of non-acylated kaempferol and quercetin di-, tri- and tetraglycosides. Thirteen of the acylated flavonoids, 12 of which had not been reported previously, were characterised by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Eight of these were the four isomers of kaempferol 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)]-(3/4-O-E/Z-p-coumaroyl-β-d-galactopyranoside) and their 7-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosides, and three were isomers of quercetin 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)]-(3/4-O-E/Z-p-coumaroyl-β-d-galactopyranoside) - the remaining 4Z isomer was identified by LC-UV-MS analysis of a crude extract. The final two acylated flavonoids characterised by NMR were the 3E and 4E isomers of kaempferol 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)]-(3/4-O-E-feruloyl-β-d-galactopyranoside)-7-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside while the 3Z and 4Z isomers were again detected by LC-UV-MS. Using the observed fragmentation behaviour of the isolated compounds following a variety of MS experiments, a further 18 acylated flavonoids were given tentative structures by LC-MS analysis of a crude extract. Acylated flavonoids were absent from the flowers of C. kentukea, which contained an array of non-acylated kaempferol and quercetin glycosides. Immature fruits contained kaempferol 3-O-α-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)[α-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)]-β-galactopyranoside and its 7-O-α-rhamnopyranoside as the major flavonoids with acylated flavonoids, different from those in the leaves, only present as minor constituents. The presence of acylated flavonoids distinguishes the foliar flavonoid metabolome of C. kentukea from that of a closely related legume, Styphnolobium japonicum, which contains a similar

Acylated and unacylated ghrelin confer neuroprotection to mesencephalic neurons.

PubMed

Wagner, Johanna; Vulinović, Franca; Grünewald, Anne; Unger, Marcus M; Möller, Jens C; Klein, Christine; Michel, Patrick P; Ries, Vincent; Oertel, Wolfgang H; Alvarez-Fischer, Daniel

2017-12-04

The polypeptide ghrelin is an endogenous ligand at the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a. To ghrelin multiple functions have been ascribed including promotion of gastrointestinal motility. Postprandial ghrelin levels have been reported to be reduced in patients suffering from Parkinson disease (PD). Experimental studies revealed neuroprotective effects of ghrelin in different PD models. The purpose of the present study was (i) to further elucidate the mechanism underlying the neuroprotective action of ghrelin and (ii) to determine whether these effects occur with both the acylated and the unacylated form. The study was conducted in primary mesencephalic cultures treated with mitochondrial complex I and complex II inhibitors. We show that protective effects of ghrelin against complex I inhibition with MPP + were independent of the acylation status of ghrelin, although acylated ghrelin appeared to be more potent. Protection by both forms was also observed when neurons were exposed to the complex II inhibitor 3-NP. Both forms led to higher oxygen consumption rates upon electron transport chain uncoupling, indicating that the two peptides may exert uncoupling effects themselves. We demonstrate that the rescue provided by ghrelin required calcium influx through L-type voltage-gated calcium channels. Whereas the protective effects of acylated ghrelin required receptor binding, effects of the unacylated form remained unaffected by treatment with a ghrelin receptor antagonist. Importantly, inhibition of ghrelin O-acyltransferase failed to reduce the activity of unacylated ghrelin. Overall, our data suggest that both acylated and unacylated ghrelin afford protection to dopamine neurons but through mechanisms that only partially overlap. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

17O excess transfer during the NO2 + O3 → NO3 + O2 reaction.

PubMed

Berhanu, Tesfaye Ayalneh; Savarino, Joël; Bhattacharya, S K; Vicars, Willliam C

2012-01-28

The ozone molecule possesses a unique and distinctive (17)O excess (Δ(17)O), which can be transferred to some of the atmospheric molecules via oxidation. This isotopic signal can be used to trace oxidation reactions in the atmosphere. However, such an approach depends on a robust and quantitative understanding of the oxygen transfer mechanism, which is currently lacking for the gas-phase NO(2) + O(3) reaction, an important step in the nocturnal production of atmospheric nitrate. In the present study, the transfer of Δ(17)O from ozone to nitrate radical (NO(3)) during the gas-phase NO(2) + O(3) → NO(3) + O(2) reaction was investigated in a series of laboratory experiments. The isotopic composition (δ(17)O, δ(18)O) of the bulk ozone and the oxygen gas produced in the reaction was determined via isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The Δ(17)O transfer function for the NO(2) + O(3) reaction was determined to be: Δ(17)O(O(3)∗) = (1.23 ± 0.19) × Δ(17)O(O(3))(bulk) + (9.02 ± 0.99). The intramolecular oxygen isotope distribution of ozone was evaluated and results suggest that the excess enrichment resides predominantly on the terminal oxygen atoms of ozone. The results obtained in this study will be useful in the interpretation of high Δ(17)O values measured for atmospheric nitrate, thus leading to a better understanding of the natural cycling of atmospheric reactive nitrogen. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Regioselective and stereospecific acylation across oxirane- and silyloxy systems as a novel strategy to the synthesis of enantiomerically pure mono-, di- and triglycerides.

PubMed

Stamatov, Stephan D; Stawinski, Jacek

2007-12-07

A trifluoroacetate-catalyzed opening of the oxirane ring of glycidyl derivatives bearing allylic acyl or alkyl functionalities with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), provides an efficient entry to configurationally homogeneous 1(3)-acyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-sn-glycerols. Selective introduction of tert-butyldimethylsilyl- (TBDMS), or triisopropylsilyl- (TIPS) transient protections at the terminal sites within these key intermediates secures 1(3)-acyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-3(1)-O-TBDMS (or TIPS)-sn-glycerols as general bifunctional precursors to 1,2(2,3)-diacyl-, 1(3)-O-alkyl-2-acyl- and 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols and hence triester isosters. Incorporation of a requisite acyl residue at the central carbon of the silylated synthons with a subsequent Et(3)N.3HF-promoted, direct trichloroacetylation across the siloxy system by trichloroacetic anhydride (TCAA), followed by cleavage of the trichloroacetyl group, affords the respective 1,2(2,3)-diacyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerols. Alternatively, a reaction sequence involving: (i) attachment of a trichloroacetyl fragment at the stereogenic C2-centre of the monosilylated glycerides; (ii) replacement of the silyl moiety by a short- or long-chain carboxylic acid residue by means of the acylating agent: tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBABr)-carboxylic acid anhydride (CAA)-trimethylsilyl bromide (TMSBr); and (iii) removal of the trichloroacetyl replacement, provides pure 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols. The TBABr-CAA-TMSBr reagent system allows also a one-step conversion of 1,2-diacylglycerol silyl ethers into homochiral triglycerides with predefined asymmetry and degree of unsaturation. These compounds can also be accessed via a two-step one-pot approach where the trichloroacetyl derivatives of 1,2(2,3)- or 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols serve as triester building blocks for establishing the third ester bond at preselected C3(1)- or C2-positions within the glycerol skeleton at the very last synthetic stage. In all instances, the target compounds

Synthesis and emulsifying properties of carbohydrate fatty acid esters produced from Agave tequilana fructans by enzymatic acylation.

PubMed

Casas-Godoy, Leticia; Arrizon, Javier; Arrieta-Baez, Daniel; Plou, Francisco J; Sandoval, Georgina

2016-08-01

Carbohydrate fatty acid esters are non-ionic surfactants with a broad spectrum of applications. These molecules are generally synthesized using short carbohydrates or linear fructans; however in this research carbohydrate fatty acid esters were produced for the first time with branched fructans from Agave tequilana. Using immobilized lipases we successfully acylated A. tequilana fructans with vinyl laurate, obtaining products with different degrees of polymerization (DP). Lipozyme 435 was the most efficient lipase to catalyze the transesterification reaction. HPLC and ESI-MS analysis proved the presence of a mixture of acylated products as a result of the chemical complexity of fructans in the A. tequilana. The ESI-MS spectra showed a molecular mass shift between 183 and 366g/mol for fructooligosaccharides with a DP lower than 6, which indicated the presence of Agave fructans that had been mono- and diacylated with lauric acid. The carbohydrate fatty acid esters (CFAE) obtained showed good emulsifying properties in W/O emulsions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei in transfer reactions within the dinuclear system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Long; Feng, Zhao-Qing; Zhang, Feng-Shou

2015-08-01

The dynamics of nucleon transfer processes in heavy-ion collisions is investigated within the dinuclear system model. The production cross sections of nuclei in the reactions 136Xe+208Pb and 238U+248Cm are calculated, and the calculations are in good agreement with the experimental data. The transfer cross sections for the 58Ni+208Pb reaction are calculated and compared with the experimental data. We predict the production cross sections of neutron-rich nuclei 165-168 Eu, 169-173 Tb, 173-178 Ho, and 181-185Yb based on the reaction 176Yb+238U. It can be seen that the production cross sections of the neutron-rich nuclei 165Eu, 169Tb, 173Ho, and 181Yb are 2.84 μb, 6.90 μb, 46.24 μb, and 53.61 μb, respectively, which could be synthesized in experiment.

Butyrylcholinesterase gene transfer in obese mice prevents postdieting body weight rebound by suppressing ghrelin signaling.

PubMed

Chen, Vicky Ping; Gao, Yang; Geng, Liyi; Brimijoin, Stephen

2017-10-10

The worldwide prevalence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate but treatment options remain limited. Despite initial success, weight loss by calorie restriction (CR) often fails because of rebound weight gain. Postdieting hyperphagia along with altered hypothalamic neuro-architecture appears to be one direct cause of this undesirable outcome. In response to calorie deficiency the circulating levels of the appetite-promoting hormone, acyl-ghrelin, rise sharply. We hypothesize that proper modulation of acyl-ghrelin and its receptor's sensitivity will favorably impact energy intake and reprogram the body weight set point. Here we applied viral gene transfer of the acyl-ghrelin hydrolyzing enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Our results confirmed that BChE overexpression decreased circulating acyl-ghrelin levels, suppressed CR-provoked ghrelin signaling, and restored central ghrelin sensitivity. In addition to maintaining healthy body weights, BChE treated mice had modest postdieting food intake and showed normal glucose homeostasis. Spontaneous activity and energy expenditure did not differ significantly between treated and untreated mice after body weight rebound, suggesting that BChE gene transfer did not alter energy expenditure in the long term. These findings indicate that combining BChE treatment with CR could be an effective approach in treating human obesity and aiding lifelong weight management.

Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mtFabD, a malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghadbane, Hemza; Brown, Alistair K.; Kremer, Laurent

2007-10-01

Binding of Ni{sup 2+} ions to the uncleaved affinity tag facilitated de novo phasing of the crystal structure of M. tuberculosis mtFabD to 3.0 Å resolution. Mycobacteria display a unique and unusual cell-wall architecture, central to which is the membrane-proximal mycolyl-arabinogalactan-peptidoglycan core (mAGP). The biosynthesis of mycolic acids, which form the outermost layer of the mAGP core, involves malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT). This essential enzyme catalyses the transfer of malonyl from coenzyme A to acyl carrier protein AcpM, thus feeding these two-carbon units into the chain-elongation cycle of the type II fatty-acid synthase. The crystal structure of M. tuberculosismore » mtFabD, the mycobacterial MCAT, has been determined to 3.0 Å resolution by multi-wavelength anomalous dispersion. Phasing was facilitated by Ni{sup 2+} ions bound to the 20-residue N-terminal affinity tag, which packed between the two independent copies of mtFabD.« less

Acyl spermidines in inflorescence extracts of elder (Sambucus nigra L., Adoxaceae) and elderflower drinks.

PubMed

Kite, Geoffrey C; Larsson, Sonny; Veitch, Nigel C; Porter, Elaine A; Ding, Ning; Simmonds, Monique S J

2013-04-10

LC-UV-MS analyses of inflorescence extracts of Sambucus nigra L. (elder, Adoxaceae) revealed the presence of numerous acyl spermidines, with isomers of N,N-diferuloylspermidine and N-acetyl-N,N-diferuloylspermidine being most abundant. Pollen was the main source of the acyl spermidines in the inflorescence. Three of the major acyl spermidines were isolated and their structures determined by NMR spectroscopy as N⁵,N¹⁰-di-(E,E)-feruloylspermidine and the new compounds N¹-acetyl-N⁵,N¹⁰-di-(Z,E)-feruloylspermidine and N¹-acetyl-N⁵,N¹⁰-di-(E,E)-feruloylspermidine. An isomer of N,N,N-triferuloylspermidine was also obtained and identified as N¹,N⁵,N¹⁰-tri-(E,E,E)-feruloylspermidine. In addition to stereoisomers of the isolated acyl spermidines, other acyl spermidines detected by the positive ion LC-UV-MS were isomers of N-caffeoyl-N,N-diferuloylspermidine, N-coumaroyl-N,N-diferuloylspermidine, N-caffeoyl-N-feruloylspermidine, N-coumaroyl-N-feruloylspermidine, N-acetyl-N-caffeoyl-N-feruloylspermidine, and N-acetyl-N-coumaroyl-N-feruloylspermidine. Analysis of commercial elderflower drinks showed that acyl spermidines were persistent in these processed elderflower products. Examination of inflorescence extracts from Sambucus canadensis L. (American elder) revealed the presence of acyl spermidines that were different from those of S. nigra.

Vibrationally enhanced charge transfer and mode/bond-specific H{sup +} and D{sup +} transfer in the reaction of HOD{sup +} with N{sub 2}O

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bell, David M.; Anderson, Scott L.

2013-09-21

The reaction of HOD{sup +} with N{sub 2}O was studied over the collision energy (E{sub col}) range from 0.20 eV to 2.88 eV, for HOD{sup +} in its ground state and in each of its fundamental vibrational states: bend (010), OD stretch (100), and OH stretch (001). The dominant reaction at low E{sub col} is H{sup +} and D{sup +} transfer, but charge transfer becomes dominant for E{sub col} > 0.5 eV. Increasing E{sub col} enhances charge transfer only in the threshold region (E{sub col} < 1 eV), but all modes of HOD{sup +} vibrational excitation enhance this channel overmore » the entire energy range, by up to a factor of three. For reaction of ground state HOD{sup +}, the H{sup +} and D{sup +} transfer channels have similar cross sections, enhanced by increasing collision energy for E{sub col} < 0.3 eV, but suppressed by E{sub col} at higher energies. OD stretch excitation enhances D{sup +} transfer by over a factor of 2, but has little effect on H{sup +} transfer, except at low E{sub col} where a modest enhancement is observed. Excitation of the OH stretch enhances H{sup +} transfer by up to a factor of 2.5, but actually suppresses D{sup +} transfer over most of the E{sub col} range. Excitation of the bend mode results in ∼60% enhancement of both H{sup +} and D{sup +} transfer at low E{sub col} but has little effect at higher energies. Recoil velocity distributions at high E{sub col} are strongly backscattered in the center-of-mass frame, indicating direct reaction dominated by large impact parameter collisions. At low E{sub col} the distributions are compatible with mediation by a short-lived collision complex. Ab initio calculations find several complexes that may be important in this context, and RRKM calculations predict lifetimes and decay branching that is consistent with observations. The recoil velocity distributions show that HOD{sup +} vibrational excitation enhances reactivity in all collisions at low E{sub col}, while for high E{sub col} with

Electronic shift register memory based on molecular electron-transfer reactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hopfield, J. J.; Onuchic, Jose Nelson; Beratan, David N.

1989-01-01

The design of a shift register memory at the molecular level is described in detail. The memory elements are based on a chain of electron-transfer molecules incorporated on a very large scale integrated (VLSI) substrate, and the information is shifted by photoinduced electron-transfer reactions. The design requirements for such a system are discussed, and several realistic strategies for synthesizing these systems are presented. The immediate advantage of such a hybrid molecular/VLSI device would arise from the possible information storage density. The prospect of considerable savings of energy per bit processed also exists. This molecular shift register memory element design solves the conceptual problems associated with integrating molecular size components with larger (micron) size features on a chip.

Purification and characterization of an amidohydrolase for N4-long-chain fatty acyl derivatives of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine from mouse liver microsomes.

PubMed

Hori, K; Tsuruo, T; Tsukagoshi, S; Sakurai, Y

1984-03-01

N4-Long-chain fatty acyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine amidohydrolase, a metabolizing enzyme for N4-acyl derivatives of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine with long-chain fatty acids, was purified from mouse liver microsomes. The purification was accomplished by solubilization of liver microsomes with Triton X-100, diethylaminoethyl cellulose chromatography, gel filtrations, hydroxyapatite chromatography, and concanavalin A:Sepharose chromatography. On sodium dodecyl sulfate:polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the purified enzyme preparation produced a single protein band with a molecular weight of 54,000. The enzyme had an optimal pH of 9.0, and the Michaelis constant for N4-palmitoyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine was 67 microM. The thiols such as dithiothreitol or 2-mercaptoethanol stabilized the enzyme and stimulated its activity. p-Chloromercuribenzoate, N-ethylmaleimide, diisopropylfluorophosphate, and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride strongly inhibited the reaction. Bovine serum albumin markedly stimulated the enzyme activity, whereas detergents such as Triton X-100, deoxycholate, and sodium dodecyl sulfate had little effect. The enzyme did not require monovalent or divalent cations. Among the series of N4-acyl derivatives of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine with different chain lengths of acyl residues, the purified enzyme preferentially hydrolyzed the derivatives with long-chain fatty acids (C12 to C18), and N4-palmitoyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine was the most susceptible. The purified enzyme was inactive on various N-acylamino acids, amides, oligopeptides, proteins, N-acylsphingosines (ceramides), triglyceride, lecithin, and lysolecithin. These results suggest that N4-long-chain fatty acyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine amidohydrolase may be a new type of linear amidase.

Analysis of the reaction of carbachol with acetylcholinesterase using thioflavin T as a coupled fluorescence reporter.

PubMed

Rosenberry, Terrone L; Sonoda, Leilani K; Dekat, Sarah E; Cusack, Bernadette; Johnson, Joseph L

2008-12-09

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) contains a narrow and deep active site gorge with two sites of ligand binding, an acylation site (or A-site) at the base of the gorge and a peripheral site (or P-site) near the gorge entrance. The P-site contributes to catalytic efficiency by transiently binding substrates on their way to the acylation site, where a short-lived acylated enzyme intermediate is produced. Carbamates are very poor substrates that, like other AChE substrates, form an initial enzyme-substrate complex with free AChE (E) and proceed to an acylated enzyme intermediate (EC), which is then hydrolyzed. However, the hydrolysis of EC is slow enough to resolve the acylation and deacylation steps on the catalytic pathway. Here, we focus on the reaction of carbachol (carbamoylcholine) with AChE. The kinetics and thermodynamics of this reaction are of special interest because carbachol is an isosteric analogue of the physiological substrate acetylcholine. We show that the reaction can be monitored with thioflavin T as a fluorescent reporter group. The fluorescence of thioflavin T is strongly enhanced when it binds to the P-site of AChE, and this fluorescence is partially quenched when a second ligand binds to the A-site to form a ternary complex. Analysis of the fluorescence reaction profiles was challenging because four thermodynamic parameters and two fluorescence coefficients were fitted from the combined data both for E and for EC. Respective equilibrium dissociation constants of 6 and 26 mM were obtained for carbachol binding to the A- and P-sites in E and of 2 and 32 mM for carbachol binding to the A- and P-sites in EC. These constants for the binding of carbachol to the P-site are about an order of magnitude larger (i.e., indicating lower affinity) than previous estimates for the binding of acetylthiocholine to the P-site.

Analysis of the reaction of carbachol with acetylcholinesterase with thioflavin T as a coupled fluorescence reporter†

PubMed Central

Rosenberry, Terrone L.; Sonoda, Leilani K.; Dekat, Sarah E.; Cusack, Bernadette; Johnson, Joseph L.

2009-01-01

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) contains a narrow and deep active site gorge with two sites of ligand binding, an acylation site (or A-site) at the base of the gorge and a peripheral site (or P-site) near the gorge entrance. The P-site contributes to catalytic efficiency by transiently binding substrates on their way to the acylation site, where a short-lived acylated enzyme intermediate is produced. Carbamates are very poor substrates that, like other AChE substrates, form an initial enzyme-substrate complex with free AChE (E) and proceed to an acylated enzyme intermediate (EC) which is then hydrolyzed. However, the hydrolysis of EC is slow enough to resolve the acylation and deacylation steps on the catalytic pathway. Here we focus on the reaction of carbachol (carbamoylcholine) with AChE. The kinetics and thermodynamics of this reaction are of special interest because carbachol is an isosteric analog of the physiological substrate acetylcholine. We show that the reaction can be monitored with thioflavin T as a fluorescent reporter group. The fluorescence of thioflavin T is strongly enhanced when it binds to the P-site of AChE, and this fluorescence is partially quenched when a second ligand binds to the A-site to form a ternary complex. Analysis of the fluorescence reaction profiles was challenging, because four thermodynamic parameters and two fluorescence coefficients were fitted from the combined data both for E and for EC. Respective equilibrium dissociation constants of 6 and 26 mM were obtained for carbachol binding to the A- and P-sites in E and of 2 and 32 mM for carbachol binding to the A- and P-sites in EC. These constants for the binding of carbachol to the P-site are about an order of magnitude larger (i.e., indicating lower affinity) than previous estimates for the binding of acetylthiocholine to the P-site. PMID:19006330

Design of N-acyl homoserine lactonase with high substrate specificity by a rational approach.

