Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wiggert J. Altenburg, Nathan Rollins, Pamela A. Silver, Tobias W. Giessen
Summary: Researchers characterized and engineered TP-shell interactions in two encapsulin systems, revealing variation in binding specificity and strength of TPs, influenced by hydrophobic and ionic interactions as well as TP flexibility. They designed a set of TPs with predicted binding strengths and experimentally characterized them, creating a toolbox for future nanoreactor engineering to control cargo loading efficiency and the relative stoichiometry of multiple loaded cargo proteins.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Carolina Rivera, Hector A. Bacilio-Beltran, Ana M. Puebla-Perez, Irma I. Rangel-Salas, Jose G. Alvarado-Rodriguez, Roberto Flores-Moreno, Gilberto Velazquez-Juarez, A. Aaron Peregrina-Lucano, Elvia Becerra-Martinez, Jaime Valdez-Ruvalcaba, Jose E. Rubio, Sara A. Cortes-Llamas
Summary: The synthesis of cis and trans isomers of platinum complexes with a symmetric N-heterocyclic carbene ligand has been reported. These complexes were obtained from a masked N-heterocyclic carbene precursor. Their cytotoxicity, oxidative nature, and antibacterial behavior were investigated, and the cis-[Pt((NHC)-N-Me)(2)Cl-2] complex exhibited the highest cytotoxic effect in the HeLa cervical cancer cell line.
NEW JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yiyang Lu, Meera Joy, Brian P. Bloom, David H. Waldeck
Summary: This study shows that both electron spin polarization and stereoisomeric effects have comparable contributions to the enantioselective binding of amino acids. Magneto-electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methods were used to investigate the adsorption of chiral amino acids on a monolayer film of chiral molecules that were spin polarized by an underlying ferromagnetic substrate. The direction of electron spin polarization affects the kinetics and thermodynamics of the enantiospecific adsorption of amino acids. Comparison with circular dichroism spectra indicates that the circular dichroism spectrum of the interacting group is a good indicator for predicting the contributions of electron spin to the intermolecular interaction. These findings highlight the significance of electron spin in the enantioselective recognition between chiral amino acids and represent a paradigm shift in understanding selectivity in biorecognition.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jane Wittrup Agger, Michael Schmidt Madsen, Line Korte Martinsen, Pedro Alves Martins, Kristian Barrett, Anne S. Meyer
Summary: This review summarizes the latest research on glucuronoyl esterases (GEs), with a focus on fungal variants. The study reveals that fungal enzymes largely fall into one major branch, with only a minor subset of bacterial enzymes in the same branch. Additionally, some fungal proteins carry a CBM1 binding domain. Molecular docking experiments suggest that there are no direct interactions between the enzyme and lignin polymer, and an elongated carbon chain between the ester linkage and the first phenyl of lignin is preferred. The next step for these enzymes is to explore their application in utilizing lignocellulose as a renewable resource.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yue Wang, Rong-Zu Liang, Tian-Zhi Jia, Xue-Li Cao, Qian Wang, Jing-Rong Cao, Shuo Li, Qixun Shi, Lyle Isaacs, Shi-Peng Sun
Summary: This study utilizes the host-guest recognition properties of CB[7] to protect viologen derivatives and assemble them into a smart nanofiltration membrane. The resulting membrane shows improved rejection performance, recovery accuracy, and anti-fouling properties.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Evren Cucu, Erdin Dalkilic, Ramazan Altundas, Ali Enis Sadak
Summary: The study focused on synthesizing microporous polymers with different linkers for gas sorption and separation applications, characterized by high surface area, chemical stability, and thermal stability. The materials showed high gas uptake properties and selectivities for various gases, making them suitable for post combustion processes. The selectivity was calculated using ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST), showing promising results for applications requiring high pressures and temperatures.
MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Deyanira Gejsnaes-Schaad, Marco Meyer, Alessandro Prescimone, Catherine E. Housecroft, Edwin C. Constable
Summary: The synthesis and characterization of six new heteroleptic copper(I) compounds incorporating wide biteangle bisphosphanes combined with bipyridine derivatives are reported. The compounds exhibit yellow or green solid-state luminescence. The crystal structures of the complexes confirm the distorted tetrahedral copper(I) centers and the presence of arene-arene pi-stacking and C C...pi(arne) interactions.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Changseok Lee, Hyung-Joon Kang, Sungwoo Hong
Summary: The formation of C-N bonds through hydroamination reactions catalyzed by nickel hydrides has been a topic of recent interest. This approach offers a way to efficiently transform a variety of alkene and alkyne substrates into compounds enriched with C-N bonds. The review provides a concise overview of the underlying reaction mechanisms and aims to stimulate further progress in NiH-catalytic techniques and catalyst design.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dianna Truong, Nelson Y. S. Lam, Meder Kamalov, Mie Riisom, Stephen M. F. Jamieson, Paul W. R. Harris, Margaret A. Brimble, Nils Metzler-Nolte, Christian G. Hartinger
Summary: The study presents a novel approach for selectively anchoring transition metal half-sandwich complexes onto peptides with high purity using solid support synthesis. The metalated peptides were evaluated for their anticancer properties against human cancer cell lines, showing no cytotoxic activity but potential for site-selective peptide labelling and ligand design in transition metal catalysts.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Paul Pinillos, Ander Camiruaga, Fernando Torres-Hernandez, Francisco J. Basterrechea, Imanol Usabiaga, Jose A. Fernandez
Summary: Sugars, along with amino acids and nucleobases, are critical components of cells and play important roles in various processes, particularly in the immune system. This study investigates the effects of the hydroxyl group position, anomeric conformation, and substituent nature on the interaction between sugars and phenol. Through spectroscopy and calculations, the structure of the dimers and their differences from similar systems are examined. The findings suggest that the hydroxymethyl group has a significant influence on the aggregation process, and the substituent in C4 has a greater impact on the dimer structure than the anomeric conformation.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Malgorzata Tyszka-Czochara, Anna Adach, Tomasz Grabowski, Pawel Konieczny, Pawel Pasko, Joanna Ortyl, Tomasz Swiergosz, Marcin Majka
Summary: The study demonstrates the selective cytotoxicity of copper, cobalt, and vanadium complexes against cancer cells with low toxicity towards noncancerous cells, showing improved anticancer activities. The cobalt complexes induce massive tumor cell death, while the vanadium complex specifically induces apoptosis in cancer cells. This research may be beneficial for designing novel metal-based anticancer species with high specificity towards tumor cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ying Cong, Paul D. Scesa, Eric W. Schmidt
Summary: A key goal of synthetic biology is to modify peptides and proteins through designed modifications, both inside and outside the cell. This study investigates a specific enzyme that can protect the ends of peptides, and shows that mutating the enzyme's active site can expand its substrate range, including reverse geranylation of peptide N-termini.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ying Cong, Paul D. Scesa, Eric W. Schmidt
Summary: A key goal of synthetic biology is to enable the designed and modification of C-Terminal enzymes. AgeMTPT is a selective enzyme that protects the N-terminus of peptides and modifies the C-terminus through enzymatic reactions. The substrate selectivity of this enzyme requires N-terminal aromatic amino acids and tolerates diverse uncharged amino acids in other positions. Mutagenesis of the active site of AgeMTPT expands its substrate scope, including the reverse geranylation of peptide N-termini, revealing potential applications in synthetic biology.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zi-Xi Li, Zhen-Zhou Sun, Guo Wang, Wei Yang, Hong-Liang Han, Yu-Ping Yang, Zhong-Feng Li, Lixiong Dai, Yi-Shan Yao, Qiong-Hua Jin
Summary: A series of ionic mononuclear Cu(I) complexes have been synthesized and characterized, and their supramolecular structures and photophysical properties were investigated. The emission wavelengths of these complexes varied due to the regulation of ligands and anions. The luminescence is derived from metal-to-ligand charge transfer excited states, and the stabilization of the ligand-based pi* orbital conjugation is responsible for the observed bathochromic-shift in the charge transfer transitions.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rajavenkatesh Krishnamoorthy, Meenakshi Singh, Parthiban Anaikutti, L. Edwin Paul, Sivasankaran Dhanasekaran, Thennarsu Sathiah
Summary: Two novel short peptides, P1 and P2, were designed and synthesized, which showed strong binding ability to receptors and proteins related to tumor. The peptides demonstrated good anticancer activities against cancer cells and low cytotoxicity to normal cells. In silico studies were conducted to predict the binding sites and orientation of the peptides for potential anticancer targets.
BIOORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aashka Y. Patel, Keertana S. Jonnalagadda, Nicholas Paradis, Timothy D. Vaden, Chun Wu, Gregory A. Caputo
Summary: In the past decade, there has been rapid growth in innovative protein therapies, bio-similar industries, and the use of ionic liquids in industrial processes. Understanding the stability and function of proteins in novel environments with ILs, particularly the impact on metal-containing proteins, is crucial for utilizing ILs in protein technologies and therapeutic delivery systems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mateusz Imiolek, Patrick G. Isenegger, Wai-Lung Ng, Aziz Khan, Veronique Gouverneur, Benjamin G. Davis
Summary: This study presents a novel method for carbonylation of native protein residues through reductive photoredox catalysis, resulting in a new unnatural protein residue CfW with selective modifications on Trp residues. CfW not only shows effectiveness in bioconjugation, ligation, and labeling reactions, but also exhibits a strong red-shift in its absorption and fluorescent emission maxima.
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Aran Insausti, Elena R. Alonso, Belen Tercero, Jose Santos, Camilla Calabrese, Natalja Vogt, Francisco Corzana, Jean Demaison, Jose Cernicharo, Emilio J. Cocinero
Summary: Rotational spectroscopy was used to study elusive erythrulose, a sugar building block in interstellar medium, with the novel method of transferring the carbohydrate into gas phase. Despite not finding any lines of erythrulose, the data obtained from the study will facilitate future searches and potential detections in other ISM regions.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kuan-Yu Lai, Sebastien R. G. Galan, Yibo Zeng, Tianhui Hina Zhou, Chang He, Ritu Raj, Jitka Riedl, Shi Liu, K. Phin Chooi, Neha Garg, Min Zeng, Lyn H. Jones, Graham J. Hutchings, Shabaz Mohammed, Satish K. Nair, Jie Chen, Benjamin G. Davis, Wilfred A. van der Donk
Summary: LanCL catalyzes the addition of glutathione to Dha/Dhb in proteins, driving irreversible C-glutathionylation to repair damages in proteins, indicating its physiological importance in removing reactive electrophiles and dysregulatory effects from the proteome.
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin G. Davis
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Correction
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tim A. Mollner, Patrick G. Isenegger, Brian Josephson, Charles Buchanan, Lukas Lercher, Daniel Oehlrich, D. Flemming Hansen, Shabaz Mohammed, Andrew J. Baldwin, Veronique Gouverneur, Benjamin G. Davis
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tim A. Mollner, Patrick G. Isenegger, Brian Josephson, Charles Buchanan, Lukas Lercher, Daniel Oehlrich, D. Flemming Hansen, Shabaz Mohammed, Andrew J. Baldwin, Veronique Gouverneur, Benjamin G. Davis
Summary: Post-translational formation of boronoalanine in proteins through C beta-B gamma bond allows for mild, direct, and site-selective access, enabling tunable interactions and de novo function.
