Structure of a monochloro bridged polymeric copper(II)-di-2-pyridylamine complex: [Cu(dipyam)Cl(NO3)].0.5H2O

Di-2-pyridylaminechloronitratocopper(II) hemihydrate, [CuCl(NO3)(C10H9N3)].0.5H2O, M(r) = 341.21, monoclinic, P2(1)/a, a = 7.382 (1), b = 21.494 (4), c = 8.032 (1) angstrom, beta = 94.26 (1)-degrees, V = 1270.9 angstrom 3, Z = 4, D(m) = 1.78, D(x) = 1.782 g cm-3, lambda(Mo K-alpha) = 0.7107 angstrom, mu(Mo K-alpha) = 19.47 cm-1, F(000) = 688. The structure was solved by the heavy-atom method and refined to a final R value of 0.034 for 2736 reflections collected at 294 K. The structure consists of polymeric [Cu(dipyam)Cl(NO3)] units bridged by a chloride ion.

The crystal and molecular structure of putrescine - di-glutamic acid complexes

The polyamines spermine, spermidine, putrescine, cadaverine, etc. have been implicated in a variety of cellular functions. However, details of their mode of interaction with other ubiquitous biomolecules is not known. We have solved a few structures of polyamine-amino acid complexes to understand the nature and mode of their interactions. Here we report the structure of a complex of putrescine with DL-glutamic acid. Comparison of the structure with the structure of putrescine-L-glutamic acid complex reveals the high degree of similarity in the mode of interaction in the two complexes. Despite the presence of a centre of symmetry in the present case, the arrangement of molecules is strikingly similar to the L-glutamic acid complex.

Triacylglycerol lipolysis is linked to sphingolipid and phospholipid metabolism of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Previous work from our laboratory had demonstrated that deletion of TGL3 encoding the major yeast triacylglycerol (TAG) lipase resulted in decreased mobilization of TAG, a sporulation defect and a changed pattern of fatty acids, especially increased amounts of C22:0 and C26:0 very long chain fatty acids in the TAG fraction K. Athenstaedt and G. Daum, J. Biol. Chem. 278 (2003) 23317-23323]. To study a possible link between TAG lipolysis and membrane lipid biosynthesis, we carried out metabolic labeling experiments with wild type and deletion strains bearing defects in the three major yeast TAG lipases, Tgl3p, Tgl4p and Tgl5p. Using H-3]inositol. P-32]orthophosphate, 3H]palmitate and C-14]acetate as precursors for complex lipids we demonstrated that tgl mutants had a lower level of sphingolipids and glycerophospholipids than wild type. ESI-MS/MS analyses confirmed that TAG accumulation in these mutant cells resulted in reduced amounts of phospholipids and sphingolipids. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that TAG lipolysis markedly affected the metabolic flux of long chain fatty acids and very long chain fatty acids required for sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid synthesis. Activity and expression level of fatty acid elongases, Elo1p and Elo2p were enhanced as a consequence of reduced TAG lipolysis. Finally, the pattern of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine molecular species was altered in tgl deletion strain underlining the important role of TAG turnover in maintaining the pool size of these compounds and the remodeling of complex membrane lipids. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure of a cyclic water tetramer in a nucleotide crystal host and a hypothetical model for water cluster growth

Structure of a cyclic water tetramer in channels (pores) formed by self-assembly of N6-methyl-5'-AMP center dot Na-2 molecules is described and a hypothetical model is proposed for growth of water clusters. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stereochemical studies on cyclic peptides. Part XI. Conformation of cyclic pentapeptides having intramolecular 3 leads to 1 hydrogen bonds.

Conformational analysis of cyclic pentapeptides having two intra-ring 3 leads to 1 hydrogen bonds has been carried out. It is found that the structure can easily be formed with trans planar peptide units without causing significant angular strain at the alpha-carbon atoms. Four different types of conformations designated Types I--IV are possible for the backbone structure. Details of these four types of conformations and also the accommodating possibility of these types for allglycyl and all-alanyl residues are presented. Three of the four types have relatively low energies for glycyl residues whereas the other one has a slightly higher energy. When alanyl residues are introduced at the five alpha-carbon atoms, the types that are energetically favourable depend upon the sequence of isomers. Energy calculations have also been carried out for the combinations of glycyl, L- and D-alanyl residues. The theoretical results are compared with available experimental observations both from solution and solid state studies.