PubMed

Kyeong, Hyun-Ho; Kim, Jin-Hyun; Kim, Hak-Sung

2015-06-01

N-Acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) is a major quorum-sensing signaling molecule in many bacterial species. Quorum-quenching (QQ) enzymes, which degrade such signaling molecules, have attracted much attention as an approach to controlling and preventing bacterial virulence and pathogenesis. However, naturally occurring QQ enzymes show a broad substrate spectrum, raising the concern of unintentionally attenuating beneficial effects by symbiotic bacteria. Here we report the rational design of acyl homoserine lactonase with high substrate specificity. Through docking analysis, we identified three key residues which play a key role in the substrate preference of the enzyme. The key residues were changed in a way that increases hydrophobic contact with a substrate having a short acyl chain (C4-AHL) while generating steric clashes with that containing a long acyl chain (C12-AHL). The resulting mutants exhibited a significantly shifted preference toward a substrate with a short acyl chain. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested that the mutations affect the behavior of a flexible loop, allowing tighter binding of a substrate with a short acyl chain.

Electron Transfer Ion/Ion Reactions in a Three-Dimensional Quadrupole Ion Trap: Reactions of Doubly and Triply Protonated Peptides with SO2·−

PubMed Central

Pitteri, Sharon J.; Chrisman, Paul A.; Hogan, Jason M.; McLuckey, Scott A.

2005-01-01

Ion–ion reactions between a variety of peptide cations (doubly and triply charged) and SO2 anions have been studied in a 3-D quadrupole ion trap, resulting in proton and electron transfer. Electron transfer dissociation (ETD) gives many c- and z-type fragments, resulting in extensive sequence coverage in the case of triply protonated peptides with SO2·−. For triply charged neurotensin, in which a direct comparison can be made between 3-D and linear ion trap results, abundances of ETD fragments relative to one another appear to be similar. Reactions of doubly protonated peptides with SO2·− give much less structural information from ETD than triply protonated peptides. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of singly charged ions formed in reactions with SO2·− shows a combination of proton and electron transfer products. CID of the singly charged species gives more structural information than ETD of the doubly protonated peptide, but not as much information as ETD of the triply protonated peptide. PMID:15762593

Theoretical analysis of co-solvent effect on the proton transfer reaction of glycine in a water–acetonitrile mixture

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kasai, Yukako; Yoshida, Norio, E-mail: noriwo@chem.kyushu-univ.jp; Nakano, Haruyuki

2015-05-28

The co-solvent effect on the proton transfer reaction of glycine in a water–acetonitrile mixture was examined using the reference interaction-site model self-consistent field theory. The free energy profiles of the proton transfer reaction of glycine between the carboxyl oxygen and amino nitrogen were computed in a water–acetonitrile mixture solvent at various molar fractions. Two types of reactions, the intramolecular proton transfer and water-mediated proton transfer, were considered. In both types of the reactions, a similar tendency was observed. In the pure water solvent, the zwitterionic form, where the carboxyl oxygen is deprotonated while the amino nitrogen is protonated, is moremore » stable than the neutral form. The reaction free energy is −10.6 kcal mol{sup −1}. On the other hand, in the pure acetonitrile solvent, glycine takes only the neutral form. The reaction free energy from the neutral to zwitterionic form gradually increases with increasing acetonitrile concentration, and in an equally mixed solvent, the zwitterionic and neutral forms are almost isoenergetic, with a difference of only 0.3 kcal mol{sup −1}. The free energy component analysis based on the thermodynamic cycle of the reaction also revealed that the free energy change of the neutral form is insensitive to the change of solvent environment but the zwitterionic form shows drastic changes. In particular, the excess chemical potential, one of the components of the solvation free energy, is dominant and contributes to the stabilization of the zwitterionic form.« less

Electron transfer and reaction mechanism of laccases.

PubMed

Jones, Stephen M; Solomon, Edward I

2015-03-01

Laccases are part of the family of multicopper oxidases (MCOs), which couple the oxidation of substrates to the four electron reduction of O2 to H2O. MCOs contain a minimum of four Cu's divided into Type 1 (T1), Type 2 (T2), and binuclear Type 3 (T3) Cu sites that are distinguished based on unique spectroscopic features. Substrate oxidation occurs near the T1, and electrons are transferred approximately 13 Å through the protein via the Cys-His pathway to the T2/T3 trinuclear copper cluster (TNC), where dioxygen reduction occurs. This review outlines the electron transfer (ET) process in laccases, and the mechanism of O2 reduction as elucidated through spectroscopic, kinetic, and computational data. Marcus theory is used to describe the relevant factors which impact ET rates including the driving force, reorganization energy, and electronic coupling matrix element. Then, the mechanism of O2 reaction is detailed with particular focus on the intermediates formed during the two 2e(-) reduction steps. The first 2e(-) step forms the peroxide intermediate, followed by the second 2e(-) step to form the native intermediate, which has been shown to be the catalytically relevant fully oxidized form of the enzyme.

Post-prior equivalence for transfer reactions with complex potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Jin; Moro, Antonio M.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we address the problem of the post-prior equivalence in the calculation of inclusive breakup and transfer cross sections. For that, we employ the model proposed by Ichimura et al. [Phys. Rev. C 32, 431 (1985), 10.1103/PhysRevC.32.431], conveniently generalized to include the part of the cross section corresponding the transfer to bound states. We pay particular attention to the case in which the unobserved particle is left in a bound state of the residual nucleus, in which case the theory prescribes the use of a complex potential, responsible for the spreading width of the populated single-particle states. We see that the introduction of this complex potential gives rise to an additional term in the prior cross-section formula, not present in the usual case of real binding potentials. The equivalence is numerically tested for the 58Ni(d ,p X ) reaction.

Exploring Cooperative Effects in Oxidative NHC Catalysis: Regioselective Acylation of Carbohydrates.

PubMed

Cramer, David L; Bera, Srikrishna; Studer, Armido

2016-05-23

The utility of oxidative NHC catalysis for both the regioselective and chemoselective functionalization of carbohydrates is explored. Chiral NHCs allow for the highly regioselective oxidative esterification of various carbohydrates using aldehydes as acylation precursors. The transformation was also shown to be amenable to both cis/trans diol isomers, free amino groups, and selective for specific sugar epimers in competition experiments. Efficiency and regioselectivity of the acylation can be improved upon using two different NHC catalysts that act cooperatively. The potential of the method is documented by the regioselective acylation of an amino-linked neodisaccharide. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Metal-free Synthesis of Ynones from Acyl Chlorides and Potassium Alkynyltrifluoroborate Salts

PubMed Central

Taylor, Cassandra L.; Bolshan, Yuri

2015-01-01

Ynones are a valuable functional group and building block in organic synthesis. Ynones serve as a precursor to many important organic functional groups and scaffolds. Traditional methods for the preparation of ynones are associated with drawbacks including harsh conditions, multiple purification steps, and the presence of unwanted byproducts. An alternative method for the straightforward preparation of ynones from acyl chlorides and potassium alkynyltrifluoroborate salts is described herein. The adoption of organotrifluoroborate salts as an alternative to organometallic reagents for the formation of new carbon-carbon bonds has a number of advantages. Potassium organotrifluoroborate salts are shelf stable, have good functional group tolerance, low toxicity, and a wide variety are straightforward to prepare. The title reaction proceeds rapidly at ambient temperature in the presence of a Lewis acid without the exclusion of air and moisture. Fair to excellent yields may be obtained via reaction of various aryl and alkyl acid chlorides with alkynyltrifluoroborate salts in the presence of boron trichloride. PMID:25742169

Acute aerobic exercise differentially alters acylated ghrelin and perceived fullness in normal-weight and obese individuals.

PubMed

Heden, Timothy D; Liu, Ying; Park, Youngmin; Dellsperger, Kevin C; Kanaley, Jill A

2013-09-01

Adiposity alters acylated ghrelin concentrations, but it is unknown whether adiposity alters the effect of exercise and feeding on acylated ghrelin responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether adiposity [normal-weight (NW) vs. obese (Ob)] influences the effect of exercise and feeding on acylated ghrelin, hunger, and fullness. Fourteen NW and 14 Ob individuals completed two trials in a randomized counterbalanced fashion, including a prior exercise trial (EX) and a no exercise trial (NoEX). During the EX trial, the participants performed 1 h of treadmill walking (55-60% peak O2 uptake) during the evening, 12 h before a 4-h standardized mixed meal test. Frequent blood samples were taken and analyzed for acylated ghrelin, and a visual analog scale was used to assess perceived hunger and fullness. In NW individuals, EX, compared with NoEX, reduced fasting acylated ghrelin concentrations by 18% (P = 0.03), and, in response to feeding, the change in acylated ghrelin (P = 0.02) was attenuated by 39%, but perceived hunger and fullness were unaltered. In Ob individuals, despite no changes in fasting or postprandial acylated ghrelin concentrations with EX, postprandial fullness was attenuated by 46% compared with NoEX (P = 0.05). In summary, exercise performed the night before a meal suppresses acylated ghrelin concentrations in NW individuals without altering perceived hunger or fullness. In Ob individuals, despite no changes in acylated ghrelin concentrations, EX reduced the fullness response to the test meal. Acylated ghrelin and perceived fullness responses are differently altered by acute aerobic exercise in NW and Ob individuals.

A molecular dynamics study of intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in solution based upon a mixed quantum-classical approximation. II. Proton transfer reaction in non-polar solvent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kojima, H.; Yamada, A.; Okazaki, S.

2015-05-01

The intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in neon solvent has been investigated by mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics (QCMD) calculations and fully classical molecular dynamics (FCMD) calculations. Comparing these calculated results with those for malonaldehyde in water reported in Part I [A. Yamada, H. Kojima, and S. Okazaki, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 084509 (2014)], the solvent dependence of the reaction rate, the reaction mechanism involved, and the quantum effect therein have been investigated. With FCMD, the reaction rate in weakly interacting neon is lower than that in strongly interacting water. However, with QCMD, the order of the reaction rates is reversed. To investigate the mechanisms in detail, the reactions were categorized into three mechanisms: tunneling, thermal activation, and barrier vanishing. Then, the quantum and solvent effects were analyzed from the viewpoint of the reaction mechanism focusing on the shape of potential energy curve and its fluctuations. The higher reaction rate that was found for neon in QCMD compared with that found for water solvent arises from the tunneling reactions because of the nearly symmetric double-well shape of the potential curve in neon. The thermal activation and barrier vanishing reactions were also accelerated by the zero-point energy. The number of reactions based on these two mechanisms in water was greater than that in neon in both QCMD and FCMD because these reactions are dominated by the strength of solute-solvent interactions.

A molecular dynamics study of intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in solution based upon a mixed quantum–classical approximation. II. Proton transfer reaction in non-polar solvent

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kojima, H.; Yamada, A.; Okazaki, S., E-mail: okazaki@apchem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

2015-05-07

The intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in neon solvent has been investigated by mixed quantum–classical molecular dynamics (QCMD) calculations and fully classical molecular dynamics (FCMD) calculations. Comparing these calculated results with those for malonaldehyde in water reported in Part I [A. Yamada, H. Kojima, and S. Okazaki, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 084509 (2014)], the solvent dependence of the reaction rate, the reaction mechanism involved, and the quantum effect therein have been investigated. With FCMD, the reaction rate in weakly interacting neon is lower than that in strongly interacting water. However, with QCMD, the order of the reaction rates ismore » reversed. To investigate the mechanisms in detail, the reactions were categorized into three mechanisms: tunneling, thermal activation, and barrier vanishing. Then, the quantum and solvent effects were analyzed from the viewpoint of the reaction mechanism focusing on the shape of potential energy curve and its fluctuations. The higher reaction rate that was found for neon in QCMD compared with that found for water solvent arises from the tunneling reactions because of the nearly symmetric double-well shape of the potential curve in neon. The thermal activation and barrier vanishing reactions were also accelerated by the zero-point energy. The number of reactions based on these two mechanisms in water was greater than that in neon in both QCMD and FCMD because these reactions are dominated by the strength of solute–solvent interactions.« less

Alpha-capture reaction rates for 22Ne(alpha,n) via sub-Coulomb alpha-transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayatissa, Heshani; Rogachev, Grigory; Koshchiy, Yevgen; Goldberg, Vladilen; Bedoor, Shadi; Hooker, Joshua; Hunt, Curtis; Magana, Cordero; Roeder, Brian; Saastamoinen, Antti; Spiridon, Alexandria; Upadhyayula, Sriteja

2016-09-01

Direct measurements of α-capture reactions at energies relevant to astrophysics is extremely difficult to carry out due to the very small reaction cross section. The large uncertainties introduced when extrapolating direct measurements at high energies down to the Gamow energies can be overcome by measuring the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients (ANC) of the relevant states using (6Li,d) α-transfer reactions at sub-Coulomb energies to reduce the model dependence. The study of the 22Ne(6Li,d) reaction was carried out at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University. The α-ANC measurements for the near α-threshold resonances of 26Mg will provide constraints for the reaction rate of the 22Ne(α,n) reaction.

Exploring the Mechanism of β-Lactam Ring Protonation in the Class A β-lactamase Acylation Mechanism Using Neutron and X-ray Crystallography.

PubMed

Vandavasi, Venu Gopal; Weiss, Kevin L; Cooper, Jonathan B; Erskine, Peter T; Tomanicek, Stephen J; Ostermann, Andreas; Schrader, Tobias E; Ginell, Stephan L; Coates, Leighton

2016-01-14

The catalytic mechanism of class A β-lactamases is often debated due in part to the large number of amino acids that interact with bound β-lactam substrates. The role and function of the conserved residue Lys 73 in the catalytic mechanism of class A type β-lactamase enzymes is still not well understood after decades of scientific research. To better elucidate the functions of this vital residue, we used both neutron and high-resolution X-ray diffraction to examine both the structures of the ligand free protein and the acyl-enzyme complex of perdeuterated E166A Toho-1 β-lactamase with the antibiotic cefotaxime. The E166A mutant lacks a critical glutamate residue that has a key role in the deacylation step of the catalytic mechanism, allowing the acyl-enzyme adduct to be captured for study. In our ligand free structures, Lys 73 is present in a single conformation, however in all of our acyl-enzyme structures, Lys 73 is present in two different conformations, in which one conformer is closer to Ser 70 while the other conformer is positioned closer to Ser 130, which supports the existence of a possible pathway by which proton transfer from Lys 73 to Ser 130 can occur. This and further clarifications of the role of Lys 73 in the acylation mechanism may facilitate the design of inhibitors that capitalize on the enzyme's native machinery.

Exploring the Mechanism of β-Lactam Ring Protonation in the Class A β-lactamase Acylation Mechanism Using Neutron and X-ray Crystallography

DOE PAGES

Vandavasi, Venu Gopal; Weiss, Kevin L.; Cooper, Jonathan B.; ...

2015-12-02

The catalytic mechanism of class A beta-lactamases is often debated due in part to the large number of amino acids that interact with bound beta-lactam substrates. The role and function of the conserved residue Lys 73 in the catalytic mechanism of class A type beta-lactamase enzymes is still not well understood after decades of scientific research. To better elucidate the functions of this vital residue, we used both neutron and high-resolution X-ray diffraction to examine both the structures of the ligand free protein and the acyl-enzyme complex of perdeuterated E166A Toho-1 beta-lactamase with the antibiotic cefotaxime. The E166A mutant lacksmore » a critical glutamate residue that has a key role in the deacylation step of the catalytic mechanism, allowing the acyl-enzyme adduct to be captured for study. In our ligand free structures, Lys 73 is present in a single conformation, however in all of our acyl-enzyme structures, Lys 73 is present in two different conformations, in which one conformer is closer to Ser 70 while the other conformer is positioned closer to Ser 130, which supports the existence of a possible pathway by which proton transfer from Lys 73 to Ser 130 can occur. This and further clarifications of the role of Lys 73 in the acylation mechanism may facilitate the design of inhibitors that capitalize on the enzymes native machinery.« less

Exploring the Mechanism of β-Lactam Ring Protonation in the Class A β-lactamase Acylation Mechanism Using Neutron and X-ray Crystallography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vandavasi, Venu Gopal; Weiss, Kevin L.; Cooper, Jonathan B.

The catalytic mechanism of class A beta-lactamases is often debated due in part to the large number of amino acids that interact with bound beta-lactam substrates. The role and function of the conserved residue Lys 73 in the catalytic mechanism of class A type beta-lactamase enzymes is still not well understood after decades of scientific research. To better elucidate the functions of this vital residue, we used both neutron and high-resolution X-ray diffraction to examine both the structures of the ligand free protein and the acyl-enzyme complex of perdeuterated E166A Toho-1 beta-lactamase with the antibiotic cefotaxime. The E166A mutant lacksmore » a critical glutamate residue that has a key role in the deacylation step of the catalytic mechanism, allowing the acyl-enzyme adduct to be captured for study. In our ligand free structures, Lys 73 is present in a single conformation, however in all of our acyl-enzyme structures, Lys 73 is present in two different conformations, in which one conformer is closer to Ser 70 while the other conformer is positioned closer to Ser 130, which supports the existence of a possible pathway by which proton transfer from Lys 73 to Ser 130 can occur. This and further clarifications of the role of Lys 73 in the acylation mechanism may facilitate the design of inhibitors that capitalize on the enzymes native machinery.« less

Transfer Reactions and the Structure of Neutron-rich Nuclei

DOE PAGES

Kay, B. P.; Alcorta, M.; Back, B. B.; ...

2013-01-01

The study of transfer reactions in inverse kinematics is a major focus of existing and future radioactive-ion-beam facilities. One of the obstacles in such measurements is poor Q-value resolution, often several hundred keV, which can prevent the extraction of useful information. At Argonne National Laboratory, it has recently been demonstrated that good Q-value resolution can be achieved by transporting the outgoing ions through a high-field solenoid, measuring their position as a function of energy. Furthermore, this provides several advantages over conventional Si arrays, such as large acceptance, good particle identification, and most importantly a Q-value resolution of better than 100more » keV in most cases, including reactions with moderately heavy beams. In this paper, the concept of the solenoidal spectrometer, called HELIOS, will be discussed along with highlights of recent results.« less

Role of long-chain fatty acyl-CoA esters in the regulation of metabolism and in cell signalling.

PubMed Central

Faergeman, N J; Knudsen, J

1997-01-01

The intracellular concentration of free unbound acyl-CoA esters is tightly controlled by feedback inhibition of the acyl-CoA synthetase and is buffered by specific acyl-CoA binding proteins. Excessive increases in the concentration are expected to be prevented by conversion into acylcarnitines or by hydrolysis by acyl-CoA hydrolases. Under normal physiological conditions the free cytosolic concentration of acyl-CoA esters will be in the low nanomolar range, and it is unlikely to exceed 200 nM under the most extreme conditions. The fact that acetyl-CoA carboxylase is active during fatty acid synthesis (Ki for acyl-CoA is 5 nM) indicates strongly that the free cytosolic acyl-CoA concentration is below 5 nM under these conditions. Only a limited number of the reported experiments on the effects of acyl-CoA on cellular functions and enzymes have been carried out at low physiological concentrations in the presence of the appropriate acyl-CoA-buffering binding proteins. Re-evaluation of many of the reported effects is therefore urgently required. However, the observations that the ryanodine-senstitive Ca2+-release channel is regulated by long-chain acyl-CoA esters in the presence of a molar excess of acyl-CoA binding protein and that acetyl-CoA carboxylase, the AMP kinase kinase and the Escherichia coli transcription factor FadR are affected by low nanomolar concentrations of acyl-CoA indicate that long-chain acyl-CoA esters can act as regulatory molecules in vivo. This view is further supported by the observation that fatty acids do not repress expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase or Delta9-desaturase in yeast deficient in acyl-CoA synthetase. PMID:9173866

Defective Pollen Wall 2 ( DPW2 ) Encodes an Acyl Transferase Required for Rice Pollen Development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Dawei; Shi, Jianxin; Rautengarten, Carsten

Aliphatic and aromatic lipids are both essential structural components of the plant cuticle, an important interface between the plant and environment. Although cross links between aromatic and aliphatic or other moieties are known to be associated with the formation of leaf cutin and root and seed suberin, the contribution of aromatic lipids to the biosynthesis of anther cuticles and pollen walls remains elusive. In this study, we characterized the rice (Oryza sativa) male sterile mutant, defective pollen wall 2 (dpw2), which showed an abnormal anther cuticle, a defective pollen wall, and complete male sterility. Compared with the wild type, dpw2more » anthers have increased amounts of cutin and waxes and decreased levels of lipidic and phenolic compounds. DPW2 encodes a cytoplasmically localized BAHD acyltransferase. In vitro assays demonstrated that recombinant DPW2 specifically transfers hydroxycinnamic acid moieties, using v-hydroxy fatty acids as acyl acceptors and hydroxycinnamoyl-CoAs as acyl donors. Thus, The cytoplasmic hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:v-hydroxy fatty acid transferase DPW2 plays a fundamental role in male reproduction via the biosynthesis of key components of the anther cuticle and pollen wall.« less

Exploiting and engineering hemoproteins for abiological carbene and nitrene transfer reactions.

PubMed

Brandenberg, Oliver F; Fasan, Rudi; Arnold, Frances H

2017-10-01

The surge in reports of heme-dependent proteins as catalysts for abiotic, synthetically valuable carbene and nitrene transfer reactions dramatically illustrates the evolvability of the protein world and our nascent ability to exploit that for new enzyme chemistry. We highlight the latest additions to the hemoprotein-catalyzed reaction repertoire (including carbene Si-H and C-H insertions, Doyle-Kirmse reactions, aldehyde olefinations, azide-to-aldehyde conversions, and intermolecular nitrene C-H insertion) and show how different hemoprotein scaffolds offer varied reactivity and selectivity. Preparative-scale syntheses of pharmaceutically relevant compounds accomplished with these new catalysts are beginning to demonstrate their biotechnological relevance. Insights into the determinants of enzyme lifetime and product yield are providing generalizable cues for engineering heme-dependent proteins to further broaden the scope and utility of these non-natural activities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ion/Ion Reactions with "Onium" Reagents: An Approach for the Gas-phase Transfer of Organic Cations to Multiply-Charged Anions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilbert, Joshua D.; Prentice, Boone M.; McLuckey, Scott A.

