Modified determination method of total bromine in agricultural products by gas chromatography.
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In the official method for determination of total bromine in fruit and grain foods, bromine is derivatized with 3-pentanone for GC analysis. Co-existing substances sometimes interfere with measurement of the derivative, though the method is highly selective. In this study, the notification method was modified to reduce impurity peaks by applying 3-hexanone. Samples were alkalized and reduced to ash in an electric furnace. After ashing, samples were oxidized with potassium permanganate solution and derivatized with 3-hexanone. The calibration curve was linear from 0.1 microg/mL up to 5.0 microg/mL. The detection limit (S/N = 10) was 0.1 microg/mL, i.e., 5 microg/g for herb, 2.5 microg/g for grains and 1.0 microg/g for fruits. The recoveries of bromine from fruit, grain foods and herbs added at the levels of 5 to 25 microg/g ranged from 84.2 to 96.9%. The values of relative standard deviation (RSD) were from 1.4 to 6.3%. This method should be useful for routine examination of total bromine in foods. (+info)
Determining the conformation of an adsorbed Br-PEG-peptide by long period X-ray standing wave fluorescence.
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Long-period X-ray standing wave fluorescence (XSW) and X-ray reflectivity techniques are employed to probe the conformation of a Br-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-peptide adsorbate at the hydrated interface of a polystyrene substrate. The Br atom on this Br-PEG-peptide construct serves as a marker atom allowing determination by XSW of its position and distribution with respect to the adsorption surface with angstrom resolution. Adsorption occurs on native or ion-beam-modified polystyrene films that are spin-coated onto a Si substrate and display either nonpolar or polar surfaces, respectively. A compact, oriented monolayer of Br-PEG-peptide can be formed with the peptide end adsorbed onto the polar surface and the PEG end terminating with the Br tag extending into the aqueous phase. The 108-141 A distance of the Br atom from the polystyrene surface in this oriented monolayer is similar to the estimated approximately 150 A length of the extended Br-PEG-peptide. This Br-polystyrene distance depends on adsorption time and surface properties prior to adsorption. Incomplete multilayers form on the polar surface after sufficient adsorption time elapses. By contrast, adsorption onto the nonpolar surface is submonolayer, patchy, and highly disordered with an isotropic Br distribution. Overall, this combination of X-ray surface scattering techniques with a novel sample preparation strategy has several advantages as a real space probe of adsorbed or covalently bound biomolecules at the liquid-solid interface. (+info)
Inspecting the structure-activity relationship of protein kinase CK2 inhibitors derived from tetrabromo-benzimidazole.
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CK2 is a very pleiotropic protein kinase whose high constitutive activity is suspected to cooperate to neoplasia. Here, the crystal structure of the complexes between CK2 and three selective tetrabromo-benzimidazole derivatives inhibiting CK2 with Ki values between 40 and 400 nM are presented. The ligands bind to the CK2 active site in a different way with respect to the parent compound TBB. They enter more deeply into the cavity, establishing halogen bonds with the backbone of Glu114 and Val116 in the hinge region. A detailed analysis of the interactions highlights a major role of the hydrophobic effect in establishing the rank of potency within this class of inhibitors and shows that polar interactions are responsible for the different orientation of the molecules in the active site. (+info)
Ion-binding properties of the ClC chloride selectivity filter.
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The ClC channels are members of a large protein family of chloride (Cl-) channels and secondary active Cl- transporters. Despite their diverse functions, the transmembrane architecture within the family is conserved. Here we present a crystallographic study on the ion-binding properties of the ClC selectivity filter in the close homolog from Escherichia coli (EcClC). The ClC selectivity filter contains three ion-binding sites that bridge the extra- and intracellular solutions. The sites bind Cl- ions with mM affinity. Despite their close proximity within the filter, the three sites can be occupied simultaneously. The ion-binding properties are found conserved from the bacterial transporter EcClC to the human Cl- channel ClC-1, suggesting a close functional link between ion permeation in the channels and active transport in the transporters. In resemblance to K+ channels, ions permeate the ClC channel in a single file, with mutual repulsion between the ions fostering rapid conduction. (+info)
The conformation of adenosine diphosphoribose and 8-bromoadenosine diphosphoribose when bound to liver alcohol dehydrogenase.