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Isidro Cobo, M. Isabel Matheu, Sergio Castillon, Benjamin G. Davis, Omar Boutureira
Summary: This study investigates the scope and limitations of common bioconjugation techniques for generating well-defined glycodendriproteins, as synthetic functional mimics of glycoproteins. A diverse reactive platform was designed using recombinant proteins containing non-canonical amino acids, resulting in the successful synthesis of multivalent carbohydrate moieties attached to proteins.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tim A. Mollner, Andrew M. Giltrap, Yibo Zeng, Yana Demyanenko, Charles Buchanan, Daniel Oehlrich, Andrew J. Baldwin, Daniel C. Anthony, Shabaz Mohammed, Benjamin G. Davis
Summary: Biomolecule environments have the potential to enhance chemistries and mediate self-modification. This study demonstrates a system that combines protein-enhanced chemistry with tag modification to enable synthetic reductive protein chemistries. This method allows for simple and site-selective cleavage of proteins under aqueous conditions and in cell lysates, making it a valuable tool for precise chemical proteolysis and protein modification.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Charles J. Buchanan, Ben Gaunt, Peter J. Harrison, Yun Yang, Jiwei Liu, Aziz Khan, Andrew M. Giltrap, Audrey Le Bas, Philip N. Ward, Kapil Gupta, Maud Dumoux, Tiong Kit Tan, Lisa Schimaski, Sergio Daga, Nicola Picchiotti, Margherita Baldassarri, Elisa Benetti, Chiara Fallerini, Francesca Fava, Annarita Giliberti, Panagiotis Koukos, Matthew J. Davy, Abirami Lakshminarayanan, Xiaochao Xue, Georgios Papadakis, Lachlan P. Deimel, Virginia Casablancas-Antras, Timothy D. W. Claridge, Alexandre M. J. J. Bonvin, Quentin J. Sattentau, Simone Furini, Marco Gori, Jiandong Huo, Raymond J. Owens, Christiane Schaffitzel, Imre Berger, Alessandra Renieri, James H. Naismith, Andrew J. Baldwin, Benjamin G. Davis
Summary: This study utilizes universal saturation transfer analysis to reveal the interaction between the novel coronavirus and glycan compounds, and identifies protein mutations related to pathogenicity and zoonosis.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nastacia Adler Berke, Antonella Di Pizio, Timothy D. Vaden, Irit Shoval, Ofer Gover, Daniel Waiger, Gili Solomon, Kristina Sepcic, Betty Schwartz
Summary: This study explored the structural features of rOlyA and its interaction with microtubule proteins. By creating point mutations, we identified critical tryptophan sites in rOlyA that are essential for its cell internalization ability and adipocyte-associated activity. We also observed that the homologue OlyA6, when complexed with mCherry, loses its ability to bind to beta-tubulin and induce mitochondrial biosynthesis-associated markers. Protein-protein docking simulations provided insights into the binding mode of rOlyA with beta-tubulin.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Patrick G. Isenegger, Brian Josephson, Ben Gaunt, Matthew J. Davy, Veronique Gouverneur, Andrew J. Baldwin, Benjamin G. Davis
Summary: This article describes a robust, mild and fast method for the posttranslational, site-directed fluorination of protein sidechains, which can be detected by F-19-based magnetic resonance methods. This chemical editing method is stable, mild, fast and highly efficient, and can be used by non-experts to prepare fluorinated proteins within 24 hours without the need for bespoke biological systems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin G. Davis, Xuanxiao Chen, Brian Josephson
Summary: Methods to directly modify proteins post-translationally have potential for creating and studying protein post-translational modifications. Recent developments in single electron/radical chemistry have allowed for site-specific editing of proteins. This review gives an overview of current methods that install such edits, focusing on radical C-C bond formation and its compatibility with proteins and cells, as well as the novel applications afforded by these methods. Despite technical challenges, radical C-C bond formation on proteins is a promising and rapidly growing field in chemical biology.
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xia-Ping Fu, Yizhi Yuan, Ajay Jha, Nikita Levin, Jack Ren, Dimitrios Mamalis, Shabaz Mohammed, Benjamin G. Davis, Andrew M. Giltrap
Summary: Chemical post-translational methods allow editing of proteins without genetic intervention. A light-mediated desulfurative method can generate site-selectively edited proteins with full retention of native stereochemistry from a natural amino acid precursor. This methodology has great potential in exploring protein side-chain diversity and function and constructing useful bioconjugates.
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Roshani Patel, Austin K. Clark, Gabriella DeStefano, Isabella DeStefano, Hunter Gogoj, Erin Gray, Aashka Y. Patel, Joshua T. Hauner, Gregory A. Caputo, Timothy D. Vaden
Summary: The thermal unfolding of the copper redox protein azurin was investigated in the presence of four dipeptide-based ionic liquids with tetramethylguanidinium as the cation. The results showed that two dipeptides had minor destabilizing effects on the protein, while the other two strongly destabilized azurin. Control experiments supported the notion that dipeptide sequence-specific interactions lead to selective protein destabilization.
BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS REPORTS
(2022)