2015-05-01

The use of ion/ion reactions to effect gas-phase alkylation is demonstrated. Commonly used fixed-charge "onium" cations are well-suited for ion/ion reactions with multiply deprotonated analytes because of their tendency to form long-lived electrostatic complexes. Activation of these complexes results in an SN2 reaction that yields an alkylated anion with the loss of a neutral remnant of the reagent. This alkylation process forms the basis of a general method for alkylation of deprotonated analytes generated via electrospray, and is demonstrated on a variety of anionic sites. SN2 reactions of this nature are demonstrated empirically and characterized using density functional theory (DFT). This method for modification in the gas phase is extended to the transfer of larger and more complex R groups that can be used in later gas-phase synthesis steps. For example, N-cyclohexyl- N'-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide (CMC) is used to transfer a carbodiimide functionality to a peptide anion containing a carboxylic acid. Subsequent activation yields a selective reaction between the transferred carbodiimide group and a carboxylic acid, suggesting the carbodiimide functionality is retained through the transfer process. Many different R groups are transferable using this method, allowing for new possibilities for charge manipulation and derivatization in the gas phase.

Anorexia in hemodialysis patients: the possible role of des-acyl ghrelin.

PubMed

Muscaritoli, Maurizio; Molfino, Alessio; Chiappini, Maria Grazia; Laviano, Alessandro; Ammann, Thomas; Spinsanti, Paola; Melchiorri, Daniela; Inui, Akio; Alegiani, Filippo; Rossi Fanelli, Filippo

2007-01-01

Anorexia is frequently found in end-stage renal disease and is a reliable predictor of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The pathogenesis of anorexia is complex and the appetite-modulating hormone ghrelin could be involved. Two forms of circulating ghrelin have been described: acylated ghrelin (<10% of circulating ghrelin) which promotes food intake, and des-acyl ghrelin which induces a negative energy balance. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to clarify whether anorexia and body weight change in HD patients relate to plasma des-acyl ghrelin levels. 34 HD patients and 15 healthy controls were studied. The presence of anorexia was assessed by a questionnaire. Serum des-acyl ghrelin was measured in HD patients and in 15 body mass index-, sex- and age-matched controls by ELISA. Energy intake was assessed by a 3-day dietary diary, and fat-free mass (FFM) was evaluated by body impedance analysis. Data have been statistically analyzed and are presented as mean +/- SD. 14 patients (41%) were found to be anorexic, and 20 patients (59%) non-anorexic. Energy intake (kcal/day) was significantly lower in anorexic than in non-anorexic patients (1,682 +/- 241 vs. 1,972.50 +/- 490; p < 0.05). FFM (%) was lower in anorexic than in non-anorexic patients (65.8 +/- 4.4 vs. 70.9 +/- 8.7; p = 0.05). Plasma des-acyl ghrelin levels (fmol/ml) were significantly higher in HD patients than in controls (214.88 +/- 154.24 vs. 128.93 +/- 51.07; p < 0.05), and in anorexic HD patients than in non-anorexic (301.7 +/- 162.4 vs. 159.1 +/- 115.5; p < 0.01). Anorexia is highly prevalent among HD patients and des-acyl ghrelin could be involved in its pathogenesis. Copyright 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Coupled-channels analyses for 9,11Li + 208Pb fusion reactions with multi-neutron transfer couplings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Ki-Seok; Cheoun, Myung-Ki; So, W. Y.; Hagino, K.; Kim, K. S.

2018-05-01

We discuss the role of two-neutron transfer processes in the fusion reaction of the 9,11Li + 208Pb systems. We first analyze the 9Li + 208Pb reaction by taking into account the coupling to the 7Li + 210Pb channel. To this end, we assume that two neutrons are directly transferred to a single effective channel in 210Pb and solve the coupled-channels equations with the two channels. By adjusting the coupling strength and the effective Q-value, we successfully reproduce the experimental fusion cross sections for this system. We then analyze the 11Li + 208Pb reaction in a similar manner, that is, by taking into account three effective channels with 11Li + 208Pb, 9Li + 210Pb, and 7Li + 212Pb partitions. In order to take into account the halo structure of the 11Li nucleus, we construct the potential between 11Li and 208Pb with a double folding procedure, while we employ a Woods-Saxon type potential with the global Akyüz-Winther parameters for the other channels. Our calculation indicates that the multiple two-neutron transfer process plays a crucial role in the 11Li + 208Pb fusion reaction at energies around the Coulomb barrier.

S-acylation dependent post-translational cross-talk regulates large conductance calcium- and voltage- activated potassium (BK) channels

PubMed Central

Shipston, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Mechanisms that control surface expression and/or activity of large conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels are important determinants of their (patho)physiological function. Indeed, BK channel dysfunction is associated with major human disorders ranging from epilepsy to hypertension and obesity. S-acylation (S-palmitoylation) represents a major reversible, post-translational modification controlling the properties and function of many proteins including ion channels. Recent evidence reveals that both pore-forming and regulatory subunits of BK channels are S-acylated and control channel trafficking and regulation by AGC-family protein kinases. The pore-forming α-subunit is S-acylated at two distinct sites within the N- and C-terminus, each site being regulated by different palmitoyl acyl transferases (zDHHCs) and acyl thioesterases (APTs). S-acylation of the N-terminus controls channel trafficking and surface expression whereas S-acylation of the C-terminal domain determines regulation of channel activity by AGC-family protein kinases. S-acylation of the regulatory β4-subunit controls ER exit and surface expression of BK channels but does not affect ion channel kinetics at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, a significant number of previously identified BK-channel interacting proteins have been shown, or are predicted to be, S-acylated. Thus, the BK channel multi-molecular signaling complex may be dynamically regulated by this fundamental post-translational modification and thus S-acylation likely represents an important determinant of BK channel physiology in health and disease. PMID:25140154

Intramolecular H-transfer reactions in Si 2H n (for n=3-5)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ernst, M. C.; Sax, A. F.; Kalcher, J.

1993-12-01

Intramolecular rearrangement reactions for doublet Si 2H 5 and Si 2H 3, quartet Si 2H 3, and singlet Si 2H 4 have been studied. aim of the study was to characterize a series of intramolecular H-transfer reactions in silicon hydrides with vrying degrees of saturation. The transition states belonging to the reactions presented in this work possess a monobridged Si 2H moiety. Structural features of the transition states and relative barrier heights have been examined; the geometry optimizations were performed with the use of CAS-SCF wavefunctions and the barrier height estimates were obtained with single-point CI calculations.

Enantioselective synthesis of spirooxoindoles via chiral auxiliary (bicyclic lactam) controlled SNAr reactions.

PubMed

Sen, Subhabrata; Potti, Venkata R; Surakanti, Ramu; Murthy, Y L N; Pallepogu, Raghavaiah

2011-01-21

A highly efficient enantioselective S(N)Ar reaction of chiral acyl bicyclic lactam with substituted-2,4-dinitrobenzenes was developed, affording products containing quarternary stereogenic centers. They are further utilized towards an enantioselective synthesis of spirooxoindoles.

Butyrylcholinesterase gene transfer in obese mice prevents postdieting body weight rebound by suppressing ghrelin signaling

PubMed Central

Chen, Vicky Ping; Gao, Yang; Geng, Liyi; Brimijoin, Stephen

2017-01-01

The worldwide prevalence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate but treatment options remain limited. Despite initial success, weight loss by calorie restriction (CR) often fails because of rebound weight gain. Postdieting hyperphagia along with altered hypothalamic neuro-architecture appears to be one direct cause of this undesirable outcome. In response to calorie deficiency the circulating levels of the appetite-promoting hormone, acyl-ghrelin, rise sharply. We hypothesize that proper modulation of acyl-ghrelin and its receptor’s sensitivity will favorably impact energy intake and reprogram the body weight set point. Here we applied viral gene transfer of the acyl-ghrelin hydrolyzing enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Our results confirmed that BChE overexpression decreased circulating acyl-ghrelin levels, suppressed CR-provoked ghrelin signaling, and restored central ghrelin sensitivity. In addition to maintaining healthy body weights, BChE treated mice had modest postdieting food intake and showed normal glucose homeostasis. Spontaneous activity and energy expenditure did not differ significantly between treated and untreated mice after body weight rebound, suggesting that BChE gene transfer did not alter energy expenditure in the long term. These findings indicate that combining BChE treatment with CR could be an effective approach in treating human obesity and aiding lifelong weight management. PMID:28973869

Selective C-acylation of 2-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine: application to the synthesis of imidazopyridine-fused [1,3]diazepinones.

PubMed

Masurier, Nicolas; Aruta, Roberta; Gaumet, Vincent; Denoyelle, Séverine; Moreau, Emmanuel; Lisowski, Vincent; Martinez, Jean; Maillard, Ludovic T

2012-04-06

A series of 20 optically pure 3,4-dihydro-5H-pyrido[1',2':1,2]imidazo[4,5-d][1,3]diazepin-5-ones which form a new family of azaheterocycle-fused [1,3]diazepines were synthesized in four steps with 17-66% overall yields. The key step consists of a selective C-acylation reaction of easily accessible 2-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine at C-3.

Effects of ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin on neurogenesis of the rat fetal spinal cord

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sato, Miho; Nakahara, Keiko; Goto, Shintaro

Expressions of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) mRNA and its protein were confirmed in rat fetal spinal cord tissues by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. In vitro, over 3 nM ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin induced significant proliferation of primary cultured cells from the fetal spinal cord. The proliferating cells were then double-stained using antibodies against the neuronal precursor marker, nestin, and the cell proliferation marker, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), and the nestin-positive cells were also found to be co-stained with antibody against GHS-R. Furthermore, binding studies using [{sup 125}I]des-acyl ghrelin indicated the presence of a specific binding site for des-acyl ghrelin, and confirmedmore » that the binding was displaced with unlabeled des-acyl ghrelin or ghrelin. These results indicate that ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin induce proliferation of neuronal precursor cells that is both dependent and independent of GHS-R, suggesting that both ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin are involved in neurogenesis of the fetal spinal cord.« less

Exciplex mediated photoinduced electron transfer reactions of phthalocyanine-fullerene dyads.

PubMed

Niemi, Marja; Tkachenko, Nikolai V; Efimov, Alexander; Lehtivuori, Heli; Ohkubo, Kei; Fukuzumi, Shunichi; Lemmetyinen, Helge

2008-07-31

Evidences of an intramolecular exciplex intermediate in a photoinduced electron transfer (ET) reaction of double-linked free-base and zinc phthalocyanine-C60 dyads were found. This was the first time for a dyad with phthalocyanine donor. Excitation of the phthalocyanine moiety of the dyads results in rapid ET from phthalocyanine to fullerene via an exciplex state in both polar and nonpolar solvents. Relaxation of the charge-separated (CS) state Pc(*+)-C60(*-) in a polar solvent occurs directly to the ground state in 30-70 ps. In a nonpolar solvent, roughly 20% of the molecules undergo transition from the CS state to phthalocyanine triplet state (3)Pc*-C60 before relaxation to the ground state. Formation of the CS state was confirmed with electron spin resonance measurements at low temperature in both polar and nonpolar solvent. Reaction schemes for the photoinduced ET reactions of the dyads were completed with rate constants obtained from the time-resolved absorption and emission measurements and with state energies obtained from the fluorescence, phosphorescence, and voltammetric measurements.

Computational model for the acylation step of the β-lactam ring: Potential application for L,D-transpeptidase 2 in mycobacterium tuberculosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fakhar, Zeynab; Govender, Thavendran; Lamichhane, Gyanu; Maguire, Glenn E. M.; Kruger, Hendrik G.; Honarparvar, Bahareh

2017-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health quandary. The peptidoglycan layer of mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) consists of glycoproteins that are crosslinked by transpeptidases. Carbapenems are a subfamily of β-lactam antibiotics that inactivate the L,D-transpeptidase enzyme effectively (3 → 3 crosslinks). The mechanism of ring opening and thioester bond formation between the β-lactam core and the Cys354 active residue (for L,D-transpeptidase) during the acylation step is still the subject of considerable discussion. Herein, an acylation mechanism is proposed through four possible model transition states (TS), namely four membered-ring (TS-4, TS-4-His and TS-4-water) and six membered-ring (TS-6-water) transition states. The quantum chemical calculations for these TS models were performed with Density Functional Theory (DFT) using the B3LYP functional and the 6-31 + G(d) basis set. The calculated thermodynamic properties such as relative reaction energies (ΔEreaction), Gibbs free energies (ΔG), enthalpy energies (ΔH) and entropy contributions (ΔS) were reported at 298.15 K for the four considered pathways. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) were calculated to evaluate and compare the chemical reactivities of the considered TS models. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was performed to determine the effective intermolecular orbital interactions E(2) derived by the second perturbation theory. The chemical hardness (η) and softness (S) and Fukui indices (fk+, fk-) of these TS models were compared to confirm the feasibility and preference of the considered pathways. The outcome of this study will pave the way for an improved understanding of the LDT/carbapenem acylation reaction at a molecular level.

One Nucleon Transfer Reactions Around {sup 68}Ni at REX-ISOLDE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patronis, N.; Raabe, R.; Bree, N.

2008-05-12

The newly built position sensitive Si detectors array of nearly 4{pi} angular coverage which is going to be installed at the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN is briefly presented. This setup will be combined with the Miniball detectors array, constituting a unique tool for the study of one-nucleon transfer reactions. The experimental study of d({sup 66}Ni,p){sup 67}Ni reaction will be proposed, as a starting point for a series of experiments aiming to the study of the single particle character of the levels of the odd mass neutron reach unstable Ni isotopes. In this contribution, the feasibility and sensitivity of the experimentmore » is presented.« less

Configurational and constitutional information storage: multiple dynamics in systems based on pyridyl and acyl hydrazones.

PubMed

Chaur, Manuel N; Collado, Daniel; Lehn, Jean-Marie

2011-01-03

The C=N group of hydrazones can undergo E/Z isomerization both photochemically and thermally, allowing the generation of a closed process that can be tuned by either of these two physical stimuli. On the other hand, hydrazine-exchange reactions enable a constitutional change in a given hydrazone. The two classes of processes: 1) configurational (physically stimulated) and 2) constitutional (chemically stimulated) give access to short-term and long-term information storage, respectively. Such transformations are reported herein for two hydrazones (bis-pyridyl hydrazone and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde phenylhydrazone) that undergo a closed, chemically or physically driven process, and, in addition, can be locked or unlocked at will by metal-ion coordination or removal. These features also extend to acyl hydrazones derived from 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde. Similarly to the terpydine-like hydrazones, such acyl hydrazones can undergo both constitutional and configurational changes, as well as metal-ion coordination. All these types of hydrazones represent dynamic systems capable of acting as multiple state molecular devices, in which the presence of coordination sites furthermore allows the metal ion-controlled locking and unlocking of the interconversion of the different states. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Deuteron-induced nucleon transfer reactions within an ab initio framework: First application to p -shell nuclei

DOE PAGES

Raimondi, Francesco; Hupin, Guillaume; Navratil, Petr; ...

2016-05-10

Low-energy transfer reactions in which a proton is stripped from a deuteron projectile and dropped into a target play a crucial role in the formation of nuclei in both primordial and stellar nucleosynthesis, as well as in the study of exotic nuclei using radioactive beam facilities and inverse kinematics. Here, ab initio approaches have been successfully applied to describe the 3H(d,n) 4He and 3He(d,p) 4He fusion processes. An ab initio treatment of transfer reactions would also be desirable for heavier targets. In this work, we extend the ab initio description of (d,p) reactions to processes with light p-shell nuclei. Asmore » a first application, we study the elastic scattering of deuterium on 7Li and the 7Li(d,p) 8Li transfer reaction based on a two-body Hamiltonian. We use the no-core shell model to compute the wave functions of the nuclei involved in the reaction, and describe the dynamics between targets and projectiles with the help of microscopic-cluster states in the spirit of the resonating group method. The shapes of the excitation functions for deuterons impinging on 7Li are qualitatively reproduced up to the deuteron breakup energy. The interplay between d– 7Li and p– 8Li particle-decay channels determines some features of the 9Be spectrum above the d+ 7Li threshold. Our prediction for the parity of the 17.298 MeV resonance is at odds with the experimental assignment. Deuteron stripping reactions with p-shell targets can now be computed ab initio, but calculations are very demanding. Finally, a quantitative description of the 7Li(d,p) 8Li reaction will require further work to include the effect of three-nucleon forces and additional decay channels and to improve the convergence rate of our calculations.« less

Deuteron-induced nucleon transfer reactions within an ab initio framework: First application to p -shell nuclei

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raimondi, Francesco; Hupin, Guillaume; Navratil, Petr

Low-energy transfer reactions in which a proton is stripped from a deuteron projectile and dropped into a target play a crucial role in the formation of nuclei in both primordial and stellar nucleosynthesis, as well as in the study of exotic nuclei using radioactive beam facilities and inverse kinematics. Here, ab initio approaches have been successfully applied to describe the 3H(d,n) 4He and 3He(d,p) 4He fusion processes. An ab initio treatment of transfer reactions would also be desirable for heavier targets. In this work, we extend the ab initio description of (d,p) reactions to processes with light p-shell nuclei. Asmore » a first application, we study the elastic scattering of deuterium on 7Li and the 7Li(d,p) 8Li transfer reaction based on a two-body Hamiltonian. We use the no-core shell model to compute the wave functions of the nuclei involved in the reaction, and describe the dynamics between targets and projectiles with the help of microscopic-cluster states in the spirit of the resonating group method. The shapes of the excitation functions for deuterons impinging on 7Li are qualitatively reproduced up to the deuteron breakup energy. The interplay between d– 7Li and p– 8Li particle-decay channels determines some features of the 9Be spectrum above the d+ 7Li threshold. Our prediction for the parity of the 17.298 MeV resonance is at odds with the experimental assignment. Deuteron stripping reactions with p-shell targets can now be computed ab initio, but calculations are very demanding. Finally, a quantitative description of the 7Li(d,p) 8Li reaction will require further work to include the effect of three-nucleon forces and additional decay channels and to improve the convergence rate of our calculations.« less

N-Heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed chemoselective cross-aza-benzoin reaction of enals with isatin-derived ketimines: access to chiral quaternary aminooxindoles.

PubMed

Xu, Jianfeng; Mou, Chengli; Zhu, Tingshun; Song, Bao-An; Chi, Yonggui Robin

2014-06-20

A chemo- and enantioselective cross-aza-benzoin reaction between enals and isatin-derived ketimines is disclosed. The high chemoselectivity (of the acyl anion reaction over enal α- and β-carbon reactions) is enabled by the electronic and steric properties of the N-heterocyclic carbene organocatalyst.

Influence of Proton Acceptors on the Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Reaction Kinetics of a Ruthenium-Tyrosine Complex.

PubMed

Lennox, J Christian; Dempsey, Jillian L

2017-11-22

A polypyridyl ruthenium complex with fluorinated bipyridine ligands and a covalently bound tyrosine moiety was synthesized, and its photo-induced proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactivity in acetonitrile was investigated with transient absorption spectroscopy. Using flash-quench methodology with methyl viologen as an oxidative quencher, a Ru 3+ species is generated that is capable of initiating the intramolecular PCET oxidation of the tyrosine moiety. Using a series of substituted pyridine bases, the reaction kinetics were found to vary as a function of proton acceptor concentration and identity, with no significant H/D kinetic isotope effect. Through analysis of the kinetics traces and comparison to a control complex without the tyrosine moiety, PCET reactivity was found to proceed through an equilibrium electron transfer followed by proton transfer (ET-PT) pathway in which irreversible deprotonation of the tyrosine radical cation shifts the ET equilibrium, conferring a base dependence on the reaction. Comprehensive kinetics modeling allowed for deconvolution of complex kinetics and determination of rate constants for each elementary step. Across the five pyridine bases explored, spanning a range of 4.2 pK a units, a linear free-energy relationship was found for the proton transfer rate constant with a slope of 0.32. These findings highlight the influence that proton transfer driving force exerts on PCET reaction kinetics.

Remote control of regioselectivity in acyl-acyl carrier protein-desaturases.

PubMed

Guy, Jodie E; Whittle, Edward; Moche, Martin; Lengqvist, Johan; Lindqvist, Ylva; Shanklin, John

2011-10-04

Regiospecific desaturation of long-chain saturated fatty acids has been described as approaching the limits of the discriminatory power of enzymes because the substrate entirely lacks distinguishing features close to the site of dehydrogenation. To identify the elusive mechanism underlying regioselectivity, we have determined two crystal structures of the archetypal Δ9 desaturase from castor in complex with acyl carrier protein (ACP), which show the bound ACP ideally situated to position C9 and C10 of the acyl chain adjacent to the diiron active site for Δ9 desaturation. Analysis of the structures and modeling of the complex between the highly homologous ivy Δ4 desaturase and ACP, identified a residue located at the entrance to the binding cavity, Asp280 in the castor desaturase (Lys275 in the ivy desaturase), which is strictly conserved within Δ9 and Δ4 enzymes but differs between them. We hypothesized that interaction between Lys275 and the phosphate of the pantetheine, seen in the ivy model, is key to positioning C4 and C5 adjacent to the diiron center for Δ4 desaturation. Mutating castor Asp280 to Lys resulted in a major shift from Δ9 to Δ4 desaturation. Thus, interaction between desaturase side-chain 280 and phospho-serine 38 of ACP, approximately 27 Å from the site of double-bond formation, predisposes ACP binding that favors either Δ9 or Δ4 desaturation via repulsion (acidic side chain) or attraction (positively charged side chain), respectively. Understanding the mechanism underlying remote control of regioselectivity provides the foundation for reengineering desaturase enzymes to create designer chemical feedstocks that would provide alternatives to those currently obtained from petrochemicals.