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8-Bromo-adenosine diphosphoribose (br8 ADP-Rib) and nicotinamide 8-bromoadenine dinucleotide (Nbr8AD+) which are analogues of the coenzyme NAD+, were prepared and their liver alcohol dehydrogenase complexes studied by crystallographic methods. Nbr8AD+ is active in alcohol dehydrogenase complexes studied by crystallographic methods. Nbr8AD+ is active in hydrogen transport and br8ADP-Rib is a coenzyme competitive inhibitor for the enzymes liver alcohol dehydrogenase and yeast alcohol dehydrogenase. X-ray data were obtained for the complex between liver alcohol dehydrogenase and br8ADP-Rib to 0.45 nm resolution and for the liver alcohol dehydrogenase-adenosine diphosphoribose complex to 0.29-nm resolution. The conformations of these analogues were determined from the X-ray data. It was found that ADP-Rib had a conformation very similar to the corresponding part of NAD+, when NAD+ is bound to lactate and malate dehydrogenase. br8ADP-Rib had the same anti conformation of the adenine ring with respect to the ribose as ADP-Rib and NAD+, in contrast to the syn conformation found in 8-bromo-adenosine. The overcrowding at the 8-position is relieved in br8ADP-Rib by having the ribose in the 2' endo condormation instead of the usual 3' endo as in ADP-Rib and NAD+. (+info)
Fluorometry of citrate in serum, with use of citrate (pro-3S)-lyase.
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We describe a procedure for enzymatic assay of citrate in human serum. The citrate is degraded to acetate and oxaloacetate with citrate oxaloacetate-lyase (pro-3S-CH2-COO- yields acetate) (EC 4.1.3.6). Some oxaloacetate loses CO2 to form pyruvate. Addition of malate and lactate dehydrogenases (EC 1.1.1.37 and 1.1.1.27) permits determination of the oxaloacetate and pyruvate generated, and thus of the citrate concentration. The decrease in NADH concentration is measured fluorometrically. Results obtained for 30 consecutive human sera by this procedure were compared to the procedure in which the citrate is converted to pentabromoacetone. There was no statistically significant difference in values obtained by the two procedures. The range of values (mean plus or minus 2 SD) found for sera from 25 blood donors by this procedure was 12.8-27.2 mg/liter (mean, 19.0 mg/liter). Serum citrate as measured by both procedures during a glucose tolerance test was decreased from initial values under the influence of administered glucose (and endogenous insulin). Insulin concentrations were also measured during these glucose-tolerance tests. Citrate concentrations remain subnormal after the glucose and insulin concentrations return to their initial values. This accords with published reports. (+info)
Laboratory-evolved vanadium chloroperoxidase exhibits 100-fold higher halogenating activity at alkaline pH: catalytic effects from first and second coordination sphere mutations.
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Directed evolution was performed on vanadium chloroperoxidase from the fungus Curvularia inaequalis to increase its brominating activity at a mildly alkaline pH for industrial and synthetic applications and to further understand its mechanism. After successful expression of the enzyme in Escherichia coli, two rounds of screening and selection, saturation mutagenesis of a "hot spot," and rational recombination, a triple mutant (P395D/L241V/T343A) was obtained that showed a 100-fold increase in activity at pH 8 (k(cat) = 100 s(-1)). The increased K(m) values for Br(-) (3.1 mm) and H(2)O(2) (16 microm) are smaller than those found for vanadium bromoperoxidases that are reasonably active at this pH. In addition the brominating activity at pH 5 was increased by a factor of 6 (k(cat) = 575 s(-1)), and the chlorinating activity at pH 5 was increased by a factor of 2 (k(cat) = 36 s(-1)), yielding the "best" vanadium haloperoxidase known thus far. The mutations are in the first and second coordination sphere of the vanadate cofactor, and the catalytic effects suggest that fine tuning of residues Lys-353 and Phe-397, along with addition of negative charge or removal of positive charge near one of the vanadate oxygens, is very important. Lys-353 and Phe-397 were previously assigned to be essential in peroxide activation and halide binding. Analysis of the catalytic parameters of the mutant vanadium bromoperoxidase from the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum also adds fuel to the discussion regarding factors governing the halide specificity of vanadium haloperoxidases. This study presents the first example of directed evolution of a vanadium enzyme. (+info)
Activity screening of carrier domains within nonribosomal peptide synthetases using complex substrate mixtures and large molecule mass spectrometry.
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For screening a pool of potential substrates that load carrier domains found in nonribosomal peptide synthetases, large molecule mass spectrometry is shown to be a new, unbiased assay. Combining the high resolving power of Fourier transform mass spectrometry with the ability of adenylation domains to select their own substrates, the mass change that takes place upon formation of a covalent intermediate thus identifies the substrate. This assay has an advantage over traditional radiochemical assays in that many substrates, the substrate pool, can be screened simultaneously. Using proteins on the nikkomycin, clorobiocin, coumermycin A1, yersiniabactin, pyochelin, and enterobactin biosynthetic pathways as proof of principle, preferred substrates are readily identified from substrate pools. Furthermore, this assay can be used to provide insight into the timing of tailoring events of biosynthetic pathways as demonstrated using the bromination reaction found on the jamaicamide biosynthetic pathway. Finally, this assay can provide insight into the role and function of orphan gene clusters for which the encoded natural product is unknown. This is demonstrated by identifying the substrates for two NRPS modules from the pksN and pksJ genes that are found on an orphan NRPS/PKS hybrid cluster from Bacillus subtilis. This new assay format is especially timely for activity screening in an era when new types of thiotemplate assembly lines that defy classification are being discovered at an accelerating rate. (+info)