RAD51C: a novel cancer susceptibility gene is linked to Fanconi anemia and breast cancer

Germline mutations in many of the genes that are involved in homologous recombination (HR)-mediated DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR) are associated with various human genetic disorders and cancer. RAD51 and RAD51 paralogs are important for HR and in the maintenance of genome stability. Despite the identification of five RAD51 paralogs over a decade ago, the molecular mechanism(s) by which RAD51 paralogs regulate HR and genome maintenance remains obscure. In addition to the known roles of RAD51C in early and late stages of HR, it also contributes to activation of the checkpoint kinase CHK2. One recent study identifies biallelic mutation in RAD51C leading to Fanconi anemia-like disorder. Whereas a second study reports monoallelic mutation in RAD51C associated with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. These reports show RAD51C is a cancer susceptibility gene. In this review, we focus on describing the functions of RAD51C in HR, DNA damage signaling and as a tumor suppressor with an emphasis on the new roles of RAD51C unveiled by these reports.

Control of Agent Swarms using Generalized Centroidal Cyclic Pursuit Laws

One of the major tasks in swarm intelligence is to design decentralized but homogenoeus strategies to enable controlling the behaviour of swarms of agents. It has been shown in the literature that the point of convergence and motion of a swarm of autonomous mobile agents can be controlled by using cyclic pursuit laws. In cyclic pursuit, there exists a predefined cyclic connection between agents and each agent pursues the next agent in the cycle. In this paper we generalize this idea to a case where an agent pursues a point which is the weighted average of the positions of the remaining agents. This point correspond to a particular pursuit sequence. Using this concept of centroidal cyclic pursuit, the behavior of the agents is analyzed such that, by suitably selecting the agents' gain, the rendezvous point of the agents can be controlled, directed linear motion of the agents can be achieved, and the trajectories of the agents can be changed by switching between the pursuit sequences keeping some of the behaviors of the agents invariant. Simulation experiments are given to support the analytical proofs.

Computer modeling studies on the binding of 2',5'-linked dinucleoside phosphates to ribonuclease T1-influence of subsite interactions on the substrate specificity

The modes of binding of Gp(2',5')A, Gp(2',5')C, Gp(2',5')G and Gp(2',5')U to RNase T1 have been determined by computer modelling studies. All these dinucleoside phosphates assume extended conformations in the active site leading to better interactions with the enzyme. The 5'-terminal guanine of all these ligands is placed in the primary base binding site of the enzyme in an orientation similar to that of 2'-GMP in the RNase T1-2'-GMP complex. The 2'-terminal purines are placed close to the hydrophobic pocket formed by the residues Gly71, Ser72, Pro73 and Gly74 which occur in a loop region. However, the orientation of the 2'-terminal pyrimidines is different from that of 2'-terminal purines. This perhaps explains the higher binding affinity of the 2',5'-linked guanine dinucleoside phosphates with 2'-terminal purines than those with 2'-terminal pyrimidines. A comparison of the binding of the guanine dinucleoside phosphates with 2',5'- and 3',5'-linkages suggests significant differences in the ribose pucker and hydrogen bonding interactions between the catalytic residues and the bound nucleoside phosphate implying that 2',5'-linked dinucleoside phosphates may not be the ideal ligands to probe the role of the catalytic amino acid residues. A change in the amino acid sequence in the surface loop region formed by the residues Gly71 to Gly74 drastically affects the conformation of the base binding subsite, and this may account for the inactivity of the enzyme with altered sequence i.e., with Pro, Gly and Ser at positions 71 to 73 respectively. These results thus suggest that in addition to recognition and catalytic sites, interactions at the loop regions which constitute the subsite for base binding are also crucial in determining the substrate specificity.

Excitation energy transfer in covalently linked pheophorbied—porphyrin systems

Steady-state fluorescence, lifetime measurements and time-resolved absorption spectra of the covalently linked hetero dimers consisting of pheophorbide and porphyrin revealed rapid (1011–1012s−1) and efficient singlet—singlet excitation energy transfer from porphyrin unit to pheophorbide.