Role of protein conformational mobility in enzyme catalysis: acylation of alpha-chymotrypsin by specific peptide substrates.

PubMed

Hengge, Alvan C; Stein, Ross L

2004-01-27

To probe the mechanistic origins of convex Eyring plots that have been observed for alpha-chymotrypsin (alpha-CT)-catalyzed hydrolysis of specific p-nitroanilide substrates [Case, A., and Stein, R. L. (2003) Biochemistry 42, 3335-3348], we determined the temperature-dependence of (15)N-kinetic isotope effects for the alpha-CT-catalyzed hydrolysis of N-succinyl-Phe p-nitroanilide (Suc-Phe-pNA). To provide an interpretational context for these enzymatic isotope effects, we also determined 15N-KIE for alkaline hydrolysis of p-nitroacetanilide. In 0.002 and 2 N hydroxide (30 degrees C), 15N-KIE values are 1.035 and 0.995 (+/-0.001), respectively, and are consistent with the reported [HO-]-dependent change in rate-limiting step from leaving group departure from an anionic tetrahedral intermediate in dilute base, to hydroxide attack in concentrated base. For the alpha-CT-catalyzed hydrolysis of Suc-Phe-pNA, 15N-KIE is on kc/Km and thus reflects structural features of transition states for all reaction steps up to and including acylation of the active site serine. The isotope effect at 35 degrees C is 1.014 (+/-0.001) and suggests that in the transition state for this reaction, departure of leaving group from the tetrahedral intermediate is well advanced. Significantly, 15N-KIE does not vary over the temperature range 5-45 degrees C. This result eliminates one of the competing hypotheses for the convex Eyring plot observed for this reaction, that is, a temperature-dependent change in rate-limiting step within the chemical manifold of acylation, but supports a mechanism in which an isomerization of enzyme conformation is coupled to active site chemistry. We finally suggest that the near absolute temperature-independence of 15N-KIE may point to a unique transition state for this process.

Effect of isospin diffusion on the production of neutron-rich nuclei in multinucleon transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Fei; Chen, Peng-Hui; Guo, Ya-Fei; Ma, Chun-Wang; Feng, Zhao-Qing

2018-03-01

The isospin dissipation dynamics in multinucleon transfer reactions has been investigated within the dinuclear system model. Production cross sections of neutron-rich isotopes around projectile-like and target-like fragments are estimated in collisions of Ni,6458+208Pb and 78.86,91Kr +198Pt near Coulomb barrier energies. The isospin diffusion in the nucleon transfer process is coupled to the dissipation of relative motion energy and angular momentum of colliding system. The available data of projectile-like fragments via multinucleon transfer reactions are nicely reproduced. It is found that the light projectile-like fragments are produced in the neutron-rich region because of the isospin equilibrium in two colliding nuclei. However, the heavy target-like fragments tend to be formed on the neutron-poor side above the β -stability line. The neutron-rich projectiles move the maximal yields of heavy nuclei to the neutron-rich domain and are available for producing the heavy exotic isotopes, in particular around the neutron shell closure of N =126 .

Flow chemistry and polymer-supported pseudoenantiomeric acylating agents enable parallel kinetic resolution of chiral saturated N-heterocycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreituss, Imants; Bode, Jeffrey W.

2017-05-01

Kinetic resolution is a common method to obtain enantioenriched material from a racemic mixture. This process will deliver enantiopure unreacted material when the selectivity factor of the process, s, is greater than 1; however, the scalemic reaction product is often discarded. Parallel kinetic resolution, on the other hand, provides access to two enantioenriched products from a single racemic starting material, but suffers from a variety of practical challenges regarding experimental design that limit its applications. Here, we describe the development of a flow-based system that enables practical parallel kinetic resolution of saturated N-heterocycles. This process provides access to both enantiomers of the starting material in good yield and high enantiopurity; similar results with classical kinetic resolution would require selectivity factors in the range of s = 100. To achieve this, two immobilized quasienantiomeric acylating agents were designed for the asymmetric acylation of racemic saturated N-heterocycles. Using the flow-based system we could efficiently separate, recover and reuse the polymer-supported reagents. The amide products could be readily separated and hydrolysed to the corresponding amines without detectable epimerization.

Supercritical CO2 as a reaction medium for synthesis of capsaicin analogues by lipase-catalyzed transacylation of capsaicin.

PubMed

Kobata, Kenji; Kobayashi, Mamiko; Kinpara, Sachiyo; Watanabe, Tatsuo

2003-09-01

Capsaicin analogues having different acyl moiety were synthesized by lipase-catalyzed transacylation of capsaicin with a corresponding acyl donor in supercritical CO2 as a reaction medium. Transacylation with methyl tetradecanoate using Novozym 435 as a catalyst gave vanillyl tetradecanamide in a 54% yield at 80 degrees C and 19 MPa over 72 h. Vanillyl (Z)-9-octadecenamide, olvanil, was synthesized from triolein in a 21% yield over 7 d.

Commelinid Monocotyledon Lignins Are Acylated by p-Coumarate1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Free, Heather C.A.; Smith, Bronwen G.

2018-01-01

Commelinid monocotyledons are a monophyletic clade differentiated from other monocotyledons by the presence of cell wall-bound ferulate and p-coumarate. The Poaceae, or grass family, is a member of this group, and most of the p-coumarate in the cell walls of this family acylates lignin. Here, we isolated and examined lignified cell wall preparations from 10 species of commelinid monocotyledons from nine families other than Poaceae, including species from all four commelinid monocotyledon orders (Poales, Zingiberales, Commelinales, and Arecales). We showed that, as in the Poaceae, lignin-linked p-coumarate occurs exclusively on the hydroxyl group on the γ-carbon of lignin unit side chains, mostly on syringyl units. Although the mechanism of acylation has not been studied directly in these species, it is likely to be similar to that in the Poaceae and involve BAHD acyl-coenzyme A:monolignol transferases. PMID:29724771

Room Temperature, Hybrid Sodium-Based Flow Batteries with Multi-Electron Transfer Redox Reactions

PubMed Central

Shamie, Jack S.; Liu, Caihong; Shaw, Leon L.; Sprenkle, Vincent L.

2015-01-01

We introduce a new concept of hybrid Na-based flow batteries (HNFBs) with a molten Na alloy anode in conjunction with a flowing catholyte separated by a solid Na-ion exchange membrane for grid-scale energy storage. Such HNFBs can operate at ambient temperature, allow catholytes to have multiple electron transfer redox reactions per active ion, offer wide selection of catholyte chemistries with multiple active ions to couple with the highly negative Na alloy anode, and enable the use of both aqueous and non-aqueous catholytes. Further, the molten Na alloy anode permits the decoupled design of power and energy since a large volume of the molten Na alloy can be used with a limited ion-exchange membrane size. In this proof-of-concept study, the feasibility of multi-electron transfer redox reactions per active ion and multiple active ions for catholytes has been demonstrated. The critical barriers to mature this new HNFBs have also been explored. PMID:26063629

Room temperature, hybrid sodium-based flow batteries with multi-electron transfer redox reactions

DOE PAGES

Shamie, Jack S.; Liu, Caihong; Shaw, Leon L.; ...

2015-06-11

We introduce a new concept of hybrid Na-based flow batteries (HNFBs) with a molten Na alloy anode in conjunction with a flowing catholyte separated by a solid Na-ion exchange membrane for grid-scale energy storage. Such HNFBs can operate at ambient temperature, allow catholytes to have multiple electron transfer redox reactions per active ion, offer wide selection of catholyte chemistries with multiple active ions to couple with the highly negative Na alloy anode, and enable the use of both aqueous and non-aqueous catholytes. Further, the molten Na alloy anode permits the decoupled design of power and energy since a large volumemore » of the molten Na alloy can be used with a limited ion-exchange membrane size. In this proof-of-concept study, the feasibility of multielectron transfer redox reactions per active ion and multiple active ions for catholytes has been demonstrated. Furthermore, the critical barriers to mature this new HNFBs have also been explored.« less

Density functional tight-binding and infrequent metadynamics can capture entropic effects in intramolecular hydrogen transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, Luiz F. L.; Fu, Christopher D.; Pfaendtner, Jim

2018-04-01

Infrequent metadynamics uses biased simulations to estimate the unbiased kinetics of a system, facilitating the calculation of rates and barriers. Here the method is applied to study intramolecular hydrogen transfer reactions involving peroxy radicals, a class of reactions that is challenging to model due to the entropic contributions of the formation of ring structures in the transition state. Using the self-consistent charge density-functional based tight-binding (DFTB) method, we applied infrequent metadynamics to the study of four intramolecular H-transfer reactions, demonstrating that the method can qualitatively reproduce these high entropic contributions, as observed in experiments and those predicted by transition state theory modeled by higher levels of theory. We also show that infrequent metadynamics and DFTB are successful in describing the relationship between transition state ring size and kinetic coefficients (e.g., activation energies and the pre-exponential factors).

N-Acyl derivatives of Asn, new bacterial N-acyl D-amino acids with surfactant activity.

PubMed

Peypoux, F; Laprévote, O; Pagadoy, M; Wallach, J

2004-03-01

New N-acyl D-amino acids were isolated from Bacillus pumilus IM 1801. Their structures were determined by chemical analysis and mass spectrometry. The lipid part was identified as a mixture of fatty acids with 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16 carbon atoms in the iso, anteiso or n configuration linked by an amide bond with a D-asparagine. They exhibited surfactant properties.

Trends in Ground-State Entropies for Transition Metal Based Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reactions

PubMed Central

Mader, Elizabeth A.; Manner, Virginia W.; Markle, Todd F.; Wu, Adam; Franz, James A.; Mayer, James M.

2009-01-01

Reported herein are thermochemical studies of hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reactions involving transition metal H-atom donors MIILH and oxyl radicals. [FeII(H2bip)3]2+, [FeII(H2bim)3]2+, [CoII(H2bim)3]2+ and RuII(acac)2(py-imH) [H2bip = 2,2’-bi-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine, H2bim = 2,2’-bi-imidazoline, acac = 2,4-pentandionato, py-imH = 2-(2’-pyridyl)-imidazole)] each react with TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinoxyl) or tBu3PhO• (2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenoxyl) to give the deprotonated, oxidized metal complex MIIIL, and TEMPOH or tBu3PhOH. Solution equilibrium measurements for the reaction of [CoII(H2bim)3]2+ with TEMPO show a large, negative ground-state entropy for hydrogen atom transfer, −41 ± 2 cal mol−1 K−1. This is even more negative than the ΔSoHAT = −30 ± 2 cal mol−1 K−1 for the two iron complexes and the ΔSoHAT for RuII(acac)2(py-imH) + TEMPO, 4.9 ± 1.1 cal mol−1 K−1, as reported earlier. Calorimetric measurements quantitatively confirm the enthalpy of reaction for [FeII(H2bip)3]2+ + TEMPO, thus also confirming ΔSoHAT. Calorimetry on TEMPOH + tBu3PhO• gives ΔHoHAT = −11.2 ± 0.5 kcal mol−1 which matches the enthalpy predicted from the difference in literature solution BDEs. A brief evaluation of the literature thermochemistry of TEMPOH and tBu3PhOH supports the common assumption that ΔSoHAT ≈ 0 for HAT reactions of organic and small gas-phase molecules. However, this assumption does not hold for transition metal based HAT reactions. The trend in magnitude of |ΔSoHAT| for reactions with TEMPO, RuII(acac)2(py-imH) << [FeII(H2bip)3]2+ = [FeII(H2bim)3]2+ < [CoII(H2bim)3]2+, is surprisingly well predicted by the trends for electron transfer half-reaction entropies, ΔSoET, in aprotic solvents. This is because both ΔSoET and ΔSoHAT have substantial contributions from vibrational entropy, which varies significantly with the metal center involved. The close connection between ΔSoHAT and ΔSoET provides an important

Hydrogen-transfer and charge-transfer in photochemical and radiation induced reactions. Progress report, November 1, 1975--October 31, 1976

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cohen, S.G.

The relative importance of light absorption, quenching of triplet, and hydrogen transfer repair has been examined in retardation by mercaptans of photoreduction of aromatic ketones by alcohols. In the reduction of benzophenone by 2-propanol, retardation is efficient and, after correction for the first two effects, is due entirely to hydrogen-transfer repair, as indicated by deuterium labeling. In reduction of acetophenone by ..cap alpha..-methylbenzyl alcohol, repair by hydrogen transfer is also operative. In reduction of benzophenone by benzhydrol, retardation is less efficient and is due to quenching, as the ketyl radical does not abstract hydrogen from mercaptan rapidly in competition withmore » coupling. Deuterium isotope effects are discussed in terms of competitive reactions. Photoreduction of benzophenone by 2-butylamine and by triethylamine is retarded by aromatic mercaptans and disulfides. Of the retardation not due to light absorption and triplet quenching by the sulfur compounds, half is due to hydrogen-transfer repair, as indicated by racemization and deuterium labeling. The remainder is attributed to quenching by the sulfur compound of the charge-transfer-complex intermediate. Photoreduction by primary and secondary amines, but not by tertiary amines, is accelerated by aliphatic mercaptans. The acceleration is attributed to catalysis of hydrogen transfer by the mercaptan in the charge-transfer complex. The effect is large in hydrocarbon solvent, less in polar organic solvents and absent in water.« less

Insight into the kinetics and thermodynamics of the hydride transfer reactions between quinones and lumiflavin: a density functional theory study.

PubMed

Reinhardt, Clorice R; Jaglinski, Tanner C; Kastenschmidt, Ashly M; Song, Eun H; Gross, Adam K; Krause, Alyssa J; Gollmar, Jonathan M; Meise, Kristin J; Stenerson, Zachary S; Weibel, Tyler J; Dison, Andrew; Finnegan, Mackenzie R; Griesi, Daniel S; Heltne, Michael D; Hughes, Tom G; Hunt, Connor D; Jansen, Kayla A; Xiong, Adam H; Hati, Sanchita; Bhattacharyya, Sudeep

2016-09-01

The kinetics and equilibrium of the hydride transfer reaction between lumiflavin and a number of substituted quinones was studied using density functional theory. The impact of electron withdrawing/donating substituents on the redox potentials of quinones was studied. In addition, the role of these substituents on the kinetics of the hydride transfer reaction with lumiflavin was investigated in detail under the transition state (TS) theory assumption. The hydride transfer reactions were found to be more favorable for an electron-withdrawing substituent. The activation barrier exhibited a quadratic relationship with the driving force of these reactions as derived under the formalism of modified Marcus theory. The present study found a significant extent of electron delocalization in the TS that is stabilized by enhanced electrostatic, polarization, and exchange interactions. Analysis of geometry, bond-orders, and energetics revealed a predominant parallel (Leffler-Hammond) effect on the TS. Closer scrutiny reveals that electron-withdrawing substituents, although located on the acceptor ring, reduce the N-H bond order of the donor fragment in the precursor complex. Carried out in the gas-phase, this is the first ever report of a theoretical study of flavin's hydride transfer reactions with quinones, providing an unfiltered view of the electronic effect on the nuclear reorganization of donor-acceptor complexes.

40 CFR 721.10056 - Benzenemethanaminium, N-(3-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. 721.10056 Section 721.10056 Protection of Environment...-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses...-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides (PMN P-03-47; CAS No. 90194-13-1) is subject to reporting under...

40 CFR 721.10056 - Benzenemethanaminium, N-(3-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. 721.10056 Section 721.10056 Protection of Environment...-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses...-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides (PMN P-03-47; CAS No. 90194-13-1) is subject to reporting under...

40 CFR 721.10056 - Benzenemethanaminium, N-(3-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. 721.10056 Section 721.10056 Protection of Environment...-aminopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses...-dimethyl-, N-soya acyl derivs., chlorides (PMN P-03-47; CAS No. 90194-13-1) is subject to reporting under...

Modified Acyl-ACP desaturase

DOEpatents

Cahoon, Edgar B.; Shanklin, John; Lindqvist, Ylva; Schneider, Gunter

1999-03-30

Disclosed is a method for modifying the chain length and double bond positional specificities of a soluble plant fatty acid desaturase. More specifically, the method involves modifying amino acid contact residues in the substrate binding channel of the soluble fatty acid desaturase which contact the fatty acid. Specifically disclosed is the modification of an acyl-ACP desaturase. Amino acid contact residues which lie within the substrate binding channel are identified, and subsequently replaced with different residues to effect the modification of activity.

Modified acyl-ACP desaturase

DOEpatents

Cahoon, Edgar B.; Shanklin, John; Lindgvist, Ylva; Schneider, Gunter

1998-01-06

Disclosed is a methods for modifying the chain length and double bond positional specificities of a soluble plant fatty acid desaturase. More specifically, the method involves modifying amino acid contact residues in the substrate binding channel of the soluble fatty acid desaturase which contact the fatty acid. Specifically disclosed is the modification of an acyl-ACP desaturase. Amino acid contact residues which lie within the substrate binding channel are identified, and subsequently replaced with different residues to effect the modification of activity.

Wide-band, time-resolved photoacoustic study of electron-transfer reactions. Photoexcited magnesium porphyrin and quinones

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feitelson, J.; Mauzerall, D.C.

1993-08-12

Wide-band, time-resolved, pulsed photoacoustics has been employed to study the electron-transfer reaction between a triplet magnesium porphyrin and various quinones in polar and nonpolar solvents. The reaction rate constants are near encounter limited. The yield of triplet state is 70% in both solvents. The yield of ions is 85% in the former and zero in the latter, in agreement with spin dephasing time and escape times from the Coulomb wells in the two solvents. In methanol the plot of measured heat output versus quinone redox potential is linear. This implies that the entropy of electron transfer is constant through themore » series, but it may not be negligible. 16 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.« less

Kinetics of reactions of the Actinomadura R39 DD-peptidase with specific substrates.

PubMed

Adediran, S A; Kumar, Ish; Nagarajan, Rajesh; Sauvage, Eric; Pratt, R F

2011-01-25

The Actinomadura R39 DD-peptidase catalyzes the hydrolysis and aminolysis of a number of small peptides and depsipeptides. Details of its substrate specificity and the nature of its in vivo substrate are not, however, well understood. This paper describes the interactions of the R39 enzyme with two peptidoglycan-mimetic substrates 3-(D-cysteinyl)propanoyl-D-alanyl-D-alanine and 3-(D-cysteinyl)propanoyl-D-alanyl-D-thiolactate. A detailed study of the reactions of the former substrate, catalyzed by the enzyme, showed DD-carboxypeptidase, DD-transpeptidase, and DD-endopeptidase activities. These results confirm the specificity of the enzyme for a free D-amino acid at the N-terminus of good substrates and indicated a preference for extended D-amino acid leaving groups. The latter was supported by determination of the structural specificity of amine nucleophiles for the acyl-enzyme generated by reaction of the enzyme with the thiolactate substrate. It was concluded that a specific substrate for this enzyme, and possibly the in vivo substrate, may consist of a partly cross-linked peptidoglycan polymer where a free side chain N-terminal un-cross-linked amino acid serves as the specific acyl group in an endopeptidase reaction. The enzyme is most likely a DD-endopeptidase in vivo. pH-rate profiles for reactions of the enzyme with peptides, the thiolactate named above, and β-lactams indicated the presence of complex proton dissociation pathways with sticky substrates and/or protons. The local structure of the active site may differ significantly for reactions of peptides and β-lactams. Solvent kinetic deuterium isotope effects indicate the presence of classical general acid/base catalysis in both acylation and deacylation; there is no evidence of the low fractionation factor active site hydrogen found previously in class A and C β-lactamases.

Characterization of acyl-coenzyme A:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) enzyme of human small intestine.

PubMed

Hiramine, Yasushi; Tanabe, Toshizumi

2011-06-01

Acyl-coenzyme A:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) enzyme plays a significant role in dietary triacylglycerol (TAG) absorption in the small intestine. However, the characteristics of human intestinal DGAT enzyme have not been examined in detail. The aim of our study was to characterize the human intestinal DGAT enzyme by examining acyl-CoA specificity, temperature dependency, and selectivity for 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) or 1,3-DAG. We detected DGAT activity of human intestinal microsome and found that the acyl-CoA specificity and temperature dependency of intestinal DGAT coincided with those of recombinant human DGAT1. To elucidate the selectivity of human intestinal DGAT to 1,2-DAG or 1,3-DAG, we conducted acyl-coenzyme A:monoacylglycerol acyltransferase assays using 1- or 2-monoacylglycerol (MAG) as substrates. When 2-MAG was used as acyl acceptor, both 1,2-DAG and TAG were generated; however, when 1-MAG was used, 1,3-DAG was predominantly observed and little TAG was detected. These findings suggest that human small intestinal DGAT, which is mainly encoded by DGAT1, utilizes 1,2-DAG as the substrate to form TAG. This study will contribute to understand the lipid absorption profile in the small intestine.

Anti-proliferative effects of O-acyl-low-molecular-weight heparin derivatives on bovine pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.

PubMed

Garg, Hari G; Mrabat, Hicham; Yu, Lunyin; Hales, Charles A; Li, Boyangzi; Moore, Casey N; Zhang, Fuming; Linhardt, Robert J

2011-08-01

Heparin (HP) inhibits the growth of several cell types in vitro including bovine pulmonary artery (BPA) smooth muscle cells (SMCs). In initial studies we discovered that an O-hexanoylated low-molecular-weight (LMW) HP derivative having acyl groups with 6-carbon chain length was more potent inhibitor of BPA-SMCs than the starting HP. We prepared several O-acylated LMWHP derivatives having 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 18- carbon acyl chain lengths to determine the optimal acyl chain length for maximum anti-proliferative properties of BPA-SMCs. The starting LMWHP was prepared from unfractionated HP by sodium periodate treatment followed by sodium borohydride reduction. The tri-n-butylammonium salt of this LMWHP was O-acylated with butanoic, hexanoic, octanoic, decanoic, dodecanoic, and stearyl anhydrides separately to give respective O-acylated LMWHP derivatives. Gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was used to examine the average molecular weights of those O-acylated LMWHP derivatives. NMR analysis indicated the presence of one O-acyl group per disaccharide residue. Measurement of the inhibition of BPA-SMCS as a function of O-acyl chain length shows two optima, at a carbon chain length of 6 (O-hexanoylated LMWHP) and at a carbon chain length 12-18 (O-dodecanoyl and O-stearyl LMWHPs). A solution competition SPR study was performed to test the ability of different O-acylated LMWHP derivatives to inhibit fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 1 and FGF2 binding to surface-immobilized heparin. All the LMWHP derivatives bound to FGF1 and FGF2 but each exhibited slightly different binding affinity.

Hydrogen atom transfer reactions in thiophenol: photogeneration of two new thione isomers.

PubMed

Reva, Igor; Nowak, Maciej J; Lapinski, Leszek; Fausto, Rui

2015-02-21

Photoisomerization reactions of monomeric thiophenol have been investigated for the compound isolated in low-temperature argon matrices. The initial thiophenol population consists exclusively of the thermodynamically most stable thiol form. Phototransformations were induced by irradiation of the matrices with narrowband tunable UV light. Irradiation at λ > 290 nm did not induce any changes in isolated thiophenol molecules. Upon irradiation at 290-285 nm, the initial thiol form of thiophenol converted into its thione isomer, cyclohexa-2,4-diene-1-thione. This conversion occurs by transfer of an H atom from the SH group to a carbon atom at the ortho position of the ring. Subsequent irradiation at longer wavelengths (300-427 nm) demonstrated that this UV-induced hydrogen-atom transfer is photoreversible. Moreover, upon irradiation at 400-425 nm, the cyclohexa-2,4-diene-1-thione product converts, by transfer of a hydrogen atom from the ortho to para position, into another thione isomer, cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1-thione. The latter thione isomer is also photoreactive and is consumed if irradiated at λ < 332 nm. The obtained results clearly show that H-atom-transfer isomerization reactions dominate the unimolecular photochemistry of thiophenol confined in a solid argon matrix. A set of low-intensity infrared bands, observed in the spectra of UV irradiated thiophenol, indicates the presence of a phenylthiyl radical with an H- atom detached from the SH group. Alongside the H-atom-transfer and H-atom-detachment processes, the ring-opening photoreaction occurred in cyclohexa-2,4-diene-1-thione by the cleavage of the C-C bond at the alpha position with respect to the thiocarbonyl C[double bond, length as m-dash]S group. The resulting open-ring conjugated thioketene adopts several isomeric forms, differing by orientations around single and double bonds. The species photogenerated upon UV irradiation of thiophenol were identified by comparison of their experimental infrared

Remote control of regioselectivity in acyl-acyl carrier protein-desaturases

PubMed Central

Guy, Jodie E.; Whittle, Edward; Moche, Martin; Lengqvist, Johan; Lindqvist, Ylva; Shanklin, John

2011-01-01

Regiospecific desaturation of long-chain saturated fatty acids has been described as approaching the limits of the discriminatory power of enzymes because the substrate entirely lacks distinguishing features close to the site of dehydrogenation. To identify the elusive mechanism underlying regioselectivity, we have determined two crystal structures of the archetypal Δ9 desaturase from castor in complex with acyl carrier protein (ACP), which show the bound ACP ideally situated to position C9 and C10 of the acyl chain adjacent to the diiron active site for Δ9 desaturation. Analysis of the structures and modeling of the complex between the highly homologous ivy Δ4 desaturase and ACP, identified a residue located at the entrance to the binding cavity, Asp280 in the castor desaturase (Lys275 in the ivy desaturase), which is strictly conserved within Δ9 and Δ4 enzymes but differs between them. We hypothesized that interaction between Lys275 and the phosphate of the pantetheine, seen in the ivy model, is key to positioning C4 and C5 adjacent to the diiron center for Δ4 desaturation. Mutating castor Asp280 to Lys resulted in a major shift from Δ9 to Δ4 desaturation. Thus, interaction between desaturase side-chain 280 and phospho-serine 38 of ACP, approximately 27 Å from the site of double-bond formation, predisposes ACP binding that favors either Δ9 or Δ4 desaturation via repulsion (acidic side chain) or attraction (positively charged side chain), respectively. Understanding the mechanism underlying remote control of regioselectivity provides the foundation for reengineering desaturase enzymes to create designer chemical feedstocks that would provide alternatives to those currently obtained from petrochemicals. PMID:21930947

Association of acylated ghrelin profiles with chronic inflammatory markers in overweight and obese postmenopausal women: a MONET study.

PubMed

St-Pierre, David H; Bastard, Jean-Philippe; Coderre, Lise; Brochu, Martin; Karelis, Antony D; Lavoie, Marie-Eve; Malita, Florin; Fontaine, Jonathan; Mignault, Diane; Cianflone, Katherine; Imbeault, Pascal; Doucet, Eric; Rabasa-Lhoret, Rémi

2007-10-01

Recent reports have suggested that the existence of associations between hormonal dysregulation and chronic upregulation of inflammatory markers, which may cause obesity-related disturbances. Thus, we examined whether acylated ghrelin (AcylG) and total ghrelin (TotG) levels could be associated with the following inflammatory markers: C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and soluble TNF receptor 1 (sTNF-R1). Cross-sectional study consisting of 50 overweight and obese postmenopausal women. AcylG and TotG levels were assessed at 0, 60, 160, 170, and 180 min of the euglycemic/hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC). We evaluated insulin sensitivity, body composition, and blood lipid profiles as well as fasting concentrations of CRP, TNF-alpha, and sTNF-R1. In fasting conditions, sTNF-R1 was negatively correlated with AcylG (r = -0.48, P < 0.001) levels. In addition, AcylG/TotG was associated negatively with sTNF-R1 (r = -0.44, P = 0.002) and positively with TNF-alpha (r = 0.38, P = 0.009) values. During the EHC, TotG (at all time points) and AcylG (at 60 and 160 min) values were significantly decreased from fasting concentrations. AcylG maximal reduction and area under the curve (AUC) values were correlated to sTNF-R1 (r = -0.35, P = 0.02 and r = -0.34, P = 0.02, respectively). Meanwhile, the AcylG/TotG AUC ratio was associated negatively with sTNF-R1 (r = -0.29, P < 0.05) and positively with TNF-alpha (r = 0.36, P = 0.02). Following adjustments for total adiposity, sTNF-R1 remained correlated with fasting and maximal reduction AcylG values. Similarly, AcylG/TotG ratios remained significantly correlated with sTNF-R1 and TNF-alpha. Importantly, 23% of the variation in sTNF-R1 was independently predicted by fasting AcylG. These results are the first to suggest that both fasting and EHC-induced AcylG profiles are correlated with fasting values of sTNF-R1, a component of the TNF-alpha system. Thus, AcylG may act, at least in part, as one mediator of

pH-dependent electron transfer reaction and direct bioelectrocatalysis of the quinohemoprotein pyranose dehydrogenase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Takeda, Kouta; Matsumura, Hirotoshi; Ishida, Takuya

A pyranose dehydrogenase from Coprinopsis cinerea (CcPDH) is an extracellular quinohemoeprotein, which consists a b-type cytochrome domain, a pyrroloquinoline-quinone (PQQ) domain, and a family 1-type carbohydrate-binding module. The electron transfer reaction of CcPDH was studied using some electron acceptors and a carbon electrode at various pH levels. Phenazine methosulfate (PMS) reacted directly at the PQQ domain, whereas cytochrome c (cyt c) reacted via the cytochrome domain of intact CcPDH. Thus, electrons are transferred from reduced PQQ in the catalytic domain of CcPDH to heme b in the N-terminal cytochrome domain, which acts as a built-in mediator and transfers electron tomore » a heterogenous electron transfer protein. The optimal pH values of the PMS reduction (pH 6.5) and the cyt c reduction (pH 8.5) differ. The catalytic currents for the oxidation of L-fucose were observed within a range of pH 4.5 to 11. Bioelectrocatalysis of CcPDH based on direct electron transfer demonstrated that the pH profile of the biocatalytic current was similar to the reduction activity of cyt c characters. - Highlights: • pH dependencies of activity were different for the reduction of cyt c and DCPIP. • DET-based bioelectrocatalysis of CcPDH was observed. • The similar pH-dependent profile was found with cyt c and electrode. • The present results suggested that IET reaction of CcPDH shows pH dependence.« less

Proton transfer reactions and dynamics in CH(3)OH-H(3)O(+)-H(2)O complexes.

PubMed

Sagarik, Kritsana; Chaiwongwattana, Sermsiri; Vchirawongkwin, Viwat; Prueksaaroon, Supakit

2010-01-28

Proton transfer reactions and dynamics in hydrated complexes formed from CH(3)OH, H(3)O(+) and H(2)O were studied using theoretical methods. The investigations began with searching for equilibrium structures at low hydration levels using the DFT method, from which active H-bonds in the gas phase and continuum aqueous solution were characterized and analyzed. Based on the asymmetric stretching coordinates (Deltad(DA)), four H-bond complexes were identified as potential transition states, in which the most active unit is represented by an excess proton nearly equally shared between CH(3)OH and H(2)O. These cannot be definitive due to the lack of asymmetric O-H stretching frequencies (nu(OH)) which are spectral signatures of transferring protons. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations revealed that, when the thermal energy fluctuations and dynamics were included in the model calculations, the spectral signatures at nu(OH) approximately 1000 cm(-1) appeared. In continuum aqueous solution, the H-bond complex with incomplete water coordination at charged species turned out to be the only active transition state. Based on the assumption that the thermal energy fluctuations and dynamics could temporarily break the H-bonds linking the transition state complex and water molecules in the second hydration shell, elementary reactions of proton transfer were proposed. The present study showed that, due to the coupling among various vibrational modes, the discussions on proton transfer reactions cannot be made based solely on static proton transfer potentials. Inclusion of thermal energy fluctuations and dynamics in the model calculations, as in the case of BOMD simulations, together with systematic IR spectral analyses, have been proved to be the most appropriate theoretical approaches.

Studies on photoinduced H-atom and electron transfer reactions of o-naphthoquinones by laser flash photolysis.

PubMed

Pan, Yang; Fu, Yao; Liu, Shaoxiong; Yu, Haizhu; Gao, Yuhe; Guo, Qingxiang; Yu, Shuqin

2006-06-15

The quenching of the triplets of 1,2-naphthoquinone (NQ) and 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid sodium salt (NQS) by various electron and H-atom donors was investigated by laser flash photolysis measurement in acetonitrile and benzene. The results showed that the reactivities and configurations of 3NQ* (3NQS*) are governed by solvent polarity. All the quenching rate constants (kq) measured in benzene are larger than those in acetonitrile. The SO3Na substituent at the C-4 position of NQS makes 3NQS* more reactive than 3NQ* in electron/H-atom transfer reactions. Large differences of kq values were discovered in H-atom transfer reactions for alcohols and phenols, which can be explained by different H-abstraction mechanisms. Detection of radical cations of amines/anilines in time-resolved transient absorption spectra confirms an electron transfer mechanism. Triplets are identified as precursors of formed radical anions of NQ and NQS in photoinduced reactions. The dependence of electron transfer rate constants on the free energy changes (DeltaG) was treated by using the Rehm-Weller equation. For the four anilines with different substituents on the para or meta position of amidocyanogen, good correlation between log kq values with Hammett sigma constants testifies the correctness of empirical Hammett equation. Charge density distributions, adiabatic ionization/affinity potentials and redox potentials of NQ (NQS) and some quenchers were studied by quantum chemistry calculation.

Hybrid Quantum/Classical Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Proton Transfer Reactions Catalyzed by Ketosteroid Isomerase: Analysis of Hydrogen Bonding, Conformational Motions, and Electrostatics

PubMed Central

Chakravorty, Dhruva K.; Soudackov, Alexander V.; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon

2009-01-01

Hybrid quantum/classical molecular dynamics simulations of the two proton transfer reactions catalyzed by ketosteroid isomerase are presented. The potential energy surfaces for the proton transfer reactions are described with the empirical valence bond method. Nuclear quantum effects of the transferring hydrogen increase the rates by a factor of ~8, and dynamical barrier recrossings decrease the rates by a factor of 3–4. For both proton transfer reactions, the donor-acceptor distance decreases substantially at the transition state. The carboxylate group of the Asp38 side chain, which serves as the proton acceptor and donor in the first and second steps, respectively, rotates significantly between the two proton transfer reactions. The hydrogen bonding interactions within the active site are consistent with the hydrogen bonding of both Asp99 and Tyr14 to the substrate. The simulations suggest that a hydrogen bond between Asp99 and the substrate is present from the beginning of the first proton transfer step, whereas the hydrogen bond between Tyr14 and the substrate is virtually absent in the first part of this step but forms nearly concurrently with the formation of the transition state. Both hydrogen bonds are present throughout the second proton transfer step until partial dissociation of the product. The hydrogen bond between Tyr14 and Tyr55 is present throughout both proton transfer steps. The active site residues are more mobile during the first step than during the second step. The van der Waals interaction energy between the substrate and the enzyme remains virtually constant along the reaction pathway, but the electrostatic interaction energy is significantly stronger for the dienolate intermediate than for the reactant and product. Mobile loop regions distal to the active site exhibit significant structural rearrangements and, in some cases, qualitative changes in the electrostatic potential during the catalytic reaction. These results suggest that

40 CFR 721.7270 - 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride. 721.7270 Section 721.7270 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL...-soya acyl derivs., chloride. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified as 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs...

40 CFR 721.7270 - 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride. 721.7270 Section 721.7270 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL...-soya acyl derivs., chloride. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified as 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs...

40 CFR 721.7270 - 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs., chloride. 721.7270 Section 721.7270 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL...-soya acyl derivs., chloride. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified as 1-propanaminium, 3-amino-, N,N,N-trimethyl-N-soya acyl derivs...

Human caspase-4 detects tetra-acylated LPS and cytosolic Francisella and functions differently from murine caspase-11.

PubMed

Lagrange, Brice; Benaoudia, Sacha; Wallet, Pierre; Magnotti, Flora; Provost, Angelina; Michal, Fanny; Martin, Amandine; Di Lorenzo, Flaviana; Py, Bénédicte F; Molinaro, Antonio; Henry, Thomas

2018-01-16

Caspase-4/5 in humans and caspase-11 in mice bind hexa-acylated lipid A, the lipid moeity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), to induce the activation of non-canonical inflammasome. Pathogens such as Francisella novicida express an under-acylated lipid A and escape caspase-11 recognition in mice. Here, we show that caspase-4 drives inflammasome responses to F. novicida infection in human macrophages. Caspase-4 triggers F. novicida-mediated, gasdermin D-dependent pyroptosis and activates the NLRP3 inflammasome. Inflammasome activation could be recapitulated by transfection of under-acylated LPS from different bacterial species or synthetic tetra-acylated lipid A into cytosol of human macrophage. Our results indicate functional differences between human caspase-4 and murine caspase-11. We further establish that human Guanylate-binding proteins promote inflammasome responses to under-acylated LPS. Altogether, our data demonstrate a broader reactivity of caspase-4 to under-acylated LPS than caspase-11, which may have important clinical implications for management of sepsis.

Defective Pollen Wall 2 (DPW2) Encodes an Acyl Transferase Required for Rice Pollen Development1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Shi, Jianxin; Rautengarten, Carsten; Yang, Li; Uzair, Muhammad; Zhu, Lu; Luo, Qian; An, Gynheung; Waßmann, Fritz

2017-01-01

Aliphatic and aromatic lipids are both essential structural components of the plant cuticle, an important interface between the plant and environment. Although cross links between aromatic and aliphatic or other moieties are known to be associated with the formation of leaf cutin and root and seed suberin, the contribution of aromatic lipids to the biosynthesis of anther cuticles and pollen walls remains elusive. In this study, we characterized the rice (Oryza sativa) male sterile mutant, defective pollen wall 2 (dpw2), which showed an abnormal anther cuticle, a defective pollen wall, and complete male sterility. Compared with the wild type, dpw2 anthers have increased amounts of cutin and waxes and decreased levels of lipidic and phenolic compounds. DPW2 encodes a cytoplasmically localized BAHD acyltransferase. In vitro assays demonstrated that recombinant DPW2 specifically transfers hydroxycinnamic acid moieties, using ω-hydroxy fatty acids as acyl acceptors and hydroxycinnamoyl-CoAs as acyl donors. Thus, The cytoplasmic hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:ω-hydroxy fatty acid transferase DPW2 plays a fundamental role in male reproduction via the biosynthesis of key components of the anther cuticle and pollen wall. PMID:27246096

Modified acyl-ACP desaturase

DOEpatents

Cahoon, E.B.; Shanklin, J.; Lindgvist, Y.; Schneider, G.

1998-01-06

Disclosed is a method for modifying the chain length and double bond positional specificities of a soluble plant fatty acid desaturase. More specifically, the method involves modifying amino acid contact residues in the substrate binding channel of the soluble fatty acid desaturase which contact the fatty acid. Specifically disclosed is the modification of an acyl-ACP desaturase. Amino acid contact residues which lie within the substrate binding channel are identified, and subsequently replaced with different residues to effect the modification of activity. 1 fig.

Modified Acyl-ACP desaturase

DOEpatents

Cahoon, E.B.; Shanklin, J.; Lindqvist, Y.; Schneider, G.

1999-03-30

Disclosed is a method for modifying the chain length and double bond positional specificities of a soluble plant fatty acid desaturase. More specifically, the method involves modifying amino acid contact residues in the substrate binding channel of the soluble fatty acid desaturase which contact the fatty acid. Specifically disclosed is the modification of an acyl-ACP desaturase. Amino acid contact residues which lie within the substrate binding channel are identified, and subsequently replaced with different residues to effect the modification of activity. 2 figs.

Visualization of Proton and Electron Transfer Processes of a Biochemical Reaction by μSR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiyotani, Tamiko; Kobayashi, Masayoshi; Tanaka, Ichiro; Niimura, Nobuo

For the last several years, we have discussed and conducted experiments toward realization of visualization of electron and proton transfer process in an enzyme reaction using muon. As the first step for exploring the useful application of the μSR for the biological system, which is "μSR in Biology". A first μSR experiment on biochemical reaction was conducted using the complex of a digestive enzyme, a kind of serine-protease and the inhibitor at J-PARC and PSI.

Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry: on-line trace gas analysis at the ppb level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansel, A.; Jordan, A.; Holzinger, R.; Prazeller, P.; Vogel, W.; Lindinger, W.

1995-11-01

A system for trace gas analysis using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) has been developed which allows for on-line measurements of components with concentrations as low as 1 ppb. The method is based on reactions of H3O+ ions, which perform non-dissociative proton transfer to most of the common organic trace constituents but do not react with any of the components present in clean air. Examples of analysis of breath taken from smokers and non-smokers as well as from patients suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, and of air in buildings as well as of ambient air taken at a road crossing demonstrate the wide range of applicability of this method. An enhanced level of acetonitrile in the breath is a most suitable indicator that a person is a smoker. Enhanced levels of propanol strongly indicate that a person has a severe liver deficiency.

Physical characterisation of high amylose maize starch and acylated high amylose maize starches.

PubMed

Lim, Ya-Mei; Hoobin, Pamela; Ying, DanYang; Burgar, Iko; Gooley, Paul R; Augustin, Mary Ann

2015-03-06

The particle size, water sorption properties and molecular mobility of high amylose maize starch (HAMS) and high amylose maize starch acylated with acetate (HAMSA), propionate (HAMSP) and butyrate (HAMSB) were investigated. Acylation increased the mean particle size (D(4,3)) and lowered the specific gravity (G) of the starch granules with an inverse relationship between the length of the fatty acid chain and particle size. Acylation of HAMS with fatty acids lowered the monolayer moisture content with the trend being HAMSBacylated starches and that drying and storage of the starch granules further reduced T2 long. Analysis of the Free Induction Decay (FID) focussing on the short components of T2 (correlated to the solid matrix), indicated that drying and subsequent storage resulted in alterations of starch at 0.33a(w) and that these changes were reduced with acylation. In vitro enzymatic digestibility of heated starch dispersions by bacterial α-amylase was increased by acylation (HAMS

Reaction between aminoalkyl radicals and akyl halides: Dehalogenation by electron transfer?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lalevée, J.; Fouassier, J. P.; Blanchard, N.; Ingold, K. U.

2011-07-01

Aminoalkyl radicals, such as Et2NCrad HCH3, have low oxidation potentials and are therefore powerful reducing agents. We have found that Et2NCrad HCH3 reacts with CCl4 and CBr4 in di-tert-butyl peroxide with bimolecular rate constants (measured by LFP) close, or equal, to the diffusion-controlled limit. For the less reactive halide, CH2Br2, the reaction rate is increased substantially by the addition of acetonitrile as a co-solvent. It is tentatively concluded that these reactions occur by electron-transfer from the aminoalkyl to the organohalide with formation of the iminium ion, Et2N+dbnd CHCH3 (NMR detection), halide ion and a halomethyl radical, e.g., rad CCl3 and rad CHCl2 (ESR, spin-trapping detection).

Two-Dimensional Resonance Raman Signatures of Vibronic Coherence Transfer in Chemical Reactions.

PubMed

Guo, Zhenkun; Molesky, Brian P; Cheshire, Thomas P; Moran, Andrew M

2017-11-02

Two-dimensional resonance Raman (2DRR) spectroscopy has been developed for studies of photochemical reaction mechanisms and structural heterogeneity in condensed phase systems. 2DRR spectroscopy is motivated by knowledge of non-equilibrium effects that cannot be detected with traditional resonance Raman spectroscopy. For example, 2DRR spectra may reveal correlated distributions of reactant and product geometries in systems that undergo chemical reactions on the femtosecond time scale. Structural heterogeneity in an ensemble may also be reflected in the 2D spectroscopic line shapes of both reactive and non-reactive systems. In this chapter, these capabilities of 2DRR spectroscopy are discussed in the context of recent applications to the photodissociation reactions of triiodide. We show that signatures of "vibronic coherence transfer" in the photodissociation process can be targeted with particular 2DRR pulse sequences. Key differences between the signal generation mechanisms for 2DRR and off-resonant 2D Raman spectroscopy techniques are also addressed. Overall, recent experimental developments and applications of the 2DRR method suggest that it will be a valuable tool for elucidating ultrafast chemical reaction mechanisms.

Dynamics of the F(-) + CH3I → HF + CH2I(-) Proton Transfer Reaction.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiaxu; Xie, Jing; Hase, William L

2015-12-17

Direct chemical dynamics simulations, at collision energies Erel of 0.32 and 1.53 eV, were performed to obtain an atomistic understanding of the F(-) + CH3I reaction dynamics. There is only the F(-) + CH3I → CH3F + I(-) bimolecular nucleophilic substitution SN2 product channel at 0.32 eV. Increasing Erel to 1.53 eV opens the endothermic F(-) + CH3I → HF + CH2I(-) proton transfer reaction, which is less competitive than the SN2 reaction. The simulations reveal proton transfer occurs by two direct atomic-level mechanisms, rebound and stripping, and indirect mechanisms, involving formation of the F(-)···HCH2I complex and the roundabout. For the indirect trajectories all of the CH2I(-) is formed with zero-point energy (ZPE), while for the direct trajectories 50% form CH2I(-) without ZPE. Without a ZPE constraint for CH2I(-), the reaction cross sections for the rebound, stripping, and indirect mechanisms are 0.2 ± 0.1, 1.2 ± 0.4, and 0.7 ± 0.2 Å(2), respectively. Discarding trajectories that do not form CH2I(-) with ZPE reduces the rebound and stripping cross sections to 0.1 ± 0.1 and 0.7 ± 0.5 Å(2). The HF product is formed rotationally and vibrationally unexcited. The average value of J is 2.6 and with histogram binning n = 0. CH2I(-) is formed rotationally excited. The partitioning between CH2I(-) vibration and HF + CH2I(-) relative translation energy depends on the treatment of CH2I(-) ZPE. Without a CH2I(-) ZPE constraint the energy partitioning is primarily to relative translation with little CH2I(-) vibration. With a ZPE constraint, energy partitioning to CH2I(-) rotation, CH2I(-) vibration, and relative translation are statistically the same. The overall F(-) + CH3I rate constant at Erel of both 0.32 and 1.53 eV is in good agreement with experiment and negligibly affected by the treatment of CH2I(-) ZPE, since the SN2 reaction is the major contributor to the total reaction rate constant. The potential energy surface and reaction dynamics for F

The effects of collision orientation and energy dependence in multinucleon transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jingjing; Li, Cheng; Wen, Peiwei; Zhang, Feng-Shou

2018-05-01

Multinucleon transfer (MNT) reaction 136Xe+208Pb near Coulomb barrier energies are investigated within the dinuclear system (DNS) model. It is found that the collision orientation has an important influence on the mass distributions attributed to the depth of pocket in the driving potential. The calculation results of the isotopic production show that the energy dependence in neutron-deficient side is more sensitive than that in neutron-rich side. The production of the N = 126 isotones are calculated by GRAZING model, DNS+GEMINI model, and ImQMD+GEMINI model, respectively. It demonstrates that MNT reaction is a promising way to produce neutron-rich isotopes in the region of the neutron shell closure N = 126.

Targeted Lipidomics in Drosophila melanogaster Identifies Novel 2-Monoacylglycerols and N-acyl Amides

PubMed Central

Takacs, Sara M.; Stuart, Jordyn M.; Basnet, Arjun; Raboune, Siham; Widlanski, Theodore S.; Doherty, Patrick; Bradshaw, Heather B.

2013-01-01

Lipid metabolism is critical to coordinate organ development and physiology in response to tissue-autonomous signals and environmental cues. Changes to the availability and signaling of lipid mediators can limit competitiveness, adaptation to environmental stressors, and augment pathological processes. Two classes of lipids, the N-acyl amides and the 2-acyl glycerols, have emerged as important signaling molecules in a wide range of species with important signaling properties, though most of what is known about their cellular functions is from mammalian models. Therefore, expanding available knowledge on the repertoire of these lipids in invertebrates will provide additional avenues of research aimed at elucidating biosynthetic, metabolic, and signaling properties of these molecules. Drosophila melanogaster is a commonly used organism to study intercellular communication, including the functions of bioactive lipids. However, limited information is available on the molecular identity of lipids with putative biological activities in Drosophila. Here, we used a targeted lipidomics approach to identify putative signaling lipids in third instar Drosophila larvae, possessing particularly large lipid mass in their fat body. We identified 2-linoleoyl glycerol, 2-oleoyl glycerol, and 45 N-acyl amides in larval tissues, and validated our findings by the comparative analysis of Oregon-RS, Canton-S and w1118 strains. Data here suggest that Drosophila represent another model system to use for the study of 2-acyl glycerol and N-acyl amide signaling. PMID:23874457

Recombinant human dihydroxyacetonephosphate acyl-transferase characterization as an integral monotopic membrane protein.

PubMed

Piano, Valentina; Nenci, Simone; Magnani, Francesca; Aliverti, Alessandro; Mattevi, Andrea

2016-12-02

Although the precise functions of ether phospholipids are still poorly understood, significant alterations in their physiological levels are associated either to inherited disorders or to aggressive metastatic cancer. The essential precursor, alkyl-dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), for all ether phospholipids species is synthetized in two consecutive reactions performed by two enzymes sitting on the inner side of the peroxisomal membrane. Here, we report the characterization of the recombinant human DHAP acyl-transferase, which performs the first step in alkyl-DHAP synthesis. By exploring several expression systems and designing a number of constructs, we were able to purify the enzyme in its active form and we found that it is tightly bound to the membrane through the N-terminal residues. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cross-benzoin and Stetter-type reactions mediated by KOtBu-DMF via an electron-transfer process.

PubMed

Ragno, Daniele; Zaghi, Anna; Di Carmine, Graziano; Giovannini, Pier Paolo; Bortolini, Olga; Fogagnolo, Marco; Molinari, Alessandra; Venturini, Alessandro; Massi, Alessandro

2016-10-18

The condensation of aromatic α-diketones (benzils) with aromatic aldehydes (benzoin-type reaction) and chalcones (Stetter-type reaction) in DMF in the presence of catalytic (25 mol%) KOtBu is reported. Both types of umpolung processes proceed with good efficiency and complete chemoselectivity. On the basis of spectroscopic evidence (MS analysis) of plausible intermediates and literature reports, the occurrence of different ionic pathways have been evaluated to elucidate the mechanism of a model cross-benzoin-like reaction along with a radical route initiated by an electron-transfer process to benzil from the carbamoyl anion derived from DMF. This mechanistic investigation has culminated in a different proposal, supported by calculations and a trapping experiment, based on double electron-transfer to benzil with formation of the corresponding enediolate anion as the key reactive intermediate. A mechanistic comparison between the activation modes of benzils in KOtBu-DMF and KOtBu-DMSO systems is also described.

Nitroxyl Radical plus Hydroxylamine Pseudo Self-Exchange Reactions: Tunneling in Hydrogen Atom Transfer

PubMed Central

Wu, Adam; Mader, Elizabeth A.; Datta, Ayan; Hrovat, David A.; Borden, Weston Thatcher; Mayer, James M.

2009-01-01

Bimolecular rate constants have been measured for reactions that involve hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) from hydroxylamines to nitroxyl radicals, using the stable radicals TEMPO• (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical), 4-oxo-TEMPO• (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-oxo-piperidine-1-oxyl radical), di-tert-butylnitroxyl (tBu2NO•), and the hydroxylamines TEMPO-H, 4-oxo-TEMPO-H, 4-MeO-TEMPO-H (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-N-hydroxy-4-methoxy-piperidine), and tBu2NOH. The reactions have been monitored by UV-vis stopped-flow methods, using the different optical spectra of nitroxyl radicals. The HAT reactions all have |ΔGo| ≤ 1.4 kcal mol−1 and therefore are close to self-exchange reactions. The reaction of 4-oxo-TEMPO• + TEMPO-H → 4-oxo-TEMPO-H + TEMPO• occurs with k2H,MeCN = 10 ± 1 M−1 s−1 in MeCN at 298 K (K2H,MeCN = 4.5 ± 1.8). Surprisingly, the rate constant for the analogous deuterium atom transfer reaction is much slower: k2D,MeCN = 0.44 ± 0.05 M−1 s−1 with k2H,MeCN/k2D,MeCN = 23 ± 3 at 298 K. The same large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is found in CH2Cl2, 23 ± 4, suggesting that the large KIE is not caused by solvent dynamics or hydrogen bonding to solvent. The related reaction of 4-oxo-TEMPO• with 4-MeO-TEMPO-H(D) also has a large KIE, k3H/k3D = 21 ± 3 in MeCN. For these three reactions, the EaD – EaH values, between 0.3 ± 0.6 and 1.3 ± 0.6 kcal mol−1, and the log(AH/AD) values, between 0.5 ± 0.7 and 1.1 ± 0.6, indicate that hydrogen tunneling plays an important role. The related reaction of tBu2NO• + TEMPO-H(D) in MeCN has a large KIE, 16 ± 3 in MeCN, and very unusual isotopic activation parameters, EaD – EaH = −2.6 ± 0.4 and log(AH/AD) = 3.1 ± 0.6. Computational studies, using POLYRATE, also indicate substantial tunneling in the (CH3)2NO• + (CH3)2NOH model reaction for the experimental self-exchange processes. Additional calculations on TEMPO(•/H), tBu2NO(•/H), and Ph2NO(•/H) self-exchange reactions reveal why the

Lanthanum tricyanide-catalyzed acyl silane-ketone benzoin additions.

PubMed

Tarr, James C; Johnson, Jeffrey S

2009-09-03

Lanthanum tricyanide efficiently catalyzes a benzoin-type coupling between acyl silanes and ketones. Yields range from moderate to excellent over a broad substrate scope encompassing aryl, alkyl, electron-rich, and sterically hindered ketones.

Acylated ghrelin concentrations are markedly decreased during pregnancy in mothers with and without gestational diabetes: relationship with cholinesterase.

PubMed

Tham, Elaine; Liu, Jianhua; Innis, Sheila; Thompson, David; Gaylinn, Bruce D; Bogarin, Roberto; Haim, Alon; Thorner, Michael O; Chanoine, Jean-Pierre

2009-05-01

Acylated (octanoylated) ghrelin stimulates food intake and growth hormone secretion and is deacylated into desacyl ghrelin by butyrylcholinesterase. Acylated and desacyl ghrelin both promote adipogenesis. Ghrelin concentrations decrease with hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinism. We hypothesized that 1) acylated ghrelin increases during pregnancy, contributing positively to energy balance, but is lower in women with gestational diabetes and 2) butyrylcholinesterase activity is inversely correlated with acylated ghrelin concentrations. In a first group of subjects, using two-site sandwich ghrelin assays that specifically detect full-length forms, we investigated women with and without gestational diabetes (n = 14/group) during pregnancy and after delivery. We examined whether changes in ghrelin during a test meal were correlated with changes in pituitary growth hormone [assessed through calculation of the area under the curve (AUC) during the test meal]. In postpartum subjects, the percent of total ghrelin that is acylated was four to five times higher than previously observed using single antibody assays. During pregnancy, acylated ghrelin concentrations (mean +/- SE) were lower compared with the postpartum period throughout the meal (AUC 1.2 +/- 0.2 vs. 10.2 +/- 1.9 ng.ml(-1).90 min(-1), P < 0.001). In the postpartum, acylated ghrelin and growth hormone were positively correlated (r = 0.50, P = 0.007). Desacyl (but not acylated) ghrelin was increased in subjects with gestational diabetes during and after pregnancy (AUC 15.4 +/- 1.9 vs. 8.6 +/- 1.2 ng.ml(-1).90 min(-1), P = 0.005). In a second group of subjects (n = 13), acylated ghrelin was similarly suppressed during pregnancy. Circulating octanoate concentrations (3.1 +/- 0.5 vs. 4.5 +/- 0.6 microg/ml, P = 0.029) and cholinesterase activity (705 +/- 33 vs. 1,013 +/- 56 U/ml, P < 0.001) were lower during pregnancy compared with the postpartum period. In conclusion, acylated ghrelin markedly decreases during pregnancy

Inverse association of des-acyl ghrelin with worksite blood pressure in overweight/obese male workers.

PubMed

Narisada, Akihiko; Hasegawa, Tomomi; Nakahigashi, Maki; Hirobe, Takaaki; Ikemoto, Tatsunori; Ushida, Takahiro; Kobayashi, Fumio

2015-05-01

Job strain, defined as a combination of high job demands and low job control, has been reported to elevate blood pressure (BP) during work. Meanwhile, a recent experimental study showed that ghrelin blunted the BP response to such mental stress. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that des-acyl ghrelin may have some beneficial effects on worksite BP through modulating the BP response to work-related mental stress, i.e., job strain. Subjects were 34 overweight/obese male day-shift workers (mean age 41.7 ± 6.7 years). No subjects had received any anti-hypertensive medication. A 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring was recorded every 30 min on a regular working day. The average BP was calculated for Work BP, Morning BP, and Home BP. Job strain was assessed using the short version of the Japanese Job Content Questionnaire. Des-acyl ghrelin showed significant inverse correlations with almost all BPs except Morning SBP, Morning DBP, and Home DBP. In multiple regression analysis, des-acyl ghrelin inversely correlated with Work SBP after adjusting for confounding factors. Des-acyl ghrelin was also negatively associated with BP changes from Sleep to Morning, Sleep to Work, and Sleep to Home. Des-acyl ghrelin was inversely associated with Worksite BP, suggesting a unique beneficial effect of des-acyl ghrelin on Worksite BP in overweight/obese male day-shift workers.

Rational Design of Broad Spectrum Antibacterial Activity Based on a Clinically Relevant Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein (ACP) Reductase Inhibitor*

PubMed Central

Schiebel, Johannes; Chang, Andrew; Shah, Sonam; Lu, Yang; Liu, Li; Pan, Pan; Hirschbeck, Maria W.; Tareilus, Mona; Eltschkner, Sandra; Yu, Weixuan; Cummings, Jason E.; Knudson, Susan E.; Bommineni, Gopal R.; Walker, Stephen G.; Slayden, Richard A.; Sotriffer, Christoph A.; Tonge, Peter J.; Kisker, Caroline

2014-01-01

Determining the molecular basis for target selectivity is of particular importance in drug discovery. The ideal antibiotic should be active against a broad spectrum of pathogenic organisms with a minimal effect on human targets. CG400549, a Staphylococcus-specific 2-pyridone compound that inhibits the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabI), has recently been shown to possess human efficacy for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, which constitute a serious threat to human health. In this study, we solved the structures of three different FabI homologues in complex with several pyridone inhibitors, including CG400549. Based on these structures, we rationalize the 65-fold reduced affinity of CG400549 toward Escherichia coli versus S. aureus FabI and implement concepts to improve the spectrum of antibacterial activity. The identification of different conformational states along the reaction coordinate of the enzymatic hydride transfer provides an elegant visual depiction of the relationship between catalysis and inhibition, which facilitates rational inhibitor design. Ultimately, we developed the novel 4-pyridone-based FabI inhibitor PT166 that retained favorable pharmacokinetics and efficacy in a mouse model of S. aureus infection with extended activity against Gram-negative and mycobacterial organisms. PMID:24739388

Rational design of broad spectrum antibacterial activity based on a clinically relevant enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase inhibitor.

PubMed

Schiebel, Johannes; Chang, Andrew; Shah, Sonam; Lu, Yang; Liu, Li; Pan, Pan; Hirschbeck, Maria W; Tareilus, Mona; Eltschkner, Sandra; Yu, Weixuan; Cummings, Jason E; Knudson, Susan E; Bommineni, Gopal R; Walker, Stephen G; Slayden, Richard A; Sotriffer, Christoph A; Tonge, Peter J; Kisker, Caroline

2014-06-06

Determining the molecular basis for target selectivity is of particular importance in drug discovery. The ideal antibiotic should be active against a broad spectrum of pathogenic organisms with a minimal effect on human targets. CG400549, a Staphylococcus-specific 2-pyridone compound that inhibits the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabI), has recently been shown to possess human efficacy for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, which constitute a serious threat to human health. In this study, we solved the structures of three different FabI homologues in complex with several pyridone inhibitors, including CG400549. Based on these structures, we rationalize the 65-fold reduced affinity of CG400549 toward Escherichia coli versus S. aureus FabI and implement concepts to improve the spectrum of antibacterial activity. The identification of different conformational states along the reaction coordinate of the enzymatic hydride transfer provides an elegant visual depiction of the relationship between catalysis and inhibition, which facilitates rational inhibitor design. Ultimately, we developed the novel 4-pyridone-based FabI inhibitor PT166 that retained favorable pharmacokinetics and efficacy in a mouse model of S. aureus infection with extended activity against Gram-negative and mycobacterial organisms. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Intramolecular energy transfer and mode-specific effects in unimolecular reactions of 1,2-difluoroethane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raff, Lionel M.

1989-06-01

The unimolecular decomposition reactions of 1,2-difluoroethane upon mode-specific excitation to a total internal energy of 7.5 eV are investigated using classical trajectory methods and a previously formulated empirical potential-energy surface. The decomposition channels for 1,2-difluoroethane are, in order of importance, four-center HF elimination, C-C bond rupture, and hydrogen-atom dissociation. This order is found to be independent of the particular vibrational mode excited. Neither fluorine-atom nor F2 elimination reactions are ever observed even though these dissociation channels are energetically open. For four-center HF elimination, the average fraction of the total energy partitioned into internal HF motion varies between 0.115-0.181 depending upon the particular vibrational mode initially excited. The internal energy of the fluoroethylene product lies in the range 0.716-0.776. Comparison of the present results with those previously obtained for a random distribution of the initial 1,2-difluoroethane internal energy [J. Phys. Chem. 92, 5111 (1988)], shows that numerous mode-specific effects are present in these reactions in spite of the fact that intramolecular energy transfer rates for this system are 5.88-25.5 times faster than any of the unimolecular reaction rates. Mode-specific excitation always leads to a total decomposition rate significantly larger than that obtained for a random distribution of the internal energy. Excitation of different 1,2-difluoroethane vibrational modes is found to produce as much as a 51% change in the total decomposition rate. Mode-specific effects are also seen in the product energy partitioning. The rate coefficients for decomposition into the various channels are very sensitive to the particular mode excited. A comparison of the calculated mode-specific effects with the previously determined mode-to-mode energy transfer rate coefficients [J. Chem. Phys. 89, 5680 (1988)] shows that, to some extent, the presence of mode

Nuclear structure studies performed using the (18O,16O) two-neutron transfer reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbone, D.; Agodi, C.; Cappuzzello, F.; Cavallaro, M.; Ferreira, J. L.; Foti, A.; Gargano, A.; Lenzi, S. M.; Linares, R.; Lubian, J.; Santagati, G.

2018-02-01

Excitation energy spectra and absolute cross section angular distributions were measured for the 13C(18O,16O)15C two-neutron transfer reaction at 84 MeV incident energy. This reaction selectively populates two-neutron configurations in the states of the residual nucleus. Exact finite-range coupled reaction channel calculations are used to analyse the data. Two approaches are discussed: the extreme cluster and the newly introduced microscopic cluster. The latter makes use of spectroscopic amplitudes in the centre of mass reference frame, derived from shell-model calculations using the Moshinsky transformation brackets. The results describe well the experimental cross section and highlight cluster configurations in the involved wave functions.

Associative charge transfer reactions. Temperature effects and mechanism of the gas-phase polymerization of propene initiated by a benzene radical cation.

PubMed

Ibrahim, Yehia; Meot-Ner Mautner, Michael; El-Shall, M Samy

2006-07-13

In associative charge transfer (ACT) reactions, a core ion activates ligand molecules by partial charge transfer. The activated ligand polymerizes, and the product oligomer takes up the full charge from the core ion. In the present system, benzene(+*) (Bz(+*)) reacts with two propene (Pr) molecules to form a covalently bonded ion, C(6)H(6)(+*) + 2 C(3)H(6) --> C(6)H(12)(+*) + C(6)H(6). The ACT reaction is activated by a partial charge transfer from Bz(+*) to Pr in the complex, and driven to completion by the formation of a covalent bond in the polymerized product. An alternative channel forms a stable association product (Bz.Pr)(+*), with an ACT/association product ratio of 60:40% that is independent of pressure and temperature. In contrast to the Bz(+*)/propene system, ACT polymerization is not observed in the Bz(+*)/ethylene (Et) system since charge transfer in the Bz(+*)(Et) complex is inefficient to activate the reaction. The roles of charge transfer in these complexes are verified by ab initio calculations. The overall reaction of Bz(+*) with Pr follows second-order kinetics with a rate constant of k (304 K) = 2.1 x 10(-12) cm(3) s(-1) and a negative temperature coefficient of k = aT(-5.9) (or an activation energy of -3 kcal/mol). The kinetic behavior is similar to sterically hindered reactions and suggests a [Bz(+*) (Pr)]* activated complex that proceeds to products through a low-entropy transition state. The temperature dependence shows that ACT reactions can reach a unit collision efficiency below 100 K, suggesting that ACT can initiate polymerization in cold astrochemical environments.

Engineering acyl carrier protein to enhance production of shortened fatty acids.

PubMed

Liu, Xueliang; Hicks, Wade M; Silver, Pamela A; Way, Jeffrey C

2016-01-01

The acyl carrier protein (ACP) is an essential and ubiquitous component of microbial synthesis of fatty acids, the natural precursor to biofuels. Natural fatty acids usually contain long chains of 16 or more carbon atoms. Shorter carbon chains, with increased fuel volatility, are desired for internal combustion engines. Engineering the length specificity of key proteins in fatty acid metabolism, such as ACP, may enable microbial synthesis of these shorter chain fatty acids. We constructed a homology model of the Synechococcus elongatus ACP, showing a hydrophobic pocket harboring the growing acyl chain. Amino acids within the pocket were mutated to increase steric hindrance to the acyl chain. Certain mutant ACPs, when over-expressed in Escherichia coli, increased the proportion of shorter chain lipids; I75 W and I75Y showed the strongest effects. Expression of I75 W and I75Y mutant ACPs also increased production of lauric acid in E. coli that expressed the C12-specific acyl-ACP thioesterase from Cuphea palustris. We engineered the specificity of the ACP, an essential protein of fatty acid metabolism, to alter the E. coli lipid pool and enhance production of medium-chain fatty acids as biofuel precursors. These results indicate that modification of ACP itself could be combined with enzymes affecting length specificity in fatty acid synthesis to enhance production of commodity chemicals based on fatty acids.

Lanthanum Tricyanide-Catalyzed Acyl Silane-Ketone Benzoin Additions

PubMed Central

Tarr, James C.; Johnson, Jeffrey S.

2009-01-01

Lanthanum tricyanide efficiently catalyzes a benzoin-type coupling between acyl silanes and ketones. Yields range from moderate to excellent over a broad substrate scope encompassing aryl, alkyl, electron-rich, and sterically hindered ketones. PMID:19655731

The NO+O3 reaction: a triple oxygen isotope perspective on the reaction dynamics and atmospheric implications for the transfer of the ozone isotope anomaly.

PubMed

Savarino, J; Bhattacharya, S K; Morin, S; Baroni, M; Doussin, J-F

2008-05-21

Atmospheric nitrate shows a large oxygen isotope anomaly (Delta 17 O), characterized by an excess enrichment of 17 O over 18 O, similar to the ozone molecule. Modeling and observations assign this specific isotopic composition mainly to the photochemical steady state that exists in the atmosphere between ozone and nitrate precursors, namely, the nitrogen oxides (NOx=NO+NO2). However, this transfer is poorly quantified and is built on unverified assumptions about which oxygen atoms of ozone are transferred to NO(x), greatly weakening any interpretation of the nitrate oxygen isotopic composition in terms of chemical reaction pathways and the oxidation state of the atmosphere. With the aim to improve our understanding and quantify how nitrate inherits this unusual isotopic composition, we have carried out a triple isotope study of the reaction NO+O3. Using ozone intramolecular isotope distributions available in the literature, we have found that the central atom of the ozone is abstracted by NO with a probability of (8+/-5)%(+/-2 sigma) at room temperature. This result is at least qualitatively supported by dynamical reaction experiments, the non-Arrhenius behavior of the kinetic rate of this reaction, and the kinetic isotope fractionation factor. Finally, we have established the transfer function of the isotope anomaly of O3 to NO2, which is described by the linear relationship Delta 17 O(NO2)=A x Delta 17 O(O3)+B, with A=1.18+/-0.07(+/-1 sigma) and B=(6.6+/-1.5)[per thousand](+/-1 sigma). Such a relationship can be easily incorporated into models dealing with the propagation of the ozone isotope anomaly among oxygen-bearing species in the atmosphere and should help to better interpret the oxygen isotope anomaly of atmospheric nitrate in terms of its formation reaction pathways.

Structure-based mutational analysis of the 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferases Sfp from Bacillus subtilis: carrier protein recognition and reaction mechanism.

PubMed

Mofid, Mohammad Reza; Finking, Robert; Essen, Lars Oliver; Marahiel, Mohamed A

2004-04-13

The activation of apo-peptidyl carrier proteins (PCPs) of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), apo-acyl carrier proteins (ACPs) of polyketide synthases (PKSs), and fatty acid synthases (FASs) to their active holo form is accomplished with dedicated 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferases (PPTases). They catalyze the transfer of the essential prosthetic group 4'-phosphopantetheine (4'-Ppant) from coenzyme A (CoA) to a highly conserved serine residue in all PCPs and ACPs. PPTases, based on sequence and substrate specifity, have been classified into three types: bacterial holo-acyl carrier protein synthase (AcpS), fatty acid synthase of eukaryotes (FAS2) and Sfp, a PPTase of secondary metabolism. The recently solved crystal structures of AcpS and Sfp-type PPTases with CoA revealed a common alpha + beta-fold with a beta(1)alpha(3)beta(2) motif and similarities in CoA binding and polymerization mode. However, it was not possible to discern neither the PCP binding region of Sfp nor the priming reaction mechanism from the Sfp-CoA cocrystal. In this work, we provide a model for the reaction mechanism based on mutational analysis of Sfp that suggests a reaction mechanism in which the highly conserved E151 deprotonates the hydroxyl group of the invariant serine of PCP. That, in turn, acts as a nucleophile to attack the beta-phosphate of CoA. The Sfp mutants K112, E117, and K120 further revealed that the loop region between beta4 and alpha5 (residues T111-S124) in Sfp is the PCP binding region. Also, residues T44, K75, S89, H90, D107, E109, E151, and K155 that have been shown in the Sfp-CoA cocrystal structure to coordinate CoA are now all confirmed by mutational and biochemical analysis.

Fluorescent probes for tracking the transfer of iron–sulfur cluster and other metal cofactors in biosynthetic reaction pathways

DOE PAGES

Vranish, James N.; Russell, William K.; Yu, Lusa E.; ...

2014-12-05

Iron–sulfur (Fe–S) clusters are protein cofactors that are constructed and delivered to target proteins by elaborate biosynthetic machinery. Mechanistic insights into these processes have been limited by the lack of sensitive probes for tracking Fe–S cluster synthesis and transfer reactions. Here we present fusion protein- and intein-based fluorescent labeling strategies that can probe Fe–S cluster binding. The fluorescence is sensitive to different cluster types ([2Fe–2S] and [4Fe–4S] clusters), ligand environments ([2Fe–2S] clusters on Rieske, ferredoxin (Fdx), and glutaredoxin), and cluster oxidation states. The power of this approach is highlighted with an extreme example in which the kinetics of Fe–S clustermore » transfer reactions are monitored between two Fdx molecules that have identical Fe–S spectroscopic properties. This exchange reaction between labeled and unlabeled Fdx is catalyzed by dithiothreitol (DTT), a result that was confirmed by mass spectrometry. DTT likely functions in a ligand substitution reaction that generates a [2Fe–2S]–DTT species, which can transfer the cluster to either labeled or unlabeled Fdx. The ability to monitor this challenging cluster exchange reaction indicates that real-time Fe–S cluster incorporation can be tracked for a specific labeled protein in multicomponent assays that include several unlabeled Fe–S binding proteins or other chromophores. Such advanced kinetic experiments are required to untangle the intricate networks of transfer pathways and the factors affecting flux through branch points. High sensitivity and suitability with high-throughput methodology are additional benefits of this approach. Lastly, we anticipate that this cluster detection methodology will transform the study of Fe–S cluster pathways and potentially other metal cofactor biosynthetic pathways.« less

Aminoacyl transfer from an adenylate anhydride to polyribonucleotides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weber, A. L.; Lacey, J. C., Jr.

1975-01-01

Imidazole catalysis of phenylalanyl transfer from phenylalanine adenylate to hydroxyl groups of homopolyribonucleotides is studied as a possible chemical model of biochemical aminoacylation of transfer RNA (tRNA). The effect of pH on imidazole-catalyzed transfer of phenylalanyl residues to poly(U) and poly(A) double helix strands, the number of peptide linkages and their lability to base and neutral hydroxylamine, and the nature of adenylate condensation products are investigated. The chemical model entertained exhibits a constraint by not acylating the hydroxyl groups of polyribonucleotides in a double helix. The constraint is consistent with selective biochemical aminoacylation at the tRNA terminus. Interest in imidazole as a model of histidine residue in protoenzymes participating in prebiotic aminoacyl transfer to polyribonucleotides, and in rendering the tRNA a more efficient adaptor, is indicated.

Long-term mass transfer and mixing-controlled reactions of a DNAPL plume from persistent residuals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yuan; Illangasekare, Tissa H.; Kitanidis, Peter K.

2014-02-01

Understanding and being able to predict the long-term behavior of DNAPL (i.e., PCE and TCE) residuals after active remediation has ceased have become increasingly important as attention at many sites turns from aggressive remediation to monitored natural attenuation and long-term stewardship. However, plume behavior due to mass loading and reactions during these later phases is less studied as they involve large spatial and temporal scales. We apply both theoretical analysis and pore-scale simulations to investigate mass transfer from DNAPL residuals and subsequent reactions within the generated plume, and, in particular, to show the differences between early- and late-time behaviors of the plume. In the zone of entry of the DNAPL entrapment zone where the concentration boundary layer in the flowing groundwater has not fully developed, the pore-scale simulations confirm the past findings based on laboratory studies that the mass transfer increases as a power-law function of the Peclét number, and is enhanced due to reactions in the plume. Away from the entry zone and further down gradient, the long-term reactions are limited by the available additive and mixing in the porous medium, thereby behave considerably differently from the entry zone. For the reaction between the contaminant and an additive with intrinsic second-order bimolecular kinetics, the late-time reaction demonstrates a first-order decay macroscopically with respect to the mass of the limiting additive, not with respect to that of the contaminant. The late-time decay rate only depends on the intrinsic reaction rate and the solubility of the entrapped DNAPL. At the intermediate time, the additive decays exponentially with the square of time (t2), instead of time (t). Moreover, the intermediate decay rate also depends on the initial conditions, the spatial distribution of DNAPL residuals, and the effective dispersion coefficient.

pHP-Tethered N-Acyl Carbamate: A Photocage for Nicotinamide.

PubMed

Salahi, Farbod; Purohit, Vatsal; Ferraudi, Guillermo; Stauffacher, Cynthia; Wiest, Olaf; Helquist, Paul

2018-05-04

The synthesis of a new photocaged nicotinamide having an N-acyl carbamate linker and a p-hydroxyphenacyl (pHP) chromophore is described. The photophysical and photochemical studies showed an absorption maximum at λ = 330 nm and a quantum yield for release of 11% that are dependent upon both pH and solvent. While the acyl carbamate releases nicotinamide efficiently, a simpler amide linker was inert to photocleavage. This photocaged nicotinamide has significant advantages with respect to quantum yield, absorbance wavelength, rate of release, and solubility that make it the first practical example of a photocaged amide.

Acute effect of exercise intensity and duration on acylated ghrelin and hunger in men.

PubMed

Broom, David R; Miyashita, Masashi; Wasse, Lucy K; Pulsford, Richard; King, James A; Thackray, Alice E; Stensel, David J

2017-03-01

Acute exercise transiently suppresses the orexigenic gut hormone acylated ghrelin, but the extent to which exercise intensity and duration determine this response is not fully understood. The effects of manipulating exercise intensity and duration on acylated ghrelin concentrations and hunger were examined in two experiments. In experiment one, nine healthy males completed three, 4-h conditions (control, moderate-intensity running (MOD) and vigorous-intensity running (VIG)), with an energy expenditure of ~2.5 MJ induced in both MOD (55-min running at 52% peak oxygen uptake (V.O 2peak )) and VIG (36-min running at 75% V.O 2peak ). In experiment two, nine healthy males completed three, 9-h conditions (control, 45-min running (EX45) and 90-min running (EX90)). Exercise was performed at 70% V.O 2peak In both experiments, participants consumed standardised meals, and acylated ghrelin concentrations and hunger were quantified at predetermined intervals. In experiment one, delta acylated ghrelin concentrations were lower than control in MOD (ES = 0.44, P = 0.01) and VIG (ES = 0.98, P < 0.001); VIG was lower than MOD (ES = 0.54, P = 0.003). Hunger ratings were similar across the conditions (P = 0.35). In experiment two, delta acylated ghrelin concentrations were lower than control in EX45 (ES = 0.77, P < 0.001) and EX90 (ES = 0.68, P < 0.001); EX45 and EX90 were similar (ES = 0.09, P = 0.55). Hunger ratings were lower than control in EX45 (ES = 0.20, P = 0.01) and EX90 (ES = 0.27, P = 0.001); EX45 and EX90 were similar (ES = 0.07, P = 0.34). Hunger and delta acylated ghrelin concentrations remained suppressed at 1.5 h in EX90 but not EX45. In conclusion, exercise intensity, and to a lesser extent duration, are determinants of the acylated ghrelin response to acute exercise. © 2017 Society for Endocrinology.

Fundamental Reaction Pathway and Free Energy Profile for Butyrylcholinesterase-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Heroin

PubMed Central

Qiao, Yan; Han, Keli; Zhan, Chang-Guo

2013-01-01

The pharmacological function of heroin requires an activation process which transforms heroin into 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) which is the most active form. The primary enzyme responsible for this activation process in human plasma is butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). The detailed reaction pathway of the activation process via BChE-catalyzed hydrolysis has been explored computationally, for the first time, in the present study by performing molecular dynamics simulation and first-principles quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical free energy calculations. It has been demonstrated that the whole reaction process includes acylation and deacylation stages. The acylation consists of two reaction steps, i.e. the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon of 3-acetyl group of heroin by the hydroxyl oxygen of Ser198 side chain and the dissociation of 6-MAM. The deacylation also consists of two reaction steps, i.e. the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon of the acyl-enzyme intermediate by a water molecule and the dissociation of the acetic acid from Ser198. The calculated free energy profile reveals that the second transition state (TS2) should be rate-determining. The structural analysis reveals that the oxyanion hole of BChE plays an important role in the stabilization of the rate-determining transition state TS2. The free energy barrier (15.9±0.2 or 16.1±0.2 kcal/mol) calculated for the rate-determining step is in good agreement with the experimentally-derived activation free energy (~16.2 kcal/mol), suggesting that the mechanistic insights obtained from the present computational study are reliable. The obtained structural and mechanistic insights could be valuable for use in future rational design of a novel therapeutic treatment of heroin abuse. PMID:23992153

Reversible Hydrogen Transfer Reactions in Thiyl Radicals From Cysteine and Related Molecules: Absolute Kinetics and Equilibrium Constants Determined by Pulse Radiolysis

PubMed Central

Koppenol, Willem H.

2013-01-01

The mercapto group of cysteine (Cys) is a predominant target for oxidative modification, where one-electron oxidation leads to the formation of Cys thiyl radicals, CysS•. These Cys thiyl radicals enter 1,2- and 1,3-hydrogen transfer reactions, for which rate constants are reported in this paper. The products of these 1,2- and 1,3-hydrogen transfer reactions are carbon-centered radicals at position C3 (α-mercaptoalkyl radicals) and C2 (•Cα radicals) of Cys, respectively. Both processes can be monitored separately in Cys analogues such as cysteamine (CyaSH) and penicillamine (PenSH). At acidic pH, thiyl radicals from CyaSH permit only the 1,2-hydrogen transfer according to equilibrium 12, +H3NCH2CH2S• ⇌ +H3NCH2 •CH–SH, where rate constants for forward and reverse reaction are k12 ≈ 105 s−1 and k−12 ≈ 1.5 × 105s−1, respectively. In contrast, only the 1,3-hydrogen transfer is possible for thiyl radicals from PenSH according to equilibrium 14, (+H3N/CO2H)Cα–C(CH3)2–S• ⇌ (+H3N/CO2H)•Cα–C(CH3)2–SH, where rate constants for the forward and the reverse reaction are k14 = 8 × 104 s−1 and k−14 = 1.4 × 106 s−1. The •Cα radicals from PenSH and Cys have the additional opportunity for β-elimination of HS•/S•−, which proceeds with k39 ≈ (3 ± 1) × 104 s−1 from •Cα radicals from PenSH and k−34 ≈ 5 × 103 s−1 from •Cα radicals from Cys. The rate constants quantified for the 1,2- and 1,3-hydrogen transfer reactions can be used as a basis to calculate similar processes for Cys thiyl radicals in proteins, where hydrogen transfer reactions, followed by the addition of oxygen, may lead to the irreversible modification of target proteins. PMID:22483034

Sites of intermolecular crosslinking of fatty acyl chains in phospholipids carrying a photoactivable carbene precursor

PubMed Central

Gupta, Chhitar M.; Costello, Catherine E.; Khorana, H. Gobind

1979-01-01

Sonicated vesicles of 1-fatty acyl-2-ω-(2-diazo-3,3,3-trifluoropropionoxy) fatty acyl sn-glycero-3-phosphoryl-cholines were shown recently to form intermolecular crosslinks by insertion of the photogenerated carbene into a C—H bond of a neighboring hydrocarbon chain. We now report that photolysis of multilamellar dispersions gives a second series of products in which carbene insertion is accompanied by elimination of a molecule of hydrogen fluoride. The sites of crosslinking in the latter compounds have been studied by mass spectrometry using phospholipids with varying chain lengths of the fatty acyl groups carrying the carbene precursor. The patterns observed show that the point of maximum crosslinking is consistent with the recent conclusion that in phospholipids the sn-2 fatty acyl chain trails the sn-1 chain by 2-4 atoms. Images PMID:16592675

Acylated ghrelin concentrations are markedly decreased during pregnancy in mothers with and without gestational diabetes: relationship with cholinesterase

PubMed Central

Tham, Elaine; Liu, Jianhua; Innis, Sheila; Thompson, David; Gaylinn, Bruce D.; Bogarin, Roberto; Haim, Alon; Thorner, Michael O.; Chanoine, Jean-Pierre

2009-01-01

Acylated (octanoylated) ghrelin stimulates food intake and growth hormone secretion and is deacylated into desacyl ghrelin by butyrylcholinesterase. Acylated and desacyl ghrelin both promote adipogenesis. Ghrelin concentrations decrease with hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinism. We hypothesized that 1) acylated ghrelin increases during pregnancy, contributing positively to energy balance, but is lower in women with gestational diabetes and 2) butyrylcholinesterase activity is inversely correlated with acylated ghrelin concentrations. In a first group of subjects, using two-site sandwich ghrelin assays that specifically detect full-length forms, we investigated women with and without gestational diabetes (n = 14/group) during pregnancy and after delivery. We examined whether changes in ghrelin during a test meal were correlated with changes in pituitary growth hormone [assessed through calculation of the area under the curve (AUC) during the test meal]. In postpartum subjects, the percent of total ghrelin that is acylated was four to five times higher than previously observed using single antibody assays. During pregnancy, acylated ghrelin concentrations (mean ± SE) were lower compared with the postpartum period throughout the meal (AUC 1.2 ± 0.2 vs. 10.2 ± 1.9 ng·ml−1·90 min−1, P < 0.001). In the postpartum, acylated ghrelin and growth hormone were positively correlated (r = 0.50, P = 0.007). Desacyl (but not acylated) ghrelin was increased in subjects with gestational diabetes during and after pregnancy (AUC 15.4 ± 1.9 vs. 8.6 ± 1.2 ng·ml−1·90 min−1, P = 0.005). In a second group of subjects (n = 13), acylated ghrelin was similarly suppressed during pregnancy. Circulating octanoate concentrations (3.1 ± 0.5 vs. 4.5 ± 0.6 μg/ml, P = 0.029) and cholinesterase activity (705 ± 33 vs. 1,013 ± 56 U/ml, P < 0.001) were lower during pregnancy compared with the postpartum period. In conclusion, acylated ghrelin markedly decreases during pregnancy, likely

A Specific Hepatic Transfer RNA for Phosphoserine*

PubMed Central

Mäenpää, Pekka H.; Bernfield, Merton R.

1970-01-01

Radioactive O-phosphoryl-L-serine was detected after alkaline deacylation of rat and rooster liver [3H]seryl-tRNA acylated in vitro with homologous synthetases. Ribonuclease treatment of this tRNA yielded a compound with the properties of phosphoseryl-adenosine. Benzoylated DEAE-cellulose chromatography of seryl-tRNA yielded four distinct peaks, only one of which contained phosphoserine. A unique fraction for phosphoserine was also found on chromatography of nonacylated tRNA. In ribosome binding studies, this fraction responded very slightly with poly(U,C), but not with any of the known serine trinucleotide codons. Substantial incorporation of [3H]-serine into protein from this tRNA species was observed in an aminoacyl-tRNA dependent polysomal system derived from chick oviducts. No phosphoserine was found in Escherichia coli or yeast seryl-tRNA acylated with homologous enzymes, nor in E. coli seryl-tRNA acylated with liver synthetase. In the absence of tRNA, free phosphoserine was not formed in reaction mixtures, which suggests that phosphoseryl-tRNA arises by phosphorylation of the unique seryl-tRNA species. These results demonstrate a discrete tRNASer species in rat and rooster liver containing phosphoserine and suggest that this tRNA is involved in ribosomal polypeptide synthesis. PMID:4943179

The BlcC (AttM) lactonase of Agrobacterium tumefaciens does not quench the quorum-sensing system that regulates Ti plasmid conjugative transfer.

PubMed

Khan, Sharik R; Farrand, Stephen K

2009-02-01

The conjugative transfer of Agrobacterium plasmids is controlled by a quorum-sensing system consisting of TraR and its acyl-homoserine lactone (HSL) ligand. The acyl-HSL is essential for the TraR-mediated activation of the Ti plasmid Tra genes. Strains A6 and C58 of Agrobacterium tumefaciens produce a lactonase, BlcC (AttM), that can degrade the quormone, leading some to conclude that the enzyme quenches the quorum-sensing system. We tested this hypothesis by examining the effects of the mutation, induction, or mutational derepression of blcC on the accumulation of acyl-HSL and on the conjugative competence of strain C58. The induction of blc resulted in an 8- to 10-fold decrease in levels of extracellular acyl-HSL but in only a twofold decrease in intracellular quormone levels, a measure of the amount of active intracellular TraR. The induction or mutational derepression of blc as well as a null mutation in blcC had no significant effect on the induction of or continued transfer of pTiC58 from donors in any stage of growth, including stationary phase. In matings performed in developing tumors, wild-type C58 transferred the Ti plasmid to recipients, yielding transconjugants by 14 to 21 days following infection. blcC-null donors yielded transconjugants 1 week earlier, but by the following week, transconjugants were recovered at numbers indistinguishable from those of the wild type. Donors mutationally derepressed for blcC yielded transconjugants in planta at numbers 10-fold lower than those for the wild type at weeks 2 and 3, but by week 4, the two donors showed no difference in recoverable transconjugants. We conclude that BlcC has no biologically significant effect on Ti plasmid transfer or its regulatory system.

Synthesis of cyclopentadiene-fused chromanones via one-pot multicomponent reactions.

PubMed

Ghandi, Mehdi; Ghomi, Ali-Tabatabaei; Kubicki, Maciej

2013-03-15

We have developed one-pot method for the synthesis of functionalized novel cyclopentadiene-fused chromanone scaffolds. A variety of 4-oxo-2,4-dihydrocyclopenta[c]chromene-1,2-dicarboxylates were obtained in moderate to good yields via condensation of 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes and ethyl acetoacetate with 1:1 acetylenecarboxylate-isocyanides in toluene. These reactions presumably proceed via reaction of the in situ generated 3-acetyl-2H-chromen-2-ones with acetylenecarboxylate-isocyanide zwitterionic intermediates through Michael addition/intramolecular cyclization and double [1,5] acyl shift rearrangement cascade.

New parasite inhibitors encompassing novel conformationally-locked 5'-acyl sulfamoyl adenosines.

PubMed

Dixit, Shailesh S; Upadhayaya, Ram Shankar; Chattopadhyaya, Jyoti

2012-08-14

We describe the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of conformationally-locked 5'-acyl sulfamoyl adenosine derivatives as new parasitic inhibitors against Trypanosoma and Leishmania. The conformationally-locked (3'-endo, North-type) nucleosides have been synthesized by covalently attaching a 4'-CH(2)-O-2' bridge () across C2'-C4' of adenosine in order to reduce the conformational flexibility of the pentose ring. This is designed to decrease the entropic penalty for complex formation with the target protein, which may improve free-energy of stabilization of the complex leading to improved potency. Conformationally-locked 5'-acyl sulfamoyl adenosine derivatives (16-22) were tested against parasitic protozoans for the first time in this work, and showed potent inhibition of Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma rhodesiense and Leishmania infantum with IC(50) = 0.25-0.51 μM. In particular, the potent 5'-pentanyl acyl sulfamoyl adenosine derivative 17 (IC(50) = 0.25 μM) against intracellular L. infantum amastigotes and Trypanosoma subspecies is interesting in view of its almost insignificant cytotoxicity in murine macrophage host cells (CC(50) >4 μM) and in diploid human fibroblasts MRC-5 cell lines (CC(50) 4 μM). This work also suggests that variable alkyl chain length of the acyl group on the acylsulfamoyl side chain at 5' can modulate the toxicity of 5'-O-sulfamoylnucleoside analogues. This conformationally-locked sulfamoyl adenosine scaffold presents some interesting possibilities for further drug design and lead optimization.

Density functional theory studies on the nano-scaled composites consisted of graphene and acyl hydrazone molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, J. L.; Zhou, L.; Lv, Z. C.; Ding, C. H.; Wu, Y. H.; Bai, H. C.

2016-07-01

Graphene, which is the first obtained single atomic layer 2D materials, has drawn a great of concern in nano biotechnology due to the unique property. On one hand, acyl hydrazone compounds belonging to the Schif bases have aroused considerable attention in medicine, pharmacy, and analytical reagent. However, few understanding about the interaction between graphene and acyl hydrazone molecules is now available. And such investigations are much crucial for the applications of these new nano-scaled composites. The current work revealed theoretical investigations on the nano-scaled composites built by acyl hydrazone molecules loaded on the surface of graphene. The relative energy, electronic property and the interaction between the counterparts of graphene/acyl hydrazone composites are investigated based on the density functional theory calculations. According to the obtained adsorption energy, the formation of the nano-scaled composite from the isolated graphene and acyl hydrazone molecule is exothermic, and thus it is energetically favorable to form these nano composites in viewpoint of total energy change. The frontier molecular orbital for the nano composite is mainly distributed at the graphene part, leading to that the energy levels of the frontier molecular orbital of the nano composites are very close to that of isolated graphene. Moreover, the counterpart interaction for the graphene/acyl hydrazone composites is also explored based on the discussions of orbital hybridization, charge redistribution and Van der Waals interaction.

Acyl carrier protein structural classification and normal mode analysis

PubMed Central

Cantu, David C; Forrester, Michael J; Charov, Katherine; Reilly, Peter J

2012-01-01

All acyl carrier protein primary and tertiary structures were gathered into the ThYme database. They are classified into 16 families by amino acid sequence similarity, with members of the different families having sequences with statistically highly significant differences. These classifications are supported by tertiary structure superposition analysis. Tertiary structures from a number of families are very similar, suggesting that these families may come from a single distant ancestor. Normal vibrational mode analysis was conducted on experimentally determined freestanding structures, showing greater fluctuations at chain termini and loops than in most helices. Their modes overlap more so within families than between different families. The tertiary structures of three acyl carrier protein families that lacked any known structures were predicted as well. PMID:22374859

Direct Acylation of C(sp(3))-H Bonds Enabled by Nickel and Photoredox Catalysis.

PubMed

Joe, Candice L; Doyle, Abigail G

2016-03-14

Using nickel and photoredox catalysis, the direct functionalization of C(sp(3))-H bonds of N-aryl amines by acyl electrophiles is described. The method affords a diverse range of α-amino ketones at room temperature and is amenable to late-stage coupling of complex and biologically relevant groups. C(sp(3))-H activation occurs by photoredox-mediated oxidation to generate α-amino radicals which are intercepted by nickel in catalytic C(sp(3))-C coupling. The merger of these two modes of catalysis leverages nickel's unique properties in alkyl cross-coupling while avoiding limitations commonly associated with transition-metal-mediated C(sp(3))-H activation, including requirements for chelating directing groups and high reaction temperatures. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Discovering Targets of Non-enzymatic Acylation by Thioester Reactivity Profiling | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

The cover image illuminates the non-enzymatic “ghost writers” of lysine acylation. Meier et al. detail the development of a chemoproteomic strategy that harnesses thioester reactivity to discover candidate cellular targets of non-enzymatic acylation. Application of this approach reveals that glycolytic enzymes can be strongly inhibited by reactive thioesters, including the

Further acylated flavonol bisdesmosides from Sinocrassula indica.

PubMed

Xie, Hai-Hui; Yoshikawa, Masayuki

2013-01-01

Further investigation on the whole herbs of Sinocrassula indica (Crassulaceae) led to the isolation of four new acylated flavonol bisdesmosides, sinocrassosides A₁₃, B₆, B₇, and D₄, together with kaempferol 3-O-β-D-(6-O-acetyl)glucopyranosyl-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside. Their structures were established by spectral and chemical methods.

Enzymatic acylation of flavonoid glycosides by a carbohydrate esterase of family 16.

PubMed

Biely, Peter; Cziszárová, Mária; Wong, Ken K Y; Fernyhough, Alan

2014-11-01

The acetyl esterase of Trichoderma reesei belonging to carbohydrate esterase (CE) family 16 catalyzes transacylations to carbohydrate moieties of flavonoid glycosides, esculin and rutin. The enzyme recognizes as acyl donors vinyl esters of short carboxylic acids. Esculin was acylated at position 3 of the glucosyl residue in aqueous solutions saturated with vinyl acetate and vinyl propionate. The yields of esculin monoacetate and monopropionate of esculin in aqueous medium (esculin 40 mM, enzyme 40 µg/ml, 40 °C, 3 days) were 67 and 55 %, respectively. Replacement of water by 2-propanol was required for a similar acylation of rutin at 4 mM concentration. The yields of rutin monoacetate and propionate were 60 and 30 %, respectively. The results indicate that the enzyme could be used for an easy modification of solubility and hydrophobicity of glycosylated compounds, including drugs and functional food additives.

An efficient system for the asymmetric acylation of (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide catalyzed by novozyme 435.

PubMed

Li, Cuiqin; He, Laping; Qiu, Baoquan; Gao, Bing

2010-01-01

Novozyme 435 could be a highly efficient catalyst in the asymmetric acylation of (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide in tetrahydrofuran-hexane solvents. The effect of various reaction parameters such as agitation velocity, water content, mixed media, temperature, concentration of Novozyme 435, molar ratio of acetic anhydride to (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide, reaction time, enantiomeric excess of substrate (ee(S)), enantiomeric excess of product (ee(P)), and enantioselective ratio (E) were studied. Tetrahydrofuran markedly improved (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide conversion, enantiomeric excess of remaining 3-n-butylphthalide, and enantiomeric ratio. The optimum media were 50% (v/v) tetrahydrofuran and 50% (v/v) hexane. Other ideal reaction conditions were an agitation velocity of 150 rpm, 0.4% (v/v) water content, temperature of 30 °C, 8 mg/mL dosage of Novozyme 435, 8:1 (0.4 mmol: 0.05 mmol) molar ratio of acetic anhydride to (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide, and a reaction time of 48 hr. Under the optimum conditions, 96.4% ee(S) and 49.3% conversion of (R,S)-3-n-butylphthalide were achieved. In addition, enantiomeric excess of the product was above 98.0%.

Serum Levels of Acyl-Carnitines along the Continuum from Normal to Alzheimer's Dementia.

PubMed

Cristofano, Adriana; Sapere, Nadia; La Marca, Giancarlo; Angiolillo, Antonella; Vitale, Michela; Corbi, Graziamaria; Scapagnini, Giovanni; Intrieri, Mariano; Russo, Claudio; Corso, Gaetano; Di Costanzo, Alfonso

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine the serum levels of free L-carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine and 34 acyl-L-carnitine in healthy subjects and in patients with or at risk of Alzheimer's disease. Twenty-nine patients with probable Alzheimer's disease, 18 with mild cognitive impairment of the amnestic type, 24 with subjective memory complaint and 46 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study, and the levels of carnitine and acyl-carnitines were measured by tandem mass spectrometry. The concentrations of acetyl-L-carnitine progressively decreased passing from healthy subjects group (mean±SD, 5.6±1.3 μmol/L) to subjective memory complaint (4.3±0.9 μmol/L), mild cognitive impairment (4.0±0.53 μmol/L), up to Alzheimer's disease (3.5±0.6 μmol/L) group (p<0.001). The differences were significant for the comparisons: healthy subjects vs. subjective memory complaint, mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease group; and subjective memory complaint vs. Alzheimer's disease group. Other acyl-carnitines, such as malonyl-, 3-hydroxyisovaleryl-, hexenoyl-, decanoyl-, dodecanoyl-, dodecenoyl-, myristoyl-, tetradecenoyl-, hexadecenoyl-, stearoyl-, oleyl- and linoleyl-L-carnitine, showed a similar decreasing trend, passing from healthy subjects to patients at risk of or with Alzheimer's disease. These results suggest that serum acetyl-L-carnitine and other acyl-L-carnitine levels decrease along the continuum from healthy subjects to subjective memory complaint and mild cognitive impairment subjects, up to patients with Alzheimer's disease, and that the metabolism of some acyl-carnitines is finely connected among them. These findings also suggest that the serum levels of acetyl-L-carnitine and other acyl-L-carnitines could help to identify the patients before the phenotype conversion to Alzheimer's disease and the patients who would benefit from the treatment with acetyl-L-carnitine. However, further validation on a larger number of samples in a longitudinal study is needed

Serum Levels of Acyl-Carnitines along the Continuum from Normal to Alzheimer's Dementia

PubMed Central

Sapere, Nadia; La Marca, Giancarlo; Angiolillo, Antonella; Vitale, Michela; Corbi, Graziamaria; Scapagnini, Giovanni; Intrieri, Mariano; Russo, Claudio

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine the serum levels of free L-carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine and 34 acyl-L-carnitine in healthy subjects and in patients with or at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Twenty-nine patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease, 18 with mild cognitive impairment of the amnestic type, 24 with subjective memory complaint and 46 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study, and the levels of carnitine and acyl-carnitines were measured by tandem mass spectrometry. The concentrations of acetyl-L-carnitine progressively decreased passing from healthy subjects group (mean±SD, 5.6±1.3 μmol/L) to subjective memory complaint (4.3±0.9 μmol/L), mild cognitive impairment (4.0±0.53 μmol/L), up to Alzheimer’s disease (3.5±0.6 μmol/L) group (p<0.001). The differences were significant for the comparisons: healthy subjects vs. subjective memory complaint, mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease group; and subjective memory complaint vs. Alzheimer’s disease group. Other acyl-carnitines, such as malonyl-, 3-hydroxyisovaleryl-, hexenoyl-, decanoyl-, dodecanoyl-, dodecenoyl-, myristoyl-, tetradecenoyl-, hexadecenoyl-, stearoyl-, oleyl- and linoleyl-L-carnitine, showed a similar decreasing trend, passing from healthy subjects to patients at risk of or with Alzheimer’s disease. These results suggest that serum acetyl-L-carnitine and other acyl-L-carnitine levels decrease along the continuum from healthy subjects to subjective memory complaint and mild cognitive impairment subjects, up to patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and that the metabolism of some acyl-carnitines is finely connected among them. These findings also suggest that the serum levels of acetyl-L-carnitine and other acyl-L-carnitines could help to identify the patients before the phenotype conversion to Alzheimer’s disease and the patients who would benefit from the treatment with acetyl-L-carnitine. However, further validation on a larger number of samples in a longitudinal

Fission fragments mass distributions of nuclei populated by the multinucleon transfer channels of the 18O + 232Th reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Léguillon, R.; Nishio, K.; Hirose, K.; Makii, H.; Nishinaka, I.; Orlandi, R.; Tsukada, K.; Smallcombe, J.; Chiba, S.; Aritomo, Y.; Ohtsuki, T.; Tatsuzawa, R.; Takaki, N.; Tamura, N.; Goto, S.; Tsekhanovich, I.; Petrache, C. M.; Andreyev, A. N.

2016-10-01

It is shown that the multinucleon transfer reactions is a powerful tool to study fission of exotic neutron-rich actinide nuclei, which cannot be accessed by particle-capture or heavy-ion fusion reactions. In this work, multinucleon transfer channels of the 18O + 232Th reaction are used to study fission of fourteen nuclei 231,232,233,234Th, 232,233,234,235,236Pa, and 234,235,236,237,238U. Identification of fissioning nuclei and of their excitation energy is performed on an event-by-event basis, through the measurement of outgoing ejectile particle in coincidence with fission fragments. Fission fragment mass distributions are measured for each transfer channel, in selected bins of excitation energy. In particular, the mass distributions of 231,234Th and 234,235,236Pa are measured for the first time. Predominantly asymmetric fission is observed at low excitation energies for all studied cases, with a gradual increase of the symmetric mode towards higher excitation energy. The experimental distributions are found to be in general agreement with predictions of the fluctuation-dissipation model.

Direct observation of ultrafast-electron-transfer reactions unravels high effectiveness of reductive DNA damage

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Jenny; Ma, Yuhan; Luo, Ting; Bristow, Robert G.; Jaffray, David A.; Lu, Qing-Bin

2011-01-01

Both water and electron-transfer reactions play important roles in chemistry, physics, biology, and the environment. Oxidative DNA damage is a well-known mechanism, whereas the relative role of reductive DNA damage is unknown. The prehydrated electron (), a novel species of electrons in water, is a fascinating species due to its fundamental importance in chemistry, biology, and the environment. is an ideal agent to observe reductive DNA damage. Here, we report both the first in situ femtosecond time-resolved laser spectroscopy measurements of ultrafast-electron-transfer (UET) reactions of with various scavengers (KNO3, isopropanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide) and the first gel electrophoresis measurements of DNA strand breaks induced by and OH• radicals co-produced by two-UV-photon photolysis of water. We strikingly found that the yield of reductive DNA strand breaks induced by each is twice the yield of oxidative DNA strand breaks induced by each OH• radical. Our results not only unravel the long-standing mystery about the relative role of radicals in inducing DNA damage under ionizing radiation, but also challenge the conventional notion that oxidative damage is the main pathway for DNA damage. The results also show the potential of femtomedicine as a new transdisciplinary frontier and the broad significance of UET reactions of in many processes in chemistry, physics, biology, and the environment. PMID:21730183

Electron-transfer reactions in cyanine borate ion pairs: photopolymerization initiators sensitive to visible light

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chatterjee, S.; Gottschalk, P.; Davis, P.D.

1988-03-30

Photoinitiation of polymerization is a process of immense practical, economic, and theoretical importance. In typical examples the polymerization of an acrylate or styrene-derived monomer is initiated by irradiation of a sensitizer with ultraviolet light. The excited state of the sensitizer may dissociate directly to form active free radicals as in the case of the benzoin ethers, or it may first undergo a bimolecular electron-transfer reaction whose products initiate polymerization as is the case in the benzophenone-dimethylaniline system. Efforts to extend the range of useful photoinitiators of free-radical polymerization to the visible region of the spectrum have heretofore met with onlymore » modest success. These special initiators typically are sensitive only to blue light or suffer from thermal instability and have low quantum efficiencies. The authors report herein the discovery that triphenylalkylborate salts of cyanine dyes (Chart I) are photoinitiators of free-radical polymerization whose sensitivity throughout the entire visible spectral region is the result of a novel intra-ion-pair electron-transfer reaction.« less

Mechanistic Investigation of Catalyst-Transfer Suzuki-Miyaura Condensation Polymerization of Thiophene-Pyridine Biaryl Monomers with the Aid of Model Reactions.

PubMed

Tokita, Yu; Katoh, Masaru; Ohta, Yoshihiro; Yokozawa, Tsutomu

2016-11-21

We have investigated the requirements for efficient Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura catalyst-transfer condensation polymerization (Pd-CTCP) reactions of 2-alkoxypropyl-6-(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)-3-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyridine (12) as a donor-acceptor (D-A) biaryl monomer. As model reactions, we first carried out the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of X-Py-Th-X' (Th=thiophene, Py=pyridine, X, X'=Br or I) 1 with phenylboronic acid ester 2 by using tBu 3 PPd 0 as the catalyst. Monosubstitution with a phenyl group at Th-I mainly took place in the reaction of Br-Py-Th-I (1 b) with 2, whereas disubstitution selectively occurred in the reaction of I-Py-Th-Br (1 c) with 2, indicating that the Pd catalyst is intramolecularly transferred from acceptor Py to donor Th. Therefore, we synthesized monomer 12 by introduction of a boronate moiety and bromine into Py and Th, respectively. However, examination of the relationship between monomer conversion and the M n of the obtained polymer, as well as the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectra, indicated that Suzuki-Miyaura coupling polymerization of 12 with (o-tolyl)tBu 3 PPdBr initiator 13 proceeded in a step-growth polymerization manner through intermolecular transfer of the Pd catalyst. To understand the discrepancy between the model reactions and polymerization reaction, Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions of 1 c with thiopheneboronic acid ester instead of 2 were carried out. This resulted in a decrease of the disubstitution product. Therefore, step-growth polymerization appears to be due to intermolecular transfer of the Pd catalyst from Th after reductive elimination of the Th-Pd-Py complex formed by transmetalation of polymer Th-Br with (Pin)B-Py-Th-Br monomer 12 (Pin=pinacol). Catalysts with similar stabilization energies of metal-arene η 2 -coordination for D and A monomers may be needed for CTCP reactions of biaryl D-A monomers. © 2016 Wiley

Enzymatic production of biodiesel from microalgal oil using ethyl acetate as an acyl acceptor.